Shinola, the Detroit company known best for its pricey watches, has just opened a second assembly line and next week will begin manufacturing leather-based products like watch straps, wallets and iPad cases in the same building, the Motor City Muckraker reports.
The work is being done on the fifth floor of the College for Creative Studies A. Alfred Taubman Center for Design Education.
Steve Neavling of the Motor City Muckraker reports that Shinola recently hired 30 new employees to help manufacture the leather products.
Shinola assembled about 50,000 watches last year and expects to manufacture 150,000 this year, he reports.
“It’s quite exciting to be able to grow like we want to and provide good jobs to Detroiters,” President Jacques Panis said Thursday, according to the website. “We really are just trying to keep up with the demand.”
Neavling reports that two years ago, Shinola had six employees and today it has 247 -- most working in Detroit.
