Pop-up stores to bring retail to east side Detroit community

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The Villages Community Development Corp., a nonprofit group, said Monday that two pop-up retail outlets will open this weekend in the Parkstone, an apartmenthttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png building in West Village at 8047 Agnes St. The shops will open this weekend and continue operating over coming weeks.

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The storefront locations are expected to be filled by permanent shops to be announced later this year, said Brian Hurttienne, executive director of the Villages CDC.

The temporary stores are part of an effort to bring more walkable retail to the Villages area, which includes the neighborhoods of West Village, Indian Village, the Gold Coast, Berry Subdivision and nearby areas.

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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2012121008067

I think its's smart to expand use of these "pop up storefronts" out from the downtown area. This may be the best way to prove to the business community that there is pent up demand in the rest of the city for more retail.

13 Mile, why would you think that? Stores work well wherever there is a market for them. Most pop-ups are located in shopping malls, about as much of an antithesis from a downtown as you can get. Why should the East Side be put at an economic disadvantage over downtown? All across the United States you will find very successful downtowns without much in the way of retail. You will also find that Department Stores exist in a very small minority of downtowns.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

13 Mile, why would you think that? Stores work well wherever there is a market for them. Most pop-ups are located in shopping malls, about as much of an antithesis from a downtown as you can get. Why should the East Side be put at an economic disadvantage over downtown? All across the United States you will find very successful downtowns without much in the way of retail. You will also find that Department Stores exist in a very small minority of downtowns.

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Could you tell me what cities across america have successful downtowns without much in the way of retail? I think that there is a demand for boutiques, coffee shops and other retail in the West Village/Indian Village area. This area would not put at an economic disavantadge over downtown? Downtown would still have most of the retail that would close at the end of the business day. West Village would have the shops, restaurants, and cafes that could stay open until 11pm and would cater the the people in the area and abroad. I hope that the pop up donut shop stay open for at least 6 months. That grocery store on the corner of Van Dyke and Agnes could use some improvements. The owner should stop the loiterers from loitering around the front of the building. Maybe a private security guard could be hired to patrol the area

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Originally Posted by stasu1213

Could you tell me what cities across america have successful downtowns without much in the way of retail?

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Ann Arbor comes to mind. Resturants and coffee shops are counted as services not retail. People are not buying much in many downtowns anymore. If they were, there would still be department stores.

Even large growing cities have virtually no retail in thier CBDs. Look at Columbus, or any other large city in Ohio for that matter. How many department stores are there in Downtown Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinatti or Toledo combined? None? [[there may still be a Saks in Cinci, but its been a while since I've been there). There are also no department stores of note in any Michgan City's downtown. Grand Rapds? Zip, Muskegon? Nope, Bay City? No Way, Travese City? uh-uh! The absense of retail does not mean that many of these downtowns are not doing well. Now they do have services that cater to office workers, so does Detoit. But none have large scale retail any longer. 20-25 years ago there were still department stores in Downtowns. However, between the merging of chains and the desire for those chains to put profits before traditions these have mostly gone away. Not every city is NYC, CHI, TO, or MPS. In fact most are not.

The original intent of my comment was put retail where it makes sense not where you feel it should be. Just because you wish or want it to be downtown does not mean it will be successful. If it can be successful on the East Side instead of downtown, then thats where it should be. Look for opportunities where they exist and grow the City without starving the neighborhoods.

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Ann Arbor comes to mind. Resturants and coffee shops are counted as services not retail. People are not buying much in many downtowns anymore. If they were, there would still be department stores.

Even large growing cities have virtually no retail in thier CBDs. Look at Columbus, or any other large city in Ohio for that matter. How many department stores are there in Downtown Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinatti or Toledo combined? None? [[there may still be a Saks in Cinci, but its been a while since I've been there). Now they do have services that cater to office workers, so does Detoit. But none have large scale retail any longer. 20-25 years ago there were still department stores in Downtowns. However, between the merging of chains and the desire for those chains to put profits before traditions these have mostly gone away. Not every city is NYC, CHI, TO, or MPS. In fact most are not.

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It is true that coffee shops and restaurants are counted as services and not retail. Boutiques and bookstores are counted as retail. Detroit may not need a large department store in it's downtown area, but it needs independent stores at caters to those who live, work, and play in downtown Detroit. I had said that a general store of some type would do good in the downtown area. A store that sell the basic needs such as bathroom, bedroom, livingroom, and kitchen products. Bed Bath and Beyond or some independent stores as such would be great for the downtown area. I know where the trend is going. Big departments stores such as Macy's, Dillards, and Marshall Fields are becoming a thing of the past. I still don't think that minor retail such a boutique, dry good store, used bookstore, and a household goods store opening in the West Village/Indian Village area would not effect the growth of the so called retail community in the downtown area. I would love to see more independent retail on the corner of Kercheval and Parker. I buy candy from the candy shop that had reopened on that corner.
I believe that the reason why people are not buying from the downtown area for there is anything to buy from the area that suits there needs. Everyone is not a "trendy funky" dresser. Those stores downtown caters to the type. You would see a surge in consumer buying in the downtown area if basic affordable stores were allow to open downtown and not the expensive Somerset Collection.

LOL you are preaching to the choir! I am a big supporter of getting something like a Family Dollar or Dollar General downtown. Its a start, and in spite of the names these are not dollar stores. They are the new dime stores AND ABOUT 15K TO 20K SQ FT. They sell basic homegoods and food. These stores are expanding their inventories to include dairy, frozen and in some places produce. Not fancy, but just the thing apartment dwellers or office workers need.

They are not however upscale by any means, but they don't need to be. Who knows? Maybe once established there could be pop-ups by it in the near future?

"13 Mile, why would you think that? Stores work well wherever there is a market for them. Most pop-ups are located in shopping malls, about as much of an antithesis from a downtown as you can get"

Detroitplanner I think you misunderstood the point I was trying to make. While i agree that downtown and West Village are two very different areas, the perceived problem that they share is that they are both within the city of Detroit. There is a reason why it has taken so long to get a national grocery chain to commit to coming into the city, for many companies that don't already have a presence in the city they see the bad economy and high crime rate and assume that doing business in Detroit is too risky of a bet. I see these pop up shops as sort of a litmus test that can prove that a particular neighborhood can support more retail. Economics will certainly dictate where retail will work and where it won't but if say a pop up cafe were to be successful in West Village it would make a strong case for opening up a permanent one there.

Cincinnati has a Macy's and Sak's downtown

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Originally Posted by middetres

Cincinnati has a Macy's and Sak's downtown

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Thanks for the info though some may argue Macy's don't qualify as a department store anymore! ;) Actually thats not why I left it off, I knew there was a chain there 20 years ago like Lazarus, but I had assumed it was just gone.

I will visit the coffe shop tommorow. I had found out that the coffee shop closes at 3pm. They should stay open until at least 6pm. This is a bad habit of independent coffee shops in Detroit. They closes too early

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Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner

Thanks for the info though some may argue Macy's don't qualify as a department store anymore! ;) Actually thats not why I left it off, I knew there was a chain there 20 years ago like Lazarus, but I had assumed it was just gone.

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With all due respect relative to your previous excellent posts, I dont think cities whose downtowns lack retail big and small can qualify as successful. I think a successful downtown will integrate department stores, transit efficiency to and from the outlying neighborhoods and suburbs, and entertainment hubs to attract folks at all hours. The next step up is to have more folks living in them.


The ideal situation is to bring back downtown attractiveness so that the rest of the city benefits in my opinion. It shouldnt be an either/or thing but in Detroit's case, there may be so many problems in dealing with the city's sparsity and scarce resources that it then becomes an issue of downtown, midtown vs the hoods. The problem with Palmer Woods and other better off hoods is that they may also be targeted as a have vs have not in a city that needs to just pull together rather than constantly fraying its urban fabric.


A successful downtown is one where there are all kinds of people coming for a multitude of reasons at all hours. I say this because there are choices to be made in how to we want to perceive urban vs suburban living. Suburbanites in Detroit from 1900 to 1980 had a sense of urbanity that could not be duplicated in the suburban sphere. That has changed dramatically, a kid from the suburbs now will experience the grandeur of Detroit architecture minus the retail experience, he or she will "get" that people go to work in offices, but that the couriers and office workers dont frequent commercial establishments and that the city is an office ghetto environment. That is not a successful downtown by any stretch. Retail and services need to take hold and residents have to populate the cbd in this balancing act.

I loved 1980 downtown compared to 2012 downtown for there were so much to do downtown in 1980. There were ethnic festivals at Hart Plaza. A person could walk up Woodward to shop at many retail stores or walk up Woodward to see a movie at one of the five movie homes including the newly opened Ren Cen theatre. All of this was done also on WEEKENDS. Downtown Detroit today is much cleaner but very boring on weekends outside of a sporting events and the bars in the evening. Bing had sabatoged any potential retail plans for downtown by not having police to patrol downtown by walking or riding their bikes. A Target or something of such will help bring downtown back to where it suppose to be; a place where a person could live, work, play, and shop.