Innovation & Job News

Ypsilanti's RealKidz gets microloan, adds 4

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

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Entrepreneurship, University Of Michigan

Ypsilanti

A year ago the Detroit Free Press began following two Washtenaw County startups for a on-going series about entrepreneurship in Michigan. One was a high-flying internet company run by a Silicon Valley veteran based in downtown Ann Arbor. The other was a retail company focused on selling over-sized kids clothes run by a recent U-M grad in Ypsilanti's Depot Town.

Many businesses don't make it past the one year mark, especially in local and national economies widely considered to be among the worst in generations. If this writer had to bet on one of the two surviving, he probably would have put his money on the internet startup. And he would have been wrong.

Ypsilanti-based RealKidz is kicking off its third year with more employees and more funding, aiming for a year of more growth. It went from employing just its founder and CEO Merrill Guerra and one other employee at the start of 2009 to four employees this year.

It also just received a highly competitive loan from the Eastern Washtenaw Microloan Fund. That money is meant to pay for commercialization of its product and help get the company through its lean early years.

"It enables us to really get the product out in the marketplace," Guerra says.

RealKidz makes clothing that fits larger children, mainly girls. The Ann Arbor SPARK East tenant was started after Guerra was watching her own girl, then five, play with kids and talked about the inadequacies of kids clothing with other mothers there.

"I couldn't believe this market isn't being served," Guerra says.

Source: Merrill Guerra, CEO and founder of RealKidz
Writer: Jon Zemke