Since its opening in 1921, the covered shopping district Nickels Arcade has been a hub for University of Michigan students and the larger Ann Arbor community alike. The Michigan Daily Business beat interviewed some of these businesses to highlight the current state of the Arcade. Read the other stories here.
Although the Caravan Gift Shop and Arcadian Antiques are two separate stores nestled within the walls of Nickels Arcade, they have both been owned and operated by the same family for decades.
Bailey Ahles, director of social media and marketing for both stores, has helped with her family’s businesses since she was a child. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Ahles said both businesses are currently owned by her mother, Rhonda Gilpin.
“She started the Arcadian Antiques when she was 20 years old and is celebrating her 40th year in business now,” Ahles said. “The gift store, actually, she purchased from a family friend, I think somewhere between like 1990 to 1994. That gift shop has now been in business for 96 years and is the oldest gift shop in Ann Arbor.”
According to Ahles, Arcadian Antiques focuses on selling authentic antiques to a wide range of customers.
“The Arcadian Antiques sells all authentic antique items made between about 1880 and 1930,” Ahles said. “The way that (Gilpin) ended up with the spot in the Arcade is just that it was a spot that was available for rent and she was lucky that they were willing to rent to someone so young, and she started her antique shop.”
While Arcadian Antiques sells a variety of pieces including necklaces, earrings and home decor, Ahles said the most popular items are those in their bridal collection.
“Something that I think is really special about the store itself is just the quantity of the collections that we have in the store,” Ahles said. “We specialize in antique engagement rings and wedding bands, and we probably have over 200 engagement rings and wedding bands … just being able to find a collection anywhere that is that large all in one location is just very unheard of.”
Ahles said these pieces attract the attention of buyers from all over the country who are interested in the unique quality and style of antique rings.
“Part of the charm of an antique piece is that you might be getting an old diamond, and the way that they cut diamonds then versus the way they cut them today is very different,” Ahles said. “(We) take those things into consideration — versus today in a newer jewelry store, it’s more about the size of the stone, not necessarily about the craftsmanship … If you care about preservation or history or recycling this is the true way to go.”
Ahles said the family sources pieces from all over the world, then decide which pieces they sell as they are and which will need alterations first.
“We have pickers all over the world who hunt for things for us,” Ahles said. “Then, we’ll fly out to London, Paris, New York, Miami or wherever our pickers are when there’s a large enough collection for us to make a trip … we 100% pick every item in the store, so it’s not like someone is necessarily picking it for us.”
Ahles said one unique feature of Arcadian Antiques is their jewelry restoration service, which allows clients to bring their own pieces or heirlooms to the store’s jeweler for mending.
“One of the best parts about the antique shop is that we also do a full restoration service,” Ahles said. “Whether it’s a ring that might be missing a stone or a bracelet or a necklace where the clasp no longer works, we do all of that kind of work. Not all jewelers specialize in antique jewelry repair and restoration, and that’s exactly what our jeweler does.”
Similar to Arcadian Antiques, the Caravan Gift Shop offers a wide selection of goods, all of which are ethically sourced and handcrafted in either the United States or Europe, according to Ahles.
“Everything in the gift store is all handmade,” Ahles said. “We carry about 100 different artisans, and a lot of them actually use older techniques that aren’t necessarily still used today in the process to create new items.”
Ahles said Caravan’s most popular items are their wooden and glass goods.
“In the gift store, we sell a lot of wood salad bowls and salad tongs, we sell a lot of hand-blown glassware, whether that’s tumblers or we also have an artist that makes hand-blown hummingbird feeders,” Ahles said. “There’s lots of unique gifts in (the gift store) as well and that store also carries a lot of jewelry.”
According to Ahles, both stores have diverse and wide-reaching customer bases partially because customers who purchased items during their time at the University of Michigan will return once they have graduated.
“I think Ann Arbor is a very transient town,” Ahles said. “We have customers really all over … they might be here for four years in medical school and get their engagement ring here and then end up in California, but they’ll call us for anniversary gifts or their wife’s birthday or whatever the special occasion is that they’re celebrating and want to get something from the town that they met.”
With the Caravan Gift Shop first opening in the Arcade in 1927, and Arcadian Antiques in 1983, both stores are Nickels and Ann Arbor staples.
“Just being close to the University itself for things like Parents Weekend or whatnot … being in the Nickels Arcade is helpful in that way,” Ahles said. “Also, faculty on campus might want to go together and get a group gift or a birthday card or something and will visit either one of our shops, so I definitely think that the location has helped our businesses.”
Summer Managing News Editor Madison Hammond can be reached at madihamm@umich.edu.