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Clean and Safe

The West Vernor Business Improvement District

 Mission

We strive to improve the physical environment and economic vitality of Southwest Detroit's main shopping district. We pool financial assets to invest in a clean, safe and desirable destination for customers to shop, residents to live and business to thrive. We build partnerships between businesses, the community and city departments to encourage positive economic and social change.

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Who are we?

The West Vernor Business Improvement District (BID) is a program under the Southwest Detroit Business Association, a nonprofit organization. The West Vernor BID works with over 40 property owners and local business owners to improve the physical appearance and economic environment along West Vernor Highway.

We fund the district's Clean and Safe Program which provides daily sidewalk maintenance, graffiti removal, trash basket maintenance and snow removal during winter months. We promote public safety by providing representation and comprehensive reports on behalf of the businesses in the district. And we collaborate to develop marketing strategies that market and promote the West Vernor district as a shopping destination.

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Where are we?

The West Vernor BID is made up of two sections along West Vernor Highway:

Section 1: Pearl to Honorah

Section 2: Livernois to Morrell

Click here to get a map of the voluntary BID districts

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Our Community

The two BID sections are part of a large, vibrant, and ethnically rich commercial corridor in Southwest Detroit.  It is home to a growing Latino community and an emerging Middle Eastern retail base.  The area's diversity enhances the cultural mix of food, goods, services, and entertainment.

Southwest Detroit is proud of its immigrant-friendly environment which has contributed to the area's substantial growth rate of 16 percent over the past ten years (based on the Unites States 2000 Census).

Business activity is positive, illustrated by a 78% increase in the number of business and an increase of 16% in storefront occupancy rates along West Vernor Highway

(University of Michigan Business School, West Vernor Highway Commercial Redevelopment, 1995-2003: Economic Benefit Report, produced August 8, 2003 by Benjamin Yonce).

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The BID Participants that make it happen

Automotive
Bi-Rite Auto Supply - 5700 W. Vernor - 554-1841

Vernor Auto Tech (repair) -7759 W. Vernor - 849-1745

Mexican baked goods
El Prado Bakery - 5427 W. Vernor - 554-4480

Hacienda Foods - 6016 W. Vernor - 843-7007

Luna’s Bakery - 5680 W. Vernor - 554-1510

La Jalisciense - 2650 Bagley - 237-0008

Cellular Phone Services
Speedy Page - 7850 W. Vernor - 551-0000

Clothing/Shoes
Al Wissam - 7940 W. Vernor - 849-0200

BBW Sport Wear Inc. - 5630 W. Vernor - 554-3333

Hector’s Menswear - 5449 W. Vernor - 554-2044

Ray-Co. Int'l Golden Stock - 7757 W. Venor - 297-3033

Community Services
SW Counseling & Development Services - 1700 Waterman St. - 841-8900

SDBA (Southwest Detroit Business Association) - 7752 W. Vernor - 842-0986

Southwest Detroit Neighborhood City Hall - 7744 W. Vernor - 297-9287

Southwest SubZone Community Policing - 5901 W. Vernor - 554-9876

SEMCOSH (Southeast Michigan Coalition on Occupational Safety & Health) 7752 W. Vernor, Rm. 103 - 849-3345
Michigan Secretary of State 7760 W. Vernor - 541-5454

Restaurants
Burger King 6231 W. Vernor - 842-4477

Columbo’s Coney Island - 5414 W. Vernor - 849-0995

Fizzbee’s (carry-out) - 7757 W. Vernor - 849-4000

Paul’s Pizza - 7643 W. Vernor - 843-1444

Spring Restaurant - 7900 W. Vernor - 843-8217

Taqueria Nuestra Familia - 7620 W. Vernor - 842-5668

Furniture/Appliances
Danto Furniture - 7701 W. Vernor - 841-1200

RAC Rent A Center - 7821 W. Vernor - 841-3220

Gas Stations
Marathon Central Gas Station - 2300 Central - 843-8694

Hair Salons
Cristal Unisex Salon - 8050 W. Vernor - 841-1788

Financing Institutions
Bank One - 8021 W. Vernor - 843-6820

Comerica Bank - 8060 W. Vernor - 841-3091

State Farm Insurance - Jim Saucedo, Agent - 5602 W. Vernor - 841-8100

Markets
E & L Meats - 6000 W. Vernor - 554-2140

Guadalajara Meat & Fish No. 2 - 1421 Springwells - 841-9992

La Mexicana #2 Supermercado - 7934 W. Vernor - 841-3024

Ryan’s Supermercado - 5858 W. Vernor - 843-7440

Medical Care
Family Care Medical Center - Dr. Wendy McKay - 5831 W. Vernor - 842-8300

Zeena J. Kazangy, D.D.S. - 6061 W. Vernor - 841-1010

Southwest Dental Group - Emery Toth, D.D.S. - 8028 W. Vernor - 841-7700

Religious Institutions
Holy Redeemer Church - 1721 Junction - 842-3450

Smoking Supplies
Vernor’s Smoker Shop - 8101 W. Vernor - 849-4728

Stores
Ferndale Market - 7649 W. Vernor - 841-8030

99 Plus X-Press - 5811 W. Vernor - 842-8898

Insurance/Aseguranza
A.G.U. No Fault Insurance -
7757 W. Vernor, Rm. 102 - 841-0311

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Clean and Safe

The Clean and Safe Program provides professional street cleaning and improved area safety. The goal is to have an attractive and comfortable shopping district, welcoming customers and merchants while drawing in new businesses.

Our competitive advantage is the authenticity of a lively urban neighborhood. However, a clean and safe environment is crucial to compete with other shopping districts. We invite customers to enjoy our unique and clean retail neighborhood.

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The Clean Team

Clean Team members are in action year-round, Monday through Friday, sweeping sidewalks and removing trash from over 50 private litter baskets along West Vernor Highway.  After a snowfall we salt handicap ramps. During warmer seasons we remove graffiti, averaging over 100 cleaned-up sites per year.

Clean Team Stats:

·         Two full-time employees; up to 4 part-time employees during the summer

·         53 litter baskets, supplied and maintained weekly

·         Over 3,000 gallons of street trash removed weekly

·         151,580 gallons of trash removed annually

·         Machine sweep of curbs

·         Power-wash sidewalks

·         Rake along fences every two weeks

·         Shovel and salt sidewalk handicap ramps after snowfalls

·         Remove and paint over graffiti from approximately 100 sites annually

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Safe

Our BID produces reports and shares information on business related crimes such as vandalism and theft.  A single and reliable representative that provides a comprehensive report produces much more effective results than diffused efforts of scattered individual incident reports. Once our BID representative presents a comprehensive report, he/she participates in the community policing meeting and assesses the Precincts' progress regarding the issues at hand.

The Detroit Police Department recognizes and respects our BID representative. Officers depend on our BID representative for consistent information and understand that we are serious about seeing solutions to business owners’ problems. Our BID representative also lobbies on behalf businesses to secure additional officers and increase the frequency of patrols in the district.

Safety Stats

·         Weekly communication with Precinct offices - phone, fax, meetings & emails

·         Participate in 12 community policing meeting annually

·      File comprehensive reports on behalf to the BID participants

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Marketing

The success of the Clean and Safe Program underlies our marketing and promotions component for the upcoming year.

The following marketing accomplishments only hint at the goals we envision for the future:

·     1,000 flyers designed and distributed to businesses along West Vernor advertising BID member businesses; and

·     Advertisements highlighting BID members printed in the Southwest Detroit Business Association publication, "Community News," with a circulation of 21,000, published three times a year in Spanish and English.

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Formalizing the BID

In 2000, Michigan was one of the last states in the nation to approve legislation that enables business districts to combine their resources and invest in the physical and economic improvements of their area.

Currently, we are gauging interest in expanding our BID.  We have received support from the Southwest Detroit Business Association's Board of Directors and research has provided success stories of similar urban neighborhood BID districts.

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Goals for 2004

Clean and Safe Goals 

·      Refine supplemental cleaning service to find cost efficient methods that maintain a quality level of cleanliness.

·       Provide business owners with information regarding city ordinance updates and advance warnings if violations are noted.

·       Develop a parking plan for the West Vernor and Junction area.

·       Establish face-to-face meetings with a Fourth Precinct Commander or representative that occurs at least twice a month.

·       Research Southwest Detroit social service organizations' interest in forming a collaboration to address business safety issues of prostitution, homelessness, and pan-handling.

Marketing and Promotion Goals:

·     Provide a series of workshops for landlords and business owners for Southwest Detroit. The first workshop will focus on negotiating lease agreements.

·      Publish flyers to communicate to residents, merchants and property owners about BID programs and to focus interest on the BID.

·      Publish West Vernor-Springwells Guide Map in collaboration with the Southwest Detroit Business Association's Marketing and Membership Program.

·      Create a website for the Voluntary BID that lists contributing members.

·      Get involved with Southwest Detroit Business Association's "Shop Your Block" August 2004 event to help emphasize the investments made by BID participants.

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Recent Programs

Commercial Lease Workshops

In the spirit of BID cooperation and resource sharing, the West Vernor BID offered a Commercial Lease Workshop for property owners and business tenants. The workshop was designed to provide a better understanding of the legal details involved in drafting a lease agreement to protect real estate and business investments. It provided an opportunity for those with limited resources or access to discuss personal issue with a practicing attorneys.

The workshop was lead by Attorney Robert Berlow, with the nationally recognized law firm Dykema Gossett PLLC (www.dykema.com).

 

About Robert A. Berlow

A member in the Bloomfield Hills office, he specializes in commercial real estate and corporate matters, representing both developers and retailers. Prior to joining the firm in 1995, he was Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Perry Drug Stores, Inc., a retail drug store chain. In addition to serving as the Company's chief legal officer, Mr. Berlow was responsible for its Human Resources, Real Estate and Risk Management departments. He is the past Chairperson of the Real Property Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and is former Chairperson of its Commercial Leasing and Management of Real Estate Committee. Mr. Berlow is also a frequent speaker at the Michigan Continuing Legal Education and Real Property Law Section programs. He has served as a roundtable leader and speaker at the International Council for Shopping Center's (ICSC) National Law Conferences and Michigan Idea Exchanges. Mr. Berlow is an associate member of the ICSC. Mr. Berlow received a B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and a JD degree from Wayne State University Law School.

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Business Resources

Tony & Son Property Management

Sanitation services and Lawncare Maintenance

Contact: Tony Feurtado

P.O. Box 09752

Detroit, MI 48209

Office: 313-843-3367

Cell: 313-205-4256

Fax: 313-849-4043

Email: Tony-Son-Lawncare@comcast.net

Miles Powerwashing Inc.

Graffiti Removal, Sidewalk & building cleaning, ice removal

Contact: Ken Milewski

186 South Green Street
Detroit, MI 48209

Telephone: (313) 841-2118

Fax: (313) 841-2208

Email: Miles Powerwashing

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Featured West Vernor BID Business: Danto's Furniture & Appliance

Furniture, appliances, computers and jewelry – "a department store without the clothing," that’s how Irwin Danto, manager of Danto’s Furniture & Appliances, describes his family’s business located at the intersection of West Vernor and Central. For three generations the Danto family has been providing the residents of Southwest Detroit with a wide array of home essentials for all budgets.

Walk into Danto's Furniture & Appliances and you'll first be struck by the amount of assorted products offered on the showroom floor - from ornate candelabras to reclining sofa chairs, mattresses to cell phones - it’s a one-stop-shop. With little budgeted for advertising, Danto’s attracts most of their business by word-of-mouth boasting over 72,000 customers. However, its not simply the products sold at Danto’s that has contributed to their long term success.

The store operates with the warmth and personal attention much like a mom and pop shop of old.   Danto’s has adapted well to the needs of a growing immigrant community. Southwest Detroit is home to a growing number of Middle Easterners and a significant Latino community. Often people relocating from other parts of the world find it difficult to establish credit and face language barriers.

Danto's provides key services to help people overcome these barriers such as in-house credit and bi-lingual customer service. The store offers credit to people that do not meet traditional bank requirements; although they may work, they may not have an established credit history. Danto's enables people to purchase home essentials and offers rates lower than a rent-to-own alternative. In addition, Danto's employs approximately 25 employees, several of whom are local residents that speak Spanish or Arabic and communicate casually with customers. Rita Cazares, Payment Center Manager, says these services foster loyal customers. She knows people who have furnished their whole house from Danto's and others who return even if they have moved out of the area because they feel comfortable shopping at Danto's.

In 1920 Julius Danto, along with his three brothers, immigrated to the U.S. from a small town along the Russia-Poland border. The business-minded brothers moved to the country's hot bed of growth at the time, Detroit, Michigan. Collectively the Danto brothers tried their hand at various businesses: a hat shop, a clothing store and a drug store. But it was Julious Danto who found his niche and by 1940 had created a reputable furniture store in Southwest Detroit.

Julius’s oldest son, Charles Danto, took over as store manager in the mid 1960’s. Under Charles the business endured Detroit’s challenging economic conditions and stood strong until 1992.  That year, a fire burned the store to the ground.  However, in the Danto father-son tradition, Irwin Danto joined his father, Charles, and together they relocated down the street, in the old Central Outfitting building, the store's current location.

Irwin Danto now heads the store's daily operations and is involved in the local community. He currently heads the West Vernor Voluntary Business Improvement District (BID) and serves on the Southwest Detroit Business Association's Board of Directors. And he says he's not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

There's definitely something special about Southwest Detroit. Businesses don't give up nor do the residents. Irwin Danto says, "Southwest Detroit works."  He believes the neighborhood is repairing itself through the hard work of its residents. And it's not difficult to believe that the "something special" are the residents themselves.

Danto's Furniture & Appliance is located at 7701 West Vernor Highway; phone: 313-841-1200.

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To learn more about the West Vernor Business Improvement District (BID) please contact Theresa Zajac, BID Director at 313-842-0986 ext. 23

7752 West Vernor Highway   Detroit, Michigan 48209   313.842.0986