What Do We Call Greektown Now?

[Gistok]

Speaking of places like this does anyone remember the place in Toledo on the river that was a food/small shop type mall? I remember that place as a kid also and it being a fun.

Portside.....

[Gistok]

At the height of the "festival marketplace" craze Trappers Alley was practically fully leased with shops and restaurants. There was the singing fudgemakers on the 1st floor, Monroe's night club on the upper floors above Pegasus Taverna... the Harmony House that was on the 3rd or 4th floor above the Greektown Restaurants, all the gift shops on the 2nd & 3rd floors... a very interesting photography store on the 3rd level that had interesting window views towards the RenCen... the flea market type bazaar on the upper floors, the large plant store next to the Monroe St. entrance, and lots of other stores. It was a maze of escalators and catwalks that begged the curious to travel up to the higher levels to check it out.

The place was dying slowly over several years... first the bazaar left, then the stores started closing due to lack of foot traffic. As was stated before, in other cities.... people just got bored with the festival marketplace concept, and it slowly went under. I don't know that Campus Martius could have done anything to save it... its' too far removed from there. And as for all the Superbowl, Winterfests, and all the other one time events... if the stores along Woodward can't be filled... then I doubt that Trappers Alley could have been saved.

Sadly its' a shell of its' former self, with most of it closed off today as an extension of the Greektown Casino. But it was dying long before the Casino moved in.

In the building next door [[International Center)... a similar expansion of the Fesitival Marketplace was planned with tht large interesting entranceway built along Beaubien Ave. facing Trappers Alley's Beaubien entrance. However it never really reached its' potential, with little more than retail struggling on the first floor. Floors above the 1st one never had retail, although they were built with escalators in the hope it would one day happen, but never did.

[stasu1213]

At the height of the "festival marketplace" craze Trappers Alley was practically fully leased with shops and restaurants. There was the singing fudgemakers on the 1st floor, Monroe's night club on the upper floors above Pegasus Taverna... the Harmony House that was on the 3rd or 4th floor above the Greektown Restaurants, all the gift shops on the 2nd & 3rd floors... a very interesting photography store on the 3rd level that had interesting window views towards the RenCen... the flea market type bazaar on the upper floors, the large plant store next to the Monroe St. entrance, and lots of other stores. It was a maze of escalators and catwalks that begged the curious to travel up to the higher levels to check it out.

The place was dying slowly over several years... first the bazaar left, then the stores started closing due to lack of foot traffic. As was stated before, in other cities.... people just got bored with the festival marketplace concept, and it slowly went under. I don't know that Campus Martius could have done anything to save it... its' too far removed from there. And as for all the Superbowl, Winterfests, and all the other one time events... if the stores along Woodward can't be filled... then I doubt that Trappers Alley could have been saved.

Sadly its' a shell of its' former self, with most of it closed off today as an extension of the Greektown Casino. But it was dying long before the Casino moved in.

In the building next door [[International Center)... a similar expansion of the Fesitival Marketplace was planned with tht large interesting entranceway built along Beaubien Ave. facing Trappers Alley's Beaubien entrance. However it never really reached its' potential, with little more than retail struggling on the first floor. Floors above the 1st one never had retail, although they were built with escalators in the hope it would one day happen, but never did.

Foot traffic is at it's hightest in Greektown during the Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings games. Three events that are held in stadiums that are not in the Greektown vicinity. People come to Greektown before or after going to the sporting events. The sports shop in greektown would do much better if sports apparel non Detroit teams are sold there as well. Downtown Detroit is in desperate need of some type of sports apparel store such as a Footlocker, Champs, or Athletes Foot. That shop would do well itself if it sell other items as well. Many people walk from concerts and ice skating held at Campus Martius to Greektown to dine. I would even go out on the limbs and say if there was a store that sold ice skates, running or walking shoes, and other sport or excersie goods, that store would do good in Greektown or on merchants row.

[Meddle]

I must say that if I still lived in town, I would no longer be going to the area simply because of the casinos and stadiums. I just don't participate in those activities and don't socialize with people who do.

At one time, Greektown was someplace special.

[artds]

hmmm....now that you mention it, there's not much left in DAY-TWAH that is french these days

[casscorridor]

Greektown should always stay Greektown, if not, then it is only a casino... yuck.

I hope this decade there can be much more fluid connection between Harmonie Park and Broadway and Campus Martius areas. That area of east Downtown would be bumpin'.

[Danny]

Greektown will remain Greektown regardless of its lack of Greek Culture. Greek American business owners still have a stonghold on the Monroe Block since the Germans [[ Jews and Catholic Christians) left that area after 1910. They still have their Orthodox church there and other family owned Greek restaurants. Greektown is not dying, but reviving to appeal with the hipster scene and folks going to the caSINo to dump their hard earned money away in the slot machines and black jack tables.

[Islandman]

I remember going to Trapper's Alley when it was still an alley when I first moved to Detroit. My sister used to work at the yogurt place on the first floor so I spent a lot of time there, mostly at the Hamonie House and the Benetton store. It was an amazing place when it first opened but it did wane to the point that it was a ghost town. I wonder how it would do these days..

[401don]

It's too bad a couple of the Trapper's stores, even t-shirt shops, couldn't have made their way on to Monroe Street. As expected, everyone moves along the pedestrian bridge into the casino. There's a lot less sidewalk traffic, especially in the colder weather.

[DetroitPlanner]

I wonder how it would do these days..

A few years ago Toledo tried to build a 'new' Festival Marketplace on the South side of the Maumee. It was dead after only a few years. There are very few places that can pull these off. North Pier in Chicago for instance is also a dead Festival Marketplace, but before the opening of Navy Pier it was jumping. The odd thing is that North Pier is much closer to the action of River North and Michigan Avenue than Navy, which sits in an area separated from downtown by Lakeshore Freeway, and is surrounded mostly by passive parks, residential, and even a sewage plant! Navy does however have a giant ferris wheel and is a true Pier allowing for it to be more unique. It also has an incredible amount of parking inside of it as well as a the Chicago areas second largest exhibition hall. I doubt you could have done much to Trapper's Alley to revive it short of building a huge department store or some other anchor on the property where the Casino Expansion now sits.

[jerrytimes]

Greektown Casino is a mistake too.

Looks like someone has lost too much money there.

[ThisIsForTheHeart]

As-long as there is still Greek restaurants, then it should be called Greektown.

[Downriviera]

Since the city needs money it should sell the naming rights to someone like Sam Bernstein. So there you go; Sam Town

[MidTownMs]

Looks like someone has lost too much money there.

Nope...not a gambler....

[Occurrence]

It will always be "Greektown", no matter what they try and call it. Same thing goes for Devil's Night. Calling it "Angel's Night" doesn't change the fact that it is Devil's Night. It is what it is.

[East Detroit]

They are going to rename it "Place where I [[oh so cleverly on advice from my friend Thad) parked for free on my once a year trip South of 8 Mile for a sporting event and then hightailed it out of that place before they bothered me for money on the sidewalk"

It is a long name but it would save some time listening to people if that could be turned into an acronym.

[Zacha341]

Reformed gambler... Greektown Casino was NOT my place when I was into that mess. I was an MGM, Motor City person. BTW, I vote the name remaining Greektown.

Nope...not a gambler....