Hess's of Allentown (Ep15)
EPISODE 15: HESS'S OF ALLENTOWN. This is the story of the Pennsylvania department store that for several decades was more well-known and more glamorous than the city in which it was located – Hess’s of Allentown. The brothers Hess founded their dry goods store in Center City Allentown in 1897. By 1929, it had grown to become a large department store at the same location. By that time, both Hess brothers had died, leaving Max Hess, Jr., their 18-year-old heir. Young Max would turn out to be one of the most innovative and successful American merchandisers of the 20th century, making Hess’s a luxe shopping destination that, at one point, had the highest per capita sales volume of any department store in America. The store was famous for its models, European couture, in-store restaurant, annual events like the flower show, television programming, the hundreds of fashion shows it organized and exported, and Max's canny way of getting publicity. In the 1970s and 80s, after Max Hess, Jr, had sold Hess’s lone department store location and died in 1968, Hess’s became an iconic department store chain, growing rapidly to the point that, in 1990, there were 76 Hess’s stores overall, 27 of which were in Pennsylvania. This growth occurred at a time when the City of Allentown and the Lehigh Valley were suffering an intense period of economic decline due to de-industrialization and factory closures. A retail recession in the 90s led to an abrupt collapse of the department store chain and, by 1995, no Hess’s remained. This episode ends with a list of surviving department store buildings in major cities of the Commonwealth.
Timestamps for major events/discussions:
[00:54] – Roll call of famous Pennsylvania department stores by city
[03:06] – Recalling department stores without the nostalgia is challenging
[05:41] – The invention of department stores
[07:06] – Max Hess, Sr. and his brother Charles open Hess Brothers store in Allentown
[08:09] – “The Walking Purchase” of 1737 and the founding of the City of Allentown
[13:44] – Introducing Max Hess, Jr
[16:24] – Max Hess, Jr’s imprint on Hess Brothers department store
[21:31] – Fashion shows
[23:17] – The Patio Restaurant
[25:28] – Hess’s toy department and Christmas events
[28:39] – The annual flower show
[30:09] – Movies and TV stars visit Hess’s
[32:04] – Promoting Hess’s through paid media and earned media campaigns
[35:11] – Hess’s cashes in on the monokini – the topless bikini – in 1964
[39:02] – The post-WWII economy of the Lehigh Valley and the pinnacle of Hess’s
[41:03] – Family life of Max Hess, Jr.
[44:00] – Max Hess, Jr. Sells Hess’s and dies in 1968
[45:11] – Hess’s expands beyond a single store and becomes a chain
[46:59] – The Reagan Recession, deindustrialization and factory closures
[48:33] – The contest where contestants live on a platform on a billboard above a highway
[50:57] – Hess’s expands to become a huge chain, then disappears
[55:00] – Roll call of PA’s surviving department store buildings from their golden age
[55:54] – Media that inspired this episode
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· Watch a short video from the 1950s about Hess’s traveling fashion shows. It’s available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apXeBAVhVvk
· Try your hand at making Hess’s famous strawberry pie. Recipes abound on the Internet.
Link to website: www.pennsylmania.com