Hey friends, Jer here.

On Friday, Detroit’s retail scene turned to a new chapter when the Apple store opened up on Woodward Avenue.

During the press preview I looked out onto Woodward, remembering shopping with my mom in the 1980s, being dragged around from shop to shop. At the end of it all, heading up to Grand Circus Park to eat at Flaming Embers, her favorite restaurant.

If you didn’t know, it was in the ground floor of the Broderick Tower where the most generically named drinking establishment in Detroit resides, “The Detroit Sports Bar.”

I have heard a lot of criticism in some corners around the retail that’s going in downtown — be it this, or Gucci, or anything else.

But Downtown Detroit used to be the place to get everything. The center of the Michigan retail universe.

This is a step toward reclaiming that title. And I know some worry about big brands coming in, but you’re supposed to have a district of destination retail shops that work as a draw to then benefit the locally-owned and smaller stuff a block or two (or in the case of Downtown Detroit, just an alley) away.

That’s how a functioning retail district in the real world works.

People who buy AirPods and MacBooks and iWatch straps and are interested in technology classes – also have money for Bon Bon Bons. Or The Lip Bar. or 3 Kings Sports Cards. Or Iggy’s Eggies. It all works together.

But there was more to this than your regular store opening. I knew it the moment I realized that Apple CEO Tim Cook was in the room, talking to Detroiters and Detroit-area companies that are collaborating with Apple.

Detroit put the world on wheels at the turn of the last century. Detroit was home to the arsenal of Democracy during World War II. Before that, we were an epicenter of production of cigars that we made at factories across the city — and homes heated and meals cooked with our stoves.

I like stories of history and old buildings as much as the next nerd, but that old Detroit had massive inequality, poor quality housing, and there were many places where if you were the wrong color (or religion) you couldn’t go.

The Detroit of today needs not just more jobs — but ways to plug the people here today into those jobs to improve their stations in life. Especially our younger talent.

With technological advances and new processes, what we did before won’t get us to where we need to be. The world has changed, and the skills our people and our companies need to adapt with it.

Enter two programs looking to help make a dent: The Apple Developer Academy and the Apple Manufacturing Academy.

The Developer Academy, in partnership with Michigan State University, has been going for awhile (here’s where I interviewed someone from Apple on that back in 2021). They say they’ve pulled more than thousand people through their programs.

The space where students learn the basics of coding, design, and business in the First National Building off Campus Martius is impressive.

But the new news is the Apple Manufacturing Academy. Now, that’s a different kind of thing, and I want to dispel some myths around what it is — and is not.

This is not about iPhones being assembled in Detroit.

Although I know that would get all the headlines because many of our leaders are still obsessed over manufacturing plants in this region, I would argue, over the long haul, what they’re doing could be more valuable.

The Apple Manufacturing Academy is about companies, not individuals. Small and mid-sized businesses ranging from a dozen to hundreds of employees.

”What we're trying to do is bring some of our knowledge about smart manufacturing, A.I. and other things, to and make it accessible to these businesses and have give them access directly to Apple engineers to address their specific issues,” said Shawn Henze, senior director of product operations for Apple.

“Last month we did our first event. It's a two-day workshop where we present classroom style materials to these companies. Then we do one-on-one consultations with all of the companies to talk about their specific issues. And we customize our approach with them on a one on one basis so that we're providing something that's really useful to them.”

The free program is about spending time with the product, logistics, and other experts Apple has and doing sessions with local companies on how to use what Apple has learned in their business. There were companies from across Metro Detroit and the Midwest.

“It’s a great experience. They gave us a consultation, and some classes where they explained how they use some of their technologies and their principles … and since then they’ve been working with us and supporting us to find new opportunities in our processes,” said Jimmie Comer II of Detroit-based LM Manufacturing, a seating supplier.

In their case, the focus is on supporting workers through training and using technology to increase quality control.

One of the most important things you can have when you’re trying to build out something is the perspective of someone who’s been down some of these roads before. New eyes to help see problems differently.

I think back to a recent trip to Chicago where I met with other local media folks to see what’s working there — and not copy, but adapt things. It’s helped a lot. Fresh perspective and outside experience matters.

So yes, I’ll be shopping at the new Apple location on Woodward. But really, I’m looking forward to who and what new things come out of these academies.

Learn more about the Apple Developer Academy here and the Apple Manufacturing Academy here.

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Remember that you are somebody, and we’ll talk soon.

-Jer

p.s. You know I can’t leave without a music recommendation. I heard this house music-feeling track “Oh Yes” mixed by DJ Paris Green, featuring samples from Motown legends Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell when picking up some things at the Eatori market in Detroit. I’ve not been able to get it out of my head. I know it’s not new, but it was new to me and maybe new to you.