OT: Favorite Local Businesses That No Longer Exist? (AA or Elsewhere)
Hey everyone! Figured the MGoBlog community is just the type of place that would love this...
I have a friend who recently opened a new branch of his t-shirt company exclusively dedicated to commemorating defunct local businesses, whether it be restaurants, stores, movie theaters, arcades, rinks, ballparks/arenas/stadiums — you name it.
So...curious to hear what everyone's favorites are? Whether it's a nostalgic place you remember from your hometown or a place you frequented in your college days, shout em out! He might even cook up some shirt designs for you to order.
NOTE: It MUST be a local business that is no longer in operation. There are already great ways to buy gear supporting current Ann Arbor businesses, including a sponsor of this site. Seth's Ann Arbor Institutions series from Fall of 2020 (and the shirts that came with it) was some of my favorite stuff the blog has ever produced. This is just for the ghosts of Ann Arbor business past!
Rio Wraps. Most of ‘em closed. Liked Max n Ermas, but I think they were based in Columbus—boo. Toys r Us? Thanks Dave!
Mr. Fables
Funk. Yes.
Commercial heavy-duty mayonnaise hits different when it’s spooned onto your burger by a man in a paper hat. Also the best onion rings that ever rung.
PS, word is there’s a Secchia building a new spot in GR that’s going to serve some old local nostalgia, including the one and only Mr. Fabulous.
Got not one, but two shirts!
MR. FABLES: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/fables-beef-burgs-grand-rapids-mi
MR. FABLES (ALT): https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/mr-fables-grand-rapids-mi
1. Hot 'n Now Hamburgers in Mt. Pleasant. $0.49 hamburgers or $0.59 cheeseburgers were a godsend to a poor undergrad, especially after a long night at the bar. (I never had a problem finding money for beer, nutritious food, on the other hand, was a luxury I was willing to live without.)
2. Seems like pretty much any used bookstore. The last one just closed in Baton Rouge this year. I'm in Buffalo, NY right now and the only one left is Rust Belt Books. It will also be closing soon. I used to spend hours in used book stores and am sad to see so many of them closing up shop.
Don’t forget the double olive burger at Hot N Now. That thing was insane.
Shirt made!
HOT N' NOW: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/hot-n-now-holt-mi
In Saginaw we had several and called them Rotten Cow. But loved it.
Dude! Despite what my handle says, I lived in Saginaw for like 4 years in the late 80s early 90s. Hot n Now was my go-to on one of the main roads there.
Lol, up in Bay City in high school Rotten Cow was the off-campus lunch go-to.
Mission St in Mt. Pleasant and Bay Road in Saginaw have to be 2 of the greatest fast food strips in the state. Yet, neither has a Chick fil A!
Hot N now on state street in Saginaw was frequented in high school. I had an older sister that would give me a ride there for lunch before I could drive. You could get a burger fries and drink for under $3 (maybe less) if I remember correctly.
Hot 'n Now still has one open location in Sturgis, MI!
Mount Pleasant is a wasteland for food
Mount Pleasant is a food oasis compared to the surrounding area.
The surrounding area is just nothing lol so a strip of fast food joints will be better than starvation I suppose. The downtown area had some decent places though
Taco Boy still slams.
Nearly every time I come back to GR I eat at Taco Boy. Yes, I watch some minimum wage person I'll never see again dump some basic ingredients into a shell and microwave it. And yes, they still taste awesome.
Uccellos pizza too. I know they are part of the Vitales/Florentines clan there, but they still have the best pizza in GR imho.
Ate at the MP location today...Green all-meat burrito while traveling from Elk Rapids to Ann Arbor. Bought a shirt as well, bringing my Taco Boy t-shirt collection to three! Still feel the loss of Lil' Chef and Sweet Onion (and hot'n'now) whenever I pass through town. Jon's Country Burgers amazingly still there.
Hot 'n Now was definitely legit for a time, but not nearly as good as the char-broiled goodness that was GET-EM-N-GO. Not only were their burgers good as hell, but they also cooked their fries in lard or vegetable shortening or something, and they were even better than McDonalds fries.
Now a shirt for this one too!
GET-EM-N-GO: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/get-em-n-g0-grand-rapids-mi
schoolkids records is the answer.
There’s a pull. Great record store.
Yes, the record store on State and Liberty -- Liberty Records? -- held its own.
discount records, i think
That sounds right. I did my coming-of-age music discovering there instead of Schoolkids, for some reason.
yeah, discount was a dollar or two cheaper, as i recall, which was a big deal when i was a poor college kid.
i'd go to schoolkids for the vibe, though. i still remember my very first purchase there - it was joe jackson's 'look sharp,' which an alice lloyd neighbor had played on cassette at a party. the old guy that rang me up (like, really old - he mght've been 30!) gave this little nod of recognition and approval, and...man, that was all i needed. that old fart thought i was cool!
there was also a drug store on state street that had a very limited record selection but was cheaper still. i remember buying "london calling" there for, like, eight bucks. for a double album! possibly the greatest rock and roll album ever!
also? CONSUME: https://longlosttees.com/products/schoolkids-records
AND this: https://localwiki.org/ann-arbor/Discount_Records
which made me think of this: http://www.mrbpiano.com/
iykyk.
now i'm off to figure out the name of that drug store, which was (i think) next door to the original borders books. which is another deeply-missed treasure.
this is a great thread, is what i'm saying.
the 'drug store' of my memory was "state discount":
- state street, 1980: https://aadl.org/node/354256
- and state discount: https://aadl.org/a2signs018_001
DAMN, but the aa district library image search is cool as hell. i wish i'd found it years ago.
It's 1995 and I'm looking for some relatively obscure Nick Drake.
i think that all nick drake records are obscure, by definition. that's kinda part of the charm.
Yessss... this was the place. I remembered when I asked the Old Guy there what was playing. He gave me a smile and said "Hot Buttered Soul." "Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic" was jamming on the speakers at that moment. Overall, Discount Records was my favorite. I liked Wherehouse Records for the selection and Schoolkids for the variety but Schoolkids was definitely spendier than Discount.
oh, man. isaac hayes was just impossibly cool. that record seemed really dangerous to the sheltered, pasty white suburban kid i was in 1983.
they always had a record playing at schoolkids. when i wasn't being a self-conscious, barely-audible dork i'd ask the Old Guy what was on...and i bet the Old Guy disdainfully told me jane siberry at least half a dozen times. i don't think that's an exaggeration, either. dude loved that record.
i'd forgotten all about wherehouse records!!!
The first shirts of this thread...and way more to come!
DISCOUNT RECORDS, AA: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/discount-records-ann-arbor-mi?fbclid=IwAR2apBS0K5-cCDZWU-od1BlssNmY2wSNXYgcefDXCBvEqooq5gDyfl_kDz4
DISCOUNT RECORDS, AA (ALT): https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/discount-records-alt-ann-arbor-mi?fbclid=IwAR2OLKggX8n8u1JBuvYPQxCj030V0uKCqN1GcOn-GHuQ-vUstu1B52dHj-s
Bless you matty blue.
Another vote of agreement. I used to go in and ask for them to suggest a classical record because I knew nothing about classical music. They would ooh and aah about this or that record and thus I learned about classical music.
There was also an awesome liquor store almost but not quite kitty-corner to Steve's Lunch (which I also loved for introducing me to bi-bim-bop) along South U if I am recalling correctly dating back to 1983-7. Similar to Schoolkids, I used to show up and ask them what I should drink tonight and thus I learned about wine.
Bill Knapp's. "A snack or a meal." I worked there for several years in the 1980's, and we went there often for family birthdays. Best Au Gratin anywhere, soups were fantastic, even scallops (!) on the menu. Top it all off with a cake deluxe and teenage me was both happy and full.
My grandmother loved the place. The fried chicken was her thing.
My grandfather called it “The Walker Inn” . . .
In the same vein, my sister used to call it "God's Waiting Room." But we loved it and we miss it.
Whatever you may call it, order a shirt!
Being a kid, I confused their slogan "made from scratch" as made from scraps and for some time thought it was weird they bragged about making food from their garbage from previous tables.
My high school physics teacher was named Bill Knapp (NTBK). I’ll never forget seeing him jump on top of his desk with a bowling ball and a feather to demonstrate gravity.
Always went w my Great Aunt for her birthday because your age was your % discount
One of my roommates loved Bill Knapps. I think when we went we were the youngest folks there by several decades.
Buying Michigan gear at Steve and Berry's in Ann Arbor
Going to the Connxtions Comedy Club in Toledo
First one done...
STEVE & BARRY'S UNIVERSITY SPORTSWEAR, AA: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/steve-and-barry-s-ann-arbor-mi
I still have a maize hoodie I take on all ski trips as it is very warm. Sure miss the $10 for everything in the store
Bell's Pizza.
1,000 upvotes. A couple slices after Michigan hockey games were the best.
Well reminisce and get a shirt!
BELL’S PIZZA, AA: https://www.hometownvintagetees.com/product-page/bell-s-pizza-ann-arbor-mi