The life and death of Hudson's department store

Shoppers in downtown Detroit early in the 20th century.

The Hudson's department store dominated downtown Detroit for much of the 20th century.

A streetcar runs past Hudson's in this undated photo. With 2.2 million square feet, it was the second-biggest department store in the country -- a department or two smaller than Macy's in New York. The numbers were staggering: 76 elevators, 48 escalators, 705 fitting rooms, one women's restroom with 85 stalls.

J.L. Hudson, left, and Fred Dunham in the first Hudson car ever built. Hudson was the major investor in the Hudson Motor Car Co. in 1909.

The exterior of the store is shown in an undated photo.

Mannequins display men's fashions in this undated photo.

Detroiters parade near the J.L. Hudson Building in downtown Detroit on April 18, 1921.

Crowds shopping on Woodward on June 27, 1934, walk past the world's largest flag on the facade of the J.L. Hudson building in downtown Detroit. Hudson unveiled the flag in 1929.

A flag celebrating the Detroit Tigers, who made it to the World Series in 1934 for the first time in 25 years, is hung on the side of the store. Ultimately the Tigers lost the series to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Santa waves to the children of Detroit at the end of the 1937 Thanksgiving parade.

Shoppers walk outside Hudson's in March 1942.

A float winds its way through a chilly Hudson's Thanksgiving parade Nov. 24, 1949. In 1924, Hudson's sponsored the first Thanksgiving Parade, beginning a long and beloved annual tradition.

A mother and child view the huge flag at the J.L. Hudson Store in January 1949. The flag visited the U.S. Capitol Building in 1929 and the World's Fair in 1939 before it was retired in 1949.

The downtown store is seen in June 1952. 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 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. It is seen here in 1951.

Thomas Nowosielski, center, inspects the star on the Hudson's flag May 29, 1954.

This photograph of the Webber brothers, who expanded the business of their uncle, the late J.L. Hudson, into one of the world's greatest department stores, was taken in 1956, when it was announced two of the brothers would retire. From left are vice presidents James B. Webber and Joseph L. Webber, who retired; Oscar Webber, president of the company; and Richard H. Webber, chairman of the board.

The Hudson's flag hangs on the side of the store, June 14, 1957.

A mural in a dining area of Hudson's downtown store is shown Aug. 8, 1958. 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. The famous geodesic dome is shown there in 1958.

Thousands of lights on the side of the Hudson's building herald the Christmas season in 1961. In the early 1960s, the downtown store still reigned supreme.

Northland is seen in from the air in 1961. The huge suburban mall offered parking for 10,500 cars to shoppers who were lured there 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, luring customers from the downtown area.

A vendor dispenses popcorn from an old style wagon at Hudson's downtown store in 1962.

Mrs. Daisy Fisher pauses in front of the memorial display at Hudson's on Woodward after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963.

A view of downtown Detroit with Kern's and Hudson's on Woodward on the right and People's Outfitting Company on Michigan near Lafayette to the left in 1964.

Hudson's anchors the Detroit skyline in 1965.

A sales clerk helps a customer in 1966.

A shopper enters Hudson's.

A Hudson's shopper in 1966.

Old Man Winter rides in the Hudson's Thanksgiving Parade Nov. 25, 1966.

The landscape of downtown Detroit changed with the final demolition of the Kern's building, Sept. 6, 1966. The Compuware headquarters was later built on the site. The Hudson's building is at upper right.

Joe Ostervik and Ginger Warner play around while shopping in Hudson's bed department at Westland Center in 1967.

A soldier stands in the rain on Woodward at East Grand River in front of the Hudson's building downtown during the race riots in Detroit in the summer of 1967. The riot made many shoppers afraid to come downtown. Hudson's merged with Dayton Corp. in 1969 to form the Dayton-Hudson Corporation.

Employees return to work in downtown Detroit for the first time since the riots began, July 26, 1967. Workers enter the J.L. Hudson department store with the entrance guarded by specialist Bernard Mailloux of the 82nd Airborne.

Space aliens march in the Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1967.

Santa Claus was back at the downtown Hudson's to receive the key to the city from Mayor Jerome Cavanagh at the 1968 Thanksgiving Day parade.

Foot traffic was thinning around the downtown store July 29, 1972. The convenience of the suburban stores took much of the business away from the downtown store.

A shopper views the display windows in the downtown store in December 1974.

A fireman outside Hudson's downtown store after a fire there March 27, 1974.

People take a break in the store cafe in 1976.

A department in Hudson's in downtown Detroit, Jan. 10, 1977. By 1977 half of the store's display windows were closed.

A salesman in the men's department, July 28, 1978.

Joseph L. Hudson Jr., pictured in 1979, was the store's last executive.

Shoppers in front of Hudson's in November 1980.

Santa makes another appearance in Hudson's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1980.

The J.L. Hudson building in downtown Detroit in 1982.

In 1982 the store had its last Downtown Detroit Days shopping fest.

The rugs are rolled up as the Hudson's closes in 1983.

The last sale before Hudson's downtown store closed its doors for good in January 1983.

A lone shopper stands outside Hudson's downtown store, Jan. 11, 1983. The store closed that month, ending a 102-year run, and stood vacant until it was demolished in 1998.

For Detroit, the 20th century ended at 5:47 p.m. Oct. 24, 1998. With a deafening roar that will echo in the hearts of Detroiters for decades, the Hudson's building was blasted to the ground -- ending one era and beginning another in 30 ground-shaking seconds. A symbol of glamour for three generations, a symbol of decay for another, the mammoth structure wobbled like a drunk, hesitated, then collapsed into a 60-foot-high pile of rubble and dust.