Grandland shoppers out there?

**alleydad** · April-09-09, 05:08 PM

hello out there
I am living in Chicago but grew up for the most part in Rosedale park and I am looking for anyone who could remember the stores that were there in the 70s specifically if there was a Sanders store there. Can you help?

**Parkguy** · April-09-09, 05:16 PM

Yes, there was a Sanders store. I moved to Rosedale Park in 1978. I think the Sanders store was two doors north of Cunningham's Drug Store on the Fenkell side of the strip mall. I think the stores were Cunningham's, then the Underground Men's Wear, then Sanders, then Florsheim Shoes. I think the next store was Layton's, which carried ladies and little girls' clothing. Wasn't there a Kresge or Woolworth store, too?

**alleydad** · April-09-09, 05:21 PM

Yes there was. Thank you very much. I would like to talk more about that area next time on here. Thanks again!

**oldredfordette** · April-09-09, 05:52 PM

Kresge. I worked there for a while, till I married and my husband took me away from all that.

**gazhekwe** · April-09-09, 05:54 PM

The grocery store on the other side of the parking lot was A&P. I particularly liked that Layton's of Rosedale store. Nice clothes.

**Hamtragedy** · April-09-09, 06:45 PM

My sister worked at the Leytons. I got four Wayne Gretzky rookie cards out of random packs at Cunninghams. There was also a Great Scott Supermarket, and I think the Kroger was a Chatham's at one point in the early 70's. That teeny McDonalds has since been supersized. I do alot of work in and around Rosedale Park and Grandmont, fixing up houses over there, and find myself frequenting the Aco Hardware, which used to be part of the Kresge's [[then McCrory's), as well as the newer Foodland.

I was in Foodland several months ago and "Car Wash" by Rose Royce was playing, and I swear everyone in the isle was singin along to the line "hey, get your car wash today, fill up and you don't have to pay" including myself. Everyone smiled and giggled at each other.

**vetalalumni** · April-10-09, 01:08 AM

Search the archives [[the "closed", old DYes 1.0 side) using applicable terms such as "Grandland" or "Rosedale Park".

**detroitbred** · April-10-09, 07:11 AM

Thanks for the morning trip down memory lane! I also lived in Rosedale, with my parents and then with my husband in our 1st home. I spent lots of time and $ at Grandland back then. I loved Rosedale Park and was sad to leave it when we moved....still drive thru once in a while to admire the houses.
It seems like so long ago, and at the same time, like yesterday.

**SMRJim** · April-10-09, 04:02 PM

Kent Drugs was there too for many years. Had a couple of friends who worked there. My mom did her shopping at that A & P for some time after they closed the one on Grand River near Sussex [[we lived near Grand River and Greenfield). I remember going to that McDonalds back when the sign said '6 million served' or whatever the numbers may have been at any given time, and watching the number go up from time to time. Now it's 'zillions and zillions' [[OK, maybe not, but billions anyway). They didn't have tables, just a counter you could stand at. That was the only fast food place in the area way back when, at least that I was aware of.

**Vitalis** · April-10-09, 05:37 PM

Wearing black vinyl boots and with my two younger brothers in tow, we trudged through the snow from Longacre and Midfield to the pedestrian bridge over the new Southfield Freeway to the Grandland Cunninghams, so we could get my father a Christmas present of an Old Spice Gift set and a humidor of El Producto cigars. With my father's recent passing this winter ritual is perhaps even more clear than ever before. Winter in Detroit was always white and black [[or gray) with a touch of color - sort of like what William Wellman was going for in "Track of the Cat," where every object on that Cinemascope vista was either white or black, except for Robert Mitchum's red coat.

Grandland has gone through countless numbers of retail changes over the decades but it survives due to its location, and the pull from some fine communities north and south of Grand River and east and west of Southfield. Now if only people would police themselves regarding the litter they leave behind.

**Parkguy** · April-11-09, 03:50 PM

In the last few years there have been changes. The Foodland that was formerly Great Scot is always packed. ACO is busy all of the time, too. There is a Dollar Store, and Layton's has changed to another clothing store... I don't recall the name. There's a cell phone place where the Underground was. Cunningham's became Perry's, which became Arbor Drugs, which now Rite Aid. They closed the old location on the end of the building by Fenkell and moved across the parking lot to the spot A&P was located. They demolished the old A&P and built a brand new Rite Aid. The old Cunningham's storefront is still empty. The spot east of the new Rite Aid, which is just south of McDonalds, used to be Richard's Auto Parts. That building was demolished and replaced with three or four storefronts. One is a pet food store, and the storefront on the end by Fenkell is a barbeque carryout that was reviewed in the Freep or News a couple of months ago. I will attest that their cheesecake is AWESOME. The old Chatham's store is now a Blockbuster and a Dots clothing store, and there is a uniform shop in the building, too.

**65memories** · April-11-09, 07:55 PM

And to add to Parkguy's post...One entrance to Grandland has been closed off and a Fish market placed in the middle of the parking lot. The old cardshop is gone, regretfully, replaced by a nail place and there is a good Chinese carry-out around the corner and behind Foodland. Foodland remodeled their store a few years ago.

**Slipkid** · September-06-09, 10:27 PM

There was a men's store just north of Cunninghams. I bought several suits there in the late 70's or early 80's...can't recall the name. Kresge's had a back door at one time which came out by the barber and beauty shops. We could buy frogs, tadpoles and turtles back in that corner in the 60's.

**Slipkid** · September-06-09, 10:30 PM

We went to Bushnell Church on Southfield Rd.. On Sunday after church our family would all stop at Cunningham's and we would spend our allowance. I got 5 cents per week and could still buy candy. They had a soda fountain and a tube tester for your TV set.

**shovelhead** · September-06-09, 10:44 PM

[quote=SMRJim;5835]Kent Drugs was there too for many years. Had a couple of friends who worked there. My mom did her shopping at that A & P for some time after they closed the one on Grand River near Sussex [[we lived near Grand River and Greenfield). I remember going to that McDonalds back when the sign said '6 million served' or whatever the numbers may have been at any given time, and watching the number go up from time to time. Now it's 'zillions and zillions' [[OK, maybe not, but billions anyway). They didn't have tables, just a counter you could stand at. That was the only fast food place in the area way back when, at least that I was aware of.[/quote
I remember that A&P store there too. While I didn't work or live in the area, I had a girlfriend that lived on Marlowe north of Intervale. This was in the fall of '69. One of my friends from school used to work at the downtown Farmington A&P and was sent to fill in at that store. I went in there and was mildly shocked on the small size of the store as I was used to the Farmington one.

**vetalalumni** · September-07-09, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Slipkid

We went to Bushnell Church on Southfield Rd.. On Sunday after church our family would all stop at Cunningham's and we would spend our allowance. I got 5 cents per week and could still buy candy. They had a soda fountain and a tube tester for your TV set.

Isn't there a community market held weekly now at Bushnell Church?

The architecture is impressive at that small church on the southwest corner of Lyndon and the Southfield Road service drive.

**Hamtragedy** · September-07-09, 02:08 PM

Market is on saturdays. St. James Lutheran is the Limestone building on Sfld and Lyndon.

**vetalalumni** · September-07-09, 03:05 PM

Originally Posted by Hamtragedy

St. James Lutheran is the Limestone building on Sfld and Lyndon.

That would be the one. Pretty little building. Thanks.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie...199.88,,0,3.52

As an aside, I always liked that Lyndon Road has no curbs in Rosedale Park. A neighbour however did not appreciate the occasional errant driver gouging up their lawn. And speeders would not roll, but just barely tap the brakes at the stop signs on every other block.

**65memories** · September-08-09, 09:22 AM

Actually, the Northwest Detroit Farmers" Market, held at Bushnell Church [[corner of Grand River and Southfield), is on Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The market features many vendors from Eastern Mkt. as well as other artisans.
http://www.grdc.org/id36.html

**SMRJim** · September-08-09, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by vetalalumni

As an aside, I always liked that Lyndon Road ... And speeders would not roll, but just barely tap the brakes at the stop signs on every other block.

Not that this is exactly a pressing matter, but I'd swear I remember Lyndon not having very many stop signs - I seem to remember preferring Lyndon to the other east-west streets because of that, unless my memory is failing me. It's a 'half-mile' road, like Puritan, Curtis, etc. and I seem to remember those typically not having many stop signs. They still had the 25 speed limit, but I thought it was all the other sidestreets [[like Acacia, Kendall, Chalfonte, Eaton, etc) that had endless stops and yields, and most 'cross-streets' [[the north-south ones) were filled with the stop/yields as well. Maybe it's just been too long since I drove around the sidestreets of the city. Maybe it was the every-other-street-thing, like you said, and the others had 'em on every corner. Like I said, not exactly an important matter!

**vetalalumni** · September-08-09, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by SMRJim

Not that this is exactly a pressing matter, but I'd swear I remember Lyndon not having very many stop signs - I seem to remember preferring Lyndon to the other east-west streets because of that, unless my memory is failing me. It's a 'half-mile' road, like Puritan, Curtis, etc. and I seem to remember those typically not having many stop signs. They still had the 25 speed limit, but I thought it was all the other sidestreets [[like Acacia, Kendall, Chalfonte, Eaton, etc) that had endless stops and yields, and most 'cross-streets' [[the north-south ones) were filled with the stop/yields as well. Maybe it's just been too long since I drove around the sidestreets of the city. Maybe it was the every-other-street-thing, like you said, and the others had 'em on every corner. Like I said, not exactly an important matter!

AIR, the north-south streets often had the yields signs. Lyndon definitely had stop signs every other street running from the Southfield Expressway to Evergreen. I too found it quicker than other east-west streets.

**BVos** · September-14-09, 10:28 PM

Grandland, the original large building, isn't doing so hot these days. The cell phone store that was where Underground was moved across the parking lot next door to Blockbuster [[Blockbuster shrank their store, opening up the new half-assed renovated space MetroPCS is in). So two vacant storefronts next to each other right off Fenkell: Rite Aid and Underground. And the past few times I've gone in to Panda, I've seen food handling practices that made my stomach churn [[and this is what they're doing in the open with people there, can't imagine what they're doing when folks aren't around). So I'm done with Panda for good. Aco is OK but good luck finding someone to help you and when you do find someone good luck if they know anything about hardware or home repair. Someone really needs to blow that whole place up and start all over again.

**Hamtragedy** · September-14-09, 10:49 PM

I work over there frequently, and the Aco has more food than hardware. I have found the basics though, but often wind up driving over to Cross Plumbing when ACO is out basics, but then I pay double. It's frustrating to make three stops in that neighborhood and not being able to find a copper union or a stainless steel basket for a kitchen sink. Then again it's like that over town, so I wind up driving to the suburbs anyway, just to save time.

I used to walk that stretch of Lyndon walking to Vetal where there were no sidewalks btw Ashton-Greenview, often in the street.

**65memories** · September-14-09, 11:02 PM

Yeah, you used to be able to count on Rosedale Hardware for those kind of things. Now, instead of guessing if they'll have an item, you have to guess if they'll even be open. It used to be the best hardware in the area...a true neighborhood hardware, where you could find the kind of things ...specific doorknobs, sashes, screens, etc. made for the colonials in Rosedale. Like other places, chains like ACO have negatively affected the independents.