2018 March

Chela’s Dexter Is Close to Opening

Several years ago, as the number of pizza restaurants in Dexter swelled to seven, the overabundance of pizza in contrast with the striking unavailability of a decent taco became a standing joke and was wryly noted by John Hansen...

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Smokehouse 52 Does It Right

Smokehouse 52 BBQ owner Phil Tolliver was taking various construction setbacks in stride as he prepared to open in March.”It’s really not unusual with these old buildings to uncover something else along the way that...

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Robin Hills’ Nest Takes a Break

Robin Hills Farm, a recreation farm and event space, began offering “hyperlocal and fresh” farm-to-table weekend brunches at its restaurant, The Nest, in January. By March, the restaurant planned to close temporarily...

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Chelsea Kidz Stop Closes

Chelsea Kidz Stop, which sold toys and clothing for the ten-and-under set, closed after more than three years in the Sylvan Building downtown. Heidi and Eric Langenderfer initially opened their shop at Oak Tree Plaza on Old...

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Tarfia Faizullah

Tarfia Faizullah’s first book, Seam, published in 2014, revitalized and changed documentary poetry in America. To write that remarkable book, Faizullah returned to her parents’ native Bangladesh, where she...

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ConsignChelsea Opens

Kate Astrakhan says she’s on a quest “to make parenting more affordable and convenient” with the opening of ConsignChelsea–home of ‘Round About a Baby & Kids. The mother of four and soon-to-be...

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Country Decor in the Country

In December, Susann and Bobby Thrasher converted their Werkner Rd. garage into the Country Cabin, a holiday and home decor store with a “primitive and country style.” Susann, who was a stay-at-home mom to her four...

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From Gigi’s to Maureen’s

A couple of days after Valentine’s Day, Maureen White-Goeman was still recovering from the rush at her new floral shop, Maureen’s Designs, which replaced Gigi’s Flowers & Gifts on Main. “It was our...

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Liberal Bubble?

Q. Are we living in a liberal bubble?A. There are differing measures of liberalism. A 2010 study ranked all 3,007 American counties based on ten criteria; Washtenaw was the seventeenth most liberal. It was one of just 487...

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Terry B’s Closes

Terry B’s closed in early March. Owner Coley O’Brien anticipated that the restaurant would be closed for three or four weeks–like all remodeling deadlines, subject to change–before reopening as The...

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Leveling Lovell

After thirty years in the small blue building at Hoover and Greene, Jordan Lovell Picture Framing is closing for good. The announcement comes on the heels of Southfield-based development company REDICO’s application to...

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Ann Arbor’s No Longer “R” Us

Toys “R” Us Inc. has announced that it will close both its Toys “R” Us and “Babies “R” Us stores in Ann Arbor as part of a larger restructuring in the wake of a September bankruptcy. The...

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One Less Phone Store

The phone store at S. Main and Stadium, full name Sprint by Generation Mobile Preferred, has packed up and moved to Ypsilanti. An employee told us that Generation Mobile Preferred thought that the store would do better at the...

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Hottest Major

In 2012, computer science didn’t even appear on U-M’s list of the top ten undergrad...

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