A Highland Park retailing question

[prokopowicz]

The PowerHouse Gym was originally Russ Dawson Ford until the early 70's. It must be one of the longest going concerns in HP by now.

[Jman]

The PowerHouse Gym was originally Russ Dawson Ford until the early 70's. It must be one of the longest going concerns in HP by now.

I believe that was Gib Bergstrom Ford on Woodward and Eason.

[prokopowicz]

I believe that was Gib Bergstrom Ford on Woodward and Eason.

You could be right. By the sixties, though, it was Russ Dawson. It might have been their used car lot.

[dtowncitylover]

I worked part-time at the photographic counter in Fromm's on Woodward in 1943. I was also a student at Highland Park High, where I was a school photographer.

What year did you graduate? and what street did you live on in Highland Park?

[Jman]

You could be right. By the sixties, though, it was Russ Dawson. It might have been their used car lot.

We're on the same page as I moved out of H.P. in the early 60's.

[Joseph C. Krause]

It makes sense that it was an auto dealership, the building goes back into a very large warehousey area. They photos of it from the 70s on their Facebook page showing a four-story urban building next door that vanished by the 80s containing a Speedy Printing location. I really like the facade facing South on the abandoned building to the North of it, too, but the prospects for it are probably poor. Just went through the neighborhood to the East of it for the first time and found all of those bizarre "gum stick" houses that a misguided developer built a few years back. I'd say more than half are boarded up and at least one is burned.

Oh yeah, if anyone living in Corktown wants to join, I may be looking for a workout partner there, too...

[Herman Krieger]

What year did you graduate? and what street did you live on in Highland Park?

I was in the class of 1943, but graduated in January 1944.
I lived on Goodwin St. The street is now covered by a Chrysler plant. See www.efn.org/~hkrieger/detroit.htm

[Herman Krieger]

I don't know about riots, but I remember a mob chasing a scared black boy, who ran into Sears and hid behind a counter. I was working at Fromm's at the time.

[Lowell]

Bill Snethcamp Chrysler across the street and down a bit is still there and doing well.

Street view

Been there for over 80 years proving good service trumps location every time.

[douglasm]

I remember my father telling me that Snethcamp was owned by Chrysler Corp. in the theory that they should have a retail presence in their then corprate home town. Is/was that correct?

[Lowell]

I remember my father telling me that Snethcamp was owned by Chrysler Corp. in the theory that they should have a retail presence in their then corprate home town. Is/was that correct?

Interesting and makes some sense. Maybe they supported it in some manner. It was convenient for the employees when the HQ was there. However I find it difficult to believe they still would be doing so, post-skedaddle and post-bankruptcy.

I had a Chrysler product serviced there a few times and the service, cleanliness and attention was outstanding. I think they made it on their own and probably do well, like the shopping center to the south, because they are also the only game around. Ditto for Powerhouse.

[douglasm]

I know Chrysler itself did not use the dealership for their service. Dad was on the E-roll and could lease a car. All the routine service was performed on site at the service garage.

As an aside, I never liked that deal. Mom didn't drive, so when I was a Junior in college, he leased me a car. That was great, but flipping my silver '69 Barracuda coupe for Dad's 4 door Fury III lost me some points on campus when the 'Cuda needed service.

And speaking of HP retail, anyone know when Tony's Market [[across from the Highland Towers) closed? My grandmother thought that was a wonderful grocery.

[ndavies]

Definitely not true. The State explicitly forbids this in it's auto franchise laws. Manufacturers are not allowed to own dealerships. THey are not allowed to sell directly to the consumer.

http://www.paulruschmann.com/about/m..._franchise.pdf

[Wintersmommy]

I worked part-time at the photographic counter in Fromm's on Woodward in 1943. I was also a student at Highland Park High, where I was a school photographer.

My Grandpa was a teacher there at that time I believe. I believe he taught but I believe it was Print Shop.

[douglasm]

ndavies......
......it may be against the law now, but I noted that the law was written in 1981. I should have made clear that I was talking about the time period 1950-1970.

[daft]

Bill Snethcamp Chrysler across the street and down a bit is still there and doing well.
Been there for over 80 years proving good service trumps location every time.

Some years back, I bought a minivan there. A few months later, I took it in for scheduled maintenance and had a pleasant walk home. A couple hours later, the service department called to say the van was missing. Turned out it was stolen from inside the service department.
Well, OK, such things can happen. But then it turned out that they didn’t report it to the cops. Then it turned out this wasn’t the first time that happened.
Some weeks later, after I got an insurance payout and needed a new vehicle, a salesman there offered me what he presented as a substantial discount for my troubles. And a day later, I got an ad circular in the mail from them with the same deal.…
When I went back to return my loaner car [[which my insurance company paid for), the same salesman was eager to see me – until I said I had decided to buy a Honda instead. Suddenly, I got ushered in to see the manager, who wanted to offer me the moon.
I haven’t been back since.
The service people there may do good work, but I’ll never know.

[Jman]

And speaking of HP retail, anyone know when Tony's Market [[across from the Highland Towers) closed? My grandmother thought that was a wonderful grocery.

It was Tom's Market where my first job as a packer paid 45 cents per hour.

In the late 50's or early 60's they built a new market on Woodward, north of 13 in Royal Oak and sold the H.P. store in the late 60's or early 70's.

[Jman]

Bill Snethcamp Chrysler across the street and down a bit is still there and doing well.

Street view

Been there for over 80 years proving good service trumps location every time.

Bought my first new car there. A 1960 Valiant.

[douglasm]

There wasn't a Chevy/GM dealer in H.P., was there?

[[Jman, thanks for the correction on Tom's. It's been years.......)

[Jman]

There wasn't a Chevy/GM dealer in H.P., was there?

[[Jman, thanks for the correction on Tom's. It's been years.......)

You're welcome, Tom's was where my parents shopped every Saturday morning for years.

Ver Hoven Chevrolet was on the southwest corner of Avalon and Woodward right across from the Farrand Park Apartments.

[Herman Krieger]

During the school year, 1942-43, I worked at the photo counter at Fromm's on Woodward Ave. I borrowed one of the above photos to show how the area
looked, then and now, for my web page at www.efn.org/~hkrieger/detroit.htm