 | |
| Industry | Department store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1909 |
| Defunct | 1999 |
| Fate | liquidated; sold to Value City |
| Successor | Value City |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan United States |
Key people | Joseph, William, and Daniel Crowley |
Number of employees | 1,300 |
| Parent | Crowley Milner and Company |
| Subsidiaries | Steinbach's |
Crowley Milner and Company, generally referred to as Crowley's, was a department store chain founded in Detroit, Michigan, in 1909. After several years of financial difficulties, the company ceased operation in 1999 and its assets were sold.[1]
Its flagship store, corporate office and warehouse complex occupied two blocks in downtown Detroit for almost 80 years. The store was a direct competitor of the J. L. Hudson Company and the Ernst Kern Company until Kern's closed in 1959. Crowley's and Hudson's were both noted for their lavish annual Christmas displays. Faced with a decline in retail traffic in downtown Detroit, Crowley's closed its downtown location in July 1977. The firm operated a store in Detroit's New Center area that remained open until the chain's demise in 1999.
On March 11, 1995, the chain acquired Steinbach in the northeast US. When Crowley's ceased operation in 1999, several of its locations were purchased by discount chain Value City. Three in the Detroit area were rebranded Crowley's Value City and remained part of the Value City chain until it also ceased operating in 2008.
- ^ Kopytek, Bruce Allen (November 30, 2015). Crowley's: Detroit's Friendly Store (Landmarks) (Paperback). Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. ISBN 978-1467119740.