The Harry Suffrin Shop

14574

1947

Photography Courtesy of the Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

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.