Owners of Big George's in Ann Arbor open new West Bloomfield store

The new showroom, which is located at Orchard Lake and Maple Road next to Plum Market, replaces a less visible store that was located one mile south on Orchard Lake.

That store — which opened in 1991 as a builder’s supply house — transitioned into selling directly to consumers when the building market took a dive, said Mark Bishar, vice president of marketing at Home Appliance Mart.

But the location was inconvenient and lacked accessibility, he said. The solution: Move to a highly visible intersection in a newly remodeled shopping center.

“(At the old location) we had a restaurant next to us that gobbled up all our parking,” he said. “People would say they didn’t know who we were and where our store was. It was going downhill, and this was a great opportunity for us.”

The new location also has a “lifelike” showroom, which has the appliances in kitchen settings featuring local companies. This allows the customers to visualize how the appliances will look in their homes, Bishar said.

“By featuring local cabinet makers we want to show our customers the true commitment we have to Michigan companies,” he said in a release.

Since having a grand opening celebration last week, Bishar said customers have been positive about the move. They’ve also hired three additional staff and plan to hire five more.

“People tell us how happy they are we moved, how easy it is to get to the building and they love the mall,” he said. “Everyone says it’s been a good thing for us and we just hope it will be.”