BIRMINGHAM

From Page 3 ose retailers include clothiers Faherty, Everve, Johnny Was and State & Liberty, and jeweler Brilliant Earth. Ciura’s rm also helped bring Crate & Barrel o shoot CB2 to a prominent corner of downtown Birmingham, with an opening set for Feb. 16. e city and Shopping District organization will take requests for proposal for the new program; there is no set start date for the new initiative, Sheppard-Decius said. e proposal has been discussed despite downtown Birmingham being close to capacity. e downtown is currently at 96 percent occupancy for retail and 89 percent for o ce space, according to Shep-

Ciura, who was vice president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. in 2004 before starting CC Consulting in 2005, called her relationship with the city and shopping district a good one. Ultimately, she and the city organization couldn’t come to an agreement on terms of a new contract, Downtown Newsmagazine reported.

Previous deals with retail recruitment rms paid about $75,000 a year, according to Sheppard-Decius.

Designers

From Page 3 e event and mentorships wouldn’t have been possible, he said, without Detroit native and designer Tori Nichel, who is founder and chief creative o cer of online retailer Maison Black. She coordinated the mentorships after learning about BGCSM’s fashion industry club at Detroit Homecoming a couple of years ago.

When Wilson introduced the fashion industry club and youth in it did a mini fashion show, Nichel said she was “blown away.”

But more than anything, what real- pard-Decius. e area saw 17 new businesses open in 2022, including restaurants Zana and Sweetgreen and Cosmo Salon Studio.

“Our occupancy rates are above national standards,” Sheppard-Decius said. “ e move would be to bring more, di erent businesses into the downtown.”

Sheppard-Decius said she could not disclose the average rental rates for retail space in downtown Bir- ly drew her in was the club’s model of giving youth real experience partnering with real people and business entities in the industries they want to eventually have a career in one day.

“I am all about that true lived experience and being hands-on,” Nichel said. “I think it’s incredible they o er that in their programs.”

A women’s apparel designer and retailer who’s lived in New York for 25 years, Nichel knows many people in the business, which enabled her to help pair ve veteran designers who are Black men with ve male youth designers from Detroit.

“We have seen in the last six months (that) the program has boosted all ve young men’s con - mingham, as those gures are under analysis.

India Shepherd moved her consignment shop, Rotate Boutique, to downtown Birmingham after three years in Bloom eld Hills. Shepherd, whose business is in a ground oor space at 361 E. Maple Road, said visibility and walkability drew her to Birmingham. e Detroit native also looked at spaces in Royal Oak.

“ e process of working with the city during the transition was smooth,” Shepherd said. “Working to bring more retail into the downtown sounds like a good idea. I think there could be more options for apparel in the area. ere’s a lot of furniture stores, so more retail would add to the mix, even though there aren’t a lot of vacancies.”

Ciura, with 25 years experience in retail and business development, called the new initiative a solid idea.

“It sounds like (Birmingham Shopping District) is trying to establish an appealing program for Realtors and retailers, and that’s awesome,” Ciura said. “ ere aren’t many vacancies, though, and brokers make money lling space, so I’m not sure incentives are the issue.”

Contact: jason.davis@crain.com (313) 446-1612; @JayDavis_1981 dence, both in their work and how they show up as a personal brand,” she said.

“I think in seeing their looks presented alongside some industry designers mainstage where you will have a fashion audience...will be game-changing in where they take their next steps.” e New York event will mark the second time youth in BGCSM’s fashion industry club have collaborated with a New York designer, Wilson said, following an earlier collaboration with luxury shoe designer Ruthie Davis.

Kids who’ve taken part in the industry club — which number about 200 so far — have also worked with Moosejaw and Ponyride incubator tenant and local designer Deviate Fashion, Wilson said. e 12-week program teaches youth the ins and outs of the fashion, from cutting and sewing to production, merchandising, marketing and launching their own brands. e six-month, virtual program with the designers as mentors included master classes taught by other industry designers in sketching, on blending ne arts with designing (like Shawn Woodward), concepts and presentation, Nichel said. It launched as one of the rst e orts of the Maison Black Foundation.

“We are looking to continue to grow and scale this program,” she said. “ is is our inaugural cohort, and this will be the rst of many to come.”

Other participants include youth designers Carlos Pearson with his “Elegance” brand; Trent Garcon with his self-titled brand “Trent Garcon,” Robert Robinson with his ‘Arman’ brand; and Langston Howard with his brand “ e Top.”

Mentors in the program include: Shawn Pean with “June 79,” Marcus omas with “Marcus Alexander,” Dyuna Morgan with “Levi’s’,” Omar Jermaine, with “Wraith” and Isaiah Hemmingway, with “Isaiah Hemmingway.”

Contact: swelch@crain.com; (313) 446-1694; @SherriWelch