Marou in the Motor City
Starting a new chocolate company, and exporting from Vietnam is not an easy task. Especially when there are many great artisanal chocolates on the market in the US, Europe and Australia. However, and fortunately for us, there are curiosity seekers who are always looking for something new and exciting, and aren’t afraid to take risks for their taste buds. Data-slappin’ MBA marketers now coin them “early adopters”, and for Marou, Astro Coffee in Detroit, Michigan was the first shop in North America to sell our chocolate. We’re quite grateful!
Astro Coffee is a truly unique coffee shop in the US serving great coffee, gourmet sandwiches, salads and pastries. This soulful neighborhood café in the Cork-town district, set in a 1880’s shop house, is the dreamchild of owners Dai Hughes and Jess Hicks. Using mostly recycled materials and found objects from abandoned buildings; they’ve created a unique setting to express their passions for the world’s finest coffees, and inspired culinary delights. One year later, Jess and Dai are truly pioneers in a growing movement that’s rekindling life into the remains of what was once the 20th Century’s most important industrial city.
Dai Hughes, wearing a t-shirt from Brittany (second from the right)
What’s left from these glory days are some of the most impressive pre-depression era buildings of any city in the US. Sadly, most of them have been neglected for decades, and are the detritus of a past civilization now beginning to fall into the hands of profit-minded developers.
Astro Coffee is located across from the abandoned Michigan Central Station which was built in 1912 and was the world’s tallest train station. It was designed by the same firm that created New York’s famous Grand Central Station.
With urban decay being so omnipresent, one can’t help to ask, “what went wrong for this to happen?” The simple explanation is that inner city Detroit suffered two great economic blows that sent it spiraling down to become one of the country’s poorest cities. The first was the 1967 race riots with the rampant destruction of property which only exacerbated the “white flight” (the affluent population leaving for the new suburbs) phenomenon which had been occurring since the 1950’s. The second was the two-fold effect of the oil crisis, and the growing might and presence of Japan’s industry on American soil. The once dominant behemoth’s of the great American car industry were now struggling to keep up with production costs and innovation.
Majestic silent movie palaces left behind for suburban multi-plexes.
In recent years, economic recovery has never been strong or sustainable enough, and most development efforts to improve the city have shown little results to attract companies, and residents. However, among the urban decay lay opportunities for inspired and conscious entrepreneurs like Dai and Jess to bring life back into these haunted structures and streets, and show the unique possibilities that their city has to offer. Thanks to their efforts, new community minded businesses are mushrooming every day!
We hope to see it for ourselves with some great food and coffee in January.
Looks like Frédéric Chopin could have played here or the Sex Pistols!
**We would like to thank Astro Coffee (http://www.astrodetroit.com/) and the very talented french photographers, duo Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre for the use of their photos. Please take a look at their splendid work, http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/index.html**
