For husband-and-wife entrepreneurs and owners of Festive Essentials, Nikunj Jain and Tahura Holly, their journey from their apartment to a 2,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar store in Hamtramck was a major transition that took seven long years.
First came identifying a sustainable business model to meet a need – which is to provide traditional bridal jewelry and accessory options for Southeast Asian style weddings, a concept created out of their own experience getting married in Southeast Michigan.
Next came identifying the product and verifying demand, part of which occurred when the couple temporarily moved to India after their wedding and would bring back jewelry as gifts or at the request of friends.
After returning to the U.S., they knew they had a viable online and pop-up retail business, and Festive Essentials was born. Inspired by India’s rich cultural heritage and Tahura’s love for traditional antique jewelry, Festive Essentials provides timeless, authentic bridal jewelry that was previously difficult to find in Southeast Michigan.
When the business outgrew their apartment, they moved to temporary operations out of another store. However, they eventually needed to expand to their own location. With it came the ancillary issues that arise from owning and operating a business with a physical retail location.
The couple worked through everything involved with renting or purchasing a facility, decorating and furnishing it, and paying for utilities, security, and numerous other items that had nothing to do with their product but were needed to expand the business.
“It took us seven years to get here, so we wondered: Do others have seven years to spend doing this?,” said Nikunj. “We thought about how to build a place where these small businesses that are currently operating from home can come to the next step before they are ready to get their own brick-and-mortar location.”
The couple knows a thing or two about small business support through their own experiences having leaned on NEI grantee ProsperUs Detroit for funding to help build out their location for Festive Essentials. They also received funding support from Michigan Women Forward, another NEI grantee, along with access to other resources to aid with legal, grant, and financial paperwork.
That experience motivated Nikunj and Tahura to launch Hamtramck Bazaar – a for-profit small business and retail accelerator that caters to the diverse immigrant community in Hamtramck, and is located next to Festive Essentials.
Set to open this spring, Hamtramck Bazaar has space for up to 13 small business owners to rent space and sell directly to customers without taking on the expense of buying and maintaining their own facility.
Hamtramck Bazaar provides utilities, inventory storage, and retail space, while also providing marketing services to attract customers. The idea is for tenants to stay for a year or two as they scale into a small business that is ready for its own location. Coaching in business basics such as inventory management and business plan development is also provided.
“We want to help others in our community be able to accelerate that piece of starting a business. We handle all the back-end stuff, so the small business owners can come in and purely focus on growing their product and business.”
Nikunj Jain, Co-Owner and Co-Founder, Hamtramck Bazaar
Learn more about the business here.