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Eastown Opportunity

walker

By walker
in Grand Rapids

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walker Burg

walker

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Per the link below, the Blockbuster store in Eastown will be vacant soon. So what would be a good choice to take its place? Not that I'm going to put up the money but a neighborhood grocery store comes to mind since this building was one of the original supermarkets in Grand Rapids.

Blockbuster Liquidation

Or maybe for little expense it could be converted to a museum something like this:

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GR_Urbanist Burg

GR_Urbanist

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A Walgreens will result in a worse outcome for that structure than what happened at the CVS store.

The original structure that CVS is in was partially demolished, the interior completely, and the remainder turned into nothing more than a covering where the windows serve no function other than to display sale ads.

Walgreens will take that whole thing down by whatever con they have use to dupe everyone paying attention.

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GR Jackson Hamlet

GR Jackson

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A Walgreens will result in a worse outcome for that structure than what happened at the CVS store.

The original structure that CVS is in was partially demolished, the interior completely, and the remainder turned into nothing more than a covering where the windows serve no function other than to display sale ads.

Walgreens will take that whole thing down by whatever con they have use to dupe everyone paying attention.

I don't remember why CVS went through all of the work to maintain the original exterior. It isn't a historic district. Was it the neighborhood associations?

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jas49503 Hamlet

jas49503

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A Walgreens will result in a worse outcome for that structure than what happened at the CVS store.

The original structure that CVS is in was partially demolished, the interior completely, and the remainder turned into nothing more than a covering where the windows serve no function other than to display sale ads.

Walgreens will take that whole thing down by whatever con they have use to dupe everyone paying attention.

I don't think that's possible. that CVS is the worst one I've ever been in. the building is unrecognizable as historic. The blockbuster building doesn't seem very historic as well so there is little to save. If they tear it down and rebuild in the exact same spot there is nothing lost. Since the parking lot already faces the street, it is not like they can ruin that.

I don't think they have to dupe anyone. if they try it will be a total waste of time.

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walker Burg

walker

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The blockbuster building doesn't seem very historic as well so there is little to save.

Actually that building is historic, more so than most buildings around here that we call historic but are really just old. It was built as the first supermarket in Grand Rapids. L. V. Eberhard opened it on November 16, 1939. Prior to that when you went to buy groceries you didn't get them yourself, you would need to tell a clerk what you wanted and they would go get it for you, sort of like you see in old westerns. Here's a quote from Eberhard about the store's first year, "We had a hard time convincing people that this was the way to shop (self-serve,) said Eberhard. "We lost money from day one for the whole year. We had customers who insisted on shopping the way they used to. We had to take their telephone orders and put them up ourselves."

It also had the first automatic opening photo-electric door in Michigan, can't get much more historic than that.

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mpchicago Burg

mpchicago

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Actually that building is historic, more so than most buildings around here that we call historic but are really just old. It was built as the first supermarket in Grand Rapids. L. V. Eberhard opened it on November 16, 1939. Prior to that when you went to buy groceries you didn't get them yourself, you would need to tell a clerk what you wanted and they would go get it for you, sort of like you see in old westerns. Here's a quote from Eberhard about the store's first year, "We had a hard time convincing people that this was the way to shop (self-serve,) said Eberhard. "We lost money from day one for the whole year. We had customers who insisted on shopping the way they used to. We had to take their telephone orders and put them up ourselves."

It also had the first automatic opening photo-electric door in Michigan, can't get much more historic than that.

Here is a pic of Eberhard's in Eastown: http://www.grpl.org/photocoll?cat=onclick&keynum=479

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walker Burg

walker

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Here is a pic of Eberhard's in Eastown: http://www.grpl.org/photocoll?cat=onclick&keynum=479

Nice pic mpchicago.

I should have included a link in my earlier post to where I got the store opening date and the quote. It was from this puff piece that I believe GVSU commissioned Mark Newman to write about Eberhard. At about the time it was written Eberhard had been their biggest donor. I'd guess they were hoping he'd come through with some more. If Tamias is out there, you might be interested in the part where Eberhard with his S&H Green Stamps almost finished off the new upstart Meijer. Wonder where we'd go for concerts in the summer if that had happened.

WARNING - this is a thirty-six page pdf:

L.V. Eberhard : supermarket superman

Except for that big sign at the entrance to the children's zoo at John Ball and GVSU's Eberhard Center downtown, L.V. Eberhard is pretty much forgotten. He was one of our earlier self-made multi-millionaire philanthropists. Like some of our current philanthropists, he was a complicated man and controversial. In his early years at least he was a brilliant innovator and he could be quite generous to both the community and individuals. But he was also pig headed and verbally abusive to his employees and a control freak. Until sometime in I'd say the late sixties his supermarket chain was bigger than Meijer. In my opinion his downfall was as he got older he wouldn't relinquish control. Both his son and then later his grandson were groomed to take over but he wouldn't step aside. In his old age he kept making poor decisions till there was not much left by the time he died. Even though the link is a PR piece, to his credit, Newman touches somewhat on his dark side.

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tgvoss Crossroads

tgvoss

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I am currently gathering a group of people to open a neighborhood grocery store of sorts working with BluHouse to locate a space. Sign up here if you are interested in receiving updates or want to be involved with the project. The blockbuster building is certainly on the list!

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I am currently gathering a group of people to open a neighborhood grocery store of sorts working with BluHouse to locate a space. Sign up here if you are interested in receiving updates or want to be involved with the project. The blockbuster building is certainly on the list!

Hey tgvoss, shoot me an email at [email protected]. I may have some people you can connect with.

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