Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum says it’s not game over for the arcade.
Following a Monday Farmington Hills City Council vote to demolish the strip mall it has called home for nearly 35 years to make way for a new Meijer store, Marvin’s ownership took to social media vowing that the business will live on.
“This will not be the end of MMMM!” Marvin’s wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning. “Yes, the city voted and the mall will be torn down but from what I understand we have our space till the end of the year. We will be moving, not closing! Where? I do not know as of yet but I hope to stay within the same general area and will keep everyone posted as things progress but again WE ARE NOT CLOSING!”
In a follow-up post, Marvin’s wrote, “Kinda ironic the Gloria Gaynor movie ‘I will survive’ is having its one day theater showing today when I am echoing those same words! It’s fate telling us WE WILL SURVIVE as well! Bigger and Better! BE MARVELOUS!!!”
Crain’s Detroit Business reports that Farmington Hills Mayor Theresa Rich said during Monday’s council meeting that Marvin’s ownership “is looking at this as an opportunity to grow the business.” The arcade is currently 5,000 square feet, but Rich said Marvin’s is looking for a space that is 10,000 square feet.
“He would love the opportunity to add birthday rooms so they could have more parties there,” Rich said. “He said he has deliberately not weighed in on any of this throughout all the meetings because he didn’t want to get in the way of his landlord.”
The business, which is packed from floor to ceiling with vintage arcade games, antiques, and other curios, was founded by the late Marvin Yagoda in 1980. It moved to its current home in the Hunter’s Square strip mall at 31005 Orchard Lake Rd. in 1990.
Yagoda died in 2017 at age 78. His son Jeremy now runs Marvin’s.
Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum
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This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2024.