Hess's

Hess's

Former type	Department stores
Industry	Retail
Fate	Converted to other department stores
Successor(s)	Dillard's (1992-) Hecht's (1993-2006) Proffitt's (1993-2006) Kaufmann's (1994-2006) The Bon-Ton (1994-)
Founded	1897 (as Hess Brothers)
Defunct	1996
Headquarters	Allentown, PA
Products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics and housewares

1950 photo of Hess Brothers department store, looking northeast from corner of 9th and Hamilton Streets

Hess's was a department store chain based in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The company started in 1897 with one store, originally known as Hess Brothers, and had grown to nearly 80 stores at its peak in the late 1980s. The chain's stores were eventually closed or sold off in a series of deals in the early to mid 1990s.

History

The department store known as Hess Brothers was founded on February 19, 1897, by Charles and Max Hess. Max Hess came to Allentown in 1896 on a business trip and envisioned a department store serving the area. He moved his family from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1897 and opened Hess Brothers on Ninth and Hamilton streets.

Hess Brothers continued expanding its store by acquiring neighboring properties and filled almost a city block by 1915. While the exterior of the store still appeared as separate buildings, the inside was renovated to look as one large building. Magnificent crystal chandeliers graced the main hall of Hess Brothers, and many windows allowed natural light to fill the store. These and other displays enabled the Hess brothers to succeed at making their store look like a "big city department store."

Max Hess, Sr., died in 1922, and Charles continued to run the store from 1922 to 1932. Max Hess, Jr., continued the Hess’s legacy from 1932 through 1968. The younger Hess was seen as a leader in retailing. In the 1953 B.C. Forbes & Sons book, America’s Twelve Master Salesmen, Hess is listed as the second master salesman. According to this book, Hess’s principle was, “Strive for a specific goal.”

Charles, and later Max Jr., made Hess Brothers a shopping destination. Flamboyance and excitement were cornerstones of the store. It was well known for its fashion apparel as a result of introducing the latest trends from Europe. Additionally, the facade of the store was updated in 1947 using the Art Moderne style, and a 45-foot-tall, 8-ton, red neon sign marked the outside of the flagship store from December 23, 1947 to June 30, 1972. Children delighted at the giant toy soldiers Hess’s used as Christmas decorations in addition to "Pip the Mouse" in a puppet show at the flagship store. All shoppers were treated to the annual May flower show, fashion shows, and celebrity appearances, including by Johnny Carson, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Barbara Walters, Rosalynn Carter, Burt Ward (Robin in the "Batman" TV series), Gina Lollobrigida, and Rock Hudson. Significant in its retail "firsts" was the over-the-counter sale of pure gold in 1972, as well as the introduction of the Rudi Gernreich topless bathing suit. Additionally, visitors fondly remember The Patio, the store’s restaurant, popular with many shoppers, for its strawberry pie and sundaes.

In 1968, Max Hess, Jr., sold the store to Philip Berman. At this time, the store business was officially renamed Hess’s, and Berman began an expansion plan for the store, opening new locations in suburban areas, many in shopping malls. In October 1979, Crown American, a developer and owner of hotels and shopping malls, purchased the Hess’s chain, then 17 stores large, as a wholly owned subsidiary. Under Crown American’s leadership, Hess’s enjoyed the booming retail market of the 1980s and expanded to 76 stores by 1990.

In addition to opening stores in available locations, Hess’s purchased other department store chains and converted them to the Hess’s nameplate, such as Penn Traffic Department Stores, based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1981, and Rices Nachmans, based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1985. Hess's also acquired the Knoxville, Tennessee based Miller's Department Store chain from Allied Stores by hostile takeover in 1987. In September 1987 Hess's agreed to acquire Snyder's, Inc., a privately held Louisville, Kentucky department store, as well as five L. S. Ayres stores in Kentucky that Snyder's had agreed to buy (L. S. Ayres having assumed them from Stewart Dry Goods and Pogue's only a few years earlier). This new division was briefly operated under the Snyder's name, but in November 1987 Hess's announced that it would phase out the Millers and Snyder's names in favor of its own moniker in February 1988.

In a few short years, however, Hess’s suffered under increased retail competition and a national recession, so it sold or shuttered 43 of its stores, especially in the South, including the Knoxville stores to Dillard's and 18 sold to Proffitt's in two deals in 1992 and 1993. The remaining 30 stores were sold off in 1994, ending a 97-year enterprise; May Department Stores purchased 10 locations, and The Bon-Ton bought 20.

The flagship store at Ninth and Hamilton Streets in Allentown was among those bought by The Bon-Ton. The store closed in 1996, due to underperformance and the cost of maintaining the store, as it was a victim of various renovations and additions, none of which were consistent to the previous one. It was torn down in 2000 to make way for The Plaza at PPL Center, an eight-story office building used by PPL as well as other office and retail tenants.