A little more than a year after its debut in Hamtramck, Mich., Kitab Cafe and Bookstore is opening a second location, in Midtown Detroit, the Detroit Free Press reported.
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| Kitab's original location in Hamtramck | |
Co-owners and husband-and-wife team Ahmed Alwhysee and Asma Almulaiki plan to open the new location in early February, in a space on West Willis St. that was previously the flagship location of a bakery and cafe called Avalon International Breads. The Midtown location will have a larger food menu than the store in Hamtramck, and a similar selection of nonfiction books pertaining to topics like Islam, personal growth, and spirituality.
The Hamtramck store opened in January 2023, and Almulaiki and Alwhysee quickly realized they'd "underestimated the need for a cafe in Hamtramck." Initially, Kitab had only self-serve coffee; now they serve tea, coffee, and a variety of espresso drinks. The business's name means "book" in Arabic, and the Free Press noted that Hamtramck has a large population of immigrants from Yemen and Bangladesh.
Alwhysee and Almulaiki, who both grew up in Hamtramck, did not expect to open a second location so soon, but felt they couldn't pass on the location. Alwhysee added: "We're hoping that it becomes a staple in the Cass Corridor like Avalon used to be. They kind of set the bar really high, so we're trying to meet it."