A few weeks back we covered local party stores that had branded themselves to indicate an affiliation with U-M that wasn’t actually there, then walked it back after obviously receiving a letter from South Campus.
I have come to realize that two, AND POSSIBLY MORE, party stores in town are not avid A2R.S readers.
“Big House Of Liquors,” Stadium Blvd. (C)A2R.S
This past Saturday we discovered that one of the stores we profiled has gotten bold and redone their sign. In recent years this sign has been a red-white-and-blue motif with a generic helmet-shaped object, but now it’s fully winged once again.
Meanwhile, down in SoPac:
This is Mike’s Big House of Liquor, see. Not plural. Totally different. (C)A2R.S
Block M In the window. (C) A2R.S
The recently reopened Exxon station has gone in hard on the Block M. I could kind of understand this at the West Stadium location above, which is actually a short walk from Michigan Stadium, but Packard and Platt is kind of a hike for tailgating! Though the parking rates have to be pretty reasonable.
At this point it’s up to the Packard and Stadium Circle K store to raise the ante. Over the summer they suggested that the rebuilding would begin in September, but now that they can sell beer, I think they’re waiting until football season is over.
SPECIAL COMMENT: alcohol consumption actually dehydrates you. I know this, but I had to go for that alliterative headline.
Next month it’s time to say goodbye to Mark’s Carts, the food-truck court located off Washington Street between Ashley and First — not just for the winter, like most years, but forever. The space is going to be converted to overflow seating for Bill’s Beer Garden and display space for Downtown Home and Garden, to which Mark’s Carts are physically connected. (All three businesses are Mark Hodesh projects; he sold DHG to an employee a few years back to concentrate on the carts and the beer garden, while still maintaining its continuity.)
While many of Mark’s mainstays were dedicated to truck life, several of them grew out of the court and into permanent locations, including eat. (now a Packard Road mainstay), San Street (now Miss Kim in Kerrytown), and The Lunch Room, which has expanded to two Lunch Room locations and the Detroit Street Filling Station. Other local restaurants, like Hut-K Cha’ats and Satchel’s BBQ, used Mark’s to reach into downtown from their permanent locations.
Where will the food trucks park now? Sometimes they pop up around town before football games and other specials (they were an advertised feature at a recent Michigan Soccer event). After the old Pinball Pete’s building burned down, there was a plan at one point to locate trucks in the resulting alley between Middle Earth and University Towers. Before all of these things, though, you know what this town had? Food courts.
Ann Arbor’s longest-running food court, of course, is the basement of the Michigan Union, a popular crash pad for all U-M students, and some of the staff, not that I would know, har-har-har.
The Michigan Union. (C) The Regents of the University of Michigan
The Union is home to a bevy of quick-service (the alternative phrasing for “fast food”) restaurants, including a Wendy’s that has a breakfast menu (but does not sell Kids’ Meals) and the World’s Busiest Subway Restaurant. (Every school of a certain size makes this claim, especially Notre Dame. What do you want, a medal?) It has been this way since at least the 80s.
Upstairs there has been a coffee shop of some sort for at least a generation. A few years ago, Amer’s (of the delis on State Street and Church Street) left in a rush and was quickly replaced with Starbucks; its neighbor on the same floor, the U-Club buffet restaurant, was closed with great fanfare and replaced with an Au Bon Pain. This was a win-win because:
the U-Club’s dining room was reserved for patrons and only open during the restaurant’s hours; the new design opened up a lot of flexible study space in a high traffic area
The nearest Panera is, like, a block away, and that’s a bit of a hike
(Although this is an Ann Arbor-focused blog, I need to pay tribute to Eastern Michigan University’s well-appointed food courts. When I was a student, lo those many years ago, we had all kinds of options, many of them names you would recognize. U-M can’t keep one afloat, but at EMU we had two Taco Bells — one on the north side of campus near residence halls and the other on the south side of campus near Cross Street — and a “Domino’s Pizzazz” experimental store that sold personal-sized pizzas. Thor may be able to summon lightning from the sky with his mighty hammer, but thanks to the A&W restaurant in Hill Hall, I could use my EMU Dining plan to buy a freshly poured gallon-sized jug of A&W Root Beer whenever I wanted. FROST GIANTS? FROSTY MUGS? I ASK YOU, SON OF ODIN, WHO IS THE TRUE HERO NOW?
Today’s Eagles may be thrilled about their new Chik-Fil-A, but what do they do on Sundays? Probably their laundry, at their parents’ house, same as it ever was.)
Anyway, north of the Union and east of Mark’s Carts, Ann Arbor made a tentative step into downtown indoor retail when Tally Hall opened in the 80s, sort of modeled after a successful indoor mall in Farmington Hills by the same name.
“Tally Hall Food Court, July 23, 1986.” (C) The Ann Arbor News.
Tally Hall never achieved full occupancy, and nearly half the food court’s tenants closed within a year. A name change, to Liberty Square, didn’t help. After the original retailers and the food court closed, the ground floor became a pop-art gallery, and eventually U-M offices; the basement, where the above photo was originally taken thirty one years ago, is today shared by Menlo Innovations and TechArb.
On South University, the Galleria opened a couple of years later, with a food court as well. The basement hosted several quick-service food counters, but the only one I remember was Cretan Cafe, which originally the gyro counter at Arborland when Arborland. This attempt at underground dining also never took off, and the space was eventually hollowed out to fill with arcade machines when Pinball Pete’s consolidated its William St., Packard St., and South University locations in the space.
As mentioned above, Arborland had an often-vibrant food court during its years as an enclosed mall. The only names I remember anymore, though, have pleasing alliteration, like Cretan Cafe and Kruse’s Kreamy Kreations. Am I imagining that there was an Arby’s in there? (I’ll update this when someone tells me in my Facebook comments.)
Briarwood Center Court, undated. (C)VCC Global IP, NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO TEH HOLDER
Finally, Briarwood. Briarwood has always had an interesting lineup of restaurants, including a Farrell’s and a Sanders (and I know it had an Arby’s), but it’s never had a food court. When the fountains were removed in the late ’00s, food stands were introduced into center court to create a food-court vibe, but it never really achieved the density you expect from a Detroit-area food court. Most of the tenants — Starbucks, Mrs. Fields, Wetzel’s Pretzels, Pinkberry, Tatsu Sushi — are more like pick-me-ups or snacks than proper meals (though I did enjoy many one-dollar hot dogs from Fruit Monster Smoothies, when that was a thing).
Friend of the Blog Josh Charson recently posited in my comments that the time was right for a Food Hall in Ann Arbor. After reading this Eater article, I am pleased to report that Josh’s never-wrong streak remains unbroken. Please feel free to comment below, or find me elsewhere online to share your thoughts.
Join me, won’t you, for a quick drive up a couple blocks of State Street?
If you live in Michigan, you have no doubt stored beverages on your patio or deck, in your garage, or otherwise taken advantage of the winter climate to rapidly chill them. And you know what it’s like – if it’s warm enough or you don’t forget about them for too long, it’s nice and cold. If it’s too cold for too long, they freeze up and burst. But once in a while you manage to dance the line between liquid and frozen, and when you open the super-cooled drink it instantly chills into a slush right in the bottle. There are YouTube videos about this but leave it to the innovative beverage scientists at Coke to reproduce this effect on demand: behold, the Arctic Coke Machine.
“Arctic Coke” cooler at Speedway, State and Ellsworth. (C)A2R.S
This skirting of the laws of physics is now available as a value-add for Coke, Sprite, and Powerade at the State and Ellsworth Speedway store. It is right next to 12 taps of ICEE beverages, including Coke, but I guess sometimes it’s worth extra to drink it out of a plastic bottle? Oooookay. At least you get the science-experiment part.
Ellsworth west of State Street. From left: Timbits, tenantless, Tireman. (C)A2R.S
Across Ellsworth from Speedway, at the northeast corner of the roundabout, a lot was accidentally left vacant when Tim Horton’s and Belle Tire crammed into the area behind the oil change place. Fortunately, this oversight is quickly being corrected. A sign at the Jimmy John’s driveway says “Join Jimmy John’s and Pearle Vision,” so count on Pearle showing up in this building when it’s finished, and possibly leaving Briarwood? Pearle is currently next to Apple; does Apple take the empty Pearle shell over and finally get that Somerset-size store? …nah.
Burger King and Hyatt Place signs adjacent to northbound State Street. (C)A2R.S
This small, lit “Burger King” sign recently showed up by the side of State Street. While the Hyatt Place sign behind it is right next to the new Hyatt’s driveway, this Burger King sign is not really next to anything. (I was near the gas pumps of the overpriced Mobil station here when I snapped this photo.) I believe it was placed here to advertise the presence of a Burger King on Victors Way, behind the Mobil station, but if you tried to turn at this sign, you would be a little lost, because the BK parking lot is not connected to the other parking lots. Not that this would stop Mark Borchardt (warning, language):
Burger King’s investment in a permanent sign, no matter how low-profile, leads me to think its distinctive Victors Way location is here to stay. That building in front of the Hyatt is currently being finished and now displays a “Retail For Lease” sign. No drive-thru. Still not sure what it’s going to be.
I haven’t spent much time in Briarwood lately, although I did photograph a small change to a big part of the mall last time I was there, and friend-of-the-blog Chris was good enough to remind me to mention it. When I first noticed it last month, I thought it was an oversight, or an odd joke — the winking neon “OPEN” sign, in the window of the hollowed-out shell of MC Sports.
Parking lot entrance of former MC Sports, currently Colby Bounce. (C)A2R.S
However, it turns out the space has been filled with a bouncery and minigolf establishment, Colby Bounce.
Mall entrance of Colby Bounce, Briarwood Mall. (C)A2R.S“Colby Bounce” entrance with policy sign. (C)A2R.S
Which returns this space’s purpose to, once again, an ephemeral enterainment destination. Can movie screens be far off? Is “bouncery” a real word?
READERS WRITE: Jeremy recently asked what I know about the history of the current Pretzel Bell, on Liberty and Main. You may have realized by now that I pretty much only do research for this thing to find old photos, so hopefully you won’t be too disappointed if I just recall this for a moment.
Prior to the current, less-divey Pretzel Bell, this space was Lena and Habana, a Cuban restaurant upstairs and a bar downstairs. Cafe Habana was originally on Washington Street below the Blue Tractor and proved so popular it was spun out into its own space. I never dined at Lena, but Habana had good chips and salsa and a couple of their own-label beers that were drinkable and I suppose I’m sorry to see them gone.
“Parthenon Restaurant, May 1995.” (C) The Ann Arbor News.
Before it was Lena and Habana, it was the Parthenon, a Greek restaurant. I took a little ribbing last week for saying UO was open for “zillions” of years on State Street, so I’m going to be more conservative this time and note that Parthenon was open for at least five but not more than one hundred years.
“Cunningham Drug Stores, 1940s.” Bentley Historical Library, used with permission. (Just kidding, I didn’t ask)
Before that it was a Cunningham Drugs, a Detroit-based chain which, long after this location became the Parthenon, would eventually become part of another Detroit chain, Arbor Drugs. Arbor Drugs would eventually be acquired by CVS Health.
I’m Of A Certain Age and, though I’m largely used to it now, I still can’t quite describe the je-ne-sais-quoi of CVS as a legit drugstore. CVS was originally introduced to the Detroit area as a drugstore substitute in all the local malls. They had the general-merchandise, health-and-beauty, and snack stuff you find in a CVS of today, though they did not have a pharmacy. They are open later than the mall now, and actually fill prescriptions! You kids don’t even know how “okay, I guess” you have it!
Here’s the first Amazon Locker I have observed in Ann Arbor. It’s outside the Speedway fuel station/convenience store at North Maple Road and Miller Avenue, near Skyline High.
Amazon Locker at Maple-Miller Speedway. (C)A2R.S
You can specify this Locker, one of many throughout the world, as your ship-to location instead of your home or office; when your order is delivered you receive a code via text that lets you open a door and retrieve the shipment at your convenience.
If this sounds familiar to you as an Ann Arbor resident, it’s because you are a patron of the Pittsfield or Malletts Creek branches of AADL, who have offered this service for hold requests for years.
This is Speedway’s latest foray into self-service colocation at one of their always-open stores;; in the twilight of Blockbuster Video a few years back, they placed a Blockbuster Express — essentially a Redbox, but blue — just inside their State and Ellsworth location, near the front door and the ATM. Unlike that kiosk, this Amazon Locker is located outside the building. Its touch screen was not yet operational today, but the protective plastic bubble over its security camera has already been shattered.
UPDATE: Russ Collins, Executive Director and CEO of the Michigan Theater Foundation, believes reports of UO’s departure are exaggerated. His post below:
Dear Facebook- truly FAKE NEW was posted on my page,Please know Urban Outfitters is not plannig to leave Ann Arbor….
MTF owns the State Theater upstairs, so Russ has particular insight. He can’t be talking about me, of course — nothing about this site should be construed as journalism — but I stand by the historical portions of my post. Please continue to treat the world-burrito-shops part as speculation. Thank you for reading, A2R.S
I consider this a seismic shift for State Street retail. UO’s space was originally the main floor of the State Theater, a single-giant-screen movie palace built in the early forties, then converted to four screens in the late seventies. (If inside the store, I believe, the giant “URBAN” logo on the back wall is where the big screen used to be.)
Although the ground floor was completely renovated for Urban Outfitters’ opening in the early 90s, the two upstairs theaters were left as-was, and were reopened by Aloha Entertainment as a second-run bargain theater in the 90s.
“Billie Spurlin, renovating the State Theater, September 1992.” (C) The Ann Arbor News.
A few years later they pivoted to more Michigan-Theateresque indie and arthouse fare. I caught “Clerks,” “Kids,” and “The Blair Witch Project” here during their original releases. Those are the first three that come to mind. Finally, they joined the Michigan Theater Foundation and became part of their programming schedule, with additional classic midnight-movie selections.
The State is presently closed for renovation to make it ability-friendly and to restore its original 40s look. I kind of hope they fix it so you don’t have to look slightly to the left at the screen all the time.
Urban Outfitters’ space might be the first in a while big enough to open one of those too-small mini Target stores with no selection, but I can’t imagine how they will manage the deliveries. Apple could make it work, but Briarwood will never let them leave. I predict that it will be divided into at least two storefronts, and each space will be a different regional-cuisine take on the burrito or wrap sandwich. State Street doesn’t have enough sandwich places.
There’s always the possibility these days that U-M or a dot-com will take it for office space too. But I’m still betting on the sandwich places.
It is well worth your time to click through to Mark Maynard’s post, he and his commenters ask some great questions about what’s going to happen to local retail. In general, I predict a continuing shift to services and experiences, the kind of things you can’t get in a box that comes tomorrow from Amazon — though I still think a little Target store will come here eventually, for students who enjoy the shopping experience as well as the unprepared who can’t wait for Prime.
Big changes in a small world, Liberty between downtown and Scio Township: a sudden closing and an omen of things to come.
A reader reports that Pizza Pino is now closed on Liberty at First Street. Despite the name, Pizza Pino was one of those shops that had pretty much everything on the menu, including sandwiches and seafood. They were open until ridiculously late, which made them an ideal after-party destination for nearby bars and clubs.
Their single-slice sales were usually cold pizza under glass, which they would put back in the oven and warm up — not my favorite way to eat pizza, though for some reason I’m usually okay with it when NYPD does it. Still, I will miss this place’s garlic knots at 2am after a good show at the Blind Pig (just like, someday soon, I’m sure I will miss the Blind Pig).
“But their site is still up, B-Dub,” you’re saying. This seems to be a common malady among independently owned takeout shops. Bell’s Pizza has been gone for a year, and yet if you google, there are still sites that will gladly take your money to order from them. The end, no moral.
“Mobil Paint, 1967.” Ann Arbor District Library, CC BY-NC-SA
Pino’s location was apparently a house once upon a time, later a gas station. Eventually it became a paint store, which outlasted its beloved but bygone neighbor Schlenker Hardware on the block, but finally moved to South Industrial. This opened the space for Pizza Pino about ten years back, a harbinger of Downtown’s shift from service businesses to dining and retail.
Depending on how you look at it, Buscemi’s are either party stores with exceptionally good pizza, or very well-stocked pizza and sub shops. There’s been a convenience store here for years. When we were younger, it was called Liberty Market, but was eventually rebranded Buster’s after the owners closed the original Buster’s Market closed at Packard and Platt. (The site is now a Rite Aid.)
I would provide further details, but I have a problem. Every time I turn into this shopping center, I have to go to Chela’s. Sorry.
