N. Hess' Sons was a

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland area

shoe store Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

founded in 1872. Privately held, it was acquired from the founding family by a German company in the late 1970s. At its peak in 1989 it had 32 stores, shrinking to 23 stores in 1994 in a conscious effort to achieve economies of scale after a

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and reorganization. At its demise in 1999 it had 11 stores throughout the Baltimore region. Its Edmondson Village store (Hess Monkey Town) adjoined a children's barber shop which featured live monkeys. The 1948 building that housed its flagship store on York Rd. is part of the

Hochschild, Kohn Belvedere and Hess Shoes Hochschild, Kohn Belvedere and Hess Shoes is a national historic district consisting of a combined department store and shoe store building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It consists of the two-story plus basement, Hochschild, ...

Historic district.

References

*
After 127 years, Hess Shoes goes out of business
, ''

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' *
Hess Shoes tries a bigger store for size
, ''Baltimore Sun'' * ''Footloose & Fancy A Personal History Of Hess Shoes'' (1972) by George B. Hess Sr

Shoe companies of the United States Companies based in Baltimore American companies established in 1872 Retail companies established in 1872 Retail companies disestablished in 1999 1872 establishments in Maryland 1999 disestablishments in Maryland Defunct companies based in Maryland {{US-retail-company-stub