Marketplace

Good-bye to Fresh Seasons

“What has affected us most over the years is the construction. Liberty or Stadium has been worked on for five out of the last six summers, and summer is our season,” says Ben Stahl, who with his wife, Lynda, bought...

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More Marketplace Changes

Bob Gregor has moved his Singer Sewing Shoppe from Jackson Road to a much larger location on South Maple, across the street from Kroger. He’ll use the added space to host sewing and quilting classes that bring in customers...

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Passing the Baguette

In October, baker Jeff Renner celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the “Best French Bread in Town”–that’s the actual name of his business–and lost his biggest outlet with the closing of Fresh...

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T-shirt Flagship

In late October, Underground Printing moved across the street and up the block to a bigger location next to Good Time Charley’s on South University. How much bigger? Co-owner Ryan Gregg put it this way: “Our new sign...

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Cooking Classes at Kerrytown

Since September, more than a dozen local chefs have been dishing up on Wednesdays and Sundays at Hollander’s new upstairs kitchen store. They include familiar chefs dating back to the old Kitchen Port days–like Marge...

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Core Components opens

Sheng Han’s parents bought him his first computer when he was nine years old, and he promptly tore it apart. Then he put it back together. “I took apart every toy and game they ever gave me, from cars to...

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Pilar’s on West Liberty

“I would like to think of people walking or biking up to my restaurant,” says Sylvia Nolasco-Rivers, who in late November opened Pilar’s Tamales in the space on West Liberty vacated when Tienda la Libertad...

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Wise Guys opens

Kerry Thompson says you can find a lot of good Coney Island hot dogs around town, but “nobody in Ann Arbor I know of offers the Vienna hot dog anymore.” So in September Kerry and his younger brother, Kasey, opened...

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Flash with a Heart of Denim

Pitaya, the new women’s clothing store in half of the former Shaman Drum (the half that was once Wild’s Menswear, if you go back that far), hit the ground running. The second week it was open, the staff was unpacking...

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Seafood Trio

When I moved to Ann Arbor from the East Coast ten years ago, seafood withdrawal was my only fear. From cherrystone clams on the half-shell to Chinese steamed carp, from Mediterranean seafood stews to mackerel sashimi, from...

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Wild Bird and Biggby

There are more than sixty million birders in the United States–but Lisa Haanpaa, the new owner of Ann Arbor’s Wild Bird Center, doesn’t consider herself one of them. “I’m not technically a birder;...

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Wireless Zone

Locally owned 20-20 Wireless changed the name of its three area stores to Wireless Zone last summer. It wasn’t a sale, explains co-owner Debbie Patterson, but a conversion: “That means they take an existing...

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Points south

Long before Cafe Habana, Sabor Latino took Ann Arbor beyond Mexico to other destinations south. But the Latin American dishes on its old menu felt like afterthoughts–a few appetizers or turnovers that were listed on the...

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Marketplace Changes

Chelsea: Resale Bliss, Cranesbill, Dollar Arena, Rose CottageResale Bliss aims to help out at least two good causes in Chelsea–its landlord, Cranesbill Books, and Hearts Community Service.The shop operates on the...

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yogurtrush

When a sign announcing yogurtrush appeared a few months ago on State Street, it looked as if the block had suddenly grown a new storefront. But a closer look reveals that it’s actually part of Amer’s deli–a...

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Peartree Store Closes

Jennifer Schroer and her twin sister, Amy Bolt, opened Peartree Furnishing & Gifts five years ago in Chelsea. Their particular metier was freshly elegant takes on English country-home styles and the appropriate accents to...

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Park Shoe Repair fills a niche

When Kay Kendall retired last year, she sold her shoe repair shop on North Fourth Avenue to Todd Roberts and Duane Thomas. We don’t cover service businesses in this column, so we didn’t write about it. But now we...

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Running Fit’s new HQ

The new headquarters of Running Fit on Jackson Road, which serves as both retail store and warehouse space, is the former Church of the Nazarene. That seems entirely fitting. For Randy Step running is a religion, and the bouncy,...

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The new black

In food fashion, local is the new black. Chef Brandon Johns put his locovore stamp on Vinology before leaving to open his own uber-local restaurant, the Grange Kitchen & Bar, last summer. Since then, Vinology has been...

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Asian Fuzion Cafe Opens

Phet Young owned Jasmine Thai & China Bistro in Saline for five years. Where was it? “That’s what everybody ask!” she laughs, delighted that her point has been made for her. “We tuck all the way...

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