CHIIPSS grows skateboard, printing biz in Hamtramck

A year ago, a skateboard shop called CHIIPSS made the move to downtown Hamtramck. A year later, the company has established itself, grown its business and is in the process of making its first hire.

"So far so good," says Patrick Miller, owner of CHIIPSS. "There have been a lot of younger kids in the neighborhood and they skate through a lot and use the ramps."

Miller opened CHIIPSS in Plymouth in 2007 and moved it to Hamtramck last year to take advantage of the city's urban atmosphere, combine his businesses under one roof and become a bigger part of the community.

CHIIPSS and its sister business, The Barber Shoppe Screen Printing, now occupy a 2,700-square-foot space on Jos Campau just south of Caniff. The skateboard shop is in the front of the building and printing business -- it does a large amount of the shirts for Detroit Mercantile -- in the back. The enterprise has grown so much because of increased foot traffic that Miller is now printing five days a week, which is up from a couple days when Miller made the move.

"It has definitely taken off," Miller says. "We have gotten a lot of business from local businesses in the area."

CHIIPSS currently is made up of only Miller, but he is in the process of hiring his first employee later this summer to help handle the increased workload.

Source: Patrick Miller, owner of CHIIPSS
Writer: Jon Zemke

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