NEWS

E-Commerce sales drive out niche Ann Arbor businesses

Heavenly Metal, previously located in downtown Ann Arbor, closed last year. The owner cited the difficulty to compete with the rise of e-commerce sales.

By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer

Opening and maintaining a successful brick-and-mortar retail establishment today has unique challenges shaped by the rise of e-commerce. Online shopping has taken a large portion of market share away from both corporate giants and small mom-and-pop shops.

One business owner who has been impacted by an increase in online shopping is Vicki Honeyman, owner of the store Heavenly Metal formerly located in Kerrytown, Ann Arbor. Honeyman said that it was hard to make sales due to online companies offering the same product at lower prices—primarily because of less overhead costs associated with an online store.

“The problem for all retail businesses is when people come in, they see something they like but they want to see if they can get it cheaper, so they take a picture of it and then see if they can find it online,” said Honeyman.

She was forced to stand by and watch this happen on a day-to-day basis, unable to do anything about it in her own store.

“As a store owner, you cannot go up to someone and say ‘you can’t take a picture of that’ because it’s rude,” she said.

When asked why she had to close, Honeyman said that the financial burden and daily stress forced her to leave.

“I know that my store is sorely missed, but I don’t miss it. I don’t miss the financial strain and constant stress of running it,” Honeyman said.

When her boutique style store closed its doors, Honeyman embarked on new endeavors, such as writing book reviews and cutting hair; Honeyman said that she loves her new lifestyle.

Additional businesses that closed in Washtenaw county last year include China Gate restaurant and several locations of Mighty Good Coffee.

Anthony Terry is a business instructor at WCC. He has owned, closed and reopened his own restaurant retail business in Detroit. Terry said that online businesses have a special competitive advantage over most brick-and-mortar establishments.

“We’re in a different type of society where now everything is client-based or focused based in terms of meeting certain expectations for specific customers. Now we have products that can be more specific and hit different expectations,” Terry said. “By putting things online now, you can be more specific and gear more toward that particular individual and his or her need.”

One of the biggest driving forces in business, according to Terry, is being able to meet customer expectations.

Personalization is also a key part in today’s business world as well, said Terry. Without it, many business owners won’t be able to compete.

“So when we look at particular brands or particular shirts… by going online now, they can be more particular and still meet the customer’s needs. People are gearing more toward more personalization for the customer,” Terry said.

Terry also cites lower running costs as a cause for the increase in online shopping.

“They don’t have to pay for that space for brick and mortar [businesses]. You reduce your costs. In terms of employees, you only need people to ship and package, compared to having a salesperson on the floor, cashiers, people to move material in and out,” Terry said.

“You can simplify a lot of the business operations by doing it online. That’s why you see companies like Amazon doing so well . . . the only real cost that’s going up is the transportation aspect.”