Detroit launches new plan to lure national retailers and keep shoppers downtown

Detroit’s large geographic footprint hosts only a handful of national big-box retailers, leaving shoppers to travel to suburbs for basic goods. Mayor Mary Sheffield introduced a strategy in her March 2026 State of the City address to reclaim an estimated $3 billion that residents currently spend elsewhere, and in July she appointed former Bedrock executive Addofio Addo as the city’s inaugural director of retail attraction.

The city aims to overcome three primary obstacles: the state’s highest property taxes, elevated commercial insurance premiums, and a median household income of just $39,938 that depresses projected returns for retailers. Options under consideration include an entertainment tax on tickets, a modest local sales tax or a targeted downtown food-and-beverage levy, and grant programs through the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation to lower insurance costs for upgraded facilities.

Additional incentives could mirror Toledo’s municipal jobs-creation tax credit, rewarding employers that pay wages above a set threshold. While the mayor has already raised the city-wide minimum wage for workers, broader fiscal reforms and partnership programs are seen as essential to close the retail gap and spur economic growth.