The first floor of the multi-tenant
Shops in the Kresge Building
is preparing to open with about a dozen tenants including a coffee
shop, Italian ice parlor and a variety of other vendors selling goods
from hats to shoes, from organic lotions to cigars. Some are start-ups
-- like the coffee shop, Chez Zara -- while others are relocating --
like Fierce Fashions -- from Royal Oak.
"We've made it so it's
really reasonable, (and the lease) includes everything," says Clayton
Wenrick, director of marketing and advertising for the Boydell Group,
the building's owner. "(For someone) looking to start up a business,
this allows you have a small space in an area with good traffic flow at
a really good rate."
Wenrick anticipates being fully open in
mid-December when build-out is complete. Like a mall, all shops will
have the same hours which, to start, will be Monday through Thursday 9
a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday noon to
6 p.m. After launch, a committee of shopkeepers will meet to determine
if any alterations in the schedule are in their best interest.
An
on site bar is also part of the operation. "It's completely open to the
shopping experience," says Wenrick. "Someone can relax at the bar, take
it easy, while their significant other shops."
Boydell is using
its previous experiences to inform its operations at Kresge. "We looked
at some of the problems we had when we opened the
Russell Bazaar,"
says Wenrick. "We noticed that there were problems with the quality of
merchandise -- too many people had the same products or knock-off
merchandise -- and it was an extended large area with not enough
tenants, so when you would go in there it would feel kind of empty."
Therefore, the focus is initially on completely leasing out the first
floor's 16 spaces, then to filling the second level. An anchor tenant
is being sought for the basement level, which is reached by the famous
Kresge escalator.
The Shops in the Kresge Building is located at 1201 Woodward at State. Call 313-964-6700.
In
other shopping news, a holiday pop-up store, Festival of Trees Holiday
Shop, has opened across the street at the Compuware Building, in the
space that formerly housed Borders. Open Monday through Friday 11 a.m.
to 3 p.m., the shop is stocked with lights, (artificial) wreaths and
trees, candles, decorations and gifts.
Source: Clayton Wenrick, Boydell Group
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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