Detroit’s Fake Bowling Alley | Kroger Supermarket - Detroit, Michigan

[@charlesremus2902]

I worked at this store in 1980 for about a year as a grocery manager. Mr. Danou the owner had several gorcery stores in Detroit. The city was spiraling downward at an alarming rate. Gangs and crime in general were rampant. The auto makers were all closing assembly plants, businesses were fleeing. The city that once had the highest per capita income in The US was burned to the ground by its own citizens. Today Detroit is making a comeback. Much of the downtown and surrounding areas like Corktown, and Mexicantown are thriving, clean, nice places to live and visit. We have a long ways to go but are now moving in the right direction.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for sharing all of this, Charles. What was it like working at the store back then? Do you have any idea when it closed for good? I agree about still having a long way to go, but as you said, quite a few areas are doing very well. I'm hopeful, for this area in particular! Again, thanks for sharing your insights.

[@bobscott6223]

There was a saying about buying cars from Detroit. "Never buy a car that was assembled on a Friday or Monday". Otherwise you might find an empty liquor bottle in the quarter panel.

[@up0820]

The reason for the high crime and the nice murder capital of the world tag was all thanks to the racist loser Mayor Coleman Young, telling every white person to get out of the city. By the way it's only downtown that looks okay, it's still very unsafe and the vast majority of the city including homes looks like the street shown in the video, abandoned. I have been to Comerica park and Ford field and will only take a Uber or cab to get there these days as it's gotten worse since the defund the police days.

[@up0820]

​@bobscott6223 still true about all American made vehicles, that includes Toyotas, Kids etc made here.

[@Kinypshun]

Thank you for filling in the blanks. I grew up in the Chaldean community on the east side suburbs as a kid. The Chaldean storeowners worked long hours, and most of the employees were family or trusted friends. They gave tirelessly to the communty with loans, tabs, food. Too many were losing their lives - the crime just kept getting worse - One storeowner on 8 mile and Woodward felt sorry for a recovering addict and let him sort/process bottles in the back one day, and Sam paid with his life when the guy demanded all the money in the til. 25 years ago and it still tears me up.

[@KerryLuckett]

I am originally from a suburb of Chicago, Chicago Heights, and this area looks like parts of where I grew up. Something used to be there, and people used to be there, and now they are a memory. The skeletons remain. Wendell Berry has this wonderful essay where he talks about ruins and how they are beautiful and haunting at the same time. This makes me feel this way.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for sharing, Kerry. Yeah, a lot of Michigan's cities have portions that look like this, unfortunately. We've lost so much in the past few decades!

[@TSS434]

My Grandma love shopping there. It brings back alot of memories! Thank you.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for checking it out. When she shopped there, which store was it?

[@rollobeatz1671]

i appreciate this channel. as a meter reader, ive ran across this and hundreds of buildings like this one around the city.. ive always wondered the backstory to alot of them, so this channel is very satisfying. keep up the good work 👍

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for the kind words! I appreciate it. I'm just getting started over here, but I hope to get better at making these! Look for a new video every Friday 😃

[@pancudowny]

🎵"They put a parking lot on a piece of land... where the supermarket used to stand. Before that, they put up a bowling alley... on the site that used to be the local palais."🎶 - The Kinks "Come Dancing" (1983)

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Now that is a jam!

[@JordanGarland]

Great to see so much info about buildings that certainly would be forgotten otherwise

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking it out, Jordan! One day, this one will probably just disappear. So many buildings like that...here one day, gone the next.

[@steveaubert4243]

i worked at the Chene and ferry market when i was a teen for my grandparents i went to that store a lot

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for sharing, Steve! How long did you work at the market? There are a few of us in the area now hoping to try and save it. It really deserves it!

[@steveaubert4243]

@@ThisBuildingMatters i worked ther for about 3 years in the summer-unitl my grandfather retired by the time we left half the market was emply-most people were going to the eastern market

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for sharing that info, Steve. I love hearing about that era. Any favorite things you could get at the market? I've heard there were lots of Polish offerings!

[@johnpenley]

As a native Detroiter....I appreciate this video.✌️

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for checking it out, John!

[@bobscott6223]

Yes, it was a good video.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

@@bobscott6223 Thank you, Bob!

[@Offthbadan]

What a surprise video. Bi-Lo. Many days we would sit in the ‘ol 69 LTD station wagon while Mama would run in to get a few items. 😊

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Sounds like great memories 😃 When did you live in the area? Any other favorite shops or restaurants? Thank you for sharing!

[@Offthbadan]

@ Born in 68 and raised there. Back in the’70 I can remember going to the dentist on Chene and Ferry(building still there). Woolworth I believe was across the street. Russell and Rivard there was a bakery called Farm Chest. Had some of the best doughnuts and small pies. And thank you for the history of Bi -Lo.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

So many folks have told me about going to that dentist and having good memories there. He must have been good at his job! Thanks for sharing all this; I really appreciate it. Here is the history of the building I believe that your dentist is in: www.eherg.com/locations/5470-chene-street

[@Offthbadan]

@ That was my childhood dentist office. That was truly interesting. Thanks again. 👍🏿

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

@@Offthbadan No problem 🤙 Thanks for checking it out!

[@andrewlawrence9340]

Great work. Thank you, Sir.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking it out! It’ll be a bummer when this one goes.

[@BobBob-eh5sb]

Would have been interesting to see a pic of it as the bowling alley in the film.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Funny enough, I’m pretty sure it’s only in the film in passing. A few seconds of film = years of confused ghost sign photographers 😂

[@AdrianInflorida]

My grandparents house was on Medbury, across from the little gas station and St Stanislaus Church that was in the Transformers film, as well.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I loved that little gas station, Adrian. They tore it down this year (maybe it was last year, I forget...). They have done some work to St. Stanislaus, which is awesome. Here is the piece I wrote on the service station: www.eherg.com/locations/5903-dubois-street

[@AdrianInflorida]

@ThisBuildingMatters it was open into the ate 70s or very early 80s. It was a Clark or Arco station at the time

[@Steve-t2o8w]

I worked for city disposal in the late 70’s early 80’s then for Schaffer scrap in the late 90’ til now worked in det my whole life it seems. To have ran down over time most of the area is vacant still working in the area not for Schaffer scrap metal

[@jdsmith8135]

Just found your channel. Great stuff keep it up.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for checking it out! New videos every Friday 🤙

[@IchibanMoto]

Awesome Video!

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for checking it out! 🤙

[@LongListOfErrors]

Great video

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you! I appreciate it 🤙

[@bobscott6223]

So many of these stores had to move out because of crime. As a child, I used to enjoy stopping by a small corner market in Highland Park on the way home from school to buy some candy. This store was run by two brothers whom were also immigrants. That store closed one day because the store was robbed the night before and one of the brothers was killed. This taught me a valuable lesson, never open a business in an area where the people are known for being criminals.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

That's awful about one of the brothers being killed and the shop closing. It would be hard to open a business in an area with no criminals, though. They're everywhere!

[@denisedavis442]

My father owned Smitty's Cycle Shop in Highland Park on Hamilton.

[@bobscott6223]

@@denisedavis442 So pleased to make your acquaintance. My father bought me my first bicycle from Smitty's Bike shop. That was right around the time when the monkey handle bars and banana seats had become popular. If you traveled north a short distance, on the same side of Hamilton; there was a corner drug store that had a soda fountain. I did pretty good that day, a soda and a new bicycle.

[@Kinypshun]

The first group of Chaldean immigrants settled in Highland Park in the 20s. Many generations later - doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs. Highland Park is unrecognizable now.

[@LilPoopsie]

​@@ThisBuildingMatters open one far away from a certain demographic smh

[@detroitwhiteboy5130]

There was a Kowalski Store right next store. Ladies use to give us Kids free Hunters Sausage. This is My neighborhood, Now, and Then.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I have seen photos of the Kowalski store from Bruce Harkness' collection of images. Would be so cool if it were still there. We buy hunters sausage from Srodek on Campau in Hamtramck!

[@MazichMusic]

I used to drive through that area to get to my teaching job at Plymouth Educational Center. It was a dilapidated area when I retired 14 years ago.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

It was one of Detroit's most blighted for a very long time. Today, it's a lot of fields. Thank you for sharing!

[@Ellersbee]

I’m sure theft was a big part of the problem. Before you all HATE on me, ask any business owner in Detroit what the biggest problem is. Why spend money when you can just take what you want for free.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking out the video. There are definitely a lot of layers to this era of Detroit’s history! I understand that theft was likely a big problem in this era and may have caused stores to close. That said, theft doesn’t rise without cause, and it’s fairly easy to see the issues that led to a rise in crime in that era. The decline of the auto industry, a bad economy, a shrinking tax base, disinvestment in neighborhoods, etc., would have all played a role in Detroiters’ ability to put food on the table, causing crime rates to rise.

[@Ellersbee]

@ I mean but….maybe that era I suppose. With that being mentioned, possibly I should leave it alone. I’ve seen many businesses close due to robbery. Look at Oakland, Chicago etc. I’ll just drop the mic here

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Always happy to agree to disagree; I just enjoy the discourse! I think you might find some similar conditions in areas like Oakland and Chicago, though I can't pretend to know anything about closures in those areas. Again, thanks for watching the video and sharing your insights!

[@beavistechrock]

I wasn't around yet. In Donald goines book (dopefiend) which takes place in the Eastside of Detroit particularly what is now known as north end. In the late 70s early 80s all those old mansions in brush park were chopped up into tenement houses before being completely abandoned in the late 80s to late 90s. Tenement houses aee also known as rent a room places. You get your own room but share the kitchen bathroom with 10 to 20 other ppl depending on the size of the house. These places were common as the auto boom took hold in the 10s and 20s for families moving to detroit from the south or from overseas to have cheap housing till they got their own place. By the 60s 70s they were just places for addicts, prostitutes, alcoholics, and general vagrants to stay cheap. For the landowner it was the only way to get money out of the property as the neighborhood was so bad selling outright wasnt a option, and the repairs required to qualify for section 8 renting wasnt feasible either. So they rented to whoever would pay until the bldg became so derelict even the junkies wouldnt pay to stay. Then they just abadoned em and left the city. Anyways, he details going into a record store to shop lift and there was a armed security guard. Like I said late 70s. This was years before crime hit a all time high in the 80s and 90s. While they have loss prevention in the suburbs I've yet to see the need for a armed security guard at a basic retail store.

[@Ellersbee]

@ didn’t take long from the 1968 riots. Just saying

[@tonywestvirginia]

Thanks!

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking it out, Tony!

[@debraschuurman9172]

Great work thank you Sir.👍👍

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thank you for checking it out, Debra!

[@robertstevens1537]

very good

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking it out, Robert!

[@corinnamorgan6738]

I used to live over on chene and e edsel when I was younger now there is nothing not even Dan and Vi's

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I was really hoping that Dan & Vi's would reopen, but it doesn't look like that will happen. It's a huge bummer! Thank you for watching and sharing.

[@leefromda3135]

When did Dan and VI’s close? I left Detroit right as COVID hit and they were still open then I think. Moved back last year and haven’t made it back to the east side where I’m from . Live in A2 now. Really sad to hear.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

It had a fire on Wednesday, December 9, 2020. They planned to reopen...but I don't know what happened. It's sat vacant since. Here's my article on the building! www.eherg.com/locations/5951-chene-street

[@Karmy.]

​@@ThisBuildingMattersoh you're the one behind Eherg!

[@lionelreal502]

Dan and Vi’s had the best pizza 🍕 in the 90s

[@thomasanderson2870]

Was born in Detroit and lived there when I was young, grandparents lived in the D also. Sure has Changed over the years 🫣😵‍💫😖😳

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Absolutely, Thomas! When did you leave the city?

[@nomansland4811]

As I recall Detroit went many years without a supermarket in the city limits due to crime.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Detroit never went without a supermarket. The city just didn't have chains. There are plenty of neighborhoods without a store, but the whole city never completely lacked a supermarket. Just no chains.

[@bobscott6223]

@@ThisBuildingMatters I remember when Kroger opened a new supermarket in Highland Park in the stripmall where the Ford Motor plant is located. It was nice when it first opened. A month later I went back to buy something and the meat department smelled like something died . The store closed shortly after that. In all honesty, I was not surprised. Family owned stores can get their relatives to do the jobs that hourly people will claim is "not in their job description".

[@PalmBeachDog]

I just had a double whammy. From a PackHacker review to this in under 5 minutes.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

🎒👍

[@Walkercolt1]

In downtown Tussa, Okra-Homer, we had a Piggly Wiggly in a former bowling alley!!! For a half-dozen years, it was BY FAR and AWAY the largest grocery store in town. I think Fike's Food's at 51st and South Lewis (end-of town, just across the I-44 bridge) was bigger, then Sipe's at 27th and South Harvard near "Ranch Acres" housing addition. If urin' a Tussin, and 'member that Piggly Wiggly I'm talkin' 'bout, reply. (Youz gotta' bez 72 yars old 'er moe.) HINT: 'Presswayz over all of it!

[@lbu9542]

If a group of very visionary families with access to professional renovation specialists, I wonder if they could at a low price purchase plots of land and build homes and farms on this unused property. There are so many people looking for land to build family homes right now. With the market being so terrible for potential owners, this could be an alternative.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

The problem is that a ton of this land is owned by speculative investors. A decade ago, a lot more of it was owned by the land bank. A lot of it still is, but adding density here makes more sense than single-family homes, IMO. If you can achieve some density, you can reopen grocery stores and other amenities! Just my opinion.

[@alexmarx231]

Thanks for sharing. The whole ghost signs for movies is kinda upsetting to me. I’ve seen this one along with the one on Max’s and always assumed they were legit, it never crossed my mind that they were fake. I feel lied to by transformers 😅.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Ha, they really did do a good job at making them look real. I still wish they had used actual ghost signs in the neighborhood!

[@OfficialKequan]

Shout out Detroit 313😭😂 I live on the road with the Detroit sign🤦🏽‍♂️

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Ha, maybe I should make a video on that?

[@OfficialKequan]

@ FrFr you should make a video on it, could even show the OG Detroit Sign in the video too. Happy New Years🎉

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

You too! 🤙

[@Steve-t2o8w]

Used to eat at Dan and Vi’s for lunch all the time best pizza and subs in the area .to bad it burned down.to bad the don’t reopen.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I'm really disappointed that they didn't reopen, too. Especially after saying that they would.

[@lawrenceking4144]

The majority of major cities face this kind of thing. It what business keep calling PROGRESS. Instead of fixing up what already exists, they go and build something bigger and more modern somewhere else; with a lot of available empty land. And available land is not something that's plentiful within city limits. Look at right now in Detroit. GM is about to move out and abandon the Renaissance Center to move into a newer high rise somewhere else. They abandoned all the sports stadiums and the auto assembly plants. None of those had to do with crime.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I agree. They call it modernization...when, in reality, they're often hurting their workers and customers in favor of profits.

[@eprofessio]

White flight.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

That definitely played a role, Shawn!

[@YesterdayKJC]

Detroit is the perfect example of what other large and small cities will face due to ….well….you know.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I don't know. What do you mean?

[@tg2956]

Crime starts it all !!!

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Random crime, or crime without causation, is very uncommon. So I don’t think it’s fair to say that crime started it all, even if the resulting crimes weren’t justified.

[@cannamich5813]

Or ends it. Sad but true

[@joyduffy135]

Cool

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@joyduffy135]

@@ThisBuildingMatters you’re welcome ☺️

[@booobtooober]

What Movie? - In 2016, a new Transformers movie was being filmed, and they chose Detroit as one of the locations.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I believe that it was The Last Knight.

[@JonathanJones-bc8kx]

KROGER got started in OHIO i know I'm from OHIO

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I wish it had stayed down there 😉 Meijer all the way! 😂

[@TheDaniel688]

Meow Wolf in Santa Fe used to be a bowling alley

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

That looks really rad, Dan. I'll have to check it out if I'm ever out there!

[@robertmartinez4174]

those cloudy wintery skies made this dump look even worse. ☁️

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I like the weather 🤙

[@RemoteCamper]

No screen photo of what you are referencing. FAIL and a waste of my 2:19.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I'm sorry you feel that way! I always include images if I can find them and they are available for my use. This era of Detroit is challenging to find images of.

[@mybigfartsreallystin]

SHADDUP...

[@GOPRepubliklan]

Tip: Don't ever call it a bowling "alley" to the owner guy at Hiway Lanes, it's bowling "center". He'll correct you because he's an ass who gets bent out of shape by customers just using regular shoes instead of renting those dumb ones.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Ah, noted! Thanks for sharing.

[@Maxx-w9b]

Haha people thought they were gonna have some family fun and got rats lol

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

🐀 🐀 🐀

[@Ridgerunner68]

Ok..👍

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for checking it out!

[@daniellej7914]

This must be Dearborn heights

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

I don't think that any part of Dearborn Heights looks like this!

[@jakeshome3384]

Nice vuisuals but you are diffcult to understand because you slur syllables as you read your notes.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Thanks for the feedback, Jake! I've had speech problems for as long as I can remember-but I'll keep working on it! Additionally, you can use the CC/Subtitles built into KZbin, which seems to work pretty well.

[@Cab00v]

I'll tell you what, this accent is actually very common in Detroit. It's a mix between the Michigan northern accent and Detroit-region ebonics. I can tell he made an effort to enunciate clearly for presentation's sake, though.

[@bobscott6223]

I understood him perfectly, maybe you should adjust your language settings to Chaldean for better reception.

[@bobbymanion4168]

Bruh can’t even spell. Maybe just clean the shit of your ears 🤡

[@positively_broad_st3780]

I had no problem understanding, and I'm not from Detroit, or even Michigan...🤷‍♂️

[@mattrondeau7466]

Ah, the monuments to Democrat-run cities.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Very few cities in America have been Republican-run for more than a few terms, and even fewer on that list are doing well. The primary issue is rarely who is ‘in charge,’ in my opinion.

[@mattrondeau7466]

@ThisBuildingMatters Republican run cities do very well. Democrat policies create disasters like Detroit. Every time.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Can you name a major city in America that has been run by Republicans for more than a few terms and is doing well? There are probably a lot of smaller cities, but that isn’t really the same thing. That’s like comparing running a gas station to running General Motors. Dallas’ mayor just changed to a Republican, but their history is generally blue. Jacksonville has had a few Republican mayors. I haven’t seen any data to corroborate the idea that Republican mayors of major cities do better than their Democrat counterparts. If you have any, I’d love to see it.

[@mattrondeau7466]

@ThisBuildingMatters Show me one Democrat -run major city that IS doing well. That isn't a hellscape. Let's start there.

[@dennisquinn4387]

​@@ThisBuildingMattersI'm from Highland Park, born in Detroit. Mayberry was turned into Mogadishu by black democrats and run into the ground by KANG Coleman Young. It is what it is and you can't change history.

[@Doomzdayxx]

It's so depressing how "they" tend to ruin neighborhoods.

[@positively_broad_st3780]

They as in corporations taking jobs out of country, ruining the once prosperous cities that they abandoned - then yes, that is true. I'm sure that's what you meant. You weren't being racist or anything, right? Right? 🙄

[@Doomzdayxx]

@@positively_broad_st3780 Wrong. 🙂

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

How on earth can you blame the people who stayed and not the thousands who abandoned it? Just silly.

[@scottl.1568]

Whut

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

👀👀👀

[@herbrice8933]

Urban Decay thanks to Demorat Downfall.

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

That's a tough one for me to get behind. I'd blame the greed of the automakers and other manufacturers before I'd throw a blanket of blame on democrats.

[@volksfolks62]

@@ThisBuildingMatters So ,you keep making comments to seemingly avoid placing any sort of blame on elected officials ,in this case would be the democratic party .I honestly would like to ask ,why not ? When its totally clear that what Detroit and a lot of Michigans problems are directly related to policies made .In this case by lack of policies made .I realize it has noting to do with the past but use for example what's happening now nothing at all is getting done because the Dems who hold complete power cant even work together. I mean just look at the Flint river issues that was directly due to policies made to supposedly help job creation ,lol .Now id like to say that I don't know if a Republican could do better now ,I will say they they would do better with the crime .But that does not change the fact that the leadership for years has done nothing to help anything .As a matter of fact Detroit itself was Republican ran in its heyday ,and has gone downhill since .Yes I know that the automakers leaving had a lot to do with that ,but why did they leave ? LOL that would be policies of the democrats .I'm not taking a side ,it just so happens to be truth .

[@realmindscale]

spends half of two minute video shitting on unions

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

This video shares no opinion on unions either way, but personally, I am 100% pro-union. This is just a look at what newspapers were saying at the time.

[@jacobsinger97]

Love the barren gray environment 🤩

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

Winter in Detroit! 😂

[@sherrimoss2388]

Really

[@ThisBuildingMatters]

🫨🫨🫨