Nostalgia 2

  In 1911 Hudson opened the store on Woodward. Some laughed, saying the new location was too far from Jefferson, which at that time was considered the center of downtown. Only Hudson himself believed his new store would become the heart of Detroit.

      The next year, on a trip to his native England, Hudson, who had never married, died of pneumonia. His four nephews, all Webbers, took over his store and continued his exhuberant customer-pleasing ideas.

      On Armistice Day 1923, Hudson's unveiled a giant American flag on the side of the store: -- 3700 square feet with eight-foot wide stripes and five and half-foot stars. The huge flag visited the U.S. Capitol Building in 1929 and the World's Fair in 1939 before it was retired in 1949.

      The second large flag weighed 1,600 pounds, used 2,038 yards of wool and covered seven stories of the Hudson building. The flag was 104 by 235 feet, and on its debut in 1950 required 55 men to hang it. In 1976, the nation's bicentennial, it was retired and was donated to the Smithsonian Institution, which gave it to the American Flag Foundation in Houston.

      In 1924, Hudson's sponsored the first Thanksgiving Parade, beginning a long and beloved annual tradition. Charles Wendel, display director at Hudson's, started the popular event after seeing festive carnival parades in Europe and Toronto. It was considered to be a benefit of working at Hudson's to be chosen to be among the parade marchers.

      The parade which heralded the arrival of Santa Claus rivaled New York's Macy's Parade as the nation's favorite. But it was expensive and by 1979, the parade was turned over to Detroit Renaissance. Parade expenses are now shared by hundreds of local sponsors.

      By 1953 the 49-acre store had 12,000 employees and was making 100,000 sales per day. It used as much electricity as the city of Ypsilanti. It had a legendary delivery force of 500 drivers and 300 trucks. It boasted five restaurants which made 14,000 meals per day. The Hudson's Maurice salad delighted lunchers for many years, its recipe a closely guarded secret until the store bowed to thousands of requests and made it public.

      In keeping with the founder's 'more and better' philosophy, Hudson's opened the world's first shopping center, Northland, March 22, 1954, in the city of Southfield. This huge suburban mall offered parking for 10,500 cars to shoppers who were lured to the mall by its 53 stores, including Hudson's. The complex eventually grew to more than 125 stores and helped transform the way the nation shopped. Other malls quickly opened in the Detroit suburbs.

      But the downtown store still reigned supreme. The Hudson's Fireworks displays soon topped the large flag in grandeur. Record crowds gathered to oooh and awww as the world's largest fireworks display marked the Fourth of July and Canada Day in a joint International Freedom Festival.

      Another popular event, 'The Good Old Summertime,' spilled the store's shops onto the downtown sidewalks. Clerks with handlebar mustaches dressed in striped shirts straw hats and hawked fun stuff. Gibson-style girls sold wares at garage sale prices. The main idea was always to please and attract a crowd of happy customers.

      Despite warning signs, the downtown store hung in there. In 1961, the 25 story building was the world's tallest department store. It had five basements, 51 passenger elevators, 17 freight elevators, 51 display windows, 706 fitting rooms, 2 million square feet, and 5,000 drafty windows. And the customers loved it.

      In 1962, the store had two $1 million dollar sales days, topping the branches. In 1963, the founder's great-nephew, Joseph L. Hudson Jr. took over and opened the store's fine art gallery and a fine wine department.

      He also reached out to Detroit's growing minority community. In 1960, a Cass Tech student became the first black bus girl in the basement cafeteria. Her name was Diana Ross.