Federals, Wards, Hughs Hatcher Suffrin

[oldredfordette]

Steven West ran out of town right before the IRS could get him. He left with the pensions of the long time workers [[for instance, Mother Oldredfrdette). All the workers got was a small portion from the Retail Workers Union. West is still alive, down in South Florida. I hope his dick falls off.

[jjaba]

oldredfordette tells it like it tis. Her prose are award-winning and spicey.
jjaba, Old Timey Westsider.

[psubliminal]

I have my grandfather's old Crowley, Milner & Company charge plate. It looks like a dog tag in a little leather carrying case.

[jjaba]

jjaba remembers those old charge machines. Those old sales clerks had to torque on them to make the imprint. Then, off the invoice went to financial through pneumatic tubes. Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end... we'd sing and dance forever and a day....

jjaba, downtown in second basement at Crowley's visiting mother.

[daddeeo]

Some new and old photos of the area.

[daddeeo]

The old pics of area. Anyone have others to share???

[daddeeo]

Federals--Mammoth Store looks terrible.

[Danny]

I used to shop a Ward's at Grand River and Greenfield Commercial District along with other stores back the mid 1980s with my aunt.

I've been into most of the buildings to find out its fossilized structures.

Federal's Dept. Store became Kingsway and then Mammoth's. Now it is vacant.

Ward's become Tower Center Mall with Jordan College. It's was doomed to failure along with the community college.

S.S.Kresge's become McCory's. Now its an Asian owned mini mall called 7 Day's West.

Baker's Shoes was at its old smaller store on the Greenfield Corner until it moved to bigger outlet on Grand River. Now its all gone along with other outlet strips; replaced by a mini mall with Walgreen's.

Hughes Hatcher and Suffrin become Daily Discount Drug Store then some Asian Owned beauty surply store. Now its gone and became a mini mall with Rite Aid Pharmacy. The Drug store became vacant.

Meijer Treasure Chest on the corner of Grand River and Greenfield. become a men's chothing Store. The building is gone and now its a mini mall.

Crowleys Dept Store in Grand River and Whitcomb St. is long closed. Now its foot locker and several strip mall.

[Sstashmoo]

Quote: "Steven West ran out of town right before the IRS could get him. He left with the pensions of the long time workers [[for instance, Mother Oldredfrdette). All the workers got was a small portion from the Retail Workers Union. West is still alive, down in South Florida."

Ok, how can this be? The IRS can "get him" in Florida. And if he stole money off of anyone, he could be prosecuted for that as well. I'm not denying what you're saying, but it just doesn't make sense.

[showstoppa]

wow, I wasn't born until 1977 so I remember/ know the Grand River/Greenfield area with Kingsway/ Mammoth. Looking at the pictures posted is depressing because I now see a visual of what Detroit used to be and it's heartbreaking to me. I didn't get to have these memories that some of you have.

I wish there was more I could along with others to bring Detroit back to the way it was in it's heyday. I don't mean to sound bitter, but the pictures are just extremely fascinating !

[daddeeo]

Kind of like remembering when the Detroit Lions were a team to be feared instead of being laughed at.
That area was like a city unto itself.
I have noticed a few strip malls around there with stores.
Wrigley's old building [[south on Greenfield) is still a grocery store.
The clinic across the street from there is also still rolling along. I got my broken collar bone fixed there when I was a kid in the 50's.
The Liker's Burger joint is still standing on the corner of Acacia and Greenfield too.

[Hermod]

wow, I wasn't born until 1977 so I remember/ know the Grand River/Greenfield area with Kingsway/ Mammoth. Looking at the pictures posted is depressing because I now see a visual of what Detroit used to be and it's heartbreaking to me. I didn't get to have these memories that some of you have.

I wish there was more I could along with others to bring Detroit back to the way it was in it's heyday. I don't mean to sound bitter, but the pictures are just extremely fascinating !

We often concentrate on the downtown with Hudson's, Crowley's, and Kern's and don't talk about all of the really nice regional shopping concentrations in Detroit. You really didn't need to go downtown for your day-to-day needs. Going downtown was an expedition usually centered around a special purchase.

[jiminnm]

This is an interesting piece on Steven West. It's a wonder he's still alive [[althought the article is 8 years old).
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2002...ld-wild-west/1

[Sstashmoo]

Jim,
That's quite a story. Yeah that dude needs to be in the slammer. Sorry orf, you were right.

[rodj44137]

After we moved from W. Buena Vista [[Davison & 12th area) out to Wasmund [[2 Blocks N of 8 off Ryan) we'd shop at the Federals on 8 at Dequindre. I remember going up there every week to buy the week's latest 45's - 69 cents each! And there was a Kresge that sat between the Federals and the Big Bear grocery store. The other side of the Federals was a Big Boy and cross 8 on the Detroit side was Belmont Shopping Center with a Cunninghams, Flagg Bros Shoes, Western Auto, Art Van Furniture, Winkleman's and some others I can't remember. So, we had just about everything right there. I seem to remember that in the '70's the Federals and Kresge were both closed and the Kresge building burnt leaving an empty space. Boy, you guys sure bring back the memories!!!!!!!!!

[Huggybear]

People don't talk about these centers because their existence bucks two pieces of conventional wisdom here: [[1) that suburban shopping centers like Northland created sprawl and [[2) that the existence of streetcars [[particularly the longer lines) had nothing to do with sprawl.

1. These regional centers [[e.g., GR/Greenfield, Michigan/Oakman, etc.) came into being between the 1920s and 1940s along streetcar lines and big arterial roads. Functionally, that is no different from a mall along a freeway. Their existence facilitated non-downtown shopping and living just as much as a Northland. The only change was in what wheeled vehicle took you there.

2. At least one of these regional centers [[GR/Greenfield) was outside the city limits when built, to wit, in Redford Township [[Detroit's annexation did not occur until the late 1930s). Sitting along the GR line, that center was fed by "suburbanites" and city dwellers. That anyone was living that far out at all was not attributable to any freeway but instead to the transit system and the massive GR corridor. I-96 definitely accelerated the decline, but by that point, Grand River [[which had a center express lane downtown) was to most suburbanites a "fly over" business corridor.

I am pro-light rail, but let's not all get starry-eyed about the streetcar system. These types of regional developments are a reminder to follow where that system went way long before any freeway/Big 3 conspiracy theory. Detroit was sprawled long before WWII, and its further sprawl into suburbia was a foreseeable consequence.

And back to the post... I used to go to the Crowley's at GR/Greenfield. It was nice but had that same "running down" feel that Macy's at Northland has now. Federal's was a dump. I'm not old enough to remember Ward's - maybe it was there, but at the time, I was more interested in nearby shops such as Leddy's candy store.

We often concentrate on the downtown with Hudson's, Crowley's, and Kern's and don't talk about all of the really nice regional shopping concentrations in Detroit. You really didn't need to go downtown for your day-to-day needs. Going downtown was an expedition usually centered around a special purchase.

[daddeeo]

People living in the city today think we are a bunch of crybabies talking about how great things were.
You'd cry like a baby too if you had to live there after seeing how things used to be.
Going back there this week was like traveling through the Twilight Zone. Very surrealistic.
There is some retail going on but the near empty Wards and boarded up Federals buildings really are holding back the area.

[Bearinabox]

People don't talk about these centers because their existence bucks two pieces of conventional wisdom here: [[1) that suburban shopping centers like Northland created sprawl and [[2) that the existence of streetcars [[particularly the longer lines) had nothing to do with sprawl.

First off, I don't think it's true that nobody here talks about these centers. They're discussed on here all the time.

Second, I don't think the existence of regional commercial areas has anything whatsoever to do with sprawl. Thriving large cities all over the world have regional downtowns, and they serve to complement, not cannibalize, the big downtown in the middle. Sprawl happens when the geographic area of the metropolis is expanding much more quickly than the population is increasing. I'm pretty sure that was not the case in pre-WWII Detroit.

Third, the development pattern created by streetcar lines is completely different than that created by freeways. Geographic expansion in a growing metropolis is not inherently undesirable or inefficient. Expansion based on public transit corridors ensures that the new developments will remain relatively compact, pedestrian-friendly, and concentrated around rail stops. Expansion along freeways basically ensures the opposite. I don't think anyone is arguing that Detroit never should have expanded beyond walking distance.

[Bearinabox]

People living in the city today think we are a bunch of crybabies talking about how great things were.

No, it's just that most posts along those lines don't make for very interesting reading.

[daddeeo]

Depends on who's doing the reading.
Maybe if the values and respect for human life returned
to Detroiters there might be a resurgence.
I'd think you'd get sick talking about robberies, drug dealing, poor city officials, poor schools, poor police response and places going out of business

[showstoppa]

People living in the city today think we are a bunch of crybabies talking about how great things were.
You'd cry like a baby too if you had to live there after seeing how things used to be.
Going back there this week was like traveling through the Twilight Zone. Very surrealistic.
There is some retail going on but the near empty Wards and boarded up Federals buildings really are holding back the area.

If anybody was the crybaby it'd be me, because I only didn't see it in it's glory days ! all my shopping was done at the suburban malls !

[reddog289]

My Parents dragged me into all three of the stores listed, Although not at GR/Greenfield. Got to kinda like Wards even though the used the Bait and Switch deal alot.
Good thing for old photos cause I can't imagine that corner being the place to shop.

[daddeeo]

They had a cool glass candy counter you could walk around. The candy was inside the glass.

[unclefrank]

I got my first real adult suit at Hughes Hatcher and Suffrin. I remember it being a nice place to shop.

[daddeeo]

I saw Lions Quarterback Earl Morrell [[later in two Super Bowls) at Sufferins. My dad took me there and no one else was around.
Guess he wasn't too popular. I think I got a football out of it.