Image via Complex Original
Maybe you’ve heard about the city of Detroit. Maybe you’ve seen photographs of its abandoned buildings and empty fields. Or you might have read about its crime rate and dwindling population. You might think of Detroit as a symbol of a once great American city in decline. But then you don’t really know Detroit.
Detroit is about the people who live there and who come there for a chance to create something new and play by their own set of rules. It’s a place where creativity is welcomed, industriousness is encouraged, and the D.I.Y. mentality is a must. It’s because of this that businesses are growing in Detroit; businesses that might just change the country the same way the cars that gave Detroit the nickname Motor City once did.
Shinola
Shinola is best known for its luxury watches, but the company has expanded its product line to include bicycles, journals, and leather-made goods. That may seem like a hodgepodge of items but Shinola’s focus is on high-quality, America-made merchandise. More specifically, the brand is all about goods made in Detroit. Shinola’s decision to make Detroit a big part of their brand only shows how synonymous the city’s name is with the term “American Made.”
Slows Bar B Q
Good food will always get people to come downtown. Great food will get people on a plane to come in for a bite. Slows Bar B Q, located in the Corktown section of Detroit, is a destination restaurant that’s been featured on The Today Show and Man vs. Food. The place has been a huge success ever since it opened its doors in 2005. While the barbeque may be what it's named for, the sandwiches and mac and cheese get the real buzz.
Burn Rubber
Like cars need tires, feet need sneakers. Detroit knows about rubber and Burn Rubber knows about kicks. Owners Rick Williams and Roland Colt had a vision for a streetwear boutique that would cater to the people of Detroit. Williams and Colt are also true sneakerheads themselves so they know what they sell. They like to say that shopping at Burn Rubber is more like hanging at the barbershop or going to visit your cousin, and what they’re doing is creating another Detroit business that feels like home and operates like family.
McClure’s Pickles
If there is one place that is a stronger brand name than Detroit, it’s probably Brooklyn. Both are cities—well, one city, the other, a borough—that can sell products just by making it clear on the package where it’s from. McClure’s Pickles can claim both. The company does the pickling in Detroit and runs things from Brooklyn, ensuring the best of both worlds. While pickles are its mainstay, potato chips and Bloody Mary mix are also available. The pickles are made using the McClure family recipe and the ingredients are sourced locally.
Quicken Loans
Quicken Loans is the largest online mortgage lender in the America, but it’s important to Detroit for the move it made to the downtown business district in 2010. While most stories about businesses on the move in Detroit are about those moving out, Quicken Loans made a big statement by coming from the suburbs back into the city. Founder Dan Gilbert was born in Detroit, and while he may be better known as the owner of the Cleveland Cavs and his hot-cold relationship with LeBron James, his commitment to Detroit has been an early positive sign for the city’s future.
Hugh
Hugh sells products made for the space-age bachelor and the modern design freak. It’s unique not only because of owner Joe Posch’s keen eye for style, but also because of how it got started. In 2011, Hugh was the first winner of Hatch Detroit, which is a contest that lets the public decide what businesses will be funded with prize money to make entrepreneurial ideas into realities. Think of it like a local business version of American Idol. Hugh got funded with $50,000 to take the business from a pop-up to a full-time shop. Hatch is going into its fifth year, ready to help develop another brilliant business.
The Detroit Institute of Bagles / Great Lakes Coffee Company
Detroiters need a lot of fuel to jumpstart their day and get to work. And soy lattes with pumpkin spice muffins just won’t cut it. The Detroit Institute of Bagels and Great Lakes Coffee Company are making breakfast Motown style. DBI is another example of a new hip business in the Corktown district of downtown Detroit. Here, they consider every bagel a work of art, whether smeared with cream cheese or Sriracha lentil spread. GLC roasts its own beans and has been providing a caffeine jolt to the city since 1999.
Hantz Farms
Detroit has been painted as a post-apocalyptic dystopia, but for others it’s the future of urban/agrarian possibility. Hantz Farms is one such organization that looks at the abandon houses and empty lots as a potential to invest in a brighter, greener future. The plan on paper is simple—take unused land in the city and, with the help of volunteers and investors, transform the land into forest and farms. In practice, it has been a process of cutting through red tape and getting people to see Detroit in a totally new way. If these plans succeed the irony will be that the city that gave birth to the car will turn into America’s greenest metropolis.
The Detroit Bus Company
You would think that the Motor City would not have any issues with transportation, but public transport in Detroit has always been a problem. And like many of the problems facing the city, the people have come up with their own way of handling it. The Detroit Bus Company was founded by Andy Didorosi to provide more options for people to get around the city. The DBC runs routes and is available for private use as well as for tours of downtown.
Never Say Die
“Never Say Die” could be the official Detroit motto (well, it worked for The Goonies!). It’s also the belief of Tifini Kamara and Leah Castile, the founders of Never Say Die, that Detroit is far from dead and needs to be covered by a new media company in a fresh way. Combining photo, video, infographics, and the unreported stories of the city, Never Say Die will give a voice to the city from people who actually call it home.