Fresh Corner Cafe expands reach, moves into Green Garage

Fresh Corner Cafe is starting off 2012 on the right foot with its hands on some solid numbers from last year.

"We're moving along with some slow and steady growth," says Noam Kimelman, CEO of Fresh Corner Cafe.

The 18-month-old start-up, former Get Fresh Detroit, specializes in providing healthy, prepared food at corner stores in areas that lack quality food options. So far it has sold 4,500 meals, generating $18,000 in revenue. It is in 16 corner stores in northwest Detroit and is preparing to enter stores in southwest Detroit, the city's northeast side and a gym in Southfield. All of this growth has come from word-of-mouth where the business owners sought out Fresh Corner Cafe.

"I like the word of mouth growth where people want us instead of us trying to talk our way into the store," Kimelman says.

Fresh Corner Cafe recently moved into the Green Garage in Midtown, securing a small office space. It also recently added Valaurian Waller as its chief marketing officer. The two-person start-up hopes to add one more person to its staff later this year and create a co-op ownership structure where employees own a piece of the company. It is also planning to work with more local high school students to help them explore both education and employment opportunities.

Source: Noam Kimelman, CEO of Fresh Corner Cafe
Writer: Jon Zemke

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