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| The J.L. Husdson Co. dominated the retail scene in Detroit in much the same way its massive, red-brick store dominated Woodward Avenue, the city's main artery. |
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| The Grand River Ave. side of the store reveals how Hudson's was built up, one addition at a time to become one of the largest department stores in the world. |
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| Though on the site of one of Hudson's oldest components, the Farmer Street side of the store was one of the building's later additions. |
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| The J.L. Hudson Co. Tower, emblazoned with HUDSON'S outlined in red neon was a landmark visible from miles away, and separated the Farmer Street and Grand River Avenue buildings. |
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| In December of 1958, LIFE magazine showed a cut-away view of Hudson's, showing the vast array of activity in the story at the height of its glory. |
1200 Woodward Avenue
Setroit, Michigan
CApitol 3-5100
Second Basement
Hudson’s Budget Store • Breadstick in the Basement
First Basement
Hudson's Budget Store
First Floor
Woodward Avenue Jewelry • Fashion Watches • Leather Goods • Gloves • Handbags • Scarves • Belts • Hosiery • Aisles of Beauty • Toiletries • Watches • Blouses • Fine Jewelry • Miss Detroiter Sportswear • Sweaters
Grand River Avenue Men’s Furnishings • Men’s Accessories • Dress Shirts • Ties • Pajamas • Shirts • Accessories • Hosiery • The Sportsman
Farmer Street Hudson’s Bakery • Pantry Shop • The Wine Cellar • Candy Shop • Miss Detroiter Lingerie
Mezzanine
Woodward Avenue Jewelry Repair • Health and Beauty Aids • Pharmacy • Hudson’s Optical • Clock Shop
Grand River Avenue Book Shop • Stationery • Greeting Cards • Adult Games • Luggage
Farmer Street Piccadilly Circus Cafeteria • Coins & Stamps
Second Floor
Woodward Avenue Men’s Suits • Men’s Coats • Contemporary Man • New Directions • Men’s Shoes • That Guy • Casino Shop • University Shop • The Threadmill
Grand River Avenue Sporting Goods • Ski Shop • Golf Shop • Cameras and Supplies
Farmer Street "Ask Mr. Foster" Travel Service • Post Office • Men’s Will Call • Boys 4-7 • Boys 8-20
Third Floor
Woodward Avenue Sheets • Blankets • Pillows • Bath Shop
Grand River Avenue Picture Shop • Table Linens • Hudson's Dry Cleaning
Farmer Street Hudson’s Sewing Center • Fabrics • Notions • Patterns • Sewing Machines • Repair Center
Fourth Floor
Woodward Avenue Baby’s Own Shop • Infant’s Layette • Toddler’s Shop • Fresh Flower Shop
Grand River Avenue Children’s Shoes • Girls 3-6x • Girls 7-14 • Little Miss Hudson • Sub Teen Shop • Young Accessories • Girl Scout Supplies
Farmer Street Nursery Furniture • O’Connor Portrait Studio • Writing Lounge • Tourneur Salon • Snack Bar
Fifth Floor
Woodward Avenue Home and Town Dresses • Today’s Woman • Pacemaker Shop • Lingerie • Sleepwear • Loungewear
Grand River Avenue A Nice Girl Like You... • Deb Shop • High School Shop
Farmer Street Equestrienne Shop • Foundations
Sixth Floor
Woodward Avenue Bridal Salon • Coat Shop • Suit Shop • Miss Detroiter Dresses • St. Clair Dresses • Social Occasion
Grand River Avenue Fur Salon • Contemporary Collections • St. Clair Sportswear • Fashion Shoes • Miss Detroiter Shoes • Leisure Footwear
Farmer Street Maternity Shop
Seventh Floor
Woodward Avenue The Woodward Shops Green Room • Better Coats • Miss Hudson • Town & Country • The Individualist • French Room Millinery • The Crystal Room
Grand River Avenue Shoe Salon • Shoe Repair
Farmer Street J. L. Hudson Gallery • Old Print Shop
Eighth Floor
Woodward Avenue Studio of Interior Decoration • Furniture Galleries
Grand River Avenue Curtains • Draperies • Closet Shop Farmer Street Floor Coverings • Rugs • Oriental Rug Gallery • Home Planning Bureau • Home Improvement
Ninth Floor
Woodward Avenue Bed Room Furniture • Dining Room Furniture • Colonial Furniture
Grand River Avenue Model Rooms
Farmer Street Living Room Furniture • Occasional Furniture
Tenth Floor
Woodward Avenue China • Glassware • Silver Gallery • Gifts • Collector’s Gallery • Bride’s Registry • Gift Wrap • Fireplace Shop
Grand River Avenue Appliances • Garden Shop • Pet Shop
Farmer Street Housewares • Marketplace • Small Electrical Appliances • Cleaning Materials • Hardware • Tools • Paint • Kitchen Planning Service • Lighting Fixtures
Eleventh Floor
Woodward Avenue Lamps • Pictures • Mirrors • Candles
Grand River Avenue Cash Office • Credit Office
Farmer Street Executive Offices
Twelfth Floor
Woodward Avenue Auditorium • Little Auditorium
Grand River Avenue Alterations • Children's Barber Shop
Farmer Street Toytown • Artists' Supplies • Christmas Trim Shop
Thirteenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Pianos and Organs • Music Store • Records • Stereos • Televisions
Farmer Street Riverview Room • The Beef Emporium (Pine Room) • Executive Dining Room
Fourteenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Personnel • Hudson’s Beauty Salon • Children’s Barber Shop
Farmer Street Employees Cafeteria
Fifteenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Receiving and Marking
Farmer Street Display Department
Sixteenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Buyers' Offices • Import Office • Carpenter Shop • Receiving and Marking
Seventeenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Fur Storage • Paint Shop • Elevator Equipment
Eighteenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Paymaster • Auditing • Storage
Nineteenth Floor
Grand River Avenue Advertising • Public Relations • Training
Twentieth Floor
Grand River Avenue Order Board • Supplies • Telephone Equipment
Twenty-First Floor
Grand River Avenue Laundry • Sign And Print Shop
Twenty-Second Floor
Grand River Avenue Maintenance
Twenty-Third Floor
Grand River Avenue Equipment
Twenty-Fourth Floor
Hudson Tower Water Supply • Executive Exercise Room
Twenty-Fifth Floor
Hudson Tower Water Supply
(2,150,300 s.f.)
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| Northland Grenfield Road & 8 Mile 1954 470,000 s.f. The Terrace Room Piccadilly |
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| Eastland Kelly Road at 8 Mile 1975 432,000 s.f. The Seaway Room-Anchor Room Piccadilly Circus |
Pontiac Mall
Pontiac, MI (1965)
285,000 sq. ft.
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| Westland Wayne and Westland Roads 1965 322,000 s.f. The Terrace |
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| Oakland Mall 14 Mile Road and John R Avenue Troy 1968 357,000 s.f. The Terrace |
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| Genesee Valley Flint 1970 265,000 s.f. |
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| Southland Taylor 1970 272,000 s.f. |
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| Franklin Park Mall Toledo, OH May, 1971 187,000 s.f. The Pewter Pub |
Briarwood, Ann Arbor (1974)
189,000 sq. ft.
The Greenery
Woodland Mall (1976)
Grand Rapids
156,000 sq. ft.
Fairlane Town Center (1976)
Dearborn
239,000 sq. ft.
Twelve Oaks (1977)
Novi
238,000 sq. ft.
Lakeside Mall (1978)
Sterling Heights
200,000 sq. ft.
Greenery Restaurant
Coming in due course.
My mother, Marilyn Hutchings Rowe, worked at the downtown Detroit J.L. Hudson's in the late 1940's...I'm not sure what department (notions? lamps?), unfortunately she's been gone over 30 years. I worked in the Toy Dept. and the Rainbow Store at Hudson's Westland in the 1970s. Loved Hudson's- you could always find exactly what you were looking for at Hudson's. I moved to Florida in 1994 and Dillard's and Macy's are where I shop now.
ReplyDeleteThe market Place had the best food especially the Maurice Salads- they were the best!
I just came into the possession of the Commercial Art Work of Miss Helen Widger. She worked for Hudson's, but I don't know what years. She was born in 1907 and died in 2003. Her work was beautiful. I kept the pieces I liked most.
ReplyDeleteOh, I love this site! I grew up shopping at the Northland Hudson's - I loved their food store (the annex?) and eating in their original restaurant (I wish I could find a set of the nursery rhyme children's china they used). Seeing the original JLH logo brings back memories! I also remember shopping in B'ham at Crowley's, Jacobsons ("Jake's") and Siegel's. We Detroiters were so good at nicknaming our department stores - remember "Monkey Wards?"
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Hudsons downtown....we lived in Highland Park until 1964, taking the Woodward DSR bus every Wednesday to Hudsons, rain or shine, cold or hot. The atmosphere when you walked into the store was electric, a true "GRAND EMPORIUM". I went to work for Hudsons in 1977 at Twelve Oaks in Novi, and was selected to be in the Parade 3 years in a row. I now live in Atlanta, a former Macys executive, (Macys moved me to Kansas City, then Toledo, then Atlanta. I will tell you all that there was no place like Hudsons. We have Macys, Dillards, and Belk here but they cannot hold a candle to my beloved Hudsons. I left the Department store industry after being a store manager for Mervyns, and have gone on to home improvement retail.....I love working for Lowes!!!!!! The current department store industry is not and will never match working for JL Hudson.
ReplyDeleteThsi is a great site. Am in the UK and we have lost many of our old stores as well including my "childhood memories" stores Kendal Milne (Kendals) and Lewis's in Manchester. One is now a bland chin department store - it used to be the "Harrods" of north England (in fact is was owned by and called "Harrods" for a while early in the 20th century) and teh other is now an office building and discount store. Both were great in their heyday. But Hudsons looks truly something else - teh zenith of department stores. I cant believe the scale of the place. To demolish that building was criminal. The people involved should be ashamed. Anyone have more pics of teh interior or exterior from 1940s onwards?
ReplyDeleteI have some 1964 smoked crystal glass ware from JL Hudsons and was wondering if any of their crystal ever had insignia or some sort of "proof" it came from them...
ReplyDeleteplease respond to soulmello@hotmail.com
Thanks!
We miss Hudson's and display items from its past years at the local public libraries for all to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteWe are always adding J.L. Hudson's items to the traveling historical display...
If you have something of interest from Hudson's past please call us in Michigan at 586-212-5268
My mother loved shopping at Hudson's dating back to WWII. She would tell me stories about walking downtown at night and looking in the windows of Hudson's.
ReplyDeleteI have very fond memories of shopping at the Hudson's store at Christmas. My mother would take me on the train downtown. Hudson's would have a Christmas wonderland for children on one of the floors along with a gift shop where children could do their shopping without their parents.
I remember the smell of warm chestnuts being sold on the street corner in front of the store.
Then there were the memories of the horses children would sit on to have their hair cut in the barber shop as well as the elevator operators that ran them.
The last time I shopped there was in 1979 when I was working at First Federal Saving across the street.
I loved that store.
My first store job was at Eastland Mall, tho not at Hudson's. Every dinner break, I'd head to H's basement lunch counter. They had a conveyor to bring the food out to the various stations. A light beam would stop the food at each server's place according to the height of the cover put on by the kitchen. I was wild for their vinegar and oil cole slaw--can anyone tell me how to make it?
ReplyDeleteI have been remiss in responding to comments on this site. However, growing up on Detroit's east side, I was familiar with Eastland. That lunch counter was in the basement service court (was it called "Piccadilly Circus" like the one on the mezzanine downtown?), though I do not recall the automated system you mention. Our next door neighbor made salads there for a while, before my mom got her a job at a factory. Sanders, the famous Detroit confectionery, also had a large basement cafeteria in Eastland with a conveyor belt system along the walls that took trays back to the kitchen for washing. Regarding Hudson's coleslaw, I remember, and still make, something called "Harlequin Coleslaw" which was of the creamy type, made colorful with bits of red bell pepper. It was sold in the delicatessen of Hudson's Gourmet Shop, located on the fourth floor of the Eastland store. My very funny bilingual family used to joke that "coleslaw" should be pronounced like the Polish name "Boleslaw" (bo-LESS-slav)!!!
ReplyDeleteI am 61 and have so many good memories of Hudson's.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 10 every Friday I had to go downtown to see the eye doctor and my mother and I would go to Hudson's. I was allowed to choose one of the three restaurants to eat in. Of course I chose a different one each time.
I can still hear the wooden floors squeek. The entire store was amazing at Christmas! From the displays in the windows to the wonderland and Santa in the toy department. Kids eyes were all aglow.
I remember my stomach turning when I rode the elevators and I remember the operators.
The best memory were the sales in the basement. Women would grab and even an occasional fight would occur. You had to be careful down there.
Hudson's was the best and nothing has ever replaced it. I cried when I watched it being torn down.
I found this site after purchasing a vintage fur coat from the 1940's with a JL Hudson label in.
ReplyDeleteI live in Brighton England so fascinated as to how this coat arrived here in the UK
x
My Grandmother, Celine Van Goethem, worked downtown in the health food department for 20+ years, turned 65 they made her retire...only to be called back because nobody knew the stock or the clients as well as she did...she worked till 72. She has been gone now for 30 years.
ReplyDeleteMy mother took us to the downtown Hudson's every week during the 1960's. The place was a magical kingdom - especially during Christmas. Since the building was completed in phases during the first part of the 20th century there were always mysterious corners to explore, endless floors, odd step-ups, strange lighting and so forth. I remember the banks of 10-15 elevators that stretched along each floor with brass clanging gates and elevator operators. There were weird lights that indicated up/down with white as up and red as down. We used to say it was heaven and hell. Some of the elevators were 2 deep like a sandwich. I would look through the glass doors to the corresponding doors on the same floor as well as the doors on the floors below me along the bank. You could see down 4 or five floors. And then of course an elevator would rush past in front of you and you would jump back.
ReplyDeleteBesides the glorious Christmas displays, toyland, Santaland and the ornaments for sale, I remember that at the top of each escalator was a different Christmas tree decorated with lights and ornaments. The whole place exuded restrained elegance. Ladies dressed-up to go shopping, the restaurants were first-class and the service was terrific.
I could go on for hours about how much we loved Hudson's. Can you tell that I miss the place greatly? We will never see anything like it again. I'm glad I got to experience that marvelous old store.
By the way, arcadiapublishing.com prints a calendar with pictures if you are interested.
Dear L. Zellin:
ReplyDeleteI have practically the same memories. The store's layout was quite unique, with those banks of elevators on each side of the L-shaped alley forming a concourse on each floor, with the departments off to the side.
Years ago, in school, I found a first floor plan of the place in an old architecture magazine. I should have to try and find it again so it could be posted for all who remember the store to see. Being an architect, I see a lot when I view a plan, maybe others less so. When I did find it the first time, however, it brought back memories like yours.
My mom spent most of her time in the basements. Whe I was old enough to go off on my own, I remember seeing that the toy department had a "science" room with microscopes, and anything anyone interested in biology could want - - - including huge locusts in formeldahyde for dissection. You would not find that in a department store today!
BAK
I worked at Hudson's Crossroads Mall in Kalamazoo, MI. I was in the china/tabletop department. I absolutely loved working there and still have my name badge. At Christmas one holiday I was approached by the visual department and was asked to help decorate the store!! Which I did, so glad to do it! The wonderful memories of Hudson's from childhood on.....it is sorely missed.
ReplyDeleteH U D S O N ' S
ReplyDeleteThat's how the name was always written on the buildings and the logo on receipts. Most of my visits were to Eastland Mall in Detroit then Lakeside Mall Sterling Heights as a teenager. Hudson's was all class, all service, and all Detroit. Miss it!
My very first "real job" was at Hudson's Northland. The senior staff took the time and patience to tutor each one of us. That was in the days when retail was a respected profession. Things have changed. Customer service is a four letter word, these days. I spent a lot of my childhood at the Hudson's downtown and cried when it was imploded. It was the end of an era.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the "Pantry Shop" at Hudson's? It seems to me like it might've been some sort of grocery store of some sort.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of old department stores had bakeries (long before my time, of course, being born not long after the Campeau bankruptcy) but did any have butchers or fish counters?
The Pantry was Hudson's gourmet foods department. Downtown, I believe it was on the first floor of the Farmer Street building, for most of the store's life. At Eastland, near where I grew up, it occupied the 4th floor along with a beauty salon and the store's "Seaway Room" restaurant. It was a pretty large department with a deli counter. The Bakery was on the first floor.
ReplyDelete(Hudson's restaurants were famous for their "Maurice Salad." At the Eastland bakery, they sold the dressing and rolls so customers could enjoy their own Maurice at home. My mom bought both and we tried making the salad one day . . . but I got quite ill afterwards and never, ever ate one again. We found out later that the rolls were not fully baked, and were meant to be served hot, just like in the store. I vow to go to the restaurant at Lakeside and try a Maurice again, after a 40-year hiatus!)
Some stores did have large grocery operations; Wieboldt's had groceries at its suburban stores; Sibley's in Rochester, New york had a full-line grocery, as did many Eaton's in Canada and Woodward's in Vancouver, BC.
Macy's in New York had a "Fancy Grocery" on the eighth floor, and a butcher shop on the main floor, along with liquor. A part of Bloomingdale's fame in the 1970s was the lavish "Delicacies" shop in it's Lexington Street Arcade. Neiman Marcus even specialized in foods; it seems that good taste was really important to the great department stores of the past.
BAK
What was his name? He was a V.P. of Window trim dept at Hudson's downtown store and retired in about 1956 and moved with his wife to St. Pete area of Florida. He had a pencil thin mustache and white hair and was slight of build. He smoked cigars. Can you help?
ReplyDeleteDuMouchelle's has 2 windows in their March 2011 catalog up for auction. They have them labeled as JL Hudson windows, but I never remember Hudson's logo looking like those on the windows. Can someone please take a look and let me know if you recognize this logo? Just go to: http://www.dumouchelle.com/# and type in 0051 in the search box. thanks from gfcomm@comcast.net
ReplyDeleteHudson's opened a store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in about 1980, anchoring the new expansion of Glenbrook Square mall and becoming the mall's 4th anchor (along with L.S. Ayres, Sears and Penney's. Although much smaller than Ayres, it held it's own fashion-wise. My first pair of designer jeans (Jordache) came from the Hudson's in Glenbrook, and I still own the Pierre Cardin winter gloves my mother bought me there for a Christmas present.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1990's, all Dayton's and Hudson's stores took on the Marshall Field's name. The Glenbrook Marshall Field's was closed when May Department Stores (who by then owned L.S. Ayres) acquired Marshall FIeld's from Target Corp. The former Hudson's store has been vacant ever since, and has dragged the once high-end "new" part of the mall down with it.
gfcomm:
ReplyDeleteThis is inded an older logo from The J. L. Hudson Co. It was used prominently on the store, on frosted exterior windows. Pictures from the recent Arcadia Publishing books show the logo, I believe, on these windows. The store also had similar logo, which used flamboyant script lettering, very similar to the Marshall Field & Company MF&Co. logo displayed at the top of that exhibit. I can recall the logo being engraved into oval door handles at the Eastland and Northland stores, I believe, on silverware in the restaurants, and on printed matter, though not in much advertising in my lifetime. Hudson's use of the "Lone Star" font logo (like Rich's, Burdines, etc.) was the most memorable identifier of "Detroit' World-Famous Department Store" for me as a lifetime resident of Michigan.
Brian:
The Museum really concentrates on these stores prior to 1980, and by this time, many of them, including Hudson's, were in a severe state of decline, becoming more and more like the "cookie cutter" stores that they became. That they eventually lost their names, their style, their market share, and wound up closing, is no surprise. To illustrate, there was a time when Hudson's didn't pick up phones on Sundays, they started charging for (flimsier) gift boxes, they curtailed delivery, etc. Obviously, they were cutting costs, but also not endaering their customers or seeking to expand their share of the market.
BAK
GFCOMM:
ReplyDeleteThat window is the genuine article. The logo matches the one on my grandmother's charge key from Hudson's.
Does anybody remember anything about "La Cookie"? It was a cookie store that was part of Hudson's - at least at Oakland Mall Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAt the former Woodland Mall location in Grand Rapids, you can see the Hudson's labelscar on the entrance to the mall as clear as day.
ReplyDeleteAWESOME WEBSITE!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME WEBSITE!
ReplyDeleteI remember one Christmas going with my Mother to Hudsons downtown. I remember the old elevators and the "For Children Only" shop. I remember watching to parade in front of the store at Thanksgiving. It was magical. I am now 56 and live in Texas. I also remember shopping as a teenager at Eastland. That was before they had enclosed mall. You had to go outside from store to store. I used to meet my friend Michele there and we would eat at the Stoffers Restaurant at the mall. Thanks for the wonderful memories.
ReplyDeleteI remember that, as a child, my mother and I would dress in our Sunday best(including hats and white gloves) to shop in Hudson's big store. Later I tried on wedding dresses in the bridal salon. When my oldest daughter was 13, she entered a contest sponsored by Hudson's and won a wonderful English 13 speed bike. We had to drive downtown to pick it up. What a thrill for her. She is now in her mid forties.
ReplyDeleteHello all! I am not sure where to post this so I will try here since there are some obvious Hudson's history buffs on this site. I recently went to a garage sale where an elderly lady was having a sale and she had many, many books for sale. I picked up a book that has on the cover NORMAN ROCKWELL ILLUSTRATOR...By: Arthur L. Guptill. The book reads on the inside that it is a 1st Edition Print from 1946. In the back of the book on the last page is a small sticker that has a picture of a candle followed by the words: HUDSON'S BOOK SHOP DETROIT. There is a faint, small #44 in pencil printed above this sticker. Now for the cool part....on the first page....inside cover...is the most beautiful signature of NORMAN ROCKWELL I have ever seen!! I went on Ebay and there are no copies of this book anywhere....and the signature matches up to all of the autographs on Ebay that are authenticated PSA/DNA and list between $3000 and $10,000!! Any idea where I would begin to sell something like this to a collector who would value it much more than I? The book is in great condition with just a few dents in the outer cover....all pages are intact and the book is in amazing shape! Help!
ReplyDeleteHudson's was a great store. It seems to have been a living creature that welcomed your senses when you walked into the store. My Family lived off Woodward Ave., in Pleasant Ridge on Ridge Road. I recall my Father loading up the Family and taking us all to Hudson's to shop and spend the day down there. That was the best, a ride in a brand new 1953 red Buick Road Master convertible and going to Hudson's on Woodward Ave. On the way home, we would stop at a place to eat called the North Wood Inn, on Woodward just in Royal Oak area. Both places are gone now, and the Buick has long vanished, my Father passed away in the year 2001, but the memories are still there. Thank you for having this website. I enjoy reading so very much what everyone has posted.
ReplyDeleteDaniel S., Native Michigander.
My family grew up in Dearborn in the 1950's. My Grandparent [ and sometimes parents ] used to take us to the Downtown Detroit store. Had to deal with my rotund polish grandmother taking us to the budget basement to shop for bras and girdles. One of my best memories were some boys shoes that my brother and I got, either from Downtown or Northland. They were black dress shoes with a sliding clip that you would lift up to open them. Would love to find a picture of these.
ReplyDeleteA sad day when 13 floors of memories came crashing down..
It was a sad day indeed!
ReplyDeleteI also got dragged around while my mom shopped for "bras and girdles." I joke with my wife and ask her when was the last time she bought a "girdle."
Perhaps someone remembers those shoes and can point you towards a photo.
MY DAD WORKED FOR HUDSONS FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS LATE 1930'S UNTIL 1973. HE DELIVERED FURNITURE. I REMBER GOING TO THE DOWNTOWN STORE AND SEEING MY DADS NAME ON A PLAQUE WITH NAMES OF WORLD WAR II VETS ON IT. WE LIVED ON DETROIT'S WEST SIDE. I REMBER THE DELIVERY TRUCKS WERE BLACK THEN THEY WENT TO GREEN.
ReplyDeleteTOM BUTLER CROMWELL CT.
Dear BAK,
ReplyDeleteThe archival photographs of Van Gruen's Northland Shopping Center on your blog are very interesting. I was wondering where you sourced these, or are these perhaps from your own collection? I'm a Picture Researcher at Phaidon Press currently working on a large scale book - The Phaidon Atlas of 20th Century World Architecture - that will feature Victor Gruen's Northland Shopping Center. We are looking to source good quality interior and exterior photographs of this building for reproduction in our book. I would be very grateful if you could advise on the availability of the photographs on your blog. I look forward to hearing from you, with kind regards, Zofia
Dear Zofia:
ReplyDeleteCan you please leave me an e-mail address to contact you?
Bruce
The Saint Clair Shores Public Library has a marvelous Display of J L Hudson Store artifacts for publis viewing through August 30th, 2011
ReplyDeleteWe were just there....We loved it!!!!
Thanks! I will be there, no doubt about it!
ReplyDeleteBruce
Hi i recently inherited an original gone with the wind hardcover printed in June 1936 first edition and on back inside cover is an original sticker from Hudson's Book Shop Detroit. it is dark brown with ivory lettering and has a candle picture in the corner. I currently have a few offers but ran across this site and thought you may be interested in purchasing.Please contact me @prinnann@yahoo
ReplyDeleteI remember shopping at the Hudson's at Franklin Park in Toledo in the early 1990's, as a student at the University of Toledo. It was a great store!! Does anyone have any photos of "The Pewter Pub" restaurant at the Toledo Hudson's?
ReplyDeleteI was young and it was a very long time ago. The memory is nebulous, but vivid. We got on a train/streetcar in the area of Oakland Blvd. and rode into the basement of Hudson's. Me carrying my mother's purse makes this memory vivid for a young boy. Fact or fiction?
ReplyDeleteI used to work at Hudson's as a 2nd job during the holiday season year after year. Eventually I decided to apply for a position in the Hearing Aid Dept. and was soon promoted as a asst. mgr. working btw. Oakland Mall & Summit Place. I really enjoyed all of the customers as well as the employees.
ReplyDeleteHudson's was my first charge card at 21 yrs. old. How times have changed.
Does anyone remember the name of the restaurant on the 3rd floor of Hudson's at Southland Mall?
ReplyDeleteThe Pontiac Mall branch apparently started as a Budget Store (later, apparently, as the store expanded to full line, the Budget Store moved to the basement). Did the branch stores have all the departments as the main store, and when did Hudson's really start to jettison departments?
ReplyDeleteThat is correct. Hudson's had budget stores on the lower level of most of its stores, and a number free-standing ones as well. I remember budget stores in Dearborn (Michigan at Telegraph) and Madison Heights (12 Mile and John R).
ReplyDeleteHudson's had a huge range of merchandise. I once wandered into a room in the downtown store with various creatures (a giant locust, for example) in formaldehyde for dissection; Their book shop was the best and most comprehensive in the whole area, including the suburban branches. While my mom shopped, I browsed the books; finding an album of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright was clearly the moment I decided to study architecture.
Up until the 1970s, Hudson's still had paint, hardware, sporting goods, health and beauty aids, etc. As the 80s approached, these departments shrunk to the degree that they became meaningless. The store began to focus on (mostly) apparel, and lost its status, in my opinion, as a place which could be counted on to have "the best of everything."
You can see, from the size of the branches, that they were large and carried much of the same merchandise as the downtown store, but as the years rolled on, and the stores became smaller, they were less comprehensive.
Strangely, at Lakeside, where one Hudson's store carried all of this merchandise, there are now Macy's stores that carry clothing and a very limited selection of home furnishings merchandise, comprising the original Hudson's and the former Crowley's location.
Bruce
Hello what Kind of Piano's where sold at Hudson's
ReplyDeleteReminded of the Hudson's here in Toledo at Franklin Park right now. I miss what a department store use to be personally looking back on all that.
ReplyDeleteI think we all miss it, Christopher . . . there's just nothing like the traditional department store any longer. It seems especially so during Christmas time.
ReplyDeleteBruce
I was 17 when my family moved from Detroit to California, way back in 1947. I have nostalgic memories of Hudson's. It was the nicest department store in all of Michigan. My father wanted to buy a fur coat for my Mom as a Christmas present. Prices and his budget didn't allow him to purchase one on the upper floor. We were gently guided to "perhaps you would like to shop in the basement part of the store?" Well, she did not want a fur coat after all. That is, unless Dad could afford a nicer quality one. We then moved to California and she ended up not needing one after all.
ReplyDeleteBut.....I shopped at Hudson's at least once a month during those teen years. So sorry that it has been torned down. What were the city fathers thinking off? Shame, shame! It was such a beautiful building.
My grandmother worked as a buyer for J.L. Hudson's back in the 1940's. We think my grandfather might have worked at Hudson's as well. (He passed away when my dad was a little boy, so we don't have much information about him). Do you know if there is a way to get old employee history? My father is 90 years old and has very little if any recollection of his dad. Any information you can provide would be much appreciated. Thank you.....we too have fond memories of shopping "downtown"! Downtown was Hudson's.
ReplyDeleteYou may want to check with Macy's midwest. The State Street store has a museum and archive which may have some information, since Hudson's became first a part of Dayton Hudson Corp.; later a part of The May Co. and finally Federated Department stores, or Macy's. The Macy's in Minneapolis may also be a place where records for Hudson's are held. Also, the Detroit Historical Museum, or even ancestry.com - tax or social security records may shed light on your grandfather's history.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Thank you for helpful information.
ReplyDeleteKewl. I remember Detroit's Downtown Hudson's from when I was a little tot. My Grandmother shopped there alot in the 1950's & 1960's. The elevators were classic with that old time design & old light fixtures not unlike the Macys in the 1947 Christmas film "34th Street".
ReplyDeleteWhen is this directory from? Also, do you have one from the early 1980s, when the departments started to really shrink and consolidate?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Hello, Pseudo3D!
ReplyDeleteThe directory is put together from memory, newspaper advertising, and various sources. Even before the consolidations, things moved around a bit, so no one directory is 100% accurate over the life of this marvelous store.
The way it was butchered toward the end is something I'd rather not remember . . .
Bruce
PS...
ReplyDeleteI just got back from Lakeside Mall and had the Maurice Salad I was talking about earlier. After a 40-some year hiatus, it looks like it it will stay down this time!
It was quite good, and I have to say that the restaurant at Lakeside which is a vestige of the great hospitality of The J. L. Hudson Company is as good a place as any to capture the sense of the classic department store restaurant!
Bruce
Did any of the Hudson's branches have auto centers? It looks like the Pontiac Mall/Summit Place Mall one may have it had one at some point (later converted to outside-facing stores, apparently)
ReplyDeleteHudson's has many fond memories for me throughout my life. As a child living in Detroit, I used to go downtown with my mom on the bus. Always a wonderful adventure.
ReplyDeleteAfter high school I began working at the Pontiac Mall. In the woman's accessory department and fine and costume jewelry departments. I began working during the holiday as a trainee manager. This was all during the time that we went from being a family owned company, to being part of Dayton's.
In 1976 I moved to Saginaw, to open the Fashion Square Mall Store. I managed the Children's Departments. This is where the biggest change in my life came, when I met my husband who was an inventory control auditor.
In 1979 he became a traveling auditor with an office downtown. I transferred to Twelve Oaks and was a manager of Rainbow Women's departments.
Pete was an auditor for the Flint, Saginaw, Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, Westland, South Bend, Lansing, Fort Wayne and Kalamazoo stores. I would often travel with him on his visits to see the new stores and visit with many of my old friends. My favorite and Best Boss ever was Dennis Toffolo was always a treat to see.
Pete was one of the last people out of the Downtown store when it locked up for the last time. Truly a sad day in our lives.
Pete left the company in 1985 and that was the end of almost 2 decades of our lives in the Hudson's family. We will both be Hudsodians at heart forever.
Dear Jill:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments . . . I for one am glad that you remain a Hudsonian!
Knowing how the store formed a part of my family's life, I can only imagine the attachment you have to its memory as such a loyal employee; it is truly bound up in your history.
I have such vivid memories of shopping in the Downtown and Eastland stores; it causes me not to enjoy shopping so much anymore, knowing what Hudson's was like in the "glory days." There always seemed to be something new and exciting around every corner.
I will soon be writing a capsule history to accompany this post, so please visit often.
Kindly,
Bruce
FYI- Woodland opened in 1975 and Saginaw in 1976.
ReplyDeleteI have the bronze plaque that was mounted to the building. Wonder what it would be worth if anything. It weighs about 50 pounds
ReplyDeleteI have been looking to purchase one of those bronze plaque's for quite sometime. Would you consider selling it? Please e-mail me at alexanderburnett@comcast.net THANKS!
DeleteI would be very interested also in purchasing the bronzed plaque are looking to seel it..my email is ssuther599@yahoo.com.
DeleteThank you,
Scott
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI have been looking to purchase one of those bronze plaque's for quite sometime. Would you consider selling it? Please e-mail me at alexanderburnett@comcast.net THANKS!
You forgot to mention the Northland mall Branch. I think it was one of oldest branches .We lived very close to it just off 9 mile road. Some times on Sunday afternoons my brothers and sisters and I would ride our bikes around the mall,back then they were closed on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteMostly everyone I knew worked at Hudson's at one time in their life including myself I worked there for about 10 years at Northland of course.
Thanks
I have some old J. L. Hudson & Co, vinyl record storage books. Where would I go to find out if they are worth anything. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHow about eBay?
ReplyDeleteI recently found this early 1900's WWI style naval cap made of black velvet from the Thompson Hudson Company of Toledo. This was a collaboration of JL hudson with another Toledo retail magnet. The store changed ownership in 1923 when JL hudson left the business. I believe this is an early part of Hudson history. Does anyone know anything more about it? Here's a link to the ebay listing where I am selling it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/WWI-Black-Velvet-US-Navy-Naval-Hat-Cap-Thompson-Hudson-Co-Store-Toledo-Ohio-/320830208171?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ab2f878ab
Does anyone remember what the name of the restaurant was on the 4th floor of Hudson's at Northland Mall?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if there is a publication that has photos of all of the former elevator operators at the Hudson's in Downtown Detroit? I'm fairly certain my great grandmother told me years ago that she was one of the first and she showed me a photo of her with all of the original operators. Now that I am getting older, I realize that "old stuff" actually is interesting!
ReplyDeleteI recently acquired a 1925 Buescher Bass saxophone finished in silver plate - very rare. The neck is engraved "J.L. Hudson Music Department". It was apparently purchased by the Hamtramck school system as their name is nicely engraved on the bell of the horn. The Arcadia book on Hudson's states that there was a piano and musical instrument department located on the 13th floor of the Detroit Headquarters. I'm putting together a video on the history and restoration of this instrument. Anyone have any information at all about the music department or instruments, or instrumental sales to local school districts? Thanks!
DeleteAnyone have the recipe for their cookies?
ReplyDeleteI'm looking for some wedding negatives from J L Hudsons wedding photographer from 1970. Can anyone help?
ReplyDeleteRegards
Michael Anderson
Wondering if anyone can direct me to photos or movies of the christmas trains on the 12th floor? Great memories!
ReplyDeleteAnyone work at Oakland Mall store in the 1970s? I worked there from 1973-1979 and my Dad was COO of Hudsons when he retired in 1979. J.L. Hudson IV (Foury) also worked at Oakland one summer while attending U of M.
ReplyDelete