Walmart Could Boost Novi Town Center

For years, the vast building in Novi Town Center that once housed a Mervyn's department store was more of an eyesore than a bustling business.

That will change next year with the introduction of a 150,000-square-foot Walmart Supercenter.

Novi City Manager Clay Pearson said the megastore should breathe new life into a “difficult retail environment” by moving onto the site.

“People are excited,” he said of development on the 12.8-acre parcel of land.

Right now the closest two Walmarts are 12 minutes away. One is north  in Commerce and another southeast in Livonia.

Jason Wendt, senior assistant manager at Discount Tire, one of more than two dozen businesses that dot the retail center, said he's looking forward to the addition of Walmart.

“It’ll bring more traffic, more people to the area. Basically, there’s nothing there now,” Wendt said.

Construction Plans

The date of Walmart's debut has not been announced. Patch's queries to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. media relations at its corporate headquarters in Bentonville, AR, were unanswered.

Steve Russo, president of Russo Communications, which handles public relations for the Novi Town Center, said that so far, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has held its construction and opening plans close to its vest.

“We understand they might be starting (construction) within the next 30 to 60 days,” Russo said, “and we hear it should be set in maybe the spring or summer of 2012 to open.”

The area looks ready for construction. The complex itself is already leveled, and the businesses that had remained inside the site have either shuttered or moved to new locations within the Town Center. Businesses at the site were given reduced rent for several months prior to them moving out, according to Russo.

Among the businesses that moved is Diamond Jim Brady’s Bistro, which is to reopen in mid-August in the Town Center’s Clock Tower building. The business closed its doors after 19 years to make way for the Walmart.

According to City Council records, Wal-Mart Stores' initial request for a special land-use permit and preliminary site-plan approval stated that it would use the land for the store, an open-air garden center, parking and loading zones and landscaping.

Wal-Mart, for its part, has agreed to match the area’s aesthetics, too, Pearson said. That means adorning the store's façade with brickwork that matches its neighbors and keeping its landscaping and traffic islands attractive.

Early renderings call for a mixture of “mountain red, autumn red and golden dawn” bricks, as well as louvered awnings, canopies and wrought iron.

“We have high design standards for the area,” Pearson said.

More Business, More Traffic

Russo said the change in the retail landscape keeps in line with efforts to revitalize the shopping center.

“Novi had always intended to redevelop that shopping center,” Russo said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that this will bring in new traffic.”

Though Wal-Mart has sometimes had notoriously lukewarm receptions by mom-and-pop retail neighbors, several businesses contacted by Patch said they were excited about the boost in shoppers the big-box store promises to bring.

“I expect it’ll draw in a lot of people,” said Mervin Roseman, day bartender for Tony Sacco’s Coal Oven Pizza.

New customers tend to turn into loyal ones, Roseman said, meaning that shoppers likely will return repeatedly to the area.

A study conducted by CESO, Inc. in September 2010 determined that Grand River Avenue and Novi Road would be able to handle the additional vehicular traffic without needing modifications.

“The fact is that the Novi Town Center redevelopment itself is a big deal,” Russo said. “The owners are very bully on the area and believe in the future well-being of it by providing people with a good shopping experience — and a good dining experience, as well.”