Well, Goodbye, Ann Arbor. It's Been A Joy.

Morning, Ann Arbor! Well, this is the last Michigander. Before I get all sappy, let me give you a year-in-review recap of everything that happened in Ann Arbor in 2025.

Read Time: 3.5 minutes

Reader Count: 3,836 townies

Percent of Ann Arbor Reading: 3.20%

☃️ In January:

• Slim Chickens opened

• Avalon moved from their location on Liberty to Main Street

• Bricks & Minifigs opened on Jackson Road

• Hometown Pizza also opened on Jackson Road

• City Council voted to ban street parking during snow storms

• 42 restaurant participated in Restaurant Week

• The state released a list of rejected 2024 license plates

💕 In February:

• Hide and Seek Play Boutique opened off South Industrial

• Echelon opened on Main Street

• 16 Hands announced their closing

• NuuYuu announced they were moving to 16 Hands’ old location

• Dusty May got a contract extension

• A three-part coyote story caught local social media by storm

🍀 In March:

• Ten Thousand Villages closed

• Bonchon opened on South Main Street

• U of M announced a new research partnership with OpenAI

• Bo’s Bagels opened on South University

• Huron High School named their mascot Rio the River Rat

☔️ In April:

• Tabe Fusion opened on Main Street

• The Vanguard Hotel opened

• Lululemon reopened after months of remodeling

• Bryce Underwood gifted his high school’s security guard a new car

• We got concerned about the local Domino’s pizza cutters

🌷 In May: 

• Black Pearl completed their expansion into the old Starbucks space

• Redhawk Bar & Grill closed

• Pizza Cat Max closed

• U of M President Santa Ono resigned

• The city knocked down the Farmer’s Market office building

☀️ In June:

• The Arb’s Peony Garden was vandalized

• Taste of Ann Arbor relaunched

• A2 Summer Streets returned

• Coratti’s Pizzeria opened on E. William Street

• Mike Posner performed at Sonic Lunch

• A local 3rd grade teacher was crowned Miss Michigan

TODAY’S SPONSOR: University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance

🎉 Annual Showcase: The 2026 edition of the Department of Dance’s highly anticipated annual showcase is a homecoming for alumni artists Sean McKnight (BFA ’13, musical theatre) and Catherine Coury (BFA ’10, dance) of Marcat Dance Company. McKnight and Coury join guest artist Maleek Washington and Professor Amy Chavasse in choreographing four all-new works for the Power Center stage. For the first time, this year’s production will feature a Broadway-style jazz dance! Recommended ages for the showcase are 3 and up.

🍦 In July: 

• Ginza Marketplace opened on Main Street

• The Ann Arbor Art Fair brought in almost 500,000 attendees

• Detroit was officially awarded a new WNBA team

• The first AADL Lobby Shops opened

• The City renewed their pilot program with Throne Labs (the high-tech downtown public restrooms)

• U of M announced next year’s football season opener would be in Germany

🍉 In August: 

• Downtown Home & Garden announced their closing (but we learned Bill’s Beer Garden would remain in business)

• Little Kim opened in Kerrytown

• Proposals A & B (the downtown library proposals) passed with a 58% approval

 🏈 In September:

• Your Media Exchange moved to Kerrytown

• Raising Cane’s opened on South University

• Broadway Park West officially opened

• The City launched a live Air Quality Map

• Recess Cafe opened on Ashley Street

• The Liberty Plaza mural was completed

• Zach Bryan played a concert at the Big House

 🎃 In October:

• The AADL announced plans to acquire the Ann Arbor Observer

• The AADL also announced a new mascot

• Noteworthy Wants & Wonders opened on Main Street

• Samba Bowls closed

• Campus Student Bike Shop closed

• The City launched an Open Data Portal

• Spores Cafe opened on State Street

🍂 In November:

• The Barton-Bandemer pedestrian tunnel opened

• U of M announced Morgan Wallen would play at the Big House next summer

• The D. Dan and Betty Kahn Health Care Pavilion opened

• Hazel Coffee Company opened on Packard Street

• Gallup Park unveiled a new sculpture

• Bori Korean Kitchen & Bar opened on Main Street

• Mayor Christopher Taylor announced his re-election campaign

🎄 In December:

• KindleFest & Midnight Madness took over the town

• The Ann Arbor Police Department launched their first electric patrol car

• U of M announced plans to demo Wolverine Tower

• Chick-fil-A opened off Washtenaw

• L.L. Bean announced a new Ann Arbor store coming Fall 2026

• Cinnaholic closed their Liberty Street location

• Bev’s Bagels announced plans to open an Ann Arbor location

• U of M hired Kyle Whittingham as their new football head coach

🌲  The Michigander: I always wanted the Michigander to have merch. I even hired a designer in the Spring to make some.

So, in my final newsletter, it feels fitting (and funny) to finally launch a merch shop. You can find it here. I personally like the mugs the best. I’m drinking out of one now. I’ll leave this site up for a few weeks.

Well, goodbye, Ann Arbor. It’s been a joy.

Thanks again for reading every week. It’s really meant a lot.

-Andrew, Alexis, and Calvin

(I’ve always told my wife she’s my editor-in-chief, so it feels right that she’s in the final sign off. And if in a decade my toddler son Calvin ever searches the internet archives and finds this newsletter, he should get a shoutout too.)