ABSTRACT
Retailing is a direct mirror of society, the market segments present in the trade area, and particularly the residents in the trade area. When a downtown tries to force high-end retailing into its core with no up-market residential population in it or nearby, the plan is bound to fail. For example, downtown Cleveland's Tower City, with no up-market residents within five miles, opened to great fanfare, but lost all its high-end retailers in five years.
