The brains behind Shinola have empire-expanding plans, even though the Detroit-based business is barely over two years old.
The company posted this with a Christmas Day greeting on Facebook.
Local business reporter Michael Martinez reports on what's envisioned:
The company has finalized plans to open a retail store in Minneapolis in late spring, and CEO Stephen Bock told The Detroit News on Friday that the company is looking at several more locations, including elsewhere in Michigan, Chicago, London, Berlin and Washington, D.C.
Shinola has also started manufacturing its leather goods — previously made by leather goods company Eric Scott in Missouri — at its New Center headquarters. The company is looking to rent a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in the city to serve as a distribution center. . . .
In addition to its signature watches, the brand will add a line of jeans in late spring, Bock said. Shinola also makes leather goods, journals and novelty items, such as Shinola Cola, candles and shoe polish.
The company (pronounced SHY-nola) launched its watches and $2,000 bikes in March. It advertises prominently in major newspapers and slick lifestyle magazines, and has generated coverage by The New York Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek and elsewhere as a Detroit manufacturing success story.
-- Alan Stamm
