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Michigan programs help fledgling retailers try out storefront shops

Posted By: Detroit News on August 11, 2026.  For more information, please click here to read the source article.

Corliss Elizabeth Williams has spent years building The Lowry Estate, a vintage clothing business that began in Brooklyn and eventually found a home in Farmington.

For the first time, she has a downtown storefront: Williams is the first business owner to participate in the Farmington Downtown Development Authority’s new retail incubator program, which gives entrepreneurs a 400-square-foot storefront for a 90-day lease.

“This opportunity that I had, the incubator program, is really what I’ve been just like looking for and dreaming of,” Williams said.

The Retail LAB, short for Launch And Build, is at 23607 Farmington Road next to Jill’s Pharmacy. It is intended for makers, artisans, vintage retailers and specialty merchants who have outgrown markets, pop-ups or online sales and want to try out operating a brick-and-mortar business.

“We were thinking of this idea as an incubator because at the same time there are so many wonderful entrepreneurs that are ready to make that next step into brick and mortar, but not quite ready for a long-term lease,” said Jess Westendorf, executive director of the Farmington DDA.

The incubator concept is becoming more common across the state as retailers look for lower-risk ways to test a physical storefront, said Vic Veda, vice president of communications for the Michigan Retailers Association: “We love that programs like this are on the rise and becoming more common across Michigan.”

Incubator programs provide a lower barrier to entry and an opportunity for retailers to trial the market they’re in, Veda said: “Being able to get good consumer feedback from the local community is incredibly valuable for entrepreneurs as they’re figuring out their business model and what products to carry, what services to offer.”

Other communities and organizations also have developed programs to help aspiring retailers move toward permanent storefronts.

For example, TechTown Detroit operates SHOP Detroit in the Fisher Building, a small-format retail program with one-on-one coaching. And in Grand Rapids, the Downtown Retail Incubator Program, known as DRIP, offers dedicated retail space downtown at an affordable rate, along with business planning support, workshops, coaching and personal consulting.

Giving retailers ‘a real test’

The idea for Retail LAB was born as Westendorf noticed people were calling to ask about storefront opportunities but were concerned about committing to a long-term lease. The DDA also wanted to generate more retail activity in a downtown where available storefronts are limited, she said.

“In Farmington, our vacancy rate is so low that we have no spaces to put new retailers or businesses as they come in,” she said. “So when one does become available, we have quite a few people interested.”

The storefront was created through a partnership between the DDA and property owner Freddy Sackllah, whose law office continues to operate from the building. Sackllah reorganized the office, moving its reception area and conference room to the rear to make room for the street-facing retail space. The DDA and Sackllah & Associates jointly invested in the buildout, officials said.

The 400-square-foot space costs $1,000 a month for the DDA to rent, and the DDA charges the same amount to its Retail LAB tenants, Westendorf said: “We want it to be realistic, so it is a real test. If the space was free, that’s hardly like a test of viability.”

The DDA also helps tenants manage some of the logistical hurdles of opening a storefront, including signage, graphic design and city approval paperwork.

Williams, owner of The Lowry Estate, said the three-month lease has given her a chance to learn more about her business through direct feedback from customers, something she didn’t get as much of at a previous space she had on Orchard Lake Road.

“I had zero foot traffic,” she said, adding that customers would seek her out for appointments and through her online sales on Instagram. She eventually took a step back from The Lowry Estate before the opportunity to return to a brick-and-mortar space through Retail LAB came along.

One recent sunny afternoon, Williams moved a mannequin and a rack of clothes outside of her store, a signal that the shop was open for business.

“If my front door is open and my racks are outside, people come in here in two seconds, which I pinch myself over,” she said. “People know I’m in here.”

One of the customers who stopped by was Martha Koopman, a Farmington resident who said the window display caught her eye as she drove past. She browsed the racks, describing herself as a “treasure hunter” who enjoys curating her vintage-inspired wardrobe.

“It looked like a treasure that you could pick through and find,” Koopman said. She said she found several pieces she liked and that she planned to return with her daughter.

Koopman liked the Retail LAB concept, she said: “If you’ve got a space and someone can’t afford the brick and mortar for months at an end, it might be a good thing to have someone that can come in, show their wares.”

Incubator participants learn while doing

In Detroit, TechTown’s programs offer similar opportunities for entrepreneurs, ranging from one-day pop-ups to longer-term retail incubator spaces.

Among its programs is SHOP Detroit, which places entrepreneurs in retail spaces in the Fisher Building and Eastern Market for eight weeks to 12 months. Participants also receive one-on-one coaching, said Christina Devlin, senior retail strategist at TechTown Detroit.

“This allows them to further test their business model, improve operations, gain exposure, create a community following, as well as test their targeted demographic location before signing a long-term lease,” she said.

Since SHOP Detroit launched in 2022, 20 businesses have been placed in its four incubator spaces, Devlin said. The program has generated more than $2.3 million in revenue through more than 27,000 transactions.

Among the participants, jeweler Halie and Co. has signed a long-term lease in Eastern Market and is expected to open this fall, while gourmet baker BrownieDr purchased a building and opened a storefront in Berkley, Devlin said. Black Rose Gallery is also working to build out a permanent location on Plymouth Road in Detroit, and three other participants are seeking permanent spaces.

In Grand Rapids, the Downtown Retail Incubator Program, known as DRIP, launched last year in partnership with Arts Marketplace at Studio Park, has recruited 11 small businesses into its retail incubator.

The operators receive monthly workshops and discounted space inside Arts Marketplace, where they can sell their products while learning how to run a retail business, said Melvin Eledge, director of operations for Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., who oversees the program.

“It’s one thing to learn and workshop about selling your goods and becoming a retailer, but it’s one thing to actually do it,” Eledge said. “Having the experience of both doing it even on a small scale while you’re kind of learning the trade is really important.”

In its first year, Eledge said the program has focused on helping participants build foundational retail skills. Several participants are now scaling up their presence inside Arts Marketplace, with some, including a local bookseller, getting closer to opening their own storefronts, he said.

“We’re seeing those folks get really stable in that aspect of business operations, and we’re seeing them scale up inside of Arts Marketplace,” he said. “They may have started with one or two tables, and now they’re moving on to two or three or four, moving on to a couple of racks.”

Next step: A permanent home

At The Lowry Estate, Williams said the business has always been about more than selling vintage clothing. It is tied to her family, including a lamp that belonged to her grandparents displayed in the store.

Her 10-year-old daughter, Amelia Williams Olu, often accompanies her to the store, carrying on an appreciation for vintage clothing that Williams said was passed down from her grandmother and mother.

Williams said she sources the clothing herself through thrifting, but also gets items from people who trust her with pieces they don’t want to donate to a thrift store. She said that she researches each piece and is transparent about materials and pricing.

“If something is silk, I tell them it’s silk,” she said. “If it’s polyester and it has a different price, that’s because it’s a different (material). I do all my research. I do everything that I need to do to get it into the right hands.”

Now about halfway through her three-month Retail LAB stay, Williams said the experience has given her a chance to see what The Lowry Estate could look like with a more visible storefront and regular foot traffic. Her stint ends Sept. 15, when Valbona Vintage, which sells clothing and accessories, will take over the space as the program’s next retailer.

Williams said she doesn’t yet know what her next step will be but hopes it will eventually lead to a permanent home for the business in Farmington.

“I know that when I hand the keys back over to this place, that’s not the end,” she said. “This is just the beginning, and a bigger door is going to open. I don’t know what that bigger door is, but I know that there’s another space out there for me, or another opportunity.”