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

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 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.”