Riverwards Market

Known for its carefully curated selection, Riverwards offers fresh produce, grocery staples, and specialty items — all with a focus on quality, sustainability, and supporting regional farms and producers. The store combines fair pricing with exceptional quality, making great food more accessible without compromise.

For Riverwards founder Vincent Finazzo, who was born in Detroit and recently moved back to the city, this opening is personal. “I’m passionate about bringing what I’ve built and learned back home,” Finazzo says. “Riverwards is about community, and I’m excited to contribute to Detroit’s growing local food scene while providing fresh, honest food for my hometown.”

This marks Riverwards’ first expansion outside of Philadelphia and a major investment in Detroit’s food economy. Riverwards joins a number of anchors in the burgeoning Little Village neighborhood including the Shepherd cultural arts center, Pewabic, and numerous nonprofits and small businesses such as Signal-Return, Progressive Arts Studio Collective (PASC), and Coup D’etat in the neighboring LANTERN building. The neighborhood is quickly becoming a food & beverage destination with recent openings by Father Forgive Me and Cøllect, with James Beard-award winning Warda and Cafe Franco opening very soon. Little Village was recently included in TIME’s World’s Greatest Places 2025 list.

The adaptive reuse of the 7,000 square foot building was thoughtfully considered by the development team. The property once housed a food processing facility prior to sitting vacant for several decades, which caused irreparable damage to the block façade and roof structure. Designed by Ishtiaq Rafiuddin, founder of Detroit-based design studio Undecorated, the building will take on a new identity on the outside. However, most of the interior glazed brick walls and terrazzo floors have been salvaged throughout the process. New openings in the façade will flood the space with natural light and provide a direct connection to an outdoor courtyard designed by Julie Bargmann of D.I.R.T. studio. This greenspace will take shape on a former parking lot and will offer seating and programming opportunities for the public.