REVOLVE Detroit: A Quick Turnaround for Local Retail

Posted by: scott @ 10:23 am | Date: October 23, 2012 | Comments (0)
Filed under: All things business,Detroit

As part of the pilot run of its new REVOLVE retail stimulus program, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation has been working with community organizations and building owners in Detroit’s West Village. It’s only been a few months since the program began but there are already new things popping up in West Village.

A few weeks ago I posted about how Trent Design had toured some vacant retail over in the West Village. The whole thing was an open house for potential REVOLVE applicants and we were there as part of our current contract with the DEGC. The event proved to be an interesting one and the spaces we saw were filled with potential. Now, less than a month and half later, they’re filled with customers.

Coffee and Donuts and PRAMU have taken up temporary residence on the ground floor of the Park Shelton building and are already offering their distinctive wares to delighted shoppers. PRAMU (The Pataphysical Research and Metachanic Union Local 313) sells Detroit themed apparel, antique furniture and pretty much anything that happens to strike their fancy. Coffee and Donuts is bit more straightforward but no less unique. They’ve taken a relatively simple concept (offering coffee and donuts) and turned it into a celebration of the city. The menu features several things produced in the city, including coffee roasted right here in Detroit. The store’s artisan donuts are baked by the owner, classically trained pastry chef and proud Detroiter Angela Foster. Four more additions to the Agnes St. retail scene will be announced this weekend.

Check out some before and after pictures of the old Harlequin Café below.

A few weeks ago I posted that Trent Design had toured some vacant retail spaces over in the West Village. It was during an open house being held by the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation for potential applicants to its new REVOLVE program. Trent Design was hired to create the name, logo, branding strategy and website for this dynamic new program. The tour event proved to be an interesting one and we all agreed that the spaces we saw were filled with potential. Now, less than a month and half later, they’re filled with customers.

REVOLVE and its partnerships are the biggest reason behind these new developments. It’s the DEGC’s new retail stimulus program and was launched recently in Detroit’s West Village. REVOLVE focuses on working with community organizations and building owners in the target area in order to help them find the right retail fit for their neighborhood. REVOLVE also assists in streamlining the application process for interested entrepreneurs so that once their application is approved they can move into as quickly as possible. REVOLVE and its partners showed off its potential by getting things rolling in the West Village and we are seeing the results in just a few short months.

Coffee and Donuts and PRAMU have taken up temporary residence on the ground floor of the Park Shelton building and are already offering their distinctive wares to delighted shoppers in the West Village. PRAMU (The Pataphysical Research and Metachanic Union Local 313) sells Detroit themed apparel, antique furniture and pretty much anything that happens to strike their fancy. Coffee and Donuts is bit more straightforward but no less unique. They’ve taken a relatively simple concept (offering coffee and donuts) and turned it into a celebration of the city. The menu features several things produced in the city, including coffee roasted right here in Detroit. The store’s artisan donuts are baked by the owner, classically trained pastry chef and proud Detroiter Angela Foster.

REVOLVE and its partners are far from done in the West Village: Four new full-time tenants have been secured for the remaining retail spots in the area and will be announced in grand fashion this weekend at the annual The Villages Fall Festival.

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Before and After photos of the old Harlequin Café

Midtown Makeover

Posted by: marilyn @ 2:29 pm | Date: August 14, 2012 | Comments (0)
Filed under: All things business,Design,Detroit,Websites

Have you been to Midtown Detroit recently? If not then you’re in for a surprise. Ongoing efforts to reinvigorate the neighborhood have brought in a steady stream of new businesses and residents. It has become a hotspot for new small business ventures and enjoys a building occupancy rate of over 95%. Add some of Detroit’s greatest cultural institutions and the result is a vibrant urban ecosystem, one that hosts an enjoyably eclectic mix of retail, restaurants and entertainment venues.

One of the key players in Midtown’s current economic revival is the aptly named Midtown Detroit, Inc. MDI is the result of a merger between the University Cultural Center Association (UCCA) and New Center Council. Like its predecessors it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community development organization. Given its new identity and larger pool of resources MDI needed a new, more contemporary website and wanted Trent Design to create it for them. Given its positive role in the community we were more than happy to help.

Original UCCA Midtown site: Somebody over there clearly likes russet

The new MDI website was redesigned from the ground up; we restructured the existing information architecture, transferred the site to a more powerful CMS, added new features and gave the front end an updated aesthetic that more accurately reflects the open yet urban feel of the Midtown area.

The new site is designed to be a convenient online resource for anyone interested in Midtown Detroit, especially tourists and young professionals. The homepage layout is clean and inviting. It sports a large image slider that showcases compelling visuals of what Midtown has to offer. It also has a news feed that lets visitors see at a glance how the area is moving forward. The website’s calendar of events, property listings, news and interactive local area directory are all searchable and easily accessed from the homepage. Other sections of the site provide information on available development resources, ongoing community programs and several of the more prominent institutions and annual events in Midtown.

The new MDI site: Less russet, more usability

Being able to put our skills to work for an organization that does so much good for the community was definitely a feel good experience for us at Trent Design. Have to admit though, all the positive feedback they’ve gotten about their new, fully featured website feels pretty nice too.

Check out MDI’s new site here.

Raising the (Steel) Bar: A Business to Business Website Re-imagined

Posted by: marilyn @ 11:16 am | Date: April 3, 2012 | Comments (0)
Filed under: All things business,Detroit,Websites

Eaton Steel Bar Company's New Home Page Design

Nowadays every business needs an online presence, even if it’s just your basic brochureware site. Eaton Steel came to us because they wanted more. They wanted a website that captured the essence of their company and worked just as hard as they do to make their customers’ lives easier.

With these criteria in mind we envisioned a fairly straightforward site for the client. Its content would focus on Eaton Steel’s products and services. Short, sweet and to the point. Of course, this was before we had a thorough understanding of everything Eaton Steel does for its clients: luckily that’s what discovery meetings are for.

Discovery meetings are part of the immersion phase that we go through for all our projects. It’s an opportunity to research, interview and fact find everything we can about a company and their culture. We’ll also bring the key players to the table during this period in order to discover how they envision the project helping their business. The insight we gain into the less obvious aspects of our client’s business during this stage lets us build a more robust product for them that enhances their sales and customer service process.

What we discovered about Eaton Steel is that they have always gone that extra mile for their customers. The company started off in 1953 as a steel brokerage that excelled at getting their customers what they needed when they needed it. Their growth since then has been designed around expanding and improving what they can do for their clients. It’s been the key to their success and informs everything they do.

Providing superior customer service has always been a cornerstone of Eaton Steel’s business model and was exactly the sort of thing that their new website would need to emphasize. To do this we added a ‘Solutions’ section that goes over all the things that Eaton Steel does to optimize their clients’ steel supply chains. We also produced a short video that talks about the additional business lines that Eaton Steel has added over the years in order to better accommodate their customers in their steel supply chain process. A second video that we shot for the ‘About Us’ section talks about their history and highlights the company’s “what else can we be doing for our customers?” mentality.

The client trusted us to use our design and communication skills to their advantage and the result is an innovative and dynamic website that represents their company in an authentic and genuine way. It has been a great partnership for everyone involved.

“Everyone at ESBC is extremely pleased with the new website. We have received great feedback from our customers and internally.” – Craig Cipa, Eaton Steel, Inside Sales Manager

Visit the site and let us know what you think.
www.eatonsteel.com

Everyone is a Leader at Trent Design

Posted by: admin @ 10:28 am | Date: August 14, 2011 | Comments (0)
Filed under: All things business

There have been some internal changes at Trent Design with opening up a second office and my longest standing employee, Chantal Oudin, leaving to start a family. It has reminded me of the importance of leadership and how imperative it is that all people who make up our organization practice it. You can see the effects of leadership at all levels of engagement with employees, vendors and clients.

In the creative industry, we are leading our clients on a daily basis. They come to us for decisions on how to present their company on every level, from their graphic image to content, PR and marketing. This is a task that we all take seriously. We believe in ‘designing responsibly’ and each decision is methodically analyzed, reviewed and then executed. What this has to do with leadership is, that at any given time, when one of our team members says… “What about this idea?” they are leading. If you think about it, from that point of view, it takes the mere ‘worker’ mentality to the next level of empowerment and a new way of looking at themselves, their colleagues and our clients.

Many years ago I realized that I was leader when I took a workshop based upon John C. Maxwell’s book, “Developing the Leader Within.” Boy was that a surprise. I thought I was going to solve clients communication problems, hire more people when I needed them and we would all go merrily down the stream. It was not quite like that—you need leadership skills but the good news was that I found out that they can be learned. This workshop opened up my mind to a new way of viewing myself and my relationships—not only at work but at home.
Each one of is a leader at any given moment throughout our daily lives. It does not stop when the workday ends. Many of us are parents and that is a leadership role we will have for the rest of our lives.

I ask you this; as you go about your tasks throughout the day, jot down what you see that you do in leading and what others do. Be objective and make a note of what is effective and what is ineffective. Let me know what you discover.