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Old Posted Nov 11, 2013, 2:46 AM
hudkina hudkina is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Brown View Post
The Northland area is far from irrelevant. Until 25 years ago or so, it was one of the region's premiere shopping areas and I still believe it has on of the regions self-designated flagship Macy's stores.
Uh... 25 years ago is irrelevant. And the state of Northland has little to do with the success of retail in the northern half of the city. It's irrelevant in regards to any discussion of the middle-class neighborhoods/shopping centers north of 10 Mile Rd.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Brown View Post
I'm simply arguing that Northland represents the unabated trend of Southfield for the last fifteen years - retail quality and quantify decline.
But you are wrong on that account. Northland has certainly declined as it was always geared toward Detroit and its residents. However, Meijer, Best Buy, Target, Lowe's, Kroger, The Home Depot, Starbucks, etc. These are all major retail giants that were perfectly fine with opening locations within the city. Even Walmart wants to tear down the old St. Bede's church and build a supercenter. And there are plenty of smaller national retailers that have opened shop as well. Honestly, Southfield never had a major retail presence as it was more heavily geared toward office development, but there are still plenty of retail options.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Brown View Post
Moreover, the stores that replaced Tel-Twelve are solidly mid to low-middle class. With the exception of Meijer replacing a KMart the current incarnation represents a decline of what was there before.
I don't know what fantasy world you live in, but none of those brands are low-class. They certainly aren't Pottery Barn or Nordstrom, but come on; every middle-class city has these types of shopping centers. If you think that power center is low-end, then 90% of American shopping centers must be low-end to you. The other anchors of Tel-Twelve were Montgomery Ward and Crowley's. Either one was not much better than a J.C. Penny or Kohl's (and honestly before they closed, both brands were in the dumps).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cleveland Brown View Post
And don't presume to know what I know about Southfield. I'm there often as I have several relatives and friends that live there - I'm betting more than you have.
Then I can't imagine you're doing much looking around. Because when I go through the northern half of the city I see a stable, solidly middle-class, well-maintained city with a fairly typical array of retail.
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