7630 West Jefferson Avenue
Lockeman’s Bazaar, Lockeman’s Hardware, Lockeman’s Hardware & Boats
This address may include 7622-7630 West Jefferson Avenue
One of the few remaining businesses in Delray is also one of the city’s oldest. Lockeman’s Hardware has been a staple of Jefferson Avenue for over a century, and considering its reputation, it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The first record I’ve found of Lockeman’s in the paper is from 1924, though the business is said to have opened in 1918. Then, it was called Lockeman’s Bazaar, carrying various home goods, tools, and appliances. Albert Lockeman founded the shop.
A 1924 ad lists the business as a dealer of ABC Electric Washers made by the Altorfer Bros. Company of Peoria, Illinois. According to the Lockeman family, they started dealing Johnson Outboards in 1925, making them the oldest dealer in Michigan.
In June 1933, Charles Seigel, 39, and Betty Rues, 33, from New York, joined Velma Judd, 24, from Detroit, in trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at Lockeman’s. The trio had 11 bad $20 bills and $136 in good cash when caught. At that point, it was still called Lockeman’s Bazaar.
In December 1950, a truck backed up to the shop, broke the window, and started loading the bed with fishing equipment. Police were able to track the stolen goods after the license plate number was turned in. Charles Boutell, 33, was held for trial on a burglary charge.
By 1957, the shop had been renamed Lockeman’s Hardware and Boats, indicating that it was still in use as a hardware store but had started to focus more on boats. They sold old and new boats and motors; you could trade your old one for a new one. The shop still specialized in Johnson Outboards.
By 1959, the hardware shop had a booth at the Detroit Boat Show, which had started a year prior. The shop held down booth number 816.
In 1962, Albert Lockeman died. At the time, he lived in Grosse Ile with his wife Emma. He was survived by his children Roy and Louise. He had at least two grandchildren, Brent and Bradley. After his death, the family kept the business going.
In 1967, the shop carried Johnson Skee-Horse Snowmobiles. Outboard Marine Corporation, which acquired Johnson Outboards in the 1930s, would become one of America’s most popular snowmobile manufacturers. Many hardware stores in Detroit had them, indicating how popular outdoor activities were in Detroit back then. Many families could afford cabins up north, and a snowmobile was a part of the middle-class starter pack many baby boomers grew up with.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the number of hardware stores in Detroit had noticeably dwindled from previous decades. With population loss and many neighborhoods becoming unprofitable for the chain stores that had descended on the city, many shops closed. Advertisements for products like Johnson Outboards and other hardware still had long lists of stores that carried their products, but very few were in Detroit. Lockeman’s was one of those left.
In 1996, Brent Lockeman, one of the shop’s owners, passed away. In 2001, his brother Bradley sold the shop to David and Dorothy Zammitt of Allen Park. The family still owns and operates the store.
In June 2005, the Detroit Free Press did a piece on the store. Dorothy, who was in the shop most days, said it was easy doing the kind of work they did in Delray because the population had gotten so low that nobody minded the loud noises from them fixing boats all day. She also said that she locked her car in Allen Park but never did in Delray because, jokingly, “Like everybody else, the thieves have left Delray.”
In 1991, before the Zammitt family purchased the structure, Dorothy was quoted in the Detroit Free Press. She said, “Provide [Detroit] residents with the same service that is provided in the Pointes and you will see a day when you will be able to drive down Jefferson from east to west and never notice the difference.”
Dorothy died in 2012. The shop is still open, offering boat mechanic work, selling new and used parts, and operating as the only hardware store in Delray. Despite many of their customers leaving for the suburbs decades ago, many of them and their children return to Lockeman’s. It’s the kind of place you can walk into with a kid and know they’ll be just as in awe of the parts high up on the shelves as you are.
Hopefully, Lockeman’s Hardware and Boats will be open for another 105 years.
