“We’re Storytellers.”
When the news broke last year that Downtown Home & Garden was closing, everywhere I went, people wanted to know: what will happen to the building?
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Business
Dark Patterns in the Tattoo Business
Cyber scamming has become endemic to the tattoo industry. The scammers’ M.O. is to mine an artist’s social media pages for photos and videos of their work, then create fake accounts impersonating the artist. Scammers contact potential clients seeking to arrange appointments, for which they require a deposit.
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Gretchen Gives the House Away
Gretchen Preston started her first early childhood education center, Gretchen’s House, on the Old West Side in 1982. By the time she had reached her seventies, the business had expanded to eleven centers, and Preston was looking for a succession plan that would protect its mission long-term.
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Reckoning With the Loss of Kline’s Lot
Kathleen London’s customers at London Beauty & Spa at 306 S. Main are used to parking in the Kline’s lot, crossing the alley, then popping in the back door to reach her shop. But with the sale of the Kline’s lot between Main and Ashley, which was approved by city council in September, those 144 parking spaces will disappear.
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Doors Open at the Big House of Dorms
By the time you read this, 2,300 U-M students will have settled in at Wolverine Village, U-M’s first new dorm in over half a century. U-M spokesperson Brian Taylor says the $649 million housing complex represents a 25 percent increase in university-owned housing capacity. In 2026, he adds, nearly 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students will live on campus—“the most ever.” How will this addition to the housing supply affect the affordability of Ann Arbor’s broader housing market?
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Defying Density
The eight-acre parcel in Ann Arbor Twp., just south of Glazier Hill Nature Area, was once a farm and remains home to hundreds of trees. Its owners, a family in Massachusetts, have an agreement to sell it to the Centennial affiliate. The plan is for Ann Arbor to annex the land and zone it R4B, a multiple-family dwelling district allowing a density of up to fifteen residences per acre.
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On the Ballot in November: A New Power Structure
Proposal E would amend the city charter to create a municipal electric utility run by a nine-person governing board, with five elected members and four appointed by city council.
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Fueling Up With Fried Chicken
Food trucks can be a convenient—and trendy—way to get a fast meal and support an entrepreneur. They can also be a regular feature at gas stations, even if the surroundings are less than romantic.
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The List Is a Launchpad
The List, a local giveaway and discovery email list, features a different Washtenaw County small business every week, alongside an interview, a giveaway, and a weekend events roundup. Since launching on February 3, 2025, they’ve profiled more than seventy businesses and racked up 332 email subscribers and 1,888 followers across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. The service is free for featured businesses and subscribers.
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Trading Card Rewards
“It is really exciting to be able to talk with people who originally pulled these cards from packs, and hear about which convenience store they purchased them from and what the gum tasted like.”
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A New Bridge Between Ann Arbor and Detroit
A new initiative spearheaded by U-M and the Detroit Regional Chamber aims to generate a renewed age of economic prosperity for southeast Michigan.
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Faster, Higher, Stranger
High-rises and luxury student apartments are transforming Ann Arbor’s skyline, and the streets and neighborhoods below.
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Tough Break Hotel
After scathing reviews, Blue Suede’s Exhibit A2 has left the building.
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Starry-Eyed
A group of local chefs and business owners hope to lure Michelin to Ann Arbor. In April, Michelin announced its first Great Lakes edition, rating restaurants in Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. (It has published a Chicago guide since 2010.) Michelin reviewers have begun visiting restaurants, and the guide is slated for publication in 2027.
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This Year’s Big Health Scare
The public fight between Michigan Medicine and Blue Cross Blue Shield is tormenting the patients and families who depend on them both.
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Dorro and Goliath
U-M alum Rachael Merritt and her team hope to offer an alternative to Amazon with Dorro.
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Downtown Dead Zone
The west side of the block is a kaleidoscope of historic storefronts housing Vinology restaurant, Crazy Wisdom bookstore, and half a dozen other businesses. Across the street, the vacant stone-and-glass facades of PNC and JP Morgan Chase loom over the sidewalk like silent ghosts.
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Mom Bosses of Ann Arbor
Powered by a collaborative spirit and inspired by their journey as mothers, these moms are reshaping the local business landscape.
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Innovation District?
One mysterious February morning, three modern, minimalist signs appeared on Plymouth and Traverwood roads: “ANN ARBOR INNOVATION DISTRICT” in clean white letters against gunmetal gray, along with a sciency, symmetrical symbol in simple blue.
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Data Center Traffic
Opponents of the Oracle data center in Saline Township had a laundry list of objections—electricity rate hikes, water consumption, the spoiling of the landscape. But for the moment, the biggest concern is truck traffic.
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