Looking for glitzy designers, ritzy retail, the smell of imported shoes?

Forget Michigan Avenue, glamour puss. Don't expect the likes of Tiffany's or Talbot's to show up anytime soon.

Here in Milwaukee, developers and civic leaders said they are more interested in creating a bustling, shopper-friendly corridor of big retail and fine dining along the vacant street fronts of downtown's West Wisconsin Avenue.

Progress is moving quickly, said Joe Weirick, president of Polacheck Management Corp. and co-developer of The Shops of Grand Avenue. He said the elements are in place for Milwaukee to embrace a vibrant city center, which will include as much as 30,000-sq. ft. of new retail space in the Plankinton Building by spring 2003.

Weirick looks to lure three to four big tenants into its vacated areas to help rejuvenate the commercial health of Grand Avenue mall. The new tenants will replace a slew of small retailers in the Plankinton arcade.

While none of the tenants will be finalized for another three months, Weirick said much of the retail focus will be on home goods, apparel, "a big bookstore" and, yes, even a few racks of shoes.

But don't think high-end just yet, Milwaukee. He said the new development plans aim to create a shopping and dining atmosphere that resembles the lively, historic character of Chicago's State Street, instead of the decadent glamour of Michigan Avenue.

"The Shops of Grand Avenue (mall) and West Wisconsin Avenue are key components in the city of Milwaukee's overall master plan," Weirick said of the new retail prospects. "If the downtown is going to have a viable retail district, it should be built on West Wisconsin Avenue."

The plan sounds easy on paper, Weirick said.

But to many retailers and restaurateurs, West Wisconsin Avenue carries a stigma all its own. The cavernous storefronts and "Space for Lease" signs scattered among the windows could have been enough to turn away big retail names and budding entrepreneurs.

But Stephanie Otto, executive director of the Westown Association, said times have changed. She blamed past development difficulties in the area on the poor marketing strategies implemented by mall developers in the 1980s. Otto said former property owners placed too much internal focus on developing a "downtown mall" rather than a "downtown street front" to attract customers.