Detroit Institute of Bagels (Photo: O'Connor Real Estate)
After seven years of selling bagels in Corktown, the Detroit Institute of Bagels plans to pack it in.
The popular business is up for sale, along with its building at Michigan Avenue and the Lodge Service Drive. DIB has been closed for the majority of the pandemic, but reopened briefly at reduced capacity in May.
The decision to sell is largely personal, said owner Ben Newman, who had difficulty balancing work with childcare during the reopening and wants to focus on family.
He and a former partner spent two years renovating the long-idling space before opening in 2013, with Corktown on the cusp of a comeback.
"At the end of the day I feel OK about selling," Newman said in a text message. "DIB was as much an urban planning/place making project as it was a love for bagels."
The building is for sale for about $1.6 million and the business and equipment are available for an additional $600,000. Newman hopes to turn over the keys to another bagel maker and says he has some promising prospective buyers.
The business was profitable before coronavirus and had 25 employees, Newman said. The city OK'd expansion plans March 10, the day Michigan reported its first Covid cases.
