Yes, Downtown Detroit is getting an Apple Store

Newsletter readers and podcast listeners have been asking me for months — are we actually getting an Apple Store in Downtown Detroit?

The answer is now, for sure, yes. Apple.com has rolled out a page specifically for the Downtown Detroit Apple Store, along with a jobs link.

If you go to a construction site on the east side of Woodward between Clifford and Grand River, you'll see that there are sign brackets right in the middle of the space, perfect for that minimal Apple logo.

No opening date has been given.

If in this likely and long-rumored location, it'd be located in the old D.J. Healy Co. Building, built in 1910. Dan Gilbert's Bedrock bought it back in 2016.

This is a huge development for downtown retail, coming on the heels of news that Gardner White is opening a luxury concept store down the same street.

Gucci is just around the corner. SAVAGE X FENTY, Warby Parker and Lululemon are right there, too.

Capitol Park, currently being remodeled, is steps away. The new Hudson's Detroit is the next block over.

The Apple Store will not just be a draw for the sales of computers, iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads. The regular foot traffic of service, too, may create a lot of opportunities for the whole block.

It'll be interesting how they handle parking, but the Z Garage (and other options) are nearby. This should draw people in from everywhere from downriver to southern Oakland County to the Grosse Pointes, and even Windsor.

My two cents: Major regional downtowns are supposed to have destination retail like this, and it's absurd we haven't for so long.

I'm personally glad to see it, as I won't have to schlep up to Somerset to get something fixed. There should be a lot of spin-off business, which I hope helps locally.

Bonus podcast listening: Downtown retail will never be the same, about the changes underway in retail from moving product to focusing on brand experience.