Herpolsheimer's

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Herpolsheimer's

File:Herpolsheimer's Department Store Final Logo.png
File:Herpolsheimer's Grand Rapids store illustration from 1921 ad.png 1921 advertisement illustration depicting the downtown Grand Rapids location
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Department store
Predecessor	Voight Herpolshiemer & Co.
Founded	1865 (1865) in Michigan City, Indiana, United States
Founders	William G. Herpolsheimer Charles G. A. Voigt
Defunct	September 8, 1990 (1990-09-08)
Fate	Acquired by Federated Department Stores
Headquarters	Grand Rapids, Michigan , United States
Number of locations	4 (2 in Grand Rapids area, 1 in Muskegon, 1 in Battle Creek)
Areas served	Grand Rapids, Michigan, Muskegon, Michigan, and Battle Creek, Michigan
Parent	Hahn's Department Stores (1928–1935) Allied Stores (1935–1987) Federated Department Stores (1987–1990)

Herpolsheimer's was a department store enterprise based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

History

File:William G. Herpolsheimer.png

William G. Herpolsheimer (1842–1920)

File:Henry B. Herpolsheimer.png

Henry B. Herpolsheimer (1868–1920)

Following the conclusion of the Civil War in 1865, Prussian-born American entrepreneur and Union Army veteran William G. Herpolsheimer co-established the dry goods firm Voight, Herpolsheimer & Co. in Michigan City, Indiana, partnering with Charles G. A. Voigt. Five years later, in 1870, he inaugurated a second outlet located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1902, he transferred operational control to his son Henry C. Herpolsheimer.

In 1928, ownership of the store changed hands when Hahn's Department Stores acquired it; this holding company would evolve into the Allied Stores conglomerate by 1935. Three years earlier, in 1933, Hahn's group expanded by purchasing L.H. Field & Co. of Jackson, Michigan, integrating the Jackson "Field's" outlets as sister stores to Herpolsheimer's in Grand Rapids. Later marketing materials highlighted that customers could utilize their "Herpolsheimer's/Field's Credit Cards" interchangeably at either chain.

After a fire incident nearly three years earlier and ensuing legal disputes, the William D. Hardy Company from Muskegon, Michigan, which operated Hardy's Department Store, consented in 1947 to merge with a newly launched Herpolsheimer's branch in Muskegon under the joint name Hardy-Herpolsheimer's. A modern flagship building for the downtown Grand Rapids store was constructed and opened in 1949 at the northwest corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue (also facing Monroe Street), replacing their previous location two blocks west which was sold to competitor Wurzburg's. Diverging from conventional department store models, Herpolsheimer's opened a specialized outlet focusing on furniture, appliances, televisions, and select hardware items in the Tower Building at River Avenue and 8th Street in downtown Holland, Michigan in October 1948. This location remained operational until at least 1955 before closing.

The chain’s first full-service suburban department store was acquired from Wurzburg's in Wyoming, Michigan, in 1974; subsequently, the Hardy-Herpolsheimer’s Muskegon branch became part of the Muskegon Mall project in 1976. Upon launching the Southland store in Wyoming that same year, the company officially adopted the nickname "Herp's," reflecting its longstanding informal moniker and introducing a new logo. In 1981, the historic L.W. Robinson department store located downtown Battle Creek was purchased and rebranded as Herp's.

File:HerpolsheimersLogos.svg

Various Herpolsheimer's logos

Starting from 1985, the downtown Grand Rapids location experienced downsizing; the remaining space was transformed into a shopping mall named City Centre. With this redevelopment’s grand reopening, the company abandoned the shortened "Herp's" brand used for over a decade and reinstated the full "Herpolsheimer's" name across all stores including those in downtown Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Muskegon, and Battle Creek. Two years later in 1987, Allied Stores merged the two Grand Rapids area Herpolsheimer’s outlets into its Indianapolis-based William H. Block division before selling them to Federated Department Stores. Simultaneously, local investors acquired the Battle Creek and Muskegon stores; Battle Creek reverted to its previous "Robinson's" identity while Muskegon's location resumed operating as "Hardy's." Meanwhile, all three L.H. Field & Co. (Field’s) stores in Jackson were closed. Later that year in November, Federated rebranded the two remaining Herpolsheimer’s stores under its Lazarus division. Following Federated’s bankruptcy proceedings—which ironically involved Allied Stores reacquiring Federated after having previously divested Herpolsheimer’s—the Lazarus division announced closure of both Grand Rapids area stores located at City Centre and Wyoming Village (Southland) on September 8, 1990. This marked the end of 120 years of retail operations: 117 years under the Herpolsheimer’s name and three final years as Lazarus. The City Centre mall itself shut down by late July 1993 after most tenants had vacated.

During holiday seasons leading up to Christmas, Herpolsheimer’s featured a "Santa Express" miniature train suspended from a monorail track along the basement ceiling of its downtown Grand Rapids store. Once converted into City Centre mall space, this area became a food court where the train operated year-round with a neutral paint scheme. Today, this historic train is preserved at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.

In popular culture

Herpolsheimer's made an appearance in the 2004 movie The Polar Express. In the film, a boy possesses a photo from Herpolsheimer's showing him pulling the fake beard off the store’s Santa Claus. Later, as the train heads toward the North Pole, a know-it-all passenger excitedly shouts "Hey, Herpolsheimer's! Herpolsheimer's!" when the train passes by the store, presumably located in downtown Grand Rapids. The children on board enjoy viewing the store’s festive window displays, with the boy grinning at a clearly animatronic Santa Claus arranging gifts in one of the scenes.

In 1921, Herpolsheimer's issued a collection of promotional cards featuring prominent baseball players of that era. These cards were long considered mythical until a significant cache was uncovered inside a Band-Aid box during an estate sale in 2019. This collection was later auctioned off in 2023. The Babe Ruth card fetched over $154,000, while 37 additional cards sold for prices reaching up to $3,400.

Notable employees

• Betty Ford, former fashion coordinator
• Scott Haraburda, once served as the store’s Santa

William H Coleman, shoe department staff

See also

• List of defunct department stores of the United States

External links

• The Herp's - Herpolsheimer's Blog (accessed July 9, 2011)
• Herpolsheimer's train video on YouTube