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STERLING HEIGHTS — Santa won’t be visiting the former Lakeside Mall building this year, but many stores along Hall Road and beyond still feel merry about this year’s holiday shopping season, according to a local chamber of commerce.
Stacy Ziarko, president and CEO of the Connect Macomb chamber, noted that while this is technically the first holiday season that the Golden Corridor economic belt along M-59/Hall Road is lacking Lakeside Mall, the mall was already in decline even before that.
Ziarko said Connect Macomb is still “hearing good things” about this shopping season from its retail members and added that “people still feel optimistic going into the holiday season.”
“We had some that moved out of Lakeside into storefronts throughout the area and are looking forward to that experience,” Ziarko said.
“Folks’ shopping habits have changed, but there are still brick-and-mortar retailers for our shoppers to visit.”
For instance, DC Sports, a sports memorabilia store, moved from Lakeside across the street to a shopping center along Schoenherr Road. And that meant an expanded facility and signing area, Ziarko said.
DC Sports owner Steve Graus said in an email that this year’s holiday season has been “great so far.” Graus added that having a winning football team in the Detroit Lions has helped too.
“With the move out of the mall we were all nervous about ‘life after Lakeside’ after being in the Mall for 27 years,” Graus said.
“We were fortunate to have found a space right across the street from the mall with ample parking and great exposure from Schoenherr Road. A benefit for our customers is that they can park right in front of our store and walk right in. I feel we have kept our previous customer base and picked up new customers.”
In a Nov. 22 press release, the Michigan Retailers Association said it surveyed responding retailers and found that 53% believed that their sales will rise in the period between November and January while 28% expected a dip and 19% expected the situation to stay the same.
MRA president and CEO William Hallan said in the release that holiday spending “is projected to reach a new record this year, and we’re excited to see that Michiganders are choosing to shop locally early in the holiday season.”
Meanwhile, the National Retail Federation predicts on its website that holiday spending over November and December will “reach record levels” in the U.S. and grow 2.5%-3.5%, reaching a level between $979.5 billion and $989 billion.
Learn more about Connect Macomb by visiting connectmacomb.com. Find out more about the Michigan Retailers Association by visiting retailers.com or the National Retail Federation by visiting nrf.com. For more information about DC Sports, 44501 Schoenherr Road, visit Detroitcitysports.com or call (586) 566-8331.
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