Tom Brady (Detroiter, not Patriot) bought Vellum on Main St. last spring, saying he would open one of his Jim Brady’s Detroit restaurants in the space this year. He won’t make that deadline, because he put this one on hold while he opens another in Royal Oak.
Brady explains in an email that the Ann Arbor location “was too good to pass up, so we jumped on it knowing that we weren’t doing anything with it immediately.” It will happen next year, he says, adding, “We are very excited to become a member of the Ann Arbor community!”
Brady grew up in his grandfather’s Diamond Jim Brady restaurant and owns Diamond Jim Brady’s Bistro in Novi. This is one of three Jim Brady’s Detroit restaurants he’s opening to freshen the Jim Brady brand.
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Goodwill of Greater Detroit broke ground in late September for a store on Carpenter Rd. next to GFS. Like its sister stores in Commerce Township, Woodhaven, and Livonia, this 14,000-square-foot beauty will be a glamour girl of the resale industry. Jeff Ukrainec, VP of donated-goods operations, says the new generation of resale stores is designed to look like department stores, with wood flooring, carpeting, and classy lighting.
“We’ve created a new image,” Ukrainec says. “These are very attractive buildings, a great addition to any community. People shop there for treasures.” Though winter is coming on, he promises that the store will be open on schedule in mid-January: “We work with the same developer. They know the footprint and how to time it.”
