Dearborn is the birthplace of Henry Ford, an American symbol of innovation and prosperity. The City is also home to the Greenfield Village, Ford Motor Company’s world headquarters and dozens of other cultural, dining and commercial attractions. However, the City’s west side downtown area does not seem to be in the best possible shape.

At least 23 vacant stores line the half-mile stretch down Michigan Avenue, between Military Street and Oakwood Boulevard.

The economic recession of 2008 stalled many development projects in the area. Some businesses folded, leaving their sites empty. Other unoccupied stores were built, but never rented out. 

Businessman Hakim Fakhoury owns many stores in west Dearborn’s business district. His company, Dearborn Village Partners, had planned on building a movie theater, bowling alley, restaurants and bars, in cooperation with the City.

But after Dearborn lost about 60,000 white collar jobs in 2008, mostly from Ford’s engineering department, their plans continued to get postponed, until they eventually fell through, despite the City’s attempts to obtain State funding to help with the project. 

“Most of the problem is attributable to the ownership,” says Barry Murray, the director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Dearborn. “Due to the economic conditions, projects didn’t go forward, but that is preventing development in the area.”

According to Murray, Fakhoury owns 14 shops in the Business District.

Murray added that things are currently “picking up,” as the area is seeing more individual development.

“It’s the economy,” said Thomas Clark, owner of Village Picture Framing and Art Gallery on Michigan Avenue, referring to the reason for the empty store fronts. 

However, John Lossia, owner of Merchant’s Fine Wine in west downtown Dearborn, says that the number one problem for business in the area is paid parking. 

City-owned parking facilities service the eight-block downtown area on both sides of Michigan Avenue. The City charges 25 cents per 15 minutes for the first hour and 75 cents for each additional hour.

Although the fee is minimal, Lossia says that it keeps away many customers, who avoid the area and prefer free parking.  

“It is perceived by customers as a surcharge,” he said. “They feel they are buying something that others offer for free. It is a small charge that causes an issue, because it’s psychological.”

Lossia added that perception is key in business. He drew a parallel with the time when JC Penny wanted to stop its promotions and have everyday low prices. He said, even though the prices were as low as sale prices, the department store lost a lot of business, because customers perceived them as higher than sales prices. JC Penny eventually abandoned that policy.  

An empty store on Michigan Avenue.

“I’m going to patronize a business, but I have to pay a couple dollars for parking, or risk getting a ticket, before I even purchase anything,” said a customer at Le Cigar, across the street from Merchant’s Fine Wine.

The customer said that police enforce street parking meters “harshly,” and sometimes wait behind cars to issue tickets shortly after the meters run out of time.

Lossia confirmed that police enforce parking meters strictly. 

“I don’t blame the police,” he said. “They are doing their job, but that alienates our customers.”

Merchant’s Fine Wine is one of many businesses that offer parking redemption.  They pay the customers back what they pay for parking, after a purchase. 

Lossia said that he pays out approximately $1,000 a month for customer parking, but that does not totally solve the problem, because some people do not like the idea of paid parking in general.

“It’s an extra business expense,” he said.

Paid parking was passed in a ballot proposal, after residents voted against a tax hike to subsidize parking in west downtown Dearborn.

However, parking fees were raised by the city council in July 2011. Originally, parking was free for the first 30 minutes.

Lossia feels that it is not fair for businesses in the area to single-handedly suffer from paid parking, while it is offered for free everywhere else in Dearborn.

However, Mayor Jack O’Reilly, Jr. explains that businesses outside of the business district also feel that they are treated unfairly, because they, unlike downtown businesses, have to pay to maintain their parking lots.

“City-owned parking lots create an unfair advantage to businesses located there, because in other parts of the City, competitors are required to find their own parking, pay insurance on it, pay for lighting and pay for removing the snow,” the mayor said. “In the business district, the businesses don’t have to worry about that. But that gets lost in the argument, because sometimes they feel that they are the ones being harmed.”

Murray echoed the mayor’s remarks on parking.

“It was passed by a referendum of the people,” he said. “It is not uncommon. Parking is not owned in an individual form. It is an urban form, with higher population density. In that way, it is an advantage for businesses in the area.”  

Murray said Republic Parking, the City parking contractor, listens to business owners and tries to accommodate their needs, and when there are concerns that it cannot address, it takes the matter to the city council.  

Village Framing and Art Gallery is located in the only plaza downtown that offers free parking, but Clark thinks that paid parking hurts surrounding businesses and the general area. He said that paid parking would not be a problem if the economy was healthy.

“The City should pull back from charging for parking; at least until the economy gets back on its feet,” he added. 

Clark said that there isn’t enough variety of businesses in the district. Except for a few retailers, he said, most businesses are restaurants, bars and hookah bars.

He added that the City should make sure that vacant stores are presentable and inviting to investors.

Lossia said another problem for west Dearborn is the City’s ethnic and geographic makeup. The owner, who is Iraqi, said Arab Americans in east Dearborn have everything available around them and would rather give business to people in their community, so they generally do not frequent the west side often.

“We have a strong residential base,” he said. “But we need people from outside Dearborn to come and shop here.”

 Murray said that the City is trying to bring people from outside of Dearborn, by “reaching out to businesses and promoting the City.”

However, city council candidate Patrick Melton said that the City is not doing a good enough job to lure investors and customers into Dearborn.

He acknowledged the devastating effects of the recession but added, “People are still buying stuff, just not in Dearborn. Why can’t we bring high end stores into Dearborn? We need to bring more investment. We cannot live off the residents only. We need to have more visitors, like Birmingham and Royal Oak.”

O’Reilly said that the City is trying to make it easier to start a business in Dearborn, despite the City’s reputation on making matters complicated for new businesses.

“We are trying to make it a lot smoother,” he said. “If you talk to companies who have been coming in recently, they are very happy with our system now. We’ve changed our intake process to make it much better. But those rumors continue to persist, because you are haunted by your past, and I admit that Dearborn needed to address a lot of issues, and we still have to address a lot of issues.”