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J.C. Penney's comes to Detroit


RustTown

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I'm surprised this hasn't been posted. It's actually a big deal, for Detroit, if that's even sad in the first place for this to be a big deal. lol This will mall will have the benefit of actually pulling in a significant amount of money from north of 8 Mile to get the traffic reciprecating for a change.

Just a note, this 'article' reads a little like a cheesy press release, put we can be glad, nonetheless.

Penney's comes to Detroit

DETROIT -- J.C. Penney Co. Inc., one of the nation's largest retailers, plans to anchor a new $80 million shopping mall next to the Michigan State Fairgrounds on Woodward, giving Detroiters their first opportunity to shop at a department store in the city in at least a decade.

Bernie Schrott, a Bloomfield Hills investor and part owner of The Shoppes at Gateway Park, said Tuesday that Penney will provide a strong anchor and lure upscale shops and restaurants to the 330,000-square-foot shopping center at the southeast corner of Eight Mile and Woodward.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...1/BIZ/703210369

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Yes, this is different. JC Penny's will be the main anchor flanked by 5 other smaller 'big-boxes.' It would be great to see a Best Buy or some kind of electronics store at that location.

I'm surprised I'm so happy about a suburban mall, but this really is a big thing, and sorely needed retail for an area that's been ignored for far too long. Developers have underestimated the market in the city long enough.

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Outdoor shopping plaza.

EDIT: Actually, I don't really know.

These are the only renderings I could find:

drawing.jpg

drawing2.jpg

I'm not even sure how old these renderings are. I'll write them to see if they have a siteplan and more renderings, available. I thought it was going to be your typical shopping center (i.e. a parking lot ringer on 2 sides by shops).

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For restaurants I would like to see things like Red Robin, Fridays, Logan's, a steakhouse things like that. I know that those rendering are at least a year old because I seen those about this time last year on the 8 mile association website.

I did some research on the company who is suppose to own 75% of this shopping centre, General Growth. If you guys are interested you can look on their website at other projects that they own, so you can get idea of how this complex may look...

http://www.ggp.com/properties/index.asp

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I don't see why Meijer wouldn't want to expand in the city. It is turning itself around, plus, with investment from Meijer in the city now, you would think it would be the ideal time to really develop some strong brand loyalty vs Wal-Mart and other grocery stores.

On the news of JC Penney, I think its great and is a definite positive for the city.

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It would be difficult to get Meijer in the city as there aren't that many large parcels near heavily traveled corridors. I'm sure if the city was able to piece together land near a busy intersection and push hard for Meijer to come into the city they may build something, but who knows. You don't want to put it deep in the "ghetto" as it will most likely fail, but you aren't likely to find large spaces in middle-class neighborhoods.

One particular spot where they might be able to do something is on the near West Side. It's where Plymouth Rd meets Grand River Ave near Oakman Blvd and I-96. It's not far from quite a few middle-class neighborhoods in Dearborn, the Golf Club area, as well as the Boston-Edison/Virginia Park area. The next closest Meijer is in Livonia about 10 miles away.

The land is nearly empty and its large enough to fit the building and parking at least in comparison to the stores in Livonia and Lincoln Park. If more land is needed they could take out Cloverdale St and expand all the way to the Jeffries. In fact, it would probably be better to do that to give the store even more exposure to people on the highway. It could also allow them to sell portions of the parking lot to fast food or other smaller stores. (Maybe a CVS at the corner of Oakman and Grand River where that building is.)

detroitmeijer.jpg

I have no idea who owns the land or whether or not the buildings are vacant, but I think if Meijer ever did plan to build in the city this would be as good as it gets as far as locations go. Also, this land once had railroad tracks traveling through it, so I'm not sure if that changes everything...

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Meijer won't come to the city, confirmed by the event that took place a week or two ago when a truck full of merchandise worth 100s of thousands of dollars was stolen from a Meijer downriver. Where did it end up? Hmmm...Look no further than Detroit. That was an easy catch. Luckly, the crooks were emptying the truck as the cops pulled up. If you ever see a tractor trailor with MEIJER on the sides within the city of Detroit, call the police. It's not suppose to be there.

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JCPenny should then re-think their plans for Detroit. But Michi has a point. It will not help the city when it comes to attracting a retailer. Why would they take a risk with a city that has a history with this type of crime, even though it was just once.

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It's always a "C".

Michi, these companies can only use the excuse of crime in so many instances. There are Meijer stores in other sections of the state in or bordering neighborhoods just as rough, and some rougher than they'd have to be in if they moved to a nice Detroit location. I've said it, before, but sometimes, big boxes are literally on the other side of the border, or within walking distance of the city. They want to feed off of the Detroit demographic, but they don't want to be in it, not even on the other side of the border. They know that Detroiters don't have any other choice but to come to them; and, inversely, know that there is a huge part of their suburban market that won't shop in Detroit, regardless of where the store is in the city. It's really quite sad and unfair.

I'm glad J.C. Penny is coming to the city.

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Usually retailers have to be convinced to come to a city. At least that's according to George Jackson of the DEGC. He told the council last year that Detroit needs to participate in the national retailer convention in Las Vegas annually in order to attract retailers. we just simply haven't invited anyone, until recently, that our city can handle their business. I think a retailer will study the market after the city approaches. I could be wrong though!

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Retail is the same as home ownership in the city. You're going to invest more than you typically would on security. I'm not arguing reasons why retail should move into the city. I just understand the reasons why, in planning terms specifically, the reasons why retail is selective. They can suck Detroiters out to where they build their stores. I wish they didn't, but they do. Those are the choices they make. Plus, they can make more money doing that than they can if they build the store in the city and the suburban clientelle in the same market could just shift to the other store in the next neares market area.

In the case of Penny's and any other store in the 8 Mile area, I think that can be reversed.

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Retail is the same as home ownership in the city. You're going to invest more than you typically would on security. I'm not arguing reasons why retail should move into the city. I just understand the reasons why, in planning terms specifically, the reasons why retail is selective. They can suck Detroiters out to where they build their stores. I wish they didn't, but they do. Those are the choices they make. Plus, they can make more money doing that than they can if they build the store in the city and the suburban clientelle in the same market could just shift to the other store in the next neares market area.

In the case of Penny's and any other store in the 8 Mile area, I think that can be reversed.

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