Apple Store in Michigan Permanently Closing Next Month

[GrumpyOldGuy52]

It is not FUD, or cherry-picking, to note the crime rate in Detroit is high; that is a fact. Although I am glad it is coming down, it is still much higher than the surrounding area, which will be a factor in where people choose to shop.

And crime was only one of the reasons people were doubting the viability of a downtown location, with traffic, and parking also mentioned. Thus, it is you doing the cherry-picking.

It's sad you don't see what you're doing.

Good afternoon.

 

[Suicidy]

It’s not really “just outside of Detroit.” I’m just outside of Detroit (literally; the city line is across the street from my house), but Partridge Creek is about a 45 minute drive from here. That mall has been losing foot traffic and stores for years. Yes, it is by a community college, but there aren’t many other “destinations” in that area (it’s mostly bedroom communities and some industrial/commercial out there). I suspect most metro Detroiters go to Somerset (or the other close one at 12 Oaks) as there are things to do near those malls. I also suspect that Apple’s probably looked at where its customers live in the area and concluded a lot of us would be more central to the downtown location. Furthermore, the strip along Woodward is becoming a Magnificent Mile-esque area where retailers want to be seen at, so it doesn’t surprise me Apple would want to get in there early.

My main issue with the store being downtown? Parking costs are atrocious in the area. Apple’s either going to need to validate parking at one or two of the garages close to them (and some of the businesses do, so it’s not unheard of), or they’re going to need that location to be truly as central as they’re hoping for. For the record, I am more likely to just walk into an Apple Store in downtown than I am in the suburban locations (I live and work quite close to downtown). Someone who is somewhat close to one of the two suburban stores and the downtown one isn’t likely to go downtown if they have to deal with parking.

I’d love to see the store last a long time down there, but I’m unsure the logistics of a downtown window shopping area are going to be able to properly support it.

Where I live, the Apple Store is in one of the most difficult areas to work in the entire county.

 

[chspera]

Unless you work in downtown Detroit, you aren't going there on a regular basis.

A truer sentence has never been written.

I grew up in the metro Detroit area and graduated from West Bloomfield High School in 1984. I've been back a number of times over the years and this is going to be a huge problem for many people in the suburbs and on the east side of Detroit.

NO ONE and I repeat NO ONE from either the suburbs (I lived at 15 Mile (Maple Road) and Orchard Lake. I had an on-again/off-again girlfriend during my senior year of high school to my sophomore year of college who lived at 8 Mile and Woodward. The first time I went to visit her at her house, I nearly pi$$ed my pants as I was confronted by a number of teenage boys after I got out of my car. My girlfriend had to come out and rescue me. It wasn't the safest of neighborhoods at the time.

Aside from this, its extremely inconvenient to travel downtown from either the Detroit suburbs or other northern areas. I have a friend in Mt. Clemens who says he'll never use the downtown store, either; and it will be very difficult for him to get to the other Apple Store on the west side of the city/suburbs.

Apple closing this store is a shame. It may be a numbers thing or it may be a volume/traffic thing, or it could be a tax break given by the City of Detroit if they moved their east side store downtown... who knows?? However, I'm disappointed in this, as I am certain the general public and store employees may be.

 

[jonnyb098]

Apple wants to pay a city tax (nice pay cut for the employees too) while making its customers drive downtown and pay to park in an area with higher crime rates.

Not following the logic.

The logic is Apple AND the city make more money. Apple probably got tons of subsidies. And it makes the morons who are living in their posh $3500/month 800sq ft apartments feel good in their little “safe bubble” of the city center. Venture a mile or two away and it’s pure ghetto as expected.

 

[Exponent]

Bike. There are thousands of apartments, townhouses and Condos within a three mile radius.

Tell me you’ve never lived a winter in Michigan without saying you’ve never lived a winter in Michigan.

 

[aloyouis]

The aforementioned new "Detroit" store is of zero interest to most suburbs in Metro Detroit...

The new "Detroit" store is absolutely of great interest to many people. They just aren't driving.

Like I said, zero interest to most suburbs in Metro Detroit...

And that is because of the drive. If you can walk to a Detroit location, great. Keep your head down...

 

[phenom1984]

A truer sentence has never been written.

I grew up in the metro Detroit area and graduated from West Bloomfield High School in 1984. I've been back a number of times over the years and this is going to be a huge problem for many people in the suburbs and on the east side of Detroit.

NO ONE and I repeat NO ONE from either the suburbs (I lived at 15 Mile (Maple Road) and Orchard Lake. I had an on-again/off-again girlfriend during my senior year of high school to my sophomore year of college who lived at 8 Mile and Woodward. The first time I went to visit her at her house, I nearly pi$$ed my pants as I was confronted by a number of teenage boys after I got out of my car. My girlfriend had to come out and rescue me. It wasn't the safest of neighborhoods at the time.

Aside from this, its extremely inconvenient to travel downtown from either the Detroit suburbs or other northern areas. I have a friend in Mt. Clemens who says he'll never use the downtown store, either; and it will be very difficult for him to get to the other Apple Store on the west side of the city/suburbs.

Apple closing this store is a shame. It may be a numbers thing or it may be a volume/traffic thing, or it could be a tax break given by the City of Detroit if they moved their east side store downtown... who knows?? However, I'm disappointed in this, as I am certain the general public and store employees may be.

That was FORTY YEARS AGO. You think Detroit is the same now as it was then?

 

[Sully]

That was FORTY YEARS AGO. You think Detroit is the same now as it was then?

You would be surprised. It’s more the same than it is different. Outside a two mile radius around Woodland and I 75 not much has changed.

Michigan is a beautiful state. And Detroit has beautiful infrastructure laid out originally by the French. But, Michigan is also the Mississippi of the North and since the decline of the American Automotive industry, the state has experienced very little growth.

 

[phenom1984]

You would be surprised. It’s more the same than it is different. Outside a two mile radius around Woodland and I 75 not much has changed.

Michigan is a beautiful state. And Detroit has beautiful infrastructure laid out originally by the French. But, Michigan is also the Mississippi of the North and since the decline of the American Automotive industry, the state has experienced very little growth.

Sorry, but no. Crime in the mid-80s was triple what it is now. I live in a suburb of Detroit and nobody I know is afraid of going there and they all go there pretty regularly. Sure, Detroit has bad parts like every other major city, but to stereotype it now to what it was then is fear-mongering. Especially in the area of the proposed new Apple Store.