9479 Chalmers Street
Bill’s Bar, convenience store, barber shop, liquor store, Lucky Chalmers
I have always admired this building. Don’t get me wrong—it’s falling apart, but the colors and signage have enticed me to photograph it multiple times over the years.
9479 Chalmers Street was built around 1926 in Detroit’s Outer Drive-Hayes neighborhood. It originally housed a corner store with basic groceries, alcohol, and meats. The store went up for sale in 1954 after 28 years in the same location.
At some point before the sale, Bill’s Bar moved into the other storefront. It was operated by William Machuga, who lived kiddie corner from the bar. It was there by at least 1947—as the Detroit Free Press reported then that the establishment was robbed of $300, or roughly $4k today.
In the 1950s, there was a barber shop inside the building that was constantly for sale. There were countless ads in the newspaper trying to unload it. It had three chairs, so a relatively small operation. There may have been a barber shop here in the 60s and 70s run by John Foydel, but I can’t be sure.
After that, I couldn’t find much information about 9479 Chalmers. In 2006 a new liquor store opened in the corner space called the S & R Party Store. Mr. Daoud of West Bloomfield owned it. He put it up for sale in 2008 for $250,000, but to my knowledge, it didn’t sell.
Around 2009, I believe there was a small fire at the S & R. Shortly after that, the LLC that ran the liquor store was dissolved, and the building began to fall into disarray. Although it wouldn’t be hit hard with graffiti for a few years, the structural damage would creep in slowly, and today, portions of the brick facade are falling out of place.
A few years after closing, a plumbing company placed an advertisement on the south side of the Chalmers facade. When buffing the graffiti, workers painted over the bottom portion of the sign, leaving the part that says ‘Arrow’ with an arrow through the lettering. Eventually, a piece by Nick Jaskey appeared below it. Nick is a talented photographer, and you’ll see installations like this around Detroit.
Around 2020, someone added signs to the mini billboard and liquor store sign that read ‘Lucky Chalmers.’ It’s so simple, and as soon as you read it, you get the reference.
Given that I couldn’t determine this structure’s original name, I’ve started calling it the Lucky Chalmers Building.
The city of Detroit owns the building, and I’d guess it awaits its day with the wrecking ball. Until then, the Lucky Chalmers Building is ‘magically’ still here.
