Article Written by Kristen Bull
Crain’s Detroit Business
One of metro Detroit’s National Historic Landmarks is using a pop-up holiday retail shop to help market its premiere fundraising event.
The Meadow Brook Hall Museum Store Pop-Up Shop will open today in 1,200 square feet of space at the Village of Rochester Hills outdoor shopping center.
The store will feature Meadow Brook-branded items, vintage toys and holiday decor not unlike the ornaments and accessories that will adorn the 90-year-old mansion over the next two months.
“This shop is an opportunity to share our story, and we wanted to feature things that speak to the elegance of the Hall,” said Shannon O’Berski, marketing and communications manager at Meadow Brook Hall.
O’Berski and Shelleen McHale, marketing director for the Village, led Crain’s on a preview tour of the shop Thursday afternoon.
McHale said the shopping center was looking for something unique and different for the holidays, and O’Berski said Meadow Brook Hall was looking for a creative way to promote its upcoming Holiday Walk — its biggest annual fundraiser.
So for the past week and a half, O’Berski and five museum employees have been working to convert the space — most recently occupied by Hepburn’s Crepe and Coffee and before that, the longtime MaggieMoo’s ice cream shop — into a boutique.
The shop is decorated with a mural of the mansion and several historic photos of the family that lived there: Matilda Dodge Wilson, who inherited the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Co. fortune after her first husband, John Dodge, died; her second husband, Alfred Wilson, and their children.
Meadow Brook Hall is leasing the space for a discounted rate. The shop will be open through Dec. 24.
Items for sale range from $1 to $50; customers will receive a coupon for $5 off a Meadow Brook Hall tour with their purchase. O’Berski said she hopes to attract first-time visitors to the hall.
The Holiday Walk, which is a tour of the inside of the Hall and the grounds, is Nov. 28-Dec. 23. Tickets for the tours, which run 11 a.m.-5 p.m., are $20 for adults. Between 10,000 and 12,000 people attend the tour each holiday season.
Meadow Brook Hall was listed on the National Historic Landmarks registry in 2012.
Meadow Brook Hall is located at 480 S. Adams Road, on the campus of Oakland University. The Village of Rochester Hills is located at 104 N. Adams Road, about a half-mile from the Hall.
The Village is owned by Birmingham-based Robert B. Aikens & Associates LLC. Anchor stores include Whole Foods Market and Carson’s department store. Michael Symon’s B Spot restaurant opened there earlier this year.
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20141024/NEWS/141029916/meadow-brook-hall-opens-pop-up-museum-retail-shop-at-nearby-village
Our daughter graduated from Oakland several years ago. I would like to purchase the picture of Meadowbrook Hall. I purchased one for myself several years ago thru the bookstore. The worker at the Bookstore today suggested I contact you as they do not carry the picture.
I live in Florida so it would need to be mailed to me.
Thank you.
Anita Johnson