“THE Corvette was designed here,” says Jacques Panis, the president of Shinola, a maker of trendy watches, bikes and turntables, at the start of a tour of the company's workshop and offices. Five years ago Shinola set up shop on two floors in Detroit's iconic Argonaut building, which used to be the design headquarters of General Motors, one of the city’s big three carmakers. Back then Shinola had 10 employees; today it employs more than 600, of which around 350 are in Detroit.
Shinola’s success is one of the stories regularly wheeled out in discussions about Detroit’s recovery. The company now has 20 shops in America, one in London and one in Toronto. It is planning to open a hotel in Detroit next autumn. Bill Clinton toured Shinola’s workshop in 2014 and the former president frequently sports its popular Runwell watch. But Shinola tells only one tale of the city. The other story remains fairly bleak.
Signs of the Shinola tale are visible everywhere in downtown and midtown Detroit. Whole Foods Market, an upmarket grocer, set up a shop in midtown in 2013. Shake Shack, a trendy hamburger chain, will open a restaurant downtown later this month. Young tech...Continue reading
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