![]() On the topic of Budget Stores.Lazarus had one of those in the Lima Mall (half an hour the other direction from us). Years later I was in a Hudson's in Grand Rapids with a small version of the food hall, which was a bit surprising out in the 'burbs. IIRC, I even bought my first boom box there! Dad drove us up to Detroit to get a look at the downtown store shortly before it closed, unfortunately, most of the glamour was long gone by then, but the food hall in the Marketplace was still going strong and I just marveled at it. and I still have and wear a pair of Pierre Cardin winter gloves that my mom bought me the first Christmas the store was open. My first pair of Jordache jeans came from the boys dept. True, it didn't have the food hall or furniture or major appliances, but everything they did carry was wonderful. Even though it was a smaller store, it was gorgeous and had nearly everything. Having grown up half an hour east of Fort Wayne, it was very exciting when Hudson's opened their store in the new wing of Glenbrook Mall in 1980. It's hard to believe this practice lasted into the early 1950's, proof that some things change for the better.in this case much better. ![]() If their hand was darker than the bag they could not be hired. In 1960 they hired their first Afro-American bus girl who later went on to a better paying job, Diana Ross.Īn interesting fact concerns Hudson's once-famous "bag test." When interviewing prospective sales floor associates of color they would have them place their hand on a paper bag. I believe they had a basement store cafeteria which was also known for excellent food. Two of the books I have mention both the Canadian Cheese Soup and the famous Maurice Salad. I have a good friend from Detroit who still loves to reminisce about that enormous store and what a wondrous place it was , and how sad it was to drive by once it was closed and boarded up and still worse the day it was blown up and reduced to a pile of rubble. ![]() ![]() I have several books on Hudson's and their incredible store on Woodward Avenue. Having worked for department stores for many years I always had an interest in them. Kevin, you are very fortunate to have grown up in a major city like Detroit and all it had and continues to have to offer. We had a nostalgic trip back there a couple months ago looking at some of the fixtures etc.I found a employee list from Hudson's credit card department in 1983 which was rather humorous.I'd worked in a department store credit operation early in my career in 1989 so was nostalgic. Anyway, the Northland store (now Macy's) just closed after 60 years (victim to gentrification and population fleeing the central city and inner-ring suburbs). It was a gigantic store (400,000 square feet) when the thought was that the branch store had to be scaled similarly to the downtown store and as comprehensive (this pretty quickly fell away into the 60s, when branch stores shrank to about 250,000 square feet.stores in the 70s and 80s were smaller than this.they built several other big stores before moving to a smaller footprint. Their original branch store (Northland) was built in 1954 in what was then, cornfields between 8 and 9 mile and the Lodge Freeway. Hudson's is remembered here in Detroit with a huge amount of fondness.only other place with as much affection for the local department store in my experience is Chicago with Marshall Fields. Hudson's used the Hudson's Budget Store concept including both mall and strip-center stores (rather than the entirely separate discount store subsidiaries more commonly used by May Department Stores/LS Ayres/Daytons/Strawbridge and Clothier/.). Pleasant Ridge had their city garage sale last Saturday I bought some paper ephemera including a Better Homes and Gardens from November was the Detroit edition with a couple of local ads including a full page from Hudson's (Detroit's World Famous Department Store) for Drexel furniture and a second full page from Hudson's Budget Store featuring Aztec carpeting by Callaway (Cumuloft continuous filament nylon).
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