Middle Earth

Pros:
— Wide selection of items on sale
— Unique store with few comparables
— Great place for fun gifts for family or friends
— Convenient location
Cons:
— Slightly pricey
Best fit:
— Great to window shop
— Browse for gifts for family friends
— Interesting to take folks who want to get a sense of ‘Ann Arborisms’

This place is packed with interesting gifts and trinkets. They had knitted caps and scarves, funny t-​shirts, shot glasses, and other novelty items. There was tons of nice jewelry in the back. I was with my boyfriend so we kind of sped past that section. If I have time I’ll definitely go back and take a closer look. We ended up getting some candy from the front of the store. They have nostalgic candies you thought were long gone as well as international brands like Morinaga.
Staff appeared to have their hands full at the checkout. We were left alone to look around at our own leisure.

Amazing little shop with all sorts of gifts, goodies, and stationary.
My favorite part of the store was their little zoo of miniature glass animals. It was absolutely adorable! You should definitely go take a look if you come here.

I LOVE THIS PLACE.
I’m sure they already know, too, because I kept yelling this phrase out every few minutes at their store every time I saw something quirky on sale.
«No. 2» pencils (with a plastic turd on top) made me giggle. Tiny plastic babies made me shriek with excitement. Witty greeting cards made me wish I had more money.
Jewelry, keychains, gag gifts, stationary, purses, postcards, greeting cards, wrapping paper, unicorn heads — they have everything you could possibly dream of!
This place is going to rob me blind, but in a very, very good way. Have a few hours to kill and wish to walk off your food coma from the numerous restaurants establishments that line S. University Ave? Stop by Middle Earth. You won’t regret it.

Since I’ve graduated and moved away from Ann Arbor, one of the places I often long for is a walk through Middle Earth. I especially miss looking at all of the unique (and often locally-​made) jewelry and reading the funny greeting cards with my friends.
This truly is a store that just about anyone could spend an hour looking around in. It is great for birthday/​holiday gifts, because there is such a range of items and you dont have to worry about getting a gift that isn’t unique/​special. The prices are fair and the shop is definitely worth a trip inside if you are strolling along S. University.

Although I would never buy anything in here, it is a cool place to just stroll around and look at all the hilarious and interesting stuff they have in there. A lot of novelty items, gadgets and gizmos that you probably won’t find anywhere else, although UO comes somewhat close. Definitely come here if you are looking to give a gift that is original, funny and somewhat useless but enjoyable nonetheless.

Quirky little shop. Unique items. Pretty random stuff.
A fun shop to browse when you’re in the area.

This is one of my favorite places in the world. The store is divided into three. The first part is jewelry, handbags, incense and bath products. Really cute earrings and wallets. Really different, eclectic selection. Hilarious bath stuff like red wine flavored wash your sins away lip balm, and insanely attractive must have adhesive bandages from bacon to tattoos. Kitschy awe-​some.
The middle is filled with vintage post cards and glass cases filled mostly with day of the dead figurines, which I heart. I also got my Grateful Dead Cookie Jar here.
The third room is filled with hilarious t shirts, super cool candies, journals, knick nacks from Mexican handcuffs to windup robots and those monster finger puppets that make you want to be a kid again.
This place is a treasure trove. I have loved it since childhood.

Middle Earth is a fun place to go if you’re looking for funky trinkets, like something to help you decorate your dorm room, a gift for a stoner friend, or something completely random that you won’t know you want until you see it. Going here is fun, even if it’s just for window shopping. And the location is great too.

The last time I went to Middle Earth was Fall of 1990, back when the Simpsons had become very popular. I bring it up b/​c Mid Earth was LOADED with Simpsons tshirts, the type I could never find in my home town. I bought my then-​girlfriend a Maggie tshirt & was tempted to get the Moe the Bartender shirt — sadly, not enough cash as a poor college student. However, they place was loaded with tons of quirky stuff, so much that I wanted to max out the low-​limit credit card I’d gotten as a student.

I was attracted to the store by a necklace. I was in a hurry so I didn’t found said necklace that was in the window but I did find a giant assortment of giftage goods from gag toys to «designer» handmade jewelry. There are some interesting things in this store and I’m sure you could find something for any of your friends/​family in here.

Ah Middle Earth! I’ve been shopping with you since 1985 when at the age of 10 I finally was allowed to take my allowance and blow it all in one place on windup toys, arveydic oils, a paper kite, stickers, and the ubiquitous hello kitty.
You’ve waxed and waned over the years but still retain the essential spirit of the store I grew up with. Now, instead of stickers, toys, and incense I (or I send husband in) to buy from your gorgeous selection of fun and unique jewelry. Please don’t ever close, you’re one of my favorite self-​treat destinations in town — and of course, during the holidays.
Nutshell:
— Gorgeous, unique rings, earrings, necklaces not found elsewhere in town.
— Fun greeting cards, notepads, magnets, pens.
— Novelty gifts (aka, Gandalf/​Obama figurines, poop-​shaped soap, ice shot-​glass makers, etc.)
— Candles, incense, small ethnic musical instruments, lunchboxes, etc.

This place is the leader for kitschy, random, and completely unique knick nacks and gifts. I love just perusing the store for all sorts of neat things.
This is my go-​to place for any weird or hard to find gifts I may need… or simply something to entertain me and make me laugh.
I think the store was recently downsized, which is so sad because this is an Ann Arbor gem! If you’re in the area, definitely stop by and spend a few minutes browsing!

OMG A Lord of the Rings store?! Nerds everywhere calm down! *deep breath* It’s not a LOTR store, however the store name is pretty catchy!
My friends and I were enjoying a great day in Ann Arbor and we decided to go into Middle Earth and shop around. It is full of cute novelty items, lots of jewerly, treats, coffee table books, postcards, and lots of other gifts. It’s a fun place to walk around and look at all the random little gifts they have there and you may end up walking out with something. My friend and I both got some headbands and our other friend got a plant. Something for everyone here!

The other day, I needed some rubber duckies. Specifically, I was looking for unique ones. It seemed that I had seen a billion different places that carried novelty ducks over the years, but of course, when I needed them, I found myself drawing a blank. Then it hit me. Middle Earth! With one call: «Um, I know this is a weird question, but…» my prayers for rubber ducks were answered, and I was on my way over to Middle Earth to pick up some perfect, delivish red ducks!
I don’t know exactly when it opened, but Middle Earth has been around, as one of my Ann Arbor staples, for as long as I can remember. In my teenage years, we would take the bus into town on «adventures» and get a few postcards, little novelty toys, and other treats from Middle Earth. It was the first gift shop I’d ever seen that didn’t smell like potpourri (though it may very well have smelled of incense) or have the name Hallmark attached to it. As a teenager, it was inspiring.
I was a late joiner of the pierced ear club, but once I could finally wear earrings, I purchased loads of silver hoops of all shapes and sizes here. You could always rely on Middle Earth to carry simple, clean, non-​fussy jewelry, as well as the more quirky or fun stuff — much of it obviously hand made or carefully designed. And the postcards to sift through? I swear, ½ my college dorm room was decorated with those things!
Though I lament the fact that Middle Earth had to cut down their space to half its size, I’m glad that they are still alive and kickin’. They also tend to maximize their window space with great displays and their indoor space by packing everything in wisely. In an area of town that seems to deal with a lot of turnover, I hope that Middle Earth remains a South U staple.

I was sad to see that some kind of Pinkberry/​Swirlberry/​asian invasion decided to steal about half of Middle Earth’s store. I haven’t been since the coup, but when I would go, it was great.
Some of the gifts are a bit too pricey considering a ramen college student’s budget, but you can usually find an interesting gag or novelty gift there for under $ 5.
I used to love wasting some time between classes looking through their ‘vintage postcards’.

The best gift ever procured here is my «I should have pulled out» T shirt featuring GWB Sr, and GWB Jr. Alas, it has been cut in half, which cuts my browse time in half. As such, my spending in half. Could be a good thing, but not for Middle Earth. I miss the vastness of the candy area, the bacon scented air fresheners, and the many a saturday browsing for just the right trinket. I still love you, middle earth. I just long for the days of wandering in one set of doors, and wandering out the other.

man, BUMMER.
i would’ve given middle earth a 4 – 5 stars before it was cut in half. It was a great place to get gifts and spend an hour with a friend {or yourself} discovering gag gifts, cool coffee table books, weird & memory lane-​type candy, funny t-​shirts, dia de los muertos knick knacks, magnets, candles and yummy soaps… i could go on & on.
that’s all pretty much gone now. perhaps it wasn’t any fault of middle earth’s, but anything i went there for isn’t there or isn’t represented by a little sad trinket or two.
no hello kitty.
still cool postcards. still fun jewelary.
overall, it’s sad. i hope there’s plans to bring it back to its former glory.

This is a great spot to browse when you’re in a bind for a gift for someone. If you’re like me, you’re a procrastinator and do things at the last minute.
This is your one stop shop — cards, interesting gift wrap, and an assortment of goods from jewelry, «vintage» looking T-​shirts, soaps, candles, journals, postcards, kitschy books. Or maybe some old skool candy if you’re in a money pinch. You know that birthday girl is gonna love a box of lemonheads with an 80 cent postcard with a heartfelt note on it. They also carry a selection of jewelry on one side of the store.
My favorite purchase is my Gremlins tin lunch box. It is pink and I actually use it as a lunch box.

Whenever I found myself at a loss for gift buying, I’d go to Middle Earth and walk out with something totally unique.
It’d be hard to categorize this place; they sell lots of kitschy figurines, as well as resin garden statues, clothes and accessories, stationery…
It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it’s PACKED full of oddities. If you plan on coming here, give yourself a good amount of time; it’s not a place you can just be in-​and-​out of. It is, however, a place that can suck up hours of your time just looking.
I went there a lot for the stationery. One thing I did snag was a pen with a movable figure inside of a woman burning in flames. Big whoop, right? Not really. It was hard to pick because they had a lot of things like this: strange pens, card sets, notebooks… anything and everything I love!
If you seriously love kitsch, then you’ll seriously love this place!