Joseph Lowthian Hudson (October 17 1846 – July 5 1912), aka
J. L. Hudson, was the merchant who founded the Hudson's
department storeA department store is a retail establishment which specializes in satisfying a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
in
Detroit, MichiganDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
.
Hudson also supplied the seed capital for the establishment, in 1909, of
Roy D. Chapin'sRoy Dikeman Chapin was an American industrialist and automaker. He also served as the United States Secretary of Commerce from August 8, 1932, to March 3, 1933, in the last months of the administration of President Herbert Hoover.Chapin was born in 1880 in Lansing, Michigan, and attended the...
automotive venture, which Chapin named the
Hudson Motor Car CompanyThe Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.-Company strategy:The...
in honor of J.L. Hudson.
Hudson was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and immigrated with his family to
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
when he was nine; by the age of fourteen he and members of his family were residing in
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Joseph Lowthian Hudson (October 17 1846 – July 5 1912), aka
J. L. Hudson, was the merchant who founded the Hudson's
department storeA department store is a retail establishment which specializes in satisfying a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
in
Detroit, MichiganDetroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Wayne County. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwest region of the United States. Located north of Windsor, Ontario, Detroit is the only major U.S. city that looks south to Canada. It was founded...
.
Hudson also supplied the seed capital for the establishment, in 1909, of
Roy D. Chapin'sRoy Dikeman Chapin was an American industrialist and automaker. He also served as the United States Secretary of Commerce from August 8, 1932, to March 3, 1933, in the last months of the administration of President Herbert Hoover.Chapin was born in 1880 in Lansing, Michigan, and attended the...
automotive venture, which Chapin named the
Hudson Motor Car CompanyThe Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.-Company strategy:The...
in honor of J.L. Hudson.
Hudson was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and immigrated with his family to
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
when he was nine; by the age of fourteen he and members of his family were residing in
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. His brother William moved to
Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, second only to New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the seat of Erie...
in 1896, to operate a branch of the Hudson's store until his death in 1928.
While Hudson began his career in merchandising with family members and other outside partners, he founded what would provide the basis for Hudson's Department Stores in 1881 inside a shop at the
Detroit Opera HouseThe Detroit Opera House is an opera house located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the venue for all Michigan Opera Theatre productions and it hosts a variety of other events. It opened on January 22, 1922....
. Hudson at first focused on men' and boy's wear, and succeeded through set low prices and a return policy that favored the customer. As business volume grew, Hudson added sale professionals and additional lines of goods, including women's clothing and housewares. Hudson incorporated his venture in 1891 as the J. L. Hudson Company.
In addition with providing the seed capital for
Hudson Motor Car CompanyThe Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.-Company strategy:The...
, J.L. Hudson was also involved the American Vapor Stove Company, Dime Savings Bank, American Exchange National Bank, the Detroit City Gas Company, and the Third National Bank of Detroit. When the Third National Bank collapsed in the financial panic of 1893, Hudson felt personally liable for the failure and paid from his personal accounts an amount equal to the balances of record held by each account holder. The move cost Hudson $265,000, however the goodwill that it showed also paid Hudson dividends in the form of increasing market share for his businesses. Hudson was also active in civil causes in greater Detroit area.
A life-long bachelor, Hudson died in 1912. Some sources list his place of death as Worthing, England, while some newspaper accounts list the place of death as
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. He is interred at
Woodlawn CemeteryWoodlawn Cemetery is a cemetery located at 19975 Woodward Avenue, at the southwest corner of 8 Mile Road, in Detroit, Michigan. It is one of the Motor City's most well-known cemeteries.- Notable burials :...
.
According to biographer Edward L. Lack, Jr., Hudson left no personal papers, and the details outside of his public life are few and mostly unknown.
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