Got a great idea for a t-shirt?
Karry Brook's new shop,
GOODS, will enable your inner artist to display its genius for all the world -- or at least Detroit -- to see.
How does it work? Customers can select a shirt, bag, hoodie or other article from the shop, pick a personalized saying, icon or art and, presto! On the spot, it will be heat-pressed and, $20 to $25 later, you're out the door with your one-of-a-kind creation. Brook can also work with custom artwork, although a bit more turn-around time -- about 24 hours -- is needed.
A full half of her 600-square-foot store will be devoted to wares created by other local artists. Brook is the entrepreneur behind Detroit Baby, a line currently sold at
Bureau of Urban Living, so she is fully cognizant of differentiating herself from other local shops. "I am working with Emily (Linn, of City Bird) and Claire (Nelson, of Bureau) to make sure we don't have the same stuff," she says. "And if we do have some of the same artists, we'll have different stuff, a different selection of colors -- different stores, different lines."
Brook has a degree from College for Creative Studies, which prompted her to target Midtown for her business concept. Its specific location, the ground floor of the Park Shelton, made sense because "it is located between Wayne (State University) and CCS and all the museums," she says.
She's not alone. Michael Martorelli, who handles commercial leasing at the Park Shelton, says that all Kirby- and Woodward-fronting spaces are now leased when, just a year ago, Wasabi stood alone. Another empty space at the corner of Kirby and Woodward will hold an establishment to be called Rodin.
There are two interior commercial spaces that remain available, Matorelli says. "We've gotten a lot of interest," he adds.
Over the next month or so until the shop opens, Brook will be focusing on building out the space and finding artists to sell goods at, well, GOODS.
Source: Karry Brook, GOODS, and Michael Martorelli,
The Park SheltonWriter: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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