Word: detroit
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...difficult to get teary over the shutdown of a store, particularly when going-out-of-business posters or plywood boards adorn so many storefronts. But the closing of Hudson's represents far worse news for Detroiters and others concerned about American cities than other examples of the effects of the failing economy. Detroit will never be the-same without Hudson's, a 25-story urban treasure that pioneered the department store concept. A vital aspect of daily life in the city is now gone. Even if the city hit hardest by the nation's economic tumble witnesses an economic recovery...
...store of a midwestern chain--was an American merchandising phenomenon. Based in such a grungy city, Hudson's never received the national acclaim accorded to its counterparts in New York and Chicago: But it was--and it meant--more. A weekly trip to Hudson's was virtually mandatory in Detroit's golden years. The store sported 14 floors and more than 500,000 separate items; it operated four restaurants which served up to 13,000 meals a day. Nothing anywhere else could compare. Perhaps more importantly. Hudson's offered a brand of courtesy and service which bonded shoppers and bred...
Hudson's was a macabre version of its old self this past December and January. The store's management had announced five months before that the store would close sometimes at the beginning of the year because Detroit's economic tumble had made it a tremendous financial drain. For several years. Hudson's had already pared down significantly; during the holiday months, it withered away. Consolidating merchandise on seven floors, store wide sales initially offered 20 percent discounts and eventually doubled. Hudson's witnessed a dramatic upsurge of business in its waning weeks, as shoppers capitalized on bargains and paid...
Store executives had made clear in previous weeks that the department store's death would not be accompanied by an advance announcement or ceremony. Even late in the afternoon on January 17, when rumors of Hudson's final day had spread, store officials were cagey. When a Detroit reporter asked Hudson's chairman P. Gerald Mills if the store was in fact in its final hours, he said. "Are we? I still see customers...
...another reason for the unspectacular closing its the serious implications the death of Hudson's holds for Detroit. A meaningful, common part of life in America's most troubled city has been irreparably lost. Strange to say, Hudson's for decades acted as the model. Detroit citizen, providing sincere, accessible, non-discriminatory service and courtesy. In a city so fractured, the loss of this unique cohesive element is utterly painful; fanfare-filled tributes to the grand store would have only drawn attention to a situation beyond repair...