Minority-owned investor group to buy Detroit Popcorn Company

The owner of the nearly 100-year-old Detroit Popcorn Company plans to sell the business to a minority-owned investment group.

The move comes after former owner Evan Singer made racist comments on social media, which followed a boycott of the Redford Township-based popcorn and party rental business. This caused previous owner David Farber to come out of retirement to take the business back. 

According to Singer in an interview with Fox 2 Detroit, he was reacting to a video of damage to a Target store when he wrote "they wonder why they need knee’s on there necks.” The comment came amid protests after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.

Now Farber is selling the Detroit Popcorn Company to the Harris Financial Group Ltd., a minority-owned investment group based out of Pontiac. Farber had explained his intent to sell the business to The Detroit News last week, saying the company is struggling financially after Singer's post. 

Harris Financial Group managing partner Ken Harris announced the intent to purchase this week. 

“This was a business idea that just ‘popped’ for us,” said Harris in a press release. “Millions of people, myself included, absolutely love popcorn and associate it with some of the best times of our lives — from going on a date to the movies on a Saturday night and pulling your kids in the wagon at the zoo to cheering on your favorite team at sporting events — popcorn is part of it.”

Farber will not hold any ownership stake in Detroit Popcorn Company once the deal goes through (it's expected to close in the next 30 days), but has been invited to stay in the company's orbit in an advisory capacity during the ownership transition. 

mbaetens@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @melodybaetens