Is Detroit the future of shopping? This man thinks so.

In all the years retail-design executive Ken Nisch attended the most influential shopping trade-show, he never imagined giving the presentation he did at this year’s National Retail Federation’s Big Show in Manhattan.

“I explained why Detroit can be the future of retail,” said Nisch, who is chairman of Southfield-based retail-design company JGA Inc.

Nisch told to this to several hundred conference attendees last month during his panel presentation. The crowd included major Japanese investors, the head of a major chocolate retailer in Brazil, and tech executives trying to figure out how to integrate online shopping with brick-and-mortar stores. Also in the crowd were “thought leaders” for the kind of international chains “you haven’t seen in Detroit in decades, and in some cases, never,” Nisch said...

   ...more

RSK: Yes hard to believe that Detroit has the answer to retail but it just could be what urban centers need.