Vine-Locust Corner Buildings

722-728 Locust Street

Today, O’Duffy’s Pub and Cosmo’s Cucina reside in the two-story brick building situated on the corner of W. Vine and Locust Street in the Vine Neighborhood (726-728 Locust). A parking lot currently occupies the lot just north of the restaurant/pub, but for most of the twentieth century, two other coupled structures that came to be known as the Common Market buildings stood side by side with the corner building. A fire in April of 1991 destroyed the two buildings (722-724 Locust), leaving only emptiness where once stood a vibrant and eclectic assortment of businesses.

1897-1950’s

For the first fifty years or so, the corner building was primarily anchored by a grocery store, run by the Riepma family, who immigrated to the area from the Netherlands in the late 1890’s. John, his wife Jannie, and their children (Nellie, Albert, Edward, Sena, Jennie) lived just around the corner at 722 W. Vine Street. Over time, Riepma and Sons Grocery remained, but the proprietors next door became a revolving door of drugstores and delis, including John P. Hindbaugh Meats (1914), George S. Surplice Drugs (1914), Garrett Van Arkel Drugs (1921), Oliver Meats (1927), and Vic’s Market Meats (1945). In 1945, a Nettie Curkendall Gifts appears in the city directory.

An Alonzo Birt (a painter) and Hubert Post (a barber) also occupied this Vine Neighborhood hub in the early 1900’s.

Books, Leather, Clothes, Food, and Waterbeds

Here are the names of some of the colorful establishments that once called the Common Market buildings home during the 1970’s and 1980’s:

Souk Sampler

Common Market Books

Lost Wax Method

Necessities & Simple Pleasures

Blue Moon Cafe

The Whole Art Theater

Tiger Rose Boutique

Yesterday’s Books

China Blue Glassworks

Locust Street Leather Works

Other World Imports

American Dream Waterbeds

Marketplace Restaurant

Corner of the World

Mister Anthony’s Coiffures Beauty Shop

Wilderness Bridge Curio Shop

Nymphs & Gnomes

Ruby Fruit Bonanza

Corner Cobbler

American Dream Waterbed

The Troubadour

Vine Garden Cafe

H. Buffalo Esquire

Article written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, March 2022