Over 15 New Retailers, Restaurants, Offices, & Bars Open on Lower Woodward Avenue

[DetroitDad]

With new office tenants coming to Campus Martius and Grand Circus Park, there are a ton of new coming soon signs all over Downtown, and others that have opened within the past year.

• Sinful Sweeties, 7 Sins of Chocolate - a new chocolate and pastry shop in the Kresge Shops has more items for purchase, and I believe do cakes now. - OPEN NOW!
• Chez-Zara - a small place selling hummus, Italian espresso, desserts, breads, fresh greens, and a lot more. I stopped by and Aaron, one of the managers gave me some things to dry, they were amazing! - Opening Memorial Weekend. Chez-Zara is in the Kresge Shops, and Aaron mentioned that they will have an outdoor patio, adding some life to Woodward.
• What Appears to be two clothing stores is in the Kresge Shops, one of which has an awful lot of Ralph Lauren racks.
• In addition to the new 5 and 10 Bar, there is a 5 and 10 Diner opening with a full selection of very reasonably priced sandwiches, as well as malted milk shakes, soda, and desserts.
• There is a new Insurance Agency with a cute little "coming soon" sign in the window, that has taken the place of the bail bonds place on Woodward. As I was taking my picture, Terry the owner ran out, thinking I was making fun of her sign, as other passerbys had done. I insisted I was not, and told her I was posting about her shop on DetroitYES.com. HI TERRY!.
• There is a new bar in the FYFE Building, and a new Bar-B-Que place opening right behind it in the smaller building on West Adams.
• There is a new legal aide and services place in the upper floors of Studio Couture and the Red Rose Flower Shop on Woodward.
• There is also a new fresh produce store opening nearby on Washington Boulevard, more on that later.
• New awnings for the new Fountain Cafe are up, and work is being done in the former Au Bon Paine cafe in Campus Martius Park.
• There is a Tim Hortons now open in the Compuware Building.
• Several people who work in a couple of the above mentioned shops have told me that Bleu may be reopening, or opening as some sort of event venue.
• I am told that a well-known pizza place has signed a lease agreement for the Kales building, and still plans on opening this year.
• There are some new street vendors on Woodward at Grand Circus Park selling African collectibles, and some scented oils, as well as a new vendor coming to the Campus Martius Park area, also opening Memorial Day weekend, selling small jewelry, necklaces, and accessories for the young ladies. More on them later too.
• A slushy place appears to be opening in the Kresge Shops.
• Two other jewelry and accessory boutiques appear to be opening in the Kresge Shops.
• A new wine shop has opened on Campus Martius Park.

Everyone appears to be smaller, but the owners and workers were all very nice, and I am excited to see the foot traffic this Summer. I do fear that some of these places may not survive without major anchors, but still it is good to see after the rash of closings we had. Unfortunately, there are roughly 50 vacant storefronts that still take up most of lower Woodward between Grand Circus Park and Campus Martius Park, and the Vinton Building, as well as the Fowler Building have reportedly gone into foreclosure, and may now be for sale again, the plans of which fell through, I am guessing.

Pictures coming later tonight....