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Cleveland Retail Commission
Creating a vibrant downtown shopping experience!

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Creating a vibrant downtown shopping experience!

Cleveland Retail Commission (CRC)
functions as a community development organization that connects architects, developers, entrepreneurs, governments and realtors with potential downtown retailers.

Mission and Goal
To create a shopping experience that enhances the vibrancy of downtown Cleveland. A proposed "Retail Triangle" will be created as CRC encourages and strengthens garment;

retail

design

manufacture

entrepreneurism

Membership
Day-to-day operations are made possible by civic, corporate and individual memberships.

Funding
Project support is made possible by civic organizations, government initiatives, foundations, and corporate sponsors.

Favorite Quote
Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably will not themselves be realized.
Daniel Burnham, American Architect

Mr. Burnham designed Cleveland's downtown public park known as The Mall. A comprehensive plan at a time in which civic leaders made bold moves and Cleveland was... a shining city on a Great Lake.

History
The Cleveland Retail Commission is the modern-day descendant of the Cleveland Fashion Institute (CFI). The CFI was founded in 1938 and was created to promote the Cleveland garment industry. CFI was an economic catalyst for the development of garment manufacturing and retailing. The CFI used fashion shows and tours of retailers and manufacturers to showcase Cleveland's garment industry.

CFI leadership met with retail buyers and industry leaders from throughout the United States. They invited major market executives to Cleveland and created business for Cleveland's apparel industry. CFI was formed with the help of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce.

The Cleveland Retail Commission was created by local fashion industry entrepreneur Donald Shingler and established as a 501(c)(3) with the help of Professor Kenneth R. Margolis of the Case Western Reserve University's Kramer Community Development Clinic at the School of Law. The CRC functions as an economic development corporation that encourages and strengthens garment retailing in downtown Cleveland. The Cleveland Retail Commission continues the work of its CFI predecessor.