“Jacobson’s, I Miss It So!: The Story of a Michigan Fashion Institution”, by Bruce Allen Kopytek

 

208 pages, The History Press, ISBN-13: 978-1609493240

If you happen to be from Detroit or, at least, Southeast Michigan, then the name “Jacobson’s” has a special resonance for you that no other luxury retailer has. My family and I would drive out to Grosse Pointe on special occasions to look round the place and, sometimes, even to buy something; one of my earliest memories was standing tip-toe to peer into the glass-and-wood cabinets at all of those wonderful Dinky diecast miniatures from far-away England that were the ultimate in collectable toys. When it went belly-up in 2002 it seemed as if something special had died, never to return or be replaced. And so it hasn’t.

So, when I saw Jacobson’s, I Miss It So!: The Story of a Michigan Fashion Institution by Bruce Allen Kopytek at my local library I checked it out to read up on this lost pillar of Michiganian lore. One of the first, shocking things I discovered was that Jacobson’s was not a Grosse Pointe exclusive retailer but was, in fact, one of a number of stores located throughout Michigan and Florida, along with stores located in other Midwestern States; the second, shocking thing I discovered was that the Grosse Pointe store wasn’t even the first location, that Jacobson’s got its start in Jackson, Michigan, home to one of the world’s largest prisons.

What Kopytek has managed in his book is to tell a concise but not-very-challenging history of this vanished retail pillar. He records its founding in Jackson, its acquisition by Nathan Rosenfeld and then follows with chapter after chapter of each and every store as it is founded and prospers. Not very heady stuff, and one would think that Jacobson’s was destined to succeed as each store is opened and operated under the benevolent guidance of Nathan and his Nathanisms (if I didn’t know better, I would have thought that the Grand Old Man was a relative of Kopytek’s, seeing as he is described as almost a secular saint).

Then again, Jacobson’s, I Miss It So! is not some kind of exposé, but rather a nostalgic look back at a store and an institution that many people still have fond memories of – yours truly, included. I’m sure the truth of Jacobson’s is not nearly so rose-colored and that it operated as many a retail operation has, both then and now. What we have instead is short chapter after short chapter of store after store, with some closing chapters in which the whole operation goes belly-up, seemingly overnight. Again, not an in-depth study, but rather an amusing and unchallenging look back at recent retail history and a much-beloved store that has shuffled off this mortal coil.