Alley Wine aims to turn backyard blight into thriving Midtown biz

This last summer, David Knapp and a few friends were lounging in his backyard when an idea hit them. A brainstorming session about what do with the dilapidated garage in the alley on Alexandrine St. between Second and Third streets turned into a business idea to start a neighborhood wine bar called Alley Wine.

“That kind of gained traction,” Knapp says. “The next thing you know we’re speaking with the zoning board of appeals and getting a liquor license.”

Alley Wine aims to turn an obsolete building into a neighborhood mainstay in Midtown. Knapp and his two partners are capitalizing on the out of the way location as a way to create intrigue the way speakeasies once did during Prohibition.

“We’re marketing ourselves as not the Main Street wine bar but as a place only the locals know about,” Knapp says.

The small group of entrepreneurs are moving forward to bring the business online by next summer. They have drawn up plans to rehab the building and create a buffering zone full of landscaping between the business and its neighbors. Alley Wine is a finalist for HATCH Detroit and its $50,000 prize.

Source: David Knapp, partner of Alley Wine
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.