Monday, October 4, 2010

Model D: Motor City Wine

The feature 9 months in the making...

"The good buzz has been building for nearly a year and -- yes, Detroit, finally! -- Motor City Wine is officially open for business.

'In mid-July, Motor City Wine celebrated its actual opening after nearly 11 months of practicing the age-old art of sit-and-wait. Not to mention several soft, unofficial openings (that drew standing room only crowds, by the way).

'Owners David Armin-Parcells and Mark Szymanski have waited patiently for the city to extend Foran's Grand Trunk Pub's shared liquor license to include the additional bar permit enabling MCW to sell wine as well as serve it, but those 'in the know' are already familiar with their monthly tastings/parties. 'We kept doing events once a month to keep things fresh and keep people talking about us,' says Armin-Parcells. Word of mouth is make-or-break in this city, but the problem was that word of mouth was so strong for MCW 'it was confusing for people.'

But now, this will likely turn into MCW's greatest advantage. Being in a narrow space on the second floor of Foran's Deluxe Diner, you kind of have to be in the know to even find the place. 'We have a small sign out front to let people know we're here, but you really don't need a sign,' Armin-Parcells says. Lack of foot traffic to this upstairs location is also not a concern: 'Detroit is a city full of places that you just sort of know about,' he says.'We want to be that kind of place...'

Read the rest of the article here.