Ann Arbor's Renaissance clothing reopens with 'new beginning' sale after December fire

Rather than dwelling on the business lost during an ill-timed four-month closure, Renaissance owner Roger Pothus believes this is a new beginning for his 42-year-old clothing store.

The store at 201 S. Division St. reopens at 10 a.m. on Friday after a small fire ruined its inventory in December. Almost the entire store is marked down 50 percent to 80 percent for the first few weeks of business.

“We lost four months worth of business, so we’re having a huge sale like we’ve never done before,” Pothus said. “A lot of our vendors were disappointed because we were closed for a while, so they offered things like overstock or just special prices to get back in front of the public.”

The floor at Renaissance was flooded after a small garbage can fire set off the sprinkler system in the clothing store on Dec. 4. Smoke damage from the fire ruined all the clothing — totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But Pothus and his employees are taking this opportunity to reposition the store and attract new clients.

They have refocused their efforts on women’s custom clothing and inventory, which now accounts for half the store. They brought in some lower-priced items and more colorful pieces; expanded the size offerings; and brought in clothing lines from various parts of Europe.

Still, Pothus said he’s not abandoning his “luxury customer.” During the month-long sale, there will be a small section in the store with new styles that won’t be discounted. After the sale, Renaissance will bring in its regular spring collection.

“This is a new beginning, we’re rising up and we’re open for suggestions,” said manager Bill Sizer. “We want new people to come in, but we’d also like their input as to how Renaissance can continue to grow from this point on.”

The store has been rearranged and it has new carpeting and LED lighting. Pothus said McKinley Towne Centre landlord McKinley Inc. facilitated the renovations.

Most importantly, Pothus and Sizer both wanted to thank their customers for supporting them while the store was closed.

“The amazing thing is, when we were closed, our customers offered to roll up their sleeves and help us. They were willing to push a broom and shovel the ashes out of here,” Pothus said.

Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.