by
Retro decor items are among offbeat selections at the funky Midtown shop, open since 1999.
Louis Aguilar, a keen-eyed urban affairs observer for The Detroit News who spots small steps that are significant, reports on one at 3409 Cass Ave.
On Friday afternoon, the founders of Showcase Collectibles in the Cass Corridor received an official 30-day notice to vacate their charming retail space, ending a decades-long run for the business. It’s also the latest chapter in the rapid gentrification of the gritty neighborhood. . . .
The building that housed Showcase Collectible, a vintage and curio shop, was bought by someone who vows to return the 8,000-plus-square-foot building to its glory.
Oddities on display are sure to tug memory chords. (Facebook photo)
At the 15-year-old Midtown shop crammed with curios, antiques and vintage fashion accessories, co-owner Gary Frundel tells Aguilar:
“We don’t want to stop progress. Everyone wants to see the neighborhood get more development. But we didn’t want to be kicked out on the street, either, in the dead of winter.”
He and Patrick McNames pay $550 in monthly rent, which The News says hasn’t changed since the store opened in 1999.
Showcase has nine different vendors who operate in the quaint, well-kept retail space. “It’s going to be impossible to move everything in time,” McNames said.
On Friday afternoon, several long-time customers gathered, drank a few beers and swapped stories of the shop.
The shop's building at Cass and Peterboro "was once the heart of the city’s small, long-gone Chinatown," Aguilar writes.
The area has seen a flurry of property deals since last year’s announcement of the planned 45-block entertainment district. That district will be anchored by a new home for the Detroit Red Wings and is expected to spark $200 million in other development.
Already there is a stream of sales for properties that have gone unwanted for years. The old Chinatown area is one block beyond the northern border of the entertainment district.
Here's a gallery of five more images from the store's Facebook albums:
Eclectic is a word that fits Showcase Collectibles, a browsers' paradise at Cass and Peterboro -- though not for long.
