J.L. Hudsons - Downtown

[fryar]

Exactly, and each shop/store was staffed with long-term knowledgeable professional salespeople who knew the merchandise.

Really? That approach does not seem to have survived the merger and changeover to Target. Not that I go to Wal-Mart for my merchandise-related expertise.

Does anybody know if the little metal spikes coming out of the ground at that site are useful for anything related to putting up new construction? I have always been hoping they're like little Lego nibs you can go attach something to that makes it easier to build a house, and not just something they left there a decade+ ago.

[stromberg2]

Those are girders for future construction.

Stromberg2

[DC48080]

The original redevelopment plan for Campus Martius was for a mid-rise office building to be built over the Hudson's hole. But then there was no interest in leasing the space so it was never built. The girders were to support the building above the underground garage.

[Hermod]

What I remember were the "floor walkers". These were very distinguished looking gentlemen who wore daytime full formal wear [[pinstripe trousers, claw hammer tail coat, and ascot tie). They had a carnation boutonniere with a yellow ribbon that said "floor walker" hanging from the flower.

Anytime they saw something escalating between a female customer and a sales clerk, they would sidle in between the two win a genteel "may I help you, ma'am".

Female customers whose husbands were blue collar workers were quickly overawed in their indignation when confronted by a guy dressed like Adolph Menjou in the movies. No woman with her hair in curlers wants to argue with a guy dresses like that.

[Pingu]

Mixed memories, seeing the real Santa, and all the ritual and fanfare that got us there, indelible memories of halcyon Detroit. Blowing chunks after downing a couple of skinless franks [[no mom, they sucked, we should have got real hotdogs), bad scene, never will shake the memory.

[fryar]

Those are girders for future construction.

Stromberg2

Yes, the future construction we anxiously await. I didn't make the mental connection between that lot and the JL Hudsons store earlier.

OK, so the Lego nibs analogy kind of holds, like it makes it easier to construct something. I think that's the best way for them to play it, it beats a surface lot, unless you make it a park [[That would not be a terrible location for a JL Hudsons park).

[EMG]

My aunt worked in Gift Wrap and each present she "presented" us was an absolute work of art. There was a true sense of customer service then....things we seldom, if ever, witness today. Sad, really. Hudson's was a treasure....

Your best [[and possibly only) bet for customer service on that level would probably be Walt Disney World.

[fryar]

Have any immediate options been discussed for that site? I just looked at it again. It's basically an ugly blight on that block of Woodward, but it could create a nice open space what with the library behind it if it became a park.

Not that you couldn't say that about any of your downtown lots, in principle, I guess.

Just to throw it up and see if it sticks, maybe on some kind of an elevated platform mounted to the girders, since I gather those are important. Or is Quicken beating down the door to build something there?

I realize this post is probably open to ridicule.

[douglasm]

Neilr et. al.......

A couple years after the '67 riots, I had a friend who worked in the Hudson's promotion/advertising department. In '69 they made a concerted effort to draw customers back to the downtown store, which had seen a downturn in business.

After the campaign was over, my friend was telling me about it, when I mentioned my thought about the "12 story shopping center". She told me that one line was better than anything they [[the professionals) had thought up.

[RaumVogel]

My mom worked there right after WW][
Here's some stuff I dregged up.

http://www.angelfire.com/de2/detroitpix/hudson_1.html

Google maps:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...&t=k&z=18&om=1

[d.mcc]

I hate to say it... but how much money would that building have been worth to a developer in a city like NYC, DC, or Chicago for residential development? Sad...

[fryar]

Somebody on here said fairly recently that they did a study in college as part of their program on what some alternative uses for the building could be [[sorry about the lack of detail, I just can't remember). I do remember them saying that various factors relating to the building's configuration meant that it was not suitable for residential reuse by a long shot.

Not that I don't hear you, I'm just saying.

[d.mcc]

Somebody on here said fairly recently that they did a study in college as part of their program on what some alternative uses for the building could be [[sorry about the lack of detail, I just can't remember). I do remember them saying that various factors relating to the building's configuration meant that it was not suitable for residential reuse by a long shot.

Not that I don't hear you, I'm just saying.

Doubtful. Though building circulation schemes are always designed and intended for a certain use, there is no way a building designed for open plate retail could not be re-purposed for residential spaces.

[ExcuseMySarcasm]

I caught the demolition.

[mikefmich]

I caught the demolition.

Very sad day in my life......the same day I buried my favorite uncle, was when it came down.

[mikefmich]

Toyland at Christmas in the 1950's.
Maurice Salads on the mezzanine.
Stamp collecting " " "
The grandeur of the first floor.
My great aunt worked the drugstore counter seemingly forever.
The "For Kids Only" shop they had for kids at Xmas to shop for parents...late 50's I think.
Santa...the REAL one.

Taking the Warren Ave. bus from the corner of Canyon & Warren with my ma a hundred times.....while I got dragged in and out of every fooken store on Woodward Ave. I knew if I wasn't a total brat, I would get to hit Sanders for a Ice Cream Soda in the afternoon. These were all day jaunt. I was soooooooo grateful for Eastland, cause it cut our downtown trips in half.

I remember taking the streetcar for memories sake in the words of my ma, the last day they ran....1956-ish? Caught the car on Chester/Harper & Morang by the comfort station that used to be there. Of course....we went to Hudsons downtown.

[davelube]

I attended Cass Tech from '65-68, arguably the last good years for the downtown store.
New entrances and updates and improvements were happening all the time. I would walk each floor from top to bottom. My aunt had been in sales for years, and her husband worked for the display department. Display was the Hudson tour de force. At the time they employed two designers per floor supervised by a large support staff. No other store in the country could match the Christmas fairyland that was created and even more beautifully, recreated year after year. Huge trees filled the space above the islands on the main floor, lavishly and opulently decorated in holiday themes. All the floors were beautifully adorned. In the spring the main floor was filled with thousands of dollars worth of azaleas, rhododendrums, forsythia, tulips and hyacinths, etc. for the annual flower show. In the summer the plate glass came out of the windows, replaced by stripped awnings for "the good old summertime" promotion.
More than anything, Hudson's was the harbinger and teacher of good taste for all who shopped there. It was the best Flagship store of any brand in the country.
I worked downtown for the city in the 70's after the Merger, and while making my way through the deserted tenth floor furniture department I ran into Mr. Hudson himself, impecably dressed, accompanied by a staffer, who informed him that the tenth floor wasn't even covering the electric bill.
I moved from Detroit in 1979 and thankfully, didn't have to witness the last days and ultimate implosion. Nonetheless it's closing was deeply depressing.
I'm a designer, and the J. L. Hudson Company was my first mentor.

[DetroitDad]

Being still relatively young, I was still in grade school when they demolished the Hudson's Building. My only real memory is waking up for school, and turning on Fox 2 News to see the crews getting ready for demolition while a crowd had gathered near the news team. Later that evening I saw the demolition on T.V.. My Mom and I lived in a little suburban apartment at the time, and she seemed sad to see it go.

While I don't have memories of Hudson's, it played some part in my childhood. My Mom used to put together elaborate Christmas displays, one of which was directly influenced by her memories of the J.L. Hudson's Department Store. One of such displays was in two giant glass wall cabinets we had in our living room growing up. Every Christmas she would decorate the cabinet windows to look like toy shop windows, with toy soldiers, blocks, toy planes, dolls, tinker toys, and many other things. I believe this was from her memories growing up in Detroit, and shopping Downtown. I have never seen actual pictures of the window displays at Hudson's and other Downtown Detroit department stores, but I heard they were quite elaborate.

[Nicodeme]

I'm relatively young as well and don't have any memories of the store itself, we have a sort of family heirloom from the store. My mom inherited a beautiful Waterford crystal punch bowl from her aunt. When not in use, it sits in its original Hudson's box.

[Hermod]

I'm relatively young as well and don't have any memories of the store itself, we have a sort of family heirloom from the store. My mom inherited a beautiful Waterford crystal punch bowl from her aunt. When not in use, it sits in its original Hudson's box.

The white Hudson's gift boxes. You could use them forever. I had one up until about a year ago storing some stuff in it.

[GPCharles]

I was on the way home from the Michigan football game with a group of English Public School boys in Detroit as part of a tour of North America. I heard about the demolition on the radio, so we stopped to see it, parking over on Madison near the Hudson's Warehouse. They were amazed by the demolition, but were shocked that such a still-functional building [[apparently) would be blown-up! When I occassionally see one of them [[now in their late 20s, early 30s) they still talk about it as one of the highlights of their North American trip.

[dtowncitylover]

I worked downtown for the city in the 70's after the Merger, and while making my way through the deserted tenth floor furniture department I ran into Mr. Hudson himself, impecably dressed, accompanied by a staffer, who informed him that the tenth floor wasn't even covering the electric bill.

J.L. Hudson died in 1912. Was it a ghost?! lol Or was it P. Gerald Mills, the last President of J.L. Hudson Company?

My only memory of the store was being downtown at night in 1997 with my family. My mom and aunt told me to look up and there was the store. It was haunting. This empty mass, almost like looking at a dead person. You know it was once alive and thriving, but now it's nothing.

[DetroitPlanner]

J.L. Hudson died in 1912. Was it a ghost?! lol Or was it P. Gerald Mills, the last President of J.L. Hudson Company?

I am fairly certain that the Hudson-Webber Family still had majority interest when the merger happened.

[dtowncitylover]

I am fairly certain that the Hudson-Webber Family still had majority interest when the merger happened.

Oh I'm sure they did, but I wouldn't say "Mr. Hudson himself", it sounds like you met Joseph Lowthian Hudson himself. He was bachelor, his nephews took over the biz. The Daytons, who are still around too up in Minneapolis, also probably had some role in Hudson's.

[jackie5275]

I remember all the talk that the demolition was to be done in a way not to affect the People Mover. Well, lo & behold, it took out a good sized piece of the track that ran near the building. I think it took almost a year to restore it.