More Downtown Retail

[Eric_c]

http://www.freep.com/story/life/shop...roit/28761529/

[cmubryan]

http://www.freep.com/story/life/shop...roit/28761529/

Interesting...we go from beauty supply and liquor stores that accept EBT to high end retailers that are selling $10 t-shirts for almost $100! Skipping the middle road altogether it seems. Fine by me as this is what will attract the people with money and investment but "WOW!"

[Wesley Mouch]

Interesting...we go from beauty supply and liquor stores that accept EBT to high end retailers that are selling $10 t-shirts for almost $100! Skipping the middle road altogether it seems. Fine by me as this is what will attract the people with money and investment but "WOW!"

I believe this change is the result of Duggan's rescinding Coleman Young's Executive Order on Retail Operations that required retail to serve the local population, and to be locally owned.

[dtowncitylover]

I believe this change is the result of Duggan's rescinding Coleman Young's Executive Order on Retail Operations that required retail to serve the local population, and to be locally owned.

I've honestly never heard of this [[doesn't surprise me). Can you explain?

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

I've honestly never heard of this [[doesn't surprise me). Can you explain?

I don't think he can, because it sounds totally made up.

[gumby]

I don't think he can, because it sounds totally made up.

Yeah I wanna call BS as well.

[dtowncitylover]

Huh, that's pretty neat that a store will have both a midtown and downtown store. Makes us sound like New York.

[DetroiterOnTheWestCoast]

From the article:

"Located at Merchants Row — in a part of downtown that is teeming with young office workers — the 3,000-square-foot Kit and Ace is to feature soft and often-seamless casual, but not sloppy, clothing for men and women who are hip, fit and toned. If you require a plus size, you won't find much to buy here."

I hope there are enough Millennials with the income - and without the all-too-typical Michigan girth - for this store to be a success.

[Shai_Hulud]

From the article:

"Located at Merchants Row — in a part of downtown that is teeming with young office workers — the 3,000-square-foot Kit and Ace is to feature soft and often-seamless casual, but not sloppy, clothing for men and women who are hip, fit and toned. If you require a plus size, you won't find much to buy here."

I hope there are enough Millennials with the income - and without the all-too-typical Michigan girth - for this store to be a success.

Men's shirts top at XL. I wish them the best. Nothing there for me.

[Chicago48]

From the article:

"Located at Merchants Row — in a part of downtown that is teeming with young office workers — the 3,000-square-foot Kit and Ace is to feature soft and often-seamless casual, but not sloppy, clothing for men and women who are hip, fit and toned. If you require a plus size, you won't find much to buy here."

I hope there are enough Millennials with the income - and without the all-too-typical Michigan girth - for this store to be a success.

Did you go to the site? It's all plain clothing priced at about 80-100 for a T shirt and tops. All gray/white/black, no color. Dull.

[401don]

I click on the Freep article and up pops a banner article that Olga's has filed for bankruptcy! One in, one out.

[ParisianLesion]

I click on the Freep article and up pops a banner article that Olga's has filed for bankruptcy! One in, one out.

Not necessarily. Olga's filed Chapter 11 which is intended to reorganize debt and keep operating.

[313WX]

Not necessarily. Olga's filed Chapter 11 which is intended to reorganize debt and keep operating.

That's a good point.

But more often than not, unless there's a merger or government assistance, companies that file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy eventually end up going through liquidation any way. Not saying that will happen to Olga's, but there's usually structural issues within the business that can't be fixed by a simple reorganization of debt.

[Hermod]

Trade all those damn frou frou places for having a Hudsons/Crowleys/Kerns concentration in the city.

[erikd]

Trade all those damn frou frou places for having a Hudsons/Crowleys/Kerns concentration in the city.

We don't have to make a trade for that to happen. We already have the same number of Hudsons/Crowleys/Kerns stores as every other city.

[313WX]

We already have the same number of Hudsons/Crowleys/Kerns stores as every other city.

In the city proper? Where?

I know there are tons of Macy's/Sear's/JC Penney's in the suburbs, but none of these stores have locations within Detroit's city limits...

[Lowell]

Why should I pay $100 for a t-shirt when I can walk across the street to Varvatos and get one for $90? The competition should be good for all and soon we will have $80 t-shirts.

Seriously though, one gets the feeling that there is a secret or at least quiet attempt to transform Merchant's Row into an upscale shopping district. Moosejaw was a starter, Varvatos very loudly, now this. David Klein Gallery is moving into the Townsend around the corner and there are a couple other higher end retailers committed but I can't recall just now - an upscale hardware?

I believe Gilbert's goal is to create a critical mass tipping point by first securing it with his police then throwing his money at it. If enough shops are concentrated and walkable it will become a meaningful fun destination, worth the parking costs. And the value of Gilbert's holdings will soar.

This is happening in the Cass Corridor centered on the Willys-Shinola block. Remember when it was just Avalon Bakery? Now there are about 40 interesting venues all walkable.

[erikd]

Why should I pay $100 for a t-shirt when I can walk across the street to Varvatos and get one for $90? The competition should be good for all and soon we will have $80 t-shirts.

Seriously though, one gets the feeling that there is a secret or at least quiet attempt to transform Merchant's Row into an upscale shopping district. Moosejaw was a starter, Varvatos very loudly, now this. David Klein Gallery is moving into the Townsend around the corner and there are a couple other higher end retailers committed but I can't recall just now - an upscale hardware?

I believe Gilbert's goal is to create a critical mass tipping point by first securing it with his police then throwing his money at it. If enough shops are concentrated and walkable it will become a meaningful fun destination, worth the parking costs. And the value of Gilbert's holdings will soar.

This is happening in the Cass Corridor centered on the Willys-Shinola block. Remember when it was just Avalon Bakery? Now there are about 40 interesting venues all walkable.

I'm so thrilled to see all of this happening in our city.

There are kids in Detroit who will grow up with no memory of a vacant and dilapidated downtown. There are kids in Detroit who won't grow up hearing their city be compared to a war zone by the talking heads on the news.

To be sure, we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but I love the fact that I will soon be talking to kids who can't believe that the Cass Corridor was ever a bad neighborhood.

[401don]

I'm so thrilled to see all of this happening in our city.

There are kids in Detroit who will grow up with no memory of a vacant and dilapidated downtown. There are kids in Detroit who won't grow up hearing their city be compared to a war zone by the talking heads on the news.

To be sure, we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but I love the fact that I will soon be talking to kids who can't believe that the Cass Corridor was ever a bad neighborhood.

When I was a kid I could walk into lots of stores and buy items that I paid for with my allowance or the couple of bucks my parents gave me. I'm not certain a downtown full of nothing but $200 sneakers and t-shirts will make the average kid from the city's neighborhoods feel better about the city and certainly not about their lot in life.

[downtownguy]

I believe Gilbert's goal is to create a critical mass tipping point by first securing it with his police then throwing his money at it. If enough shops are concentrated and walkable it will become a meaningful fun destination, worth the parking costs. And the value of Gilbert's holdings will soar.

Wasn't that the strategy at the Ren Cen when it first opened?

[[Just playing devil's advocate!)

[Lowell]

Wasn't that the strategy at the Ren Cen when it first opened?

[[Just playing devil's advocate!)

You got that right. Ren Cen walled itself from the rest of downtown literally with its giant berms and complicated access. If anything it accelerated the demise of Merchant's Row. Its labyrinthine maze confounded shoppers. Still does today. Being along the river it is a dead end. The other retail effort of that era, Trapper's Alley, met a similar doom and destroyed the charm of Greektown in the process.

The action now is a triangle along Broadway from Grand Circus Park to Greektown, Greektown to Campus Martius and Campus Martius up Woodward to GCP. I hope it takes hold and works this time but my jury is still out.

[mtburb]

You got that right. Ren Cen walled itself from the rest of downtown literally with its giant berms and complicated access. If anything it accelerated the demise of Merchant's Row.

I believe the demise didn't accelerate until Hudson's closed.

[313WX]

I believe the demise didn't accelerate until Hudson's closed.

I agree, and also the closing of Crowley's.

There's a video on YouTube from the 1978 Thanksgiving Day Parade that still shows Woodward filled with retail [[not wig shops and dollar stores either). Even hen it was more of a formidable shopping destination for the entire city and region than whatever Gilbert's cooking up.

[Honky Tonk]

I believe the demise didn't accelerate until Hudson's closed.

Nonsense, Hudson's closed because retail sales were already in decline, not vice-versa. Same with Crowley's.
Towards the end, both resembled bargain stores and not the flagships they once were. If you wanted nicer merchandise, you went out to the 'burbs, where everyone else already was and shopped.

[royce]

You got that right. Ren Cen walled itself from the rest of downtown literally with its giant berms and complicated access. If anything it accelerated the demise of Merchant's Row. Its labyrinthine maze confounded shoppers. Still does today. Being along the river it is a dead end. The other retail effort of that era, Trapper's Alley, met a similar doom and destroyed the charm of Greektown in the process.

The action now is a triangle along Broadway from Grand Circus Park to Greektown, Greektown to Campus Martius and Campus Martius up Woodward to GCP. I hope it takes hold and works this time but my jury is still out.

Lowell, I take issue with your assessment on Trapper's Ally destroying the charm of Greektown. The new restaurants and bars in Greektown today are a welcome change of pace. If you've been to one Greek restaurant you've been to them all. I think Pizza Papalis changed the charm of Greektown. It was the first non-Greek restaurant in Greektown that I can recall [[forumers, please correct me if I'm wrong). I went often in my younger days. Now, you have Pappy's, a sports bar, and Santorini's [[sp?), an Italian restaurant, Five Guys, a burger joint, an a number of other non-Greek restaurants. There are also a couple of bar and grilles/nightclubs on the second floors of some of the older buildings that are really cool. Also, let's not forget what the Greektown Casino did to the charm of Greektown.

A Trapper's Alley today might actually thrive, given the conversation about specialty stores. None of the stores in Trapper's Alley were clones of things you could find in the malls. Imagine today if an Apple store or Lego store existed in a modern day Trapper's Alley instead of Somerset Mall. If I recall, there was a unique toy store or comic book store in Trapper's Alley when it first opened. Just recently I visited downtown Chicago and it has a really cool Target Store in a former warehouse that looks a lot like the the former Trapper's Alley. If there were more residential units in and around Greektown, a small Target Store/City Target in Greektown would be a coup.