Arborland’s Bumpy Bus Ride
Arborland has always been a constant in my childhood memories. Gazing at the mural of Jack and the Beanstalk climbing high on Montgomery Ward’s wall. Scrambling up on the stools at Sanders’ counter waiting for a hot fudge sundae. Playing on the lifesize granite whale with my brothers. Saving up my nickles and dimes to buy a trinket from Kresge’s. Thumbing through the bins of .50 cent 45 RPM records for the latest Osmond Brothers’ songs. Whenever we went on an out-of-town trip, there it was: Arborland’s landmark sign with the giant letter “A” beckoning us back home.
Arborland is as old as I am. Built in 1961, it was Ann Arbor’s first shopping mall. Arborland’s management company is now embroiled in a dispute with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) over its bus service. At the center of the debate are bus patrons who utilize Arborland’s parking lot to park their vehicles in prime spots, and then continue their journey by bus. There are about 1,000 daily AATA riders on those Arborland buses with about 150 who park and ride.
Arborland’s management, Finsilver Friedman Management Company out of Farmington Hills, has cancelled the bus service contract with AATA, and as of July 1st there will be no bus service at Arborland.
And you thought parking was only an issue in downtown Ann Arbor.
In a free market economy, a business should be allowed to protect its (and its clients) best interests and conduct business as it sees fit. However, this situation is bad business all the way around. Arborland risks losing those 1,000 bus-riding-potential-money-spending-mall-customers because some of them park too close to the stores’ doors. (If they were really concerned about parking at Arborland, they would have done something about the ridiculously tight quarters cars are forced to navigate near Starbucks and Coldstone on the very same property.)
It’s hard to pin down exactly how big of a problem these park-’n-riders are for the tenants at Arborland. On “The Lucy Ann Lance Business Insider“, AATA’s Mary Stasiak said that they believe a former Borders’ manager who is no longer there had made a complaint. It doesn’t appear that Borders has a beef with the buses, and would welcome them back. They issued this statement to “The Lucy Ann Lance Business Insider”:
“As a part of the Ann Arbor community with a store in the Arborland shopping center that has served customers for 10 years, Borders understands the important role that the Park and Ride location there has played for thousands of AATA riders. While the Arborland stop was not an official AATA Park and Ride location, it was one of several “casual” Park and Rides that provided access to low-cost, efficient and environmentally sound transportation for area residents.
Borders supports the work of the AATA and is disappointed with Arborland’s decision to remove this Park and Ride stop. While the stop and resulting parking needs of riders did at times present challenges to patrons of our store looking for parking near our location, these challenges were not insurmountable. In fact, Borders recently approached Arborland with workable options to address our challenges while allowing the Arborland Park and Ride to remain. Unfortunately, we were informed that the decision to remove the stop was final, and that Borders had no opportunity to influence or change it despite our attempts to work out viable alternatives.
Of course, Borders supports the return of the AATA Park and Ride to Arborland and is confident that any issues that impacted our business can be addressed so that this important access point can be restored for Ann Arbor residents.”
Maybe the most telling sign of what the future holds for AATA at Arborland is on Arborland’s own website: Arborland Center is at the heart of your community, just off Highway 23 at Washtenaw Avenue and easily reached by bus on routes 4, 7, and 22.
I’m only glad that Jack and his Beanstalk were moved to Kerrytown a few years back. We also hear the whale is enjoying his retirement years perched on the lawn of a home at a nearby lake. No need to jar our childhood memories any more than a bumpy bus ride back through time.
