retail report: Business changes on Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor

Further down the retail strip, Arbor Cleaners closed earlier this month, and has posted signs on its window directing people to two local Martinizing locations, both owned by Mark LeChard. LeChard sold the Martinizing location about 5 years ago, when it was renamed Arbor Cleaners. He owns four additional area Martinizing stores, and says that business is going “well enough.” When asked about his thoughts as to why Arbor Cleaners closed, he said “Every dry cleaners is down or flat in the last five years," adding that Martinizing does hold a larger marketshare than its competitors.

Continuing east, shoppers can find construction for a new Indian Market that will occupy the old Once Upon A Child spot. Patel Brothers is the largest Indian grocery store chain in America.

According to Rakesh Patel, “Our customers that shop at our locations in Michigan have been asking us to open in Ann Arbor for the last year. We did our market survey and saw a good potential.”

Patel Brothers has 49 locations, including three other locations in Detroit area. The shop specializes in Indian spices, beans, rice and exotic fruits and vegetables. Patel was hoping to open a market around 8,000 sq ft, but settled on a smaller shop when he found the space on Washtenaw Avenue.

“Indian food is becoming more famous and more mainstream,” according to Patel, “we are noticing a change in our customer profile, we are seeing about 15 percent non-Indian customers in our stores, which is very exciting for us, as this opens a new market for us to penetrate.”

One mile south of Washtenaw, at Packard and Platt, are a number of other ethnic specialty markets and eateries. One of those is Bombay Market, an 8,000-square-foot shop opened in 2010 by owners Mukesh and Bharti Patel.