  Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 664 Registered: 05-2006 |
I was just reviewing some old threads and noticed many references to Federals. I haven't found any threads devoted solely devoted to this fine Detroit institution, so I thought I'd start one. (sorry in advance if I've overlooked it) In the 70's, I have many fond memories of the one at 7 & Gratiot. They seemed to be very prevalent inside the city limits. What is their history and where was their flagship store? I remember in the final days, Steven West, who was the 'spokesman', or maybe chairman had some cheesy commercials, always with the tag line, "I'm Steven West" at the end. Thoughts are appreciated in advance. | ||
Mauser765 Member Username: Mauser765 Post Number: 2505 Registered: 01-2004 |
They all mysteriously seemed to burn down at the same time when they were going out of business. There was one at 16 Mile Road just east of Van Dyke when I was a kid. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1554 Registered: 09-2007 |
They had one in Hamtramck (I believe where Days or Shoppers World is currently) | ||
Jgavrile Member Username: Jgavrile Post Number: 24 Registered: 09-2005 |
As a kid , I use to shop at the one at 6 mile and Schaefer. My Grandmother used to live near there, so I would buy clothes from there, when I would go over that way and visit. I grew up in Highland Park, and the closest Federals store was at 9 mile and Woodward,or at 8 Mile and Dequinder. so there were many other stores in Highland Park to shop at back then.Usually pretty good name brand stuff at Federals though. Levis'Hagar, Mens suits, etc. They had just about everything. They had appliances, lawnmowers, household stuff,records. Good prices on everything. Back in the late 50's a pair of Levis was probably around $3.75 I think. | ||
Ragtoplover59 Member Username: Ragtoplover59 Post Number: 201 Registered: 09-2006 |
We had one on Vernor between Central & Springwells, It was a two story store but I don't remember what was upstairs, I just remember that the toys were on the landing between the two floors. Up until about 30 yrs ago that section of Vernor was solid store's from Central to Springwells. Everything you needed was available in that one block, Now Parking lots take up some of the area. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 178 Registered: 08-2007 |
There was a store on the Hazel Park side of 8 Mile Rd. just west of Dequindre. There were other stores on north side of Harper west of Van Dyke and another store on Joseph Campau between Evaline and Yemans. | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 179 Registered: 08-2007 |
There were stores on Eight Mile Rd. and Dequindre, Harper west of Van Dyke, and Joseph Campau between Evaline and Yemans. They sold a good line of merchandise at good prices. The store on Harper and the one on Joseph Campau carried some name brands of sporting goods and other items. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1429 Registered: 08-2007 |
I sold ladies' stockings for Easter at the Greenfield and Grand River store in 1966, my favorite job ever. That was before pantyhose, and the 'good, better and best' stockings came in flat boxes. If your fingers passed inspection at the beginning of the day, you could demonstrate the hosiery on your hand. Steven West, grrr, he killed Federal's, the original corporate raider. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 1015 Registered: 10-2003 |
Big store on the northwest corner of 9 Mile and Woodward in Ferndale. Purchased a lot of cut-out LP's there as a kid. It's been a l o n g time, but I remember the basic colours of the building being a light blue and white. Kinda like a very junior Demery's. I have often wondered what happened to the chain, too. I can guess that it went down as the old line neighborhood shopping districts began to fall apart in the early '70's. This adds nothing to the discussion, buy I remember my mother telling me she was in Federals when JFK was shot. The appliance department was in the basement by the stairwell. Mom was on the main floor, and apparently they had a TV on downstairs. Mom said the information spread like a wave in hushed tones up the stairwell and across the main floor..... | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1430 Registered: 08-2007 |
Here is a quote from an expose' article about Steven West, Broward-Palm Beach New Times, 8-29-2002: In one chapter of the Millionaire book, West explains that the value of a company can be legally inflated in financial statements by assigning an arbitrary fair-market value to the individual shares of stock and then explaining that arbitrary assignment in the footnotes. "[W]ho is to say that your shares are not worth 50 cents each?" West asks in the book. It's a business philosophy that John Palumbo, a construction cost estimator employed by West in 2001, likens to a recent accounting scandal. "West was cooking the books to raise capital," Palumbo says. "On a much smaller scale, Steve West was doing exactly the same thing that WorldCom is being investigated for." In that tome, West also tells readers that "the wealthy and successful men and women of this world wear beautiful clothes; ride in expensive cars... eat in the best restaurants where they are treated with the same deference shown to royalty. They also have magnificent offices with beautiful secretaries as well as luxurious homes in which they entertain royally." On October 31, 1977, three days after the page-one Journal story about the Robert Hall sale, West again made headlines in that newspaper -- this time because he purchased 25 percent of the common stock of Federal's, a department-store chain concentrated in Detroit. The hostile takeover spurred Federal's board of directors to attempt to oust him; when they sued, West locked himself in his office at Federal's for four hours. Lawyers for the store informed the would-be tycoon that a judge had ordered him to leave. But after West triumphed in court in March 1978, he gained control of Federal's. Later in 1978, several Federal's stores burned, according to a report published later in Newsday. West apparently denied involvement and suggested that he take a lie-detector test to show that neither he nor company officers were involved, the newspaper reported. There's no indication of whether the test was taken, but he was not charged in the case. By 1980, Federal's dissolved for failure to file reports and pay fees. It must have seemed to West then that business couldn't get worse. But it did. http://www.browardpalmbeach.co m/2002-08-29/news/wild-wild-we st/2 | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2710 Registered: 01-2005 |
"Steven West, grrr, he killed Federal's, the original corporate raider." Yeah, and his dingbat wife. What the heck was her name? Was it Sharon? The two of them appeared on all the Federal's commercials as they raped the company. When he closed the stores, the attitude among Detroiters was to lynch them, with apologies to any golf writers who may be lurking. | ||
Dodgemain Member Username: Dodgemain Post Number: 214 Registered: 04-2005 |
I remember at the end, they reopened a few of them as Derals. taking off the Fe on the sign. It didn't last long. | ||
Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 665 Registered: 05-2006 |
West apparently denied involvement and suggested that he take a lie-detector test to show that neither he nor company officers were involved, the newspaper reported. ______________________________ ___________________ Gee, a good criminal could never pass that!•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Yeah, and his dingbat wife. What the heck was her name? Was it Sharon? Ray, I believe in the commercials, she would proclaim "and I'm Sherry West" ______________________________ ___________________ I too remember many Detroiter's wanted to lynch their white-asses! | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 5 Registered: 02-2008 |
What was the name of the super market across the parking lot behind federals, the one on the dead end street that ran into federals? | ||
Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 666 Registered: 05-2006 |
At 7 & Gratiot, it was Wrigley's, then Great Scott, and finaly You Save Super Market. Although, I believe Federal's tried a supermarket in their last days, I remember a commercial where Steven West would say "The price of food is getting ridiculas, and I'm going to do something about it. I'm Steven West, and(camera pan to wife) I'm Sherry West" (Message edited by detroitej72 on February 10, 2008) (Message edited by detroitej72 on February 10, 2008) | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 7 Registered: 02-2008 |
Great scott was the one i remember it as as a kid. thanks. | ||
Detroitej72 Member Username: Detroitej72 Post Number: 669 Registered: 05-2006 |
Whittier70, I lived on Novara, on the east side of Gratiot, what street did you live on? Do you remember Sam Agrusa and his kids who lived on Regent(on the west side)? I was friends with his youngest son, Chris. I always thought how interesting, Chris was the youngest of his family, I was the oldest in mine. | ||
Whittier70 Member Username: Whittier70 Post Number: 8 Registered: 02-2008 |
no, i'm from yorkshire north of 94, we'd do our shopping over there on 7 and gratiot sometimes. | ||
Jiminnm Member Username: Jiminnm Post Number: 1592 Registered: 02-2005 |
I recollect that at the end of Federals' run, West renamed the stores "derals" (removing the fe). Didn't Steven West end up dead in the trunk of a car? | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1557 Registered: 09-2007 |
LOL, "Derals" was the prefect name for the store too. Federal's name and reputation would "deral" from the tracks. | ||
N7hn Member Username: N7hn Post Number: 1 Registered: 02-2008 |
the one at seven mile and grand river became an "ed"s ..... the removed the "f" and "erals" it was like a big overstock store | ||
Smogboy Member Username: Smogboy Post Number: 7081 Registered: 11-2004 |
I vaguely remember the one at Seven Mile & Grand River at the Seven Grand shopping center. The biggest Federals I always loved was the one off of Greenfield & Grand River. It was across the way from Montgomery Wards there and while it wasn't the do-all end-all like the Hudson's downtown, it was still a nice place to shop. | ||
Kville Member Username: Kville Post Number: 102 Registered: 04-2007 |
Just for the record, I'm adding my 2-cents by mentioning that on the east side there was also a store at Warren & Conner, where Federal was kind of like a flagship store for the Warren-Conner shopping center. I don't remember the regression of that shopping area or whether it was the closing of Federal's that eventually contributed to the demise of that whole shopping center. | ||
Dave70 Member Username: Dave70 Post Number: 37 Registered: 08-2007 |
Hey Detroitej72, I knew a Chris Agrusa in middle school, did he go to Dorothy Fisher Magnet? | ||
Designerguy24 Member Username: Designerguy24 Post Number: 114 Registered: 10-2006 |
I was told there was a Federal Department Store where Crowley's now Value City use to be at Universal Mall is this true? | ||
Living_in_the_d Member Username: Living_in_the_d Post Number: 49 Registered: 01-2008 |
Yeah, seven and gratiot, And jiminnm, that was joshua door, not west. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1431 Registered: 08-2007 |
Steven West should have been ridden out of town on a rail but as of 2002, he was still up to his sneaky tricks down in Broward County, FL. See the article I posted above. | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 3860 Registered: 02-2004 |
I worked at the Federals at Grand River and Seven Mile (7 Grand), as did my mother. Steven West also raided the pension fund, so when he left the empty shells of stores, there was nothing left for the long time employees. I remember his sneering remarks about "old ladies in tennis shoes" and how he had to get rid of them. When my mother started to work there, she had to wear coordinated outfits, dresses in either navy blue or black. It was a profession, you could support a family. I hope whatever Caribbean island he slithered off to (with my mother's money) is a miserable place full of people who piss in his food. | ||
Gazhekwe Member Username: Gazhekwe Post Number: 1432 Registered: 08-2007 |
I was in my teens when I worked at Federal's, and there is no way anyone wore tennis shoes. We dressed nice. When you sell fashion, you have to look the part. He was a jerk, and it looks like he's still a jerk. He continues to prey on others, but has not really prospered. | ||
Skulmaty Member Username: Skulmaty Post Number: 2 Registered: 02-2008 |
Yes, Federals at 7 and Gratiot. Also Cancellation Shoes near there. I still have a pair of Men's D'Italia pointy toed shoes w/cuban heels that I bought there in the early 80s. They had some really cool shoes from the 60s tucked away in their basement. |
