The team behind Clawson's Loc@l bar is taking its no-kitchen, drinks-only concept into the heart of Detroit's sports and entertainment district. Loc@l plans to open a second location at 44 W. Columbia Street, a cobblestone pedestrian corridor sandwiched between the Fox Theatre and Little Caesars World Headquarters, directly across Woodward Avenue from Comerica Park.
The move was first reported by WhatNow, which detailed plans for a 120-guest space that will include an outdoor patio for additional seating. Co-owner Jacob Kruk, who also operates the original Clawson bar at 143 E. 14 Mile Road, said the choice of city was not close: “the consensus was Detroit,” according to WhatNow's report. The new location, per Crain's Detroit Business, will occupy roughly 1,800 square feet within the larger 40,000-square-foot Columbia Street walkway.
Loc@l will sit west of Woodward Avenue next to Frita Batidos' Detroit location and across from Sunda New Asian and Union Assembly, placing it inside a cluster of restaurants that has taken shape on Columbia Street in recent years. The storefront itself has retail history: it previously housed the flagship shop for apparel brand Detroit Vs Everybody, which opened there in December 2023 after being displaced from Eastern Market, according to the Ilitch Companies News Hub. Sunda New Asian itself only opened its Columbia Street outpost in March 2026, underscoring how quickly the corridor's dining lineup has filled in.
A Bar Built to Lean on Its Neighbors
Unlike a typical sports bar, Loc@l does not run a kitchen at either location. At its original Clawson spot, which debuted in September 2024, the bar encourages patrons to bring in outside food or order delivery from nearby restaurants rather than cooking anything in-house. That same model is expected to carry over downtown, meaning the Detroit location will function as a place for drinks after dining on West Columbia Street rather than a dinner destination in its own right.
That structure leans heavily on the restaurants already surrounding it. With Frita Batidos, Union Assembly and Sunda New Asian all serving full meals within steps of the new address, Loc@l's owners are betting that diners will wander over afterward for the drink menu. That lineup is set to include 12 taps pouring classic and local brewery beers, five specialty cocktails, a beer and shot menu, and wines and seltzers.
Sports Collectibles Business Runs in the Family
Jacob Kruk co-owns Loc@l with his father, George Kruk, who also co-owns Kruk Cards, a sports trading card business headquartered in Rochester, Michigan. George Kruk founded the collectibles company in 1987 as a Michigan State University freshman and grew it into a full-time operation by 1991, dealing in sports cards, game-worn jerseys and Pokémon collectibles, according to The Detroit News. Kruk Cards expanded onto the online marketplace Temu in August 2025, and curated card bundles had grown to represent roughly 20% of the company's online sales by April 2026.
The family's collectibles background dovetails with the new bar's location. Columbia Street sits within The District Detroit, a sports and entertainment cluster on the north side of downtown that encompasses all four of Detroit's major professional sports franchises, anchored by Little Caesars Arena, Comerica Park and Ford Field. Game and concert crowds moving through the pedestrian corridor could give the Kruks' bar a built-in audience of sports fans before and after events, much like the collectibles side of their business already caters to.
Targeting a March Madness Opening
Converting the former retail storefront into a 120-guest bar with patio seating will require municipal permitting and interior build-out, which helps explain the long runway to opening. Jacob Kruk said he hopes to have the Columbia Street location ready by March Madness 2027, per WhatNow's reporting.
Back in Clawson, Loc@l has built its following through community programming rather than food, hosting weekly Sporcle pub trivia nights on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., alongside BOGO drink specials. Clawson's dining scene has seen turnover in recent years, from the April 2025 closure of James Beard Award-winner Hajime Sato's Sozai sushi to the national acclaim earned by retro Korean gastropub Noori Pocha. Clawson also created its own downtown social district under Michigan law MCL 436.1551, joining more than 15 Oakland County municipalities and over 70 Michigan communities that allow outdoor open-container drinking, a framework neighboring Rochester adopted with its own ordinance this month.
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