Hess's

Hess's

Company type	Department stores
Industry	Retail
Founded	1897 (as Hess Brothers)
Defunct	1996
Fate	Converted to other department stores
Successor	Dillard's (1992-) Hecht's (1993–2006) Proffitt's (1993–2006) Kaufmann's (1994–2006) The Bon-Ton (1994-)
Headquarters	Allentown, PA
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares

Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and had grown to nearly 80 stores at its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were eventually closed or sold off in a series of deals in the early to mid-1990s.

History

Establishment

The department store known as Hess Brothers was founded on February 19, 1897, by Charles and Max Hess. Max Hess came to Allentown in 1896 on a business trip and envisioned a department store serving the area. He moved his family from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1897 and opened Hess Brothers on Ninth and Hamilton streets.

The brothers opened their store in Allentown by first renting half of the Grand Central Hotel, a building first erected in 1868 as the Black Bear Hotel at 835 Hamilton Street. In 1890 it was renamed as the Grand Central. The Hess Brother's dry goods business became more and more successful and in 1901, the Hess store expanded to take over the entire Grand Central Hotel. On 6 March 1913, the store was expanded by acquiring neighboring properties and adding a soda fountain and restaurant that seated 400 patrons, filling almost a city block. In 1927, an eight story annex was added to store that containing new departments that also added a shipping and delivery area.

While the exterior of the store still appeared as separate buildings, the inside was renovated to look as one large building. Magnificent crystal chandeliers graced the main hall of Hess Brothers, and many windows allowed natural light to fill the store. These and other displays enabled the Hess brothers to succeed at making their store look like a "big city department store."

Golden era

File:Hesss-1950.jpg

1950 photo of Hess Brothers department store, looking northeast from corner of 9th and Hamilton Streets

Max Hess, Sr., died in 1922, and Charles continued to run the store from 1922 to 1932. Max Hess, Jr., continued the Hess’s legacy from 1932 through 1968. The younger Hess was seen as a leader in retailing. In the 1953 B.C. Forbes & Sons book, America’s Twelve Master Salesmen, Hess is listed as the second master salesman. According to this book, Hess’s principle was, “Strive for a specific goal.”

Charles, and later Max Jr., made Hess Brothers a shopping destination. Flamboyance and excitement were cornerstones of the store. It was well known for its fashion apparel as a result of introducing the latest trends from Europe. Additionally, the facade of the store was updated in 1947 using the Art Moderne style, and a 45-foot-tall, 8-ton, red neon sign marked the outside of the flagship store from December 23, 1947 to June 30, 1972. Children delighted at the giant toy soldiers Hess’s used as Christmas decorations in addition to "Pip the Mouse" in a puppet show at the flagship store. Shoppers were treated to the annual May flower show, fashion shows, and celebrity appearances, including by Johnny Carson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Barbara Walters, Rosalynn Carter, Burt Ward (Robin in the "Batman" TV series), Gina Lollobrigida, and Rock Hudson. Significant in its retail "firsts" was the over-the-counter sale of pure gold in 1972, as well as the introduction of the Rudi Gernreich topless bathing suit (Hess's was one of only a handful of stores in the entire country to carry the suits, notably failing to sell a single one). Additionally, The Patio, the store’s restaurant, was renowned with shoppers for its strawberry pie and sundaes. Biannual sales events at Hess's were often semi-disastrous as shoppers who waited outside for the store to open in the morning would proceed to trample each other and store employees to get to discounted merchandise, leaving the shelves and racks completely stripped bare afterwards.

In 1968, Max Hess, Jr., sold the store to Philip Berman. At this time, the store business was officially renamed Hess’s, and Berman began an expansion plan for the store, opening new locations in suburban areas, many in shopping malls.

Chain operations

In October 1979, Crown American, a developer and owner of hotels and shopping malls, purchased the Hess’s chain, then 17 stores large, as a wholly owned subsidiary. Under Crown American’s leadership, Hess’s enjoyed the booming retail market of the 1980s and expanded to 76 stores by 1990. However, a number of cost-cutting measures had been made following the transfer of the chain to Berman and Crown American, including abandoning most of Hess's previous practices such as the flower/fashion shows and celebrity appearances. The store's outside windows were covered up after their annual holiday window decoration displays were ended.

In addition to opening stores in available locations, Hess’s purchased other department store chains and converted them to the Hess’s nameplate, such as Penn Traffic Department Stores, based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1981, and Rices Nachmans, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1985. Hess's also acquired the Knoxville, Tennessee based Miller's Department Store chain from Allied Stores by hostile takeover in 1987. In September 1987 Hess's agreed to acquire Snyder's, Inc., a privately held Louisville, Kentucky department store, as well as five L. S. Ayres stores in Kentucky that Snyder's had agreed to buy (L. S. Ayres having assumed them from Stewart Dry Goods and Pogue's only a few years earlier). This new division was briefly operated under the Snyder's name, but in November 1987 Hess's announced that it would phase out the Millers and Snyder's names in favor of its own moniker in February 1988.

Decline and closure

In a few years, however, Hess’s suffered under increased retail competition and a national recession, so it sold or shuttered 43 of its stores, especially in the South, including the Knoxville stores to Dillard's and 18 sold to Proffitt's in two deals in 1992 and 1993. The remaining 30 stores were sold off in 1994, ending a 97-year enterprise; May Department Stores purchased 10 locations, and The Bon-Ton bought 20. The flagship store at Ninth and Hamilton Streets in Allentown was among those bought by The Bon-Ton. However, downtown Allentown had been declining for years starting in the 1970s and continued operation was not profitable. On 9 November 1995 Bon-Ton Stores announced that the Downtown Allentown store was closing, and it shuttered its doors for good on 15 January 1996.

Sale and Redevelopment

With the closure of the store in Allentown, Bon Ton placed the property for sale and received inquiries from several developers, one of which being Mark Mendleson. Mendleson had purchased several properties in Allentown beginning with the Americus Hotel in 1985. However, by 1996, Mendleson had developed a poor reputation with his property management in Allentown, and he was involved in a series of disputes with the City of Allentown with regards to non-payment of taxes, and the properties he owned being in an extremely poor state of repair. It was also feared by the City that the property would be left vacant until property values improved or it would be used for a large flea market, tattoo parlors or adult movie theaters.

Allentown Mayor William L. Heydt began a campaign for the City to purchase the property and redevelop building. In October 1998, the city purchased the store from Bon Ton, Inc. for $1.8 million dollars. In addition to the department store building, the adjacent closed property, which was operated for decades as part of the McCrory Stores five and ten store chain, was purchased. However, with the purchase by the City, a survey of the property revealed that the 9th and Hamilton Street building was in relatively poor condition and considered unsuitable for any other use. The property consisted of a maze of buildings, that were cobbled together by Hess to accommodate the growing retail business. Over the years it had a number of inconsistent renovations, and it lacked even a central heating system (the light fixtures were used for warmth). The site was considered not preserving, and plans were made for its demolition. The seven-story parking deck at 814 Linden Sreet. and the employee parking deck at 826 Turner Street, built in 1970, were retained and transferred to the Allentown Parking Authority.

See also

• H. Leh and Company
• Zollinger and Harned