Village Corner to reopen in The Courtyard Shops near North Campus by September
Village Corner will reopen this month in The Courtyards on Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor.
Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com
Owner Dick Scheer said the longtime market, party store and wine cellar should reopen in the The Courtyard Shops by September. The market is located in the former Tanfastic space, between No Thai! and Jet's Pizza.
“We have our final city inspection and we’re finishing up some work,” Scheer said. “We’re getting flooring put in and fixtures. We hope to be open by the end of the month.”
Village Corner closed its South University market in November to make room for construction of 601 Forest. That project also replaced the former Bagel Factory and the properties housing the Laundromat and Campus Student Bike Shop.
Scheer said that moving off campus means his inventory at the market will change slightly and it will be a “specialty goods only” shop.
“This location is smaller,” he said. “It will be mainly a beverage store and we’ll still be big in wine. We’re not going to be carrying Pop-Tarts, Twinkies, gallons of milk and loaves of Wonder Bread anymore.”
The new Village Corner will be stocked mostly with beverages, cheese, cigars, glassware and accessories, Scheer said.
“It’ll be the sorts of things people like to buy when they buy wine,” he said.
Although Village Corner was a staple on South University for years, Scheer said the location in The Courtyard Shops is easily accessible, has free parking and is attractive to a wide variety of customers.
“By and large, suppliers and customers I’ve been speaking with are all enthusiastic about the new location,” he said. “They seem to think it will be a good spot for us.”
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.
Comments
ClaytonB Johnson
Mon, Aug 29, 2011 : 11:51 a.m.
It'll be great to see you back in biz Dick. BEst of luck to you.
John A2
Sun, Aug 21, 2011 : 3:22 p.m.
I'm sure they were very well compensated for the move.
J Shaker
Fri, Aug 19, 2011 : 2:22 a.m.
hey good for you guys. see you after you open.
blueprof
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 9:27 p.m.
It is great news that they are reopening and in a location that will be easier to park and load. VC doesn't need to rely heavily on local neighborhood traffic for their main business (wine). People all over AA and beyond know them and shop there b/c they carry the largest and deepest wine inventory of any place in the area. As for residents near central campus needing access to groceries without a car, it is super easy in AA. AA has a heavily subsidized public bus system (subsidized in part by the university). It has extensive reach to commercial areas all over the city from campus and downtown and is either cheap or free (depending on your status). You can easily use a bus to get to Kroger, Hillers, Whole Foods, Buschs, and other places with full stocks of groceries.
treetowncartel
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 4:26 p.m.
hmm, it'll be harder to pimp beer at this new location, but I wish them luck. Oh the memories I have of that old store. Also, when did the coffee break change its name?
BobbyJohn
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 4:04 p.m.
Yes, the wine club is back w/ the great walk around tastings of many DOZENS of quality wines, and the discounted prices! Great to have the Scheers back in action.
SMC
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 3:55 p.m.
From my observation, there's no need for a grocery store in that area. The current batch of UofM students either have a car, or the financial means to take a cab to Meijer and back, whenever they need to buy groceries. As long as there's a place within walking distance to buy beer...
constantreader
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 2:57 p.m.
Hooray that VC will be back soon! I hope the Wine Club will start up again also? Any change in a local institution like the Village Corner feels a bit sad, but in truth most of the core rather than casual customers will probably find it an improvement to be able to park more easily.
David Cahill
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 1:13 p.m.
This is good news for the north side!
leezee
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 12:58 p.m.
KJMClark, have you been in the "wine" shop near the hardware store? Nice folks who own it, but it's a joke if you love wine. Very limited selection and full of all kinds of odd knick-knacks. Dick Sheer knows his wine. This is a welcome addition to the North side. I also have to say that I find it amusing that everyone is grousing now about the loss of VC as a place for students to pick up groceries. Maybe they can put a grocery store in the fancy new high-rise they plan to build there FOR THE STUDENTS!!
omniskeptic
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 12:58 p.m.
People who buy wine at Kroger's aren't really in Dick's chosen demographic.
Hot Sam
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:44 a.m.
All the best to Dick and Sally!!! I'll be there!!!
A2comments
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:34 a.m.
When store owners haven't done traffic studies and really on opinions of vendors and friends, I worry about their ability to be successful. If I was investing that kind of money, I'd pay for a study. I wish them the best.
Angry Redneck
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 12:17 p.m.
Please tell me this comment is a joke....... It's going into a small space in a strip mall. They're not building a 10,000 sqft building on the corner of a busy intersection.
Arboriginal
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:24 a.m.
OMG!!! This is fantastic. Welcome to the Nouvelle North!
Jill Bridges
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 3:46 a.m.
I used to do most of my grocery shopping at the South U location-- that new CVS that opened up Downtown this past spring sells almost everything grocery-wise that VC sold and then some. Those of you that are hard up for groceries should check there. Between that and that weird little shop on East U by Zaragon, you should be able to get most everything you could get before at VC. That was how I managed after VC closed as a central campus student with no meal plan!
grimmk
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 3:12 a.m.
The one thing U of M needs is a grocery store easily accessible to students without cars. Downtown, North Campus, South U, you name it. A place that at least stocks the essentials and a small pharmacy. I remembered when I was in college, not at U of M, how hard it was to get REAL food. I had to beg rides off friends, not always the best solution, or take a shuttle bus that came once a week and would fill up quickly. At least it took us to Walmart.
Goofus
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 6:49 p.m.
Huh? This makes no sense. there's two small stores with "essentials" in the South U, a new 7-11 at the Diag, and a countywide bus system with Night-ride. There's lots of options for students to get groceries easily. Whole Foods and Trader Joes are 5 minutes away on a bicycle or bus.
A2comments
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 11:30 a.m.
Campus buses go across the street from Kroger on North Campus, and students can also ride AATA buses for free to Kroger / Meijer on Carpenter.
Goofus
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 3:03 a.m.
I'm a big fan of the northside area. Can't really tolerate South U anymore so this is bonus to me.
KJMClark
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 2:14 a.m.
... Except that there's a wine shop next to Carpenter Bros. Hardware in the Plymouth Mall, and Kroger also just up the street. I recall that VC was considered a fairly high-end wine shop though, so maybe they'll draw different customers. So where do people around South U go for groceries now? Except for the dorms, that's almost a food desert at this point. (Yes, I know there are restaurants, but 'food desert' usually applies to reasonably priced fresh produce.)
Not a valid excuse for a newspaper
Thu, Aug 18, 2011 : 1:44 a.m.
While there's no replacing the South U location nostalgically, the Courtyard Shops is a great place for a wine shop, and not too far from the former Bella Vino. They should have a great customer base in no time!
whatsupwithMI
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:54 p.m.
--- Village Corner closed its South University market in November to make room for construction of 601 Forest. That project also replaced the former Bagel Factory and the properties housing the Laundromat and Campus Student Bike Shop. --- Is that a new way of saying "these businesses lost their lease"?
81wolverine
Wed, Aug 17, 2011 : 10:11 p.m.
Probably better for VC, but it stinks for the people in the South U neighborhood who bought grocery items there. There's not much else within easy walking distance of the Forest St. location.