LeAnne Rogers

Hometown Life

There were always three particular points of pride when it came to Garden City businesses: The first Little Caesars opened on Cherry Hill at Venoy in 1959; the first Kmart opened in March 1962 on Ford at Middlebelt; and the first enclosed McDonald's opened on Middlebelt south of Ford in 1966.

Now, that first Kmart store, a traditional anchor of Garden City's downtown shopping district, is in the process of closing. Clearance sales are underway as the store, and a number of other Kmarts, including Westland, are closing as the once thriving retail chain struggles financially.

News of the store closing prompted lots of nostalgia from current and former Garden City residents who shopped and worked at the store over the years.

Norah Fix remembers the date the original Kmart store opened at Ford and Middlebelt in Garden City: March 1, 1962.

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"I got married on March 3, 1962. I got every Blue Light Special that they had. They would announce the Blue Light Special for what they had on special. People had to go hurry up and get it," Fix said.

A lifelong Garden City resident, Fix and her late husband, Greg, rented her parents house on Krauter, near St. Raphael Catholic Church, after they were married.

"I bought 13 blankets (at Kmart). It was the bloody coldest day of the year. I don't remember all the other stuff I bought but I remember 13 blankets," she said.

The couple met while working at Garden City Hospital — Fix was a nurse and her husband was an X-ray technician.

"I was definitely a regular Kmart shopper. I'd get the kids in the buggy. They had a place to eat," she said. "It was the closest place to shop. I don't want to go over to Target. I'm sad Macy's is closing. When they closed the restaurant, I missed the Maurice salad. I miss the hot fudge from Sanders — Macy's had it."

Joe Bandy said the Garden City Kmart is where he and his wife, Kristin met.

Bandy was 20 when he hired as a loss control agent at the store in February 1997 — basically he patrolled the store looking for shoplifters. Kristin, then 18, was hired the following month as a cashier.

"She didn't know I was an employee, as I dressed as a casual shopper to catch shoplifters. On a particular day I was walking by her register (#3) and she summoned me over,: 'Hey, come here real quick,' she said. I walk into her register line and basically say 'yes'," She then says, 'Do you have 35 cents I can borrow?'''

Bandy said he reached into his pocket and gave her 50 cents and walked away. But she called him back." She then says 'Wait, can you purchase this pack of Rolos for me?. I'm not allowed to buy my own stuff because loss prevention will fire me,''' recalled Bandy, who purchased the candy for her."

After the transaction was complete, he said, she thanked him, asked his name and what he was doing shopping at Kmart. "I then say, 'My name is Joe and you're fired. I am loss control here.' Her face turned beet red as I laughed walking away."

The couple began dating, had a child and another one on the way when they married in 2010. After their wedding ceremony, the couple and their wedding party made a stop at the Garden City Kmart store. The groomsmen included former and current store loss prevention specialists.

"We are still happily married and living in Garden City today," Bandy said.

Bandy's best man at his wedding was Anthony Skolarus, a former loss prevention officer and by then Garden City Police officer.

" I can remember visiting the Garden City Kmart as a young kid with my grandma," Skolarus said. "... I couldn't wait to peruse the toy section and cafeteria as a young kid,"

Later working as a loss prevention officer at the store, Skolarus said, helped him prepare for a law enforcement career.

Like many, Skolarus said he hates to see this store close.

"I hope whatever replaces it will continue to serve the visitors and residents of Garden City while positively impacting the downtown district," he said. "Whatever that business may be, I'll always see the first Kmart when passing through the Ford and Middlebelt intersection."

Former Westland mayor and current 18th District Court Judge Sandra Ferrence Cicirelli grew up in Garden City with eight siblings and has memories of the first Kmart store.

"We went to that store since I was a kid. I remember going there with my brother Gary when we were 10 or 12 years old," Cicirelli said. "We rode our bikes to the Garden City Kmart. We had saved our money for a picture of an outside farm scene for our mother. We had a heck of time getting it home with our bikes."

Her mother still has the picture hanging in her home, Cicirelli said, valuing it as a gift from her children.

"I grew up with that Kmart. All of our Christmas trees came from there. People will miss that store," she added.

Hometown Life reporter LeAnne Roger may be contacted at lrogers@hometownlife.com