YES THEY ‘CAN’! Married entrepreneurs rebound from COVID adversity with cool idea

Linda and Mike Stone are pictured with just a few of the locally-made items that are placed in their Detroit Can Co. cans.
How much edible Detroit-themed joy can fit into a standard paint can?
Quite a bit — especially when Linda and Mike Stone are doing the packing.
The Stones, a married couple who reside in Farmington, are the owners of Livonia-based Detroit Can Co., a business that offers three sizes of specially-designed plastic paint cans stuffed with made-in-Motown goodies — everything from Street Eatzz 313 Hot Sauce (made in Royal Oak) to Kar’s Salted Peanuts.
The cans (available in one-, two- and three-and-a-half gallon sizes) are perfect gifts for loved ones who have moved away from the Motor City and miss the region’s unique and tasty offerings — or for southeast-Michigan residents who simply can’t resist pleasing their palates with local flavors.
Worldwide appeal
“We’ve shipped out orders all over the world,” said Linda Stone. “We recently sent out cans ordered by families to their sons and daughters who are serving in Japan.
“They make great gifts — and local residents who love Detroit-made snacks buy cans for themselves to satisfy their cravings.”

The company offers close to 30 collections of cans (the most popular being the “Michi-Can Collection”), the contents of each can be found on its website.
Along with listing the items each collection holds, the site lists WHAT’S NOT IN THE CAN: “Empty space”.
Mike Stone said they added an “American Can Co.” option for orders they received from non-Detroiters for non-Detroiters.
“For instance, we had one order come in from the East Coast to someone who lived on the West Coast,” he said. “The cans are still filled with Detroit-made items, but having ‘American Can Co.’ on the outside of the can made more sense than ‘Detroit Can Co.’.”

Detroit Can Co.’s backstory is as satisfying as the cans’ contents.
Reinventing their business
For several years, the Stones ran a successful family fundraising business that assisted several amazing Michigan-based organizations and charities.
They would take their products to hundreds of events every year — until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, bringing their thriving business to a screeching halt due to the spread of social isolation.
“We learned pretty quickly that we needed to pivot,” said Mike Stone, who, like his wife, is a graduate of Livonia Stevenson High School.
Throughout their first venture, the Stones cultivated countless strong relationships with business owners who specialized in made-in-Detroit brands.
Two years and counting
These unbreakable bonds led to the Detroit Can Co., which launched in November of 2021.
“At first, we thought of a concept that focused on gifts for guys, because men are hard to buy for,” Linda said. “The theme was, ‘Buy your man a can’ and fill it with items like toiletries for one can, poker-playing items for another can, things like that.
“We quickly realized this could be expanded to snacks, specifically locally-made snacks.”
Once the Stones pitched their idea to the local business owners they knew, their plan was emphatically embraced.
“We made sure our cans included items from the bigger, more-well-known companies like Germack and Kar’s, as well as smaller businesses like Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle and Small Batch Detroit Mitten Bite,” Linda explained.
Always evolving
The Stones routinely add new can combinations, some of which follow a holiday theme (the “Ho Ho Ho Can Collection”), for example.
“In November, we added eight new cans,” Mike said. “We’re always evolving and changing.”

In addition to selling their cans online, they attend farm markets and gatherings that generate large crowds, like events at Dearborn’s Greenfield Village.
“We’ve received nothing but positive feedback,” said Linda. “Once people understand what are cans are about, they love the idea.”
The Stones said their cans have been used as gifts for members of wedding parties — and even placed in hotel rooms of wedding guests who travel to southeast-Michigan from out of town.
Multiple purposes
“We’re hearing, too, that people are coming up with ways to repurpose the cans once the snacks have been consumed,” Linda said. “Some people use them to hold their tools; and we heard about a college student whose dorm has community bathrooms, so she carries her toiletry items from her dorm room to the bathroom in one of our cans.”
The Stones and their loyal staff often burn the midnight oil, so to speak, in their Eight Mile Road office.
Smiling, Mike Stone quipped he and Linda work “637 hours” most days to keep up with their steady stream of orders.
Joyful jobs
Like most small-business owners, the Stones are hands-on, doing everything from placing the eye-catching “Detroit Can Co.” stickers on the front of the cans to writing personalized notes for corporate orders.
After observing the Stones in action for a brief period one recent evening, it’s obvious they love what they’re doing.
And what they offer is spreading worldwide joy — one can at a time.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.