March 3, 2011 - 4:31pm
Despite sale of building, campus landmark White Market to remain open
BY MARY HANNAHAN
For the past eight decades, White Market has been a staple on East William Street near campus. And despite rumors that the grocery store may be closing, the shop’s owners are happy to announce it will in fact remain open.
Dave Jones and his wife Darlene have owned White Market since 1984, and though Dave said retirement is in their sights, they plan to run the store for a few more years.
People may think the store is closing, Dave said, because the larger building that the store is housed in is up for sale. But, according to Jim Chaconas, vice president of Colliers International — the real estate company in charge of the listing — though the building itself is for sale, the businesses within it are privately owned.
“It is up to the new purchaser,” Chaconas said, explaining that the owners of White Market will have to negotiate a new, potentially more expensive lease.
In addition to White Market, the building houses College Shoe Repair and five apartments on the second story. People are already interested in buying the apartments as an investment, Chaconas said, because there aren’t many places available in such a good location.
“It’s prime real estate,” he said. “I’d like to see Dave stay; he’s been there forever. He’s a good guy and he runs a great store.”
White Market sells a wide range of grocery items including produce, frozen foods, meat and toiletries. Darlene said White Market has been around longer than the Village Corner, another convenience store near campus that closed earlier this month. The store, located at the corner of South University Avenue and South Forest Avenue closed after 40 years of business.
“It’s always been the White Market,” Jones said, referring to the consistent name of the store.
Darlene said that throughout the years White Market has been able to beat out the competition from similar stores like Village Corner because “there is a need for a grocery store in this area, and we have a delivery business. We deliver anything we sell.”
Darlene said she initially wasn’t sure how Village Corner’s closing would affect White Market since the two are a fair distance apart. But since Village Corner’s closing, Darlene said she has definitely noticed an increase in sales.
Micah Authement, an Ann Arbor resident who’s worked at White Market since August, said the store is “like a Kroger’s, but on a miniature scale.”
