Locals once lined up at Downtown Home & Garden for Christmas trees, spring soil, kitchenware, pet supplies and houseplants — then returned by the hundreds for holiday parties and quirky pickle- and jam-making contests.
Now, what remains are little more than the shop’s odds and ends: storage shelves, wall pegs, and the occasional dust bunny.
Kelly Vore, the small business’ owner, confirmed to the Daily Mail that her store has no products left to sell.
The last day for the 119-year-old staple in the heart of Ann Arbor, Michigan was December 24. Now, nearby businesses are scooping up the retail fixtures.
‘It’s just purely remnants,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘If anybody has ever moved, you know the last couple of days when you think you’re done moving — but you’re not. We’re at that stage.’
Its closure is the latest in a wave of small stores shutting down before year-end, as owners grapple with soaring rents, higher borrowing costs and shoppers pulling back.
Located less than two miles from the University of Michigan football stadium, Downtown Home & Garden was as much a community space as it was a store, Vore said. In recent weeks, she’s consoled crying customers coming to say goodbye.
‘In spirit, we could not be matched,’ Vore, who ran Downtown Home & Garden for 11 years, said.
Downtown Home & Garden, a shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, had its last day of customer sales on December 24
The once-bustling home and garden decor shop is nearly empty, the owner told the Daily Mail. Only a few retail fixtures, including shelves and wall pegs, are left
Kelly Vore, the company’s owner for the past 11 years, spoke to the Daily Mail about the communities heartache as the store closed: ‘In spirit, we could not be matched’
‘You can buy this stuff anywhere else. But small shops are places people come to to have things in common and leave hot topics at the door. Now, there’s just one less place to do that.’
The biggest pressure point, she said, was cost.
Vore said Downtown Home & Garden was seeing the same amount of customers as she was before the pandemic, but costs for insurance, wages, and taxes had skyrocketed.
And, her landlord just raised rent by 26 percent.
‘Our formula was always snug — we were never rolling in abundant cash, and everything is much more expensive than when I took over,’ she said.
‘If our landlord can do better than me, he should. We’re just getting out of the way as we are kind of being suggested would be best.’
The strain followed pandemic closures in 2020, when the shop was forced to shut while some big-box competitors stayed open, despite Downtown Home & Garden selling essentials like soil and seeds.
‘The garden business is perceived as petunias and flowers, and not worth keeping open, according to some government entity,’ she said.
The store sold knicknacks throughout the year. It also hosted well-attended events like pickling contests and Christmas parties
This year’s store closures have devastated small towns across the US – including Ann Arbor, the home of the Univerity of Michigan
‘Meanwhile, I have seeds, potatoes, soil — things that people need to eat in an uncertain time.’
News of the closure sparked an outpouring of grief.
More than 400 former customers flooded the shop’s Facebook page with messages.
‘I cannot express my sorrow upon hearing this news,’ one former shopper wrote.
‘My sisters and uncle introduced me to Downtown Home and Garden almost 50 years ago. I’ll be the gardener with the tears in my eyes.’
The company had 10 employees when it closed, Vore said. They had all worked at the shop for more than a year.
Downtown Home & Garden is far from alone.
This year, 8,234 US stores have permanently closed so far, according to Coresight Research data shared with the Daily Mail.
The shop used to feature hundreds of high-end kitchen goods, a greenhouse of plants, and pet supplies
2025 set the record for most retail chain closures, studies shared with the Daily Mail found
That’s the most ever recorded in a year, and a 12 percent increase from last year’s then-record 7,325.
The list was topped by major chains that wiped out their entire US footprints after sliding into bankruptcy, including Rite Aid, Joann, and Party City.
Those collapses inflated the headline number, though Coresight noted that fewer nationwide retailers are filing for bankruptcy overall than last year.
Even so, small businesses — particularly those selling home goods and apparel — have been among the hardest hit.
In October, 103-year-old Sherman’s Sports and Army Store was torn down. Frentz & Sons Hardware closed after 90 years in July. Home decor chain Trees n Trends shuttered its six locations that month, too.
Like Downtown Home & Garden, all three retailers said they sank under the pressure of higher prices for goods and a slowdown in consumer spending.
‘The desire to be in this kind of business is still very high, but there are numerous reasons that made us close,’ Vore said.
‘Nobody is giving up without a fight.’
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