Family-Owned Store Follows Trend, Shuts Doors

ROCHESTER, MI-Mitzelfeld’s, among one of the last family-owned department stores in metro Detroit, will close its doors at the end of the month after a 54-year run.

The store joins the likes of other family-owned department stores that have gone before it-—Muirhead in Dearborn, Kern’s in Detroit and Mulias and Ellias in Trenton.

Owner Brad Mitzelfeld hopes to lease the 75,000-sf space after the existing store closes. His vision: a larger specialty store with a regional or national name that again makes the location a “destination,” he says.

Mitzelfeld blames a tight economy and competition from boutiques and big-box retailers for the closing. Christmas sales were down 10 to 15% compared with last year, he says.

The store, known for its unique clothing, and not trendy, popular lines, also had difficulty competing for younger, discount-minded shoppers, since it relied on a loyal, often older clientele.

The Mitzelfeld family, which once owned stores in Birmingham and Utica, plans to start its closing sale Wednesday and expects to close for good Jan. 31.