Jump to content

Roger's Department Store Site

DwntwnGeo

By DwntwnGeo
in Grand Rapids

Recommended Posts

DwntwnGeo Hamlet

DwntwnGeo

Posted
Posted

Looks like Bob Israels has purchased the Roger's Department Store site in Wyoming. He wants to make a 'Cabela's of the furniture industry'

Here is the link on Mlive.com

Bob Israels buys Rogers Department Store site

Sounds like this will be the new home for Klingman's

"Bob Israels announced he bought the former Rogers Department Store building, 1001 28th St. SW, and several adjacent properties with plans to create a new furniture mecca using his recently acquired Klingman's brand."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 97
  • Created
  • Last Reply
PR-15 Whistle-Stop

PR-15

Posted
Posted
Looks like Bob Israels has purchased the Roger's Department Store site in Wyoming. He wants to make a 'Cabela's of the furniture industry'

Here is the link on Mlive.com

Bob Israels buys Rogers Department Store site

Sounds like this will be the new home for Klingman's

"Bob Israels announced he bought the former Rogers Department Store building, 1001 28th St. SW, and several adjacent properties with plans to create a new furniture mecca using his recently acquired Klingman's brand."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Yankee Fan Hamlet

Yankee Fan

Posted
Posted

Bob will do a good job with making this work. What I like about his projects is that he is taking properties that need a lot of work and investing in them with his own money. And he is staying "close to home" by focusing on businesses that he has experience with.

I've got to tell you, Bob is quickly becoming the "next generation" that will push our city forward. We were all wondering who would step up; he is doing a fine job of answering the call. He even mentions an article in the Press from last week and credits it for causing him to take a second look at the Rogers property. That sounds so similar to something that you would hear Rich DeVos say.

However, Bob cannot do it alone. We need other folks with the means to step up, too. Never-the-less, I believe in a few years we are going to look back at all of the things that Bob has done and recognize that he kept the ball rolling.

Right on, Bob!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
francishsu Hamlet

francishsu

Posted
Posted

Wow, that's just about as good an outcome as I can imagine. I didn't think they were going to find a buyer for years. Last I heard, some group wanted to buy it and put a church there. Hopefully this will spur additional development toward fulfilling Wyoming's vision for 28th street.

I am a bit curious about what the market study showed that made the Roger's Plaza site more attractive than the East Beltline one they considered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DCCR Crossroads

DCCR

Posted
Posted

A destination retailer for furniture? I was in Canton, MI two weekends ago shopping at one of these. The place was crazy busy. Their meatballs are great too. Bob's got different twist, going with upscale furniture. I'll bite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
aowwt Whistle-Stop

aowwt

Posted
Posted

given that I work on 28th and live just north of it anything would be good. Although I would have prefered the first offer Rogers received that was a government agency I believe I heard was related to family agency or something. That typically puts money in peoples pockets and hence brings business to that area. I will have to say that my business had more sales the past year than the two previous ones. In any case Rogers Plaza is pretty dead. It has two good restraunts, Big Boys and Old Country but outside of that its pretty slow. The two government agencies, Sec of State and US post office tend to bring in people but they dont stick around. The plaza itself has several clothing places that do quite well but considering thats all thats left it bombs. Office Depot closed its door to the mall in the past year or so and as such no longer has mall customers. As for Family fare it seems busy enough but it has no mall enternce.

As for bringing in Klingmans hmm well its a business thats all I will say. I just dont think it will work in Wyoming. Frankly I see Wyoming as the home to the people who will serve the higher end people. Its what I would call the service industry living quarters. It has good schools, but frankly I just dont see klingmans doing much. If he turns it into a true DISCOUNT furniture store I could see it going bunkers but thats all. BTW traffic in that area is pretty light. From what I recall it tops around 20k to 30k cars in a average day. I will have to check Mdots numbers but I think thats right. The numbers by Centerpointe is around 40k if I remember correctly. So it wont have the traffic. Now the thing that bugs me is that folks think you need foot traffic for a furniture store.

I just dont see it that way. For this location the present building would be fine. Its a massive building that would be fine. Now from what I read he is buying some of the other lots as well. Thats cool since he could put in another strip mall (like we need another one of those) or maybe he will put in a storage building for a warehouse. The nice thing with the building too is that he could add in some nice boutiques in the front of the building like the former show store was at.

In anycase the building itself is not that far off the road and with its big size it would be good. Frankly I just would like to see some increase in traffic. BTW the Plaza also will be putting in some outlet stores for quick food service. I heard a jimmy johns sandwhich type place and a coffee house might be coming in. So that would be nice to see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tamias6 Town

tamias6

Posted
Posted
given that I work on 28th and live just north of it anything would be good. Although I would have prefered the first offer Rogers received that was a government agency I believe I heard was related to family agency or something. That typically puts money in peoples pockets and hence brings business to that area. I will have to say that my business had more sales the past year than the two previous ones. In any case Rogers Plaza is pretty dead. It has two good restraunts, Big Boys and Old Country but outside of that its pretty slow. The two government agencies, Sec of State and US post office tend to bring in people but they dont stick around. The plaza itself has several clothing places that do quite well but considering thats all thats left it bombs. Office Depot closed its door to the mall in the past year or so and as such no longer has mall customers. As for Family fare it seems busy enough but it has no mall enternce.

As for bringing in Klingmans hmm well its a business thats all I will say. I just dont think it will work in Wyoming. Frankly I see Wyoming as the home to the people who will serve the higher end people. Its what I would call the service industry living quarters. It has good schools, but frankly I just dont see klingmans doing much. If he turns it into a true DISCOUNT furniture store I could see it going bunkers but thats all. BTW traffic in that area is pretty light. From what I recall it tops around 20k to 30k cars in a average day. I will have to check Mdots numbers but I think thats right. The numbers by Centerpointe is around 40k if I remember correctly. So it wont have the traffic. Now the thing that bugs me is that folks think you need foot traffic for a furniture store.

I just dont see it that way. For this location the present building would be fine. Its a massive building that would be fine. Now from what I read he is buying some of the other lots as well. Thats cool since he could put in another strip mall (like we need another one of those) or maybe he will put in a storage building for a warehouse. The nice thing with the building too is that he could add in some nice boutiques in the front of the building like the former show store was at.

In anycase the building itself is not that far off the road and with its big size it would be good. Frankly I just would like to see some increase in traffic. BTW the Plaza also will be putting in some outlet stores for quick food service. I heard a jimmy johns sandwhich type place and a coffee house might be coming in. So that would be nice to see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sailor Whistle-Stop

Sailor

Posted
Posted

A little off-topic, but I admit I had to go look up "Cabela's" when I saw Mr. Israel's quote in the Press. Had no idea what kind of store it is and why it relates to furniture. Got the first part answered, but not the second.

I'm glad to see major, local retailers "talking with their dollars" about their faith in Grand Rapids' future. I've got a midcentury modern house, so I'm not a likely customer (I tend to patronize RockHomeStudio, EQ3, CB2, and the store with the great meatballs ^_^ ), but I'm very pleased for the local furniture industry.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
wingbert Burg

wingbert

Posted
Posted

I'm a tad surprised by some of the negativity or skepticism on this topic. As far as I'm concerned, huge props to Bob Isreals. I think it's great someone local stepped up. I wish him the best and hope he succeeds with something upscale where that dope Dan Hurwitz took a dive just so he could open his Daniels store in a more "upscale" area of town.

:thumbsup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
francishsu Hamlet

francishsu

Posted
Posted
As for bringing in Klingmans hmm well its a business thats all I will say. I just dont think it will work in Wyoming. Frankly I see Wyoming as the home to the people who will serve the higher end people. Its what I would call the service industry living quarters. It has good schools, but frankly I just dont see klingmans doing much. If he turns it into a true DISCOUNT furniture store I could see it going bunkers but thats all. BTW traffic in that area is pretty light. From what I recall it tops around 20k to 30k cars in a average day. I will have to check Mdots numbers but I think thats right. The numbers by Centerpointe is around 40k if I remember correctly. So it wont have the traffic. Now the thing that bugs me is that folks think you need foot traffic for a furniture store.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
aowwt Whistle-Stop

aowwt

Posted
Posted

Okay I am sorry I was mistaken. The 2006 numbers have 28th at clyde park at 45k, 34k at micheal/dehoop, 25k at Burlingame, 30k by the border of GV and Wyo, and 29k by wilson. So it isnt the highest amount of traffic. Lets go back to say 1996 when things were half way decent. 45k at clyde, 38k at micheal, 33k at byron center, 34k at ivanrest, and 34k at wilson. So not much diffrence except for the fact that uhm in 10 years time wyoming has grown quite a bit. I just dont know what else to see from the numbers. BTW here is the link for traffic numbers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
grcitydog Whistle-Stop

grcitydog

Posted
Posted

I think this is probably the best thing he could have done for Klingmans, for the area and for himself. The location, while no longer considered the best place to open a business is located near the highway in a relatively central location, the building is huge and in good shape and with modifications, can easily become a furniture store. The infrastructure is there, and more than ample parking. The city of Wyoming will do just about anything to get him there, and he probably bought it for a song. The only losers are Centerpointe and the downtown location. I was excited about new retail downtown, but the cost to build new or retrofit an old building was probably prohibitive, along with lack of parking. I am excited to see if this can be the catalyst that section of 28th street needs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.