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BUSINESSES THRIVE

Jewish stores are showing
signs of new lift

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

H

ow dangerous was it
to shop along Green-
field Road during the
construction of 1-696? Just
ask Royal Plaza merchants
like Dena Sanders, Rita
Jerome and Rabbi Avraham
Borenstein. For about two
years, the view outside
their store windows con-
sisted of rubble and rows
of dust-belching bulldozers.
"The noise and dirt were so
unbearable, you could hard-
ly hear yourself think," said
Mrs. Sanders, who works at
Zeman's Bakery. "It was
impossible to get into the
parking lot, and if you did,
you were lucky to get out
without causing an acci-
dent."
Mrs. Sanders, whose
father still owns and
operates Zeman's bakeries,
said customers with newly
washed cars told her they'd
rather do without baked
goods that week than take
their clean cars into her
parking lot.
"We experienced a
noticeable drop in business,"
she said. "There was only
one exit and entrance for
awhile. People couldn't fig-
ure out which way to go. One
elderly woman drove her car
into a ditch outside the
store."
Mrs. Jerome, co-owner of
Sperber's, a kosher carry-out
deli next door, said tensions
ran high.
"People cursed," she said.
"They got really mad and
yelled. A lot. But nowadays,
customers are much calmer.
They're comfortable with
the expressway and appreci-
ate the convenience its
brought to the area."
Mrs. Jerome said her busi-
ness relies heavily on walk-
in trade, even though she
makes deliveries. "Our runs
to West Bloomfield or Farm-
ington Hills are much
quicker," she said. "It's even
cut my own ten-minute drive
down to five minutes."
Rabbi Borenstein esti-
mates there are about $200

million worth of Jewish in-
stitutions, stores and agen-
cies in Oak Park and
Southfield. He said that I-
696 posed a serious logistical
problem, but never signifi-
cant enough to force his Jew-
ish bookstore to relocate.
"I never considered mov-
ing," he said. "I've been here
about 20 plus years. We're a
tradition. Can you imagine
what it would cost the com-
munity to transplant every
Jewish institution or busi-
ness somewhere else?"
Rabbi Borenstein said
Jewish youth groups and
school children often visit
the Plaza to see first-hand
the variety of kosher food
and Judaica available.
"We have something here
that's unique," he said. "I
probably lost a lot of poten-
tial customers a couple of
years ago, but now they're
coming back. All of their re-
ligious needs can be satisfied
here. How can they stay
away with everything we
have to offer?" Ronald Licht,
president of the Farmington
Hills-based Jaime In-
vestment Co. and developer
of the Royal Plaza credits all
his tenants for enduring phy-
sical as well as economic hard-
ships during the building of
1-696. One concession made at
the time was to reduce
tenants' rents, he said. More
recently, Mr. Licht spent more
than $300,000 to refurbish the
exterior of the Plaza. He said
most of the signage, lighting
and wiring was more than 30
years old. "No one spends
over $300,000 on a pro-
perty without believing in
its neighborhood," he said.
"Anyway, it was time
to remodel and update the
property. We felt we had to
do justice to the new
highway.
"So many of the strip's
stores cater so exclusively to
the Orthodox Jewish com-
munity and it doesn't look
like they're deserting the
neighborhood. I'm certain it
was a smart investment," he
said.
Oak Park Mayor Charlotte
Rothstein is in full agree-

Four Royal Plaza stores cater almost exclusively to the
Orthodox Jewish Community.

Oak Park, which is cen-
trally located on the route of
the east-west connector, is
still in the beginning of its
revival, the mayor said.

DANNY GOLDSTEIN, owner,
King Heart Productions.
"Before the freeway was
completed, I used to lose lots
of customers from the east
side. I even stopped going over
there. It was a day's journey. I'd
have to pack a lunch. Now I'm
right off the Evergreen exit and
busier than ever."

ment. She has seen many of
her economic dreams real-
ized.
The final 9.1 miles of the
26.2 mile expressway was
worth the 32-year wait, she
said, even though the city
lost 195 parcels of land and
about 500 residents to make
room for the new highway.

"We're attracting singles
and young professionals
with families," she said.
"We've new developers and
a state-of-the-art Kmart in
the area. Even property
values have started to go
up.
"I always knew 1-696
would bring progress to the
city," she said. "It's a
tremendous asset for every-
one. I've always seen it as a
positive."
Southfield City Planner
Donald J. Gross said he
would have a hard time
filling the city's 23 million
square feet of office space
without 1-696. Mr. Gross
said much of Southfield's
commercial development for
the past 10 to 15 years was
in anticipation of the com-
pleted expressway.
"We have a continuing
demand for high-quality of-

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fice space," he said. "The
Prudential Town Center
complex at 101/2 Mile and
Evergreen roads, and the
new office buildings along
Telegraph Road between 10
Mile and 14 Mile roads are
prime examples of develop-
ment that will have easy
access to the expressway."
Tel-Twelve Mall on Tele-
graph Road and the stores at
Southfield Plaza on
Southfield Road between 12
Mile and 13 Mile roads have
also experienced an increase
in business since 1-696 was
completed, Mr. Gross said.
Developer John Fletcher,
executive vice president of
the Westin Co. in Birm-
ingham, opened a mall on
Greenfield Road at 10% Mile
with the new highway in
mind.
Lincoln Square, which was
built about 15 months ago, is
approximately 65 percent
full and is home to
Panorama Video and Nutri
System.
"We looked at the entire
Continued on Page 68

The new Farmer Jack superstore on 10 Mile and
Coolidge is easily accessible from 1-696.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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