In 1881, Joseph Lowthian Hudson opened a small men's clothing store in Detroit.
After 10 years he had eight stores in the midwest and was the most profitable clothing retailer in the country.
In 1893, he began construction of J. L. Hudson Department Store at Gratiot and Farmer Streets in Detroit.
The store grew over the years and a 25-story tower was added in 1928.
The final section was a 12-story addition in 1946, giving the entire complex 49 acres (20 ha) of floor space.
After World War II Hudson's realized that the limited parking space at its downtown skyscraper would increasingly be a problem for its customers.
The solution in 1954 was to open the Northland Center in nearby Southfield, just beyond the city limits.
It was the largest suburban shopping center in the world, and quickly became the main shopping destination for northern and western Detroit, and for much of the suburbs.
By 1961 the downtown skyscraper accounted for only half of Hudson's sales; it closed in 1983.
The Northland Center Hudson's, rebranded Macy's in 2006 following acquisition by Federated Department Stores, was closed along with the remaining stores in the center in March 2015 due to the center's high storefront vacancy, decaying infrastructure, and financial mismanagement.
In 1969 Hudson's merged with the Dayton's to create Dayton-Hudson Corporation headquartered in Minneapolis.
George Dayton had founded his Dayton's Dry Goods store in Minneapolis in 1902 and the AMC cooperative in 1912.
His descendants built Southdale Center in 1956, opened the Target discount store chain in 1962 and the B.
Dalton Bookseller chain in 1966. Dayton's grew to 19 stores under the Dayton's name plus five other regional names acquired by Dayton-Hudson.
The Dayton-Hudson Corporation closed the flagship J. L. Hudson Department Store in downtown Detroit in 1983, but expanded its other retail operations.
It acquired Mervyn's in 1978, Marshall Field's in 1990, and renamed itself the Target Corporation in 2000.
In 2002, Dayton's and Hudson's were consolidated into the Marshall Field's name.
In 2005, May Department Stores acquired all of the Marshall Field's stores and shortly thereafter, Macy's acquired May.