J.L. Hudsons - Downtown

[davelube]

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.

JL Hudson JR. grandson of the founder, ran the company until shortly after the merger with Daytons. I believe he is still alive and directing the Hudson/Webber foundation.

[DC48080]

Actually, J.L. Hudson Jr. is the great nephew of Joseph Lowthian Hudson. He took over in 1963. He is alive and well today and still living in metro Detroit.

[erikd]

My only memory of the Hudson's building is watching it blow up and fall to the ground. Still one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed!

The demolition of an iconic building was one of the coolest things you have ever witnessed?

I watched the demolition from the roof of my building, two blocks away, and it was one of the saddest moments of my life. This beautiful building, home to wonderful memories and stories from my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, was destroyed in front of my eyes. In my 13 years of living downtown, that day stands out as the worst. I will never forget walking through the demolition fallout in my neighborhood. A thick grey dust covered everything in my neighborhood, and every step down the sidewalk covered my shoes and pants with it. The cars and buildings were completely covered, and people were writing "RIP Husdons" in the dust coated windows. The trees and bushes were covered with grey dust that clung to them until winter took the leaves away.

The Hudsons demolition was the nadir of recent Detroit history, and I can't understand why anybody would think that it was cool.

[ExcuseMySarcasm]

That day was like an apocalypse. A friend of mine accidentally left my loft window open. My loft was caked in what couldn't have been the most healthy of grey dust.

[pjazeps]

Does anyone have any interesting stories about visiting the J.L. Hudson store on Woodward? What are your favorite memories of shopping at Hudsons or having lunch there? Any photos of the store?

im sure that store is missed by so many,and its sad that kids today will never have the chance to ride the bus on a sat afternoon with their grandmas and sight see shop visit santa look at all the toys have lunch i took my kids so many times and now that their all grown im sure they have memories of that store and santa and all the beautiful people we met along the way it was a great time and its sad it will never be again..p.j

[pjazeps]

any one have any photos to post,im sad i never took any you think things will be for ever..

[pjazeps]

Does anyone have any interesting stories about visiting the J.L. Hudson store on Woodward? What are your favorite memories of shopping at Hudsons or having lunch there? Any photos of the store?

it was a sad day when they blew that building up people just dnt no the joy of shopping at that store and taking your children their at christmas,fun fun fun.p j

[beachboy]

So many memories...walking from Grand Circus Park[[ing) garage down Woodward freezing my arse, then thru Hudson's brass-framed revolving doors into the warmth of the first floor with the beautiful Xmas decorations...buying a book at the mezzanine bargain sale after Xmas with money from my snow-shoveling business....waiting for Mom in the fourth-floor lounge [[comfy leather chairs and sofas)...playing the different brands of organs in the music department...hearing the Hammond "flagship" G-100 model [[with a rack-cabinet full of tube electronics) and ogling its shiny Klann console...getting dragged thru the housewares [[?) dept while Mom & Dad bought some china [[we still use it)...dreading those gawdawful trips to the basement discount store...eating lunch in the Riverview Room [[Dad liked the Maurice salad)...and the Xmas displays on the toy floor with the massive Lionel train set-up.

One year, Dad wanted trains for Xmas, so he got a Lionel HO-gauge set for me with Diesel locomotive and passenger cars and a Tyco steam locomotive with "wild West" kind of cars and some Lionel animal-carrier cars for himself...lots of extra track and switches...he was in Heaven - built a big set-up in the garage for him and me to play with...then got more tracks, switches, etc. so for 25 yrs thereafter, we set up our trains around the base of the Xmas tree. After Dad died, I couldn't bear to do that anymore...

When I lived in Delaware, we visited Wanamaker's downtown Philly store with the musical pipe organ, and that was the first dept store I'd seen that topped JL Hudson's:


[[main floor: bottom part of the central air shaft)


[[air shaft into which the organ speaks)


[[console of world's largest playable pipe organ, read about it at:
www.savetheorgan.org/wanamaker/index.htm)

BTW, does anyone have pix of the interior of Hudson's, with or without shoppers, maybe their spectacular Xmas windows or interior displays?

[beachboy]

Kids lined up to see Santa:


Window display of children's clothing
[[remember the fire alarm box?)


Elevator operator [[on that round wooden
fold-down seat):


A calendar with JLH pix:


Store directory

[LodgeDodger]

So many memories...walking from Grand Circus Park[[ing) garage down Woodward freezing my arse, then thru Hudson's brass-framed revolving doors into the warmth of the first floor with the beautiful Xmas decorations...buying a book at the mezzanine bargain sale after Xmas with money from my snow-shoveling business....waiting for Mom in the fourth-floor lounge [[comfy leather chairs and sofas)...playing the different brands of organs in the music department...hearing the Hammond "flagship" G-100 model [[with a rack-cabinet full of tube electronics) and ogling its shiny Klann console...getting dragged thru the housewares [[?) dept while Mom & Dad bought some china [[we still use it)...dreading those gawdawful trips to the basement discount store...eating lunch in the Riverview Room [[Dad liked the Maurice salad)...and the Xmas displays on the toy floor with the massive Lionel train set-up.

One year, Dad wanted trains for Xmas, so he got a Lionel HO-gauge set for me with Diesel locomotive and passenger cars and a Tyco steam locomotive with "wild West" kind of cars and some Lionel animal-carrier cars for himself...lots of extra track and switches...he was in Heaven - built a big set-up in the garage for him and me to play with...then got more tracks, switches, etc. so for 25 yrs thereafter, we set up our trains around the base of the Xmas tree. After Dad died, I couldn't bear to do that anymore...

When I lived in Delaware, we visited Wanamaker's downtown Philly store with the musical pipe organ, and that was the first dept store I'd seen that topped JL Hudson's:


[[main floor: bottom part of the central air shaft)


[[air shaft into which the organ speaks)


[[console of world's largest playable pipe organ, read about it at:
www.savetheorgan.org/wanamaker/index.htm)

BTW, does anyone have pix of the interior of Hudson's, with or without shoppers, maybe their spectacular Xmas windows or interior displays?

Oh my GOD, that pipe organ is a dream!

[pjazeps]

My favorite memories about Hudson's was the Christmas season. Taking the bus from Harper and 6 mile, all of the Christmas decorations, the elevators - each operated by an employee who announced the main items on each floor, shot up and down between floors so fast that my stomach would tickle - finially lunch at the 17th fllor cafateria. To me, JL Hudson's defined downtown Detroit.

you are so right..those were the best days..pj

[Scratch]

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.

What a whimsically brilliant touch!

It must have been nice to live in a time and place when shopping was an event, at a destination like that. My parents used to take us to the mall to see Santa, and tried to create that kind of experience for my sister and me, but the descriptions here are on a whole different level. It's hard to picture, but fun to try.

Typically, my frugal mom would take us to Target for back-to-school shopping and such. I knew nothing about the history of that chain until I started lurking here, but there was always something about it I liked way more than Kmart, Kohls, Walmart, or any of those. Weirdly enough, it was my favorite place to shop when I lived in the midwest. They certainly had the best clothes at that price, but there was something more to it that I could never put my finger on. Maybe this has something to do with it. ::shrugs::

[d2dyeah]

My late Grandmother had a long career in merchandising for J.L Hudson's, Saks fifth Avenue and Milgrims, from the 30's to the 60's. She always said that the loyalty to Hudson's by Detroiters, stemmed from the fact that the company did everything in a first class manner. From the fashion's, Housewares,toys, everything, the store offered the best the world had to offer. Even in bad times, the store didn't do things on the cheap. The other stores in Detroit, while nice in their own ways, could never compete with Hudson's and their way of doing business. Hudson's ruled the roost on Woodward. Every designer wanted their line at "The" Downtown store, and if the buyers liked it, they bought it with gusto, not a few pieces here or there, but the whole line. Hudson's had the respect and admiration of designers and retailers all over the world, because they hired the best people and presented the store and it's ware to the people of Detroit, and the world, in the best possible light. My Grandma died in 1999 at 100. She said that talk of using the Hudson's building for other purposes was batted around from the late 50's onward. The problem was the building was added on to over the years and somehow this was a problem

[goggomobil]

I do remember the toy department well. The assortment of toys was almost overwhelming. I also remember management and employees addressing each other formally. Even as a kid, I was impressed by the dignified experience of shopping at J. L. Hudson. We were later brought back down to earth by mom when she dragged us into S. S. Kresge for submarine sandwiches.

Years later, the house my wife and I lived in had a gigantic master bedroom. It was finished in inlaid maple paneling that we were told was salvaged from Hudson's offices. Coincidentally, I became friends with a former buyer for J. L. Hudson who told me it was from the 'Maple Room', an executive meeting room. Ironically, that house was leveled about the same time Hudson's was. It's a strip mall now. He also cleared up a childhood mystery for me; when I was little, I remembered hearing soft chimes in a sort of Morse code. I noticed a stainless steel box on the ceiling that would flash a combination of illuminated square lights. He said that was their paging system for management... very classy, indeed.

[goggomobil]

Oh yes, the elevators. They gave me a feeling not unlike being in Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

[rsa.313]

I do remember the toy department well. The assortment of toys was almost overwhelming. I also remember management and employees addressing each other formally. Even as a kid, I was impressed by the dignified experience of shopping at J. L. Hudson. We were later brought back down to earth by mom when she dragged us into S. S. Kresge for submarine sandwiches.

Years later, the house my wife and I lived in had a gigantic master bedroom. It was finished in inlaid maple paneling that we were told was salvaged from Hudson's offices. Coincidentally, I became friends with a former buyer for J. L. Hudson who told me it was from the 'Maple Room', an executive meeting room. Ironically, that house was leveled about the same time Hudson's was. It's a strip mall now. He also cleared up a childhood mystery for me; when I was little, I remembered hearing soft chimes in a sort of Morse code. I noticed a stainless steel box on the ceiling that would flash a combination of illuminated square lights. He said that was their paging system for management... very classy, indeed.

sorry gogo; can tell you from first hand experience that the maple room was still panelled in 1998 and the panelling probably went down with the building.

[still_searching]

I have been searching for my father William Mitchell who was a shoe salesman at J.L. Hudson's downtown in the early 60's. I was born in 1963 so if anyone has any information on my Dad I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

[SWMAP]

Well said: "it was a sad day when they blew that building up." My boss then was from somewhere else. He received two tickets to a civic party to "celebrate the Implosion." Nice creative invitation, as I recall. The party was on the roof of some building downtown, much as rooftop parties were popular during the downtown Gran Prix days.

He was to be out of town and he asked me if I wanted the tix. I was just aghast. I was in mourning. Whyever would I want to party and toast the loss of that grand, grand place. My friend who had lived in Paris and London said that Hudson's was as fine or finer than any department store in either city.

Detroit was a wonderful place - hard to believe but true.

[Kathleen]

Remembering Hudson's: The Grand Dame of Detroit Retailing

Just published by Arcadia in December.

http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/mm5...ow=&range_high=

[bobby wobby]

My only memory of the Hudson's building is watching it blow up and fall to the ground. Still one of the coolest things I have ever witnessed!

One of my saddest things.

[bobby wobby]

On the Friday after Thanksgiving we would always take the bus downtown ,go shopping and hang out, everyone was there. Fun!

[EastsideQT]

I have so many fond memories of Hudson's but my fondest memory was having lunch with my mother on the 13th floor in the Riverview Dining Room. Eating at Hudson's was something we often did, but eating somewhere other than in the basement was special. Growing up in the 50's my mother said she could only shop in the "Bargain Basement" and that's where we ate. A couple times I remember eating on the Mezzanine. I loved the Mezzanine because you could look down at all the shoppers on the first floor. The first time I ate on the 13th floor was 1960 the year I turned 12. My mother called it "the year I became a woman." Unfortunately that was all she said but I soon found out what she meant. We both dressed up and had a "grown up" lunch with tea. I remember we had that wonderful Maurice salad Hudson's was so famous for. I remember my mother showing me the proper way to hold a china cup holding my pinky finger up and sipping. My mother passed away on September 26th of last year and that is something I will never forget. Thanks for the post [[sniff sniff)

[English]

I love hearing stories like that, EastsideQT. Thanks for sharing!

What makes me most sad about Hudson's is that people didn't see fit for my generation, and the generations to come, to enjoy the same kind of communal experiences that the Boomers, the Greatest Gen, and everyone before us had. We get blamed for being shallow and materialistic and then get told "how it was back then." Well, how can children and teenagers create for themselves the childhoods of previous generations? Simple: we can't. Those who made poor decisions [[the generations before the Boomers) got to reap the benefits of a thriving city, and now our generation has looming local, state, national, and global crises to take care of.

Previous generations received a rich cultural inheritance. Ours and the ones after get a crumbling city, state, and nation, and a fond "well, good luck, kids!"

That is what tarnishes the glory and the grandeur of the past for me. If it were that wonderful, it should have lasted for your children and grandchildren to enjoy.

[fryar]

Remembering Hudson's: The Grand Dame of Detroit Retailing
Just published by Arcadia in December.

Interesting. I will have to give it a look.

Detroit was a wonderful place - hard to believe but true.

In my opinion, this is still very much apparent.

If it were that wonderful, it should have lasted for your children and grandchildren to enjoy.

Truly. There's probably a rallying cry in there somewhere.

Most of you are from SE Michigan and so I [[sometimes, at least) try to restrain myself, but I hold the whole thing in pretty low regard.

[Wintersmommy]

I love hearing stories like that, EastsideQT. Thanks for sharing!

What makes me most sad about Hudson's is that people didn't see fit for my generation, and the generations to come, to enjoy the same kind of communal experiences that the Boomers, the Greatest Gen, and everyone before us had. We get blamed for being shallow and materialistic and then get told "how it was back then." Well, how can children and teenagers create for themselves the childhoods of previous generations? Simple: we can't. Those who made poor decisions [[the generations before the Boomers) got to reap the benefits of a thriving city, and now our generation has looming local, state, national, and global crises to take care of.

Previous generations received a rich cultural inheritance. Ours and the ones after get a crumbling city, state, and nation, and a fond "well, good luck, kids!"

That is what tarnishes the glory and the grandeur of the past for me. If it were that wonderful, it should have lasted for your children and grandchildren to enjoy.

English I think we are about the same age if I remember correctly. I agree with you completley on all counts. I have always wondered if the neighborhoods were so idyllic, the shopping so wonderful, and the experience of growing up in the city so grand why people ever left? The suburbs were built to be everything Detroit wasnt..people purposley planned to rid themselves of the very lifestyle they claimed superior! Previous generations made the choices that lead to today. I do take encourgement in that our generation seems to be free of the burdens that might have entrapped others before us. Young people are going to turn the city around because I think many of us are craving certian aspects of era's gone by and looking for a modern way to re-invent them. I think close knit neighborhoods will make a comeback and downtown shopping will thrive again
My Great aunt worked her entire life at Hudsons from the time she was a teenager until her retirement. She was a hair stylist in the salon. All of her lifelong friends were Hudson employees and in her later years she lived with a roommate who was an old co-worker. We have her salt and peper shaker collection in one of those white Hudsons gift boxes mentioned previously in this post. After many many decades the box is in excellent condition.
The one thing I miss is one thing I have never truely known, and that is the legendary customer service I have heard about. Talking to my mom about the store just last week she was saying how shopping was an all day event and the sales ladies knew you, knew your tastes and size so when you came they knew just what to bring out to show you. We were looking at the Hudsons calendar I bought her for Christmas and I asked why everything was behind glass and not just out for the customers to choose. She looked at me a little funny and laughed and said back then it was a sales persons job to inform you about the products, offer suggestions and then get the product for you. I cant even find sales people to ring up my order most days at Macys let alone find somone to show me something. I would honestly have loved the old version of customer service.