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R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press
Tony Runkel, co-owner of Tebears Sewing and Quilting in Escanaba, looks at a sewing machine that was brought in to be repaired.
EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.
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ESCANABA — Tebears Sewing and Quilting has been serving the community since 1939. Today, the shop and several associated services are run by Fay and Tony Runkel, who purchased the business from the Tebear family almost six years ago.
The first location of Tebears Sewing Center — as it was named by founder Norman Tebear in ’39 — was on Ludington Street in downtown Escanaba. It moved to 2nd Avenue South for a time before relocating in 1958 to 1117 1st Ave. N., where it remains today along with a few expansions.
The building that now houses an extensive quilt shop used to be a residence where the Tebears once lived. The front room was added in the early 1970s to serve as the main storefront while the back continued to be the family’s home.
When the Runkels purchased the business from Bob (Norman’s son) and Barb Tebear in December 2017, Tebears was a retailer and repairer of new and used sewing machines and vacuum cleaners.
The growth Tony and Fay set in motion began with the addition of quilting fabric. The new owners also revived quilting classes, which was once an element offered at Tebears years ago. The Runkels changed the name of the business to “Tebears Sewing and Quilting” to reflect the expanded supply.
Shoppers may be surprised at the size of the store — merchandise, especially fabrics, fills the length of the old house, room after room. And Tebears occupies more than that one building, which is referred to as “the quilt shop.”
Next door, on the corner lot of 1st Avenue North and 12th Street North, is a structure that most recently housed Shooters Bar. From inside what is now the corporate headquarters of Tebears, the Runkels say they’ve heard rumors the roughly-1890s building may have at some point housed a speakeasy, a brothel, a boarding house — but they’re pretty sure it was the Metropolitan Bar and Hotel before Shooters, which closed in 2018.
The spring of 2019 brought harsh weather that caused multiple roof collapses, including that of the former bar’s single-story section, which is immediately next to Tebears.
Simultaneously, the quilt shop was growing too big for its britches. Accelerated by pandemic distancing restrictions, which halved the capacity of their classroom, Fay and Tony began to look into purchasing the abandoned building to expand their operation.
“It took a long time to buy it, because the State of Michigan had a lien on it, and working with the State of Michigan during COVID was — not a pleasant thing,” said Fay. “But one of our friends suggested we talked to our state representative, and Ed McBroom’s office really helped us out. Like, they just got things moving instead of just sitting. The day that we called them, we started getting answers back. So that was really helpful.”
The Runkels finally managed to close on the property in early 2021. After a lot of remodeling, they were able to open their expansion in May of 2022.
This second building of Tebears Sewing and Quilting is referred to as the “gift shop.” While the first location, the quilt shop — on the left, if you’re looking from the street — carries sewing machines and raw materials needed for customers to craft their own projects, the gift shop stocks finished products handmade by Tebears employees, in addition to other trinkets. The newly refurbished building also homes the office, a commercial kitchen in case the Runkels ever want to begin utilizing it down the road, and a classroom several times the size of the old one in the other building.
Basic quilting classes geared toward beginners will be taught by Maureen Lapinski on Oct. 17, 24, 31 and Nov.7 — all Tuesdays — from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Students will pick out their own fabrics and make table runners, “and in the process of making this project, they’ll learn all kinds of techniques that they need for any project,” Fay said.
Three times a week, Tebears holds “open sew classes,” which, instead of following an instruction-led formula, provide a space for people to gather and work on their own projects — whatever they may be, at whatever pace they choose. Assistance is provided if desired. Tony referred to open sew as a “fellowship class.”
“Sometimes we get very little sewing done, but we enjoy each other’s company,” said one smiling participant on Thursday.
Currently, open sew takes place on Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Twice a year, weekend-long quilting retreats with a similar premise are held off-site.
More specialized, focused classes take place periodically. Fay mentioned that news about upcoming events can be found on the “Tebears Sewing & Quilting” Facebook page.
“Last week, we had a national educator from Husqvarna Viking here to teach a class,” said Fay. Said class was to showcase a particular machine. Many modern sewing and embroidery machines use computers that may require somewhat of a learning curve.
Machine repair is also a key part of business at Tebears, and they have the capabilities to work on a range of models. Tony services more of the computerized types, while Fay said she prefers to fix vintage sewing machines. She said the basement is full of used machines they can use for parts.
Custom quilting is yet another service offered by the Escanaba business. Often it’s just putting batting and a backing on a top layer of a quilt provided by a customer, but they can work on a project from the ground up, too.
Tebears donates quilts for community fundraisers and offers discounts to certain organizations, such as Quilts for Valor, which makes quilts for veterans.
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