The East Detroit Landmark Building The Famous Plum Pit

There's a purple building on Detroit's Eastside that everyone knows and everyone has a story. The East Detroit Landmark Building The Famous Plum Pit

John and Patricia Pioszak opened the Plum Pit, a retail store specializing in hippie clothing and paraphernalia, in 1967. At one time there were several locations throughout metro Detroit.

The unique smell of incense was always in the air as you walked a small pathway in the store. Glass showcases every kind of pipe, grinder, scale, rolling papers, and bongs right out of a Cheech & Chong movie. Walking in the back of the Famous Plum Pit they had old school posters, tons of black light posters to choose from. Original Lava lamps from the '70s. Jimi Hendrix t-shirt pullovers, band t-shirts as well as a few shirts that got someone suspended in 10th grade.

Remember at the time the Plum Pit was open, marijuana was illegal in Michigan. The City Of East Detroit, now Eastpointe, didn't make it too easy to be a known head shop in the area. Now head shops and dispensaries seem to be on every corner.

2016: Michigan's legislature enacted a law expanding the state's existing medical marijuana program to include licensing and regulation of medical marijuana businesses. 2018: Michigan voters approved a ballot initiative legalizing marijuana for adults.

Not sure when the Plum Pit officially shut down. In 2021 the Plum Pit Twitter account  Tweeted in Feb of 2021, "Hang tight, we’ll be coming home soon!" Unfortunately, it never opened back up to the public. Still have wonderful memories to keep.

NEW UPDATE!

Something new as the name has changed over to Blacklist Provisions. The grandson of the founder of the Plum Pit now has the control of the store. Unfortunately, he couldn't carry on the name because of the sentimental attachment of the original owner (his uncle). But John Pioszak the new owner is starting back to the roots and focusing on gifts and 80's punk rock-inspired apparel. The current market is saturated with smoke shops and wanted to change the vision of the future of the business. John and the staff would personally send an invitation to stop by and enjoy the wonders of the store.

Below are some important facts about Eastpointe that you can use to pass our Eastpointe  City of the Week Quiz!

Until 1929 Eastpointe was known as Halfway, because it was located halfway between Detroit and Mt. Clemens.

The slogan of Eastpointe is "A Family Town".

Eastpointe was once an agricultural area that specialized in growing rhubarb!

From 1929 to 1992, Eastpointe was known as East Detroit.

The street signs in Eastpointe have shamrocks on them, and the nickname of the high school sports teams is The Shamrocks.