shopping

Stateside: Remembering Hudson's in Detroit

Michigan Radio Newsroom — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:25:54 +0000

The following is a summary of a previously recorded interview. To hear the complete segment, click the audio above.

Thirty years ago Hudson’s closed its store in downtown Detroit.

Michigan Radio’s Jack Lessenberry spoke with Cyndy about the store’s significance to Detroit and its citizens.

“They talked about closing it as early as the 1970’s. It was a symbol. The people who were saddest were people who ceased to come to the store,” said Lessenberry.

Lessenberry noted the difficulty of retaining a downtown shopping district.

“People started moving away from downtown shopping…Large industrial cities all over the nations have had trouble keeping their downtowns viable."

For more of Lessenberry’s interview, listen to the above audio.

There are two ways you can podcast "Stateside with Cynthia Canty"

Enough consumerism, calls for 'Giving Tuesday'

Sarah Hulett — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:29:49 +0000

Philanthropic organizations want to capitalize on the spending campaigns of "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" - and also flip the idea of consumerism on its head.

The idea behind "Giving Tuesday" is to take time to donate to charity, after two of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Eileen Heisman is the CEO of National Philanthropic Trust - one of the groups promoting the campaign.

"This is the first year, but I think it's going to continue," said Heisman. "I'm almost positive it is, and so I think in the following years we'll see a much bigger push and more visibility for people taking this time of year to give back in a more formal way on this day."

Charities report nearly a quarter of their annual donations come between Thanksgiving and New Years.

Upscale Somerset CityLoft, indie 71 Pop set up shop in Detroit

Jennifer Guerra — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 16:12:08 +0000

Retail stores are literally popping up around Detroit this weekend.

You use to have to drive about 30 minutes outside of Detroit if you wanted to shop at the tony, upscale Somerset Collection in Troy. But now you can browse the shelves of Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue in midtown Detroit. It’s part of a new pop up mall of sorts called “Somerset CityLoft."

The return of luxury retail

Sonari Glinton — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:11:23 +0000

Consumers spent more on retail goods in the first quarter than they did during the same time last year.

Meijer offers to ships items anywhere in the world

Lindsey Smith — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:58:27 +0000

Michigan-based retail giant Meijer says it will now ship any of the items from its stores to any place in the world. Before now, customers could only get bulk items shipped to their homes.

Frank Guglielmi is a Meijer spokesman.

“There’s the customers who are familiar and predisposed towards Meijer who perhaps lived in the Midwest or Grand Rapids and have moved to other destinations and then there’s providing a good offering online for groceries for any consumer out there.”

Repeal of item pricing law introduced in the legislature

Rick Pluta — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:04:27 +0000

Legislation to repeal the Michigan law that requires every item on store shelves to carry a price tag has been introduced in the state House.

Governor Rick Snyder called for an end to the 35-year-old item-pricing law last week in his State of the State address.

He says the law is outdated, and repealing it would send a message that Michigan is a business-friendly state.

Will price tags be a thing of the past in Michigan?

Mark Brush — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:07:20 +0000

Price tags? We don't need no stinkin' price tags.

In his State of the State address last night, Governor Rick Snyder said the legislature should get rid of or modify "antiquated laws."

One law he used as an example was the state's "Item Pricing Law." The law, he said, is an undue burden on retailers. From Snyder's State of the State outline:

"Requiring 'stickers' over other forms of price-marking costs Michigan’s economy over $2 billion dollars a year. Let’s use the technology we have to protect customers."

Michigan Radio news intern, Sarah Alvarez, filed a report on the state's Item Pricing Law.

Retailers expect a surge in sales this weekend

Steve Carmody — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 16:10:50 +0000

Michigan retailers were optimistic that this would be a better holiday shopping season than they’ve had the last few years.

And so far, those expectations appear to be warranted.

The National Retail Federation upped its prediction for holiday sales from a 2.3% increase to a 3.3% increase over last year.

Shopping on the menu for Thanksgiving

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:33:27 +0000

Michigan retailers are optimistic that holiday sales will be better this year.

The first real test comes this week.

Thanksgiving is such a pivotal time for Michigan retailers many aren’t waiting for their customers to finish their turkey dinners.

K-Mart, Sears and other retailers plan to be open on Thanksgiving day. Many other stores, like Banana Republic and the Gap will open their doors Thursday night.