Cherries, and lots of them, are a Michigan thing. And metro Detroiters are in for a sweet (or tart) taste of Michigan cherries.
Cherry Republic, a notable retailer of all things cherries, is opening a location in downtown Birmingham.
Signs for Cherry Republic, an up-north Michigan retailer and mail-order outfit born in quaint Glen Arbor decades ago, are in the window of the former Detroit Guitar store at 243 W. Maple in Birmingham. The location is next to West Elm and between Henrietta and South Bates streets.
Erika Bassett, executive director of Birmingham’s Shopping District, confirmed to the Free Press that the retailer is coming to downtown Birmingham and expects to open in September.
Cherry Republic has nine stores throughout Michigan, with its Ann Arbor locations the closest to metro Detroit.
With its motto of “Life, Liberty, Beaches & Pie” you’ll find more than a bowl of cherries at its stores. Cherry republic store shelves are lined with an abundance of cherry products from salsa to sweets to mustards to barbecue sauces. There’s also chocolates, coffee and tea. On its website, Cherry Republic offers a variety of gift baskets available for shipping.
Cherry Republic products, according to its website, “celebrate Michigan’s Montmorency tart cherry.” They feature more than 200 cherry products.
There’s also a charitable arm. Cherry Republic boasts that it donates 1% of all sales to Michigan farmers, renewable energy initiatives and land preservation.
It was in 1989 that Cherry Republic founder and Glen Arbor native Bob Sutherland got the idea for a T-shirt promoting Northern Michigan as the Cherry Republic. The T-shirt, according to its website, featured its “Life, Liberty, Beaches and Pie” motto, and Sutherland sold them out of the trunk of his car.
Several years later, Sutherland created the retailer’s Original Cherry Boomchunka Cookie, selling it to local merchants in western northern Michigan.
It was 1995 that a small storefront in Glen Arbor emerged, where Sutherland made, packaged and shipped more than half a dozen cherry products.
Cherry Republic now has nine stores throughout Michigan, from Ann Arbor to Mackinaw City.
Contact Detroit Free Press food and restaurant writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news and tips to: sselasky@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SusanMariecooks. Subscribe to the Eat Drink Freep newsletter for insider scoops on food and dining in metro Detroit.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cherry Republic store to open in downtown Birmingham
Reporting by Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Susan Selasky, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
