DSW Coming to Canton

Canton residents can save money on gas and spend more on shoes with a Designer Shoe Warehouse, better known as DSW, store opening near the center of Canton’s commercial district.

The store is nearing completion in the strip mall on the north side of Ford Road, east of Canton Center Road. DSW’s current closest locations are more than 20 minutes away, in Novi, Ann Arbor and Dearborn.

“Personally, I’m very excited,” said Kristen Thomas, economic development and marketing analyst for Canton Township. “And I know a lot of my fellow shoe-buying friends are, too.”

The site was previously occupied by a Payless ShoeSource store and a couple of vacant spaces, according to Thomas.

“We combined those spaces and expanded out the back,” said Ross Gallentine, project manager with Ramco-Gershenson Inc., which owns the space.

After walls were knocked down and the space expanded, the prospective store is a little more than 18,000 square feet. “It’s still under construction,” said Kim Sankey, who works in construction at DSW. “We’re just doing interior work.”

Township inspectors expect the store to be only a few weeks away from completion. “They’ve been in there quite a few times and they said it’s coming along,” said Thomas. “They can’t imagine it’s going to be that far from opening.”

Canton has seen a recent influx of new businesses, particularly along Ford Road. “We’re always happy to have new businesses in Canton,” Thomas said. “We feel like the tide is really turning.”

Calls to DSW's corporate offices in Columbus, OH were not returned by the deadline for this article, but Patch will continue covering this story.