The Hildreth name is cloaked with American history. With family members arriving in Lynn, Mass., in 1635 the Hildreths first were sheep and cattle ranchers. The family came to the East End of Long Island for better grazing for their livestock in the 1700s. In 1842, Lewis Hildreth opened up a general store, called . A tradition of service, quality goods, and friendliness was then born.
Believe it or not the store on 51 Main Street is the original store in the original location. A walk inside is just like walking into an American Art exhibit at any big city museum. Hildreth’s is celebrating in 2012 their 170th anniversary as America’s oldest department store.
Before the Long Island Rail Road came in 1872, the merchandise in Hildreth’s came by horse driven wagons after being unloaded from merchant ships in Sag Harbor. On regular shifts goods were transported on the muddy roads into town to be unloaded in the back. After the trains the trip was shorter but the work was still done with a certain diligence. Today according to friendly and helpful marketing director, Martin Haley, Hildreth’s has more than 100,000 items for sale daily.
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The store is still family owned with Henry Hildreth in charge. The floors of the store are the original wooden floors and the showcase windows are also the original design. In fact it is the same front door that it was in 1842 when it opened. The store with the largest selection of home furniture in the Hamptons and still has parts of its original circular heating system that it had when it opened.
In 1844 Hidreth’s went high tech using the new telegraph to place and even receive orders in a more timely fashion. When you walk around the store your imagination can almost make you hear the sounds of orders coming in and going out on an old telegraph line. The store once sold whaling harpoons, whips, and buffalo skin robes. Housewares and dry goods sold in those days are still sold today. The history of the store reflects the charm of the items for sale at Hildreth’s. I bought my own mother a charming hand painted watering pale, that she still uses.
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One shopper said she first went to Hildreth’s with her dad to get a bed, back right after the war. ”I had grown and was no longer able to sleep with my baby sister in the bed we shared.” So many residents of Southampton have similar stories. The fact is that Hildreth’s is open every day except Christmas, Thanksgiving Day and believe it or not Labor Day. The family honors their employees on Labor Day, bypassing a great profitable day. Perhaps that alone is a statement of the commitment and make-up of the Hildreth philosophy. It is not just about making sales, but doing the right thing.
With all the changes happening on the main streets in the Hamptons, it's wonderful to see one store with such a rich tradition doing well and being well positioned into the future. Hildreth’s presently has three stores and a throughout the Hamptons and the “loyal” customers know that the store stands behind its merchandise and that there is something special about having Hildreth’s home goods in your Hamptons home. Today, one does not even have to go to the stores to purchase their tasteful merchandise. One can go online to info@hildreths.com to email an order or visit www.hildreths.com to view the many items the store has to offer. The phone is answered by staff by dialing 1-800-462-1842, or the local number 631-283-2300. The staff is old time style friendly and helpful to any need you might have and seem to have wonderful suggestions for gifts or home needs.
Time marches on and so many things change. So many wonderful stores of the past are gone. But when you turn down Main Street in Southampton, Hildreth’s is where it always was. The lifetime work of Lewis Hildreth, Henry Halsey Hildreth, Leon Hildreth, Henry Halsey Hildreth II, and now Henry Halsey Hildreth III is not to be ignored. The tradition is as early American as is the family with the old time values and service geared to today’s needs. This store, perhaps the first of it kind in America has won the battle to remain relevant, timely, and useful and most of all revered. When was the last time you walk in to purchase something, or just to feel the history? Perhaps it was your parents who first took you there.
