Merchant, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE England, UK. His family moved to Grand Rapids, MI from Canada in 1860. By 1866 he was managing his father's clothing store, and later opened J L Hudson (1881), an innovative men and boys clothing store in Detroit that offered moderate prices, immediate delivery, and customer returns. He incorporated (1891) and expanded into other Midwestern cities, and by 1912 his was the largest retail store in Michigan, with sales of $3ยท5 million. Active in business and civic affairs, he founded the Detroit Municipal League.
July 5, 1912) a merchant who founded Hudsons Department Store in Detroit Michigan. Chapin's automotive venture, which Chapin named the Hudson Motor Car Company in honor of J.L.Hudson was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, and immigrated with his family to Hamilton, Ontario Canada when he was nine;
While Hudson began his career in merchandising with family members and other outside partners, he founded what would provide the basis for Hudson's Department Stores in 1881 inside a shop at the Detroit Opera House.
In addition with providing the seed capital for Hudson Motors, J.L. Hudson was also involved the American Vapor Stove Company, Dime Savings Bank, American Exchange National Bank, the Detroit City Gas Company, and the Third National Bank of Detroit. When the Third National Bank collapsed in the financial panic of 1893, Hudson felt personally liable for the failure and paid from his personal accounts an amount equal to the balances of record held by each account holder. The move cost Hudson $265,000, however the goodwill that it showed also paid Hudson dividends in the form of increasing market share for his businesses.
A life-long bachelor, Hudson died in 1912. Lack Jr., Hudson left no personal papers, and the details outside of his public life are few and mostly unknown.
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