Between 1910 and 1920, Hamtramck went from 3,589 people to 46,615. That was the greatest growth of any community in the United States over that decade, and it happened because the Dodge brothers broke ground near Joseph Campau and Conant in June 1910 and the plant was making parts by that November. Forty thousand people arrived in ten years, and every one of them needed everything they didn’t already own.
What a city does under that pressure
It builds shops fast, along whatever street already exists, which is why Joseph Campau ended up lined with stores for its entire mile. Demand that intense produces retail that is close, quick and general rather than deep in any one thing.
Where the exception always was
A suit, then as now, needed a specific size in a specific length, which a general shop cannot hold. Men in 1920 went out of the neighborhood for one, exactly as they do now, and for exactly the same reason.
What depth means today
32,000 suits on one floor, running 34 short to 70 long with portly included, so trying on is a choice between several that fit. From Joseph Campau the Davison points west toward Greenfield Road.
Also for Hamtramck: A Mile of Shops, and the Second Busiest Street. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
