from “le détroit” · the strait
Tamela Todd's bookstore and Michigan wine bar opened on Michigan Avenue after years of grant rounds and buildout, with five Detroit employees and a literary events program.
Sip-N-Read, a combined bookstore and wine bar, has opened in Corktown at 1620 Michigan Ave., Suite 122, inside The Corner development. The 2,400-square-foot space pairs curated shelves with a beverage program built entirely around Michigan wine.
Owner Tamela Todd, a Detroit native, mental health coach and published author, spent years assembling the project before opening the doors. According to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Sip-N-Read worked through multiple rounds of the city's Motor City Match program, drawing space and design assistance in earlier rounds and a $65,000 grant in Round 23 that funded buildout, equipment and supplies. The DEGC lists it as the 193rd Motor City Match business to open and says it employs five Detroiters.
The concept leans on Todd's two interests at once. The wine list is all Michigan-made, poured by the glass, and the house pour, the Library of Rosé, is exclusive to the bar. For guests who are not drinking, there are mocktails, plus charcuterie and food pairings. Todd has said she drew on book bars she visited in Denver, New York, Paris and Rome.
"Detroit deserves a space like this too," Todd said in the DEGC announcement. "As both a writer and a wine enthusiast, I wanted to build a place where people can come together to sip, read and connect, right in the city where I was born and raised."
The store's programming is built around its events calendar rather than walk-in retail alone. The schedule includes book clubs, wine tastings that spotlight Black-owned winemakers, live music, monthly book-and-wine pairings, and an author series the shop calls Publish and Pour. The space is also available to rent for private gatherings.
Sean Gray, the DEGC's vice president of small business services, framed the opening as the program working as intended. "She didn't just get one grant and disappear," Gray said in the announcement. "She worked with us through multiple rounds, building her vision step by step."
The location puts Sip-N-Read in a stretch of Corktown that has seen heavy reinvestment, near the Corner Ballpark and within walking distance of the reopened Michigan Central Station. Current hours run Thursday and Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m., with Wednesdays held for members and private events. Hours and the wine list are posted at sipandread.net.
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