Downtown Detroit shopping has new life decades after Hudson's, Crowley's heyday

Seems like more and more retailers are bringing their businesses to downtown Detroit these days.

Trendy retailer H&M is set to open its first store,  which will feature women's, men's and children's apparel, in the City on Nov. 21 in a 25,000-square-foot space on the west side of Woodard between John R and Park Avenue. 

This winter, the Somerset Collection Studio will bring a rotating list of retailers to the Metropolitan Building, which marks 40 years since the structure has housed a retail store. 

Then in 2023, businessman Dan Gilbert and his Bedrock real estate firm are expected to complete a mixed-use tower on the former site of Hudson's. The skyscraper will feature retail and office space as well as residential and hospitality space. 

With national chains like Nike and Under Armour setting up shop on Woodward Avenue and Detroit brand Shinola becoming so big that they get a shout-out at the Oscars, is Detroit poised for a retail resurgence? 

Leaders in the retail design and real estate industry believe so but say the landscape will be completely different from when Hudson's, Crowley's and Kern's ruled in the eyes of Detroit shoppers and their wallets. 

Shopping in the digital age 

With 76% of U.S. consumers shopping online, retailers have to find a way to stand out against the likes of Amazon, eBay and Wayfair. 

Ken Nisch, chairman of retail design company JGA Inc. in Southfield, said retailers are beginning to think of their stores as social spaces to bring shoppers together. This can be in the form of pop-up stores, event centers or a showroom. Another trend is integrated retail, where stores are part of a larger space, mixing in with restaurants, office space and/or hospitality space. 

"Think of the Shinola store and the Shinola Hotel," said Nisch. "That's much more likely to be the model than what Woodward Avenue looked like 50 years ago. It ain't gonna come back, nor should it."

JGA has been working on designing the downtown H&M store. Nisch said the store is a good balance between the specialty boutiques that are taking over the city and the big chain stores like TJ Maxx. 

"H&M is a bit of an exception because if you're working, they're a great store to go to for everything and it's not so disposable that you don't mind paying a little bit more to get something a little better," he said. 

As H&M joins other major retailers like Nike, Under Armour and Lululemon, Nisch believes more big brands will come to the Motor City such as Ulta Beauty, Sephora, The North Face and Patagonia. 

"They sit well with the consumer segment; people that work for Google, people that work for Bedrock, Quicken, who see downtown as a place to have an active outdoor lifestyle that mixes urban with the outdoors."

An outsider's view of Detroit 

Last year, Nisch attended a conference called the design:retail Forum in which leaders in store design, architecture and visual merchandising come together to discuss ideas and news happening in the industry. He said when it was announced that the annual  forum was coming to Detroit last September, many people were excited. 

"People will tell you that was one of their most successful conferences ever, and I think part of it was, frankly, people have such low expectations of Detroit," Nisch said. " A lot of curiosity, but pretty low expectations, and they were just blown away with everything that's happening. And these are people that represent everything from Tiffany to Walmart."

Alison Embrey Medina, the former editor-in-chief for Georgia-based design:retail magazine, also agreed that the Detroit conference was one of their biggest. About 230 people attended, she said. The maximum capacity for the forum usually sits at 200 guests, but because of high interest, Medina allowed extra people to register. 

"It was one of our best-rated city locations," she said. "I think it was a natural curiosity to what was happening in Detroit. Detroit has been getting a lot of headlines around the country for the last couple of years. It's on these lists of places that you think you didn't want to go, but you should. And pretty much across the board, everyone was just delighted with what they found." 

The conference marked Medina's second time in the city, as she had only made her first visit to Detroit in 2017. She said one of the activities at the forum was taking guests on a tour through downtown and Midtown. Attendees, as well as Medina, were impressed in the variety of retail offered. 

"You had your newer, well-thought-of popular brands like Warby Parker and Bonobos, and then retailers you don't see everywhere, like Detroit is the New Black," she said. 

"What really blew me away is that you're not just seeing white walls carved out of boxes like you see in so many other retail stores. The retail downtown really pays homage to the architecture of the spaces that they're in." 

Medina predicts that the retail scene in Detroit will only get bigger. She said having key brands like Nike and Under Armour will bring other big-name brands to the city. In addition, Medina believes that retailers will be attracted to buying spaces that do not need extensive renovations. 

"That is a key indicator that this is a market ready for more retail," she said. 

Retail 'critical' to downtown 

While sporting events, concerts and casinos can bring people out for a night on the town, other options like retail and dining enhance the downtown experience. Nisch said the two create "social interaction" for consumers, and keep people coming to the area. 

"It creates employment for people who may not be a software engineer or technical worker or professional worker," he said. "And I think it creates a way for a city to celebrate itself. It keeps people downtown, keeps them engaged and to the extent that the retailers are unique, brings people downtown."

"So I think retail is really critical, as part of that social fabric, as well part of the economic fabric. It's different than it was 50 years ago, but still really important."

Jim Bieri, founder and principal of Detroit-based Stokas Bieri Real Estate, agreed that having retail downtown keeps money flowing into the economy and visitors interested. He hopes the upcoming holiday season will bring business to the city's expanding retailers. 

"It's really important for downtown to have as many doors open, lights on, opportunities for people to come and walk around, because the more people you get, the more people come," Bieri said. "And vibrancy is effective by more and more stores opening."