Denim consolidation

Ariana Carps, owner of Rear Ends, 6606 Telegraph Road at Maple in Bloomfield Township, announced her parents, Mark and Elaine Blumenfeld, who opened the original Rear Ends store in West Bloomfield on The Boardwalk on Orchard Lake 42 years ago offering denim and clothing to wear with it, are ready to step back – sort of – so they will be closing their West Bloomfield store at the end of December, and consolidating at the Bloomfield store. “What pushed the closing was in June, when the merchandisers were contacting me with cancellations, I sat down with my parents and said ‘We don’t have enough new merchandise to fill both of our stores – but we do have enough to make one store look really great,’” Carps said, noting it is “the way the supply chain hit our market.” Mark and Elaine were ready to become semi-retired, though Carps laughed, “because they like to talk about retiring and then about how many hours they’ll be working.” She said West Bloomfield customers have already been traveling to the Bloomfield store, so she’s excited for the next step. “We will still find people the best fit, quality of service and the Rear Ends experience,” she pointed out. In the mean time, the West Bloomfield store is having a blow out pre-move purge sale, with everything $100 or less until its gone. Business Matters for the Birmingham - Bloomfield area are reported by Lisa Brody. Send items for consideration to LisaBrody@downtownpublications.com. Items should be received three weeks prior to publication.