Jacobson Stores, Inc., Jackson, Michigan

Discover
the fascinating history

of Michigan's own specialty

department store

Jacobsons: I miss it so!

(Click on the book cover to go

to the welcome page for details)

Founded in Reed City, Michigan, in 1868,
 Jacobson's expanded to Jackson, Michigan
in 1904, and in 1920 inaugurated a new
store on Main Street (now Michigan Avenue).

The store expanded to Ann Arbor, and Battle Creek,

and was purchased in 1939 by Nathan Rosenfeld,

a retail and finance specialist who set out to turn

it into one of Michigan's finest stores.

Jake's added a "Men's Shop" on Michigan Avenue; the site would
later house the 1961 store building

The main store was modernized in 1955.

A completely new Jacobson's was opened in 1961,

several blocks to the west of the original store.

Jacobson Stores, Inc. (Jacobson's)

3333 West Sargent Road

Jackson, MI (Corporate Office &

Distribution Center)

JACOBSON STORES (through 1978)

Jacobson's Jackson (1904/1943/1955/1961)

255 West Michigan Avenue
The Cortland Room

Jacobson's store in its home town was situated on the Progress
Place Mall in downtown Jackson (The administrative
headquarters were located at 1200 North West Street).

A new Store for the Home was opened on Cortland

Street in 1969, in quarters formerly occupied by a

downtown Sears store, and renovated in

Jacobson's tradional style.

Jacobson's Ann Arbor (Oct.1, 1924/1941)

612 E. Liberty Street
116,000 sq. ft.

Jacobson's was a fixture on Ann Arbor's Liberty street

since its opening in 1924.  The store was often enlarged

and remodeled over the years, and was connected to the

adjacent Maynard Street parking garage.

Jacobson's Battle Creek (1937/1951)

The original Jacobson's store was a narrow shop

next to a Kresge store in Battle Creek.  After the

1939 change in ownership, this larger store

was occupied, but it remained one of Jake's

smaller stores, and competed with

 the larger Kalamazoo store to the west.

Jacobson's East Lansing (1941/1951/1970)
333 E. Grand River Avenue

The East Room

Jacobson's East Lansing Store served faculty and students of

Michigan State University,as well as Mid-Michigan residents.

This beautiful contemporary facility replaced a store opened in 1940.

After the relocation, Jacobson's expanded and renovated its old
store into a new Store for the Home.

Jacobson's Grand Rapids (1943/1954)

Fulton Street at Sheldon Avenue

Before moving to its own building in 1954, Jacobson's

occupied a 2-story space in the Pantlind Hotel, today's

Amway Grand Plaza; the space currently houses the

Hotel's "1913 Room" gourmet restaurant.

In 1954, Jake's remodeled the Watson Building
at the corner of Fulton and Sheldon Avenues,
and vacated the Pantlind Hotel for a larger,
free-standing space.

Jacobson's Saginaw (1944/1975)

400 Federal Street
200,000 s.f.

Jacobson's large Saginaw store was part of a "superblock" proposal

meant to revitalize the downtown core and attract customers from

all over northern Michigan.

Jacobson's Grosse Pointe (1944/1952/1974)

17030 Kercheval Avenue

22375 Kercheval Avenue (Store for the Home)
The St. Clair Room

Jacobson's, after slowly expanding since 1944, occupied a renovated,

Colonial Williamsburg style structure in

The Village shopping district in Grosse Pointe in 1974.

The Home Decorative Shop, later the Store for the Home, opened on the 

other side of Kercheval Avenue in 1953.

GROSSE POINTE STORE DIRECTORY

Lower Level

Miss J Shop • Miss J Shoes • Customer Service

Street Floor

Stationery • Adult Game Gallery • Jacobson's Book Shop • Pantry and Sweet Shop • Fine Jewelry Salon • St. Clair Room Restaurant • Cosmetics • Jewelry • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • Belts • Scarves • Accessories • Hosiery • Shoe Salon

Store for Men Men's Furnishings • Men's Sportswear • Mr. J Shop • Men's Clothing • Men's Shoes • Men's Hats

Second Floor

Infants' Shop • Children's Shop • Boys' Shop • Girls' Shop • Cannon Shop • Toys • Children's Shoes • Intimate Apparel • Foundations • Patio Fashions • Sportswear • Little Separates • Pin Money Shop • Custom Sizes • Dress Salon • Coat and Suit Salon • After 5 Dresses • Signature Collections • International Collections • Givenchy Nouvelle Boutique • Collection Sportswear • Designer Salon • Bridal Salon • Fur Salon • Styling Salon

Store for the Home 17141 Kercheval Avenue

China • Silver • Glass • Linen Shop • Collector's Gallery • Gift Shop • Kitchen Shop • Lamps • Bedroom Fashions • Bath Shop • Draperies • Closet Shop • Fine Furniture Gallery • Design Studio • Floor Coverings • Area Rug Center

Jacobson's Birmingham (1950/1953/1962/1972)

336 W. Maple Road

325 Old North Woodward (Store for the Home)

Store for Fashions

Store for the Home

Children's Shops and Men's Store

Jacobson's occupied several buildings since it opened in

Birmingham in 1950, later adding a

Store for the Home, Men's Store, Children's Shop,

as well as an expanded main fashion store.

Jacobson's Kalamazoo (1961/1970/1979)

359 South Burdick

209 South Burdick (Store for the Home)(1970)

Jacobson's Kalamazoo store opened in 1961 on Burdick treet,

also known as Kalamazoo Mall - one of the nation's first

downtown pedestrian malls.

A separate Store for the Home was

opened on the mall in the early 1970s.

Jacobson's Dearborn (Oct. 8, 1964)

22201 West Michigan Avenue

22375 West Michigan Avenue (Store for the Home)
The Top of the Fountain

Jacobson's Dearborn store, in the West Dearborn

shopping district, opened to great fanfare in October of 1964

Jacobson's eneterd the furniture business by purchasing
the Daly Brothers furniture store, which was remodeled into

Jacobson's Store for the Home in 1974

DEARBORN STORE DIRECTORY

Lower Level

Kitchen Shop • Lamps • Bedroom Fashions • Bath Shop • Draperies • Closet Shop • Fabric Shop • Yarn Shop

Street Floor

Stationery • Adult Game Gallery • Jacobson's Book Shop • Sweets and Treats Shop • Fine Jewelry Salon • Cosmetics • Jewelry • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • Belts • Scarves • Accessories • Little Separates • Hosiery • Shoe Salon • China • Silver • Glass • Linen Shop • Collector's Gallery • Gift Shop

Store for Men Men's Furnishings • Men's Sportswear • Mr. J Shop • Men's Clothing • Men's Shoes • Men's Hats

Second Floor

Top of the Fountain Restaurant • Infants' Shop • Children's Shop • Boys' Shop • Girls' Shop • Cannon Shop • Toys • Children's Shoes • Miss J Shop • Miss J Shoes • Intimate Apparel • Foundations • Patio Fashions • Sportswear • Little Separates • Pin Money Shop • Custom Sizes • Dress Salon • Coat and Suit Salon • After 5 Dresses • Signature Collections • International Collections • Givenchy Nouvelle Boutique • Collection Sportswear • Designer Salon • Bridal Salon • Fur Salon • Styling Salon • Customer Service

Store for Homes 22375 West Michigan Avenue

Fine Furniture Gallery • Design Studio • Floor Coverings

Jacobson's East Grand Rapids (1966)

2255 E. Wealthy Street

Like many of Jacobson's stores, the East Grand Rapids
store was built of brick

Jacobson's Sarasota, FL (1969)

443 St. Armand's Circle
Sarasota, Florida

Jacobson's began its Florida run by purchasing a shop

called "Yankee Traveler" on St. Armand's Circle in

Sarasota.  The store was enlarged and expanded many

times and eventually became simply "Jacobson's"

Jacobson's Winter Park, FL (1972)

339 N. Park Avenue

Jacobson's purchased The Proctor Shop in exclusive

Winter Park, a suburb of Orlando.  Later, the Proctor

name was dropped and the store became known simply

as Jacobson's

Jacobson's Longwood (1975)

Longwood Village
1855 St. Rd. 434

Jacobson's North Palm Beach (1977)
Oakbrook Fashion Square

Jacobson's in Rochester was the anchor of a small upscale mall

The Walton Blvd. facade of the split-level store is shown.

The Great Oaks store occupied land bought by Jacobson's 11 years earlier in

in anticipation of the grow of this upscale community.

Jacobson's Great Oaks Mall (1978)

Rochester, Michigan

1220 Walton Blvd.
70,000 sq. ft.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Jacobson's expanded in Florida, and later opened stores in Indianapolis, Columbus, Louisville, and Kansas.  Jacobson's also gained a store in Toledo, Ohio, by buying Lamson's Franklin Park branch in 1974.