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The Herc's story is a bit complicated, I'll do my best to unravel it. The brand goes back to Walter Herc in 1946. He opened the first location at Fenkell and Livernois. That was moved to 8 Mile and Evergreen. Then again to Grand River Ave in 1972. He had a son named Bob who was also involved in the business.
There was also a man named Michael Niemen (nee Nemerski). It is stated in his 2014 obituary that he was also involved in Herc's. The Herc named is mentioned but nothing about the founder of Herc's. Mr. Niemen opened the Lion's Den in Waterford which still stands today as of 2023. He is also credited with operating other Sports Bars in the area.
There is a bio on Bob Herc's website for Bob's Carryout in New Hudson (still operating as of 2023 also) who mentions Walter Herc but not Mr. Niemen. Perhaps the relationship was more of a licensing the name type of deal. Or, perhaps the Herc family sold the original chain to Mr. Niemen.
In short, here are/were the locations and the current statuses:
There is also a mention of a Herc's at 345 Washtenaw (misspelled in the source) from a payphone locator site but I am not positive about that. I included it for completeness.