Interphase expands to Detroit market with Haworth showroom

Grand Rapids-based office furniture dealer Interphase followed clients into the Detroit market with the opening of a new showroom. 

The Haworth Inc. dealer opened the temporary location in the Chroma Detroit building at 2937 E. Grand Blvd. in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood, down the road from the historic Fisher Building, and expects to have a permanent showroom within the city limits in the next few months. 

By opening a Detroit store, Interphase wants to serve existing clients that are based in the Grand Rapids area and have a presence in the Detroit area, and to become part of the city’s economic renewal. 

The new location positions Interphase into what owner and President Johnny Brann Jr. called a “great place to do business in Michigan and they’ve been growing” and offers an opportunity to “do some great things with the business leaders over there.” 

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“We’ve done some other business over there with companies that are headquartered primarily here in West Michigan, so we had that opportunity already. This was just another expansion opportunity for us to do more business in a market that we already had some time in,” Brann told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business. 

Interphase wants “to be in the middle of everything that’s going on and help contribute to what we can do in that community and that market,” Brann said. 

“As we saw that opportunity continue to present itself as we were doing business there, we thought we’d go straight into the market,” he said. “We’ve seen what’s going on over there and we’ve been part of it already to a point. We just want to be a part of what’s going on in that great market and be a part of what they’ve building over there. It’s just a great opportunity for us to expand.” 

The Interphase East location is the company’s third in Michigan. Founded in 1981 and owned since 2018 by Brann and CEO Dave Shaffer, Interphase also has showrooms on Leonard Stret NW in Grand Rapids and in Traverse City. 

The dealership primarily represents Holland-based Haworth, which recorded $2.3 billion in sales in 2023, plus numerous other furniture makers. 

Haworth previously had one Detroit-area dealer, ISCG in Royal Oak, plus a dealership in Lansing, DBI Business Interiors.  

Interphase has more than a dozen clients that are based in West Michigan and have offices in the Detroit area, Shaffer said. 

“There’s a pretty regular stream of business that we already have within this space,” Shaffer said. 

In making the move into the Detroit market, the executive leaders at Interphase felt it was important to base a dealership within the city. 

“The building where we’re temporarily locating now seems like a spot that’s up-and-coming in Detroit and we want to take part in it,” Shaffer said. “How the whole city of Detroit has grown and just the opportunity that’s there, we wanted to be part of the community and the fabric and felt that was the best spot for us to grow. 

“To be part of something that’s up and coming is how we’re looking to grow, too.” 

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