Extract from Time, vol 103, No 12, 2014.
"The factory floor is silent but not empty. Dozens of workers dressed in crisp white lab coats, hairnets and matching Crocs are maneuvering dollhouse-size hand tools and manipulating minuscule parts to assemble wristwatches. With loupes to eyes, one line builds the movement - the timepieces' quartz-powered brain. Another line does nothing but put the dials in place while another set the hands, fix the case backs and lash the leather straps. This isn't a clean room in Geneva or a Chinese factory in Shenzen. These movements are taking place behind the floor-to-ceiling glass wall that separates Shinola's Detroit headquarters from its sprawling state-of-the-art factory."
"In addition to the factory, Shinola has helped revitalize a desolate stretch on the old Cass Corridor, an area better known for prostitutes and drug dealers by opening a store in an empty factory there last June. Today the spot is thriving with new businesses. 'This area was our skid row', says Jeanette Pierce, director of community relations for D:hive, a nonprofit group that connects Detroit's resources and businesses. 'Sixteen months ago, there were maybe four small shops. Today there are 16 and a brewery.'"