About Us
A Detroit Tradition Since 1907 | Family Owned for 150 Years
Himelhoch's
Fashion-Forward Styles by Emerging Designers Worldwide
Himelhoch's Department Store is your one-stop shop for fashions by emerging designers. We were here in Detroit over 100 years ago, at the start of its rich legacy of creativity and culture. We are a department store focused on fresh design talent. We bring gifted designers to you and to the global stage. You can find them here, at himelhochs.com. Each designer has their own designer page in Himelhoch's® so you can discover them, then mix-and-match your favorite designers. You will also find their fashions in our general collections.
Himelhoch's Today Is True to Our Yesterday.
Himelhoch's has been family owned for 150 years. We are proud of our tradition of helping to launch the careers of many fashion designers who are now considered iconic. For example:
Charles (Chuck) Himelhoch, third-generation CEO of Himelhoch’s, helped to launch the early career of Calvin Klein when Klein was starting out designing coats and suits.
As Estée Lauder (see Bloomberg article linked here) was launching her cosmetics line in department stores across the country, we were central to and supportive of her strategy. She met with our Himelhoch’s customers and trained our salespeople to understand her line deeply.
Herman Himelhoch, considered a merchant genius by designers in the New York market, created the famous steamer coat for Henry Fredericks in the 1920s when Fredericks’ business was struggling. Herman recognized a need for its fox collar, tweed fabric, and tubular silhouette during one of his steamship crossings to the Paris market. Frederick’s used Herman’s design, which was enormously successful nationwide, making Fredericks a wealthy man.
How Did It All Begin?
In the early 1870s, Wolf Himelhoch and his four sons settled in the thumb of Michigan, coming from Latvia. The family sold goods on a push cart they transported 72 miles round-trip between Caro and Bay City, Michigan, often sleeping in the same barn in which they stored their merchandise. They opened their first brick-and-mortar store in Caro, Michigan, in 1876. Wolf Himelhoch formed a close relationship with the Marshall Field family during buying trips to Chicago. In 1907, with the backing of Marshall Field’s, Himelhoch's opened its first store on Woodward in downtown Detroit. We built our reputation there and in seven branch stores through 1979.
A Proud Tradition
Charles Himelhoch (1919-2020) was our much beloved father. Kind, smart, witty, huge-hearted, and always ready to help others, he is our inspiration. See Detroit Free Press Article covering his life. Thank you, Dad.
We wish to thank DBusiness magazine for its article, Fashion Rebirth, as well as Downtown Newsmagazine's coverage of our story. We also wish to thank In Good Co. Detroit for its podcast and its article on Himelhoch's recreating Detroit’s golden era of retail in the digital age.
Below is a video interview of fourth generation president, Carol Himelhoch, by In Good Co. Detroit. It was funded in part by a Knight Foundation grant, and provides further history of our family business.
We are currently featuring our fashion partner, MINU Jewels.
A stunning necklace offering effortless beauty!
Brilliant southwestern turquoise provides an exquisite offset for the coral with gold accents. This necklace makes a classic statement.