The departure of one longtime merchant from Kerrytown Market & Shops has made room for two newer businesses to grow.
Mackenzie Schuch, owner of the Nuuyuu Collective consignment boutique, says she was “shocked and sad that 16 Hands was leaving, but also excited to take on the legacy of that space and have a successful business in there.”
The retirement of 16 Hands owner Jill Damon (Marketplace Changes, February) made room for Nuuyuu. Schuch moved down the hall in May, increasing her shop’s floor space by about half, “but it honestly feels like double the space, just because of the layout and the taller ceilings” in the historic Godfrey Building.
Since opening in 2024, the young entrepreneur has consistently booked twenty booths, which resellers rent for $35 per week, often waiting two months for the opportunity. The expansion allowed her to add five more booths and to double the dressing rooms to four. Tailored for closet clean-outs, Nuuyuu lets sellers set their own pricing and keep 65 percent of the sales, which typically nets them $100 to $300 per week, Schuch reports.
The 2023 EMU grad didn’t expect this to be her professional path, but she now describes it as “a passion project that I’m happy doing forever. It always tests my mind, like doing the first tax season as a business and getting to experience my first move. All of these upgrades and things are just helping me learn how to be a better business owner, which feels good.”
Meanwhile, The Kitchen Loft is opening a sister store, The Knife Spot, in Schuch’s former 615-square-foot space near its existing storefront, which opened in 2021. It will feature a much larger selection of cutlery, along with cutting boards and sharpening tools and services.
Owner Gretchen Gill Woods had wanted to offer cooking classes when she opened the Kitchen Loft in 2021, but her 1,000-foot space is already brimming with table linens, kitchen towels, gadgets, cookware, and other culinary essentials. The annex, slated to open in late July, will help fulfill her original vision, hosting classes and cooking demonstrations spearheaded by one of her key original employees, dietitian Karin Elling-Gardner, and other guest chefs.
Woods’ expansion continues a pattern from the space’s previous tenants, Spun and Found, which each outgrew it and now occupy ground-floor storefronts in the indoor shopping center. She credits the growth to responsiveness to customer requests to carry certain items and to the positive climate at Kerrytown.
“I love this place so much I have a hard time even articulating it,” she says. “The other shop owners are fabulous. Everybody’s super supportive.
“This is the best customer base that I’ve ever worked with, and I’ve had a whole entire career in retail. Everybody just has a wonderful spirit here, and there’s very much a shop-local mentality here that makes our small shops thrive instead of struggle. And I wish that could go to a larger scale across the country.”
Nuuyuu Collective, 407 N. Fifth Ave. (Kerrytown Market & Shops, second floor). (517) 366–9618. Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. nuuyuucollective.com
The Knife Spot, 407 N. Fifth Ave. (Kerrytown Market & Shops, second floor). (734) 780–7087. Mon.–Fri. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. aakitchenloft.com
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