“The Cleveland Store” And Immigration
by Mark S. Rosentraub
Dean and Professor, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs
Cleveland State University

While Clevelanders hoped Ikea would come to Northeast Ohio – the new store will open in the Cincinnati area instead – the US Census was telling us what we already feared. Northeast Ohio is not growing as fast as other areas and Cleveland itself seems destined to fall below 400,000 residents. How are Ikea and the dropping population numbers linked?

Ikea creates a demand and brand loyalty through advertising, stores that showcase their designs, and high-quality products. That business plan and strategy have created legions of loyal customers. Cleveland has no stores and tells virtually no one about its products and assets despite their world-class status. As a result, NE Ohio has far fewer loyal customers and residents as areas with fewer assets by far better marketing programs and images. Following Ikea’s lead, Cleveland needs to open several stores to advertise its assets and the opportunities that exist in the NE Ohio region.

Research has shown that immigrants to the United States usually make one major move after first living in an area in the country in which they have friends and family. For this reason, Los Angeles County has consistently had very large numbers of people leaving for other parts of the country and at the same time, very large numbers of new immigrants. With very large Hispanic, Asian, and Jewish communities, new Americans are attracted to Los Angeles there where they find not only friends and social support systems, but other people like them to explain America and its business practices and culture. New York City, with its numerous ethnic communities also attracts large numbers of immigrants. However, when people learn the “ropes of America” they take a journey outward – usually to start their own business – and that is where advertising and “The Cleveland Store” must become the showplace of NE Ohio’s assets.

People come to places they know to build businesses. How does someone in the immigrant magnets of Los Angeles and New York learn about Cleveland? Right now they don’t and as a result the region is shrinking. People must learn about Cleveland the same way they learn about Ikea. Cleveland needs to advertise and once people are attracted into the store, Cleveland’s sale force has to put our best products forward.

What are Cleveland’s great assets?

For a new family or business entrepreneur NE Ohio has the critical assets of lower costs than Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Detroit, a skilled workforce, a great transportation infrastructure, an airport with first-rate domestic connections, and cultural and civic assets that match those found in cities that are much larger and far more expensive. But who knows these facts about life in Cleveland?

Who knows that the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square, the Cleveland Playhouse, and the Cleveland Public Theatre produce as many if not more live performances than one could find in any other city? Who knows that the Metroparks system offers residents access to one of the world’s greatest parks network and zoo?

And how do immigrants learn of the great heritage of immigrant groups in this region. For example, do Hispanic immigrants know that the Catholic community in NE Ohio is home to some of the greatest church architecture in the nation? Do they know that one of America’s greatest Catholic high schools is located in Cleveland? Beachwood has shown that careful marketing of the region’s Jewish community and its assets can be quite successful in terms of attracting immigrants and entrepreneurs from Israel and other Jewish communities. With Hispanics of largely Catholic backgrounds among the largest immigrant groups in the Untied States Cleveland is far better positioned to sell itself than many Sunbelt cities.

Greater Cleveland is also home to one of America’s greatest churches serving the Korean community. Korean immigrants often come first to Los Angeles and New York. Yet the resources within the Korean community, just like the resources in the Chinese and Indian communities in NE Ohio are quite substantial.

Yet, without a “Cleveland Store,” who knows what NE Ohio has to offer?

Some will argue that we cannot advertise because we do not have enough jobs and that if more firms moved here then the jobs and immigrants would follow. That was true enough a century ago, but today immigrants to America come here not to work for someone else, but to start their own businesses. These are the new Clevelanders needed and the individuals that can be attracted to NE Ohio, as they become customers at the Cleveland Store located in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Chicago.

After the reports that showed that Cleveland was destined to become a city of less than 400,000 residents and that Cuyahoga County seemed well on its way to becoming the great shrinking giant of Ohio people are asking “What went wrong?” The answer lies in marketing – Cleveland and NE Ohio has forgotten how to sell to immigrants. It is known where these immigrants are and that they will make one major move after landing in Los Angeles and New York. If we sell Cleveland in stores located in the immigrant centers of America it may well be possible to talk soon enough about a growing Cuyahoga County and a growing Cleveland. And more people in both areas will mean greater economic development across the region.

A city cannot advertise when it has no assets. Cleveland has many, but the region must reject the idea that NE Ohio has nothing immigrants want. Everything they want and need is here – Cleveland just needs to advertise and take a page out of Ikea’s handbook for success.

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