WEST fW
o: BLOOMFIELD

r 1

Once Rural, Now Retail

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

T

Come Buy a Car From My Daddy

1

HE'S NOW AT JACK CAULEY CHEVROLET GEO

LARRY KAPLAN

See
New Cars - Mucks Used Cars - Leasing

855-9700

7020 Orchard
Lake Road

WB 6

-

FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1990

855-9700
Cauley
Jack
LI VII ■ l %%%.W6%!Yr
"We Give A Little More
Between 14 & 15 Mile

c0=7cHEI/HaLEr

Geo

West Bloomfield, MI

wenty years ago, you
could see men selling
bait for fishing along
Orchard Lake Road.
Farmers, too, would haul
hay along the road, now a
bustling retailing
thoroughfare.
Once a rural community of
farm land, lakes and home to
the early settlers of the
1840s, West Bloomfield has
become what local retail
consultant Fred Marx calls a
"smorgasbord of fashion and
commercial building."
West Bloomfield, a grow-
ing community of 48,500 in
northwest Detroit, is home
to about 1,300 businesses -
nearly 150 of those retail
shops. Among them are
trendy specialty boutiques
like Divine Knits, Bette
Appel, Benneton, Lor-El
Designs and Guys 'n Gals.
Also in West Bloomfield
are several moderately pric-
ed stores, including Hit Or
Miss, Levin's Beauty Supply,
Dunham's, Corey's Dinette
Furniture and Coats
Unlimited. In addition to its
10 strip shopping malls, the
township has two car dealer-
ships — Audette Cadillac
and Cauley Chevrolet.
"I've seen this township go
from a rural agricultural
community to a downtown
area," said West Bloomfield
Chamber of Commerce
Board Member Sy War-
shawsky. "Now it is a soph-
isticated urban area."
Restaurants come and go,
yet the number remains fair-
ly constant with 14 alone on
Orchard Lake Road. West
Bloomfield restaurant goers
have a variety of choices
with The Stage, Deli
Unique, E.G. Nicks, R.I.K.'s,
Big Boy, The Rikshaw Inn,
Olga's and The Lark, rated
by Detroit Monthly as the
city's No. 1 eating estab-
lishment.
"West Bloomfield retailing
is geared toward its bedroom
community," Marx said. "It
is not a regional center.
Rather, is a mix of cottage
retailing."
More than any other part
of southeastern Michigan,
West Bloomfield and its
neighboring community of
Farmington Hills have been
called a revolving door in
retailing circles.
"The market is very recep-
tive to new concepts. It
gravitates toward newness.
Stores range from updated to
trendy," Marx said. "It is a

wonderful place for experi-
mental and innovative
retailing. As a result, there
is a higher failure rate."
Some of the township's
businesses began in homes,
suddenly growing and mov-
ing into storefronts. Some
make it; others don't.
"West Bloomfield is the
fast track of retailing,"
Marx said. "The customer
has a lot of choices, but if
something is just good and
not outstanding, it won't
make it.
"Casualties in West
Bloomfield are not to be
taken as the end of the
world," Marx said.
"Somebody else always
comes right back in."
For example, the restau-
rant at the corner of Pontiac
Trail and Orchard Lake
Road has had several owner-

Retail consultant
Fred Marx calls
West Bloomfield a
smorgasbord of
fashion and
commercial
building.

ship changes. The Meating
Place and Treats both went
out of business, and The
Road House recently opened.
"Sure there are a lot of 20
percent off stores, but that is
not at all what West Bloom-
field is made up of," Marx
said. "West Bloomfield
draws a lot of cross shoppers.
Its customers wrack up a lot
of miles on their cars. They
are looking for new stores
and new concepts."
West Bloomfield shoppers
are not thought of as the
loyal types who frequent
traditional stores like Jacob-
son's and Hudson's.
"The loyalty factor is not
as pronounced in West
Bloomfield," Marx said.
West Bloomfield Chamber
of Commerce Executive Di-
rector Dorothy Freidl said
the township is comprised
mostly of small service and
retail businesses.
"Some are stable and have
remained in the same spots
for a long time," she said.
"Other buildings have high
turnover.
"There are a lot of finicky
shoppers here," Freidl
said. ❑

