A member of the family dynasty that owned and operated the locally well-remembered Hutzler’s department stores, Bernice “Bunny” Hutzler Stein died on Dec. 28 in Baltimore. A resident of Roland Park and Boca Raton, Florida, she turned 105 on Dec. 27.
Born in New York City, Bunny Hutzler Stein was the daughter of Golde Kaplan Levy, an artist, and Adolph Levy, an entrepreneur. Her brother, James K. Levy, died during World War II while serving as a fighter pilot.
Hutzler Stein graduated from Goucher College in 1939. She also attended New York University.
In 1937, she married Albert D. Hutzler Jr., grandson of the company’s co-founder, David Hutzler. The wedding, at the Hotel Pierre in New York, was officiated by Rabbi Edward L. Israel of Baltimore’s Har Sinai Temple.
Albert Hutzler Jr. eventually served as the company’s president and CEO.
Hutzler’s was founded as a small dry good store in 1858 in downtown Baltimore and eventually operated 10 retail branch locations throughout Maryland (most notably in Towson, Westview, Glen Burnie and Eastpoint) before closing in 1990.
Along with Hecht’s (previously the May Co.), Stewart’s, Brager-Gutman’s and Hochschild Kohn’s, Hutzler’s was part of the fabled, Jewish family-owned department shopping store experience of 20th-century Baltimore.
With its art-deco flagship store known as “The Palace” at 210-218 N. Howard Street, Hutzler’s was regarded as the premier shopping experience by generations of Baltimoreans. Particularly fondly remembered by old-timers were the Colonial Room (also known as “The Tea Room”), which was a formal dining place at the Howard Street store, the Circle Beauty Salon, the Shoe Fixery, the Quixie restaurant, the Balcony and Hutzler’s elaborate window displays.
“With its excellent service and its prestigious lines, Hutzler’s was the closest Baltimoreans got to haute couture,” wrote Gilbert Sandler in “Jewish Baltimore; A Family History (Johns Hopkins University Press). “Shopping, meeting friends, having lunch, and even returning things to Hutzler’s were an experience that became of the teenage rite of passage.”
The late Gov. William Donald Schaefer, a Baltimore native, once said, “If you wanted the good stuff, you went to Hutzler’s.”
In the book “Hutzler’s: Where Baltimore Shops” (The History Press) by Michael J. Lisicky, Bunny Hutzler Stein said, “I loved the Hutzler store and I loved to go to the Tea Room and Quixie. I was so sorry to when the store was finished. Everybody in the city regrets it now.
“Once I was in the gift shop of the Baltimore Museum of Art and the clerk asked me for my last name,” she recalled. “When I told her it was Hutzler, she burst into tears. She was a former employee and she told me that the happiest days of her life was at Hutzler’s.”
Bunny and Albert Hutzler Jr. were married for 48 years until his death in May of 1985. She later married Dr. Irvin Stein and lived in Baltimore and Boca Raton for more than two decades.
A retired professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dr. Stein died in February of 2000.
Bunny Hutzler was a noted philanthropist and socialite. Among her philanthropic endeavors was the Bernice L. Hutzler and Albert D. Hutzler Foundation, as well as the United Way of Central Maryland and The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.
“Hutzler’s retail success can be rightly credited to the women who stood alongside their husbands and informed them what customers wanted and how they should be treated,” said “Hutzler’s” author Michael J. Lisicky. “They were the ones who often walked the sales floors, announced or unannounced, and kept tabs on the family business. As the wife of Albert Hutzler Jr., Bunny was once of those iconic retail partners and influencers.
“The strongest department stores throughout the country were built on the advice and influence from family members like Bunny,” he said. “Customers loved knowing that there was a Hutzler family member in the building, and Bunny had a frequent presence. Customers saw her as an iconic figure and knew she was the matriarch.
“It was such an honor to know her, hear her story and celebrate the Hutzler’s legacy on paper.”
Bunny Hutzler Stein is survived by her daughter Betty Friedman and her husband Ed ; her son Albert D. Hutzler III and his wife Sandra; and her son James Hutzler and his wife Mary. She is also survived by her grandchildren Douglas Friedman (Karen), Emilie Musgrave (Win), Geoffrey Friedman (Michele), Albert D. Hutzler IV (Sheri), Gilston Hutzler (Meryl); and great-grandchildren, Daniel, Alex, Sarah, Jeremiah, Amy, Henry, Ilana, Phillip, Ellie, Aidan, Jake, and Joe.
A private service will be held in memory of Bunny Hutzler Stein. Memorial contributions may be made to the Roland Park Place-Employee Hardship, 830 W. 40th St., Baltimore, Maryland 21211.
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