Best Shops in Ann Arbor: 38 Unique Stores Locals Go To

Five downtown Ann Arbor shops have closed.

That is the trouble with this question. The shops worth crossing town for here are nearly all independent, so they move, change their week, or shut, and an answer written two years ago quietly stops being one. An earlier version of this very page was still sending people to two storefronts that Google now shows as closed.

So this is built the other way round: 38 shops, every address and every opening time checked on 7 November 2026, grouped by the four pockets where the independents actually cluster, with the closures first so you can cross them off before you plan.

The headline number, if you only read one line: 10 of the 38 are shut on Sunday and 10 are shut on Monday, and 25 are open all seven days.

First, the ones that are gone or have moved

Each of these is corroborated twice, because one closed-looking listing is a lead and not proof. The second source is named every time.

• Hollander’s, 410 N Fourth Ave, Kerrytown. Moved to online orders only. hollanders.com, read 7 November 2026, states “we are an online store only, pickups allowed” and gives 3858 Bestech Drive, Suite B in Ypsilanti with a 10am to 2pm pickup window. That window is a collection counter, not a shop floor, so the Kerrytown browsing trip people remember is not available any more.
• Downtown Home & Garden, 210 S Ashley St. Closed at the end of 2025. Its own site still resolves and carries the notice: “DHG has ceased operations as of the end of 2025.”
• The M Den, 315 S Main St and 303 S State St. Both downtown stores are gone. mdenshop.com’s own retail-locations page lists only the Stadium Boulevard team shop as open, with North University and Westgate still listed as coming soon. Rally House now trades at both former addresses.
• Kilwins, 107 E Liberty St. The Ann Arbor shop is not in Kilwins’ own location sitemap, which parses to 195 store pages including eleven in Michigan. The old store URL redirects to the chain’s generic locator.
• Peaceable Kingdom, 210 S Main St. A bar, The Hidden King, is trading at the address as of the 7 November 2026 sweep.
• Falling Water Books, 213 S Main St. Fjallraven is trading at the address as of the 7 November 2026 sweep.

Two more that older lists still carry, Middle Earth on South University and Orchid Lane on East Liberty, show as closed on Google but could not be confirmed a second way, and neither has a new tenant at the address. They are left off the recommendations below rather than written up as closed. Call before you go.

Nickels Arcade: ten shops under one 1918 glass roof

If you have one hour and no plan, spend it here. The arcade runs between State and Maynard and holds ten independent shops end to end, which is the highest concentration of them in Ann Arbor. Six of the ten are shut on Sunday, so this is a Tuesday-to-Saturday block.

Nickels Arcade

A glass-roofed passage cut through from State to Maynard in 1918, and still the densest block of independent retail in the city. Ten shops under one roof, which is the only reason a rainy Saturday afternoon of browsing works here at all. The profile says the arcade is open 24 hours on Sunday. That is the walkway, not the shops, and the difference matters more here than anywhere else in town: see the Sunday count further down.

326 S State St. Mon 7am to 7:45pm, Tue 7am to 7:45pm, Wed 7am to 7:45pm, Thu 7am to 7:45pm, Fri 7am to 7:45pm, Sat 9am to 6pm, Sun open 24 hours.

Arcadian Antiques

Estate jewellery, small silver and the sort of furniture you have to think about for a week. Closed Sunday and Monday, which is the narrowest week in the arcade. Their own site also posts a second set of hours for a Main Street room, Wednesday to Saturday 11 to 5, that is not on any Google profile.

328 S State St, Suite 13. Mon closed, Tue 11am to 5pm, Wed 11am to 5pm, Thu 11am to 5pm, Fri 11am to 5pm, Sat 11am to 5pm, Sun closed.

Caravan Gift Shop

Imported textiles, brass and jewellery, and the shop most likely to solve a gift problem in under ten minutes. Tuesday to Saturday only.

3 Nickels Arcade. Mon closed, Tue 11am to 5:30pm, Wed 11am to 5:30pm, Thu 11am to 5:30pm, Fri 11am to 5:30pm, Sat 11am to 5:30pm, Sun closed.

Atomic Trading Co.

Mid-century glass, barware and lighting. Worth a look even when you are not buying, because the stock turns over fast enough that two visits a month apart look like different shops.

2 Nickels Arcade. Mon closed, Tue 11am to 5:30pm, Wed 11am to 5:30pm, Thu 11am to 5:30pm, Fri 11am to 5:30pm, Sat 11am to 5pm, Sun closed.

Bon Bon Bon

Single bonbons, built to order into a box you assemble yourself. The Detroit chocolatier’s only Ann Arbor counter, and the one shop in the arcade open every day of the week.

5 Nickels Arcade. Mon 11am to 7pm, Tue 11am to 7pm, Wed 11am to 7pm, Thu 11am to 7pm, Fri 11am to 7pm, Sat 11am to 7pm, Sun 12 to 6pm.

Elmo’s T-Shirts & Gifts

Michigan shirts that are not the licensed wall at a chain store. The hours are the tightest of any shop on this page: noon to 5pm, and noon to 3pm on Sunday. Turning up at 5:30pm does not work.

17 Nickels Arcade. Mon 12 to 5pm, Tue 12 to 5pm, Wed 12 to 5pm, Thu 12 to 5pm, Fri 12 to 5pm, Sat 12 to 5pm, Sun 12 to 3pm.

Maison Edwards Tobacconist

Pipes, tobacco and a smell you notice from the arcade floor. Open seven days, which almost nothing else in the arcade manages.

11 Nickels Arcade. Mon 11am to 6pm, Tue 11am to 6pm, Wed 11am to 6pm, Thu 11am to 6pm, Fri 11am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 6pm, Sun 12 to 5pm.

Ten Fine Jewelry

A bench jeweller rather than a case of stock, so come with a repair or an idea. Shuts at 4pm every day it is open, earlier than anything else here.

10 Nickels Arcade. Mon 11am to 4pm, Tue 11am to 4pm, Wed 11am to 4pm, Thu 11am to 4pm, Fri 11am to 4pm, Sat 11am to 4pm, Sun closed.

University Flower Shop

The arcade’s florist since long before the current fashion for them. Closed Sunday, so a Sunday-afternoon bouquet is not happening on State Street.

7 Nickels Arcade. Mon 11am to 6pm, Tue 11am to 6pm, Wed 11am to 6pm, Thu 11am to 6pm, Fri 11am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 6pm, Sun closed.

Parrish Fine Framing & Art

Framing, prints and local work. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 5.

9 Nickels Arcade. Mon closed, Tue 10am to 5pm, Wed 10am to 5pm, Thu 10am to 5pm, Fri 10am to 5pm, Sat 10am to 5pm, Sun closed.

Kerrytown and Fourth Avenue: the vintage and record stretch

The two blocks of Fourth Avenue either side of Kerrytown hold two vintage shops, an antiquarian bookseller and a record shop inside a five-minute walk. Fourth Avenue is where the independents went when Main Street rents rose, and it keeps later hours than Main Street does.

Kerrytown Market & Shops

Three connected buildings holding a cluster of independent tenants, and the answer to the question this page is about. The building opens at 8am on a weekday, well before its shops do, so the early hours get you a corridor and a coffee rather than a shop you can buy in.

407 N Fifth Ave. Mon 8am to 7pm, Tue 8am to 7pm, Wed 8am to 7pm, Thu 8am to 7pm, Fri 8am to 7pm, Sat 10am to 6pm, Sun 10am to 6pm.

Found

Salvage, paper goods, dried flowers and jewellery, arranged more like a set than a shop floor. Open seven days and until 7pm on weekdays, which makes it one of the few places in this guide you can reach after work.

415 N Fifth Ave. Mon 10am to 7pm, Tue 10am to 7pm, Wed 10am to 7pm, Thu 10am to 7pm, Fri 10am to 7pm, Sat 9am to 7pm, Sun 11am to 6pm.

Mudpuddles

A toy shop stocked by someone who clearly plays with the stock. Opens at 9am on Saturday to catch the farmers market crowd, an hour before most of Kerrytown bothers.

407 N Fifth Ave. Mon 10am to 6pm, Tue 10am to 6pm, Wed 10am to 6pm, Thu 10am to 6pm, Fri 10am to 6pm, Sat 9am to 6pm, Sun 11am to 5pm.

Thistle & Bess

Fine jewellery and small home goods, chosen tightly enough that the shop reads as one point of view. Closed Monday, and it shuts at 4pm on Sunday, the earliest Sunday close on Fourth Avenue.

222 N Fourth Ave. Mon closed, Tue 11am to 6pm, Wed 11am to 6pm, Thu 11am to 6pm, Fri 11am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 5pm, Sun 11am to 4pm.

Encore Records

Deep used vinyl and CD stock, including the classical section most shops this size gave up on. Seven days, 11 to 7, and noon to 5pm on Sunday.

208 N Fourth Ave. Mon 11am to 7pm, Tue 11am to 7pm, Wed 11am to 7pm, Thu 11am to 7pm, Fri 11am to 7pm, Sat 11am to 7pm, Sun 12 to 5pm.

Motte & Bailey Booksellers

Antiquarian and scholarly stock, heavy on history and the sciences. The one Fourth Avenue shop that is dark on Sunday, so pair it with a Saturday market run.

212 N Fourth Ave. Mon 10am to 7pm, Tue 10am to 7pm, Wed 10am to 7pm, Thu 10am to 7pm, Fri 10am to 7pm, Sat 10am to 7pm, Sun closed.

The Getup Vintage

Sorted by decade and priced to actually sell, which is rarer than it sounds. Opens at noon and stays open to 8pm six days a week, which is as late as any vintage rail in town runs.

210 S Fourth Ave. Mon 12 to 8pm, Tue 12 to 8pm, Wed 12 to 8pm, Thu 12 to 8pm, Fri 12 to 8pm, Sat 12 to 8pm, Sun 12 to 6pm.

Dear Golden

Curated vintage clothing with a much narrower gate than a thrift rail. Open Wednesday to Sunday only, so half the week it is a locked door.

211 S Fourth Ave. Mon closed, Tue closed, Wed 11am to 7pm, Thu 11am to 7pm, Fri 11am to 7pm, Sat 11am to 7pm, Sun 12 to 6pm.

Today Clothing

Streetwear and sneakers, and the only shop on this page that keeps the same hours every single day: noon to 7pm, seven days.

215 S Fourth Ave. Mon 12 to 7pm, Tue 12 to 7pm, Wed 12 to 7pm, Thu 12 to 7pm, Fri 12 to 7pm, Sat 12 to 7pm, Sun 12 to 7pm.

Olympia Skate Shop

Decks, trucks and the advice to go with them. Open seven days, 11 to 7, with a noon start on Sunday.

213 S Fourth Ave. Mon 11am to 7pm, Tue 11am to 7pm, Wed 11am to 7pm, Thu 11am to 7pm, Fri 11am to 7pm, Sat 11am to 7pm, Sun 12 to 6pm.

Main Street and Liberty: the long-established specialists

Main Street is covered shop by shop in its own guide. What follows is the subset worth crossing town for rather than the full inventory: the ones with a specialism nobody else in the county duplicates.

Vault of Midnight

Comics, graphic novels and board games over two floors. It runs to 10pm on Friday and Saturday, which almost nothing else downtown does, so it is the one shop here that works as an after-dinner stop.

219 S Main St. Mon 11am to 8pm, Tue 11am to 8pm, Wed 11am to 8pm, Thu 11am to 8pm, Fri 11am to 10pm, Sat 11am to 10pm, Sun 11am to 8pm.

Rock Paper Scissors

Cards, wrap and gifts, and a card wall that takes a while to get through. Open to 9pm six days a week, which on a Monday is the latest independent close downtown.

216 S Main St. Mon 10am to 9pm, Tue 10am to 9pm, Wed 10am to 9pm, Thu 10am to 9pm, Fri 10am to 9pm, Sat 10am to 9pm, Sun 10am to 6pm.

Cherry Republic

Everything cherry, out of Glen Arbor, with a tasting counter that will let you work through the wines and sodas before committing. Open seven days.

223 S Main St. Mon 10am to 7pm, Tue 10am to 7pm, Wed 10am to 7pm, Thu 10am to 7pm, Fri 10am to 8pm, Sat 10am to 8pm, Sun 10am to 7pm.

Schlanderer & Sons

A long-established Main Street jeweller and clock repairer. Closed Sunday and Monday and shut by 5:30pm, so this is a daytime errand, not a browse.

208 S Main St. Mon closed, Tue 9:30am to 5:30pm, Wed 9:30am to 5:30pm, Thu 9:30am to 5:30pm, Fri 9:30am to 5:30pm, Sat 9:30am to 5:30pm, Sun closed.

Abracadabra Jewelry and Gem Gallery

Loose stones, silver and custom work, with a tarot-and-crystal half that has been there long enough to stop being a trend. Tuesday to Saturday.

205 E Liberty St. Mon closed, Tue 11am to 6pm, Wed 11am to 6pm, Thu 11am to 6pm, Fri 11am to 6pm, Sat 11am to 6pm, Sun closed.

Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room

A bookshop with a working tea room upstairs, which is the part people forget. Open to 9pm Wednesday through Saturday and 6pm the rest of the week.

114 S Main St. Mon 11am to 6pm, Tue 11am to 6pm, Wed 11am to 9pm, Thu 11am to 9pm, Fri 11am to 9pm, Sat 11am to 9pm, Sun 11am to 6pm.

The Dawn Treader Book Shop

Stacked floor to ceiling with used and rare stock and a genuinely good science-fiction room. Open 11 to 8 six days, which is a long week for a used bookshop.

514 E Liberty St. Mon 11am to 8pm, Tue 11am to 8pm, Wed 11am to 8pm, Thu 11am to 8pm, Fri 11am to 8pm, Sat 11am to 8pm, Sun 11am to 6pm.

West Side Book Shop

Antiquarian books, photography and Great Lakes material. Normally shuts at 5pm, but the profile carries an 11am to 10pm Friday and Saturday, so call (734) 995-1891 before banking on a late evening.

113 W Liberty St. Mon 11am to 5pm, Tue 11am to 5pm, Wed 11am to 5pm, Thu 11am to 5pm, Fri 11am to 10pm, Sat 11am to 10pm, Sun 12 to 5pm.

Literati Bookstore

A public typewriter people leave notes on, and the best-stocked new-release table in town. One thing to know before you plan around it: the upstairs coffee bar is still closed, so this is a bookshop stop, not a bookshop-and-coffee stop.

124 E Washington St. Mon 10am to 8pm, Tue 10am to 8pm, Wed 10am to 8pm, Thu 10am to 8pm, Fri 10am to 9pm, Sat 10am to 9pm, Sun 11am to 7pm.

The Ann Arbor Art Center

The gallery shop sells work by Michigan artists at prices that start well under what the gallery wall suggests. Open seven days, to 7pm on weekdays.

117 W Liberty St. Mon 10am to 7pm, Tue 10am to 7pm, Wed 10am to 7pm, Thu 10am to 7pm, Fri 10am to 7pm, Sat 10am to 7pm, Sun 10am to 4pm.

WSG Gallery

An artist-run co-operative, now at 111 East Ann rather than the Main Street address older lists still print. Their own site posts a 10am Wednesday open and a 7pm Friday close that the Google profile does not carry; the gallery’s own hours are the ones above. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

111 E Ann St. Mon closed, Tue closed, Wed 10am to 5pm, Thu 12 to 5pm, Fri 12 to 7pm, Sat 10am to 5pm, Sun 12 to 5pm.

Argus Farm Stop

A year-round farm shop paying growers directly, with a coffee bar in the middle of it. 8am to 8pm every day, the longest and most predictable hours in this guide.

325 W Liberty St. Mon 8am to 8pm, Tue 8am to 8pm, Wed 8am to 8pm, Thu 8am to 8pm, Fri 8am to 8pm, Sat 8am to 8pm, Sun 8am to 8pm.

Ragstock

Bulk vintage and recycled clothing over two levels. Cheaper and messier than the Fourth Avenue shops, and open to 8pm seven days.

337 E Liberty St. Mon 10am to 8pm, Tue 10am to 8pm, Wed 10am to 8pm, Thu 10am to 8pm, Fri 10am to 8pm, Sat 10am to 8pm, Sun 11am to 7pm.

State Street and South University: past the licensed-merch wall

The campus blocks are mostly chains and team shops. Five doors are not, and one of them has quietly moved out to Jackson Road.

Wazoo Records

A narrow upstairs room of used vinyl that has outlasted most of State Street. Opens at noon on weekdays and 10am at the weekend, which is the opposite of every other shop here.

336 S State St. Mon 12 to 6pm, Tue 12 to 6pm, Wed 12 to 6pm, Thu 12 to 6pm, Fri 12 to 6pm, Sat 10am to 6pm, Sun 10am to 6pm.

Bivouac

Outdoor gear, decades deep, and the place to go when you have realised in October that you do not own a real coat. Note the Sunday: 11:30am to 5pm, the shortest Sunday of any shop on State Street.

336 S State St. Mon 10am to 8pm, Tue 10am to 8pm, Wed 10am to 8pm, Thu 10am to 8pm, Fri 10am to 8pm, Sat 10am to 8pm, Sun 11:30am to 5pm.

University Vintage

Vintage college wear and jerseys, aimed squarely at the Saturday crowd. One caveat: their own site says 10:30am to 7pm every day, which is what is printed here, while the Google profile pushes Friday’s open back to noon. Friday before noon is the one slot worth a phone call first.

324 S State St. Mon 10:30am to 7pm, Tue 10:30am to 7pm, Wed 10:30am to 7pm, Thu 10:30am to 7pm, Fri 10:30am to 7pm, Sat 10:30am to 7pm, Sun 10:30am to 7pm.

Underground Printing

Custom printing rather than a gift shop, which is the point: a one-off shirt beats another licensed hoodie. The South University counter runs later midweek than the South Main one.

1107 S University Ave. Mon 9am to 5pm, Tue 9am to 5pm, Wed 9am to 7pm, Thu 9am to 7pm, Fri 9am to 7pm, Sat 11am to 6pm, Sun 11am to 5pm.

Yourist Pottery Studio

Wheel-thrown pottery and classes, and a correction worth printing: the studio is out on Jackson Road now, not the Broadway address older guides give. Closed Monday, Thursday and Sunday, so three of seven days are a wasted drive.

6087 Jackson Rd, Suite 200. Mon closed, Tue 12 to 6pm, Wed 12 to 6pm, Thu closed, Fri 12 to 6pm, Sat 12 to 6pm, Sun closed.

Which day you turn up decides what you get

The dark days are not evenly spread, and they are the single most common reason a shopping afternoon here goes wrong.

• Mon: 10 of 38 shut.
• Tue: 2 of 38 shut.
• Wed: 0 of 38 shut.
• Thu: 1 of 38 shut.
• Fri: 0 of 38 shut.
• Sat: 0 of 38 shut.
• Sun: 10 of 38 shut.

Sunday and Monday are the days to avoid if browsing is the point, and Nickels Arcade is the sharpest case: 3 of its 9 shops here open on a Sunday, plus ONE DNA at number 12, which has no listing on this site yet. The arcade’s own profile reads “open 24 hours” that day. That is the passage, which is a public walkway, and not a single shop in it.

Coming after dinner on a Friday, 5 of the 38 are open until 9pm or later: Vault of Midnight, Rock Paper Scissors, Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room, West Side Book Shop, Literati Bookstore. Everything else downtown is locked by then.

Going early on a Saturday, 4 unlock before 10am: Found, Mudpuddles, Schlanderer and Sons, Argus Farm Stop. That is the window where the Kerrytown farmers market crowd and the shops overlap.

Every shop on this page, by the week

Hours read 7 November 2026. Where a shop’s own site and its Google profile disagreed, the shop’s own site is what is printed and the conflict is named in its entry above.

Where to go from here

If the question is narrower than this one, two other pages here split it up differently. The downtown Ann Arbor store list goes door by door through the Main Street and Liberty blocks rather than picking from them, and the Ann Arbor shopping guide is sorted by opening and closing time instead of by neighbourhood, which is the one to use if you have a fixed two hours and need to know what is actually unlocked.

For the vintage rails on their own there is the vintage and thrift guide, and the Kerrytown guide covers the market blocks a street over from Fourth Avenue.