Why the Opening of Detroit-Based Shinola's Tribeca Flagship Is a Big Deal

The opening of a new store is not usually big news around here, but Shinola on Franklin Street in Tribeca is an exception. What makes a store selling hand-crafted watches, bicycles, leather goods and journals so special is that it's made in Detroit. It's a great story of how one entrepreneur decided to open a watch factory in America's most battered city, bringing in Swiss machinery and expertise and then training local residents in the laborious process of making a high performance, luxury product at an affordable price. Designed by David Rockwell, the store's ironwork staircase is in keeping with the brand's vision and mission, made in America, built to last filled with details like a 1930s Bronze Mercator map and a restored 1910 quarter-sawn oak display vitrine acquired from Seneca New York Junk Shop. A cafe run by the friendly folks from The Smile greets you as you enter a world built on the past and headed into the future. Detroit may be bankrupt, but if Shinola is any indication -- and I think it is -- the story of America's great city's revival has already begun. See more photos of the Tribeca flagship and watch a video about the company, below.