20th-Century Retailing in Downtown Detroit
20th-Century Retailing in Downtown Detroit (MI) (Images of America) Michael Hauser, Marianne Weldon,
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 0738561908
DDC: 977.4340430222
Edition: Paperback; 2008-11-12
Summary:
As Detroit developed northward from the riverfront, Woodward Avenue
became a mecca for retail, restaurants, and services. The 1870s and
1880s saw many independent merchants open their doors. By 1890, a new
type of one-stop shopping had developed: the department store.
Detroit's venerable Newcomb Endicott and Company was closely followed
by other trailblazers: J. L. Hudson Company, Crowley Milner and
Company, and the Ernst Kern Company. At its peak in the 1950s, the
Woodward Avenue area boasted over four million square feet of retail,
making it one of America's preferred retail destinations. Other
Detroit emporiums such as the homegrown S. S. Kresge Company set
trends in consumer culture. Generations made the trek downtown for
back-to-school events, Easter shows, holiday windows, and family
luncheons. Then, with the advent of suburban shopping centers,
downtown stores began competing with their own branch locations. By
the 1970s and 1980s, the dominoes began to fall as both chain and
independent stores abandoned the once prosperous Woodward Avenue.
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