A majority of Detroit’s city population relies on the city bus system for transportation; however, most bus stops do not have benches. If you have to wait for a bus, it’s tiresome to stand. It’s even worse if it’s cold outside. The cold is very conducive with Michigan’s long winters.
Sit On It is a community supported social entrepreneurship organization. Sit On It was started by two millenial entrepreneurs names Kyle Bartell and Charles Molnar. Kyle and Charles solved Detroit’s bench-shortage by using reclaimed wood from homes that were deconstructed. Kyle and Charles take these bus stop benches a step further by converting the lower part of the bench into a book shelf. Now, citizens of Detroit can read while they wait for the bus!
In the future, Sit On It Detroit is hoping to continue providing benches for fellow Detroiters. They hope to set up benches throughout the city. The company recently moved into a new 10,000 square foot space. Kyle and Charles have expanded their business to building custom furniture pieces for restaurants.
Sit On It was originally funded by the micro-funding organization called Detroit SOUP. Check out my other blog about SOUP.
Stay warm, Detroit, and Sit On It!
This shows how ANY idea can be made into a reality. No matter the use nor novelty, if someone is determined to put bookshelf benches in a city, they can do it. Gotta love entrepreneurship.
This is really cool! They must have had a lot of vision for this in order to get the funding and see it through. I love the books under the benches idea! Also, It’s neat to see that they have been able to expand their business to other custom furniture.
This is an awesome story and an amazing company. Just goes to show that hard work definitely pays off. Glad these two took the initiative to create something that is so small but can reach and help so many people in a great way!
It is encouraging and inspiring to see young entrepreneurs looking at little problems that many people face everyday, and deciding to tackle it. In turn, they have been able to create a successful business because of this and now can help employ other people. This is a great story, and hopefully there are more business like this that start to pop up around the country.
This idea is such a neat venture! They found a need that a majority of the population of Detroit has, and created a way to solve that problem in a creative and purposeful way. I especially like how they went above and beyond by adding the bookshelves.
Very interesting idea. Who funds it now that it is no longer funded by SOUP? I always find it interesting to see how social ventures get funded. Obviously something like this isn’t as sexy as some other social entrepreneurial ventures.