1701 Bespoke to Open New Detroit Flagship Store in Midtown

After more than a year of arduous searching, custom mens' clothier 1701 Bespoke has finally found a home in Midtown. Known for their bespoke (e.g., handmade to order) coats, suits, shirts and tuxedos, the company is hard at work on its new Detroit digs at the corner of Woodward and Willis ahead of a planned fall opening. Bespoke 1701 co-founder Max Schmidt tells Curbed that he and his partner Tom Daguanno began searching for a permanent flagship space since January 2014.

The long journey home for 1701 Bespoke began with a space on Woodward near the Hudson site, but with two inches of ice on every stair, Schmidt and Daguanno knew it'd take a full year of rehab to make the storefront a realty. When that building didn't pan out, the pair tried another downtown building, but its elevator, one of the oldest in the city and just the 70th elevator ever installed in the Detroit, would've cost $250k to get up and running.

After the elevator debacle came investment in another building that got almost all the way to the white box stage when the landlord and contractor decided go to war with each other, leaving 1701 Bespoke and their gorgeous menswear out in the cold. After months of negotiations with yet another landlord, the duo still found themselves on the hunt. Schmidt says he "could talk your ear off about landlords from what I've learned in the past year and a half."

Last Friday, Bespoke signed with landlord Robert Cobb, former owner of Cobb's Corner (now the Spiral Collective). The Midtown space has exposed brick, large windows, and was in decent shape, allowing for a fall opening for the new flagship store in Midtown above Zeff's. "We signed the deal with Cobb on Friday," Schmidt told Curbed Detroit. "We can't wait to start the build out process."

·Custom Clothing Company to Open Fitting & Show Room in Midtown [dbusiness]
·1701 Bespoke [1701 Bespoke]