Hutzler's
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Fate | Liquidation |
| Founded | 1858 |
| Defunct | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland |
|
Key people
|
Abram Hutzler, founder |
| Products | Fashion apparel, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics. |
Hutzler's, or Hutzler Brothers Company, was a department store founded in Baltimore by Abram G. Hutzler (1835–1927) in 1858. From its beginning as a small dry goods store at the corner of Howard and Clay Streets in Downtown Baltimore, Hutzler's eventually grew into a chain of 10 department stores, all of which were located in Maryland.
At age 23, Abram Hutzler was not yet old enough to secure credit; his father, Moses Hutzler, signed the official documents Abram needed to open the store in July 1858. Although the store originally traded as M. Hutzler & Son, Moses Hutzler was otherwise not involved in the business.
After Abram brought his two brothers, Charles and David, into the business in 1867, the retail store was left in David's hands while Abram and Charles operated a wholesale business. The retail store expanded into three other storefronts on Howard Street in 1874, 1881 and 1887, gradually transforming into a department store. Abram and Charles discontinued the wholesale business in 1888 to concentrate on the company's retail operations.
The original Howard Street locations were razed in 1888 and replaced by the five-story Hutzler Brothers Palace Building, designed by the architectural firm of Baldwin & Pennington. An example of neoclassical architecture, the Palace was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. Its exterior features included Nova Scotia gray stone, carved with Arabesque heads and foliage, and large display windows. Facing Clay Street, a keystone carved with the image of Moses Hutzler was placed over a display window. The new store was organized into several departments and employed 200 workers.
In 1908, the company incorporated as Hutzler Brothers Company of Baltimore City. This was later amended to Hutzler Brothers Company.
An innovator of progressive retailing practices, Hutzler's was believed to have established the one-price policy in 1868. With one-pricing, all customers pay the same price, set by the store for a specific item, for specific period of time. This policy replaced the process of higgling or haggling to negotiate prices determined by the bargaining skill of individual customers. One-pricing for basic commodities was actually practiced in rural stores before the Civil War, but Hutzler's may have been the first retailer to apply the policy to such a broad range of merchandise, including every item in the store.
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