Shops versus Shoppes


I was up visiting family in the Detroit metro area earlier in December. While I stayed with my sister in beautiful downtown Gingellville, I did spend some time in various Oakland County locales.

I went to Rochester to visit my family gravesites and after that strolled around downtown Rochester. Almost all the storefronts were full and there were a lot of people on the sidewalk and therefore a pretty “vibrant” downtown. I also stopped in Kruse and Muers for some happy hour libations and chatted with the locals. There was something about Rochester that didn’t feel right and I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

Then on another day, I dropped down to old Birmingham to have lunch with my son who works for a firm there on Old Woodward. I got there early and walked the length of Old Woodward and looked at the stores. Most were rented out and active. There were a lot of people walking along the streets and you could say the downtown Birmingham was “virbant” as was Rochester. Still, something just didn’t feel quite right and I couldn’t nail it down.

I went to Ferndale to visit a couple of second hand bookstores there on Woodward. I also strolled along Woodward. Most stores were occupied. People were walking on the street. Ferndale was “vibrant”.

My thoughts then turned to noted “vibrant” downtowns in Florida like Las Olas in Ft Lauderdale and Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach and a light came on. All of these areas that are so “vibrant” contain “ye olde shoppes” rather than “shops”. If you need something, you go to a mall, a strip mall, or a big box store which are all “shops”. If you want something exotic or are just browsing for gewgaws, you go to a ‘vibrant” downtown full of shoppes.

In the 1950s, Rochester and Birmingham had shops. All the shops are outside of town now and Rochester and Birmingham are full of shoppes.

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