Target set to open supply chain facility at Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit

Target Corp. intends to open a supply chain facility in Detroit on the site of the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in an area where a historic building recently was razed, the retailer confirmed Monday.The facility will be approximately 180,000 square feet on property at 20250 Woodward Ave., a Target spokesman wrote in an email to The Detroit News.

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A sign at the site says the future facility will open in June 2024.
The Minneapolis-based company, which does not currently operate any stores in Detroit, provided no further information about the future building.

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https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...t/70388706007/

Nationwide, you have to wonder how all these big box places find enough warehouse help with the unemployment rate so low. It's obviously why Amazon and Target are locating there. City employees can get to it much easier than the burbs and it's central for the area. Still, every time someone takes a job there another vacancy opens up in a lesser service job.

Detroit; good enough for a warehouse, not good enough for a store, apparently.

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Originally Posted by K-slice

Detroit; good enough for a warehouse, not good enough for a store, apparently.

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Politics. Purely Politics. There is plenty of land near the downtown area to open a Target store. Bedrock could had allowed a City Target in one of it's empty storefronts. I could had seen a Target opening in one of the strip malls along Jefferson

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Originally Posted by K-slice

Detroit; good enough for a warehouse, not good enough for a store, apparently.

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It probably is good practice to have a warehouse in order to stock the store and there would no reason to have a warehouse unless there are multiple stores.

Unless the city of Detroit only has room for one store,then it would not be economically feasible to put it there in the first place.

I see it a heck of a lot more positive then negative,it’s Target and kinda like M&Ms you cannot just have one.

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Originally Posted by Richard

It probably is good practice to have a warehouse in order to stock the store and there would no reason to have a warehouse unless there are multiple stores.

Unless the city of Detroit only has room for one store,then it would not be economically feasible to put it there in the first place.

I see it a heck of a lot more positive then negative,it’s Target and kinda like M&Ms you cannot just have one.

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I don't follow your point. The warehouse is inside the city limits at 8 mile. It's located where it is, as I said, because it allows city employees easy access to get there and because it is central to many of its suburban store locations. Locating one or more stores inside the city would also be convenient to this location.

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Originally Posted by 401don

I don't follow your point. The warehouse is inside the city limits at 8 mile. It's located where it is, as I said, because it allows city employees easy access to get there and because it is central to many of its suburban store locations. Locating one or more stores inside the city would also be convenient to this location.

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What?

You did not follow my point but you reworded it and presented it.

It is located where it is because it was incentivize to locate there and they would not be building it unless they were planning future expansion of multiple stores which translates into a higher possibility that the city will not only see one store but multiple stores in the future,the near future.

How employees get to work is not their problem,but the fairgrounds does have a transportation hub for rail and bus so ot would be on the city to provide transportation alternatives for city residents in order to get there.

There are a lot of warehouses,tech centers and other businesses planned for the future there but if the region cannot figure out a way to come up with some transportation options then it will be to their detriment.

It’s not on the locating business to provide or care about how people get there,buy a car and drive there if you want a job.

But that is also what most cities take into account when they are promoting open for business incentives,it is not for the business,transportation is for the ease of residents to find employment.

Factories in the south are located out in the middle of nowhere,if you want a job there,you figure out a way to get there.

In an urban setting with high unemployment,it is usually on the city to help those residents increase their standard of living by helping them get to the work centers by providing mass transit.

If a city is not interested in investing in its citizens future how can you expect a company to?

When all of those businesses left the city and located to the suburbs,they did not do it to be closer or make it easier for employees to get there,actually made it worse because if you did not have a car you walked or rode a bike,there was no buses or established transit options that were already in place in the city.

They left the city for the same reason everybody else did at the time.

On top of everything else the burbs offered cheaper tax rates and land costs.

People in California ride mass transit trains into the city because they can only afford a house further out,sometimes 2 hours each way,the employer are not saying gee let me move my company out closer to you in order to make it easier on your transportation needs.

That short lived movement of employees dictating to employers on under what conditions they will work or they will join in the great resignation,is over with,most of those people have gone back to their old jobs.

Because the bills came due.

You cannot base a trend that happens in a small window in time and think that that is how it is going to be for ever.

We have had the luxury of a rolling economy for 7 years now,it will not last forever,1970s 80s 90s 2000s all had recessions like clockwork every 8 -10 years,they have to happen in order to keep things in check,the country actually needs one now in order to lower the cost of living that is out f control.

When that happens nobody is going to be placing demands on business looking to locate and provide jobs,cities will be begging for them because jobs will become scarce.

That’s why it is on the city to prepare for that,not to entice the businesses to locate there but for when they do,the residents have every possible option available in order to get to that job.

But sense people do not seem to care about that anyways,I will stand by what I said originally,they would not be building a distribution center if they were not planning an expansion,and they would not be spending millions on a distribution center to just supply one store,so it is good news for Detroit because it looks like you are about to get some options and not just one.

This could be very well why the proposed target in the city was put on hold,without a local distribution center it would have been very expensive to stock and when you are talking about only making a few pennies on every item sold,every penny counts.

Not to shabby either,Target is no way in the same class as Wal-Mart or other dollar stores.

So the bar has been raised. You could have easily gotten a Wal-Mart but you were looking for better and by all appearances that’s what you will be getting.

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Originally Posted by Richard

What?

You did not follow my point but you reworded it and presented it.

It is located where it is because it was incentivize to locate there and they would not be building it unless they were planning future expansion of multiple stores which translates into a higher possibility that the city will not only see one store but multiple stores in the future,the near future.

How employees get to work is not their problem,but the fairgrounds does have a transportation hub for rail and bus so ot would be on the city to provide transportation alternatives for city residents in order to get there.

There are a lot of warehouses,tech centers and other businesses planned for the future there but if the region cannot figure out a way to come up with some transportation options then it will be to their detriment.

It’s not on the locating business to provide or care about how people get there,buy a car and drive there if you want a job.

But that is also what most cities take into account when they are promoting open for business incentives,it is not for the business,transportation is for the ease of residents to find employment.

Factories in the south are located out in the middle of nowhere,if you want a job there,you figure out a way to get there.

In an urban setting with high unemployment,it is usually on the city to help those residents increase their standard of living by helping them get to the work centers by providing mass transit.

If a city is not interested in investing in its citizens future how can you expect a company to?

When all of those businesses left the city and located to the suburbs,they did not do it to be closer or make it easier for employees to get there,actually made it worse because if you did not have a car you walked or rode a bike,there was no buses or established transit options that were already in place in the city.

They left the city for the same reason everybody else did at the time.

On top of everything else the burbs offered cheaper tax rates and land costs.

People in California ride mass transit trains into the city because they can only afford a house further out,sometimes 2 hours each way,the employer are not saying gee let me move my company out closer to you in order to make it easier on your transportation needs.

That short lived movement of employees dictating to employers on under what conditions they will work or they will join in the great resignation,is over with,most of those people have gone back to their old jobs.

Because the bills came due.

You cannot base a trend that happens in a small window in time and think that that is how it is going to be for ever.

We have had the luxury of a rolling economy for 7 years now,it will not last forever,1970s 80s 90s 2000s all had recessions like clockwork every 8 -10 years,they have to happen in order to keep things in check,the country actually needs one now in order to lower the cost of living that is out f control.

When that happens nobody is going to be placing demands on business looking to locate and provide jobs,cities will be begging for them because jobs will become scarce.

That’s why it is on the city to prepare for that,not to entice the businesses to locate there but for when they do,the residents have every possible option available in order to get to that job.

But sense people do not seem to care about that anyways,I will stand by what I said originally,they would not be building a distribution center if they were not planning an expansion,and they would not be spending millions on a distribution center to just supply one store,so it is good news for Detroit because it looks like you are about to get some options and not just one.

This could be very well why the proposed target in the city was put on hold,without a local distribution center it would have been very expensive to stock and when you are talking about only making a few pennies on every item sold,every penny counts.

Not to shabby either,Target is no way in the same class as Wal-Mart or other dollar stores.

So the bar has been raised. You could have easily gotten a Wal-Mart but you were looking for better and by all appearances that’s what you will be getting.

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Richard I stand corrected. Having a supply warehouse for Target isn't bad for the city. I still wish that Target don't wait on City Club to be built just for it to set up shop. There are parcels of land on Jefferson next to or near Rivertown Market where Target could be built. There are also empty storefronts that run along Woodward near Grand Blvd that combined could hold a city Target

hopefully city residents will get prioritized for the warehouse jobs. hopefully there will also be minority contractors brought in for the construction.

Next stop City Target.

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Originally Posted by stasu1213

Richard I stand corrected. Having a supply warehouse for Target isn't bad for the city. I still wish that Target don't wait on City Club to be built just for it to set up shop. There are parcels of land on Jefferson next to or near Rivertown Market where Target could be built. There are also empty storefronts that run along Woodward near Grand Blvd that combined could hold a city Target

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No worries.

it is still listed on their corporate site as a future location but that does not mean much,we do not know the details in all of that it could have been a build to suit situation and there was problems getting funding.

But that’s speculation on my part,they could very well be scouting other locations.

I do not know how accurate the search thing is but the other locations have been in the state for 60 some years.

But if they are establishing in the city of Detroit,they are probably looking at multiple locations in order to gain market share before others jump in,they have been on a large expansion plan sense 2020,with the other established locations in the state they would have had to have a distribution center already,building a new one at the fairgrounds puts them on the opposite end of the other locations when you look at a centralized distribution center.

So they are either setting that one up with expansion in mind or the ability to home deliver with a set time frame,but they like their stores and put a lot of effort into the customer experience,not so much geared towards online ordering.

I shop at Target have been for 50 years and it seems like their market is mid range income,not to low and not to high that’s probably going to be the income range of the éreas they will look at,but they are also going to be looking at short term and long term goals if they look at where the movement within the city is trending,they may establish a location that will have you scratching your head.

It’s just good business sense to establish now in Detroit before other players,but once Target establishes in the city the other players will come in because that is what they do,compete for market share against their competitors.

Which is good because you will then have what you need,multiple options,a long time coming and not soon enough but at least it is promising news and gives hope and forward movement in the city.

I think the city still has things in place that requires city residents in the construction and employment aspect on a percentage base,but that was according to the tax incentives and other investment incentives provided by the city taxpayers.

That part we do not know about yet or has not been disclosed yet or even if they asked for or received.

Somebody posted that question,that is or was the conditions that the city was requiring a percentage of city residents involved in the construction and employment part of they received taxpayer funds,which really is reasonable.

A city can give preference to women or minority owned businesses for city contracts but they cannot dictate or force a private company to,it does not matter anyways if you want to get a city contract it is easy enough to find a woman or a minority as a straw owner for the length of that contract.

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Originally Posted by Hypestyles

hopefully city residents will get prioritized for the warehouse jobs. hopefully there will also be minority contractors brought in for the construction.

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I would say that if Target can't find a certain percentage of residents whom want to stay on the job or are not qualified then the void should be filled with non residents. The problem that retailers within city limits are having is keeping employees especially those that live within city limits. Retailers and restaurants are forced to keep a 53% residents quota.

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Originally Posted by Richard

No worries.

it is still listed on their corporate site as a future location but that does not mean much,we do not know the details in all of that it could have been a build to suit situation and there was problems getting funding.

But that’s speculation on my part,they could very well be scouting other locations.

I do not know how accurate the search thing is but the other locations have been in the state for 60 some years.

But if they are establishing in the city of Detroit,they are probably looking at multiple locations in order to gain market share before others jump in,they have been on a large expansion plan sense 2020,with the other established locations in the state they would have had to have a distribution center already,building a new one at the fairgrounds puts them on the opposite end of the other locations when you look at a centralized distribution center.

So they are either setting that one up with expansion in mind or the ability to home deliver with a set time frame,but they like their stores and put a lot of effort into the customer experience,not so much geared towards online ordering.

I shop at Target have been for 50 years and it seems like their market is mid range income,not to low and not to high that’s probably going to be the income range of the éreas they will look at,but they are also going to be looking at short term and long term goals if they look at where the movement within the city is trending,they may establish a location that will have you scratching your head.

It’s just good business sense to establish now in Detroit before other players,but once Target establishes in the city the other players will come in because that is what they do,compete for market share against their competitors.

Which is good because you will then have what you need,multiple options,a long time coming and not soon enough but at least it is promising news and gives hope and forward movement in the city.

I think the city still has things in place that requires city residents in the construction and employment aspect on a percentage base,but that was according to the tax incentives and other investment incentives provided by the city taxpayers.

That part we do not know about yet or has not been disclosed yet or even if they asked for or received.

Somebody posted that question,that is or was the conditions that the city was requiring a percentage of city residents involved in the construction and employment part of they received taxpayer funds,which really is reasonable.

A city can give preference to women or minority owned businesses for city contracts but they cannot dictate or force a private company to,it does not matter anyways if you want to get a city contract it is easy enough to find a woman or a minority as a straw owner for the length of that contract.

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I had attended the Light up Livernois event a few weeks back. I was still impressed by the modern design streetscape. I was still disappointed that that nothing had really changed as far as retail is concern on the strip. It's true that most of the businesses are minority owned or controlled. However, those businesses only catered to a % of the populac who live in the surrounding areas such as Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, and Green Acres. Sadly the new structure that was constructed on the southwest corner of Livernois and 7 mile is going to house a cigar Bae and a restaurant instead of the middle end retail that the developer intended it to house. The two minority owned coffee shop had failed and are currently closed. A Starbucks would had great on that strip that has a dedicated staff that are willing to come to work. It appears to me that there's a push to make or keep that strip a minority controlled strip. I also wonder are national chain or non minority retailers are being shut out from opening on that strip? Bigby had tried operating a cafe on the strip after years of delay only to shut its doors after one year. PetSmart, the vacuum cleaner store, CVS, and Footlocker are the only chain stores on that strip. The strip should be versatile when it comes to retail and restaurants. There need to be something that will draw out the money in the surrounding areas as well as the college students from nearby UofD and other nearby colleges.

^At some point someone has to realize that the Avenue of Fashion needs a few residential developments to get the foot traffic needed to have coffee shops, like a Starbucks. The problem, as I have pointed out on this site for years, has always been the decision decades ago to put the retail on Livernois instead of along Seven Mile. Between Woodward and Wyoming, Seven Mile is residential. Everywhere else in the city, Seven Mile is commercial. In those areas, the residential streets let out onto Seven Mile, creating easy access from several residential blocks, not a few like you have along the Avenue of Fashion. And those residential streets that let out to Livernois are only side streets, meaning that the residents in that area, unless they live in the corner houses, have a long walk to get to the retail establishments along Livernois. One would choose to drive to them, but parking is still a problem along the Avenue of Fashion, especially if it is a busy establishment, like Bucharest Grill.

The solution to this problem is to add residential development directly along Livernois/Avenue of Fashion. It will be the residents of these developments that will dictate more retail, especially coffee shops. Also, more restaurants/bars are needed; but restaurants/bars with more variety, where you can dine outside. Stasu1213 mentioned this above. As far as I know, there are no ethnic restaurants like Mexican, Indian, Korean, or Chinese restaurants located there. Well, that's my two cents.

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Originally Posted by royce

^At some point someone has to realize that the Avenue of Fashion needs a few residential developments to get the foot traffic needed to have coffee shops, like a Starbucks. The problem, as I have pointed out on this site for years, has always been the decision decades ago to put the retail on Livernois instead of along Seven Mile. Between Woodward and Wyoming, Seven Mile is residential. Everywhere else in the city, Seven Mile is commercial. In those areas, the residential streets let out onto Seven Mile, creating easy access from several residential blocks, not a few like you have along the Avenue of Fashion. And those residential streets that let out to Livernois are only side streets, meaning that the residents in that area, unless they live in the corner houses, have a long walk to get to the retail establishments along Livernois. One would choose to drive to them, but parking is still a problem along the Avenue of Fashion, especially if it is a busy establishment, like Bucharest Grill.

The solution to this problem is to add residential development directly along Livernois/Avenue of Fashion. It will be the residents of these developments that will dictate more retail, especially coffee shops. Also, more restaurants/bars are needed; but restaurants/bars with more variety, where you can dine outside. Stasu1213 mentioned this above. As far as I know, there are no ethnic restaurants like Mexican, Indian, Korean, or Chinese restaurants located there. Well, that's my two cents.

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There's enough foot traffic to support a Starbucks on the strip. Narrow way coffee shop was being supported by a heavy customer base at first. I think that their prices caused customers not to have a continual customer base plus charging full price on regular drip coffee refills hurt them. Bigby coffee was in the wrong spot on the strip which was between Clarita and Curtis

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Originally Posted by stasu1213

I would say that if Target can't find a certain percentage of residents whom want to stay on the job or are not qualified then the void should be filled with non residents. The problem that retailers within city limits are having is keeping employees especially those that live within city limits. Retailers and restaurants are forced to keep a 53% residents quota.

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Patently false. This only applies to large-scale developments that receive tax breaks and/or community benefits. And if they can't find enough residents, they can contribute $$ towards job training instead.

Hopefully they'll have enough security to keep the inventory from going home at the end of each shift.

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Originally Posted by Meddle

Hopefully they'll have enough security to keep the inventory from going home at the end of each shift.

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that's why the toiletries area is always behind locked glass. Or directly behind the cash register. And why I don't buy those items at shops that have that.

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Originally Posted by royce

^At some point someone has to realize that the Avenue of Fashion needs a few residential developments to get the foot traffic needed to have coffee shops, like a Starbucks. The problem, as I have pointed out on this site for years, has always been the decision decades ago to put the retail on Livernois instead of along Seven Mile. Between Woodward and Wyoming, Seven Mile is residential. Everywhere else in the city, Seven Mile is commercial. In those areas, the residential streets let out onto Seven Mile, creating easy access from several residential blocks, not a few like you have along the Avenue of Fashion. And those residential streets that let out to Livernois are only side streets, meaning that the residents in that area, unless they live in the corner houses, have a long walk to get to the retail establishments along Livernois. One would choose to drive to them, but parking is still a problem along the Avenue of Fashion, especially if it is a busy establishment, like Bucharest Grill.

The solution to this problem is to add residential development directly along Livernois/Avenue of Fashion. It will be the residents of these developments that will dictate more retail, especially coffee shops. Also, more restaurants/bars are needed; but restaurants/bars with more variety, where you can dine outside. Stasu1213 mentioned this above. As far as I know, there are no ethnic restaurants like Mexican, Indian, Korean, or Chinese restaurants located there. Well, that's my two cents.

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We've discussed your odd ideas about how hard it is to walk to Livernois before and I'm not going to revisit that, but there certainly are ethnic restaurants. China Wok is excellent, although really only takeout, but there's also the Fork In Nigeria food truck [[it's always there, but I've never tried it), Pequeno Cantina [[also very good), and Yoshi Hibachi Grille [[haven't tried it yet).

However I agree with you that it would be good to have some apartments on Livernois, or on Seven for that matter.

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Originally Posted by mwilbert

We've discussed your odd ideas about how hard it is to walk to Livernois before and I'm not going to revisit that, but there certainly are ethnic restaurants. China Wok is excellent, although really only takeout, but there's also the Fork In Nigeria food truck [[it's always there, but I've never tried it), Pequeno Cantina [[also very good), and Yoshi Hibachi Grille [[haven't tried it yet).

However I agree with you that it would be good to have some apartments on Livernois, or on Seven for that matter.

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is the abandoned Comerica bank [18901 Livernois] -- well, semi-abandoned, the ATMs were still active but the actual branch had closed-- still there? I can recall a news article [[not the one below) where a local African American developer had allegedly marked that site for building an apartment building.
New roads lead to new opportunities on the Avenue of Fashion [[clickondetroit.com)

Livernois was coined The Avenue of Fashion due to mid to upper range retail that once line the strip during the 50s, 60, and 70s. Those stores had since closed only to be replaced with "Funky" casual attire, African garbage made in China, and a few overpriced restaurants. There are plenty of free parking on the strip. However, the strip is in desperate need for much better retail. Maybe a visionary such as a Dan Gilbert like developer need to turn that strip around. It's too urbane having some shops that only have life expectancy of two to three years. The strip should remain a strip lined with retail, a few diverse restaurants, and a few cafes. There's no need to put condos or housing directly on the strip. Why would someone want to pay $200,000to $300,000 for condos on the strip where one could simply purchase a house on side streets near the strip that have much more rooms for less. That only worked for downtown and Mid Town for the area was in need for housing. Livernois runs through neighborhoods. Building condos on the strip is a developers idea of making money by developing condos on pipe dreams that usually turn into collasal nightmare for the community. .

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Originally Posted by stasu1213

There's no need to put condos or housing directly on the strip. Why would someone want to pay $200,000to $300,000 for condos on the strip where one could simply purchase a house on side streets near the strip that have much more rooms for less.

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If you built apartments on Livernois, there's no reason the first floor couldn't have retail. I suspect that's what would make the most sense.

And the reason people would want apartments/condos there is that it's a convenient area, and while the adjoining neighborhoods have many nice houses, they are typically 80-100 years old, which some people like and some people don't, and they are houses, which some people want and some people don't. It's just providing some more diversity in the housing mix. I'm not suggesting there needs to be an endless amount of it, or that the market could support an endless amount of it, but I suspect it would be good if there were some.

I regularly shop at Target. My local store has a Starbucks and CVS pharmacy inside. It is built above a first floor level parking lot. Prices tend to be higher than Walmart prices offset by a 5% discount using a Target card. My ranking is rural Walmarts, Target, then in last place, urban Walmarts. I believe my ranking has to do with wages. "Target's minimum wage ranges from $15 to $24, while Walmart's ranges from $12 to $17. According to Glassdoor, the average hourly wage for cashiers and sales associates is $15 at Target and $13 at Walmart. Of the three most common jobs at each company, Target salaries were $23,328 higher than Walmart salaries."

Target was a 'target' of looters and arsonists in the Minneapolis area after the Floyd George shooting. Thievery in San Francisco has resulted in some closed Targets.

Historical notes: "It became the Dayton-Hudson Corporation after merging with the J.L. Hudson Company in 1969 and held ownership of several department store chains including Dayton's, Hudson's, Marshall Field's, and Mervyn's. In 2000, the Dayton-Hudson Corporation was renamed to Target Corporation." -Wikipedia

Former MN Senator Dayton-D is from that some family.

^ In the 80s I bought my wife a cashmere sweater,at Dayton’s it was $85 at Target it was $48? Same exact sweater,different clientele at Daytons verses Target,no different in supermarkets in low income areas verses more posh parts.

Daytons would give you an in house credit card if you were breathing,not Target.

Personally I do not think Target and Wal-Mart are even in the same category.

Target and K-Mart when they were around.

But here anyways the Wal-Mart neighborhood markets are closing up left and right so maybe that a little bit more then a 7-11 model.

Even Aldi I skip because they have small sizes and limited stock,okay if you go shopping every day.

Given the options,Target would really be the best fit in this case.