Nickels Arcade: home to a cigar store, travel agency,and unbeknownst to many students, a cheap place to buy a drink.
- Jess Cox
- FCB House of Flavors offers many different kinds of hot and cold drinks for $2 or less.
(Peter Schottenfels/Daily)
Back in October 2003, when FCB House of Flavors first opened, Rob Goodspeed, a University alum predicted its quick demise on his blog.
“This is Ann Arbor: people aren’t buying drinks for the flavor, they want to pay for an experience: the sound of the cappuccino machine, a place to sit and read in a place to go to that’s not their house or on campus.”
Yet, a year and a half later, the business still exists right at the west end of the arcade on Maynard Street. Partially out of boredom, and partially out of interest, I took the assignment from the weekend editors to discover the inner-workings of FCB House of Flavors. I pass White Market and New York Pizza Depot on the way, two places frequented often by Daily staffers. Yet for some reason, FCB has failed to gain the same popularity.
I walk in at around 4:30 on a dreary Tuesday, greeted by the sounds of afternoon talks shows. The owner Paul, who would not give his last name, says he and four other people opened the store up in October 2003, with the intention of providing students with an inexpensive beverage. No customer pays more than $2 for anything.
The d