Мастерская по обивке мебели B62 открыла новый магазин в центре Овоссо

OWOSSO — For years, Emily Olson's upholstery business operated largely out of sight, tucked upstairs in a downtown Owosso building. That didn't stop customers from finding her. They came carrying dining chairs, boat cushions, benches, bicycle seats and other items, climbing the stairs to ask whether Olson could give their worn-out pieces new life. Now, the answer is yes. Olson, owner of B62 Upholstery, recently opened a storefront at 204 W. Main St., expanding the business beyond its roots in classic truck and custom car upholstery kits and into full-service residential, commercial and automotive upholstery. The space previously housed Round Midnight Records, which closed in 2025. Olson had operated B62 Upholstery from the rooms upstairs for years. “I hate a downtown storefront that sits empty, it drives me crazy,” Olson said. “I really geek out on this kind of thing; getting the place established and having a residual effect that spills over into the community. I love that and having this place not sit empty was a great opportunity.” The storefront, which has been undergoing renovations for the past month, is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and by appointment. But the new space isn't just about making B62 easier to find. “The expansion isn’t necessarily so much for me as it is, OK, what role can B62 play for Owosso?” Olson said. B62 Upholstery began with Olson's interest in classic cars and her willingness to learn a new skill. Olson said she learned upholstery from her husband, who works on classic cars. She was making quilts for her sister for Christmas when her husband suggested she try upholstery. “I was like sure, I guess, how hard can it be?” Olson said. She bought a sewing machine, took apart automotive seats stitch by stitch and tried to figure out how to put them back together. That eventually grew into B62 Upholstery, which specializes in do-it-yourself upholstery kits for classic trucks and custom cars. The business was founded in Washington, then moved to Arizona before Olson relocated to Owosso in 2021. Today, Olson has customers throughout the country and internationally, including in places such as Sweden, Germany and Australia. Much of that business remains upstairs, where Olson and her team design, pattern and sew seat kits by hand. Customers can order kits customized to fit their specific year and make of vehicle and install them themselves. “I’ve got like a bajillion hours behind the sewing machine creating templates, creating patterns, and dumbing down things and making kits for customers to install,” Olson said. Olson said the upstairs operation will continue to focus on manufacturing kits for classic trucks and cars, while the new storefront will allow B62 to take on more local upholstery projects. The move into the storefront was driven in part by a demand Olson couldn't ignore. Week after week, local residents would make their way upstairs with furniture and other items they wanted upholstered. “B62 was mainly focused on automotive but there was a demand for furniture, people kept dropping stuff off,” Olson said. The new storefront gives Olson a place to offer those services while also allowing customers to browse fabrics, discuss projects and purchase remnant fabrics by the yard. The expansion also opens another possibility: creating do-it-yourself upholstery kits for projects beyond cars. Olson recently began exploring kits for dining room chairs, giving customers the materials and instructions they need to tackle projects themselves. “I’m starting to realize how many things I can actually turn into DIY focused kits as well, like dining room chairs,” Olson said. “I could provide all the elements of the recipe and people could do it themselves from home.” For Olson, that could create another way for B62 to grow while keeping the hands-on nature of the business intact. Olson also hopes the new space eventually can become a place where people learn the trade. She sees upholstery as a potential career path, particularly for women in rural communities who may be looking for a way to work independently. “I really feel like it's such a great way for women to make a living,” Olson said. “You can do it in your living room, you can do it in your garage. All you need is a nice machine and some skill and some firsthand knowledge. “I forever thought this was a great path for enabling women to have a much higher than minimum wage job in more rural areas. There’s an endless well of need. Especially with old cars and boats and now you add in furniture. I do it to make a living, sure, but also simultaneously this is a really unsaturated market for individual contract workers to be able to make a good living and provide for themselves.” For now, the storefront is a new chapter for a business that has already traveled from the Pacific Northwest to Arizona and eventually to downtown Owosso. Olson isn't looking to leave. “We’re not going anywhere,” she said. B62 Upholstery is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and by appointment. The shop can be reached at 989-494-3619.