City Chatter: Detroit hires first retail-attraction director

• Addofio Addo helped bring Rihanna's Savage X Fenty brand to downtown while working for Bedrock.
• He'll now work to position Detroit as a destination for national and regional brands as the city's director of retail attraction.

Context: Detroiters who have to shop in the suburbs for their essentials deserve more retailers near them, Sheffield argued in her State of the City speech.

• She added in a more recent speech that poverty — another major target of her administration — is a top challenge cited by big-box retailers when deciding whether to open a store here.

What they're saying: "Detroit has never needed to be sold. It deserves to be seen," Addo said in a news release. "My job is to make sure the businesses deciding where to grow next see what this city has known all along, and that when they arrive, they arrive as good neighbors."

👂 Infill interest: The city is looking to hire a consultant to help it strategize building new housing on Detroit's many vacant lots, per an advertisement.

• So-called "infill housing" is complex because it's not always financially feasible in Detroit.
• Sheffield says she wants to build 1,000 new houses in her first term.

💬 Chitchat: Sheffield and two of her top lieutenants chatted informally about her time in office on WDIV's "Table for 4" show, hosted by Dennis Archer Jr.

• Sheffield said a fresh perspective now shapes City Hall.
• She pointed to a focus on youth for the first time in 12 years.
• She said she wants young people to see themselves in politics and leadership.