Arborland hasn’t yet found anyone to fill Borders’ shoes, but down at the east end of Arborland the last year has been a busy one.
Arborland’s mini-mall with the Starbucks on one end now has America’s Best opticians as the other bookend. It used to be in the middle. Manager Baise David says Five Guys Burgers and Fries will open in June in America’s Best’s old spot.
Another new tenant in the middle of that mini-mall, between Coldstone Creamery and Noodles & Company, is the Sleep Number bed store that used to be in Briarwood. Manager Chris Berghuis says it’s above his pay grade to speculate on why the store moved. “Location is one of those corporate things–they do all the studies and make the decisions.” But he did allow that the new store is nearly three times the size of the Briarwood space. “Our old location didn’t have room to display all the bed models. And I like [the new spot]. I like Noodles & Company.”
What Berghuis can do is demonstrate the product. A tour through the Sleep Number bed store is kind of like a trip to the Hands-On Museum, except you can lie down. Push buttons, and the mattresses move up and down. Walk around, look in display cases, and there are other things to squeeze, stroke, and marvel at, like the fabric (full of “nanotubes”) that magically disperses heat and always feels cool to the touch, and sheets with actual silver filaments woven in that supposedly have antibiotic properties.
America’s Best, 3601 Washtenaw Ave. (Arborland), 973-1969. Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-7p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. www.twopair.com
Sleep Number, 3597 Washtenaw Ave. (Arborland), 668-2035. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. noon-6 p.m.
