DETROIT (WXYZ) — A hub of activity, downtown Detroit is a showcase of the Motor City that's set to be on display to the country in less than 60 days.
At least 300,000 people are expected downtown for the NFL draft in April, and many will walk the corridor of Woodward Avenue. In the last few decades, the avenue has attracted more restaurants and name-brand stores.
“A lot of people get this misconception of Detroit that it's so bad but now, everyone will get to see how nice it is,” said Antoine McElroy, who was downtown shopping at Nike. "I love Detroit. It's coming back up.”
However still today, you’ll find a number of empty storefronts on Woodward. Many are set to be filled soon, but others remain vacant.
“The bad news is we have a couple of vacancies. The good news is we're going to have pop-up stores that are going to be really exciting,” Claude Molinari with Visit Detroit said. "It's so critical we have a vibrant, exciting city.”
Molinari says efforts are underway by Bedrock Detroit to fill those spots, even if temporarily, with pop-up stores of local brands.
“It's a perfect marriage of helping out local entrepreneurs as well as giving our guests a great activity to do while they’re here,” Molinari said. "This draft, we’re going to use it as a platform to showcase Detroit as an incredible destination that we know it is and were going to introduce it to the rest of the world.”
One of the first pop-ups announced is the apparel brand Born in Detroit, which will take over the space of the former Moosejaw store, which closed at the start of February after 10 years in business.
“We're very excited to have this pop-up. Its an unreal spot at the corner of Woodward and Grand River (avenues),” Born in Detroit CEO Anthony Tomey said. "We have St. Patty's Day, Opening Day, the Sweet 16 and the draft all fall in our two months we own the spot.”
From March 15 to April 30, Born in Detroit will be open for business on Woodward. They’ll use half the space to sell an expanded selection of their apparel, and the other half will be an event space, hosting podcasts, radio shows and autograph signings.
“The city has to put on a nice show," Tomey said. "I think the national spotlight of Detroit is not a good one. People are like oh, it's a bad city, it's a scary city. And when they come here and say oh, this place is actually amazing."
Bedrock, which owns many of the properties, says there will be more pop-ups and retail openings in anticipation for the draft. It's boost to these businesses and for downtown.
“It's sad when you see an empty storefront," said Jess Simon, who was visiting downtown. "It’s nice they’re putting in pop-ups, even if it's just for a short amount of time.”
Once it opens, Born in Detroit’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays.
