Goodbye to College Shoe Repair
“We had a big [hockey] stick rack here, and they took that away,” said Dale Camfield, pointing to an empty spot in the front of College Shoe Repair. “We started crying, because my dad bought it–and I...
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Fancy Papers by the Airport
Feb 14, 2011 | Marketplace |
Ann Arbor is already famous for one paper store, the astonishingly beautiful Hollander’s in Kerrytown. For many tourists and locals alike, a stroll through Hollander’s sheets of chiyogami beats a walk in the Arb or a...
Read MoreIn the works
Feb 10, 2011 | Marketplace |
Sharp-eyed customers at Downtown Home & Garden may have noticed some activity behind the store–trenches being dug, low walls going up, and most recently, a tall, elegant iron fence defining a small concrete lot....
Read MoreThrough a glass, locally
Feb 9, 2011 | Marketplace |
Mosaic artist Haley Alcock was sick of driving to Lansing for stained glass and other supplies, but she didn’t have much of a choice. “There were no glass shops in this area,” she says. “So I got the idea...
Read MoreEve’s blooming riot
Feb 7, 2011 | Event Reviews, Marketplace |
As a fan of Eve Aronoff’s elegant eponymous restaurant in Kerrytown, I kept an eager eye on her casual new place, Frita Batidos, during months of construction delays. Peering through gaps in the brown-papered windows on...
Read MoreDealership Redo
Feb 4, 2011 | Marketplace |
Suburban Chevrolet Cadillac Saab Hummer saw some big changes in the past year. One of them was Hummer: it’s gone. General Motors deep-sixed the brand after a deal to sell it to a Chinese buyer fell through. That shrank the...
Read MoreAdvantage Sports Opens
Feb 3, 2011 | Marketplace |
After twenty-four years in computer sales, Mike Charles walked away six years ago. “My kids got good at sports,” he explains, “and I got tired of missing all their [games].” He cashed out a couple of...
Read MoreCozy without coffee
Jan 27, 2011 | Event Reviews, Marketplace |
TeaHaus, the purveyor of bulk teas on Fourth Avenue, recently pushed through a wall to add a distinctive eatery. TeaHaus’s new parlor is pleasantly decorated with IKEA-esque furniture and antique accessories, but the big...
Read MoreFlat Top Grill arrives
Jan 26, 2011 | Marketplace |
Though Flat Top Grill doesn’t like to be compared with bd’s Mongolian Grill, that’s the short-cut explanation that’s going to resonate with Ann Arborites. What’s now bd’s has been around so...
Read MoreSuch a Find now in resale row
Jan 24, 2011 | Marketplace |
The recession’s been good for Melanie Diana and Such a Find Antiques–so much so that in December she was moving her shop from a house on Packard to a storefront in Colonial Lanes Plaza on South Industrial in the...
Read MoreSprint Store
Jan 23, 2011 | Marketplace |
“If you’re a cell phone company, why wouldn’t you want your product in a cell phone store?” asks John Jabero, who along with his brother James, owns the Wireless Toyz franchise on Fourth and Washington....
Read MoreCafé Uno
Jan 22, 2011 | Marketplace |
Some Ann Arbor business owners end up relocating to outlying towns in search of a more affordable space. Former Divine Java owner Marina Teodorovic did it the other way around. She closed her high-rent Chelsea coffeehouse when...
Read MoreSquares opens
Jan 16, 2011 | Marketplace |
One of the shortest-lived restaurants ever to hit Ann Arbor was Yoshi’s, which lasted for less than six months last year in the Liberty Street spot Dinersty occupied for years. Yoshi’s didn’t close because of...
Read MoreJazzy Veggie
Jan 12, 2011 | Marketplace |
On Main Street, less than a block away from Frita Batidos, another casual sandwich spot has taken pretty much the opposite tack. Where Frita Batidos proudly uses lard even in the bread, Jazzy Veggie is equally proudly serving...
Read MorePungent
Jan 10, 2011 | Event Reviews, Marketplace |
I come from a family interested in all things edible, but for my parents, particularly my father, limits do exist. A visit to a Korean restaurant, then, looked like a challenge. After all, the distinguishing characteristic of...
Read MoreChelsea Antique Mall Rolls In
Jan 8, 2011 | Marketplace |
Ed GreenLeaf Jr. says he never imagined he would be selling antiques in the space adjacent to Chelsea Lanes bowling center–a community fixture GreenLeaf opened in 1962. But when Aberdeen Bike & Fitness moved to a new...
Read MoreDowntown’s New Frontier
Jan 2, 2011 | Marketplace |
As if Ann Arbor had collectively cried, “We want cheap food, but enough with the burgers already,” three new downtown restaurants opened within a few weeks of each other. All are casual spots featuring sandwiches,...
Read MoreThe Semanskes Come Home
Jan 1, 2011 | Marketplace |
Olde Tyme Pizza opened at the end of August in the space formerly occupied by Jet’s Pizza in the Parkside Plaza strip mall on W. Michigan (Jet’s moved up the street earlier this year to the Oaks shopping mall). Olde...
Read MoreLocal Spirits
Jan 1, 2011 | Marketplace |
Ugly Dog Distillery makes and sells vodka under the same roof. “The idea was conceived at hunting camp with my German wirehaired pointer on my lap,” says co-owner Jon Dyer.Dyer, forty-seven, a Stockbridge resident...
Read MoreAll Aboard!
Jan 1, 2011 | Marketplace |
While you’re waiting futilely for the next trolley at the old interurban railway station on Jackson Road, you can enjoy fresh peaches, admire blown glass artwork, or even buy some mulch. Wackenhut Gartens sells all...
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