  Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 121 Registered: 08-2007 |
7/grand , kressge,s and federals/ oh yeah krogers | ||
Kville Member Username: Kville Post Number: 89 Registered: 04-2007 |
Irish_mafia - There WAS an A & P at 7-Mack (in addition to Wrigley's). A & P stood alone and faced Moross between the hospital and the building where Cunningham's, Woolworth, Kaybee Shoe Store was. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2626 Registered: 10-2003 |
Kville is absolutely right! We used to shop at the 7-Mack A&P every Thursday evening (payday!). It was right on Moross just north of the power/utility station. | ||
9936sussex Member Username: 9936sussex Post Number: 52 Registered: 10-2007 |
I LOVE Topor's pickles! A bar that I once visited used to serve them up as a free appetizer....I used to love them with a Bloody Mary. (yes....I'm weird) | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1150 Registered: 10-2003 |
Thanks Kville and Kathleen...fuzzy memory here | ||
Durango Member Username: Durango Post Number: 38 Registered: 10-2006 |
Wonderful trend and comments. My Dad bought my first bike at the Sears on Grand River and Oakman in 1973. Hopefully, this picture brings back some fond memories to those a little older than me. I only enjoyed the area for a brief time until all the business left the area by the late 1970's. The source of the picture is the Wayne State University Virtual Motor City Collection. http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/ i/image/image-idx?sid=ea455928 5301056874e6310536d90223&med=1 &q1=shopping+centers&rgn1=vmc_ ti&c=vmc&ox=0&oy=0&lastres=1&r es=1&width=750&height=604&maxw =1500&maxh=1209&subview=getsid &lasttype=boolean&view=entry&v iewid=47212_1&entryid=x-47212- und-1&cc=vmc&quality=1&resnum= 14&evl=full-image&image.x=152& image.y=78 | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 124 Registered: 08-2007 |
i,m getting old but not that old, sears across from federals at gr&oakman then wards and federals at gr&greenfield. i used to go to the one at 7/grand and at wonderland. federals was bigger then i thought. | ||
Tponetom Member Username: Tponetom Post Number: 181 Registered: 06-2007 |
How far back do you want to go regarding shopping venues in Detroit? You won’t get much older than me. (I regard Ray 1936 as my kid brother.) Circa 1938 through1950. A “regional” shopping center on the east side of Detroit was on Gratiot and Seven Mile road. Federal Department Store, Montgomery Wards and other small shops I cannot recall were the main tenants. Harper and Van Dyke had a smaller conglomeration of stores that were very popular. However, Sears, Roebuck, on Gratiot and Van Dyke was very dominant all by itself. Gratiot Avenue, from downtown, all the way out to Eight Mile Road was solid with any and all kinds of stores, merchants, restaurants, (greasy spoons) car dealers and theaters. Jefferson, Kercheval, Mack and E. Warren had a plethora of small business’s but in no way did they approach the volume of Gratiot Avenue. Gratiot had a streetcar line and the street was widened some time in the early forties to accommodate the increase of traffic. The Mile roads, (6,7,8) had their share of business’s but most people did not have an easy way to shop “out in the sticks.” Most day by day neighborhood shopping was done,,,,ta da, in the neighborhood. C. F. Smith Stores were omnipresent. If you were walking anywhere in Detroit, you were never very far from a Smith’s grocery store. (I am going to post a story about C. F. Smith on the Detroit Connection venue.) A. & P. (The Great Atlantic and Pacific) stores were prolific, as well. Around or about 1939 or so, A. & P. dropped a nuclear bomb on the grocery business in Detroit, What did they do? They opened the first SUPER MARKET in Detroit on Gratiot Avenue near Rohns and Crane. Now get ready for some incredible statistics! (Cut me a little slack on my accuracy.) The average size of a neighborhood corner store varied between 20 feet by 30 feet and/or perhaps as big as 30 feet by 40. So I am saying about 600 square feet to 1200 was the norm for most stores. The A. & P. SUPER MARKET had to be 60 feet wide by 80 feet deep. A preposterous 4800 square feet! What an innovation! When I compare shopping in those Dinosaur Days with the present time, there is one word that speaks volumes. That word is, simply, CHOICE. Today, one aisle of food in a super market would overflow ALL of the food in a corner store in the forties. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5696 Registered: 11-2003 |
Durango, jjaba wants more photos. That was incredible. Thanks. Notice the center lanes on Grand River which were reversible for rush hours. Note that Grand River has no center line. There were overhead signs stating keep out 7-9am or 4-6pm. During the daytime and on weekends, the street was evenly divided. The progressive lights enabled a driver to run from downtown to Telegraph Rd. without stopping for any lights at 35 MPH. jjaba, Westside newsboy. | ||
Msamslex Member Username: Msamslex Post Number: 19 Registered: 06-2007 |
When I was little we always shopped at Grand River & Oakman. My mom went to Sears to buy her nurse's uniforms. Federal's was across the street. Went there for LP's and cheap 45's. Don't know if anybody remembers the tunnel underneath Grand River. You could walk from Sears to Federal's or the reverse. Can't remember where you entered or exited the tunnel or if it was outside or in Sears or Federal's. At the end of the tunnel there was a snack bar where they had good hot dogs. My mother always bought me one on the way to the car. I think it was on the Federal's end of the tunnel but correct me if I'm wrong. Meyer's jewelry was on the corner of Grand River & Oakman. I think there was a Winkelman's too. Cunningham's drugstore was across the street on the Sears side but W. of Oakman. There was also the men's shirt shop? in a building down from Cunningham's on Oakman. Can't remember the name but I think they had several locations in the city. Of course Sears is torn down. Don't remember what happened to Federal's right after they closed but in recent years it was a Shopper's World, now it's a church. Meyer's jewelry is a beauty supply I believe. | ||
My33 Member Username: My33 Post Number: 3 Registered: 11-2007 |
Tponetom, you hit it pretty much dead center with your post. We moved from the eastside of Detroit, corner of Charlevouix Pennsylvania to the northeast section of Detroit also corner of Fairmont and Alcoy in 1943. This was not far from 7 and Gratiot. It had just about any type store you could ask for. I would walk to Gabriel Richard school, which was west of the shopping strip a few blocks. It was a great place to go.. | ||
Durango Member Username: Durango Post Number: 43 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jjaba, Here is another photo for your viewing pleasure compliments of the Wayne State Virtual Motor City Library. This picture may have appeared on a prior tread. http://dlxs.lib.wayne.edu/cgi/ i/image/image-idx?sid=9e63cbbe 5948fb8dc154c37872b7cec4;med=1;q1=mcnichols;rgn1=vmc_t i;c=vmc;evl=full-image;quality =1;view=entry;subview=detail;l asttype=boolean;cc=vmc;entryid =x-48500;viewid=48500;start=1; resnum=4 | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5697 Registered: 11-2003 |
Durango, thanks. You are batting one for two. The 2nd pic. didn't come up. It is important to note that these regional canters on urban arteries were where we shopped outside of downtown. There were no expressways nor shopping malls then. Grand River Ave. was US 16 and went all the way out to Lake Michigan or so we were told. It certainly went to Lansing and Grand Rapids. It took us to Boy Scout Camp at Charles Howell Scout Reservation in Brighton. Today, that's million dollar houses on Lake Brighton. Oakman and Grand River was close to Tappan Intermediate so jjaba rode his bike from there to Washburn and Grand River to get his Detroit Times newspapers for his route, in our family for 8 yrs. in the 1950s. jjaba, Westsider. | ||
Durango Member Username: Durango Post Number: 44 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jjaba, There was an issue with the website. I will try again later tonight. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 128 Registered: 08-2007 |
out here in the sticks [wayne] there was a cunninghams on the corner with a kresges next to it, old enuff to remember both chains, seems like every major shopping district had both, then every mall i went to as a kid had them stores also | ||
Crawford Member Username: Crawford Post Number: 187 Registered: 10-2006 |
That Grand River/Oakman pic is amazing! I have driven past that former shopping district a million times, and never knew it even existed. It has apparently been almost 100% demolished. I guess Grand River/Greenfield now looks a lot better in my eyes, as most of the structures appear semi-intact, even if the businesses have long since left. When did Grand River/Oakman begin to decline? The early 1960's I presume? And then I assume Grand River/Greenfield declined 5-10 years later? Were there still stores at Grand River/Oakman as late as the 1970's? I think Grand River/Greenfield still had a fair number of stores at recent as the early 90's. Junky stores, not the original ones, but at least something to enliven the streets. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5698 Registered: 11-2003 |
Crawford, jjaba doesn't remember when Oakman and Grand River fell apart. There were no vacancies for several blocks in both directions in the 1950s. Detroit's population in 1954 was about 2 million. On the Westside, Grand River/Oakman, Grand River/Greenfield and Michigan Ave./Coolege in Dearborn were strong centers. Sears and Wards were not downtown and catered to the neighborhoods. The Beverly Theater is now a church and the parking lot fills on Sundays. Not much else is left there. Tappan Intermediate, a stunning cream colored brick in Art Deco, was razed a few yrs. ago, after being vacant a long time. jjaba. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5699 Registered: 11-2003 |
The BEVERLY Theater. 10709 Grand River, Detroit. Built and opened Aug. 27, 1937. Closed, 1964. Architect Charles N. Agree supervised construction in four months. 1,475 seats. Cost, $250,000. 1969-1988. Jehovah's Witness Church, as rennovated. 1988. Bought by Great Faith Ministries Church. TOWER Theater. 12813 Grand River, Detroit. Built and opened 1935. Closed 1964. 1,442 seats. Architect: Arthur K. Hyde. jjaba, Westsider. | ||
Kville Member Username: Kville Post Number: 90 Registered: 04-2007 |
I really appreciate Tponetom's reflection. Gratiot had it all (on the east side) during those days. I too remember all the small stores from downtown and out. Other areas, while not as "major" as 7-Gratiot, had their share. Warren-Conner also had a Federal store and nearly every neighborhood had some form of big-name shopping. Harper-Chalmers, Jefferson-Chalmers, Warren-Outer Drive, all had the typical stores of the era. There was always a Cunningham's (or Kinsel's), a Kresge's and/or Woolworth or Neisner's, a Sanders store, a movie theater, bank, and the typical assortment of clothing stores, restaurants, etc. Tponetom mentioned store SIZE. Reminds me of New York. Stores are small, but packed from floor to ceiling and everything you needed. No wide aisles (with room for shopping carts). People shopped the neighborhood by walking with their shopping bags or hand carts. It was typical to stop for groceries DAILY and just buy what you needed that day - never more than you could carry. That experience still exists in some very congested cities, but Detroit's (and all of America's) love of the car, have changed our habits. Detroit's neighborhoods could support such shopping still, but it won't be the assortment of stores we had years ago. Today people drive to places like Hall Rd. where every chain store exists centered around a shopping center (like Lakeside). The "large" anchor department store is not the draw it once was to these neighborhoods. Our "department store" today is called Meijer, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. | ||
Lombaowski Member Username: Lombaowski Post Number: 74 Registered: 11-2004 |
Wow that picture of GR and Oakman is striking. I remember shopping along Grand River when I was very young in the mid to late 70s but in just a few years it was pretty much all gone. Grand River in particular was a street that as the weeks, months, and years past as I was growing up showed the decline of the city. My Dad always said that his Detroit was better than mine and having looked through a lot of pictures and hearing a lot of stories from folks who grew up in the 40s and 50s in Detroit, I'd say my Dad was right. | ||
Pgn421 Member Username: Pgn421 Post Number: 233 Registered: 02-2005 |
first strip mall in the united states was at E.Warren and Conner. | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5701 Registered: 11-2003 |
Kville, you are almost poetic but not accurate for Detroit post-1930s. Everybody had a car in the family in Detroit. We drove for groceries and bigger items, had side drives, and garages. We lived in two-flats or single housing. Sears, et. al. had parking lots. Sure, some shoppers walked with shopping carts, but most shoppers at Grand River and Oakman were coming in cars or on buses. There was also huge bus traffic during the week so workers would shop "on a transfer." Mother would get off the Grand River from downtown, stop in at Kresge's, Cunninghams Drugstore, or Sears to pick up a special, and then transfer to the Northlawn bus for example. jjaba would dare say very few on The Forum shop on "transfers" today. Where Kville is correct, is sending your kid out for milk, icecream, or some small items at the corner store. Perhaps you wanted a sandwich from a restaurant or some sodapop. Perhaps you needed something from the drugstore. Kids could go get things, and merchants even extended credit until the parents came in. jjaba certainly remembers that on the northwest side of Detroit. jjaba, Westside Bar Mitzvah Bukkor. | ||
Durango Member Username: Durango Post Number: 48 Registered: 10-2006 |
Jjaba, I will attempt to increase my picture posting average with a 1977 photo of the Sears location at the corner of Oakman and Grand River. The photo is courtesy of the Wayne State University Virtual Motor City website.  | ||
Durango Member Username: Durango Post Number: 49 Registered: 10-2006 |
Masterblaster, Here is photo of the Six Mile and Schaefer circa 1960. Courtesy of the Wayne State Virtual Motor City website.  | ||
Durango Member Username: Durango Post Number: 50 Registered: 10-2006 |
Reddog289, Here is a photo of the Federals Department Store at Seven Mile and Grand River from the Detroit News in 1958. Sorry for the size of the photo.  | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5706 Registered: 11-2003 |
Durango shows us the Mercury Theater. 16860 Schaefer Road, Detroit. Opened July, 1941. Architect: Ted Rogvoy. Streamline moderne styling. 2,000 seats. The first Detroit theater showing 70MM productions outside Downtown Detroit. In 1985, twinned and renamed, Metro Mercury 1 and 2 Theaters. Demolished, Kaput, 1993. jjaba, fond memories of the Mercury Theater. | ||
Reddog289 Member Username: Reddog289 Post Number: 130 Registered: 08-2007 |
7/grand shopping center, now i think its something else. in 50 years people will be talking [how many stores were at gr&latson out in howell] | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1932 Registered: 12-2005 |
Pgn421--what source do you have for the Conner/E. Warren strip mall being first? I have an aerial shot (that is over on the "old car factories" thread) of that intersection in 1954, the kroger store was up and running and the footings were being poured for the rest of the strip. That's pretty early, the same vintage as Northland's construction/opening (a full mall, not a strip). Just askin' | ||
Jjaba Member Username: Jjaba Post Number: 5712 Registered: 11-2003 |
jjaba is thinking out loud about where someone would go to see intact examples today of the regional shopping centers like Oakman-Grand River. The best jjaba can think of are downtown Ferndale, Royal Oak, or Dearborn. Hamtramck would be another example. If you were to walk with a ten yr. old to explain the days of Detroit in the 1940s, where would you go? jjaba, Proudly Westside. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1935 Registered: 12-2005 |
Windsor |
