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Posted on Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 5:57 a.m.

Contemporary men's clothing shop to open on Ann Arbor's East Liberty Street this week

By Lizzy Alfs

The owners of Maple, a clothing store in Birmingham, Mich., plan to bring their retail concept to the streets of downtown Ann Arbor — at least temporarily.

Brandon Schram and Brad Friedman, the owners of the men's store, signed a three-month lease for the 700-square-foot space at 406 E. Liberty St., tucked between Le Dog and Elmo’s T-Shirts.

maple_clothing_store.jpg

The new Maple men's clothing store is located on East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor.

Lizzy Alfs | AnnArbor.com

“Maple is a contemporary men’s shop with a nice and very curated selection of menswear brands that really cannot be found in this area,” Schram said.

The demographic, he said, is fashion-conscious 18 to 35-year-old men, including University of Michigan students and young professionals. Maple carries clothing, accessories and shoes, which Schram said mostly are contemporary east and west coast brands. A list of brands can be found on Maple's website.

Schram, a U-M graduate, and Friedman are completing their own design and build-out on the East Liberty Street space. They painted the building, cleaned it out and brought in displays. The store’s soft opening is this week.

The building is registered to Beverly Bell, according to city documents. The space was listed with Colliers International's Ann Arbor office.

“Our whole back wall is two old doors from a factory in Corktown (Detroit)…we like to make the spaces represent ourselves in a fun, relaxing atmosphere — even if people aren’t shopping.”

They also have plans to utilize the courtyards in the back and side of the building.

“We chose that location because we kind of felt that area — State and Liberty — in terms of retail, is better than South University. We kind of like being a destination and it’s right in the heart of the local business area.”

As two young entrepreneurs, Schram said the pop-up concept is intended to build brand awareness. They hope to open a pop-up in Detroit and maybe a few other markets, and they plan to launch an online store in the next two months.

“The goal is to kind of build a brand…and create a following,” Schram said. “We like to do different and unique things.”

If the concept works in Ann Arbor, he said they might do something more permanent.

“I have a lot of respect and a lot of hope for the city of Ann Arbor,” he said. “I think it really needs something like this…it offers a little more variety to the students who don’t want to go to the malls and order online.”

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

Barb Roether

Thu, Sep 6, 2012 : 2:10 p.m.

Good luck to them. Whether or not this is your style why not encourage new ventures? Let's welcome new business and creative ideas. This town is unique in its mix of people. Give them a chance! It sounds like a great new idea.

An Arborigine

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 10:53 p.m.

How encouraging that they "have a lot of hope for the city of Ann Arbor", but I am well north of their target audience demographic. Should I want to purchase some of their curated collection, I have a lot of hope that my money will be accepted.

javajolt1

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 1:53 p.m.

I'm guessing the University of Michigan isn't going to take kindly to these people altering the "M" logo for their own commercial purposes. http://www.thatsmaple.com/#!untitled/zoom/c1eeh/image1f2g

towncryer

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 1:21 p.m.

Very nice paint job, seems like an odd location though. Good luck with that courtyard idea, you will need it.

phdeez

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 1:20 p.m.

This is good news, for me at least. The only place downtown to buy men's clothes for fashion conscious 20-somethings and 30-somethings is Urban Outfitters, and they cater to a younger crowd. I think it could bring a new demographic to the area.

Kyle Mattson

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 4:30 p.m.

I'll second that phdeeze, retailers offering clothing for those of us beyond our college years is extremely limited downtown. Then again I do a majority of my non-food shopping online, which is obviously part of what makes it difficult for b&m retailers to survive. I'll be sure to check out this new concept though.

thinker

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 11:51 a.m.

I kind of don't think I'm in their demographic.

Chip Reed

Sat, Sep 1, 2012 : 11:42 a.m.

Now I have a new problem! My menswear is insufficiently curated.