Today, we celebrate our 10 year anniversary of opening the one and only Yana Dee store at 157 E Front Street in Downtown Traverse City, Michigan. As one of this area's most unique small businesses, we are proud to continue our commitment to directly serve our local and online communities with access to purchase high quality, sustainably produced, handmade in the USA clothing from our downtown headquarters.
The commercial space we rent in the heart of downtown Traverse City provides us with a charming and comfortable retail sales floor to share Yana's designs, as well as inventory storage and content creation space for our online store and booth operations. Our south facing store windows, original brick wall, hard wood floors, and close proximity to Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay at the mouth of the Boardman-Ottaway River, all make this a really nice place to work.
We believe in what we are doing. In a global economic landscape that overproduces cheap consumer goods at high externalized cost, we are offering an alternative that centers quality, community, and compassion for our world. When you shop at Yana Dee, you are actively participating in an alternative economy. We appreciate everyone that has ever "bought in" to our vision for a better world.
While we celebrate our ability to survive within an extractive patriarchal capitalistic economic model that would rather see us fail, we feel compelled to share that our business is not in a thriving phase at this time. There will inevitably be ups and downs over the years, and summer 2024 was one of the most challenging seasons for our business to date.
The cost of doing business has risen significantly in recent years. The price of fabric, labor, rent, and fees have all steadily increased, yet our sales have not. Factors including construction, a shifting downtown culture, and the oversaturation of the clothing market with trash fashion, have all contributed to lower summer sales than expected. In these economically uncertain times, shoppers reasonably buy less often, and at lower price points.
More than ever, it feels like a leap of faith to have just signed a two-year lease extension on our storefront. So please, if you are a local (or frequent visitor to) Traverse City and appreciate our presence in this community, we need your participation more than ever. When you treat yourself to a Yana Dee product, you are investing in your own well being and happiness, and a local economy that supports artists, makers, and women.
Of course, you don't have to make it to downtown Traverse City to participate in our version of feel-good sustainable fashion, because our website is always open for shopping. Next time you feel called to support someone in your life (including yourself), consider investing in something special from Yana Dee.
Thank you for taking the time to read our update. We wish you so much warmth and comfort this fall.
~Abby Rose & Yana Dee
P.S. Keep scrolling for lots of photos
