Around the corner and up the block, the retail options at 311 E. Liberty have shrunk slightly in the last year.

First, Avtomobile moved out of the basement. The young owners of the eclectic little gallery and craft shop, Maris Turner and Sarah Renner (you get an idea of their quirky personalities from the name of the shop, which is pronounced “automobile”–they just had a thing about the roman “u”), reportedly returned to New York, where they had worked as designers before they impulsively decided to chuck the corporate world and go back to the Midwest. Turner grew up in Chelsea, and Renner is from a small town in Ohio.

Second, Adorn Me and Bead Gallery consolidated to the ground floor to make way for Foxway Realty upstairs. Becky Foster, one of the managers, says that though the store’s square footage is reduced, the merchandise–funky clothing, especially accessories, for free spirits; and of course, beads–is still all there. “We got creative. We got rid of some clunky furniture, opened up the front window for retail space.” Both businesses are owned by Julie Van Dyke.

Adorn Me and Bead Gallery, 311 E. Liberty, 663-6800. Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. bga2.com