Can Detroit businesses survive city's push for walkable neighborhoods?
DETROIT – On an early fall afternoon, patrons jammed inside Good Cakes and Bakes, sampling sweets, smiling in a photo booth and buying jewelry from a vendor.
The scene at the annual Light up Livernois event last month was one most merchants would envy, except for a few details: Patrons had to park blocks away and navigate through a streetscape construction zone to enter the popular bakery.
The $17 million project has crippled business along the Avenue of Fashion, the stretch of Livernois between Seven and Eight Mile roads that has about 150 stores and contains the largest concentration of black-owned stores in Detroit. This summer, walk-in sales at Good Cakes and Bakes dropped 33 percent. They’re now down 14 percent, said owner April Anderson.
“When it first happened, it almost put me in a panic state, only because I have employees and [they] definitely depend on their hours and their salary in order to take care of their families,” said Anderson, who stayed in business by transitioning to catering and deliveries.
Read more: https://www.bridgemi.com/detroit/can-detroit-businesses-survive-citys-push-walkable-neighborhoods
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