Detroit is full of new good things happening amidst the dreariness of this Winter. This is 1 of 3.
DSE @ Grand has been open since at least the summer, so I guess it’s not actually that new. I first became aware of it when Nandi came home with this amazing shirt.
Ilana and I went in today so she could stock up on detroit gear for her travels, and we ended up talking to the owner, James, for about an hour. His business model is exciting for a number of reasons.
One, because his shirts are sweet and many of the designs are his own, with distinct Detroit cultural references — like the “Deshaun Proof Holton For Mayor” shirt, the “Cool like Cooley High” one and the “Who Is the L.I.Y.A.H.” one. They are a form of independent media in themselves. He prints them at a shop in Cleveland on a variety of union, and sweat-free shirts, all U.S. made.
Two, he comes from a family of community-oriented business people and it clearly influences his priorities. When asked if he was going to sell his shirts at some of the popular suburban boutiques he said no because those stores were already doing well and if this provides an excuse for people to come into the city, then that’s a good thing. He plans to launch a campaign to distribute these “support Detroit” shirts through the hip hop community, which is his core clientel.
We talked to him about Detroit Summer’s vision for a “cooperative economics curriculum ” in schools and he was excited to find ways of sharing his model with youth and schools to inspire kids to create their own businesses and stay in Detroit.
Lastly, he just really seems to have his shit together. He runs his own photography company out of the store, when he’s not excitedly chatting up the customers. He also maintains a blog, which accompanies the online store, where he posts regular, interesting content like this, telling the history of an old Detroit lounge, in who’s honor DSE@ Grand is named. Go check it out the next time you’re in Harmony Park, three doors down from Spectacles, another noteworthy long-standing Detroit independent business.
0 Responses to “Support Detroit 1 of 3”