New Tenants Transform Big-Box Spaces Left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | Freep.Com

New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

CLASSIFIEDS: CARS JOBS HOMES APARTMENTS CLASSIFIEDS SHOPPING E-CIRCULARS DAILY DEALS ADVERTISE SUBSCRIBE

News Sports Autos/Biz Classifieds Entertainment Life Opinion Obits Help

New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders

February 6, 2013 | 4 Comments Recommend 45 people recommend this.

Recommend 45 0 A A

Most Popular Most Commented More Headlines

1 Teenager charged in slaying of Michigan State student from Rochester area

2 Farmington court shaken after clerk's body found in pieces

Milford teens suspended over Purchase Image 3 suggestive 'Harlem Shake' video The old Circuit City site near Oakland Mall in Troy was a perfect fit for Classic Auto Showplace. "Basically, all we did was paint the walls," said Mike Sherman, above. Many of Michigan's empty big-box spaces are gradually finding new 4 Funeral set for slain Michigan State tenants. / Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press student; Okemos man charged

By JC Reindl Tucked behind the Oakland Mall in Troy is a big box of nostalgia. Detroit Free Press Business Writer With its familiar maroon stripe, the outside of the store looks much Most Viewed FILED UNDER as it did when it housed a Circuit City, the electronics retailer that http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM] New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com went bankrupt in 2009. Only the name on the sign is different. The Business Michigan Business interior has the same carpeting and automatic doors.

But the sales floor, once aglow with rows of flat-panel TVs, now bears the weight of four dozen antique cars and roadsters, including a baby blue 1957 Ford T-Bird.

"Basically, all we did was paint the walls," said Mike Sherman, salesman for the building's new occupant, Classic Auto Showplace. Credit card thieves can make a duplicate of your card Many of Michigan's empty big-box retail spaces are gradually Feb. 25, 2013 finding new tenants, including some PHOTO GALLERIES with business models more resilient to Related Links Internet competition. Best Buy, Sears, Barnes & Noble among retailers that will close the most stores in 2013 Seventeen of 21 former Circuit City locations These noteworthy metro Detroit bookshops are havens for the printed word across the state have, or are scheduled to have, new occupants. The same is true for 11 of 18 former Borders big-box bookstore locations -- not counting the smaller outlets or Waldenbooks subsidiaries.

The Free Press also found that:

• Some developers are looking to carve up big boxes into two or three separate stores or stores within a store. Purchase Image ZOOM The striped exterior reminds of the building's former life. • Old big boxes work well as furniture stores, It could take years to fill all the empty sites. Some remain vacant because of development restrictions and particularly for Art Van and Gardner-White. rent prices. / Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press

• Big boxes that can't find permanent tenants ADVERTISEMENT often are magnets for temporary Halloween- themed pop-up stores.

A Better Job Awaits! The all-in-one store concept has experienced an identity crisis in recent years Physicians Truck Operations InPatient Consultants of Supervisor as more shopping gets done online. Locally Michigan Cole Integrated Systems Southfield, MI and nationwide, the Internet is shrinking Dearborn , MI demand for bricks-and-mortar expansions.

Purchase Image ZOOM Drivers Drivers "You are seeing continued movement away PREMIER Mavron Transport Spiffed-up vintage cars have replaced TVs, computers TRANSPORTATION Lincoln Park, MI and other electronics at the Circuit City site near to the net," said James Bieri, a principal of Melvindale, MI Oakland Mall in Troy. The store is Classic Auto Showplace now. Other big-box outlets are being Stokas-Bieri Real Estate in Detroit and divided to accommodate various stores in one, or for Southfield. Internet competition contributed Previous Next office or storage space. / Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free to the downfalls of both Circuit City and http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM] New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

Press Recruiters, showcase your positions here. Borders, as consumers found cheaper goods on websites and could often skip paying sales tax. Borders, an Ann Arbor-based chain that liquidated in 2011, also lost sales to the emergence of e-books.

"The concept of a power center is you go to the store, and everything that you could imagine is there and it's there cheap," said Purchase Image ZOOM Suzanne Mulvee, director of retail research Competition from the Internet hurt Circuit City and Borders. Some businesses taking over their spaces for CoStar Group, a Washington, D.C.-based could be more resistant to that. / Eric Seals/Detroit Free real estate research company. "Well, that's Press basically what the Internet is."

ADS BY PULSE 360 AdChoices The Internet has also compelled retailers to

Frenzy Over Raspberry Ketone's stock less inventory, Mulvee said. The prime See why top doctors are raving about raspberry examples are the music and movie aisles, ketones for weight loss Read more... which once overflowed with merchandise but have thinned out or disappeared because of Top 10 Golf Swing Killers digital music and on-demand video. What's Your #1 Swing Flaw? Find Out Now and Fix it To Cut 3-5 Strokes. www.RevolutionGolf.com "Ten years ago when you went into a Best

Put the "Smart" in your Smartphone! Buy, there were these racks and racks and Strengthen your middle schooler's study skills with racks of CDs. And so they're looking at that StraightAce. space and they're saying, 'What do we do Learn more... with it?' " she said.

One solution to space surplus is the store- within-a-store concept. Last year, Gardner-White opened two of its furniture locations inside Best Buy stores in Bloomfield Hills and Novi. Retail analysts say furniture is one category of goods that many consumers still prefer to browse in person.

Several Circuit City and Borders stores are being sliced up, including two of the three former big Borders stores in Ann Arbor.

The Arborland Center Borders will soon become two stores, the cosmetic retailer ULTA and trendy discounter Five Below. The flagship Borders in downtown is being redeveloped for five retailers and two office space tenants that will spread over three floors and 60,000 square feet. The city's third former Borders is now a Big Lots closeout merchandiser.

The Circuit City big box in Flint on Miller Road is now leased to http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM] New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com become three stores: ULTA, Five Below and a division of Bed Bath and Beyond.

"It's funny how the evolution of the industry goes," said Karl Zarbo, director of operations at Lormax Stern Development in West Bloomfield. "Everything was small space and then out of the small departments, came these big boxes, and to some degree, now you take a big box and you carve it up."

Walgreens is moving into a two-story Birmingham Borders on Woodward this spring. But the drug store chain won't need all 30,000 square feet for Tylenol and Dr. Scholl's. The company plans to lease part of the second floor as office space and use the rest as storage.

Only a handful of Borders and Circuit City stores are being replaced by similar chains. Books-A-Million plans to take over the Beverly Hills Borders in the Corners Shopping Center, as it recently did in Traverse City; ABC Warehouse opened in former Circuit City locations in Lansing and Portage, and a former Circuit City in Grand Rapids is now a Best Buy.

It could take years to fill all the empty space. Former Borders stores are still awaiting full-time, non-Halloween tenants in Auburn Hills, Dearborn, Grosse Pointe, Novi, Rochester Hills and Utica. The same is true for old Circuit City stores in Brighton, Harper Woods and Pontiac, as well as the second half of a future split store in Shelby Township.

Eric Unatin of Armada Real Estate Services in West Bloomfield said some locations could be subject to development restrictions aimed at preventing certain types of stores, such as secondhand retailers or a direct competitor to a nearby merchant. Restrictions apply to the former Borders location in Dearborn, he said, and are part of the reason the store sits vacant.

Another reason for big-box vacancies is that rent prices have yet to rebound to where it's profitable for more developers to buy a building and do a transformation, said Jim Stokas of Stokas-Bieri Real Estate.

Aside from the paint job and new signage, the old Circuit City near Oakland Mall required little work to attract its Classic Auto Showplace. In fact, the front entrance was already wide enough to drive cars through. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM] New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

"We couldn't have drawn it out on paper any better than this," said Sherman, the salesman.

Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or [email protected], and follow on Twitter @JCReindl

More Details: 2 big boxes, broken down Circuit City, closed in 2009

• In Michigan: 17 former big box stores are filled or scheduled to be soon; four are still vacant.

Borders, closed in 2011

• In Michigan: 11 large stores in Michigan are filled or scheduled to be; seven stores are still vacant.

Source: Free Press research

View Comments (4) | Share your thoughts »

TOP VIDEO PICKS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN SPONSORED LINKS selected by Taboola Ask Amy: Placement agency Highest-Calorie Menu Item at needs to help worker who can't McDonald's? Not a Burger (Wall seem to bathe, wash clothes Street Journal) (Detroit Free Press) Animated: See How A Well Is Carolyn Hax: Relentless “Fracked.” (Energy From Shale) planner needs to quit Credit card thieves can 7 Things You Didn’t Know make a duplicate of yo… scheduling boyfriend, find other (Beliefnet.com) Feb 25, 2013 things to do (Detroit Free Press) About Jesus’ Birth Rick Porcello shrugs off trade The Taurus Problems Ford rumors, aims to be Tigers' 5th Doesn’t Want You To Know (Consumer Car Reviews) starter, not a reliever (Detroit Free About Press) Funny Fail: They Said to Use Tony Stewart: 'Danica has two Fans if the AC Went Out Girl's skin blisters anytime (HouseLogic) boyfriends' (Detroit Free Press) she is touched Feb 19, 2013 Cheesecake Factory is coming Here's How Often You Really to Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi Have to Change Your Oil (DexKnows) (Detroit Free Press)

Grandpa's lady needs invite (Detroit Free Press)

[?] Mindy McCready's neighbors heard guns… Feb 19, 2013

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM] New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

METROMIX MOST POPULAR SUBSCRIBE! MICHIGAN NEWS 1. Teenager charged in slaying of Michigan State Funeral set for slain Michigan State student; student from Rochester area Okemos man charged 2. Steve Breaston draws interest from Lions, but near Bill calling for stiffer penalties for illegal bottle deal with Steelers returns moves to Michigan House 3. Farmington court shaken after clerk's body found Local elections being held in about half of in pieces Michigan today 4. Milford teens suspended over suggestive 'Harlem Safety commission needed to reduce school Shake' video violence, says state lawmaker 18th Annual Motor City Tattoo Expo 5. Funeral set for slain Michigan State student; Prosecutors seeking more than 12 years in Okemos man charged prison for member of Winans family More from Metromix 6. Police, fire pension costs could crush Detroit's Sign up for home delivery finances, study shows today.

Site Map | Back to Top

NEWS SPORTS AUTOS/BIZ CLASSIFIEDS HELP FOLLOW US Politics Lions Auto news Cars Advertise Twitter Auto reviews Homes Archives Detroit Tigers Facebook Wayne County Red Wings General Motors Jobs Contact us Mobile Oakland County Pistons Ford Rentals Subscriber services RSS Macomb County Wolverines Chrysler Shopping e-Edition Metro Detroit Spartans Detroit auto show Advertise Got a question? E-mail Alerts Michigan High School Sports Michigan business Bookstore LIFE Nation/World Mitch Albom Real estate Reading Works Food Rochelle Riley Drew Sharp Tom Walsh Free Press Charities Travel Eric Millikin Jeff Seidel Susan Tompor Page and photo reprints Health Lottery results Outdoors Mark Phelan Shopping Weather Auto Racing Nation/world business Crossword puzzle Golf ENTERTAINMENT OPINION Comics Free Press marathon Detroit Metromix Editorials Technology Music OBITS Letters to the editor Relationships Restaurants Death Notices Commentary Books Movies Submit a Death Notice Mike Thompson cartoons Brain Games Arts Stephen Henderson Georgea Kovanis TV and radio Ron Dzwonkowski Ellen Creager Names & Faces Brian Dickerson Susan M. Selasky Sylvia Rector Columnists http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM] New tenants transform big-box spaces left by Circuit City, Borders | Michigan Business | Detroit Free Press | freep.com Julie Hinds MitchAlbom.com Mark Stryker Ese Esan Rachel May

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302060126[2/26/2013 11:34:49 AM]