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Retail Downtown

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

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Veloise City

Veloise

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From the sounds of the article in the Press, the owners blamed parking first and foremost, but they also mentioned that the place was perceived as a "high-end, special occassion" place. I don't think parking did them in (look at McFaddens, Taps, Girdellas on any given night - people gladly park 4 blocks away and huff it in even on the snowiest / rainiest nights, and Sierra Room even had valet parking right outside its door!) as much as it was the (lack of?) marketing.

Never nice to see a fairly well-established name go, but I'm sure someone will come in and fill the spot before long, especially with it being in the shadow of the arena.

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Rizzo City

Rizzo

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Has anyone thrown out the mention of a downtown gift card? The downtown could partner with Meijer as a distributor? That might be a great way to introduce a branding campaign to the suburbs -- skyline and street scenes.

Just throwing it out there for discussion.

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Rhino6885 Hamlet

Rhino6885

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Has anyone thrown out the mention of a downtown gift card? The downtown could partner with Meijer as a distributor? That might be a great way to introduce a branding campaign to the suburbs -- skyline and street scenes.

Just throwing it out there for discussion.

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gvsusean Burg

gvsusean

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Has anyone thrown out the mention of a downtown gift card? The downtown could partner with Meijer as a distributor? That might be a great way to introduce a branding campaign to the suburbs -- skyline and street scenes.

Just throwing it out there for discussion.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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Rapid Growth has a feature on downtown retail:

http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/biz48.aspx

At a recent meeting of the Downtown Alliance, the business owners expressed concern about the outlook for the future, said Manager Lauren Mullen. She attributes the decrease in business to individuals not wanting to come downtown because of the price of parking or safety. Parking can cost up to $1.50 per half hour and older individuals are concerned about the homeless that live in the area, she said.

It's pretty safe here despite the perception"

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Mark Miller Whistle-Stop

Mark Miller

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I have been a proponent of adding a national retail anchor somewhere downtown to provide a catalyst and begin the renaissance of downtown retail. While I still believe that adding a national retailer or two would be beneficial, I do not think that any single element will ever be a silver bullet to solve the problems.

I watched a part of a documentary (Stranded at the Corner) about the fiasco of Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park. During the very initial new stadium feasibilities in the mid 90's, Mike Illitch and Dennis Archer and the other new stadium cronies had a media campaign that promised that the new stadium would...

...end blight,

...allow the city to hire more police and fire,

...make the schools better

...and provide a renaissance for the city of Detroit (just like the Renaissance Center did earlier!!)

We all know how this story ended. The Tigers and Illitch got a new stadium and the schools still suck and blight is still the predominant urban form, plus as an added bonus we lost a stadium that was an excellent place to watch a game from a fans standpoint and ended up with a cartoon of a stadium that seems to do everything but allow you to watch a baseball game, including amusement park rides of all things!!

Again, my point is that there will be no single silver bullet that leads to a vibrant downtown, even a project like the mystery project or the Kansas City Light and Power Project that GRDad posted somewhere or the ever popular casino project. These are exciting, sexy projects, but they would come with their own set of problems. And I highly doubt that any one would solve the other ills affecting our city.

What is far more exciting is when I see a small restaurant like Bloom that is locally owned and providing an excellent menu open in one of our neighborhoods, in an existing building.

A restaurant like this makes me feel that we are on our way to becoming a much more sophisticated urban place and it happened with little fanfare, no promises of solving ancillary problems, just a couple of people who wanted to provide excellent cuisine.

We certainly do not want to loose these kinds of places for a quick fix.

I know that the

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Explorer55 Whistle-Stop

Explorer55

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Rapid Growth has a feature on downtown retail:

http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/features/biz48.aspx

At a recent meeting of the Downtown Alliance, the business owners expressed concern about the outlook for the future, said Manager Lauren Mullen. She attributes the decrease in business to individuals not wanting to come downtown because of the price of parking or safety. Parking can cost up to $1.50 per half hour and older individuals are concerned about the homeless that live in the area, she said.

It's pretty safe here despite the perception"

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