The Village Is Courting Kids on Foot This Fall, Just as Its Tween Magnet Closes

"We want The Village to be the first place kids come," Councilwoman Maureen Juip said in July, as City of Grosse Pointe council members voted unanimously to make the sidewalks of Kercheval a place where bikes, scooters and skateboards get walked instead of ridden.

That sentence explains most of what has happened downtown since. The new walking rule, the TCBY coupons that come with it and an October calendar packed with family events all point the same way. The city is building The Village around people on foot. Over the same weeks, the storefront most closely tied to the tween crowd went dark.

What Walk Your Wheels asks of you

Council approved the measure on July 13, 2026, as a traffic control order. The signs went up in September, and the zone officially started with a kickoff event with City of Grosse Pointe Public Safety on Sept. 24 from 3:30 to 6 p.m.

The basics:

• Where: Kercheval between Cadieux and Neff, plus all the pedestrian plazas and public parking lots that serve The Village business district.
• What gets walked: Bicycles, scooters and skateboards, both electric and traditional.
• The exception: Mobility scooters.
• What's still welcome: Riding to The Village. You walk once you get there.

Public Safety Director John Alcorn described the problem plainly. "Anyone that's come to The Village in the last couple years has noticed that e-bike and scooter traffic is up quite a bit and we're trying to get ahead of it," he said. "We've had some near misses, but we've been lucky we haven't had anything disastrous yet."

Cindy Willcock, executive director of Main Street Grosse Pointe, explained why sidewalks get the attention. E-bikes and motorized scooters are faster and heavier, and the person most at risk is someone stepping out of a shop who "isn't looking both ways on a sidewalk, because you don't typically do that."

"We're not going to reach an enforcement level of citation until there's an egregious act or, God forbid, an accident or just a complete disregard. Everything's going to be about education for us." John Alcorn, Public Safety Director

The education approach is aimed squarely at kids. The city partnered with TCBY, and officers who see children walking their wheels through The Village give them coupons for a free kid-size frozen yogurt. A rule enforced with frozen yogurt is written for young riders and the parents who send them downtown.

One piece is still open. The city said it will look for more places to add bike parking and keep working with state officials on e-bike legislation. The reports so far don't confirm that new racks are in yet, so a kid parking a bike on Kercheval this month may still have to hunt for a spot.

The store that brought the tweens closed Sept. 27

Lululemon at 17101 Kercheval closed on Sunday, Sept. 27. It opened in summer 2023 as an 18-month pop-up with the possibility of a longer lease, and it lasted more than three years.

Its role on the street went beyond its own sales. The Grosse Pointe News reported that the shop drew younger crowds who then wandered into neighboring small businesses. "Every tween that comes into my store has a Lululemon bag," said Kasey Malley, co-owner of Small Favors.

Jim Bellanca, who manages Kercheval Company LLC, the building's owner, called the closure a corporate decision that has also hit other locations in Michigan. He said the store was doing well, and he has listed the space with a national broker to find another national tenant. No replacement has been announced.

So the plan behind Walk Your Wheels has a gap in it this fall. The city wants The Village to be where kids come first, and the brand that put a shopping bag in every tween's hand has left. The events below have to do some of the work that storefront did.

An October calendar built for people on foot

The Village's 2026 schedule leans heavily on families this month. All of it happens inside the district where the walking rule now applies.

The two dates that matter most for the rule are the Oct. 11 tailgate and the Oct. 30 trick-or-treat. Both are family events, and both are likely to draw kids who ride downtown. The published listings give no end time for trick-or-treat and don't say whether any streets will close, so check The Village's events page closer to the day. If your children are biking over, give the bikes a home base before the candy starts.

The calendar also follows a fall that already brought people downtown on foot. PorchFest returned Sept. 12 with 24 bands on 18 porches and a 6 p.m. Village afterparty featuring Erich Goebel & the Flying Crowbars. The city's Fall Harvest at Neff Park followed on Sept. 26 with pumpkin decorating, pony rides and a petting farm.

What's opening, and what's still on the way

New businesses on and around Kercheval don't replace a national apparel brand, but they change why people stop in.

Angelo's Fine Italian is the restaurant to watch. Jared Gadbaw of Oak & Reel and Cory Barberio of San Morello are opening it in the former City Kitchen space at 16844 Kercheval. In July, construction plans pointed to a September or October opening. As of early October, no opening has been confirmed.

SkinergyMD announced its third Michigan location at 17024 Kercheval, in the former Bold Flow Yoga space, and was aiming to open Monday, Sept. 14. No report since has confirmed that it opened.

A little further from The Village, several openings and changes are confirmed:

1. Waxing the City opened Aug. 27 at 17770 Mack, at Mack and Rivard. Studio manager Tabitha Mielke and investor Billy Crawford both grew up in the Pointes, and a grand opening was planned for October without a set date.
2. Rice Aroma, chef Shunyi "Sunny" Xiang's carryout lunch spot, opened inside the Helm at the Boll Life Center, 158 Ridge, in Grosse Pointe Farms by the end of September.
3. Tavola Mia serves Italian brunch and dinner at 123 Kercheval in Grosse Pointe Farms.
4. Pointe Hardware Group in Grosse Pointe Park is becoming Pointe General & Hardware under owner Waref Hawasli. It is cutting back on lumber and adding household, pet, storage and local goods.
5. CYL Infrared Studio, at 17108 Mack in the Saros Building at Cadieux, has a new owner, Shelley Groh.

Back in The Village, Angelo's is the opening that would add the most new evening and weekend traffic to the street. Until it opens and someone signs a lease at 17101 Kercheval, the October calendar and a frozen yogurt coupon are carrying much of the effort to make The Village the first place kids come.

At Kelley Merritt, I follow changes like these because they're part of daily life in the Pointes, from new rules on Kercheval to who's moving into the storefronts. If you have questions about Grosse Pointe or about what a move might mean for your family, I'd be glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.