AADL Talks To: Rhonda Gilpin

Wed, 05/15/2013 - 9:29am

One of Ann Arbor’s Heritage Businesses, The Caravan Shop has been an anchor in the historic Nickels Arcade for over 80 years. Opened in 1927 by Frank and Jean Karpp, it is known for its eclectic merchandize with an international flavor.

Recently, its current owner Rhonda Gilpin talked with us about the history of the shop, how she came to own it and her goal of keeping it a family business. She talked about the pleasures and challenges of doing business in a college town. Rhonda is also the owner of Arcadian Antiques and Collectibles located in the Nickels Arcade. She credits the "Think Local" initiative and the nice mix of new businesses for the improved retail climate in Ann Arbor.

Transcript

• [00:00:00.00] [MUSIC - FERNWOOD, "OPEN SEAS"]
• [00:00:11.64] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Hi, this is Debbie.
• [00:00:13.02] JACKIE SASAKI: And is Jackie. In this episode, AADL talks to Rhonda Gilpin, owner of The Caravan Shop. The Caravan Shop had been in the same location in the Nickels Arcade since 1927. We talked with Rhonda about the history of The Caravan Shop, how she came to own the store, and how the merchandise have both changed and stayed the same over the years. Rhonda talked about the longevity of many of the businesses in the Arcade and how local merchants have adapted to the economic and social changes in Ann Arbor. When did you buy the business?
• [00:01:02.76] RHONDA GILPIN: I bought the business in 1994 from Jim Edwards.
• [00:01:06.81] JACKIE SASAKI: It sounds like he bought the business twice. Is that right?
• [00:01:10.23] RHONDA GILPIN: Yes, it is.
• [00:01:11.20] JACKIE SASAKI: Tell us how that worked out.
• [00:01:13.61] RHONDA GILPIN: He bought it from Jean Karpp originally and kept it for many years. And then he sold it to Charlotte Ouimet, who had it for-- I'm not sure exactly how long. Maybe eight to ten years. And then he bought it back from her and kept it for quite a long time. And then I bought it from him after that.
• [00:01:35.22] JACKIE SASAKI: Now why do you want to buy The Caravan Shop?
• [00:01:38.15] RHONDA GILPIN: Both my parents at different points of their lives had worked in The Caravan Shop, and I also had when I was in high school. So there was kind of a long history.
• [00:01:52.91] JACKIE SASAKI: What does The Caravan Shop carry in the store?
• [00:01:56.85] RHONDA GILPIN: Originally, it was opened with gifts from around the world. In the time that I've owned it, I've changed it a little bit to incorporate handmade gifts from all over the United States. So there's a lot of handmade artists within the store. But we still carry a lot of the traditional items that were carried when the store was originally opened, like German nutcrackers and Hagen Renaker china animals, and the prints that have been historically in the windows for the last 85 years. So there's a lot of things that we've kept and retained, but I've also tried to add in some new things.
• [00:02:28.41] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Tell us about where the merchandise comes from, all the different countries and places in the United States that you get it from.
• [00:02:33.89] RHONDA GILPIN: I travel to large international markets. I go to New York. I'll be leaving in a week to go there. I spend like four days. And it's at Javits Center and I'll go in and buy from-- companies from France set up there. Companies from Italy set up there. Companies from Germany set up there. And it's just a huge market for independent small businesses together in one spot for retailers to come in and purchase from them.
• [00:03:03.55] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Do you get to know any of the retail, any of the merchandisers yourself? Have you built up any relationships with particular--
• [00:03:10.23] RHONDA GILPIN: Oh, definitely. Like today, just before I came, I spoke with a man that imports things from Germany, whom I have bought from for probably the last 15 years. And I have pretty strong relationships with a lot of those people. Because I've been doing it for so long, they're more like friends than just people that I buy from.
• [00:03:30.59] JACKIE SASAKI: Now are you the only one in your business that is the buyer?
• [00:03:35.33] RHONDA GILPIN: Yes. It's really hard, I think, to own a business, at least at the level that I'm at, to have other people spending your money, you know? It's a small business. You're not working with millions of dollars. So I really am pretty choosy on the things that I like to carry in the store. You know, I try to keep the quality really high, and things that are a reasonable price point.
• [00:03:54.38] JACKIE SASAKI: Now obviously, you know your market, and the shop's been open since 1927. What do you think contribute to your success and the longevity of the store?
• [00:04:05.66] RHONDA GILPIN: I would definitely have to say I'm one individual with three businesses, and I have just had the most outstanding staff and people work for me throughout the years.
• [00:04:16.05] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Do they give you input on what they think is working at the store or what they'd like to see?
• [00:04:20.43] RHONDA GILPIN: I think actually the people that are in the store are the people that are actually talking to customers--
• [00:04:25.58] JACKIE SASAKI: In day-to-day contact.
• [00:04:27.08] RHONDA GILPIN: Mm-hm. Of which I'm in and out, but I'm not there-- I can't be there all the time.
• [00:04:33.30] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Do the customers really let you know what they like?
• [00:04:36.78] RHONDA GILPIN: Yeah, I mean, I think because there's two businesses in the Arcade, they'll come from my one store down to my other store. So yeah. I hear-- if there's ever any bad, I certainly hear that. Which there's not too often, but I definitely hear.
• [00:04:51.44] JACKIE SASAKI: The Caravan Shop has been in the same location since 1927. How do you like doing business in the Arcade? And have you seen the atmosphere change?
• [00:05:01.24] RHONDA GILPIN: My dad actually worked for Jacobson's as a store manager, so I have literally been in that block for the last 40 years. So I mean, have I seen a lot of changes around the State Street area? I would definitely say that I have. And not a negative or a positive way. I think it's just part of--
• [00:05:20.04] JACKIE SASAKI: Change.
• [00:05:20.54] RHONDA GILPIN: Change. Yeah, exactly. But I mean, I love being in the Nickels Arcade. For me, it's like a second home. It'll be a difficult day when I don't come walking through those doors on a day-to-day basis.
• [00:05:31.33] JACKIE SASAKI: Now both of your daughters are in the business?
• [00:05:34.19] RHONDA GILPIN: I have one daughter who's graduated college, and she has been a huge asset within the stores. And I have a son who is at Washenaw Technical College, and I have another daughter who's at community. So my kids have all spent time within the stores. And as babies, they were in the store with me every day until they were ready for school.
• [00:05:55.03] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: What does Ann Arbor buy? What would you say they really like and come for?
• [00:05:59.15] RHONDA GILPIN: I would have to say definitely the china animals that are in the front window. I mean, those bring families and kids, which is really nice. It's been known as a greeting card store for a very long time. I carry beautiful greeting cards. So they definitely come in for that. And with Borders not in that block anymore, we've certainly felt a big uptick in that, because there really isn't anywhere else where you can go get a birthday card. We sell a tremendous amount of handmade jewelry. And I think we're pretty known for all of our holiday stuff at Christmas, you know? Christmas ornaments, nutcrackers.
• [00:06:31.25] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Do you get much of the student population in the store?
• [00:06:33.99] RHONDA GILPIN: Oh, definitely. Because our price point is pretty broad. We carry things from $5 to $500. It's affordable almost to anybody.
• [00:06:41.50] JACKIE SASAKI: Now will you change your merchandise line to accommodate students? Have you done that in the--?
• [00:06:47.31] RHONDA GILPIN: I've already done that over the years. But I mean, we're constantly bringing in new companies and new artists all the time, and phasing ones out, just to keep a nice mix and keep things interesting within the store.
• [00:07:01.48] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: You mentioned that you are starting to carry, or do carry, a lot of American artists and that now. Do you learn about them through trade fairs? Or how do you contact the American ones?
• [00:07:11.71] RHONDA GILPIN: There's also a small section at Javits where handmade artists come in. But I would say the majority of them either set up in Philadelphia or Baltimore. There's a handmade market there which is very similar to the Ann Arbor Art Fair, only it's artists that actually wholesale to galleries and businesses throughout the United States. I go to those markets and purchase from them there.
• [00:07:32.14] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: How much of the year do you have to spend traveling?
• [00:07:34.21] RHONDA GILPIN: I am probably gone every other month, at least for a weekend or two.
• [00:07:38.53] JACKIE SASAKI: Do you travel overseas? Or the trade fairs sort of help you see--
• [00:07:43.41] RHONDA GILPIN: A lot of the trade shows have people from overseas, which is really nice. I have not traveled abroad, just because I've had a family and a day-to-day business. I don't like to be gone for a significant amount of time. But I also have not wanted to leave my kids for that amount of time. That's hard to travel that far away with your family and do business. So I have not. But as my kids have gotten older, I definitely will.
• [00:08:06.21] JACKIE SASAKI: Now we've asked a lot of questions about your business. Tell us about Rhonda.
• [00:08:10.26] RHONDA GILPIN: Well, like I said, I've been on that block for more than 40 years.
• [00:08:13.89] JACKIE SASAKI: Were you born and raised in this area?
• [00:08:17.32] RHONDA GILPIN: I went to school here in Ann Arbor for a period of time, and then my parents, we moved out towards the Whitmore Lake area. And then I graduated out of Tecumseh High School. When I got the stores, it was with alarm systems and things that you need to do with run three stores, I've moved into town and have been here probably for the last 25 years or so, right downtown.
• [00:08:41.67] JACKIE SASAKI: Well, I don't know how you do it. You have three businesses.
• [00:08:44.87] RHONDA GILPIN: Well, I could not have done it without the support, help, and love of my mom. My sisters worked for me over the years. And honestly, the people that have worked for me have been like family. My turnover is not-- I mean, my retention is probably six years, a lot of times, at a time. So I don't have a lot of turnover. So whoever is working for me generally stays, which is really nice.
• [00:09:10.21] JACKIE SASAKI: Now let's talk about your business. Tell us what they are.
• [00:09:13.97] RHONDA GILPIN: I have antique stores. I have two of them. I have one in the Nickels Arcade. It's about 300 feet from The Caravan Shop. And I also have one on Main Street, about two blocks from the football stadium.
• [00:09:25.99] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: What are they called?
• [00:09:27.04] RHONDA GILPIN: The Arcadian and The Arcadian Antiques Boutique.
• [00:09:29.99] JACKIE SASAKI: Where do you get those merchandise from?
• [00:09:33.38] RHONDA GILPIN: I also travel for those, which I kind of calculated in when you asked me. I usually go on the weekends. I usually-- I don't like to leave for more than two or three days at a time. And I go to Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, Miami. I travel a fair amount. I usually fly, so I have things shipped back. And they're all people that I've had connections with for many years.
• [00:09:54.87] JACKIE SASAKI: So you go to different fairs for the two different stores?
• [00:09:59.30] RHONDA GILPIN: I go to convention centers for the antique things, and then I have what I would call pickers, and it's generally couples that travel throughout the United States that hunt for the kind of merchandise that I sell in the antique stores.
• [00:10:14.13] JACKIE SASAKI: And so they'll contact you--
• [00:10:15.07] RHONDA GILPIN: Yep. They'll contact me and say, you know, we're going to be in Florida. We're going to be here for two weeks. We've found a lot of great stuff. It would be worth your while to make a trip.
• [00:10:24.36] JACKIE SASAKI: So what's the biggest seller in the antique market for you?
• [00:10:28.25] RHONDA GILPIN: Definitely I would say the antique jewelry has always been a love of mine. And certainly, I sell a lot. And definitely, I would say, if I had to narrow that down, it would definitely be engagement rings, wedding bands, things like that.
• [00:10:46.36] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: How did you come to have two stores in the Arcade?
• [00:10:49.57] RHONDA GILPIN: Well, originally, the first store that I purchased was the antique store. And originally when I started that, I had been working in The Caravan Shop and I had worked at Jacobson's for a period of time. And it was a small consignment shop which I purchased with the help of Jim Edwards. He lent me $25,000 to purchase the consignment shop, which I changed into The Arcadian, into an antique store. And so that was my first entity, I guess.
• [00:11:20.16] JACKIE SASAKI: And then you purchased The Caravan Shop when it became available.
• [00:11:23.75] RHONDA GILPIN: Yep. Well, I purchased the boutique in between. But The Caravan Shop is my third acquisition.
• [00:11:31.83] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Tell us about your website.
• [00:11:33.80] RHONDA GILPIN: We have-- honestly, I have not super internet-savvy, I'm kind of embarrassed to say. Because I know that the world is moving in that direction, and I am very much brick-and-mortar. So it's been a hard transition for me, in that respect, just because I'm not super computer-savvy. But there is a young man named Kyle Marsh who-- his parents shopped my store. And he came in and said, I know you don't have a website, and I think it would, with the way things are moving, you have great stuff. I think your name should be out there. And he kind of helped me design and did a lot of the back work for that web page. And it's taken about a year, but he's done a really nice job. And I'm very happy with it. And I have found that I get tons of people looking at it all the time, and it brings us a lot of business. So it's been a good thing.
• [00:12:23.08] JACKIE SASAKI: So is there any plan of you doing e-commerce?
• [00:12:27.01] RHONDA GILPIN: I guess I would probably have to say no. I mean, I pay a lot of money in rent to have that walk-by exposure. And I think the e-commerce thing, although it would be a huge addition to the business, and think it'd also be a huge transformation. I think I'd definitely have to hire a lot more people to be able to accommodate and handle that. And I'm not sure that I'm the person who wants to get maybe to that level or that size. I kind of like the, I don't know, the intimacy of how the shop is.
• [00:12:58.98] JACKIE SASAKI: OK, the retail landscape in Ann Arbor is constantly evolving. What do you envision The Caravan Shop to be like in five years?
• [00:13:07.59] RHONDA GILPIN: I guess I haven't really thought that far out, to be honest. I don't know. I'm kind of hoping, although I don't know if it'll happen, that maybe one of my daughters or one of my kids will have some sort of vision that wants to move in that direction, and take it to another level. I'm probably as big and as expanded as I want to be, other than just bringing in new companies and artists. Fortunately, there's, like, "Think Local First." That's been a great thing for any small, tiny business. And there has been like a huge drive, which I think is awesome, to shop small places. Because if you don't, they're just not going to exist. Not even just for me, but I mean, I'm thinking of Zingerman's as being small. I know they're really not in a lot of ways. But they started out really small. Big box stores have their place, certainly, for a lot of different things. But I think if you want something unique, if you want to buy something that was actually made by a small company, a family, then you're only going to get those things in a small business. And in Ann Arbor, there's been a huge push or drive for customers to shop locally.
• [00:14:16.37] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: I have to believe too, though, when you talk about locally driven, that the urge for people to move back into the downtown area and have walkable places is going to have a big impact on places like The Caravan. Because with Zaragon and a lot of the others, you're just getting a much larger group of people that are walking, aren't you?
• [00:14:36.67] RHONDA GILPIN: Oh yeah, definitely. And biking. It's a total positive to the downtown area. And I think as everything becomes more expensive-- gas and cars and insurance and all those things-- people want to live in an area where they can be on foot and have all the niceties right at their feet, you know? That's certainly a positive.
• [00:14:59.93] JACKIE SASAKI: What do you think the local government or Merchant's Association can do to help small business?
• [00:15:06.68] RHONDA GILPIN: There is a movement that's called "Think Local First," and it supports, actually, a lot of small businesses. And I would say a lot of the businesses that people have really built up around Ann Arbor are participating in that. And it's called "Think Local First." If you're a small business just starting out, it's definitely something you want to get connected with.
• [00:15:28.43] JACKIE SASAKI: Is there anything the local government could do that you see would help you? Free parking?
• [00:15:34.68] RHONDA GILPIN: I don't think free parking is such an issue, because I think parking isn't crazy. You're not going to New York City and paying a crazy dollar amount. Not that it's not hugely expensive, but-- you know, a lot of businesses, I validate parking. I encourage people to come down. Sometimes I forget to offer, but certainly when people come in my store, I hope they'll ask if I don't offer. But I validate parking, and I think a lot of the local businesses do down there. And certainly there's ample parking now. We've put in a lot of parking structures. So if you don't mind walking a block or two, parking is not so much an issue.
• [00:16:11.82] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Have you gotten to know the other business owners in the Arcade over the years?
• [00:16:15.60] RHONDA GILPIN: Oh, yeah, definitely.
• [00:16:16.88] DEBBIE GALLAGHER: Tell us about some of them. Like I know Van Boven's has been there a long time, the barber shop.
• [00:16:22.75] RHONDA GILPIN: I would say most of the, you know, Bivouac's, Van Boven's, Van Boven Shoes, certainly the barber shop, Randy Parrish-- those are all very core businesses to that Arcade. They've all been in there probably 10-plus years. Their families are in the Arcade all the time. So yeah, I've known many of them. I look forward to seeing them, and their kids grow up. And I would say that's one thing about a small business in that Arcade is a lot of our customers are regulars. And I am working on second generations of many, many, many customers. I have people that came in and bought their engagement ring 28 years ago, and now those families are coming back with their children, and their children are buying engagement rings. And that's really-- it's nice.
• [00:17:09.57] JACKIE SASAKI: Do you think your business is tied to the university schedule, the calendar?
• [00:17:18.03] RHONDA GILPIN: I would say a little bit. I mean, just based on the volume of people that come in for, say, a football weekend or an orientation, and there's big blocks of kids coming through with their parents that are visiting Ann Arbor for the first time, or whatever. It definitely is a pump to the restaurants, to the stores. I mean, a lot of those people have never been here before, and it definitely has an impact and an effect on our little stores.
• [00:17:47.70] JACKIE SASAKI: What other business would you like to see in the Arcade, that would work really well with the mix already there?
• [00:17:55.13] RHONDA GILPIN: I would have to say, like, I think the biggest, most positive addition we've had lately is a store called Wendy's, and it's a women's clothing store, and Johnny's, which is a more casual women's store. But I think in the downtown area, we have lost places where women can go and buy hosiery to wear with a dress. When you run your hose and you work at the university or whatever, I mean, we've lost those places where you can run in and get maybe-- not student-oriented clothing, but on a more professional level would be really nice. Something that completely complemented Van Boven's Clothing would be really nice. And Wendy's is doing a really nice job of that, but it would be great if there was, you know, more than one store that offered that type of thing. It would bring, I think, women downtown to shop. And also kids-- there's not a lot for kids. I mean, I carry some things in The Caravan Shop that are gift-oriented towards children. But if you think about that block in general, there aren't a lot of things for an infant or for a young toddler, where you can go and buy a gift, outside of maybe a t-shirt or something.
• [00:19:08.94] [MUSIC - FERNWOOD, "OPEN SEAS"]
• [00:19:20.40] JACKIE SASAKI: For more information on The Caravan Shop, visit www.thecaravanshop.net. Music for this episode was "Open Seas" by Fernwood, off their album Almeria, which you can find on the AADL catalog by going to aadl.org/magnatunes. "AADL Talks to Rhonda Gilpin" has been a production of the Ann Arbor District Library.