Birmingham : Development News

Birmingham's business development officials have been studying shoppers and retail trends for many months now, trying to figure out how to improve on downtown Birmingham as a shopping and free-time destination.

One question asked: When do you want to shop? The answer: evenings, after work or school.

That's when many downtown shops are closed. So in the interest of finding out if nighttime shopping will actually generate traffic, about 45 downtown stores will stay open until 9 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month, says John Heiney, director of Birmingham's Principal Shopping District.

The response will show if a mostly daytime downtown -- other than restaurants and movies -- will fly.

First Thursdays will run through September during the summer months, when strolling store to store at night is more likely. There will be a theme each month along with sales and special events and activities in stores and around downtown to promote First Thursdays.

Birmingham's Principal Shopping District, which is made up of downtown businesses and employs a retail consultant to keep downtown thriving, is hosting the event and "wants to get shoppers thinking about shopping in the evening," Heiney says.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: John Heiney, director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

Oakland County is trying to make starting a business or taking it to the next level easier for entrepreneurs by offering free, walk-in business counseling.

The One Stop Shop Business Center at the Oakland County Executive Office building, 2100 Pontiac Lake Road, in Waterford will open May 9 and offer regular walk-in hours after that. The hours for May 9 are 9:30-noon and 1:30-4:30. The business center is on the first floor of Building 41W.

“We usually operate on an appointment-only basis but many entrepreneurs walk into our One Stop Shop with questions on how to get started with their business idea,” says Greg Doyle, supervisor of the One Stop Shop Business Center. “By designating special walk-in days, we hope to reach more entrepreneurs and help them understand their next steps as well as present the resources we can make available to them. Our aim is to get them started quickly in a way that makes the most sense to their unique situation.”

Counselors at the business center can answer specific questions, suggest planning tools and give direction on where to go to solve problems or achieve goals. All sessions are confidential. The counselors have expertise in business development, community planning, financing and market research.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Greg Doyle, supervisor, One Stop Shop Business Center

The Bozeman Watch Company's speciality, limited edition watches and accessories will soon fill a downtown Birmingham store, importing a Michigan native's high-end goods from the Montana and Wyoming showrooms where they're now sold.

Its handmade time pieces are known for their rugged styling -- the B1 Hellcat, Smokejumper GMT and Sidewinder are a few styles that convey manly man adventure. The company is also known for its hand-tooled leather luggage and handbags.

Christopher Wardle, a former Michigan resident started the company in Montana and is expanding from three stores in Bozeman and Whitefish, Montana and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The Birmingham store opens May 1 on Pierce Street in the spot formerly occupied by Stacy Leuliette home accessories, says Ed Nakfoor, spokesman for the Birmingham Principal Shopping District.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Ed Nakfoor, spokesman, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

Francesca's, a women's clothing store chain with differently-themed stores around the country, will open its first on-the-street, Main Street location in Michigan in downtown Birmingham.

Francesca's is expected to open by mid-April at 115 S. Woodward Avenue and become the fifth store in metro Detroit and the 10th in Michigan. All of the others are in shopping centers and malls.

Houston-based Francesca's is moving into a spot previously occupied by Ann Taylor Loft and will bring a very different approach than the Loft with its all-the-same-style stores.

At Francesca's, store managers are given creative control over store design, giving each store its own identity. One thing that carries through to all stores is a unique, "treasure hunt" feel created by offering only a few pieces of the same merchandise. Francesca's is known for an always changing, trendy, mostly affordable selection of clothing and accessories

Birmingham's Principal Shopping District recruiters are seeking out companies such as Francesca's as part of a push to attract younger shoppers to the city, says PSD spokesperson Ed Nakfoor.

"Recruiting a retailer like Francesca’s is part of the PSD tenant recruitment strategy of targeting fashion merchants reaching a younger demographic," he says. "The average age of the PSD core shopper was 39 in 2012 compared to 41 in 2006."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Ed Nakfoor, spokesperson, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

A plan to turn a busy 27-mile, automobile-loving stretch of Woodward Avenue into a road that's safe and welcoming for all forms of transportation is rolling along with a series of public planning events to begin soon.

The changes -- part of the Complete Streets approach that's happening in cities around Michigan and across the country -- would move Woodward away from a wide-swath of auto-centered roadway to one that's inviting and safe for bicyclists, pedestrians, disabled users, bus riders -- and, if it comes to pass, light rail passengers.

The Woodward Avenue Action Association, WA3, is heading up the effort in partnership with Parsons Brinckerhoff. Working with them are reps and policy makers from 11 Wayne and Oakland county municipalities that have Woodward running through them. The Michigan Department of Transportation, M1 Rail, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments are also part of the project that's been in the works since August 2011 and has $752,000 in federal funding to work with.

The next step is to host five interactive public events, a design charrette, in several of the Woodward-connected communities. From those meetings could come a master plan that will determine what changes and updates are needed to accommodate public transit, pedestrians, bicyclists and, ideally, economic development.

“We want to create a street that truly works for everyone. Imagine a corridor that accommodates people of all ages and abilities, including pedestrians, bicyclists, seniors, mobility-challenged individuals, transit riders and motorists,” says Jason Fowler, WA3 and Woodward Complete Streets program manager. “By engaging the residents and businesses along the corridor, as well as industry experts in this visioning process, we can develop a wide variety of innovative solutions and create a successful master plan.”

The first meetings, a three-day event, will focus on north Woodward in Detroit from McNichols to 8 Mile and Ferndale and be held at St. James Catholic Church, 241 Pearson Street in Ferndale, April 17-19.

During the meetings in Ferndale, Dan Burden, a walkability expert from the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, will present a walking audit of Woodward and explain what lies ahead for a re-design he says "could be the single largest Complete Streets planning effort ever undertaken in North America.”

Other meetings will be held in Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills, May 20-22; in Bloomfield Township/Pontiac, June 3-5; Pleasant Ridge through Berkley, June 10-12; and in downtown Detroit/Highland Park, June 17-19.

Click on www.transformwoodward.com for exact locations, times and topics to be discussed.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Lori Ella Miller, spokesperson, Woodward Avenue Action Association

An experienced retailer and marketer is marrying her skills with an interior designer to form a new business partnership in Birmingham's flourishing rail district.

Added Oomph opened earlier this month and combines furniture and home accessory merchandise with the services of an interior designer.

Owners Pam Dennis, the interior designer in the partnership, and Janet Genn, the retailer, see the rail district and its eclectic feel as the perfect place to do bring a business that focuses on individuality. The store is at 2121 Cole.

"We believe our twist is having the store operated by an experienced interior designer that will complement the customer
experience," says Genn in an announcement of the store opening.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Birmingham-Bloomfield Chamber of Commerce

A Parson's School of Design grad is trading in New York for a return to his hometown of Birmingham, opening a business that will use his experience in fashion to offer designers and brands not often seen in Michigan.

Zachary Kay and his mother Lori will run Found Objects, a boutique with clothing and accessories at 241 E. Merrill St. in downtown Birmingham.

Kay, a Cranbrook schools graduate, predicts the location, in a walkable part of the city that attracts serious shoppers who want a city experience and not the mall, will find its niche.

The store is scheduled to open March 1.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: John Heiney, director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

Carly and Greg Goidosik's decision to open Michigan's first Dailey Method fitness studio in downtown Birmingham is a positive for the city, but their decision to return to Michigan from the Chicago-area to start said business is a broader sign of the economic tide-turner that's bringing Michigan's young ex-pats back to their home state.

"There's this whole new energy in Michigan, especially with people of my generation," says Carly Goidosik, 27, a Dailey Method master trainer turned franchise owner. "People I went to high school with, people I went to college with, they want to come back and be a part of the changes happening here."

Clearly there is a market for Dailey Method Birmingham, which opens Friday,  Jan. 11, in Birmingham Place, 34665 Woodward Avenue, a very visible and prominent spot on the ground floor of the Birmingham Place condos. Renovations of the last several weeks make sure that the spot isn't too fish-bowlish, just the right amount of exposure and privacy.

"The interest is beyond anything we could have imagined," she says. There are already nearly 10 classes that are booked and waiting lists have formed. Their sales goal for the opening weekend has been exceeded.

Inside the 2,000-square-foot studio, Dailey Method's "community classes" will be taught Monday - Saturday, initially. Dailey Method formed in San Francisco in 2000 and is a mix of strengthening, toning and body-lengthening approaches that mix yoga, pilates, a ballet barre and more. Down the street is a few-months-old lululemon athletic wear, a company that has named Carly a local ambassador.

The Birmingham Dailey Method franchise is the first in Michigan and one of 46 nationwide. In the Chicago area,where the Goidosik's moved after graduating college there were 10, she says. She started as a student, went through training to teach and eventually became a master trainer for other teachers before she decided - with the encouragement of the owner of the studio where she worked - to open her own.

"We wanted to come back to Michigan to be near family," she says. But once they started their search for locations they learned they were part of a boom in entrepreneurs, investors and developers looking for property in metro Detroit.

"Probably two years ago we never would have even considered the Detroit-area to start a business," she says. "Our broker told us if we'd started six months earlier it would have been different story."

While competition for a storefront wasn't ideal, it was uplifting to see the interest in metro Detroit, she says.

"It's a great thing being in the Detorit area. One of the great things about being here is a quality I see in the Midwest, a loyalty. If people love you, they will support you."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Carly Goidosik, owner, Dailey Method Birmingham

At least 10 businesses, from restaurants and salons to boutiques and fitness studios, are on the slate of businesses to open in downtown Birmingham in early 2013.

One of the first to open may be Francesca's Collection at 115 Old Woodward South, which is scheduled to open its doors in February.

Market, the restaurant still in production by Luxe Bar & Grill's owners is scheduled for early in the year, but there's no official word from the couple on exactly when.

Adding to the restaurant scene, specifically the already crowded steakhouse set,will be Stoney River Legendary Steaks. It will replace the closed Max & Erma's at 280 Merrill Street. Both are owned by the same company. The opening date is set as early 2013.

Dailey Method, a local outpost of the San Francisco-originated workout that mixes ballet bar work, core conditioning, muscle strengthening, yoga and orthopedic exercises, is expected to open in early January and will give the restaurant-goers a place to work off the calories. There will be onsite child care, shower facilities and a boutique at the space in Birmingham Place.

Found Objects, a women's and men's clothing, accessories and lifestyle boutique, is also expected to open in February at 241 E. Merrill St.

Other boutiques, salons and restaurants are on the horizon.

"Birmingham's retail occupancy is 96.4%, the highest percentage since we started tracking 11 years ago," says John Heiney, executive director of the Birmingham Principal Shopping District. " We are looking forward to new stores opening in the first quarter."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: John Heiney, executive director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District

As regional transit authority legislation moves through Lansing, plans are going forward to bring rapid transit to the 27-mile stretch of the Woodward Avenue Corridor from Jefferson Avenue in Detroit to downtown Pontiac.

Several meetings will be hosted by the Woodward Avenue Action Association, the Michigan Suburbs Alliance and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments and are part of an "alternative analysis, the first step in the process of developing a transit system," says Richard Murphy, programs director Michigan Suburbs Alliance.

The meetings, especially the comments from attendees, will be folded in with technical data, cost and other considerations, he says, as decisions about the exact route, the technology to be used, the station locations as well as connections to the M-1 Rail Streetcar project, high speed rail service and Complete Streets are wrapped into an overall plan.

"We’ll be talking about the purpose and need for the project…What is it that we need transit to do on Woodward and laying out the roadmap for the rest of the work. Over the course of 2013, we’ll have
additional meetings around major steps in the process," Murphy says.

Upcoming meetings are:

Thursday, December 6, 5-7 p.m., Baldwin Public Library, 300 West Merrill Street, Birmingham.
Tuesday, December 11, 4-6 p.m., Detroit Palmer Park Police Station, 12th Precinct, 1441 W. Seven Mile Road.
Wednesday, December 12, 6-8 p.m., Ferndale Public Library, 222 E. Nine Mile Road, Ferndale
Saturday, December 15, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Bowen Senior Center, 52 Bagley Street, Pontiac.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Richard Murphy, programs director, Michigan Suburbs Alliance

You could say that Denise Kulak and her new Birmingham business were raised in a barn.

And it wouldn't be an insult.

FUN STUFF, a small, eclectic boutique that sells affordable jewelry, art, locally-made treats and more, was started, funnily enough, on a lark Up North one recent summer as her husband, sculptor Gary Kulak, set up his business for the summer.

"He was doing his sign for Gary Kulak Sculpture, I said, 'What about me?'  He said, 'What do you want to be?' I said, 'I want to be …and other fun stuff.' Thats how it all started…

The business, if it could be called that at the time, was set up "in my pole barn up north, just to do if for the summer,"

"I literally just threw out a sandwich board sign that said FUN STUFF. I still use it here at the store in Birmingham."

She used her connections from a 25-plus year career in retail to buy the goods she would sell.

"It just worked," she says.

She decided to try it closer to their year-round home in Birmingham. FUN STUFF, which keeps prices low but sells "quality things that I would be proud to give as a gift," opened Oct. 11 in the Adams Square Shopping Center. It's a short walk from the Kulak's home, the sort of commute Kulak has dreamed of for years.

"It's going really well. I've got a lot of traffic. I've seen a lot of people from the neighborhood. I wanted to be community-based and be near my home. I wanted to re-create the whole experience from Up North and do it in my neighborhood" says Kulak, who also sells her husband's signature chair sculptures. His work can be seen throughout Michigan and in other states.

Oddly enough the 200-square-foot store in the Adams Square Shopping Center is even smaller than the 500-square foot pole barn where FUN STUFF was born.

Kulak, who's been laid off from high-level retail jobs three times in 10 years and is a fourth generation retailer, is excited about getting back to what she loves - selling goods - but she's more driven to make the shop a place for socializing and getting to know locals.

Kulak is a master's degree candidate from Walsh College and is also a beneficiary of a business start-up program offered by the Walsh College Wayne State University Blackstone Launchpad, which is funded by the Blackstone Charitable Trust Foundation and is a partnership with the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan, Automation Alley and the University of Miami.

Launchpad gave Kulak - and other entrepreneurs enrolled at Walsh and Wayne State - advice and assistance in starting the business, including feasibility studies, business plans and more.

Kulak is grateful, but again, this is a business she wants based on relationships, friendships with some salesemanship thrown in.

"I want this to be a place where every product has a story and every customer shares one…It's not just about selling stuff….It's about the woman who comes in here 2,3 times a week, tells a joke, a story or shares something important to her."

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Denise Kulak, owner, FUN STUFF

Construction is more than halfway complete for a new brewpub that is expected to open in March in Birmingham's Rail District.

Even before all the walls are up, however , Griffin Claw Brewing Co. is holding tastings to highlight the bread and butter of its business - its Big Rock Chophouse brews from brewmaster Dan Rogers. The latest tasting of Roger's award-winning IPA came with a construction update.

The 12,000-square-foot facility is being build on Eton Street. Brewing and distribution will take place on site, and there will be a tasting roo and outdoor garden to complement the restaurant.

On Nov. 1, Big Rock Chop House sold and shipped its massive 15-barrel copper tank system to a brewing in Lexington, Kentucky. In December, Griffin Claw will receive new brewery equipment from Kraft Werks in Lake Orion.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Jaclyn Robinson, JT Marketing Group

A public relations firm that formed when a group of freelancers decided to bring their skills together under one roof is hosting an unveiling party to celebrate the collaboration, business successes and the school that guided the firm's founder to the postion she's in.

Element, a public relations and marketing firm, has four full-time employees working out of its office on Old Woodward and Maple in downtown Birmingham. Co-founder Eric Scott is a graduate of the Eton Academy in Birmingham, a school that serves students with learning disabilities and other special needs. Scott and his colleagues wanted to pair Element's grand opening party with a thank-you for Eton.

So from 4-7 p.m. on Nov. 15 at David Wachler jewelers in Birmingham Element is hosting a party where Element and Eton are the centerpieces. Element, which in part guides clients through digital media optimization and messaging, is located upstairs from David Wachler.

"We're looking to connect downtown Birmingham with the mission of Eton Academy," Element spokesperson Alexis Smith says.

There will be live entertainment and a video that tells the stories of Eton students struggles and challenges and coming through them - just as Eric Smith has. Fox Grill from Bloomfield Hills will cater.

"Without Eton Academy a thriving PR firm like ourselves wouldn't be in existence," she said.

Writer: Kim North Shine
Source: Alexis Smith, Element PR

The days of digging for parking money coins or forgetting to re-fill the meter may be dwindling in downtown Birmingham since the installation of pay-by-phone meters.

Parkmobile lets drivers use its app to set up an account that lets their phone communicate payment to the meter, sends reminders of when time is up, and offers other services.

There are 1,238 meters in downtown Birmingham and John Heiney, executive director of the Birmingham Principal Shopping District, says "I think visitors to Birmingham are going to embrace this new parking option.  Today's shoppers are looking for the convenience that comes from dialing on their cell phone, or using a smart phone app."
 
Downtown Birmingham visitors still have the option of using one of the five parking decks that offer two hours free parking - $1 after that - where customers can pay using debit or credit cards.

Parkmobile meters are becoming a more common site across the country. Birmingham becomes the sixth city in Michigan after Ferndale, Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Petoskey, and South Haven.

“It is our hope that the ease of parking will encourage people to stop in Birmingham. Whether it’s to shop, dine or play, a quick visit to Birmingham just got easier,” Birmingham City Manager Robert Bruner says in a statement announcing the launch of the meters last week.

Parkmobile's applications are available for the iPhone, Android, Windows 7, and Blackberry smartphones. To use the new Parkmobile system, customers can register for free at www.parkmobile.com. Once registered, they can use a mobile app, the internet, QR code, or call toll free, 1-800-280- 4146 to pay for parking. After setting up an account, customers can immediately pay by mobile and also choose whether to receive text message alerts and reminders.

Source: John Heiney, executive director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District
Writer: Kim North Shine

A prominent downtown Birmingham location will be filled by international retailer lululemon before the winter holidays, the second metro Detroit store and fourth Michigan store of the popular yoga and running outfitter.

John Heiney, executive director of the Principal Shopping District in Birmingham, says the Canadian athletic retailer will take the majority of space at 101 South Old Woodward, a space vacated by Ann Taylor Loft in January.

He says a second national retailer is finalizing plans to move into the remaining square footage in the prominent storefront, and the name can be disclosed within days.

A store such as lululemon, he says, fits Birmingham, and is the latest example of the city's decision to hire a national retail recruiter.

"This lifestyle brand aligns well with Birmingham customer and they will draw from a large segment of the market," he says.

Source: John Heiney, executive director, Birmingham Principal Shopping District
Writer: Kim North Shine