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12B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc. Magazine - Thursday, April 12, 2001
The Michigan Daily - Weekend, etc.
MC
A2 offers little excuse to
be bored on weekends
It can be said, without exaggeration,
that Ann Arbor is the greatest, most
exciting town in the world, and top-
notch local entertainment is a big rea-
son why. Here are the winners you
picked for Best of Entertainment. Grab
your wallet, pull on those booty pants
and let's go!
Best Movie Theater: Michigan
Theater - The reigning heavyweight
champion, the Michigan's intelligent
art-house fare and midnight showings
appeal to the discriminating moviego-
er.
Best Video Store: Liberty Street
Video - The selection of indies and
cult films is beyond impressive. The
only drawback is that when you want
to rent a tamer, more pedestrian film,
the staff gives you wicked dirty looks.
I had to rent "Babe" for my friend's
class project, okay?
Best Dance Spot: Nectarine - Go
on one of their Gay Nights if you want
to groove to the best music. Or if
you're gay.
Best Concert in the Past Year:
Guster - In a word, this show kicked
a ton of ass. Highlights of this Hill
Auditorium rager included Ryan
Miller's speech abodt the best times of
year to hook up and their totally
unplugged last song.
Best Local Band: Donkey Punch -
Taking the crown for the second
straightdyear, the "Hot Boys of Horn-
powered Rock" will play the Cross
Street block party on April 21.
Best Local Festival: Ann Arbor Art
Fair - Like Hash Bash, but replace
the weed with local art and get rid of
the vile stench.
Best Radio Station: WCBN -
Broadcasting from the Student
Activities Building, an eclectic squad
of Ann Arbor DJs keep things double-
hot on 88.3. Be sure to check out
"Boogie Nights," every Saturday night
from midnight to 3 a.m., and freeform
by Captain Cruiselimes and Senator
Ed Kennedy, Friday afternoons from 3
to 5:30 p.m..
Best Live Music Club: Blind Pig
- The most cockroach-free venue in
Ann Arbor, the Blind Pig has hosted
everyone from Nirvana to Sonic Youth
to Skim Milf. Did I mention it's cock-
roach-free?
Value World, formerly Value Village, offers a plethora of used clothing.
Thrift shoppers find
Value in the Village
GETTIN' BUSY WITH THE CITY' S TOP S
Best Compact Discs: Borders- The corpo-
rate behemoth known to us as Borders proved
too strong for our local music shops. They've
got everything: Books, coffee, live entertain-
ment, music and DVDs. Now if only they
would sell milk. Just out of curiosity, how can
a CD on sale still be $16?
Best Used CDs: tie between Wazoo Records,
Encore- Wazoo and Encore fought long and
hard for the crown, but after an impressive
array of used stock, the stores ended in a draw.
Encore took the early lead with its never-end-
ing stack of used discs on their counter, but
Wazoo came back strong with its cozy atmos-
phere and friendly service.
Best Shoe Store: Footprints- Not to be
confused with Foot Locker, although the
employees do wear those tacky referee outfits.
Best Haircut: Noggins- For 15 bucks
they'll make you look as sharp as a
Philadelphia lawyer. For a few dollars more
you might be able to get that mullet you've
always wanted.
Best Tanning Salon: Tanfastic- Tanfastic,
oh I get it. Clever. While its name lacks cre-
ativity, the high octane tanning beds are sure to
give you that sorority shine you've always
dreamed of.
Best Books: Borders- They sell books too?
From the latest "Harry Potter" thriller to the
unauthorized biography of Mary Chapin
Carpenter, Borders has every book in print.
Best Art Supplies: Ulrich's- Jackson
Pollock shops here, so should you. The friend-
ly staff at Ulrich's is waiting to help with your
artistic needs. Ask for Frank, he'll be good to
you.
Best Textbooks: Ulrich s- I thought all the
textbook stores were the same. Regardless,
Ulrich's has been named once again the best
textbook source on campus. Now if only
Borders would sell textbooks ...
Best Test Prep: Kaplan- George Kaplan
played "Mr. Dills" in Ernest Saves Christmas.
Neil Kaplan was "Destruxo" on Power
Rangers. You can play the role of the well-pre-
pared student by using Kaplan.
Best Liquor: Cainpus Corner- Rumor has
it you must be 21 to purchase alcohol in.the
state of Michigan. I'd like to personally thank
my overpriced printer and laminator for help-
ing bend that law.
Best Florists: Normandie Flowers- What
better way to say, "I love you" than with a
flower? Your special someone would really like
to see you waste fifty bucks on plants that die
L
Encore Records' huge selection boasting many musical get
By Erik Johnson
Daily Arts Writer
Once again, Value Village has won
the award for "best thrift clothing" in
the Daily's annual Best of Ann Arbor
contest. This award has become
increasingly easier for them to win in
recent years, due to the closing of
two of Ann Arbor's favorite used
clothes emporiums, Rag-O-Rama
and Scavenger Hunt. There is little
competition in town, as only the
Salvation Army in Ypsi and the PTO
Thrift Shop on State Street offer any
selection. OK, so Urban Outfitters
has taken to selling "cool, vintage"
clothing, but that doesn't really
count, since paying $28 for a used tee
shirt is hardly thrifty. I needed to find
out if Value Village really deserved
this award.
Actually, Value Village no longer
exists. They haven't closed, but they
have changed their name to Value
World. The reason undoubtedly has
to do with a shrewd business plan of
some sort. Anyway, to make sure that
Value Village, er World, really earned
their prize, I went to the recently
opened store at 345 North Maple, in
the Maple Village shopping center at
Jackson and Maple, (Value World can
also be found at 1410 E. Michigan
Ave. in Ypsilanti).
Stepping into the store, the sur-
roundings were immediately recog-
nizable. The new store, which opened
about two months ago, is laid out
exactly like other Value
Village/Worlds: one large room with
wall-to-wall shelves and lots and lots
of clothes in the middle. The clothing
sections are all clearly marked by
signs hanging from the ceiling. The
racks of men's clothing contained a
varied selection. They have the requi-
site tee shirt racks, which were
packed tight and color-divided. These
are always the first stop for the fash-
ion-conscious alternateen who just
has to have a (not quite) new REO
Speedwagon '85 tour shirt. As for
pants, the slacks, jeans and cords all
have their own sections, and .I even
saw a few pairs of cargo pants here
and there. Maybe they aren't cool
anymore, or are they?
The women's section is larger than
the men's, and has areas devoted to
blouses, pants and dresses. Here
shoppers can discover the rare gem,'
like the brand new cashmere sweater
a friend recently found for $3.20, or a
dud, like a homemade, rhinestone-
encrusted Christmas sweatshirt. It is
the hunt which makes Value World so
great. The only problem with Value
World's extensive, and diverse, array
of clothing . are the lingerie and
underwear sections. No matter how
hard up a person is, buying someone
else's dirty undies is pretty sketchy.
They must sell these items, though,
because these sections are always
well stocked.
While the clothes do make up the
majority of sales at Value World, they
also do carry many other items.
Cheryl Plichta, the Maple store's
manager-in-training, said the store
also see good sales on books and
especially kitchen supplies. Besides
these top sellers, Value World also
stocks, among other things, shoes,
stuffed animals, bikes, electronics,
toys and quite a bit of exercise equip-
ment. According to Plichta, unlike
the Salvation Army, which depends
on donation drop-offs at the stores,
Value World purchases its merchan-
dise. She said that they buy their'
goods in bulk from Purple Heart, a
charity organization which can
arrange to pick up donations from the
donor's home.
For clothes, the prices typically
range from about-$1.50 for a tee shirt
to $3.00 for a pair of pants. Value
World also runs sales, which they
rotate on a weekly basis based on tag
color. For instance, last week all
clothes with a green tag were 50%
off. There are not many places with
deals like that. Whether you want J.
Crew but can't stomach the mall,'
desire to look retro or only need one
Kenny G tour shirt to complete your
collection, you can't go wrong here.
The award for "best thrift clothing"
definitely belongs to Value Village, I
mean World.
in a few days.
Best Travel Agency: STA Travel- That's no
moon; it's a space station! For $17,000 they'll
book you a flight on, the Millennium Falcon.
Remember to board at docking bay 94.
Best Men's Clothing: Bivouac- They have
a gre
you.
Nort
Be
Tube
chair
Footprints makes tracks in Best Shoe Stoi
By Chris Lane
For the Daily
I think it was Socrates who once
said "Human beings will always buy
shoes because crack is illegal." No,
maybe that was my ex-girlfriend, but
the point is we've got to have the
shoes. No matter how expensive or
transitory the shoe market is or was,
the shoes are here to stay. This year's
winner for Best Shoe Store in Ann
Arbor is Footprints. And why not?
Adidas. Puma. Saucony. Birkenstock.
Dr. Martens. Airwalk. Vans.
Converse. Hyde. Merrell. When it
comes to the sneaks, sandals, boots
and flip-flops, Footprints carries the
fashionable and the comfortable and
keeps us coming back like Woogie in
'There's Somet-hing About Mary."
With one very fine location just a
skip from campus at the corner of
South University and Church, plenty
of hip styles, a dynamic, yet laid-
back staffand a plethora of college
kids to spend their money, Footprints
has settled into a comfortable, little
niche in the Ann Arbor community.
Started in 1977 by John Causland, the
store has three locations worldwide
(Two in Ann Arbor and one in Royal
Oak). Prices generally range from
$30 to $80, but can be as high as
$130 for some Hyde boots, said
employee Kirk Tans, an LSA sopho-
more.
Footprints truly caters to Ann
Arbor's shoe needs. They have the
brands for the fashion-minded stu-
dent, the young professional, the soc-
cer mom, the hippie and anyone else
who wants to add a little style to their
stride. Right now, Puma "Californias"
at $60 are the most popular sell,
employee Emily Petrash, an LSA
junior, said.
In addition to keeping tip with lat-
est trends, Footprints has in fact
offered some rare finds as well. They
were first in the state to sell
Birkenstock, and also claim the dis-
tinction of being the only store in
Michigan to carry Hydes. In the
world of shoes, it was a notable feat.
The store even made an appearance in
a recent issue of GQ magazine.
Make a visit to the South
University location and you will see
why this local treat demands your
undying idolatry and warrants your
cash and credit. American Express
users beware, though; your card is not
legal tender on Footprints soil.
Perhaps, it's the green spartan, hint
hint. But the first thing you might
notice is the sale tables outside. On
any given day you can find sweet
deals on a range of colors and styles
of Converse, Vasque hiking boots and
Adidas either discontinued or still
trendy. At the moment, check out
their special on Superstars at $45
down from a suggested retail of $60.
You might also notice the window
that claims the store sells "Hemp
Chuck Taylor Hoes." This Footprints
store is not without some mystery.
But don't just linger at the tables,
lil' shaver; the real goodies await you
inside. The veritable treasure chest
that makes up Footprints' selection is
actually only about 1 and 1/2 walls
and a few floor displays. The store
may seem a little small, but it is
stuffed to the brim with brands and
colors that you are not likely to find at
Briarwood or any other mall. And
don't fret if they lack your particular
size, style or color. If it is a brand that
the store carries, a special order usu-
ally takes about 1 to 2 weeks at no
extra charge.
But wait, Footprints sells more than
just shoes. You can also find a variety
of Adidas apparel, (hats, shirts, jack-
ets, shorts and pants). Oakley
Sunglasses. Colorful and patterned
socks. Foot-care products, although if
you have bunions, the Main Street
location is a better bet. Oh, don't for-
get about the large supply of love and
friendliness.
Footprints gets the extra slice of
cheese for just having a cool atmc
phere. Playing good music is definit
ly a part of this. It seems like all retz
stores are required by some unwritt
law to play elevator music or Dunc<
Shiek pop on a repeating loop all da
every day. But stepping through ti
doors of Footprints, a nice brisk, bla
of the Specials or the Clash w
always welcome you.
The primarily student staff alp
keeps it comfortable. When asked
characterize the working experieni
that is Footprints, LSA sophomo
Kirk Tans and junior Emily Petra:
both agreed that it is a fun, laid-bac