Birmingham

Taylor & Colt barberspas coming to metro Detroit

Two brothers from Birmingham will be importing Canadian-based Taylor & Colt barberspas to the U.S., starting with two metro Detroit locations. John and Tom White are the U.S. franchisees for the chain of Toronto spas that combine old-fashioned barber shop services and more modern grooming treatments in high-end surroundings. The first Taylor & Colt barberspas will open in the Villages in Rochester and on Liberty Street in Ann Arbor. They are seeking a location in Birmingham, says John White. Renovations are underway on the first two spas, and they are expected to open in January. "We're bringing this to Michigan first, and hopefully as we open new locations and expand, we'll bring it to a number of different states. We'd like Boston, Charleston, Austin." The spas have an old-fashioned meets contemporary feel with rough woods and stone in the interior and traditional barber shop chairs. There are iPads at each chair and big-screen TVs throughout. There will be a reception bar with coffee, tea, juice, and newspapers. Services will include haircuts, hot towel shaves, laser hair removal, massage and more. After seeing Taylor & Colt in Toronto, "We kind of thought, 'You know what this makes a lot of sense.' When you visit men's barber shops, a lot of them have been there forever. They're old, they're tired. They're a basic place to get a haircut, but not much more," says John White. "We've seen this whole movement that younger men are indulging in more careful grooming and more attention to their appearance. We think there will be much interest in this." Source: John White, Taylor & Colt U.S. Writer: Kim North Shine

Birmingham’s Griffin Claw Brewing adds bottle spirit sales

Griffin Claw Brewing Company is now in the business of selling bottled vodka, gin and rum from its taproom in Birmingham. Earlier this year the brewery, which has made its name in craft beer, added liquors to the menu. Bottled sales were the next step. The lineup: Griffin Claw Grain Vodka, Griffin Claw Potato Vodka, Griffin Claw Botanical Gin and Griffin Claw Black Strap Rum sell for $20 each and can be purchased inside the taproom. The brewery will also be releasing KRUPNIK, a polish style honey liqueur in a 750ml bottle, for $20, for the holiday season as well as its popular Oblivious Wheat Wine in a 22-oz. wax-dipped bomber bottle for $17. Griffin Claw biergarten and taproom are at 575 S. Eton St. The 12,000-square-foot operation in the city's Rail District includes a brewing system, distillery, and distribution operation. Source, Jaclyn Robinson, JT Marketing Group Writer: Kim North Shine

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Three Woodward Ave. development trends we’re excited about

Change is slow when it comes to metro Detroit communities. That's why we're excited about the innovative projects and thinking that has taken root in Ferndale, Birmingham and Pontiac. From mixed-use mandates to reimagined parking structures to entire city blocks being readied for redevelopment, these Woodward Ave. communities are embracing a more walkable future.

Dye & Dash express haircolor salon opens in Troy

The owners of two successful metro Detroit hair salons are the creators of a new specialized salon that's dedicated to quick and affordable hair coloring. Dye & Dash opened Dec. 2 at 3296 Rochester Road in Troy. Industry veterans Tomy Lulgjuraj and George and Johnny Nikollaj, co-owners of 6 Salon in Birmingham and Royal Oak, partnered with longtime employee Constance Abro to oversee a trained, experienced staff that specializes in matching, formulating and applying hair color. With the tagline, "We Dye, You Dry," the 2,000-square-foot salon includes a blow-dry bar where customers can use blow dryers, flat irons, hairbrushes and hair products at no extra charge after a color. Dye & Dash is likely the first salon of its kind in metro Detroit, and the concept has taken root in other states. Dye & Dash offers color for men and women with services such as touch-ups (the Take Root service is $30), highlights (the Bombshell's full head of foils is $65, and the Lucky 7 with seven foils is $30), Bump the Base for $30 and low lights for $5. A sweet treat conditioning is $15.   “Two things inspired us to create the Dye & Dash concept, with the first being the continued demand for salon service segmentation,” says Abro, a co-owner and manager of Dye & Dash.  “Not everyone has the need, time, desire or budget for a full-service salon experience every time, and we understand that." The color salon is the latest evolution of beauty salons, he says. "First came blow-out bars, then eyebrow bars, and we see color bars as the next logical step…,"he says. The owners also see potential to attract the at-home colorers. It is "our mission to get both men and women to move away from the pitfalls of home hair coloring,” Abro says. “There are endless reasons why hair coloring should be left to professionals. Hopefully by lowering the cost barrier to color treatments, we can convince some DIY hair dye enthusiasts to see what a difference a salon can make.” Source: Monica Cheick, PublicCityPR Writer: Kim North Shine

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A more efficient beer: Metro Detroit’s greenest breweries

When you consider what it takes to make your favorite microbrew, there's no getting around the fact that it is an energy- and resource-intensive process. Metromode checks in with our most green-minded breweries and what they're doing to make a more sustainable beer.

Brogan & Partners adds 5 jobs in downtown Birmingham

New jobs and promotions have been cropping up at Brogan & Partners this year. The advertising and digital marketing agency recently promoted three account managers (Kristin Morris, Katie Rehrauer and Morgan Eberle) to account directors. It has also hired five people over the last year, including another account director. The company currently employs 42 people, including 27 employees at its downtown Birmingham headquarters. "We're hoping to get a really good intern that can become a permanent position," says Ellyn Davidson, managing partner of Brogan & Partners. The 30-year-old firm has enjoyed 12-percent revenue growth over the last year. That makes for its best year since 2008. It’s also looking to increase revenue by 20 percent in 2014. The firm has more work with existing clients like HoneyBaked Ham and has attracted new clients, like ComForcare, Frankenmuth Insurance, and Michigan First Credit Union. Brogan & Partners hopes to turn each of those new clients into a long-term business relationship. Davidson is optimistic that will happen thanks to the company’s track record of staying ahead of what’s coming up in the digital marketing world. "We're heavily invested in research in what's new in marketing and what's next," Davidson says. "We stay on top of how communications are changing." Source: Ellyn Davidson, managing partner of Brogan & Partners Writer: Jon Zemke Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.

Steeped-in-Detroit Eli Tea expands with tea bar in Birmingham

After a year of planting the seeds for a Detroit-based tea company that could lead Detroit -- and America -- to carve out its own distinctive tea culture, the founder of Eli Tea is opening the start-up's first tea bar in downtown Birmingham. The 25-year-old company founder, Elias Majid, started Eli Tea with the help of a grant and advice from Wayne State University's Blackstone Launchpad. Eli Tea incubated and grew from Eastern Market Corp.'s Detroit Kitchen Connect, which pairs food start-ups with commercial kitchen space. "I wanted to open up my own store to further the tea culture," he says. "Detroit is behind on the tea trend. There are tea shops on every corner in Chicago, D.C., Boston. "It's a good market to be in for me…It attracts a health-conscious crowd, cultural creatives and everyone who wants something that's good for you and tastes good too." The company philosophy is based on selling only natural teas, blended on site and never using syrups or artificial flavors. During his start-up phase, Eli Teas moved into 20 metro Detroit shops and restaurants while Majid scouted a location of what he hopes will be the first of many Eli Tea's tea bars. Majid picked a former Cold Stone Creamery on Woodward Avenue in downtown Birmingham for the first location and he expects to be fully open by Nov. 1. "My competitors try to make English tea rooms or Chinese tea rooms," he says. "I really want to make an American tea room. I don't think that's been done yet." He is transforming the 1000-square-foot space at 108 S. Old Woodward into a "sophisticated tea bar with an homage to Michigan, but without trying too hard," he says. There will be a countertop made of pennies, a birch-tree stenciled wall, carved copper ceiling tiles and a tea wall featuring containers of loose leaf teas. The new store goes hand in hand with an overall expansion of Eli Tea products from 30 to 80. "I'm trying to move past the doily culture," he says. "I want to see education, interaction with customers, and see people appreciating and loving tea the way I do." Owning a tea company, "is no one's dream as a kid," he says, but he realized while studying and working with plants in a lab that a career in something like tea "was a way for me to interface with the public about plants and health…I'm going from laboratory to retail, and I'm able to give that unique point of view to the customers." Source: Elias Majid, founder, Eli Tea Writer: Kim North Shine

West Elm opens first Michigan store in downtown Birmingham

Michigan's first West Elm home and furniture store will open in downtown Birmingham Oct. 2. The 15,000-square-foot store at 215 W. Maple will sell Michigan-made products in support of the Brooklyn, New York-based retailer's LOCAL initiative to support entrepreneurs working in or near the cities where West Elm has stores. Among the 10 entrepreneurs whose goods will be sold are Marcy Davy's handmade prints from Ypsilanti, soaps and balms from Ferndale-based Babylon Soap Company and Cellar Door Soap from Plymouth, Warpaint Studio's prints and posters, also from Ypsilanti, Detroit-based Jody Lynn Burton's whimsical doodle art, and more. The renovated store is designed to reflect the environment, culture and heritage of Oakland County, Detroit, and Michigan. A mosaic made of industrial molds in different shapes and colors and previously used in metal fabrications hangs on a feature wall that is an homage to Michigan's manufacturing heritage. The store will have a design center, where home stylists guide customers through room designs at no charge. The opening builds on a series of national retailers to open locations in Birmingham in the last two years. Source: Sophie Zunz, partner at The Moxie Agency, and spokesperson, West Elm Writer: Kim North Shine

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What AirBNB taught us about how metro Detroit sees itself

You can learn a lot about a community by listening to the way its residents sell it. So, we here at Metromode decided to dig into AirBNB and analyze what metro Detroiters talk about when they talk about themselves. What we found is that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The Wall Street Journal tours the home of eponymous fashion retailer Linda Dresner

Always ahead of the fashion curve, boutique owner Linda Dresner talks business, fashion, and home design philophy with The Wall Street Journal.  Excerpt: "For 25 years, she owned an eponymous fashion boutique on Park Avenue in Manhattan, along with a shop in Michigan, still in operation not far from her home in Birmingham. Brands such as Dries Van Noten and Junya Watanabe are available in designer department stores all over the country today—not to mention on the Internet—but back when Dresner began in the business, in the late 1970s, she startled her Midwestern clientele with astonishing clothes by such designers, brought back from Milan and Paris. "I was one of the first to have Saint Laurent. I still have some of my original clients." Of her plans to hold a first party at her new home, a benefit for Detroit's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAD), she says, "Curators love Detroit; they think it's like early Berlin." More here. 

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