our Story

Nest is the sister store to City Bird next door, and this year we’re celebrating the 14th anniversary of our small, family-owned company!

Siblings and lifelong, seventh-generation Detroiters Andy and Emily Linn founded the business in 2005 as a way to merge their love for design with their desire to contribute to the vitality of their city and neighborhood. In 2009, they opened their eponymous flagship retail store in the Cass Corridor in Midtown, Detroit, where they showcase design and handmade goods by more than 200 artists from throughout the Great Lakes region, as well as their popular house line of locally-themed products, produced in their Detroit-based studio. Today, City Bird is the oldest store in Detroit’s popular Cass and Canfield shopping district.

In 2011, the Linns expanded their brick-and-mortar retail offerings by opening Nest, their complementary shop next door, which features accessible design, with a focus on gifts and home goods.

The shop is located in a history-filled former industrial space with vintage fixtures, including a long wall of 1920s oak library shelves rescued from the now-demolished Cass Technical high school, 1920s rolling shelves from a shoe factory, and a meticulously restored general-store counter, which combine with our nearly floor-to-ceiling windows to bring warmth and light to the interior of the raw space.

In the shop, we showcase our selection of home goods and gifts, which includes beautiful glassware and bar accessories, modern decor, retro toys, local foods, and indulgent candles, soaps, and apothecary items. However, our most popular items are our lush plants, including succulents, tropical houseplants, and air plants, and accompanying contemporary plant-related decor, including hanging glass globes, terrariums, and planters. We strive to offer unique, quality goods for every taste and budget.

This website is the online home for Nest, where you can learn more about our in-store offerings, and access our online shop, which features a selection of some of our favorite items from both City Bird and Nest.