J.L. Hudsons - Downtown

[Hans64]

My father was an exeutive at Hudson's Downtown. My mother, brother, sister, and I would come down from Royal Oak and shop and have lunch while my father worked. His secretary would go down to the candy counter and buy us jelly beans. We'd have lunch at the Picadilly Circus or Beef Emporium and then buy school clothes. I'd get a haircut sitiing in the tiger chair in the barbershop. The elevators had operators who wore white gloves--this was in the 70s, not the 50s! Years later when I was in college and the store had announced its closure, my father told me that a female customer was in the store returning an item and wanted to voice her outrage over the store closure. Naturally a sales person or floor manager wouldn't do--she needs top level management to express her feelings to. My father apparently drew the short straw and went down from his office to meet her. She demanded to know why they were closing the store, why they wouldn't do more to help it, etc. She also happened to be returning an item from Hudson's Northland. My father asked her if she usually shopped at Northland. When she said yes, she typically shops at Northland, he replied "That, ma'am, is why we are closing the store".

[dtowncitylover]

Years later when I was in college and the store had announced its closure, my father told me that a female customer was in the store returning an item and wanted to voice her outrage over the store closure. Naturally a sales person or floor manager wouldn't do--she needs top level management to express her feelings to. My father apparently drew the short straw and went down from his office to meet her. She demanded to know why they were closing the store, why they wouldn't do more to help it, etc. She also happened to be returning an item from Hudson's Northland. My father asked her if she usually shopped at Northland. When she said yes, she typically shops at Northland, he replied "That, ma'am, is why we are closing the store".

HAHAHA!!! Great story! I bet alot of people felt guilty that their favorite store and building were closing downtown, but they couldn't say anything because they shopped at Eastland, Northland, Oakland, etc and they knew they didn't help the situation.