Longtime teammates and managers Lizzie Morgan Gray and Laurenn Rudd are opening the doors to Cottonseed Apparel as its new owners.

Diana and Marc Oberschulte founded the natural fiber apparel boutique in 1991 on the site of the original Post Office in Glen Arbor at the corner of M-22 and Lake Street.

The Oberschultes announced the sale of their business after 30 years to Morgan Gray and Rudd (pictured above), with Diana telling the Leelanau Ticker, “They have been with us as managers many years — Laurenn for 16 and Lizzie for eight. They are very accomplished, and it was time for me to move on to new things.” She says she will be working on “quite a few projects within the village of Empire,” where the Oberschultes reside.

She adds, “The very best part of the Cottonseed business was the customers — people from all over the world who were happy to be in Glen Arbor and be relaxed  — the best people I could have chosen to be around. Glen Arbor is a just a special place.”

Morgan Gray says, “We’re really excited to be able to carry on what they’ve created.”

As the duo kick off the season, she says, “We love the buzz of it all — you can just tell when all of a sudden it goes from ‘not-summer’ to ‘summer,’ and you never know who you will run into and where they are from.”

Rudd grew up in Lake Ann; Morgan Gray is from Chicago, having spent summers at her grandparents’ home in Glen Arbor. “This was originally a summer job, for both of us,” says Morgan Gray, “and now it’s become a career.”

Oberschulte adds, “Laurenn and Lizzie are a terrific team. They are going to carry on with vitality.”