Our Story

Welcome to Quark!

We are so glad you stopped by- this website, our store, or both! We hope you enjoy the curated collection we have to offer!

Thank you for supporting a small, locally- and woman-owned business, located in the awesome city of East Lansing, Michigan, home to Michigan State University.

We take time and care  researching and vetting products to ensure you will enjoy high quality, lasting, useful, and beautiful science/STEAM* themed products. We hope they will make you smile!

We at Quark! love science! We are curious about our world and passionate about raising awareness of science in our everyday lives. Science is literally everywhere, and it can be connected to anything! Celebrating and sharing the enthusiasm, excitement, and wonder we find in science, with everyone who stops by for a visit, is what brightens our day!

The idea for Quark! originated with Renee Leone in 2017, while coordinating the MSU Science Festival. After passing the baton of “SciFest” coordinator, she went to work learning how to plan and start a small business. She opened her East Lansing storefront in 2021.

Renee is a former therapist with a Master’s in counseling psychology. She has since pursued a variety of wonderfully interconnected interests, which have all played a role in her journey to opening Quark!.

Two particularly key experiences that contributed to Quark! were Renee’s position as Montessori Directress and her work as the Founder of the MSU Science Festival. Both of these roles provided her with opportunities to share the beauty and wonder that is fundamental to observing, researching, experimenting, discovering, learning, and better understanding ourselves and our world.

Quark! sparks curiosity and imagination by sharing useful products that reflect, on a daily basis, the sciences we love and enjoy; as hobbyists, professionals, or just curious individuals.

(*STEAM= Science Technology Engineering Art & Mathematics)

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

The Quark! Team, Renee, Isabel, Olivia and Sarah