Avenue of Fashion

[stasu1213]

Doesn anyone have vintage photos of the Avenue of Fashion whichi is located on Livernois from Curtis to 8 mile. I had remembered what it looked like in the late 1980s. I had heard that it was an almost exclusive area to shop.

[One Shot]

My Dad told me about this too. I've been down there and it looks like it coulda been ALMOST a Rodeo Drive at one time. He did say that it was the place to shop too.

[Gsgeorge]

Whatever it was ALMOST, it most certainly isn't today. Few businesses remain and the streetscape is a mess. Unfortunately another loss for our neighborhoods, but this one stands more of a chance of being redeveloped than most.

[Hermod]

Livernois used to be the street of used car lots.

[Rosa]

When I went to U of D in the 80s, there was still one formerly posh store holding on. I believe it was on 7 Mile just west of Livernois. Might have been a B. Siegel, but I'm not sure. The one time I went inside, it looked like it hadn't been updated since the 60s. It closed a few years later.

Aside from Baker's, a nice bakery and a florist which were still open then, I don't remember anything but the usual beauty schools and wig stores on that strip.

[jcole]

I think the Avenue of Fashion was more in its heydey in the 50's, 60's and into the 70's. I remember going down there in about 1972 and it was still pretty nice.

[texorama]

When I moved to the area in the late 1980s it certainly wasn't posh, but it was a viable retail strip, with lots of small shops. It has declined since then, but I've always thought it would be a promising area for redevelopment with restaurants and independent stores.

[Detroitnerd]

I heard it had been in decline for some time, but that a Kilpatrick-Ferguson plan to install a median was the death blow.

[313WX]

I heard it had been in decline for some time, but that a Kilpatrick-Ferguson plan to install a median was the death blow.

God I hate that median...

[Meddle]

I remember that at one time it was pretty nice. I won't say exclusive or like Rodeo Drive, but nice. Boutiques and such. You might find something in the newspaper archives from the 60s and 70s or the magazines that came in the Sunday papers, what was it ... Parade? I seem to remember some articles on the area.

I don't remember a median, but I don't think I was ever there after the mid 80s.

[Hermod]

In the 40s and 50s, if you were looking for a used car, you took the 7-mile bus to Livernois and just started walking south. Livernois was cheek-to-jowl used car lots all the way south.

[softailrider]

In the 40s and 50s, if you were looking for a used car, you took the 7-mile bus to Livernois and just started walking south. Livernois was cheek-to-jowl used car lots all the way south.

There sure are a lot of used cars in the world.

[softailrider]

My Dad told me about this too. I've been down there and it looks like it coulda been ALMOST a Rodeo Drive at one time. He did say that it was the place to shop too.

Ummmmmmmm, I remember Livernois and 7 Mile back in the 60's. I recall lots of womens dress shops and stores selling ladies shoes and furnishings. I've been to Rodeo Drive, They weren't very much alike.

[Hermod]

There sure are a lot of used cars in the world.

Yes, and in 1956, a 1951 Kaiser would set you back about $79 at some of the lots on Livernois. It would be a mass of rust, but that little engine would just keep ticking forever.

[Gary]

The Avenue of Fashion was a very upscale place to shop in the 50s and 60s. Nowadays, it's not what it used to be, but it is not desolate by any means. I remember my mom dragging my brother and me up there while she browsed through a women's store called Belle Jacob's. Piano lessons at Grinnell's on Livernois at the foot of Outer Drive were another thrill. There was a Hack Shoe Store up that way, too [[anybody remember them?) They sold these sturdy, boxy-looking, "sensible" shoes that would last at least 2 years before they could be worn out no matter how hard you tried. The shoes I wanted were at Thom McAnn's, but mom wasn't having none of that.

The median is a very recent development. I don't find it to be that much of a nuicance, but I drive that stretch every day. It does take some getting used to if you don't that part of Livernois very often.

The used car lots were all up and down Livernois, most of them were south of McNichols.

[Blueidone]

My father had his business office on Livernois right down from Baker's Keyboard Lounge. I remember going there as a child in the late 50's. My mother used to shop there. There were very nice women's dress shops, hair salons, hat shops, shoe stores, and jewelry stores, as I recall. We lived in the area of 7 Mile and Littlefield. But I was very young then, so my memory may be cloudy. Unfortunately, my mother has passed and I can't ask her. But I will ask my father next time we talk. He lives in Grand Rapids now.

[pkbroch]

The heyday of the Avenue of fashion was in the 1940' to right after 1967 and the opening of Somerset mall. Some stores were upscale with some having exclusive label designer clothes. it basically started at Curtis with Detroit Bank and Trust and ended at Robin Hood Grill and LaSalle jewelers north of Outer Drive close to Eight Mile.

Some original stores were;

B. Siegal
Cardinal's
Rose Alkon
Greenstone Jewelers
Belle Jacob
Cunningham's drugs
Marty Fuerst shoes
Hansel and Gretel shoes
Ranier Pastry
Sherwood Studios
American saving & loan
Sidney Crandell jeweler's
Little pancake house
Robin Hood Grill
Lasalle wholesale and jewelry

And many others that perhaps some DYesers can remember.

The used car lots started in earnest South of U of D.

[Neilr]

To add to pkbroch's list:

The Avenue of Fashion was the location of the Donald Morris Gallery. It was so sleek and featured nationally known artists.

It was also the location of the Raven Gallery which was a center of folk music in Detroit. Many performers who went on to international recognition played at the Raven when their careers were just beginning.

Closer to 8 mile Rich Realty had a contemporary, free-standing office building. Mr. Rich's daughter, Miss Rich, taught Art History at U of D.

The Checker BBQ was yet closer to 8 Mile. The ribs were the best, then at the end of your meal, you were given a steaming hot towel to cleanse your hands.

Right next to Baker's there was a business, not much more than a shed, that sold cut firewood.

[stasu1213]

I didn't discover that area until the 1980s. I do remember that wakabity was great in the area for all of the boutiques and stores were off the sidewaks. I remember a Baskin Robbins or something like that on the strip. I wonder if the Avenue of Fashion was like Main Street in Royal Oak.

[Blueidone]

Oh...I remember the Robin Hood Grill....Dad used to take us there for breakfast! They had great pancakes. And I remember the Cunningham's. Dad bought one of the first models of Polariod cameras and we used to get the film there. Geeeezzzz...the memories are flooding back!

[stasu1213]

Wasn't there an appliance store somewhere in the vicinity or was it at 7mile and James Couzzens

[9936Sussex]

I remember going to Hack Shoes for my school shoes in the 1950's. They had one of those x-ray thingies that you put your feet in and it took an x-ray of your feet. [[does that make sense? that's what I remember)

[claireianthelibrarian]

This is all interesting to hear about. I'll have to head out there and take a look at what's there now [[I'm new here, and always interested in commercial strips).

9936Sussex, x ray shoe fitters were common in shoe stores before anybody figured out how dangerous they were. They still have one [[radioactive bits removed) at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago.

[Susan Messer]

Oh, the Avenue of Fashion was a wonderful place in the 60s. Great for hanging out on a Saturday afternoon if you were a teenager--shopping, walking, having lunch, running into friends. I know there were some other places besides those listed--not sure of the names though. There was a place that had great clothes for teen girls on Livernois near Outer Drive. There might have been a Himelhoch's along there somewhere. And at one point there was a very mod, hip women's clothes store called [[maybe) Paraphernalia.

[pkbroch]

There was a shop called " The Good Housekeeping Shop " for vacuums and other small appliances.
LaSalle jewelers sold small and mediums appliances, it was like the forerunner of Service Merchandise.

There was an ice cream shop in the 80's but I don't remember the name. The avenue of fashion reminded me on Kercheval on the hill and the main part of Kercheval in Grosse Pointe near the Jacobsen's store.

In 1969 or so a French Restaurant called La Bordeaux opened and was in business for several years, great food but not to good management.

On Livernois, east side of the street, north of Pembroke was the City School of Detroit, bilingual, french and English, started by State Senator Jack Faxon.

So far I have not seen any photos of the area. It seems like the photo archives have the larger Chain stores like sears, wards, federals, areas like Grand River & Greenfield. Many of the Livernois stores we independently owned. South of Seven Mile and the east side of the street, was a large Merchandise Mart.