John Varvatos

[FormerEastsider]

Consider me educated, thanks. And also: yuck.

Ha Ha...I thought it meant two double shot espressos....silly me...

[Hans64]

Many well established retailers consider certain locations to be "brand identity locations" where the address is more important than the sales. In other words it makes a statement to be in certain locations, profitability is secondary. Michigan Avenue in Chicago has many locations that fall into this category. My current city of Portland OR has many of these as well: Portland is a "cool city" therefore many brands want to be represented there even if the stores only break even or operate at a loss.

JV in Detroit is one of these.

I'm not saying that the store can't be successful on a sales basis but it isn't their primary objective. I am confident the rent is very low which further supports this strategy. The rents will creep up when there is a critical mass of retailers and the market strengthens. Its a long term viewpoint.

I have been in the retail industry for 30 years.

[Detroitdave]

It would be great to se an innovative Carhartt flagship store on Woodward in anyone of the nice old buildings there. I think that their involvement with the Jazzfest might stir up some business if their store were positioned near an outdoor stage. In any case, tis nice to see a homeboy contribute to the rejuvenation of a great city.

And yes, the Varvatos storefront is superb.

Carhartt is opening a store in midtown

[Detroitdave]

I went into Shinola for the first time ever last week and was amazed how out of place I felt. It could've been the couture shop at Neiman Marcus and I still felt the sales people [[most kitchy hipster types) knew I was out of their market demographic.

The saddest thing was that there were snow removal guys outside and they wanted some coffee and apparently asked for a "double double" but neither the sales guy nor the barista in the in-house coffee shop knew what that was. This is Michigan, probably the state with the most Tim Hortons and half of our population seems to have Canadian relative, and you don't know what a double double is?! Man, it seemed so snooty.

I'm from LA and a "double double" is a burger from in and out LOL

[Detroitdave]

Ha Ha...I thought it meant two double shot espressos....silly me...

I thought it meant a burger from in and out LOL

[canuck]

Carhartt is opening a store in midtown

Sweet! Makes sense.

[ABetterDetroit]

Not being a shopper myself I still look at each of these openings as a win win. Fill refurbished real estate bringing old buildings alive and jobs. Each and every one of these new establishments brings jobs into the city even in small amounts they keep adding up.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

That John Varvatos limited edition Chrysler 300 is pretty sweet as well.....

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

Am I the only person here with a pair of Varvatos Converse?

[Detroitdave]

Am I the only person here with a pair of Varvatos Converse?

SHOW OFF !
Wait till next week
seeing they don't have a store in Chicago we might get some of his fans from Chicago to come visit when they are in town?
Checking out his site , it is a little pricey , and his shirts aren't much more expensive than polo Ralph Lauren's . I just spent that much on a polo shirt at macy's

[iheartthed]

Am I the only person here with a pair of Varvatos Converse?

I'm waiting until the salt washes off the sidewalks but I've been planning to get a pair since last fall.

[Danny]

I was wondering when John Varvatos opens its doors, will people shop there? John Varvatos will open his shop where there's little or no businesses at the Woodward Corridor from Hudson's block to Grand Circus Park Area.

[iheartthed]

Many well established retailers consider certain locations to be "brand identity locations" where the address is more important than the sales. In other words it makes a statement to be in certain locations, profitability is secondary. Michigan Avenue in Chicago has many locations that fall into this category. My current city of Portland OR has many of these as well: Portland is a "cool city" therefore many brands want to be represented there even if the stores only break even or operate at a loss.

JV in Detroit is one of these.

I'm not saying that the store can't be successful on a sales basis but it isn't their primary objective. I am confident the rent is very low which further supports this strategy. The rents will creep up when there is a critical mass of retailers and the market strengthens. Its a long term viewpoint.

I have been in the retail industry for 30 years.

Yeah, John Varvatos is design label -- his primary business isn't as a retailer -- so yeah, that's exactly what this is about. The store is about brand management. It's not the same thing as Old Navy or GAP, which operates their business primarily as a retailer.

[313WX]

You do realize 48226 [[Downtown Detroit's zip) is now in the richest ten zip codes in the ENTIRE state.

Citation please?

[canuck]

200 bucks for a plain black t shirt? Check out the store's website when you can. Do the demographics suggest this is what the area needs/wants? The storefront does look pretty cool though.

This reminds me of the time twenty years ago when I walked into Barney's New York. I looked at my wife and said Wow! Look at this; "Barney's; the home of the 105 dollar t-shirt." The t-shirt was a plain white one without the benefit of a Death's head or such. A thin, shoulderless and effeminate salesman turned to tell us that; "Well at least it doesn't roll up in a ball like a five dollar t-shirt.


It is a favorite laff of ours when we think back on our New York trip.

[warsaw7]

I was wondering when John Varvatos opens its doors, will people shop there? John Varvatos will open his shop where there's little or no businesses at the Woodward Corridor from Hudson's block to Grand Circus Park Area.

The same question was probably asked in 2005 on Michigan and 14th....

[ronaldj]

My Dear Canuck:
Carhartt is opening in the old Dalgleish Cadillac dealership on Cass Avenue south of I-94. Who would have thought after all these years. A hundred years in business and they just wake up to a flagship store in Detroit. No wonder they did not hire me 15 years ago. I used to park in the area and walk to class.

Ms. Gretchen Valade, a scion of the family, bailed out and continues to support the Detroit Jazz Festival [[nee Montreux/Detroit Jazz Festival, owns Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Grosse Pointe Farms and a well respected record company whose name escapes me at the moment, stupid ass me). So it is more than pleasant to see Carhartt provide their presence in Detroit'

Do not want to forget that they are in Eastern Market with a "trade" school of sorts. They are on the go and on the mark.

[ParisianLesion]

Downtown Detroit has nothing in common with Woodward/McNichols. You do realize 48226 [[Downtown Detroit's zip) is now in the richest ten zip codes in the ENTIRE state. Couple that with everyone walking by going to Tiger/Lion/Wings games, tourists from all the hotels [[i.e. revolving doors of money) and the place will be fine.

Gone are the days thinking downtown can't support anything more than Dollar Tree, Aldi and Dollar General. That's Woodward/McNichols.

Unfortunately, this is not even close to being accurate. Check out the following links:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/loc...a-world-apart/

http://localistica.com/usa/mi/zipcod...come-zipcodes/

There is some 2013 raw adjusted gross income data that the Freep published in April which puts the AGI for 48226 at over $95k - which still wouldn't put in the top ten - however, this is almost certainly skewed by very high income outliers, as noted in the article:

http://www.freep.com/article/2014041...me-IRS-richest

[gvidas]

$97k avg household income would put 48226 into the top ten for MI, but that's not what the FreeP number is. The FreeP link above shows the total adjusted gross income divided into the total number of filed tax returns, separated by each zipcode. Raw data here: http://www.irs.gov/uac/SOI-Tax-Stats...Data-%28SOI%29

The other links above [[and really, everybody else publishing anything about average income) appear to use data via the census, which is probably the American Community Survey estimate of household income: http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/ta...8600000US48226

The census/ACS data offers both median and mean average household income, which is quite different from one another [[for obvious reasons) as well as from the FreeP numbers. This raging [[many tens of thousands of average dollars) difference is because the FreeP is creating an average based on the number of tax returns filed, not the number of households or working-age individuals in the zip code.

In summary, I should have gone to bed an hour ago. This was way more interesting before I realized how the FreeP was butchering the math. The only way 48226 is one of the "ten richest" zipcodes in MI is if you define "richest" in an interesting way. Maybe in AGI per square mile. Or net worth per square mile. AGI per roadkill'd rat?

[drjeff]

My Dear Canuck:
Carhartt is opening in the old Dalgleish Cadillac dealership on Cass Avenue south of I-94. Who would have thought after all these years. A hundred years in business and they just wake up to a flagship store in Detroit. No wonder they did not hire me 15 years ago. I used to park in the area and walk to class.

Ms. Gretchen Valade, a scion of the family, bailed out and continues to support the Detroit Jazz Festival [[nee Montreux/Detroit Jazz Festival, owns Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe in Grosse Pointe Farms and a well respected record company whose name escapes me at the moment, stupid ass me). So it is more than pleasant to see Carhartt provide their presence in Detroit'

Do not want to forget that they are in Eastern Market with a "trade" school of sorts. They are on the go and on the mark.

The old Dalgliesh building is part of the new WSU research building that opens later this year. They are putting retail in there? Seems extremely unlikely to me.

[belleislerunner]

Carhart's is going in this building next to Tony V's on Cass - SOUTH of 94. The new building is north of 94 a few blocks.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3621...syokPKfwUA!2e0

[Mackinaw]

Correct, and in Ronaldj's partial defense, the building they are rehabbing was either a former standalone car showroom or a storage facility for Dagleish [[or both, if I am remembering my past reading correctly).

[detroitbob]

My Dear Canuck:
Carhartt is opening in the old Dalgleish Cadillac dealership on Cass Avenue south of I-94.

Wrong location...Dalgleish is now a tech center. This is the deco building just south of the I94 embankment.

[detroitbob]

Many well established retailers consider certain locations to be "brand identity locations" where the address is more important than the sales. In other words it makes a statement to be in certain locations, profitability is secondary. Michigan Avenue in Chicago has many locations that fall into this category. My current city of Portland OR has many of these as well: Portland is a "cool city" therefore many brands want to be represented there even if the stores only break even or operate at a loss.

JV in Detroit is one of these.

I'm not saying that the store can't be successful on a sales basis but it isn't their primary objective. I am confident the rent is very low which further supports this strategy. The rents will creep up when there is a critical mass of retailers and the market strengthens. Its a long term viewpoint.

I have been in the retail industry for 30 years.

Correct Hans...And per prior reports this store showcases the collection, unlike other locations that are more "boutique".

Looks great especially at night...today as I drove through downtown street traffic was up---people walking between GCP and Campus Martius. And it looks like the old Richman Brothers store across the street is getting new windows on the upper floors. Can't wait to see this great Kahn deco gem restored. Rock Fiber will be the announced main floor tenant.

[ronaldj]

Thank you all. I stand corrected and humbled. Though still standing proud.