 
Detroitrise
Member
Username: Detroitrise
Post Number: 1320
Registered: 09-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 6:07 pm: |    |
Sorry Alan, but "The Town Center" is just too long of a name for me. Fairlane just flows. As long as the Fords named it themselves, I see no harm. |
Fastcarsfreedom
Member
Username: Fastcarsfreedom
Post Number: 223
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 6:28 pm: | |
Was that Child World demolished or does it march on in another guise. Seems to me I've seen buildings with that triple arch design that have morphed into other retailers--correct me if I'm wrong. |
Broken_main
Member
Username: Broken_main
Post Number: 1373
Registered: 06-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 6:32 pm: | |
I was 11 on the day this place first opened. my aunt took me and my cousin and she shopped til she dropped that day. It was busy and the first store we went to was hudsons. On the escalator, we went up to the 3rd floor and my tennis shoe was eaten by the escalator. She made me walk throughout the entire mall with my toes in full view and my cousins were laughing at me the rest of the day. I was so embarrassed I started a fight with my cousin after being taunted by her for 2 hours and my aunt took us home. |
Flyingj
Member
Username: Flyingj
Post Number: 70
Registered: 08-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 7:21 pm: | |
Gannon-a guy who knew the family back in the day said the proper name(or if your Aldous Huxley)for their founder/Dearborn Independent publisher 'round the Blue Oval was "The Old Man" |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1976
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 9:22 pm: | |
Alan55--if we;re really going to get prissy over this nae thing, Henry Ford's Fairlane mansion was built in 1915, not the 20s. The name "Fairlane" mainly reminds me of those awful, huge sedans of the mid-late 1960s.
That, and Henry's private rail car, dubbed the "Fairlane rail car" now at the Henry Ford museum. I took care of that beast in the early 90s. |
Alan55
Member
Username: Alan55
Post Number: 1013
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 10:19 pm: | |
Packman, the name "Fairlane" came from the Ford's ancestral home in Ireland. Yes, both those huge sedans and and The Town Center were tacky then, and now.
Please pardon me for missing Fairlane's build date by 5 years. A huge oversight on my part. |
Arc312
Member
Username: Arc312
Post Number: 50
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 11:07 pm: | |
I remember a Child World store at Livonia Mall (near the now defunct Mervyn's) and at, is it called Novi Towne Center?
Anyway, the set of shops on the south side of I-96 were Bally's is. There is a Border's books where Child World used to be. That Border's has been a mainstay of that strip mall for, what, 12-13 years? |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 179
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 1:12 am: | |
forgot about childrens palace /child world. there was one across from westland on cowen rd, turned into best buy then vacated. now used as a halloween superstore. went to fairlane tc on sunday. still a nice mall, mix of people and lots of families. |
Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon
Post Number: 11234
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 2:43 am: | |
Ain't no proper name for that guy...I call him Hank the Once in jest against the Deuce moniker tagged on his son...nothing more than that.
Thanks, anyways! |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1977
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 8:38 am: | |
Hank the Duce was Old Henry's grandson. Henry and Clara Ford had one child, Edsel Ford, he and his wife, Elinor Clay had had four children, Henry II, Benson, Josephine and William Clay. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 41
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 8:58 am: | |
Did Hudson's Fairlane always have that open ceiling? I thought they got it in the late 80s |
Detroithabitater
Member
Username: Detroithabitater
Post Number: 106
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 9:32 am: | |
The childrens Palace is now a Ford Motor Company building. It's funny, I shopped there as a child for toys and i've worked there as an adult. The high ceilings make good garages.
If you look at the ariel view, you can see that a front building has been added, but you can still see where the turrets and ramparts were. |
Mallory
Member
Username: Mallory
Post Number: 225
Registered: 05-2006
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 9:37 am: | |
Sorry I'm late, I just saw the thread this morning. Fairlane memories? Oh yeah, lots. The monorail was cool for a while, then it got old. Toll Gate had THE best chili ever. I had my first "legal" drink there. I insisted they card me. They weren't going to. Rocky Horror every weekend in 83 and 84 (if anyone told you to sit the f*** down, that was me). Then the manager got a burr up his arse and wouldn't let us bring in any "props." Jerk. Most of my record collection was obtained at Musicland (or I'd go down the street to Dearborn music). Bought lots of clothes at Chess King, and loved the stereo store that was right by the monorail entrance (maybe the floor above). We used to take out of town visitors there, bragging about how great it was. They would walk around, mouths wide open in awe. I once ran into Anita Baker shopping at Lord & Taylor. Back in the day, my younger friends, Fairlane was the ish. |
Ericdetfan
Member
Username: Ericdetfan
Post Number: 243
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 10:09 am: | |
Fairlane is one of nicest malls that I have ever been to. It is well maintained and the 70's decor is not "tacky" at all. Even though it is from the 70's, the decor still meshes well today because its not a overbearing 70's design like a lot of malls that have had to do major remodels over the years. I def think that FTC could benefit from a facelift on the outside, though. and yes, there are too many parking spaces, but back then it wasn't too many.
The practice of naming things "Fairlane" in Dearborn and the surrounding burbs is common. My high school was Fairlane Christian School. |
Alan55
Member
Username: Alan55
Post Number: 1020
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 10:24 am: | |
Eric, That shopping mall was tacky from the day it was built. |
Joeyp1982
Member
Username: Joeyp1982
Post Number: 6
Registered: 12-2007
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 5:01 pm: | |
Alan55,
and you shop where? |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 6939
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 5:38 pm: | |
Gannon
There were no blacks at Fairlane during the period of 1975 to 1978. |
56packman
Member
Username: 56packman
Post Number: 1980
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 6:04 pm: | |
OK--here we go again. Yes, Danny, there were blacks at Fairlane during those years. I remember running into some work friends on my first trip to Fairlane, in 1975-'75 and they were black.
There weren't as many blacks as shop there today, for many reasons, most of which are socio-economic rather than hubbard's goons turning them away at the door, which did not happen. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 45
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 6:21 pm: | |
My grandmother who is black moved near Evergreen and Joy in 1975. I dont think she would have avoided FTC until the 80s! |
Detroitplanner
Member
Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1510
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 7:13 pm: | |
I don't think there are more blacks at Fairlane, just less freaked out white people. |
Durango
Member
Username: Durango
Post Number: 83
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 7:32 pm: | |
Danny,
I have enjoyed reading your posts on this and many other subjects. I was reading another tread and you stated you graduated from Cody in 2003. I am assuming you are gathering your information from older relatives or friends as it relates to the early days of Fairlane Town Center. I can't remember any of my black friends being afraid of to shop at Fairlane in the beginning. Being black, we all knew at that time we weren't welcome to live in Dearborn, but the merchants sure wanted our money. I grew up on Grandville by Chicago and Evergreen. Cody was my local high school. We went to Fairlane when it opened when I was in the 3rd grade. Normally, we would shop at Wonderland when it was open-air mall or the Livonia Mall. I was amazed by how large it was and the multi-levels. My parents still shop there today. I worked there as a high school student in the mid-eighties at Friendly's. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 48
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 7:44 pm: | |
BTW Danny Dayton-Hudson bought Marshall Field's in 1990. The only reason the name was changed to MF was because it was considered more national. They claimed it would allow them to offer more online and mail-order. And Lord & Taylor closed because it was under-perfomring if you recall the incident in summer 2000 with the shoplifter. Well after that L&T at FTC lost its appeal not to mention the store always looked junky and cluttered. I remember I was going to buy a pair of jeans there until I looked inside and found dried up boo-boo in them. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 49
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 7:46 pm: | |
It would be nice if Lord & Taylor was turned into:
-Parisian
-Dillard's (Michigan's first)
-Macy*s Men's & Furniture
-Von Maur
I hate to see it vacant. |
Ericdetfan
Member
Username: Ericdetfan
Post Number: 244
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 7:54 pm: | |
tacky how? |
Sg9018
Member
Username: Sg9018
Post Number: 120
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 8:01 pm: | |
I think Dillard's or Macy's Men's & Furniture chould work in the Lord & Taylor space. I do not think Parisian,Von Maur, Bloomingdales (Macy's upscale sister) will work at the space. If Lord & Taylor can't make it, I do not think these departments stores can. I also think that Dick's Sporting Goods chould work too. |
Onthe405
Member
Username: Onthe405
Post Number: 32
Registered: 11-2007
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 8:26 pm: | |
W_6_mile, a corporate strategy footnote to the Field's purchase by Dayton-Hudson.
D-H operated Dayton's, Hudson's & MF as three separate nameplates for the first 11 years after the purchase of MF. As most people are aware, corporations also have a 5-year, 10-year, and beyond strategy.
As part of the 5-year strategy, the Dayton's & Hudson's names were retired in 2001, because senior management already planned on divesting the department store divisions in order to focus on the Target juggernaut.
They knew the department stores would be more appealing to a buyer if it were only one nameplate--and a world renowned one at that. The period of 2001-2003 was designated as a transition period to spread out rebranding costs, and establish some MF loyalty in Minneapolis & Detroit before a 2004 scheduled sale.
The MF sale to May Stores occured right on schedule in 2004. I doubt D-H anticipated the subsequent purchase of May by Federated (now Macy's, Inc) less than a year later. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 50
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 8:30 pm: | |
Bloomingdale's??? NEVER. The store is only 122,000 sq. ft. and Bloomingdale's operates stores much larger then that. There was a sporting goods store near L&T before the food court opened it closed I think because of the construction of the food court. At any rate I think it was MC Sports. |
Gannon
Member
Username: Gannon
Post Number: 11235
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 9:27 pm: | |
Hubbard was out-of-office by the time the mall opened, and was dead in 1982...according to Wikipedia.
He couldn't have had any effect on how the Fairlane Towne Center did business, other than the oldtime (and unfortunately lingering) street knowledge that driving even THROUGH Dearborn was not a good idea for a person of color.
I had friends who wouldn't drive up Ford Road from the city when I lived west of Telegraph during the nineties.
Believe me, Dearborn's reputation still suffers from that dingleberry's legacy.
56, thanks for the clarity...I didn't care enough to check my facts. Overall, I'm not a fan of Henry Ford...at least his racist and war-profiteering 'parts'.
Cheers...listening to that Frank disc, finally! |
Steamaker
Member
Username: Steamaker
Post Number: 46
Registered: 03-2007
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 1:46 am: | |
My mother worked at Hudsons in the China/Silver department. I used to meet her for lunch in their restaurant. Those are some of my fondest memories. |
Detroitplanner
Member
Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1514
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 12:04 pm: | |
Durango:
Piedmont by Chicago, worked in the mall in the mid-80s! |
Durango
Member
Username: Durango
Post Number: 84
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 12:29 pm: | |
Detroitplanner,
It was a fun neighborhood back then. I will start a separate tread to spur some memories from the forum members in the near future. I was a Friendly Frier for about four months. I discovered that I didn't like working in the food industry. Once spring returned, I went back to mowing laws in the neighborhood. I had two houses on Piedmont that I took care of between Orangelawn and Chicago. I fondly remember shopping at Herman Sporting Goods Store monthly to buy gym shoes and other sporting goods. I still have my Barry Bonds,Senior baseball glove that my father bought for me at Hudsons in Fairlane. |
Alan55
Member
Username: Alan55
Post Number: 1024
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 08, 2008 - 12:51 pm: | |
Joeyp1982 - Not at "The Town Center". |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 186
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 1:55 am: | |
hermans world of sports, schniders sporting goods. my two favorite stores at fairlane. seems so long ago that even hudsons sold baseball gloves. still wear my tigers road jersey i got from schniders back in 85. |
Ptpelee
Member
Username: Ptpelee
Post Number: 29
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - 12:16 pm: | |
Does anyone remember "Captain Chips Potato Ship" it was a restaurant that made it's own potato chips and served hot dogs? It was great food but it only lasted about a year after the mall opened. |
Fastcarsfreedom
Member
Username: Fastcarsfreedom
Post Number: 226
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 1:38 am: | |
I finally checked out FTC on Google Earth--you can definitely see the old roofline of Child World--it's past use is also betrayed by the presence of a loading ramp/dock at the back of the building.
Interesting to check out the local malls using Google Earth. Especially the empty parking lots at Summit Place--and might I add, the MASSIVE park lot at Northland. |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 188
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 2:14 am: | |
i sorta remember captain chips, was that located near the bus stop? |
Danny
Member
Username: Danny
Post Number: 6954
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 8:10 am: | |
56packman,
You friends were there in the 1975 but not every day. But still no full black patronage at Fairlane from 1975 to 1980. |
Ptpelee
Member
Username: Ptpelee
Post Number: 30
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 - 2:40 pm: | |
It was located where the food court is now, across the hallway was Big Boys. On the Sears end of the Mall. |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 194
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Friday, January 11, 2008 - 2:07 am: | |
as i have said before my brain has been bounced around a few times, but i do still sorta remember captain chips, did it look like a long john silvers? as for black people at the mall, i couldn,t say didn,t care about it to even notice back then. |
Maryellen22471
Member
Username: Maryellen22471
Post Number: 45
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 9:48 am: | |
I remember going to Fairlane a couple of times in the 80's and riding the monorail. Is fairlane considered a dying mall? I just went there this week to get some makeup at Macys and Macys needs to be renovated. |
Ericdetfan
Member
Username: Ericdetfan
Post Number: 247
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2008 - 10:27 am: | |
i wouldnt consider it dying..it still has a pretty decient occpancy for its size...in the weekends its always packed. |
W_6_mile
Member
Username: W_6_mile
Post Number: 55
Registered: 01-2008
| | Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 9:53 am: | |
Eric the mall may be packed but are the people buying? And yes Mary Macy's Fairlane need a total renovation. Yet that store is unique and if renovated it would lose its character as Macy's Twelve Oaks has recently. |
Ericdetfan
Member
Username: Ericdetfan
Post Number: 249
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, January 13, 2008 - 10:11 am: | |
I really dont know, but the fact that ppl still go there no matter the race would indicate to me that it is doing fine...If the mall was empty, maybe then. On the other hand you could have a mall that is full of mom and pop and local business, and be devoid of ppl. I would consider that dying, but Fairlane still has plenty of national retailers. |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 202
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 2:39 am: | |
dying malls with mom & pop stores , like wonderland was in the end and like livonia mall was the last time i went there |
Livernoisyard
Member
Username: Livernoisyard
Post Number: 4838
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 5:01 am: | |
Fairlane is now doing what it needs to do in order to survive--attract and keep adult, paying customers. Getting the teeny-boppers out of there at 6 PM was a start. Another was the recent relocation of the main bus stop from the center of the mall to the north side of the mall, by JC Penney's.
I remember being there one time a few years ago, a week or so after Fairlane started booting the kids out at 6PM. There must have been some three dozen security or rent-a-cops there, some with kids in/near their vehicles, or herding out some incalcitrants who wouldn't leave the place on their own. The main bus stop literally had hundreds of kids out there, waiting for their buses. I assume the kids eventually caught on that Fairlane meant business because another time I was there around 6PM, the mall and bus stop were fairly free of kids.
(Message edited by LivernoisYard on January 14, 2008) |
Maryellen22471
Member
Username: Maryellen22471
Post Number: 46
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 14, 2008 - 11:11 am: | |
I also used to go to Fairlane in the mid to late 90's almost every 2 weeks..I used to go on saturday mornings ..Now I only go about once to twice a year. I usually go to Southland or Fairlane Green in Allen Park but my favorite mall is Twelve Oaks. |
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