The Detroit Shoppe Pays Motown Renaissance Forward

On a visit to Detroit, I shopped Troy's glorious Somerset Mall North. Among the uber-riche venues, Tiffany's, Juicy, Salvatore Ferragamo and Marc Jacobs, is The Detroit Shoppe. Dedicated Detroit renaissance, 100 percent of proceeds go directly to Motown.

Billed as "Part Museum. Part Retail Store. All Detroit," The Detroit Shoppe was supposed to be a holiday-only venue. The Detroit Shoppe sells reproduction Detroit artifacts, Motor City memorabilia, books on landmarks and history and Made in Detroit gear and Detroit-made products. All monies made at The Detroit Shoppe go to support the restoration and renovation of the city.

I've lived in Michigan all my life, but I'm a Lake Michigan girl; I had not been to Somerset Mall before. On my holiday visit, I stayed with my cousin and he introduced me, both to Somerset and to The Detroit Shoppe.

Both of us are historati; we promptly plunked down and began poring over Arcadia Images of America books on vintage Detroit movie theaters and the history of Detroit Police Department. My husband's dad was a cop in Muskegon in the 1930s; Dad told us stories about the gangster Dutch Anderson and Det. Hammond who brought him down. My father-in-law would have loved the retro merchandise in the Detroit Shoppe. Our friends drag us out of the store.

The Detroit Shoppe sells fun food products like Vernors (America's first Civil War era soda) and Faygo (remember the Great Gildersleeves Faygo commercial?), Badass Beer, Better-Made Potato Chips and Red Pelican Mustard sit side-by-side cultural artifacts. Collectibles from the Detroit Institute of Arts, DSO, Pewabic Pottery, the Fisher Theater, The Henry Ford and Detroit's own seasonal farmers and ethnic Eastern Market.

The Motor City is of course the auto capital of the world. So naturally there's car memorabilia, replica artifacts from the Big Three and "Made in Detroit" Chrysler/ Eminem stuff. There are replica street signs, Detroit Tigers goodies. Apparel lovers can browse the Pure Detroit baseball caps, tee-shirts and accessories. Incognito sells Kid Rock duds, too.

Reading Freep today, I was delighted to see that The Detroit Shoppe is reopening at Somerset. The lease is good until Christmas Eve. That's exciting for Detroiters and Michiganders. Thanks for the memories, for teaching us new things about the Motor City and for paying it forward, Detroit Shoppe.

From Copper Harbor to Niles, from her beloved Grand Haven (on Lake Michigan) to Detroit, Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben is all about "Pure Michigan". She writes about Michigan politics, history, culture, natural resources and people for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.