January 4, 1983
By BETSEY HANSELL
Free Press Marketing Writer
Debbie Druckman usually shops at the Briarwood Mall Hudson's in Ann Arbor, where she is a nurse.
Johny Murry, a Detroit dockworker, goes to Northland.
Sue Katam, of St. Clair Shores, finds Eastland convenient for everyday purchases.
But Monday, they and hundreds more, from as far away as Flint, waited sad-eyed and subdued in long lines at downtown Hudson's going-out-of-business sale.
Some were there to say goodby, others to find bargains. Almost everything will be on sale for at least 25 percent off marked prices until the store closes for good sometime this month.
At lunchtime, the store was jammed with shoppers and picked-over merchandise was strewn everywhere. Later, the crowds slacked off. Hudson's news director, Diane Norton, who has said repeatedly that Hudson's wants to close the store quietly without fanfare, would not comment on how many people had come to the sale.
"We came just for the sale," said Mary Murphy from Dearborn. "It's too bad the store is closing, but I haven't shopped there for years."
"The malls killed it," Murphy added. "It took me 25 minutes to find a parking place today. It's too convenient to go to Fairlane."
Helen Simonds of Farmington Hills stocked up on winter clothes in the Woodward Shops. "I came here today because the store was going to be closed," she said. "I kind of wish I had kept on shopping here -- maybe it wouldn't be closing now."