So Long Shinola
The Shinola store at Ossington and Queen has closed. The announcement should not have been a big surprise—the company announced layoffs in July and earlier this month it was reported that they had laid off nine more Detroit-based employees and planned to outsource leather design and product development.
On Monday, Mr. Andrew noticed a story announcing that Shinola’s Toronto Boutique was shuttering so we went downtown to pay our last respects. Everything was marked down 80 percent, which meant by the time we got to the shop, there were like 22 straps, five watches and some key fobs left. The rest of the space was cleaned out.
The brand is not kaput, just restructuring. I hope they will endure. I admire Shinola for what it did for Detroit’s Renaissance even if some naysayers who say that the made in USA hype was more marketing than business plan. It still inspired other manufacturers to invest in the Motor City. So I bought a wrap strap as a momento.