According to Dana Precious’s son, her downtown Muskegon grocery store is, “like industrial Muskegon had a love child with funky L.A.”

The “little hometown grocery store” carries local produce, organic products, craft beer and wine, food to go, fresh meat, deli, and toiletries and hosts special events like wine and beer tastings.

Precious is a Muskegon-native who spent years working as a creative director in the fast-paced world of Hollywood. The financial crash of 2008 caused her company to downsize, and Precious suddenly found herself an out of work single-mom living off of her savings and investments. Eventually, she sold her home and lost most of her assets.

When she returned to Muskegon to start anew, she saw an opportunity to forge her own destiny in a downtown that was starting to blossom again.

Precious worked with GROW to consolidate her debt, repair her credit and develop a business plan in order. GROW collaborated with Northern Initiatives to create a loan that would suit her needs, and connected her with the City of Muskegon and an angel investment group for further funding.

Boomtown is located in a food desert, an urban area in which grocery stores are scarce.The store not only provides a convenient location for locals to access quality food, but it serves as a symbol of economic development. The store is located in a 3,200 sq. ft. space on the first floor of the Lake View Lofts, a newly constructed multi-use building that is a part of the revitalization of downtown Muskegon.