Lauri Bros Supermarket - Gratiot and Van Dyke

[filup]

lauri bros was my grandpa's supermarket in the 60's and i was just curious to hear anything about it if people had any memories of the store or phil lauri. thanks for sharing.

[stasu1213]

I remembered the pink market on VanDyke and Gratiot. That was in a community was a community. Sears was across the street. Florsheim Shoes was a couple of doors down. Pizza Hut was on Gratoit and Seyburn. Texaco gas station was next to it. Good Housekeeping was there also. Does anyone has photos of Gratiot and Vandyke in the 1950's or 1960s. There were also a Michigan Bell telephone company near the corner also.

[697Macomb]

The supermarket was destroyed by a three alarm fire on April 29, 1965. Several images of the fire have been up for sale on ebay.

[Bullet]

Hey filup, my buddy John once told me that his uncle was the owner of Lauri Brothers Market. So that would mean that the two of you are related? Burak ring a bell? His dad is Fred, and mom Mary.

[royce]

The store is now called Foodtown now and has been owned by the same guy who bought it when it was called Lauri Bros. I grew up in the neighborhood and still take my mom there to shop. I remember when Sears was on the southeast corner and Top Hat's was on the southwest corner. Every year I used to get my Chuck Taylor All Star gym shoes from Florsheim. During the bicentential year I got the red, white, and blue edition to sport around just in time for the Fourth of July.

I believe there was an auto parts store next to it on one side and a Salvation Army Thrift store on the other. However, I can't remember if one of these made up the northeast corner or if there was something else? For years my family and I took our dogs to Eastside Veternarian Clinic right next door to Lauri Bros. The vet eventually sold the property and a Murray's Auto was built in its place. It's still there. Good memories.

[Honeyman]

The Florsheim store was actually called, "Frank's Shoes"....I know, because my dad owned it. He sold a bunch of Chucks in the many years there.

There was also a Cunninghams drug store on the corner, and the auto parts store was Standard Auto Parts if I recall correctly.

[Detroitej72]

The store is now called Foodtown now and has been owned by the same guy who bought it when it was called Lauri Bros. I grew up in the neighborhood and still take my mom there to shop.

Didn't the owner have some feud with another store's owner in the late 80's? I vaguely remember someone trying to firebomb the store, but my brain is pretty foggy on the details, any info?

[Honeyman]

bump.

If anyone has photos like stasu asked, it would be a trip to see 'em.

[terryh]

What was the racial makeup of the area in the 50's and 60's? Was the area an Italian-Polish community at one time? I think there is a historical theatre near the intersection....

[CLAUDE G]

The Michigan bell building was demolished, however the basement is still there because all the telephone lines for the area come into that location, and its basically 1 big splice box. After the building was demolished, a smaller building was build behind it to house the central office.

[army7293]

Filup, I worked at your grandfather market as a stocker, bagger and was being trained as a butcher by the head of the meat department Art. This was around 1970 & 1971 while I was attending Kettering HS.

[stasu1213]

I had remembered the A&P on the corner of Gratiot and Crane. Chatam on Gratiot and Harper. Farmer Jacks was a block down from Chatam.

[detroitbob66]

lauri bros was my grandpa's supermarket in the 60's and i was just curious to hear anything about it if people had any memories of the store or phil lauri. thanks for sharing.

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