(No caption)
In recent years, a host of local entrepreneurs have capitalized on Detroit's rising popularity by selling t-shirts with catchy Detroit-centric slogans.
Detroit native Ricardo Copeland is among them. In 2013, he started selling his trademark t-shirt, 'Straight Outta Detroit," out of his apartment and a friend's barber shop at Gratiot and Chene on Detroit's east side. The slogan was an obvious play on his favorite hip hop group, NWA, which released its debut studio album, "Straight Outta Compton," in 1988. In 2015, a drama biography film on NWA was released, also titled "Straight Outta Compton."
These days, Copeland is selling that t-shirt and others, including "Nothing Stops Detroit," online, on social media, from his office on Gratiot and Broadway and his shop, The Detroit Store, in the basement of the Penobscot Building in downtown Detroit. He's also selling hot dogs and other Detroit products like pickles out of his shop.
Deadline Detroit sat down with Copeland the other day in the Penobscot Building to talk about his business and his vision for growth, including getting into Target.
