Eastside Golf opens first store at Detroit Metro
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Eastside's DTW store. Photo: Courtesy of Eastside Golf.
Eastside Golf, an apparel company that began in an apartment on Jefferson Avenue, just opened its first U.S. store at Detroit Metro Airport.
The big picture: From its humble start nearly a decade ago, Eastside Golf has ascended to an international brand, boasting partnerships with the PGA Tour, NBA, Nordstrom, Dick's Sporting Goods and others.
Zoom in: Eastside is selling sweatshirts, polos, bucket hats and other items adorned with the brand's Swingman logo inside the 300-square-foot DTW store near Gate 34 in the McNamara Terminal.
- Hoodies retail online for up to $145 and polos cost up to $85.
Catch up quick: Co-founder Olajuwon Ajanaku created Eastside's logo about eight years ago while living in the since-rebranded Jeffersonian Apartments, while working in finance.
- He felt unfulfilled in banking and applied to more than 50 golf-related jobs, but was rejected every time.
What they're saying: Those rejections helped shape the brand's logo — a Black man wearing a sweatshirt, jeans and a gold chain while swinging a golf club.
- "I was tired of trying to fit into a mold. Why not come into the sport as I am," Ajanaku tells Axios Detroit.
Flashback: Ajanaku grew up in Atlanta (where the Eastside name originated) and played golf at Morehouse College with Flint native and Eastside co-founder Earl Cooper.
- "To be able to open our first store in a city that has so much meaning for both Olajuwon and me feels like a full circle moment for our brand," Cooper said in a statement.
- The company's other store is in Tokyo.
What's next: A ribbon-cutting is planned this month with Mayor Mike Duggan.
- "I pitched this brand to over, I'd say 250,300 people, in Detroit. They said 'no.' But now, every time they go to the airport, this is what they walk past," Ajanaku says.