South side of East Jefferson east of St. Jean

[GPCharles]

A lot of dirt being moved around. What's under construction on this site?

[TKshreve]

Hoffa Hopes?

[313WX]

There was a rumor a while back that both Meijer and Home Depot were eyeing that land for a store.

With the success so far of their other locations, hopefully for an eastsider like myself's sake one of them are re-visiting the idea.

[1953]

I think I saw a sign that says this will be another immigration-related building.

[DetroitPlanner]

There was a rumor a while back that both Meijer and Home Depot were eyeing that land for a store.

With the success so far of their other locations, hopefully for an eastsider like myself's sake one of them are re-visiting the idea.

E Jefferson is a terrible location for big boxes. A big box is going to want to draw a circle around its store with its store in the middle. It is going to expect population to be maximized in that circle. That can't happen with the River to the South.

It is much better suited for smaller sized retail [[grocers, drug stores, restaurants) who would only need a much smaller circle. These care more about the traffic counts in front of the store, not the socio-economic characteristics and geography of population.

[Honky Tonk]

There was a rumor a while back that both Meijer and Home Depot were eyeing that land for a store.

With the success so far of their other locations, hopefully for an eastsider like myself's sake one of them are re-visiting the idea.

I don't think it'll happen. The "new" Farmer Jack's mall fell flat on it's face. I think the check cashing/paycheck advance and Athlete's Foot are the only two stores left. Further East, towards GPP, they seem to have better luck with sustainability. And even there, you have a turn over in shops and a lot of empty store fronts.

[313WX]

E Jefferson is a terrible location for big boxes. A big box is going to want to draw a circle around its store with its store in the middle. It is going to expect population to be maximized in that circle. That can't happen with the River to the South.

It is much better suited for smaller sized retail [[grocers, drug stores, restaurants) who would only need a much smaller circle. These care more about the traffic counts in front of the store, not the socio-economic characteristics and geography of population.

I think a Meijer would be able to pull from areas such as Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods, EEV and Indian Village, since it would be the only realistic big box option nearest to these areas.

[313WX]

I don't think it'll happen. The "new" Farmer Jack's mall fell flat on it's face. I think the check cashing/paycheck advance and Athlete's Foot are the only two stores left. Further East, towards GPP, they seem to have better luck with sustainability. And even there, you have a turn over in shops and a lot of empty store fronts.

The Farmer Jack didn't fall on its face per say, rather the location was shuttered when the chain was liquidated.

[Honky Tonk]

The Farmer Jack didn't fall on its face per say, rather the location was shuttered when the chain was liquidated.

I disagree. Aldi, [[would have been an EXCELLENT choice), Kroger, Trader Joe's, Ho' Foods, could have all moved into the building, yet no one did. Slowly one by one, through theft and lack of business, the other stores closed their doors. Even the Chinese Food Place, [[GOOD crab cakes, by the way) is gone, [[I believe). The building is already there, other storefronts are already there, but no new retail is moving in.

[swingline]

I don't think it'll happen. The "new" Farmer Jack's mall fell flat on it's face. I think the check cashing/paycheck advance and Athlete's Foot are the only two stores left. Further East, towards GPP, they seem to have better luck with sustainability. And even there, you have a turn over in shops and a lot of empty store fronts.

313WX is correct. The shopping center at E. Jefferson and St. Jean failed because the Farmer Jack closed. The E. Jefferson Farmer Jack was a casualty of the insolvency of that entire chain of supermarkets. Once the shopping center lost the customer trips generated by FJ's [[that store was the largest in the chain), the other smaller retailers slowly withered away, assisted significantly by the Great Recession.

[Honky Tonk]

313WX is correct. The shopping center at E. Jefferson and St. Jean failed because the Farmer Jack closed. The E. Jefferson Farmer Jack was a casualty of the insolvency of that entire chain of supermarkets. Once the shopping center lost the customer trips generated by FJ's [[that store was the largest in the chain), the other smaller retailers slowly withered away, assisted significantly by the Great Recession.

See my latest post. If it was a "hot" area, someone would have been in like a flash to replace Farmer Jack. No one came.

[DetroitPlanner]

I think a Meijer would be able to pull from areas such as Grosse Pointe, Harper Woods, EEV and Indian Village, since it would be the only realistic big box option nearest to these areas.

The population of the area won't sustain it. There just are not enough rooftops within the circle. Not only do you have almost no housing to the south due to the border/river, but you also have large industrial areas. People will shop close to where they live. I doubt you will pull many folks from any pointe but the Park as it is easier for them [[as well as many of the EEV folks to shop on already established stores on Mack).

Here is a view of the area from above:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=jeffe...gan+48214&z=14

Nearly all big boxes are also going to want to be located near freeways. It ain't happening here.

[swingline]

See my latest post. If it was a "hot" area, someone would have been in like a flash to replace Farmer Jack. No one came.

The old FJ space is 3x bigger than any Aldi store. It is simply far too big for their store model. Never a chance that they would take the space.

Kroger long ago admitted that with its unionized labor cost structure, it cannot also absorb the added costs of doing business in Detroit and make money. It exited the city a decade ago.

The demographics of the E. Jefferson/St. Jean area don't come close to satisfying the demographic criteria required by Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. Plus, the space also 3x larger than their store model.

Anyway, who said the area was "hot?" All anybody is saying is that the shopping center's failure was largely due to the regionwide closing of all of the store locations of its sole anchor tenant. There are several dying or dead shopping centers all over the state of Michigan that were formerly anchored by Farmer Jacks.

[p69rrh51]

The Farmer Jack didn't fall on its face per say, rather the location was shuttered when the chain was liquidated.

The Farmer Jack did very good numbers. Shrinkage was the problem attracting other companies to move into the location.

[TKshreve]

Also, that location shuttered well before the remainder of FJ's sold out. I wanna say there was years between these two events.

[ASR89]

I work at the Immigration office across the street and although I haven't heard an official announcement, rumor has it that the space will be the new home for Border Patrol. As for that strip mall across the street, there is a Payless, Dots and a cash advance place still open. I think the Ashley Stewart place closed very recently, and I know the Chinese place at the other end of the plaza has closed not too long ago. That plaza is pretty dead, but the one farther east, Riverbend Plaza, is well occupied.

[313WX]

Also, that location shuttered well before the remainder of FJ's sold out. I wanna say there was years between these two events.

That's inaccurate.

I specifically remember news articles about the only two FJ stores in Detroit [[7 Mile and Livernois, St. Jean and Jefferson) closing because of the liquidation back in 2007. Kroger still had sour grapes over the failure at 7 Mile and Gratiot, so they opted not to inherit these locations.

[313WX]

The Farmer Jack did very good numbers. Shrinkage was the problem attracting other companies to move into the location.

In fact, I would even go as far as to say the closure of Farmer Jack is what killed off the rest of the mall. As we see on Woodward Avenue[[without Hudson's/Crowley's/Kern's), a shopping destination is nothing without anchor stores to attract people.

[stasu1213]

Jefferson Village was built in hopes of the community supporting the retail stores in the mall. It had taken a few more years to build the homes in the community and then the bottom had dropped out. I had always felt that a Wal Mart could open in the former Farmer Jacks, Anna Linens, spot.

[p69rrh51]

In fact, I would even go as far as to say the closure of Farmer Jack is what killed off the rest of the mall. As we see on Woodward Avenue[[without Hudson's/Crowley's/Kern's), a shopping destination is nothing without anchor stores to attract people.

I agree after FJ closed the mall turned into a ghost town.

[hudkina]

I don't think a Meijer store somewhere on the East Side would be out of the question. I have no idea who owns the vacant land directly adjacent to Riverbend Plaza, but they just might be able to squeeze a store there. Granted that land is much smaller than a typical Meijer store would have. They would either have to create a smaller footprint for the store, or they might have to incorporate parking into the building structure.

The area is blocks from the Grosse Pointes, and not far from the Indian Village area.

[IrishSpartan]

The population of the area won't sustain it. There just are not enough rooftops within the circle. Not only do you have almost no housing to the south due to the border/river, but you also have large industrial areas. People will shop close to where they live. I doubt you will pull many folks from any pointe but the Park as it is easier for them [[as well as many of the EEV folks to shop on already established stores on Mack).

Here is a view of the area from above:
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=jeffe...gan+48214&z=14

Nearly all big boxes are also going to want to be located near freeways. It ain't happening here.

Once upon a time from the 1920's-mid 1970's the area bounded on the west by the old Jefferson Ave. Assembly Plant [[Clairpointe), Dickerson on the east, Essex on the south, and Jefferson on the north had one of the highest population densities in the Detroit. However, times change. It's just literally a ghost town on a lot of those blocks. I miss that bridge over Jefferson for Chrysler that transported cars for final assembly.

[royce]

If the rumor is true that the Border Patrol is building on that vacant land, it's too bad that they could not have used that former Farmer Jack building or any of the other vacant buildings. Maybe Border Patrol needs a stand alone building for security reasons, but it's usually cheaper to renovate than to built from scratch.

Also, for years I've wanted to start a thread about the terrible landscaping that exists along Jefferson, starting at St. Jean and continuing to Conner. Has anyone noticed that the trees along the sidewalks are in the middle of the sidewalks? No two people can walk side-by-side because of this. The placement of the trees would have made more sense if they were in the inside of the Jefferson North property [[on both sides of Jefferson). In addition, I assume the City is responsible for the placement of these trees, yet I rarely see any maintenance on them. Many have died or have been broken but remain in their spots. Every time I pass that area I get angry at the lack of foresight. Again if the trees couldn't go inside the plant's boundaries, the City shouldn't have bothered putting them there at all. The sidewalks aren't that wide in that area for both pedestrian traffic and the trees.

[Zacha341]

Don't forget the Bank of America, a beauty supply and a Dots clothing store... that's about it. The gym shoe store has been robbed many times. They did not even bother to replace the glass the last time. Plywood flanks the front of the store permanently... I suppose.

I don't think it'll happen. The "new" Farmer Jack's mall fell flat on it's face. I think the check cashing/paycheck advance and Athlete's Foot are the only two stores left. Further East, towards GPP, they seem to have better luck with sustainability. And even there, you have a turn over in shops and a lot of empty store fronts.

[1953]

A border patrol station...that's what this development is [[so says the sign on Jefferson).

My two cents on the area: its empty and needs people and small businesses. You're going to have a hard time attracting big box that close to the river [[unless someone can figure out how to put a lot of houses on the river itself).

On some level, that area's proximity to downtown should make it ripe for development, but it seems to lack many of the attributes that make for strong urban neighborhoods. Commerce always seems spotty on Jefferson near Chrysler, the street is too wide, etc.

1953