ann arbor is overrated. » Blog Archive

No Buzz At All

Acme Mercantile owner Nina Juergen talks about her motivations for opening her store in a column in this month’s Current that explains a lot about the A2 retail scene. “There was no place [downtown] I could get tampons, toilet paper, cough medicine…once you got here you were stuck.” But she says it didn’t work out that way since “unless you’re a CVS or something that can afford to lose money on one of the stores, you’re just not going to make it here.” So, stymied by the chain competition of all those CVS’s around downtown, she turned to what “Biz Buzz” writer Nora Flaherty calls “general merchandise with a kick to it,” the kind of stuff that actually sells in A2. “Mints? How about ‘national embarrass-mints’ with a picture of George Bush on the tin?” Maybe if they’re also infused with essential tea tree oil.

26 Responses to “No Buzz At All”

Maybe this isn’t considered “downtown,” but couldn’t one purchase those items at the Village Apothecary? The toilet paper might be questionable, though. What about the Villiage Corner? Those items are available there, right?
posted by Young Jeezy on August 8th, 2005 at 1:06 pm
You can get certain general items at the Village Apothecary, which is pretty far from my house, but they have an extremely limited and expensive selection. My car broke down in Chicago (where I didn’t miss having it at all) so I’ve been forced to do that lately, but as soon as I replace it, I probably won’t be going there any more.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 8th, 2005 at 1:20 pm
There’s something frightening about imagining your basic existence supplied only by Village Corner and Village Apothecary. Full disclosure: I shop at both regularly and love the gals who work in the pharmacy at VA.
posted by JennyD on August 8th, 2005 at 1:37 pm
A good summing-up quote I heard from an older resident recently, “Downtown Ann Arbor is like a resort town - you can buy anything you don’t need.”

Since AAiO is soon going to be co-located with Urban Oasis, the current heavy lifter of the Ann Arbor Community Car Co-op, maybe you’d be interested in carsharing on a trial basis before replacing your car?
posted by Murph on August 8th, 2005 at 3:23 pm
Possibly…do you know anything about the details (rates, locations)?
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 8th, 2005 at 4:03 pm
there’s also the prescription shop on washington by division. and i would guess that white’s market is another option. and perhaps that bodega on state near william, too.

i guess i don’t buy enough tampons, toilet paper, or cough medicine to care all that much about the prices. if you ask me, the most expensive part about living downtown is the panhandler tax. (i know — just say no …)
posted by peter honeyman on August 8th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
AAiO - TBD. It’s in a reorganizing phase right now since some of the main past members are leaving town and the car that was in use died and a new one is lined up for donation, so “I don’t know” is the details I can give offhand. Plus, I’ve been an inactive member for a while and haven’t been to the meetings.
posted by Murph on August 8th, 2005 at 4:45 pm
If Nina is who I think she is, she comes into my place of work rather often and she’s pretty nice. That doesn’t keep her store from being somewhere I’d never dream of entering.

I think I’m spoiled by walking everywhere–Village Corner was a frequent shopping place for me even when I lived by Elbel Field and then on Spring and “the rudely-named street.” Therefore, my idea of “walking distance” is probably considerably different from other people’s. I expect their legs are probably stunted from having to work the brake pedals in their SUVs with the Sierra Club stickers on the bumper (yes, I’m a little grumpy today).
posted by Lazaro on August 8th, 2005 at 4:50 pm
Actually, I’m surprised how often the dang Clark station across the street has what I need.
posted by Brandon on August 8th, 2005 at 5:00 pm
Are you talking about the Clark on Main? That’s a nice Clark, with plenty of Red Bull. The Villiage Corner has almost everything a person could need, inlcugin some dope cigars.
posted by Young Jeezy on August 8th, 2005 at 10:48 pm
ACME is good, you should try it. I got a really high quality toy accordian there. It comes in really handy when you’re drunk.
posted by stella on August 9th, 2005 at 6:04 am
A toy accordian for when you’re drunk certainly does fall under the heading of “Life’s Essentials”. But do they have grown-up sized pogo sticks for when you’re high?
posted by Parking Structure Dude! on August 9th, 2005 at 9:00 am
I can’t even ride a pogo stick when I’m sober.
posted by Real Big on August 9th, 2005 at 10:19 am
I got a couple sweet martiki glasses at ACME once. As for the “panhandler tax” downtown, my solution is to wear this:

http://www.tshirthell.com/store/product.php?productid=322

Of course, it only works if they can read…
posted by Dave on August 9th, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Does anyone else ever feel like the Village Apothecary woman looks at you with unbridled hatred in her eyes the moment you walk into her store?
posted by Real Big on August 9th, 2005 at 3:32 pm
No, I always thought she was checking me out.
posted by Young Jeezy on August 9th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
Ha-Ha
posted by just me on August 9th, 2005 at 10:29 pm
my column, checked on my favorite website! i couldn’t be more excited. for those of you who mentioned the village apothecary and the other drug store, i actually did mention those in the column. so worry not. i actually did do my research.

and since i’m moving away and i don’t have to worry about being evenhanded, i’d like to say that those of you who speak of living in this town without cars are either living in a dreamworld or very very wealthy.
posted by nora on August 14th, 2005 at 11:25 am
Those *without* cars are very wealthy? Funny, I would’ve though not having a car would be far cheaper than having one.
posted by Alex(andra) on August 15th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
I lived for years in East Lansing and Detroit without a car, and I was trying to get by on very little income and no wealth at all.

My parents, who weren’t at all wealthy either, didn’t have a car until I was a teenager. We just walked, biked, or took a bus or cab.

Nowadays people are shocked to hear that anyone in the Midwest would dare to have offspring without an internal combustion vehicle standing by.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on August 16th, 2005 at 1:50 am
Screw cars - just wait until I get a Segway.
posted by Real Big on August 16th, 2005 at 3:46 pm
I’m sure that’s true, Larry, but isn’t it sort of true of any semi-new technology? I mean, there are some university programs where you are expected to have a laptop, even though that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. I’m sure people don’t walk distances that they would have walked when you were growing up, but I would guess that that’s because they’re expected to have a car available at all times to get to places that you do absolutely need a car to get to.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 16th, 2005 at 4:19 pm
New technology? How old do you think Larry is?
posted by Parking Structure Dude! on August 16th, 2005 at 4:31 pm
Well, cars really became mass-market items in the 20’s, right? 40-year-old technology is still pretty new by some standards, especially if adopting it requires a massive infrastructure change.
posted by ann arbor is overrated on August 16th, 2005 at 4:36 pm
Having seen Kraftwerk live, I’d say that the time when man and machine are indistinguishable from another is not too far off in the future. That will do away with anyone being expected to have a laptop for class, as it will come standard in each human cyborg.
posted by Real Big on August 16th, 2005 at 4:57 pm
“New technology? How old do you think Larry is?”

Why you young whippersnappers, I’ll have you know that my Ma and Pa didn’t own no horses, neither.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on August 16th, 2005 at 11:42 pm