There's a Little Bachelor in Everyone, Thank Hugh
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Style, design and panache: it isn’t what you’d expect from a guy who put in hours on Capitol Hill, wanted to go to medical school and worked in an IT department. But it’s exactly what you get from Joe Posch and his newest store in Detroit.
“Hugh is designed to feel like a very hip, early 60s bachelor pad,” Posch said.
The retail storeowner graduated with a degree in secondary education, but providence found Posch in the form of Studio M, a former resale shop in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood that introduced him to world of design.
“It was literally just the most beautiful little store that you ever saw,” Posch said.
After visiting the Belmont Avenue shop, Posch felt inspired by well-designed, mid-century modern style. More than a decade later that interest manifested as Hugh, a vision that started as a pop-up store and transitioned into a brick-and-mortar Midtown location in 2012 after Posch won Hatch Detroit (a competition that awards $50,000 to one Detroit entrepreneur).
“In a way it was getting back to my roots in retail,” Posch said.
The Skinny:
- Fun Fact: Posch bought Hugh’s Danish modern shelves from the Detroit Institute of Arts after its building was renovated.
- Hugh
- 4240 Cass Ave.
Detroit, MI 48201 - hugh@thankhugh.com
- 313.831.4844
Books and what else? Booze
Unlike Mezzanine, the former high-end furniture store Posch
owned for nearly 10 years, the aesthetics of Hugh pay tribute to a contemporary
take on the classic, mid-century modern bachelor pad. Danish modern shelves
line the charcoal gray and billiard green walls (finds Posch snapped up from
the Detroit Institute of Arts). The space feels open, almost gallery-like with rows
of items sitting on shelves.
Vintage Cado System shelves and cabinets lining Hugh's walls
While Hugh’s point of view is masculine, that doesn’t mean Posch only caters to the 20-something males of Detroit.
“A bachelor pad has always been about impressing, entertaining and being open,” Posch said. “It’s about being stylish. You may not have all the money in the world, but it’s about having some good things and knowing how to use them.”
So forget about man caves (shrines often dedicated to sports, recliners and escape). That’s not what Hugh about. Instead, the store is dedicated to exploration, design, function and detail.
“We have a lot of the bar basics," Posch said. "The things you need if you want to set up a bar at home.”
Case in point: the six cocktail shakers Hugh sells. Any one will get the job done, but it’s the little details that make a difference. Are you more Parisian-style, Boston or traditional three-piece? Need something cheaper, or looking to splurge?
“Everybody likes something a little bit different,” Posch said. “It’s nice to have some options and to say you know something about why you have the cocktail shaker you have.”
Regardless of which you pick, it all comes back to good design at Hugh—the same consideration that drove traditional bachelor pad style, Posch said. What better way to impress the woman (or man) you bring home?
