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1947
In downtown Detroit during the ’40s, dapper gentlemen had an embarrassment of wardrobe riches to choose from. Emporiums catering to well-dressed males included Whaling’s, J.M Citron, S.L. Bird & Sons, Hughes & Hatcher, Kilgore and Hurd, Scholnick’s, Capper & Capper, and Harry Suffrin — in addition to the department stores. The expansive Harry Suffrin shop, on Shelby Street, is shown here on a well-trafficked day. The store was founded in 1922 and became famous for customer service, which included free alterations. In the late 1950s, Harry Suffrin merged with Hughes & Hatcher to become Hughes-Hatcher-Suffrin, identifiable by its signature logo script. Locations sprang up all over metro Detroit, but the company eventually went out of business in the 1980s.
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Reader Comments:
I had the pleasure of working at Hughes & Hatcher Inc. in the 1970s. Some of my all-time favorite people and coworkers were some of those fine men who rose through the ranks of the Harry Suffrin enterprise and went on to remain at Hughes & Hatcher. They knew quality clothing, prided themselves on their expertise and were masters at the arts of suggestive selling and providing great customer service. It wasn't enough to simply sell. You were taught to really know your business from the bottom up. I miss the days of quality, service, good value and pleasant and knowledgeable sales people.
I worked for H&H in Pittsburgh in the 70s.
It was a horrible experience and they were horrible people.
The customers may have been treated well, but the employees certainly were not.
Georgie-boy or should I say Monty,
We were co-workers at TDN, but prior to that job I was a haberdasher for Hughes and Hatchers at Oakland Mall in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a great gig and we did provide great customer service and competed for sales.
Ole Monty you did mention all the great men's stores from the 1940s, but you forgot one, Grandstaff's.