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Online shopping is changing the landscape around Metro Detroit -- and not for the better.
JC Reindl of the Detroit Free Press reports:
When retailers such as Value City, Circuit City, Service Merchandise and Macy's at Westland Shopping Center closed, they left behind large and vacant store buildings, a type of retail space that has gotten challenging to fill amid the explosive growth of online shopping and consumers' changing shopping habits.
A few of these shuttered stores were eventually refilled with new stores. Others were transformed to house businesses that aren't retail. Some still sit vacant, and one big box was torn down.
While Westland has seen a particular abundance of large store closings, retail and development, experts say that suburbs across the region have become over-saturated with stores as more shopping moves online and traditional retailers downsize.
