Brothers Darryl and DeKoven Humes opened the clothing store in 2017 to provide affordable, high-end clothing options to men in the Detroit area.
In mid-May, Darryl was invited to the Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center as part of the annual SHOP313 Small Business Summit, just a few blocks from the Humes brothers’ brick-and-mortar store, Mature, in the historic Fisher Building in the New Center neighborhood, an event co-sponsored by Amazon.
As a neighbor of the Pistons and a small business owner, Darryl found the day-long event very meaningful.
“I’m always looking for ways to continue to grow and learn,” Darryl said. “We’re really excited to build a community with other entrepreneurs, but it’s also about learning from the many experts in the field that help us grow, mature and improve our customer experience.”
Founded in 2021, the SHOP313 program puts the spotlight on small businesses through community exposure, educational programs and social media promotion. The immersive platform was developed to promote and support small business owners and entrepreneurs free of charge.
Pistons owner Tom Gores frequently refers to the Pistons as an asset to the community, and the SHOP313 program is an example of the franchise’s ongoing commitment to the community.
“We continue to look for ways to engage and support small businesses in our area,” said Stephen Welch, Pistons vice president of business operations. “We’ve met three times with small businesses to find ways to help. SHOP313 is a way to help these businesses embrace and learn about e-commerce.”
The afternoon seminar featured various sessions with representatives from the Pistons and Amazon sharing best practices on how to strengthen the partnership and support small businesses through sales, pitching, brand marketing and online sales.
“We think having a sense of community is really important to the success of small businesses,” says Ian Conyers, head of community engagement at Amazon. “From Amazon’s perspective, most people don’t know who they’re buying from, so if you have the opportunity to buy from a woman-owned or veteran-owned business, it’s just another opportunity to support your local community.”
Mature was one of 100 Detroit-area small businesses to benefit from the program, which won the NBA’s Team Partnership of the Year award in its first year.
“We think of our online presence as almost a face card,” Darryl says, “and I feel like most people these days do their due diligence and research online first to see where they want to invest or shop.”
“We’ve been in Fisherville for nearly five years and are considered a central part of the community. We embrace that responsibility while continuing to grow our online experience.”
These programs are important for small businesses: According to the Local Initiatives Support Coalition, there are more than 50,000 small businesses in the city of Detroit owned by entrepreneurs of color.
“We know that the city of Detroit has a small business community that continues to thrive and grow, and we want to continue to support that because we know that at the end of the day, they’re the economic engine of our community,” Welch said.
Since the program’s inception, SHOP313 has benefited more than 300 small businesses.
“Whether we’re in fashion, food and beverage or hospitality, we can all learn from each other,” Darryl said. “This journey can feel very lonely at times, so attending events like these allows people to empathize with the struggles as well as the successes. It creates a true entrepreneurial community.”
SHOP313 is currently backed by Amazon, Comerica Bank and BELFOR. Each business will be selected to host a pop-up display at the Pistons’ 2024-25 home games in the concourse of Little Caesars Arena. Local businesses can learn more and apply to join the SHOP313 platform by visiting pistons.com/shop313.
