This story has been updated to include additional information.
For the first time in over 40 years, Hudson’s is open for Christmas again.
The Nick Gilbert Way, a public plaza situated between Hudson’s office building and the Hudson’s skyscraper in downtown Detroit, opened to the public on Thursday, Nov. 6, featuring lights, holiday decorations, gift shopping, roasted nuts, a coffee truck, and more.
Members of the Gilbert family, politicians and Detroit Historical Society leaders remembered Hudson’s Department Store and Nick Gilbert’s legacy while expressing their excitement over the creation of a new Detroit holiday tradition at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.
From wintery window displays to the giant-sized toy bear on Woodward Avenue, Nick Gilbert Way hopes to welcome families and friends to a “robust and spectacular holiday season,” said Bedrock Senior Director of Experience Dustin Stolzman, who led the design team working on the outdoor space.
Tradition
Joseph L. Hudson opened his first store downtown in 1881. After Hudson’s second major expansion in 1946, the store became the second-largest department store in the world, behind Macy’s in New York City, President and CEO of Detroit Historical Society Elana Rugh said.
At its peak, the store had over 200 departments, from furs and fashion to furniture and full restaurants. The store offered 2 million square feet of retail and service space and was so big it had its own post office with a mailing number of 26 before ZIP codes existed, Rugh said.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he enjoyed going to Hudson’s as a child and that he is happy to see its revival.
“For everybody my age, this was the time of year where you were excited,” Duggan said. “You were coming downtown to see the new window displays at Hudson’s, and everybody, for generations, their childhood memory is going to the 12th floor of Hudson’s and that wonderland to visit Santa Claus.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recalled stories her grandmother told about taking her children to the store when they were young.
“What a joy it’s going to be to see this alive again, and I am so incredibly grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make this a reality,” she said at the news conference.
Duggan said he loved Hudson’s so much, he drove from law school in Ann Arbor to visit it in its last week open for the holidays in January 1983. The store’s closure was announced during the 1982 holiday season.
“I bought a Christmas ornament, one of the last things left, and I still hang it on my Christmas tree every year, more than 40 years later, because it’s such a reminder of the special place that Detroit was,” Duggan said. “This site has been a hole in the city for 40 years, and this year I am going to hang that ornament with a big smile because Dan Gilbert has given Hudson’s back to us in a spectacular way.”
What happened after Hudson’s closed?
After multiple failed schemes to reuse the vacant structure, the city imploded the building in 1998.
In 2007, businessman Dan Gilbert announced he’d move his company, Quicken Loans, downtown from its previous location, and the city of Detroit gave him development rights for the site to build a possible headquarters, according to Free Press reporting. In 2017, Gilbert’s plan was approved, and construction began on the skyscraper.
The 12-story Hudson’s Detroit building is set to become the global headquarters in January for General Motors and to house several other office and retail tenants. The 45-floor skyscraper is expected to open in 2027 with a luxury EDITION Hotel and 96 high-priced condos.
The space between the two buildings is where the Nick Gilbert Way sits. It is named after Dan Gilbert’s son, who died at age 26.
‘Could there be a better tribute to Nick Gilbert’?
Speakers at the opening event remembered Nick as a positive person who brought laughter and light into the lives of others.
Rugh said it’s fitting to name a larger-than-life department story after a young man with a legacy larger than life.
“History is made of the stories of the people who bring spaces and plazas to life,” Rugh said. “Nick Gilbert Way is more than a naming honor. It reflects the Gilbert family’s ongoing invest in Detroit’s public spaces, culture and history.”
Duggan said the space will carry on Nick Gilbert’s legacy by making people smile at holiday relics.
“Spontaneous smiles, could there be a better tribute to Nick Gilbert than that experience?” Duggan said.
Designs behind the holiday season
Now, some of Hudson’s lower windows are filled with designs by GM, Detroit Historical Society and Design Core, Stolzman said.
Crystal Windham, GM’s executive director of industrial design, said GM’s window designs on Woodward Avenue encompass warm glows with a pop of silver and dimensional layers with screens displaying snowflakes falling while celebrating the company’s heritage and innovation.
“It’s amazing that we’ve had this opportunity to just create different experiences and really bringing back such cherished memories of JL Hudons in the windows and bringing that forward to today and reimaging that,” she said.
Along with the windows, GM is displaying a decorated red Chevy truck and Silverado EV for backgrounds for pictures, Rebecca Waldmeir, GM’s architecture and experience design manager, said.
“We wanted it to be magical,” Rebecca said. “Being inspired by what Hudson’s used to be and people coming down, that’s what we wanted to bring back.”
Comeback story
Outside of window displays, the Detroit Historical Society will have an exhibit at its museum opening Saturday, Nov. 8, including relics from the original Hudson’s site.
A large flag is hung on the Hudson’s office building, recreating the tradition.
Whitmer said the plaza being named after Nick Gilbert is a reminder that the center of Detroit’s revival has always been love for family and community and hope for a brighter future.
“I’m proud that more and more people are starting to see Detroit for what it really is: The best damn story in America,” Whitmer said.
Contact Natalie Davies: ndavies@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Nick Gilbert Way brings spirit of Hudson’s holiday magic to Detroit
Reporting by Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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