Join department store historian Bruce Allen Kopytek in this return to the elegance of Jacobson's, a beloved Michigan institution for well over 100 years. Reenter the marvelous stores and meet the personalities who transformed Jacobson's from its humble Reed City origins to a staple of sophistication throughout the region and into Florida. The brainchild of a retail genius, this deluxe specialty store gave customers a peerless social, shopping and dining destination. Experience anew the refined beauty of its Williamsburg-style Grosse Pointe store, the chic designer world of its Birmingham ensemble, or the charm and allure of its original Florida branch in Sarasota, revealing, along the way, secrets which made Jake's the dazzling store it was, and why it remains so profoundly missed by anyone who entered through its solid wooden doors.
Join department store historian Bruce Allen Kopytek in this history of Jacobson's, a beloved Michigan institution for over 100 years. Winner of the Michigan Notable Book Award for 2012.
Reenter the marvelous stores and meet the persona
Reminisce with author Bruce Allen Kopytek about a time when these three great department stores dominated Toledo's retail scene and offered their customers anything they could want.
Remember the days when shopping meant white gloves, suits for men and leisurely lunches in tearooms? Toledo, an industrial powerhouse and Ohio's third-largest city, once had it all, and Lamson's, the Lion Store and Lasalle's were where it all happened. Revisit their downtown competitors like Tiedtke's, B.R. Baker, Milner's and Stein's, which also added their own touch to Toledo's life. Through written history, photographs and personal recollections a lost era comes to light--an era when business was personal and local and shopping was more of a cherished event rather than a chore.