Business

Detroit couple's business outgrows their kitchen, so Grand River shop is next step

December 23, 2019, 3:07 PM

Four years after developing a home-based business, northwest Detroit entrepreneurs Jai and Robert Griggs are opening a pressed juice shop in the Grandmont Rosedale area.


Robert and Jai Griggs grew up in the area where they'll open a shop.

The couple makes smoothie meal kits and cold pressed juices, which they'll offer "soon" at Juicing with Jai, 19550 Grand River Ave. They've been peddling the products online and at pop-ups.

The venture grew from her efforts to lose weight after pregnancy, with progress chronicled on social media. The steps from personal diet to money-making are described at a community blog hosted by the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corp., which says "both grew up in the Grandmont area and attended Edison Elementary School." 

She took to juicing and saw rapid results, losing more than 80 pounds. She also shared her strategies with friends online.

As Jai puts it: "So many of my friends wanted to participate, so I started shopping for them. I was showing them how to make a lifestyle change and soon I was being paid for my work."

Friends gave referrals and referrals became customers. As Robert recalls: "I think the majority of our followers came from Jai's testimony in real life. Seeing that transformation made them want to come on board."

Devotees include 2,500 members of a "90-Day Workout Challenge" group on Facebook

Smoothie and juice varieties include apple ginger, apple cinnamon, sweet potato, "Carrot Bomb," beet juice and pineapple water. 

The couple looked at their family kitchen—now converted into a full-time juicing operation—and saw that Jai's personal goals had morphed into a lucrative business concept. . . . 

They did vendor events, speaking engagements, televised interviews and partnerships with several businesses in Royal Oak.

The development group's post doesn't indicate how soon the storefront next to Pages Book Shop will be ready. Grand River neighbors also include Detroit Vegan Soul and Spa-A-Peel, a seven-year-old beauty care salon founded by Wanda Bynum. 

The entrepreneurs appear in this six-minute Fox 2 News segment with Deena Centofanti, which aired in September:


Read more:  Grandmont Rosedale Development Corp.


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