As downtown Detroit's workforce goes, so does the bottom line of Good People Popcorn.
The gourmet popcorn maker with a small retail space on Beaubien Street just north of Jefferson Avenue has watched its business grow steadily in the last few years in tandem with the burgeoning workforce in the Motor City's Central Business District.
"Our in-store traffic has more than doubled since we opened (four years ago)," says Sarida Scott Montgomery, principal of
Good People Popcorn. She adds, "it's really nice to have a storefront."
Scott Montgomery opened
Good People Popcorn with her sister (Crystal Mott) and cousin (Kimberli Hard) because her family couldn't find the kind of popcorn they liked. The business takes in revenue from retail traffic (it also sells its products at local gourmet grocers), online sales and providing popcorn for fundraising drives.
Fundraising sales and retail sales have allowed Good People Popcorn to notch double-digit revenue growth each year. Blue Cross Blue Shield and Quicken Loans moving thousands of new workers downtown has driven the 30 percent spike in revenue last year. That has allowed the company to hire two people over the last year, expanding its team to six. Scott Montgomery expects plans to add 1-2 more people this year to keep up with the growth.
"Detroiters have been very good for us," Scott Montgomery says. "We have experienced growth every year."
Source: Sarida Scott Montgomery, principal of Good People Popcorn
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.
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