Hatch Detroit Contest Announces Semifinalists For Best New Detroit ...
Hatch Detroit, a ?crowd entrepreneurship? initiative that has been holding an online contest to give away $50,000 and a host of in-kind professional services to the best plan for a new retail business in the city, has announced the 10 semifinalist business plans.
After reportedly receiving more than 200 retail business-plan submissions, voters will now whittle down the field to the final four. Those four finalists will a panel of three well-known Michigan entrepreneurs and community leaders Oct. 21, with the winner chosen Nov. 15. (Read more about the details at Crain?s.)
In addition to the $50,000 cash prize, the winning business will get roughly $30,000 worth of donated legal, accounting, marketing, consulting and other services, Ted Balowski, one of Hatch Detroit?s co-founders, during a presentation at TEDxDetroit this week.
Balowski said he and business partner Nick Gorga opted to focus on retail businesses as a way to better serve Detroit neighborhoods and build more viable neighborhoods.
Without further ado, the 10 semifinalists:
- Alley Wine ? A casual neighborhood wine bar featuring occasional live music set in a building facing an alley in Detroit?s burgeoning Midtown neighborhood.
- Anthology Coffee ? A retail and wholesale coffee shop and roaster with a communal seating arrangement to break down barriers and foster community.
- Art = Life ? A Midtown Detroit furniture store featuring items built by brothers Erik and Israel Nordin using the mission statement One Of A Kind ? Detroit Design.
- Detroit Institute of Bagels ? Bagel Brothers Ben and Dan Newman have been selling bagels from their Detroit home and at Eastern Market and now want to open what they say would be the city?s only brick-and-mortar bagel bakery storefront.
- Hugh ? A lifestyle storefront inspired by men?s magazines of the 1950s and ?60s and the TV show ?Mad Men? and based on a pop-up store from 2009.
- Lift ? Bubble Love ? A bubble tea caf? that incorporates the owners? love of designer toys and pop surreal art proposed for Midtown. The owners already operate a store in Royal Oak.
- Little Dove Bakeshop ? A custom cakery born out of a kitchen in Ferndale based on a philanthropic ?profit with a purpose? business plan.
- Pot & Box ? Based on an Ann Arbor business by the same name, Pot & Box is a sustainability-focused florist and garden design firm designed to interact with the community and promote creativity.
- Workroom ? The principals behind Wookroom believe that Detroit is becoming a hotbed of fashion and is in dire need of a supporting garment district. They propose to open a storefront that would showcase retail clothing and the actual production process in downtown?s Capitol Park.
- Woodbridge Gypsy Den & Tea Room ? A natural, organic and vegan caf? focusing on local products set in the historic neighborhood of the same name.
Read more about the business plans and vote here.
What do you think about the caliber of business plans on offer? Does it portend good things for the future of retail in Detroit?
Photo by Tomato Geezer.
Sven Gustafson
Sven Gustafson works in communications and social media for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and edits A Healthier Michigan. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sveng.
Twitter - More Posts
Related posts:
- Detroit Entrepreneurs Serving Up Creative Pitches to Revitalize City
- Green Garage Aims to Incubate Sustainability-Focused Businesses in Detroit
- Upscale Shopping Comes to Downtown Detroit; Will Demand Follow?
- Biking helps seed growth, opportunity in Detroit
- Weighing the Odds: 12 Things for Whole Foods to Consider in Detroit
patti labelle db cooper jackie evancho wild flag wild flag frank lucas stevie wonder