The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 7, 1978-Page 1 A2 consumerism: Rip-offs just around the corner By DAN OBERDORFER In any town where .residents depend on bicycles for transportation and students are willing to pay top-dollars to shop close to home, exorbitant prices. prevail. And Ann Arbor is no exception. Ac- cording to data released by the American Chamber of Commerce Association in March, consumer prices in Ann Arbor were 10 percent higher than the average for the 150 cities studied. THE CONSUMER INDEX showed that prices in Ann Arbor average seven percent more than in Detroit. Most of that difference was accounted for by housing, health, and miscellaneous services costs. In food prices, the two neighbors were only one percentage point apart. However, a Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) survey of local supermarkets showed prices fluc- tuate even within Ann Arbor. The sur- vey - conducted in early 1976 -- in- dicated food prices at supermarkets are higher near campus and diminish the farther from campus the super- market is located. I Small corner groceries, of which Ann Arbor boasts many, were not studied by PIRGIM: but, these stores are notorious for charging more than larger supermarkets. Depending on where you shop, you may spend a lot more than you have to for the sake of convenience. In early June, we compiled a list of prices from a small campus grocery, an off-campus supermarket and a suburban Detroit White Market M 609 E. William Many of Ann Arbor's corner groceries, like Village Corner, Campus Corner and Food Mart, are within five minutes of central campus. They carry basic foodstuffs like Twinkies and beer, in addition to other daily necessities. HOWEVER, NONE of these small stores are cheap. "We can't compete with the big chains because of the buying power they have," explains George Robinson, the manager of White Market on William Street. "People come to us because we are convenient," he adds. Village Corner manager Rod John- son, says in-town stores charge prices which are "reasonably similar." "Prices are pretty competitive,'' Johnson says. "We periodically price goods at other stores so we know what is going on." Johnson says he does not believe that campus prices are higher than other cities' but remarks: "If we are more expensive than other areas it's because our distributors are charging more." PROFESSOR Daniel Rubinfeld, an expert in urban economics, gives two reasons why corner stores may have difficulty matching prices of the giant chains. "When you operate on a large scale you can do the same thing cheaper than a tiny store," he says. Rubinfeld asserts that students are supermarket to give you a basic idea of the price ranges you soon must face. Keep in mind that prices within each store fluctuate from week to week,, typically rising with inflation. Prices quoted are for the same brand of each product. paying for convenience when they go to a nearby shop. "The managers of VC, for example, know you are willing to pay more for their products if you live nearby," he continues. RUBINFELD ADDS that there is nothing shady about the small stores charging more, but according to economic theory, if the stores are making fantastic money new corner groceries would edge into the market. In Ann Arbor, however, no new groceries have applied for a zoning license in recent years, according to city Planning Department head Martin Overhiser. But he adds that only one store has dropped out of the market in recent memory. Novelty vendor Lee Darrow poses with some of his off-beat wares. Merchants of the miscellaneou! By R. J. SMITH Besides acquiring the diverse group of folks that it has, the cosmopolitan burg of Ann Arbor has also become the home for countless unique specialty shops. -Tucked in the basement or oc- casionally perched above larger, more established stores, these tiny businesses offer a special selection of goods you generally won't find at your average five and dime. WHERE ELSE but in Ann Arbor can you find a store catering specifically to a mere segment of the community? Here you can find a place that sells vin- tage comic books or one that markets war games. "Specialty shops do well in Ann Ar- bor," says Kent Whiteman, co-owner of The Ram's Head, a local leather goods shop. "There's a sophisticated buying public, I think, and they appreciate items that are unique." One of the most extraordinary selec- tions of merchandise is available at the Ann Arbor Novelty Store. There, working amidst stacks of fake doggie doo-doo and joy buzzers, is part-time magician and full-time novelty seller Lee Darrow. "Snap'n'Pops, switch blade combs, TV magic cards, disap- pearing eggs, and squirters are our top sellers," Darrow reports. LOCATED IN the basement of a building on State St., the shop carries rubber masks, Star Wars trinkets, red- hot gum, rubber trout, and other necessities of life. The shop also markets magic supplies (and even provides customers with a choice of eight varieties of rubber noses). The prime difference between these specialty shops and large department stores is in the people who manage and own the stores. The small shop owners have a much closer rapport with the community - their business depends on it. The feelings of trust and concern for customers prevail. Abernathy Pottery Studios, for example, leave numerous costly ceramic pieces out in the open at the shop located in the Nickels Arcade. Centicore bookstore places racks of cut- out records outside the building and places its trust in the numerous passer- sby. ANOTHER characteristic of the small shops is the owners' eagerness to please. Merchants go to great lengths to accommodate every customer's slightest demand. For instance, the owner, salesman, bookkeeper and sup- plier for The Island Hopper, an import store, literally travels around the world to find requested items. Small local bookstores and record stores generally are much happier to order things they don't have than their more sizeable and less agreeable coun- terparts. The supplies will usually arrive much more quickly, too. Shopkeepers are also quite knowledgeable about their merchan- dise and are more than happy to spend a good deal of time explaining the finer points of a purchase to a buyer. For in- Bread 1 loaf..... Tuna 6.5 oz. can ... Pork and Beans 16 oz. can... Laundry Detergent 49 oz. box .. Coffee 1 lb.......... Ground Round 1 lb.......... $ .78 $1.09 $ .39 $1.89 $3.89 $1.98 Zeijer's Thrifty Acres 3825 Carpenter Rd. $ .74 $ .75 $ .33 $1.67 $2.98 Kroger Dearborn, Mich. $ .72 $ .73 $ .33 $1.77 $2.98 $1.79. stance, the clerks at Harry's Arir Surplus, a provocative little building ( the corner of Fourth and Washingto are incredibly knowledgeable about a the camping equipment and kha] goods they vend. The folks at The E3 of Agomotto seem to know practical everything about comics, from the Ii: of Spiderman to the adventures of ti Fantastic Four. SIZE, UNFORTUNATELY worl against these smaller shops, for fier( competition reigns in several way These small merchants must often fer with big businesses by charging high prices, as in the case of the Sun Baker - a natural foods bakery which pass' high operating costs onto the consum by selling the best baked goods in to% at the highest prices in town. Alas, the small shops are often ak to a balloon: any sizeable amount pressure from the outside-and they' gone. "Here today, gone tomorrow" the unfortunate motto and reality many small businesses even in a ton like Ann Arbor. But the availability of the tir specialty shops will probably never in doubt. With large chain stores in t~ minority in the immediate Universil area, the small-time shopkeeper ar the buyer with specialized deman will certainly have a place in Ann Arb for a long time to come. SHORT or LONG Haircutting By Experts DASCOLA STYLISTS Arborland-971-9975 Mole Village-761-2733 E. Liberty-668-9329 E. Universitv-662-0354 $1.56 Coop businesses offer an alternative By JANIE KATZ Ann Arbor is unique in having a coun- ter culture so comprehensive that many of its residents never deal with traditional institutions at all. Alternative social and political organizations abound in the city, as do some non-traditional economic options in the form of collective and cooperatively operated businesses. LOCAL alternative businesses in- clude everything from food coops to therapy collectives. There are bakery and produce coops, an auto repair coop, collectively run elementary schools, art institutes, health clinics, and even a collectively run bar. And while Business Administration Prof. Larue Hosmer points out that about 90 per cent of traditional small businesses fail within five years, a Residential College (RC) student- faculty research group found Ann Ar- bor's alternative businesses to be flourishing. In fact, the number of coops is climbing. An herb and spice coop and the "Soy Plant" which sells tofu opened this year and there has been talk of forming a dry goods, hardware, and gardening tools coop. NOT ALL alternative businesses are coops, according to the RC researchers, who spent five months studying the city's non-traditional enterprises. The essential elements are that they are non-hierarchical and "politically or socially conscious." Ann Arbor's examples include collectives, or worker-controlled enterprises, and cooperatives, which are consumer con- trolled. Many, like the People's Food coop, combine the two. While economic cooperatives were common in the 1930's, today's coops combine the more businesslike cooperative structures with the political, cultural, and social commit- ments of the last decade. The idea behind these establishments is to give the staff control over its own work situation. The products sold reflect the members' concerns for quality. Food coops, for example, sell natural, un- processed and often organically grown goods. AND BECAUSE these alternative businesses are non-profit, they can un- dersell many traditional businesses. Cheese atthe People's Food Coop sells for less than what most stores pay wholesale. See CO-OP, Page 59 Briarwood By ELIZABETH SLOWIK The mall explosion hit metropolitan Detroit, and Ann Arbor has not escaped. Five years ago Briarwood Mall opened its yawning glass doors to a community that hungered for one-stop shopping. Briarwood was joined by Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, Fairlane Town Centre in Dearborn, Twelve Oaks in Farmington and a renovated Eastland in Harper Woods to create the chain of sister malls that now stretches from Ann Arbor to northeast Detroit. ALTHOUGH THE malls differ in location and architecture, they are so much alike they could be interchanged like the missing pieces of a puzzle. The change from mid-western college town to sububia is startling as you enter Briarwood. Gone is Shaky Jake, Dr. Diag, and the Afghanistan Banana Stand. Say hello to Mrs. Jones and her five pre-school kids. This is a part of Ann Arbor that escapes many students who find them- selves stationed on campus, but it is a familiar haven for native Ann Ar- borites. After entering Briarwood, your Ann Arbor world is no longer an in- tellectual capital nor a research center, but a suburb - comfortable in its mid- dle-age spread. LIKE THE other Detroit area malls, Briarwood hosts the major department stores in Michigan: Sears, Hudson's, . A touch o and Penney's. At these stores you can buy anything from a mascara wand to a lawn mower. Remember, if you don't have a car, you'll have to take that lawn mower and all your purchases home on the bus. Weaving between the stairs and plan- ters, the Briarwood shopper can find around 100 stores peddling goods like pillows, Levi's, and Shaker furniture. There is a store for campers, a store for gift-buyers and a store for candy- buyers. You can find down jackets, ceramic turtles, wicker baskets, sleeping bags, greeting cards, long- stemmed glassware, short-stemmed glassware, shot glasses, juice glasses, and those glass candles that float in oil. Like the other malls, Briarwood often hosts choral groups and shows to entice a public laden with greenbacks and plastic charge cards. Briarwood even contains four movie theatres which comprise the luxurious cinema house known as the Briarwood Movies. The Movies features first-run films to lure the Ann Arbor movie patrons out of their abodes and into their little theatres. . Window shopping at Briarwood can be painful for money-starved college students. Goods are displayed in pic- ture window wonder, crying to be taken back to campus and tucked into the corner of a dorm room. But Briarwood needn't be a major, financial setback if you look at the mall as a job market. Stores need people to F suburbia run them as well as consumers to sup- port them. Nestled in Briarwood's wings are several restaurants to tickle anybody's taste buds. The Cathay House serves Mandarin and Cantonese dishes or you can stick with good old American food at the Big Boy. Other eateries include Happy Hero, Falafil Hut, Orange Julius, Gus's Restaurant, Lafayette Coney Island, and Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour. So for no more than the cost of a bus ride, you can have a homey taste of suburbia 'just a five-mile- jaunt down State Street. c~Upt5 aCwdt"I 719 N. UNIVERSITY-665-4355 Make Us Your Headquarters For: C(Ned Paokk... "gt t8lnNan. .. Ptd-WOO Chcitngh ~eat . * Fine Se&dfi n 06 Antique Peekzd Wafek * Friendly Service At Reasonable Prices i r - - ---- * We'll give you TWO I * items for the price of * one just for trying our famous: .