1960 To generations of Detroiters, the name Grinnell鈥檚 meant the sound of music. The retailer, founded in Ann Arbor in 1879, sold instruments, sheet music, records, and stereo equipment. Even if you didn鈥檛 have a Grinnell Bros. piano in your home, chances were strong you knew someone who did. Many young students and their teachers also partook in the massive piano recital dubbed the Michigan Music Festival, sponsored by Grinnell鈥檚. The firm鈥檚 piano factory was in Holly and its warehouse was in Detroit鈥檚 Corktown neighborhood; that building exists today as the Grinnell Place Lofts. The downtown store, shown here aglow at night for Christmas, also sold furniture, lamps, and other household furnishings. Above the logo in the windows are two pianos and a pair of signs declaring 鈥淎 Merry Musical Christmas.鈥 Satellite stores sprouted up in metro Detroit, other states, and even Ontario. A 1966 ad boasted 鈥36 stores to serve you.鈥 But the downtown flagship, just south of Grand Circus Park on the west side of Woodward and built in 1908 by Albert Kahn, was the jewel in the crown. By the late 1970s, a sour note was sounded when Grinnell鈥檚 began to hemorrhage financially. The coda came in 1981, when the downtown location, which still stands, closed its doors. A little-known fact was that the Grinnell brothers鈥夆斺塈ra, Herbert, and Clayton鈥夆斺塧lso dabbled in making electric automobiles in the early 20th century, but that venture was short-lived.
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