Green Grocer Program helps Detroit entrepreneur open store built as a “counter” to unhealthy food options

•        Karlyta Williams opens The Counter Detroit, a small-format grocery footprint inside Shops on Six at Live6 Alliance in Detroit’s Bagley neighborhood, using a $25,000 Green Grocer grant to stock the store with fresh, affordable food

•        Opening marks the third Green Grocer Program ribbon cutting since the program relaunched in 2024, putting the city halfway toward Mayor Mary Sheffield’s commitment to open six Green Grocer-backed stores this year

•        Williams named the business after her great-grandparents’ Southwest Detroit grocery store and built it as a counter to the processed food options that dominate the neighborhood

•        The Counter sits a few doors from Williams’ first business, Mockery Zero Proof, Detroit’s first nonalcoholic bottle shop and micro-bar

•        Applications for Green Grocer’s fourth grant round are open now through Aug. 17, giving other Detroit grocers a chance to follow Williams’ path

AUGUST 3, 2026 (DETROIT) – Mayor Mary Sheffield, the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) and City leaders joined Karlyta Williams today to celebrate the opening of The Counter Detroit, the third Green Grocer Program ribbon cutting since the program relaunched in 2024. Williams received a $25,000 grant to open a small-format grocery inside Shops on Six, a new community marketplace in Detroit’s Bagley neighborhood.

A counter to the norm

Williams grew up watching her great-grandparents, Ike and Ruth Lewis, run Lewis Market out of a building in Southwest Detroit. It was the only grocery store in the neighborhood owned by the people who lived there, and it doubled as a gathering spot where kids waited for their parents after school and got their first look at a video game console.

“My great-grandparents owned a small grocery store in the neighborhood where I grew up, and it was the only grocery market locally owned by people who lived there,” Williams said. “They were the first example of entrepreneurship I saw before I had the words to put to it.”

That history contributed to the name. The Counter is literal, a place where residents can walk up and buy the groceries they need. It’s also an alternative to unhealthy food options in Detroit neighborhoods.

“I named it the counter because it’s this play on words,” Williams said. “The counter that people used to walk up to, and the counter I used to stand behind handing out candy. But it’s also the counter, the pushback, and that’s the same lane I’m in with my first business, Mockery Zero Proof, which pushes back against alcohol being the only way we gather socially.”

Williams opened Mockery Zero Proof at 7400 W. McNichols in November 2024, making it Detroit’s first nonalcoholic bottle shop and micro-bar. The Counter operates a few doors down, inside the 400-square-foot grocery footprint at the front of Shops on Six at 7434 W. McNichols.

Green Grocer grant turns a small grocery vision into reality

Williams used the $25,000 Green Grocer grant to buy her first round of grocery inventory and cover early operating costs. The store will carry fresh produce, organic and non-GMO staples, ready-to-heat meals for seniors and international snacks, alongside dishes from guest chefs rotating through the space.

“You shouldn’t have to go to Whole Foods just because you don’t want to eat things that are chemically based,” Williams said. “There is something very right about having these things available to you within footsteps of your porch.”

Mayor Mary Sheffield set a goal this year of opening six Green Grocer-backed stores across Detroit. The Counter Detroit is the third, putting the City halfway to that commitment.

“Karlyta saw a gap in her neighborhood and built something to fill it, and that’s what we ask of entrepreneurs in this city,” Sheffield said. “The Counter puts us halfway to my commitment of six Green Grocer stores this year, and Detroiters are going to keep seeing more corners turn into markets like this one.”

“Karlyta took a $25,000 grant and turned it into a grocery store, a marketplace anchor and a tribute to her family, all at once," said Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, which administers the Green Grocer Program. “That’s a return on investment that changes a neighborhood.”

Shops on Six brings a full marketplace to McNichols

The Counter anchors Shops on Six, a marketplace developed by the Live6 Alliance to replace a former liquor store on the corner of San Juan and West McNichols. The Strategic Neighborhood Fund financed the project, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation funded the build-out.

Shops on Six will offer four categories of goods once fully occupied: grab-and-go healthy groceries; home goods and essential supplies; apothecary and personal wellness items; and boutique apparel, accessories, jewelry, art and paper goods. Five additional Detroit-owned anchor brands, Dewey Dealer, Moy Hair Essentials, Eat Beauty, Sweet Aroma Candle Co. and Candidly Speaking, will stock shelves alongside The Counter, with more vendors joining ahead of a September grand opening.

“Shops on Six is about giving neighbors a low barrier to entry to sell their products and a place to grab daily essentials without driving to the suburbs,” said Caitlin Murphy, executive director of the Live6 Alliance. “Once every storefront is filled, this becomes a full marketplace where local entrepreneurs and neighborhood shoppers meet in one spot, and that’s when the whole vision comes together.”

“The Strategic Neighborhood Fund exists to create opportunities like this in our small business corridors,” said Nate Barnes, vice president, Neighborhoods at Invest Detroit. “We helped shepherd this building from vacant to development with the intent of turning it over to Live6 Alliance to bring it back to productive use. The Counter opening its doors here is what that work is all about.”

Green Grocer’s track record and return

Green Grocer launched in 2010 and ran until 2017, when funding limitations forced a pause. The program strengthened Detroit’s grocery sector during those years by supporting neighborhood grocers and widening access to fresh, healthy food. It helped generate more than $50 million in investment during its first phase, provided over $1 million in facade and technical assistance funding and loan financing to more than 40 Detroit grocery businesses, and supported 115 jobs across 14 stores.

Coleman A. Young II, Detroit City Council President Pro Tempore At-Large, championed the relaunch and secured funding to bring the program back in 2024 after a seven-year hiatus.

The program prioritizes small-format grocery stores, hybrid food concepts and convenience retailers that expand access to fresh and healthy food close to where residents live. Applications for the fourth round of Green Grocer grants are open now through Aug. 17.

Interested businesses can learn more about the Green Grocer Program and small business resources at www.degc.org/greengrocer.

About Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC):

Detroit Economic Growth Corporation is a non-profit organization that serves as Detroit’s lead implementing agency for business retention, attraction and economic development. DEGC is led by a board comprised of business, civic and community leaders. Its staff provides services for key public authorities that facilitate incentives and other forms of financing for projects that bring new jobs and investment to the City. DEGC also manages important initiatives to support small businesses and grow neighborhood commercial corridors. DEGC is dedicated to inclusive development and access to economic opportunity.