Detroit native opens ‘beauty mall’ on the city’s Avenue of Fashion

Detroiter Katrina Belin recently unveiled Pink Diamond Beauty Mall on the city’s Avenue of Fashion, aiming to create a haven where local women can nurture both inner and outer beauty.

The space, located at 17350 Livernois Ave., has been dubbed Michigan’s first-ever “beauty mall,” offering an array of services including manicures, facials, massage therapy, and lash extensions, alongside amenities like a mindful meditation room, yoga, reiki, spiritual guidance, and more.

On Thursday, the mall celebrated its launch as a recipient of a Motor City Match grant at a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. Established in 2015, Motor City Match aims to help start new, permanent businesses and expand existing businesses in Detroit by assisting in their launch and growth process.

Belin says she applied for the award three times before being chosen to receive $50,000 in 2022, which helped her finish renovations to open the space and finally achieve a long-term dream.

With two decades of experience, Belin’s journey in the beauty industry began as a model at 19, later branching into fashion with her own line of jeans. In 2011, she opened Pink Diamond Couture, a clothing store at Seven Mile and Greenfield. She quickly realized that women who were shopping for outfits for special occasions were also often in need of getting their hair, nails, and makeup done. So, in 2013, she opened a mini beauty bar in the back of the boutique.

By 2017, the business was outgrowing its space, and Belin says she always had a big vision of opening a larger-scale beauty business. “I knew that I wanted a safe space for women to come to have everything under one roof,” Belin says.

Once she had her plan down for the beauty mall, Belin says she looked at around 10 to 15 buildings a day for about two months before finding the current property in February 2017.

Belin says she felt that having this space right in the heart of Detroit was important so people in the city have access to somewhere local to keep their “mind, body, and spirit alive” and a space that positively highlights Black businesses.

“A lot of my friends and family initially said that the idea I had should be put somewhere else, possibly Bloomfield or Novi, but I felt like it was very important to have something like this right here in our community,” Belin says. “Livernois was a perfect place. It’s a lot of other African American entrepreneurs over here who are thriving.”

The space needed lots of TLC before being ready to open.

“It had been sitting for about five to seven years, it had a fire in the building so everything was molded and dry rotted out and it just had been vacant for such a long time,” she says. “The process really began with me putting my own funds into it to revitalize it, to try to bring it back to life. We started, it didn’t have electricity, didn’t have floors, ceiling tiles, and things of that nature, so I kind of started from there. I knew since it was such a big building and me paying out of pocket that I was going to have to take it in levels.

Despite these difficulties, Belin pushed through and operated the mall at partial capacity while renovations were in progress. Now, almost all of the offerings are ready to go, including typical salon and day spa services such as cosmetology, manicuring, makeup artistry, and esthetician services for full body waxing and facials.

However, Belin emphasizes that Pink Diamond Beauty Mall does not just focus on outer appearance, but also physical and mental health as well.

“It’s really inner and outer beauty so that women can find healthy perceptions and healthy versions of themselves in and out,” she says. “This place is a safe haven for women to be able to come in and release and relax and kind of just get away from the daily stressors of the world, a place where they can kind of call their own.”

Pink Diamond Beauty Mall also offers memberships where women can have access to a package of special services on a daily basis. Plus, the mall will host quarterly women’s empowerment events and business networking events to uplift women beyond just beauty.

Looking ahead, Belin says she plans to expand the team’s 13-member staff with hires from the local community. She also has the goal to open the mall’s outdoor patio space with hot tubs so that women can come and soak up the sun.

Her long-term vision includes expanding the Pink Diamond Beauty Mall concept to the Lansing or Grand Rapids area, then eventually into other states.

Pink Diamond Beauty Mall is now open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. You can take a look inside the space below.