Where to Buy a Piece of Detroit's Manufacturing History
Urban Artifacts in the Russell Industrial Center has a highly curated collection of quality things that were made here in Detroit
Detroit — You’ve seen the Russell Industrial Center if you’ve gone up or down I-75. It towers over the sunken highway with its rook-like towers and heavily windowed sides. If you take the time to pull over and go inside, you can find part of Detroit to take home.
Inside the hulking building is an antique shop called Urban Artifacts. They have a fantastic selection of goods available for purchase, with many long-lost brands created right in the city. Even if you buy nothing, stop in to get a better sense of Detroit’s past through its relics.
I hate Chinese junk off Amazon. There’s a running joke in my house about a brand called JAHAYFEE, which is the stand-in for all the broken-English merchants on the platform that offer the lowest quality products at the lowest prices.
Who wants to surround themselves with cheap stuff with no character? It’s a great argument for thrifting.
While antique shops are usually a bit more expensive, there’s often more curation going on than in your typical thrift store, because the stories are the point. At least, that’s the case at Urban Artifacts.
I was shocked at how many fantastic items were for sale at reasonable prices: Detrola Cameras, Stroh’s Brewery merchandise, a stuffed bear, a wool Macomb County Sheriff’s sweater with the insignia still on, CRT televisions, and signs.
The inventory is always changing, and the store owners post updates on Instagram. There’s always something new coming in, so you have to be there to check it out.
Urban Artifacts also has a salvage room filled with doors, windows, light fixtures, and other building supplies and commercial antiques. If you’re looking to add character to your home, this is a great place to look for it. It’s authentic and unpretentious.
But unlike buying from JAHAYFEE from the comfort of your bed, you actually have to pull off the highway, park, come into the store, look around and buy what you want. It requires talking to the friendly staff or other patrons.
It’s worth it for the visual feast of glittering neon and maximalist branding from an era before companies pared down their logos to almost nothing. It’s a reminder that companies exported design into the real world on their products and packaging.
We used to surround ourselves with loud colors, splashy designs, and interesting typography—bygone notions in today’s digital economy.
The building itself is an impressive piece of Detroit’s history that everyone should experience. It was designed by legendary architect Albert Kahn in the early 20th century and served as an automotive manufacturing facility until businesses fled the city in the 1960s and 70s.
Outside, the towering building surrounds the parking lot. There are rough edges to the building like a pile of old chairs. Inside, the cavernous hallways make you feel small. The short walk to the studio feels explorative.
The Russell Industrial Center has since pivoted away from manufacturing and toward the arts. It’s now home to an event space for shows and exhibitions, a T-shirt design shop, photography studios, a sound bathing studio, a glassblowing school, and a rug-making studio.
We used to make things in Detroit. Everything from cameras to cars to crayons. Now the former manufacturing center is occupied by creative classes and bland-branded merchandise agencies. Products are made elsewhere unless it’s DIY for fun or for art.
But at Urban Artifacts, there’s a good chance the products were made here in Detroit, or at least in the USA. They’re usually of higher quality than what you can buy new.
Most important, these old things for sale have personality. They’re reminders of the city’s history and a reflection of the people who once lived here.
You can’t get that on Amazon.
