Southeast Michigan Retail: Motor City Retail History

    This post will look at retail in Wyandotte, Wayne County, MI.   Rite Aid #4545 1998 Biddle Avenue, Wyandotte, MI Driving distance and time from downtown Detroit: 10.9 miles, approx. 23 minutes Located not far off from the heart of the Downriver community of Wyandotte at a prominent intersection between two of the city's main roads, Rite Aid #4545 opened in it's current location in 2000, replacing a smaller downtown location inherited from Perry Drug Stores in 1995 (Perry had only just taken over that store from Revco upon the latter's 1990 retreat from Michigan, and the location had, before that, housed Kroger and then Arnold Drug stores, and is now home to Family Dollar #7558). Like most Rite Aid stores of the time, the store features the diamond-window exterior design. The store originally opened with the RA1 package, and in 2015, received a full remodel to the Wellbeing decor package (also known to some as "Wellness 2"). The exterior received a second remod...

  This post will look at retail in Allen Park, Wayne County, MI.   Best Buy #1406 3349 Fairlane Drive, Allen Park, MI Driving distance and time from downtown Detroit: 12.5 miles, approx. 17 minutes   This Best Buy store opened in 2007 as part of the second phase of the Fairlane Green shopping center development. Other than overhead signage replacement in the 2010s and periodical department relocations and changes, nothing much has changed at this store since. However, the exterior entrance to this store did receive media attention when it hosted a wedding ceremony on the eve of Black Friday 2009. That said, let's jump on in and see what this store has to offer.   Upon entering the store, mobile phones is the first department encountered, located to the right (and in the middle) of the central actionway.   Making our way counter-clockwise along the Best Buy racetrack, the TV department is next. The TV department spills over into the adjacent home theater depart...

The following is (mostly) a SMR:MCRH Contributor Post.   This post will look at retail in Southgate, Wayne County, MI.   Kroger Michigan Division #524 / Family Foodland #5524 / Big Lots #1425 14155 Eureka Road, Southgate, MI Driving distance and time from downtown Detroit: 15.1 miles, approx. 22 minutes This Kroger store originally opened in 1981 as the second Kroger-bannered grocery store to operate within the city of Southgate, and the first of two greenhouse-styled Kroger stores to open in the Downriver suburbs that year. A concrete wall separating the back of the property from adjacent homes on Balsam and Nancy Streets abruptly exploded on June 14, 1984 , and almost a month later, it was announced that the store would close on July 21, 1984 , along with 69 other southeastern Michigan Kroger stores, due to a protracted labor strike. It should be noted that the mid-1980s were a rough period for Kroger regarding labor disputes. Elsewhere in the country, the chain closed a...