Four new businesses are coming to The Villages neighborhood in Detroit next year.
The new businesses include a restaurant, a restaurant/bar, a bakery/coffee shop and a tea room. They follow the successful pop-up retailers that have graced West Village over the last month and will be located in the vacant retail spaces on Agnes St. between Park and Van Dyke streets.
"It will greatly enrich our quality of life here," says Brian Hurttienne, executive director of the
The Villages Community Development Corp. "(These businesses) say 'neighborhood.' It reinforces a stable neighborhood in Detroit and is a progressive part of Detroit."
The four new businesses include:
• Craft Work, a restaurant and bar that features a simple menu for a casual dining and drinking. It is owned by Michael Geiger and Hubert Yaro. Geiger currently serves as a culinary arts instructor at the
Art Institute of Michigan. Yaro is a partner at
Ronin Sushi in downtown Royal Oak and
Commonwealth in downtown Birmingham.
•
Detroit Vegan Soul, a 100-percent vegan soul food cafe that offers a delicious, nutritious twist on soul food and comfort food, using fresh (organic) foods without dairy, eggs, refined sugars or refined flours. The
Hatch Detroit finalist is owned by Erica Boyd and Kirsten Ussery who are also residents in The Villages.
•
The Red Hook, a bakery and coffee shop that will serve
Pinwheel Bakery pastries and
Stumptown Coffee, which will utilize the pour-over method. Sandi and Andrew Heaselgrave, residents of Detroit, are the owners of The Red Hook, which also has a location in Ferndale.
• Tarot and Tea, a tea room with a focus on the mystical and healing arts, including tarot card readings and palmistry. The shop is owned by Nefertiti who currently owns and operates
Textures by Nefertiti in Midtown.
The permanent business are set to open early next year. They are coming to The Villages thanks to the
Detroit Economic Growth Corp's Revolve Detroit program, which is working to attract retailers and eateries to neighborhood centers throughout the city.
The Villages Community Development Corp is also looking to capitalize on this momentum with more announcements set for later this year and early next year. Those announcements include the potential launch of a home-improvement program and opening of more greenways in the community.
"I am really hoping this momentum will spur more announcements in the future," Hurttienne says.
Source: Brian Hurttienne, executive director of the The Villages Community Development Corp
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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