“A woman came in here last night and said ‘I have $20, and I need to buy a white elephant, what do I do?’ She and I walked around the store, got a bunch of unique and funny options, and perfect,” Madaline Small, manager at Noteworthy Wants and Wonders. “Our creative director Kristina is very passionate about Ann Arbor. Main Street is such a special location, and we believe that having unique experiences to shop in a town like this are part of what make it so special. We believe the more the merrier, we like to have unique experiences here, and that’s why Ann Arbor felt like such a natural fit for the things that we offer.”
Noteworthy Wants and Wonders, a gift shop and luxury lifestyle store, opened on October 25
“We believe that part of what makes downtown interesting are those unique shops. And as a local of the last 15 years [I] have noticed that we’ve lost a lot of those unique opportunities and so we are looking to provide more of that – for people to walk in an say ‘oh my gosh, I’ve never seen this before.’ We’ve had a lot of comments about how unique the things that we offer are, and I think that’s part of what makes Ann Arbor so special,” Small said. “We would like to bring some of that back to Main Street.”
Step inside of their store at 305 South Main Street and it feels like you’ve walked into a luxury lifestyle influencer’s Pinterest board. This is their second ever brick and mortar location – the original is in Richland. They sell items that appeal to a range of interests, including home goods, games and art.
The shop itself is rather dark inside. Although it is intriguing how expertly they have used spot lights to brighten up the myriad of things on sale—the dark paint choices effectively becoming a blank campus for the light to put a exclamation mark on the thing they are selling.
The shop is arranged in an orderly chaos fashion. It feels like an open treasure chest of gifts, useful tools and little ways to express yourself that can feel spontaneous and authentic rather than being too contrived.
“I think this is a very fancy and warm shop,” said U of M student, Max Wang. “I can buy a lot of stuff here. It’s well decorated and a nice interior.”
It is the sort of place where you can find Snoop Dogg’s latest baking cookbook, liquor bottle spouts in the shape of a rocket ship or a roaring alligator, high quality games and plush toys for your toddler, a coffee mug that says “I Came. I Saw. I Made It Awkward”, luxury hot sauces, leather notebooks, or an alarm clock that differs from every other clock you’ve ever used. This is because it doesn’t blare an annoying noise at your or turn on the radio – it makes you a fresh cup off coffee, waking you up with the smell.
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“It’s elegantly put together,” Daniel Maldonado, a U of M alum, said. Now visiting his son, a current student, he remembered his U of M days, saying, “This caught my eye while we were waiting for our son to get ready, and I said ‘let’s go in here…’ And it’s like a store that you would find in Buckhead, in Atlanta.” For context, Buckhead is a wealthy neighborhood in Georgia.
Small is making a point to cater to all budgets with products varying in price based on what the costumer is in the market for. Toys can be found if you walk straight to the counter at the back, and turn left.
“People of all ages gravitate towards this part of the store. It’s a great way to keep your hands busy,” Small said. “Our Cuddle and Kind toys are very popular. They’re these little stuffed animals and for every doll purchased, they donate ten meals to children in need. So, we really like to have items here that have a backstory like that or give back.”
The name of the shop hints at how picky they are when it comes to what they stock, wanting to stand out from the pack of online shopping and chains by getting really unique and high-quality products. “Classic, with a twist” is how Small describes the products they like to stock.
But that being said, local businesses and artists are encouraged to come with new ideas and then return with even better ideas if the first couple don’t get picked up. You can do that by walking in and speaking with the staff. The more that your product or work of art is giftable, the more likely it is for them to put it on their shelves.
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
