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Spencer’s
On Steroids
Find something for anyone
at the Road Show in Roseville.
Reisa Shanaman | Special to the Jewish News
Jacob, Josh, Bruce, Shelly and Jarett Hoffman
P
eople say we have something for everybody, and we
do,” Bruce Hoffman says while taking me around
the Road Show, the 9,000-square-foot Roseville
store he owns and operates with his wife, Shelly, and their
three sons — Jacob, 39, Josh, 34, and Jarrett, 28.
A young woman in a quirky yellow skirt and T-shirt
approaches. “That’s Angela. She takes care of my animals,”
he says.
The two discuss numbers and prices of incoming inven-
tory of live bearded dragons, crested geckos and tarantulas.
They also carry a variety of snakes, rabbits, turtles and
hedgehogs, many of which are bred on-site. Hoffman
donates animals to be auctioned off at congregation Temple
Shir Shalom’s annual Purim carnival, where they attend
services.
Before opening the Road Show in the ’80s, Hoffman, a
resident of Bloomfield Hills, co-owned Tobacco Road in
Firemill Village in Southfield throughout the ’70s. “It was
basically a head shop with lava lamps and incense,” he says.
The Road Show has “stock that appeals to an all-ages
hippie sort of sect,” Hoffman says. “My idea was to have a
big store with a little bit of everything. We have jewelry, we
have unique gifts, we have clothing, we have home decor.
You can see the store is just amazing as far as the quantity
and the quality of our merchandise. It covers the spectrum.”
He points out handmade, stained-glass lamps from
Turkey, hanging silk lanterns from Vietnam and clothing
from Nepal. Jarrett, who started working at the store at the
beginning of 2016, oversees the metaphysical selections.
Beatles’ memorabilia: $21.99-$47.99
Veiled chameleon: $79.99
Currently one of their most popular areas, it has everything
from salt lamps to singing bowls to sacred geometry talis-
mans, as well as an extensive collection of healing stones.
Something of a Spencer’s Gifts on steroids, Hoffman’s
store carries all sorts of oddities and novelties, as well as
nostalgia-inducing items. You can find Beatles, Elvis and
Marilyn Monroe memorabilia, made-in-Detroit merchan-
dise, tapestries, posters, patches, stickers and body jewelry.
“A customer told me today, ‘If you can’t find something in
here that you like, you don’t have any joy in your life,’” one
of his employees shares.
“I have a saying: If we don’t have it, you don’t need it,”
Hoffman adds.
Priding himself on the store’s achievement of bridg-
Michigan tees: $21.99-$25.99
ing the generation gap, Hoffman tells me to look around:
“There’s young, old — everybody shops here. That’s one of
the unique things about my store. We have kids telling their
parents about the store. We have parents telling their kids
about the store, and they shop [here] together. When do
you see teenagers come shopping with their folks?”
Parents who had black light posters in their rooms in
the ’70s have seen the trend come back around with their
children. He keeps them in a special black light room where
the most in-store selfies are taken.
This inter-generational unity exists on both sides of
Hoffman’s counter, as all three of his sons have come to
work for him over the years.
“I get to see my kids just about every day,” he proudly
says. “Not only is it nice to have them, but they’re good at
what they do, so their input is so valuable.”
Referring to his son Josh as “mini me,” Hoffman says the
store was “taken to the next level” after he came on in 2005
and took over much of the buying. Shelly, his wife of 35
years, picks out most of the women’s clothing.
“Nobody cares like your family. Nobody is devoted like
your family,” he says. “I am so lucky and grateful to have
my whole family contributing in making the Road Show
one of the most dynamic and successful small businesses in
Michigan.”
*
The Road Show is at 28500 Gratiot Ave. in Roseville. Call (586) 779-7623
for info.
Stained-glass lamps from Turkey: $59.99-$72.99
January 5 • 2017
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