Designer John Varvatos Makes 'Big Statement' About Detroit: Watch

Upscale men’s fashion designer John Varvatos is showing Detroit some hometown love, but his decision to open a downtown store on Woodward Avenue is based on more than sentimentality.

A native of Allen Park, Varvatos told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Wednesday morning that he will open a store at 1500 Woodward Ave. in an iconic 1891 building owned by self-made billionaire Dan Gilbert, who said he’s “almost giddy” about Varvatos’ decision.

Varvatos, one of the most world’s most respected designers, said opening the store “is one of the most exciting things I’ve done.”

The move may seem risky to people who define the Motor City only by headlines about its historic bankruptcy and crushing population losses over the past decade. For example, Detroit landed at the top of Forbes’ Most Miserable Cities in America List in 2013 for its staggering crime rate, languishing unemployment, plummeting home values and other factors,

“All they know is what they read. ... They don’t get the juice you feel when you’re there,” he said.

Demographics are important, he said, but “you can’t always look at the numbers,” he said. “You really can’t. Detroit is one of those cities that has been pushed out to the suburbs. There’s this influx of young, affluent people moving to downtown Detroit again. It’s less about the demos you’re looking out than it is your gut.”

The 4,000-square-foot store will open this spring and is “much more than a business opportunity,” Varvatos said in a statement, according to the Detroit Free Press. “It is also about changing the complexion of a great city and creating a different kind of legacy,” he said.

Gilbert, the Quicken Loans founder, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA team and major downtown Detroit developer, weighed in on the “Squawk Box” about opportunities in “The D.”

Varvatos’ decision to locate a store there makes “a big statement” for Detroit, he said.

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Screenshot via CNBC’s “The Squawkbox”