Kids Were Left to Fend for Themselves at the Meijer Oasis
Meijer used to have unsupervised play areas where kids were left to wrestle and watch cartoons while their parents shopped
Ypsilanti — Kids in the 1970s were a different breed. We rode bikes without wearing helmets, we had no clue what a seatbelt was, and in the summer, we’d leave the house in the morning and come back when it got dark and our parents never had a clue where we were.
And in Michigan, we had the Meijer Oasis.
Unless you’re a kid who grew up in Michigan in the ‘70s, you’re going to find it hard to believe that the Meijer Oasis was actually a thing. But it was. And it was glorious.
The Meijer Oasis was a play area that was located in the middle of most every Meijer Supercenter in the state. It had orange shag carpeting, a TV that played cartoons, and big fiberglass animals that you could climb on and jump off and wrestle on.
When your parents did their shopping at Meijer, they would drop you off at the Oasis and just leave you there.
Totally unsupervised.
Whether you were 5 years old or 10 years old or whatever, your parents would just drop you off there and come back an hour or so later and they’d just assume you’d still be there, and you were.
And the Meijer people didn’t just allow this—they encouraged it. They wanted you to leave your kids there all alone.
Check out this newspaper ad from 1977, touting the benefits of the Oasis: “At Meijer, we know that most kids would rather be playing than shopping. So most of our stores have a Kiddie Oasis. That way, the children can play and you can shop.”
You’re damn right, Meijer! You’re damn right we’d rather be playing than shopping!
When those of us who grew up in the 1970s talk about the Meijer Oasis to our own kids, they have a hard time believing it actually existed. When I recently explained it to my youngest daughter, who’s 22, and showed her some old photos of the Oasis, she said, “Wait, WHAT? Your parents would just leave you there? All alone? Grandma just left you there all alone?”
You’re damn right she did. And it was the best thing ever.
I grew up in Ypsilanti, and our Meijer store opened in 1972. My mom did her grocery shopping every Friday night, and she would drop me and my little brother off at the Oasis every time. We’d jump around and wrestle and watch cartoons, and lots of other kids were there doing the same thing, and there wasn’t a grown-up anywhere in sight. She’d come back about an hour or so later and pick us up.
I don’t know whether any supermarkets in other states had such a thing—a play area that was totally unsupervised—but we’re thankful we had it in Michigan. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it made us tough. Michigan tough. I’m sure that kids in other states were tough in the 1970s, but we’re the only ones who survived the Meijer Oasis.
I’m not alone when it comes to having a nostalgic fondness for the Meijer Oasis. There’s actually a Facebook group called “I played at the Meijer Oasis totally unsupervised in the 1970’s” that has 4,200 members. The group was formed way back in 2009, and for years people have been coming there to share their memories of playing at the Oasis.
Robyn Nesbitt Franz said, “I remember being so happy when you could finally cling to the lion’s head to watch TV.”
Rich DeJohnge wrote, “There was always one kid that was the ‘ruler’ and a pecking order until he left and the next one would move up. Personally, I think it was a good experience. It taught you quickly that the world wasn’t always nice and you kind of had to fight for your rights. Good times!”
Tammy Day chimed in with, “I remember my mom would come and pick me up and she would stand at the entrance and finish smoking her cigarette and make a call on the pay phone to give me time to finish my show.”
Thousands of great stories and memories, just like that. And lots of people saying the same thing I am: When we explain it to younger people today, they just don’t believe it could have existed.
Alas, at some point in the early 1980s, the Meijer people realized it probably wasn’t such a good idea to have a totally unsupervised play area in the middle of their stores, and the Oasis went away. The last trace I can find in an old newspaper article was from 1981, so that’s probably about the time they disappeared.
All the other great traditions from the 1970s went away, too. Kids wear helmets today when they ride their bikes. Everybody wears a seatbelt. Parents know where their kids are every second, so the idea of staying out all day in the summer is something that never happens.
We also used to jump our bikes over things in the 1970s, including each other. We would build ramps made out of plywood and cinder blocks, and then our little brothers would lay down on the pavement and we’d jump our Schwinn Stingrays over them. Or not. Sometimes it didn’t always work out. Kids don’t do that anymore, either.
Michigan kids are still tough, don’t get me wrong. But we were different. We were Meijer Oasis tough.
