[7] The Film Exchange Building employed a large office staff that included salespeople, bookkeepers, secretaries, clerks and typists in addition to those in the shipping and receiving departments.

Also, because of the fragile nature of film stock (thin reels of celluloid played on a movie projector), there was a large staff of inspectors employed.

Most often the damages were entirely repaired onsite, with the cost being billed to the theater returning the movie reel.

[8] The major movie studios released up to 60 feature films annually plus many weekly shorts and news reels.

Detroit's Film Exchange Building distributed these to over 600 theaters in its territory of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

Many notable movie houses such as The Fox Theatre, The Alger, The Eastown, The National State Theater (The Fillmore), and others only exist because of the Film Exchange Building.

[4] Inside the structure are fireproof vaults made for nitrate films, which contain vents that lead to the roof, where they are covered by wooden sheds.

[11] Ending in 1964, the building's main occupants were union members, but after that, the number of tenants began to decline.