D & C Building

In early 1940, a two-story brick business block on the northwest corner of Main and Fourth Streets, locally known as the Lambertson block, was razed to make way for the construction of a modern store block that would house a dime store with an entrance on Main and a meat market with an entrance off Fourth Street.

The Rochester Clarion first reported on the construction of the new building on January 12, 1940:

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Work was started Wednesday on razing of the old two-story brick building, corner Main and Fourth streets, for years occupied by the Axford Sports Shop, preparatory to the erection of a new modern building to be owned and occupied by the D. & C. chain stores. The rear portion will be razed first and a building facing Fourth street to house a local business will be erected first, after which the main building will be razed and supplanted with a modern business block covering the entire ground space. Completed, the building will be a fine addition to our Main street, this being one of the most desirable corners in the city.

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The Rochester Clarion further reported as follows on February 2, 1940:

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Excavation work on the new D. & C. store, corner of Fourth and Main streets, was halted yesterday, due to the frozen ground, shortly after work had started. A steam shovel from a Flint concern has been brought here to dig out the basement. The D. & C. company which recently purchased the corner property from the First National bank and Stackhouse Brothers, plans to erect a one-story building on the site. The company's Rochester store will occupy the Main street frontage and two stores will face Fourth street. Plassey's market is considering leasing the larger of the two stores on the Fourth street side.

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The Rochester Era reported on March 29, 1940:

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The demolition of the first of the Lambertson stores is about completed and the construction of the new Plassey store is progressing finely. The four stores of the D & C Co. will be one story, but will be completed so they will, as Tony Ptach says, "look fine and dandy." Mr. Dancer and his confreres of Stockbridge, who are at the head of the enterprise as the D & C Co. Inc., are doing much for the village of Rochester and their new stores will add much to their business acumen in Rochester.

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In May 1940, the Rochester Era announced that Plassey's Market was ready to open at the west end of the new building, with an entrance off Fourth Street:

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Plassey's food market, which has been for many years at 403 Main St., has been moved to their new location in the D and C block on Fourth St., which was completed the past week. The market is owned by Mr. and Mrs. John C. Plassey. Mr. Plassey will have much more floor space in the new location and has leased the meat business to George Forsyth, a former resident of Rochester. A bakery will aslo be opened in the market and managed by the Seamanns of Utica.

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The D & C opened in its new building on June 29, 1940. On July 19, 1940, a children's clothing store called Loye's Tot to Teen opened at the back of the building, next to Plassey's.

Rochester's D & C Store was part of a variety store chain founded in Stockbridge, Michigan in 1926 by brothers James Herbert Dancer and Paul Dancer and their partner, Glenn Cowan (hence the D and C name). Other brothers in the Dancer family were the owners of Michigan's Dancer's Department Store chain. The D & C business expanded to 54 stores across Michigan at its high point, but by 1993, the giant discount retailers had taken their toll and the D & C chain closed its stores, including the one in Rochester. After the D & C closed, the building was remodeled for restaurant use. The first tenant, opening in late 1994, was America's Pizza Cafe; it was replaced in 1998 by Andiamo Osteria. In 2010, the Andiamo Group converted the Rochester restaurant to a Rojo Mexican Bistro. In 2018, the building became the home of D'Marcos Italian Restaurant.

Numerous oral history accounts over the years have claimed that the D & C building is inhabited by a mischievous ghost.

"This, than 'n' other," Rochester Clarion, January 12, 1940, p.1.

"D & C Company breaks ground," Rochester Clarion, February 2, 1940, p.8.

"New store buildings coming right along," Rochester Era, March 29, 1940, p.1.

"Plassey's Market is in New Location," Rochester Era, May 10, 1940, p.1.

Wadley, Jared O. "Discount Store Slugs it Out With the Giant Retailers," Detroit News, March 31, 1993, p.5B.

Deck, Cecelia. "Era ends for D & C," Detroit Free Press, May 13, 1993, p.62.

Bransdorfer, Alfred R. "D & C Stockholders Approve Liquidation of the Company," Clare Sentinel, April 20, 1993, p.1.

"New Rojo in Rochester," Detroit Free Press [Play Section], September 23, 2010, p.10.

Almond, Mary Beth. "Former Rojo to be Redeveloped Into New Restaurant and Wine Bar," Rochester Post, January 16, 2018.