Elaine Selo is co-owner, along with Cynthia Shevel, of the Middle Earth gift shop on South University. In October 2014 they announced plans to close the novelty retail store by the end of the year. It opened in 1967.
They also owned Selo/Shevel Gallery at 301 S. Main Street, at the corner of Main and Liberty, as well as the three-story building in which it was located. They closed the gallery after getting an offer for the building from Detroit ophthalmologist Reza Rahmani, who runs the Rahmani Eye Institute. That deal closed in March 2014.
According to an MLive report: "Selo and Shevel met 48 years ago while attending the University of Michigan. The year they met, Shevel, a California native, opened Middle Earth gift shop in a sublet room on East Liberty Street. The shop later moved to 1209 S. University Ave. It was inside the Middle Earth store on South University Avenue where Selo and Shevel started their Selo/Shevel Gallery in 1982."
The couple lives off of Geddes Road near Nichols Arboretum.
In the news
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47-year-old Ann Arbor shop Middle Earth closing – Detroit Free Press, Oct. 9, 2014
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Ann Arbor's Middle Earth retail shop to close after 47 years – MLive, Oct. 7, 2014
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Sold for $2.5M: Former Selo/Shevel building in downtown Ann Arbor – MLive, April 11, 2014
- What's the Cultural Plan? – The Ann Arbor Chronicle, April 8, 2009
Several people spoke about the urgency of supporting local groups, as the economy continues to batter both businesses and nonprofits. Elaine Selo, co-owner of Selo/Shevel Gallery on Main Street, said she’s seen ups and downs for 27 years, and now “all of us are just trying to survive.”
