After decades in the boot business, husband-and-wife team Bill and Pam Conn opened Wines on Main in November. It’s next to their Mule Skinner Boots, which moved down the street last year. “This is my retirement shop,” says Pam, explaining that Bill runs Mule Skinner while she focuses on wine. “Bill is never going to retire,” she says, “and as much as I love cowboy boots, this is something different.”

The shop sells “boutique wines” as well as accessories and gift items, including art from local artists. The most novel may be the “wine clutch,” a $25 insulated wine cooler that doubles as a purse, complete with corkscrew. “It’s popular with bridal parties,” Pam says.

She says the shop is friendly to wine connoisseurs and novices alike. Her wines are “from mom-and-pop farms and smaller vineyards” and range from $8 to around $100. The store holds daily wine tastings and offers cheese and sausage plates; Conn will work with a chef to expand the menu for a full “wine and dine” experience. Conn and manager Alta Brown host a weekly wine tasting class, which often includes an art project, for $25 to $35 per person. And the Conns’ wine mentor and longtime friend, Lee Hershey, hosts classes at the store.

Running a wine store may sound like a dream job, but Pam is careful. “I’ve learned how to spit,” she laughs. “Otherwise I’d have to go home every afternoon to nap.”

Wines on Main, 110 N. Main, Chelsea, 562-2264. Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. noon-4 p.m. Closed Mon. winesonmainchelsea.com

Bonnie and Scott Cook say renovations “are really coming along” on their planned baby and children’s gift shop next to Wines on Main. The Cooks, who also own the Potting Shed gift shop on Middle St., have also been busy with changes at their other stores: In November, they replaced Cut Loose Clothing, their women’s casual apparel shop on Middle Street, with Twigs, which features “Up North, lake, and cabin” gifts. They’ve moved the Cut Loose merchandise to their second Potting Shed location on Main, which has been renamed Violet & Moss. “Now all of the clothing is together there in one location,” Bonnie explains.

Twigs, 105-1/2 W. Middle, Chelsea, 475-0900. Daily 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Violet & Moss, 108 S. Main, Chelsea, 475-0200. Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Two custom printing shops recently opened in Chelsea: Ink Frenzy moved into the Clocktower Complex, a couple of doors down from the Chelsea Alehouse, and Chelsea Custom Shirts has set up shop next door to Twisters Ice Cream on S. Main.

Ink Frenzy’s Travis Cox opened his storefront in November after running the business out of his home for a year. He prints custom apparel and other products for local schools, businesses, sports teams, and fans–the Chelsea Bulldog logo is everywhere. “We’ve got twenty varsity sports teams here in Chelsea, plus all the travel teams,” he says, so business has been brisk. His and his wife Wendy’s three athletic school-age boys get their pick of merchandise. And yes, people do come into the retail shop and buy merchandise that hasn’t been screen printed.

Michael O’Neill ran Chelsea Custom Shirts out of his home for a few years while waiting for a vacancy at the Twisters location. During warm weather, he envisions “the lines will be curving to my window,” drawing in business. O’Neill is a retiree from both the Chelsea Fire Department and Detroit EMS, where he made custom-printed apparel for public safety officers and nurses–everything from hats to scrubs. He still uses the same custom trailer with a screen printer and will visit organizations to print merchandise on the spot.

“We’ll make what you want when you want it,” he says, with shirt sizes in newborn to 5X, “and I can get 8X on a twenty-four-hour delivery … we can get you up to 168 colors, even though we show just the top ten in our store.” While both businesses offer a plethora of products to customize, O’Neill says he stays away from the school market. “We focus more on the private customer,” he says, and he also names several local businesses and organizations as clients. O’Neill’s son, Thomas, is the business’s graphic artist, and his wife, Laura, who works as a nurse, handles the financial side.

Ink Frenzy, 420 N. Main, ste. 400, Chelsea, 562-2621. Mon., Wed., & Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tues. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Thurs. 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.-noon. Closed Sun. ink-frenzy.com

Chelsea Custom Shirts, 901 S. Main, Chelsea, 922-2013. Mon.-Sat. 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Closed Sun.

In November, Tecumseh residents Tom and Kathy Lucha opened a Sprint authorized retailer in the Chelsea Shopping Center. It’s the couple’s fifth Sprint store, joining locations in Tecumseh, Adrian, Jonesville, and Saline. They offer cell phones, tablets, and mobile broadband devices, as well as home and business phone service.

Sprint Authorized Retailer, 1080 S. Main St., Chelsea, 562-2768. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m.

Affordable Computers has opened a sales location inside Chelsea Lanes. The creative pairing unites manager Kevin Fletcher’s day job at the twenty-year-old Ann Arbor-based computer company and his part-time gig at the bowling alley. Fletcher pitched the shop-while-you-bowl concept to his friend and Chelsea Lanes owner Eddie GreenLeaf.

“We offer corporate-grade laptops, desktops, and monitors that were leased and have been refurbished,” Fletcher explains. While the sales venue is “a little different, it’s been well received so far.” About a half-dozen machines are on display–PCs from $200 to $400 and Apple computers from $300 to $1,200–and the store is open whenever the bowling alley is. “Eddie sold one just a couple days ago,” Fletcher says.

Affordable Computers, 1180 S. Main (inside Chelsea Lanes), Chelsea, 475-8141. Tues. & Thurs. 3-10 p.m., Wed. noon-10 p.m., Fri. 3-11 p.m., Sat. noon-midnight. Closed Sun. & Mon. affordablecomputers.com

In February a Swisher real estate “For Lease” sign hung in the window of the former Plaid Melon Cafe on Main St. Owners Dave and Tessa Gallinat ended sit-down restaurant service in September after two years in business, briefly continued carry-out and catering, and closed in November.