November 17, 2021
Gwen - Lotus Candles – located in Larchmere: because it is diverse and eclectic, feels like Coventry without the hippie component – fresher Kaye - I Love Granny K’s: looking forward to the good things coming – apartments, investments, live in neighborhood Ala (Alex) Bashidi – Hair Store - 116 & Buckeye: been here for 20 years. It’s been a changing neighborhood – has gone up and down. Hopefully on an upturn. Neighborhood is a good place to do business
Tanoj (Bharti) – liquor store at 116 & Buckeye: Changes over the last few year have been hopeful Jill Evans – Goldenrod Montessori – Shaker Square: this is the perfect location. Can impact the community in several ways – occupying a storefront, close proximity for many neighborhoods, created a learning garden – grew up in area and believe that it can come back with focused economic development Damon Chapman - Classic Clippers – 9718 Buckeye; grew up here. This has been a safe and wonderful place to be. Familiar with area. Been here 10 years.
Temitope Otitoju – Temi African Braiding – on Buckeye.
Gwen- Lotus Candles - parking is a big issue = prime real estate. - Gentrification is a concern. How can we avoid it? How can we make sure that people aren’t displaced as the area grows in popularity? Don’t want to see this happen to current residents. - Need to look for certain signs. Lease to own, rent assistance, storefront renovations, business support and investment classes, business district character – more unified look. - Like the logos projected on the sidewalk in front of the businesses. Signage for the business districts that identify them and identify some of the businesses. Historic markers throughout – get grants – don’t lose the history of the area. Alex - 116 & Buckeye – Hair Store - some of the most important things for the area – first and foremost is safety. Lighting is a big part of this. - Have rear parking lot and rear door. Lot is owned by City. Called many times – they installed lights and never turned them on. A lot of bad stuff happens back there because it is so dark. Put up some lights, but it is not sufficient. - Lighting throughout to help people feel safer. Unification of Buckeye with signage. Something unique to help area stand out. Similar business signage and details would be great.
Jill Evans - Goldenrod Montessori - traffic safety is an issue around Shaker Square. Replaced traffic light, but multiple accidents. People are not respecting traffic signals + high speeds in area. - General safety – a real, consolidated plan to improve the neighborhood will help. - Buckeye has been a victim of gentrification and displacement. Lived through this. - Landlords who do not keep up their properties and absentee landlords continue to have a negative impact on the neighborhoods and districts. - A solid economic plan that preserves and improves what’s there will be important and will help with general safety. Kaye Salters-Gordon – I Love Granny K’s - have lived in all parts of the neighborhood. Live on MLK near Woodland. - I want a competitive business pitch like St. Clair /Superior where businesses received rental assistance for a year. - Local businesses will need assistance to build the business climate here. - Opportunity Corridor is great. - Advertising should be included along the corridor to direct people to these businesses. What can we really do to let people know that we are here, to be more visible as a business? - Set up a meeting with the BBC team to connect business owners.
Alex - 116 & Buckeye – Hair Store - One of the things that would be most useful would be a marketing team to come in and teach the merchants how to do social media and outreach. - Provide a workshop for merchants. It’s hard to outsource those types of things. Assistance with websites, etc. Hard to harness this technology, because it can be intimidating. Heide- Conservation Studios - Conservation Studios - I feel very strongly about Buckeye. It was a pillar for the community. It had great activities and strong businesses. - I’m looking forward to Buckeye being Buckeye again.
Heide – Conservation Studios - The dedication of the business owners is the strong thing here. - Detroit Shoreway got lighting pedestrian lighting, Buckeye needs this. We were promised as part of the streetscape and it never happened. - Lighting, signage and walkability are key. Mike McBride – Burten, Bell Carr - would like to work together with the businesses as BBC navigates the storefront process.
Alex-116 & Buckeye – Hair Store - It would be helpful to understand all of the potential avenues that the business owners could take for assistance and support.
Kaye - I Love Granny K’s - We are the least, the last and the left out in some capacities. - Technology is pushing some people out. - Not meaning to be negative – everyone has holiday parties – maybe we can be creative about how we support one another. - Let’s not wait for people to tell us what they want to donate the money for – let’s figure out a way to do it to support our businesses here. - We’ve got people right here that can be a help to people in the neighborhood. Alex -116 & Buckeye – Hair Store - Amazon and online purchasing are the biggest problems. - Love the idea of supporting shop local / shop small.
Temitope Otitoju - Temi African Braiding - Opportunities around us if we can utilize. - These things have a lot of process, and we need assistance. - Applied for storefront, but not sure what is happening. Need help navigating. Grants to help people in the neighborhood afford things like haircuts, braiding, etc.