“Second song, White Album,” murmured Observer writer and former music seller Jim Leonard when he heard the name of the new store opening in Arbor Hills Crossing. Owner Prudence Kauffman confirms that her store in Arbor Hills Crossing, Dear Prudence, is indeed an allusion to the Beatles song, but so is she: “My older brother got to name me, and he loved that song,” she says–though she says she’s astonished whenever a customer gets the reference: “As Beatles songs go, that one’s a little obscure.” Kauffman’s original store is in Grand Rapids, where she lives, and this is her second.
Kauffman, forty-four, speaks frankly of her bout with uterine cancer several years ago, an experience that shook her up enough to start crossing things off her bucket list. One of those was to have her own store. Kauffman actually speaks frankly about a number of things. “I cuss like a sailor, probably because I work with men.” In addition to owning two stores, she also has a “day job”–often more like a night and weekend job–designing lighting systems for events.
Brisk and to the point, she describes Dear Prudence as filling “a niche for women’s clothing that is not crazy expensive but still looks cute. There are a bazillion boutiques where you can walk in and find something cute for $88, but not a lot where you can find something cute for $39.” She also sells artisan jewelry in that price range, like a line of textured, sparkly earrings in subtle earthy colors. “They’re druzy,” she explains, meaning a certain kind of glittery. The finely textured crystal is “what you see when you crack open a geode.”
Hot sellers right now at Dear Prudence are fleece-lined leggings. At $14, she says, “people come in and buy them in every color” (there are about half a dozen shades). Also, large square plaid “blanket scarves” ($24) that can be swirled around the neck or worn like a shawl. She gravitates toward clothes that are “loose, comfortable, lots of tunics.” She also gives the industry name for the styling detail that has crept into so many tops and tunics lately: shorter in front, longer in back, they’re called “high-lows.”
When asked about specific brands, Kauffman isn’t keen on discussing them by name. Part of the secret of navigating the complicated world of independent business is being a little cagey about brands. “We protect our brands. That’s what we bring to the market. We have stuff that nobody else has.” Instead of announcing them in print, she prefers that customers find out for themselves. “What’s frustrating about chain stores is you end up looking like everyone else. People like shopping here because we’ll have, like, six of something.”
3030 Washtenaw (Arbor Hills Crossing), 436-4394. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Sun. noon-6 p.m. dearprudence.com
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Stuart Marley writes that he’s in the process of moving his Real Irish store to downtown Brighton (it’s been replaced by Dear Prudence, see above). “It’s a great space with really good street visibility and foot traffic and still close to Ann Arbor for our local customer base.” His Irish tweeds, knits, and jewelry are also available through his online store, realirish.com.
