The Associated Press May 17, 2012, 01:22AM ET

Violent crime threatens Detroit's small businesses

Business and city leaders are banking on a trendy, upscale grocer and the first major shopping center in decades to continue the retail revival of Detroit's main business corridor, but the outlook is less promising in other parts of the city where small businesses say escalating crime is pushing them out.





Indeed, Whole Foods and Meijer are prizes for Detroit, which for decades has struggled to attract a national grocer or big box retailer. Meanwhile, many small business operators don't want to be forgotten as the city's pervasive crime problem threatens their livelihood -- and lives.

But combating crime and instilling a feeling of safety is no easy task for the cash-poor city that's trying to erase a $265 million deficit and may have to reduce police ranks by more than 100 positions and rely more on reserve officers.

"The bad economy we survived. The crime is what's making us move," said Chahdi Mahdoyu who manages an Athlete's Foot shoe and apparel shop that has been robbed or burglarized seven times in six years. "Before, we had insurance and the robberies would be covered. After the third time, we have no insurance. It was canceled because of too many claims."


Gov. Rick Snyder has promised help from the state police. The FBI and other federal agencies are assisting city police in a high-crime east side area. Mayor Dave Bing and the city's police chief have asked the public to help report lawbreakers. But crime numbers have yet to go down.


"The crime rate ... some people are saying they have never seen it this bad," said Auday Arabo, chief executive of the Associated Food and Petroleum Dealers. The organization represents 4,000 party store and gas station owners in Michigan and surrounding states.

"There is no sense of where it's coming from. You don't know who to watch," Arabo said of the crime. "A lot of customers say they don't want to shop in Detroit because they are afraid they will be robbed coming out (of stores)."

A week after Fred Dally's May 1 shooting death outside his west side convenience store, Nathan Feingold was fatally beaten with a baseball bat and robbed inside the antique store he owned on the city's southwest side.




City records show there were about 33,000 licensed businesses in Detroit last year, about the same as the previous year. But that number doesn't account for the businesses that pass on having a Detroit address.

The city's violent crime convinced Wyndy Emerson to find a location outside Detroit -- in the suburb of Southfield -- to open her N'Finite clothing store.

"Police don't come fast enough (in Detroit)," Emerson said.



Woodward is the exception.

"From a real estate development perspective (Woodward Avenue) is one of the few places where there is real momentum, where there are qualified developers who see opportunities and can make projects work," said Olga Stella, vice president of business development for the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.

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