Please jog my memory [Detroit Camera Exchange]

When I worked at One Woodward, it was frequently necessary for me to go to a camera shop not far away to purchase film for our department. I walked west on Larned for one block and turned right. The camera shop was in that first block. I THINK it was called Detroit Camera Shop. There was another camera shop over on Michigan...Downtown Train and Camera, but that isn't the one I'm thinking of. The lady behind the counter [[in the 70's) was Felicia, and the camera salesman was Jack. Any way, a restaurant opened in the basement of that building, and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. Any ideas?

If the chap named Jack was on the heavy side, I think you are thinking of Detroit Camera Exchange on the East side of Shelby. Can't say I recall a basement cafeteria, although the Pilot House was on the SW corner of Shelby and Congress which was downstairs. It's been a while. I frequented both places.
Downtown train and Camera was on W. Elizabeth, East of Grand River, the building is still there. They later moved to the lobby of the Kales Buidling before they closed down. The site on W. Elizabeth was really a great place to visit for Lionel trains [[ and repairs).

The Rock, I'm curious about the original location of the Detroit Camera Shop at 122 W. Elizabeth. It's an interesting building and looks to be in good shape. I notice it's called the Mera Hotel but nothing on the Web turns up anything useful about the nature of the Mera Hotel. I would think it's a flop house considering the location, but it looks in too nice of shape.

Most of those transient hotels look like the old Vermont Hotel or that place on Temple.

I worked for the guy who owned the Camera Exchange. He had two locations. The Downtown Store got closed to excessive robberies. The GP store lasted a little longer. A small independent couldn't compete with the big box discounters. The customers came for expert advice than saved money shopping at the discounters. Got stale.

If I run across the owner I'll ask about the basement restaurant.

Gnome, that place on Temple, is that the place that had a painted advertisement saying, " if you lived here you'd be home now?"

Gnome, if memory serves me right, the spot on W. Elizabeth was called DOWNTOWN rather than Detroit Train and Hobby Shop. I know nothing about the building itself, other than the last time I was by there[[ about three years ago), it did look like a modest apartment building of some type. The large glass show-case type window was where the model trains were displayed and you actually walked a few steps down into the lower level to enter the Train/camera shop. I recall there was an old cardboard Lionel sign still sitting in the window when I drove by.
Sumas mentions another location for the Camera Exchange, right here in GP. but for the life of me, I don't recall that one! Where was it located, Sumas? I recall Joiner's Camera on Mack., GP Camera on E. Warren [[ actually located in Detroit) and a camera shop in the Village, but you will have to clue me in to the whereabouts of the GP branch. Now my curiousity is up!

No...none of those names are the camera shop I'm thinking about. And I was familiar with the Pilot House. Different building entirely. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think it was Acme Camera Exchange that I'm talking about.

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Originally Posted by sumas

Gnome, that place on Temple, is that the place that had a painted advertisement saying, " if you lived here you'd be home now?"

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I think that sign is on an apartment building on Jefferson a few blocks east of the ren cen.

You are right, grumpy. It WAS Acme Camera. I remember now. And was it Jack, the short, heavy-set chap, who worked behind the counter? We had our developing done there, and I bought some Kodak slide trays from him , along with an old Yashika 35 mm camera.
Acme Camera, you nailed it. I owe you a beer at the Pilot House [[ co-owned by the late Justin Giltner, a GP attorney who was later poisioned to death by his daughter in Traverse City and the murder trial made national news). But the name of a restaurant in the Acme Camera building basement remains a mystery.

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Originally Posted by grumpyoldlady

When I worked at One Woodward, it was frequently necessary for me to go to a camera shop not far away to purchase film for our department. I walked west on Larned for one block and turned right. The camera shop was in that first block. I THINK it was called Detroit Camera Shop. There was another camera shop over on Michigan...Downtown Train and Camera, but that isn't the one I'm thinking of. The lady behind the counter [[in the 70's) was Felicia, and the camera salesman was Jack. Any way, a restaurant opened in the basement of that building, and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. Any ideas?

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Could the restaurant be The Colonade? I had many great lunches there.

Isn't this the place that was in the southeast corner of the Penobscot building?

There used to be more than one Colonade downtown. I used to go to the Penobscot one all the time myself.

Downtown Train and Hobby on Elizabeth was a great place. Used to go there all the time for parts for my slot car layout, and lots of train, slot, and camera hobbyists used to come around there. I can still even remember how the place smelled.

Grumpy, Acme Camera was on the east side of Shelby, I think between Larned and Jefferson. Their bldg was demoed to become a parking lot. I still have the Pentax Spotmatic 35 mm that I bought there in 1973.

Found the old paperwork.

Acme was at 526 Shelby.

The restaurant in the basement was "Downstairs Pub" aka L"Esprit, owned at least in name by Kathy Duross Ford prior to her marriage to Hank the Deuce---in fact they met at the restaurant. The owners of the Buhl Building bought the property and after a minor battle over historic status it was demolished for parking with the restaurant basically intact. The building was, if memory serves me was the first home of the Detroit News. The upper floors were wood/cast iron supports/virgin pine timbers and most of the window glass was deemed to be original on the upper floors. Nothing as I remember was salvaged. There was a gal in the camera shop named Pat, who moved over to the photo shop in the lobby of the Buhl Bldg and now works for HF Health system. Made a lot of purchases and had a lot of film developed at Acme Camera. Most of the 'pros' went to Detroit Camera when it was located at Michigan and Washington Blvd. on the main floor of the Gabriel Richard Bldg. Used to see Tony Spina there all the time along with all the guys from the Freep and the News.

The "Jack" that worked at Acme was a fairly young, thin guy with blonde hair. There was another heavy set man there, but I don't recall his name. Felicia was the lady I dealt with when purchasing film for the office. "Downstairs Pub" sort of seems right. I remember it was very dark down there, and the walls were brick. I always wondered if it was dark so we wouldn't see anything crawling around. As for the Colonade..I've eaten many lunches there, as well as the Pilot House. Loved eating at Jim's Garage and the Pontch Wine Cellars, too.

Acme was the dba for Camera Exchange.

The very last camera stores [[or real film processing places) I can remember were:

1970s
Tedrick [[Grand River and Fenkell)
Norris [[McNichols and Outer Drive)
King [[McNichols and Evergreen)

1980s-1990s
City Camera [[Warren? and Greenfield)
Detroit Camera [[Penobscot)
Detroit Color [[Woodward and Lothrop)
Lobby Hobby [[Fisher Building)
Michigan Camera Exchange [[King Books)
Pointe Camera [[Mack near Vernier)
Ritz Camera [[Michigan and Washington)

I think that all of these places are defunct except Detroit Camera, which has a lot less "camera" in it.

I don't agree with the theory that it was big boxes - because the camera stores and serious labs went away before big boxes became popular. I think these stores were highly dependent on film/supplies/processing sales [[very profitable), and when minilabs like Fox/CPI and drugstores got into the mix, it gutted that end of the business.