Maxs Jewelry Store

5553 Chene St, Detroit, MI 48211

-Abandoned Shortly after 1974

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History of Max's Jewelry Store

Max's Jewelry Store can be traced all the way back to 1927 when two family members, Max and Sam Rosenbaum, opened the store. The neighborhood at the time was a booming area full of life and charm, also known as the Chene Corridor. It hosted many small businesses and even the Chene Farmers Market, which operated until 1980. Max would eventually open his own separate store in Hamtramck, MI, around 1940, while Sam would stay at the Chene St location. The business was known for its utmost honesty regarding gems. Trouble would begin in the 1960s, notably after the Detroit Riots of 1967 shattered the whole neighborhood, which was already slowly declining. The riots would seal the community's fate. The jewelry store was one of the hundreds of stores in Detroit that were looted and set on fire, even being looted and arsoned by people Max knew. In 1974, the business closed shop and moved to Warren, MI. Sam would shortly retire a few years later and close the Warren location. The Hamtramck location would continue, with Max serving it until his death in 1980. The Hamtramck location closed for good in 1994. The fire damage pictured below was not from the riots as one might think. The store went on to become Apollo Furniture. However, as was the case for the whole neighborhood, it failed a couple of years later. The fire damage was from a separate arson incident in 2012, which took out much of the roof and the fence in front of the building. The neighborhood saw a series of arson incidents around this time, including the arsons of Chene Ferry Market and Chene Liquor, both facing massive fires. In 2016, the sign on the front of the building was redone for the 2016 Transformers movie, in which many buildings in the neighborhood were decorated for the movie. In this case, the sign was restored to most of its former glory. Since the movie in 2016, the former jewelry store and most of the neighborhood still show what they were originally, and the abandoned-like nature of the Chene Corridor remains.

Additional Reading

The Rosenbaum family ran the jewelry store on Chene St. and opened it around the late 1920’s. Max and Sam Rosenbaum operated the store together. Later Max would open another location in Hamtramck MI in 1940. While the stores both operated Sam died June 11th, 1954 and his son Charles ran the store, until 1973 when the Chene Corridor had long past seen its best days. Max died in 1980, and Charles in 1996. But the Max’s in Hamtramck stayed open until 1994 when it was then also closed
Max Rosenbaum may be long dead but his granddaughter, Ellen Hertz runs a Jewelry Store just outside Minneapolis, MN in Saint Louis Park, She runs the business very well and carries the legacy her grandfather once had for jewelry business, and has very favorable reviews

Recollection from the author

Though a smaller building Max’s Jewelry Store was a unique character of the Chene Corridor. The Sign was a tale from a bygone era of Detroit. But sitting on this once major street in Detroit sits Max’s looking inside you get to see a burnt out but good insight into small business Detroit of the mid 20th Century. Walking in you could see just what was once Max’s Jewelry Store. From artifacts from a bygone era to the shelves that lined the store.