KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The new owners of the Michigan News Agency described its final sale this weekend as one last chance to step inside a legendary space.
Saturday was a celebration and a curtain call for the store’s 78-year run at the heart of downtown.
For its patrons, the Agency itself was as familiar as a daily paper.
With shelves lined with news materials, paperbacks, children’s books and much more, it was a daily stop each morning for Kalamazoo’s readers for decades.
The agency closed this past February, but its three aisles were packed this weekend as shoppers browsed a 50% off clearance of its inventory.
Between flipping through the pages of paperbacks, readers of all ages had memories to share.
While it sold flowers, hardware and insurance at various points stretching back to the mid-1800s, its current business has held steady since the 1940s.
“I remember coming in here with my dad when I was little,” Casey Timmons said. “Waiting for a table at Studio Grill, popping in and just wandering around.”
The temporary reopening was also a tribute to the woman who kept the shop going well into the 21st century.
Dean Hauck handled its day-to-day operations from 1988 until her death in February, making sure it was open even on holidays.
One of her regular customers called her a walking encyclopedia of Kalamazoo knowledge.
“We would hang out and talk to Dean about the Tigers game, the Lions games, whatever’s going on in town,” Steve Ellis said. “It could be horrible weather. Snow, sleet. She’d still make it in here every single day. Just a great, great lady.”
The building’s four units are now owned by investment firm Kalamazoo Forward Ventures, who are now working on design renderings.
As of now, there are no definite plans for what’s next, but they say they hope its new use can be faithful to Hauck’s promotion of literacy.
“I think when we think about Dean, she was an advocate for Kalamazoo,” Kalamazoo Forward Ventures General Principal Eric Cunningham said. “It’s not only the space, it’s also Dean.”
The sale will continue on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, marking a final glimpse at the newsstand that brought the world to Kalamazoo for the better part of a century.
“Having a place where you could come in and put your hands on physical printed word, I think it’s so, so important,” longtime shopper Patty McNulty said.
Kalamazoo Forward Ventures says no matter what happens inside the building, the famous marquee isn’t going anywhere.
