More Downtown Retail

**Danny** · March-02-16, 02:41 PM

Coleman Young who is walking around Downtown Detroit looking at the future of Gilberttown Detroit like a ghost is problably crying right about now.

**313WX** · March-02-16, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

Finally. The first comic book store in Detroit proper in about 15 years.

All Star Comics on Mack in East English Village would have something to say about that...

**stasu1213** · March-02-16, 10:23 PM

When did Comic Kingdom closed on Gratiot near Seymour

**Danny** · March-03-16, 09:32 AM

That's Gilbert's plan, kick out the Coleman Young leftovers and bring in Mike Duggan's people. Gilberttown Detroit is fascinating with pre-Birminham-esque retial and restuarants.

My question is where are the black people?

**Detroitdave** · March-03-16, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by Danny

That's Gilbert's plan, kick out the Coleman Young leftovers and bring in Mike Duggan's people. Gilberttown Detroit is fascinating with pre-Birminham-esque retial and restuarants.

My question is where are the black people?

They moved to Atlanta and north of 8 mile

**313WX** · March-03-16, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitdave

They moved to Atlanta and north of 8 mile

Pretty much, lol.

**dtowncitylover** · March-11-16, 10:04 AM

Also look for Kit + Ace's downtown store opening in June kitty-corner from John Varvatos.

http://www.kitandace.com/locations/detroit-woodward

http://www.blocaldetroit.com/kitandace/

Which is why the thread was started but thought I'd give an update.

**royce** · March-12-16, 03:46 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

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.

**royce** · March-12-16, 04:01 AM

This store doesn't have a lot to offer me, but I must say the renovation of this building, that formerly housed the former Tall-EEEz shoe store, has been spectacular. It really looks good. Can't wait to see how the store will look on the ground floor.

**canuck** · March-12-16, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by royce

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.

Actually, Santorini is a Greek resto. Santorini is named after an island in Greece.

**casscorridor** · March-12-16, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by royce

This store doesn't have a lot to offer me, but I must say the renovation of this building, that formerly housed the former Tall-EEEz shoe store, has been spectacular. It really looks good. Can't wait to see how the store will look on the ground floor.

That is okay though. Downtown needs a variety of stores that cater to diverse demographics while also offering a different offering of stores than one could find at suburban malls. Kit and Ace is exactly that. I would say next step should be branches of Muji, UNIQLO, Topshop, Aesop and Zara. Brands with high global recognition without any local branches in the metro area. The more stores the more chances one will cater to you. Shopping districts thrive on critical mass.

**dtowncitylover** · June-24-16, 08:43 AM

For those interested...

http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/retail/2016/06/21/kit-ace-open-swanky-downtown-showroom-thursday/86218206/

**401don** · June-24-16, 09:11 AM

Originally Posted by dtowncitylover

For those interested...?http://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/retail/2016/06/21/kit-ace-open-swanky-downtown-showroom-thursday/86218206/

Why would I buy a t-shirt for $128 when I can get one for $150 across the street?

**dtowncitylover** · June-24-16, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by 401don

Why would I buy a crappy t-shirt for $128 when I can get one for $150 across the street?

Or a $30 one two blocks south?!

Omg! We have these options now!

**mikeg19** · June-24-16, 12:49 PM

I remember in high school when it was VERY important to wear name brand clothes, damn the price. Looking back, and at this, how dumb are we? Seriously, a plain white crew t-shirt for $98? A plain hat for $78? A freaking polo for $150! A POLO! PLAIN COLOR. Man it's great were getting these retailers, and I'd like to support them, but I'll stick to a $19 polo from Kohl's, thank you. Even if I had that kind of disposal income, I'd still not purchase a $100 white t shirt when you can get a pack of Hanes for $10 bucks.

**Detroitdave** · June-24-16, 02:23 PM

Why would I buy a BMW/Lexus/Cadillac or Lincoln when I could buy 4 Kia's ....

**SpartanDawg** · June-24-16, 03:34 PM

Originally Posted by Detroitdave

Why would I buy a BMW/Lexus/Cadillac or Lincoln when I could buy 4 Kia's ....

^^^^^ lol... some people on this board are pretty vehemently against high-end retail

god forbid people enjoy quality clothing here and there. IF I CAN'T GET 10 SHIRTS FOR $20 IT AIN'T FURRR MEEEE

that's fine. but guess what, downtown retail in any major city is always more high-end than it is wal-marts, targets, or TJ max

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · June-24-16, 05:25 PM

Originally Posted by SpartanDawg

^^^^^ lol... some people on this board are pretty vehemently against high-end retail

god forbid people enjoy quality clothing here and there. IF I CAN'T GET 10 SHIRTS FOR $20 IT AIN'T FURRR MEEEE

that's fine. but guess what, downtown retail in any major city is always more high-end than it is wal-marts, targets, or TJ max

I am all for high end retail, but I hope as retail returns there is a mix, even on Woodward. After all, even in the "glory days" Woolworth and Kresge were there.

**Hypestyles** · June-24-16, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by 313WX

All Star Comics on Mack in East English Village would have something to say about that...

where's the website?

**SpartanDawg** · June-24-16, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by DetroiterOnTheWestCoast

I am all for high end retail, but I hope as retail returns there is a mix, even on Woodward. After all, even in the "glory days" Woolworth and Kresge were there.

Sure, a mix would be nice, but at the end of the day you would like downtown detroit's main road in the heart of the city to be unique, not look like Great Lakes Crossing. I understand these stores have a more niche crowd than not, but the growing retail presence downtown is a plus, i just don't understand people making the same cutesie jokes about 80 dollar t shirts. to each his or her own

**Now&then** · June-24-16, 09:59 PM

The big test is if you can get visiting tourists and auto exec business men to shop at these places out of convenience and taste for something-how do we say-upscale.

I miss the times of Crowley's and Hudsons [[who I worked for) myself.

**stasu1213** · June-25-16, 07:58 AM

Originally Posted by Now&then

The big test is if you can get visiting tourists and auto exec business men to shop at these places out of convenience and taste for something-how do we say-upscale.

I miss the times of Crowley's and Hudsons [[who I worked for) myself.

I thinks that more affordable stores such as Nike will come to Merchants Row. A few years back there were those on this forum who thought that Nike would never pull off a store downtown it it had. One thing that other city have that Detroit doesn't has is good reliable mass transportation to take locals and even tourist to their downtown shopping district to shop and back home without having to use cars to park downtown a pay money at the meters. The only thing that Gilbert could do to make it more convenient for those who want to shop downtown is free parking in the Z garage if motorists could show their receipt of purchase from on of the stores on merchant row. One more note . Security need to get rid of those panhandle ra and other harassing undesirable from in front of the liquor store. They are a deterrent for other retail who are thinking about opening on the strip

**mikeg19** · June-27-16, 07:48 AM

Originally Posted by SpartanDawg

^^^^^ lol... some people on this board are pretty vehemently against high-end retail

god forbid people enjoy quality clothing here and there. IF I CAN'T GET 10 SHIRTS FOR $20 IT AIN'T FURRR MEEEE

that's fine. but guess what, downtown retail in any major city is always more high-end than it is wal-marts, targets, or TJ max

Some people want value too. Would you go out and buy a $400 plain white t-shirt from Burberry? It's made by the same Cambodian kid making the $35 one at Express. It just doesn't make sense why there is such a large delta between garments. Yes, some brands are known for better quality and warrant a higher price. I get it. But $1,500 for a dress shirt because Kanye West designed it? You gotta be out of your mind.

**Onthe405** · June-27-16, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by mikeg19

Some people want value too. Would you go out and buy a $400 plain white t-shirt from Burberry? It's made by the same Cambodian kid making the $35 one at Express.

While this is sometimes true, Burberry is not a good example. They are one of the most ethically stringent garment makers in the world. This simply underscores how expensive products are when they incorporate the living-wage, ecologically sustainable manufacturing we all profess to support---but don't really want to pay for.

http://www.burberryplc.com/corporate...d_human_rights

**SammyS** · June-27-16, 12:14 PM

Speaking of cost delta between perceived "high end" and regular retail, I think the automotive biz has already set the future trend for all sectors of commerce, that is survivability. Take for instance the retail spread between a Ferrari and a Ford Focus. Retail prices are vastly separated but the same cannot be said about the OEM margin due to capital utilization and volume. The auto business has learnt this lesson over the past hundred years where only those offering quality at competitive prices survived. Some OEMs use the tactic of simply rebranding high volume cars and marketing them as high end but they risk exposing themselves to brand dilution [[Lexus= 90% Camry). Once the public understand that, they quickly opt for the logical alternative. Same IMO will apply to the $400 T shirt but I don't blame these retailers for having a crack at it.