Hutzler's
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hutzler's, or Hutzler Brothers Company, was a
department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store mad ...
founded in Baltimore by Abraham G. Hutzler (1836–1927) in 1858. From its beginning as a small
dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...
store at the corner of Howard and Clay Streets in
downtown Baltimore Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the Baltimore, city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Baltimore), Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, List of streets in Baltimore#F, Frank ...
, Hutzler's eventually grew into a chain of 10 department stores, all of which were located in Maryland.


Early years

At age 23, Abram Hutzler was not yet old enough to secure credit; his father, Moses Hutzler, signed the official documents Abram needed to open the store in July 1858. Although the store originally traded as M. Hutzler & Son, Moses Hutzler was otherwise not involved in the business. After Abram brought his two brothers, Charles and David, into the business in 1867, the retail store was left in David's hands while Abram and Charles operated a wholesale business. The retail store expanded into three other storefronts on Howard Street in 1874, 1881 and 1887, gradually transforming into a department store.Lisicky, p. 18. Abram and Charles discontinued the wholesale business in 1888 to concentrate on the company's retail operations. The original Howard Street locations were razed in 1888 and replaced by the five-story Hutzler Brothers Palace Building, designed by the architectural firm of Baldwin & Pennington. An example of
neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...
, the Palace was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1984. Its exterior features included Nova Scotia gray stone, carved with
Arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ...
heads and foliage, and large display windows. Facing Clay Street, a keystone carved with the image of Moses Hutzler was placed over a display window. The new store was organized into several departments and employed 200 workers. In 1908, the company incorporated as Hutzler Brothers Company of Baltimore City. This was later amended to Hutzler Brothers Company. When Hutzler's opened its Colonial Tea Room on the fourth floor of the Palace building in 1917, more than one thousand people dined there. As well as providing shoppers with a convenient and popular dining location, the Tea Room also served as a venue for fashion shows.Loudermilk and Pollard, p. 39-40


Innovative retail practices

An innovator of progressive retailing practices, Hutzler's established the ''one-price'' policy in 1868. With one-pricing, all customers pay the same price, set by the store for a specific item, for specific period of time. This policy replaced the process of ''higgling'' or ''haggling'' to negotiate prices determined by the bargaining skill of individual customers. One-pricing for basic commodities was practiced before the Civil War, but Hutzler's may have been the first retailer to apply the policy to such a broad range of merchandise, including every item in the store. Hutzler's led the retailing industry as one of the first to establish a liberal return policy, granting refunds to dissatisfied customers, and the first Maryland retailer with its own fleet of delivery trucks. It is also believed to be the first retail chain that did not discriminate against African-American customers. They operated the first bargain counter during the civil war.


Downtown expansion

A five-story building on Saratoga Street and two smaller buildings on Howard Street were added to the Hutzler's downtown location in 1916. Then in 1924 another five floors were added to the Saratoga Street building, bringing it up to 10 floors. Hutzler's Downstairs, an outlet for discounted merchandise, opened in the store's basement in September 1929. A five-story
art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style expansion to the downtown store, described as "Greater Hutzlers", opened on October 1, 1932. This building eventually extended to nine floors and became known as the Tower building. When it reached the peak of its operations in the 1950s, the Downtown location covered of retail space.


Suburban expansion

In 1952, after nearly 100 years exclusively on the original site, Hutzler's opened its first branch store in
Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...
. Other stores followed at
Westview Mall Westview Mall is a shopping mall located in Catonsville, Maryland, United States. The mall originally opened in 1958 as an outdoor strip mall, but was later converted into an indoor shopping center. The original anchors were Hutzler's and Stewar ...
, Eastpoint Mall, Southdale Center (this location was moved to
Harundale Mall Harundale Mall, in Glen Burnie, Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States at the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Aquahart Road, was the first enclosed, air-conditioned mall built east of the Mississippi River. Originally built in 1958 ...
),
Security Square Mall Security Square Mall is a mall in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore, in the United States. The mall features over 100 stores and restaurants, as well as a food court. One anchor store of the mall, the former JCPenney, p ...
, Harford Mall,
White Marsh Mall White Marsh Mall is a regional shopping mall in the unincorporated and planned community of White Marsh, Maryland. It is one of the largest regional malls in the Baltimore metropolitan area, with 6 anchor stores and 134 specialty shops in . The ...
, and Salisbury Mall. In 1980, a small store in the
Inner Harbor The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark in Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The Inner Harbo ...
area was opened. Designed for customers using automobiles, rather than pedestrian traffic, the Towson Hutzler's lacked the showcase windows of the downtown store. On the third floor of the Towson Hutzler's, customers dining in the store's Valley View Room, also known as the Tea Room, enjoyed a view overlooking the historic Hampton Mansion. The store restaurant had its own bakery, featuring
Lady Baltimore cake A Lady Baltimore cake is an American white layer cake with fluffy frosting and a fruit and nut filling. The cake is believed to have been created in the Southern United States in the early 20th century, but its exact origins are disputed. History ...
and
Goucher Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a nonsecterian women's college in Baltimore's central district, the college is named for pastor and missionary John F. Goucher, wh ...
cake. Like the Tea Room in the Palace building downtown, the Valley View Room in the Towson Hutzler's also held fashion shows.


Declining years

In response to declining business in the 1980s, Hutzler's hired Angelo Arena from
Marshall Field's Marshall Field & Company (colloquially Marshall Field's) was an American department store chain founded in 1852 by Potter Palmer. It was based in Chicago, Illinois and founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, ...
in 1983 to take charge of the company and reverse the downward trend. In the Fall of 1984, he moved the downtown store from its original location into the new Atrium building next door, site of
Hochschild Kohn's Hochschild Kohn's, also known as Hochschild-Kohn or simply Hochschild's, was a 20th-century American department store chain based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was started in 1897 as a partnership between Max Hochschild, Benno Kohn, and his brother L ...
former downtown location. The "Palace" name was also moved to the new building. By the time Arena arrived in 1983, the Hutzler's Palace store had contracted to of retail floor space. Its new location in the Atrium building reduced Hutzler's to 70,000 square feet. The move to the Atrium was part of a five-year plan, announced by Arena in August 1984, to buy four Hochshild Kohn's locations and to expand Hutzler's from eight to 15 stores in the Baltimore area. Arena's efforts were unsuccessful. Hutzler's began closing stores, first with the Inner Harbor store in December 1986. The other locations followed until 1990, when all were gone. Hutzler's remained a family-owned, Maryland business throughout its 132 years. Its downtown location is believed to hold the record among American department stores for the longest survival at an original location. David A. Hutzler, who joined the company's board in 1976, remained at his position until the company closed in 1990, without going through bankruptcy or lawsuits as its operations ended and assets were liquidated.Lisicky, p. 131.


Literature

* * *


See also

* Bargain bin


References

{{Reflist


External links


"Downtown Department Stores, and other Retail Goodies"

Towson Hutzler's during Christmas

Towson Hutzler's exterior

Hutzler's downtown Baltimore store
American companies established in 1858 Retail companies established in 1858 Retail companies disestablished in 1990 Defunct department stores based in Maryland Defunct companies based in Baltimore 1858 establishments in Maryland 1990 disestablishments in Maryland Department stores on the National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore