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The Patio Podcast
The Patio Podcast is a wistful exploration of my hometown's enduring attachment to Hess’s Department Store. In candid conversations with residents, historians, collectors, former shoppers and employees, The Patio hopes to shed light on Allentown, Pennsylvania’s multigenerational interest in one single place.
Does nostalgia this visceral unite a city, or hold it back? How has Max Hess Jr.’s marketing genius endured? What happened to his famous chandeliers? And how good was all that whipped cream pie, really? The Patio Podcast is a new collection of Hess’s memories, meant for the here and now!
The Patio Podcast's original music: Theme created and produced by Dave Meyers with Vocals by Sam Cummings
The Patio Podcast
Episode 5: Department Store Love Story, with Dean & Kristin Wehr
Dean and Kristin Wehr have a Hess’s memory straight out of a Hallmark Movie! Now married for 27-years, with three lovely daughters, Dean and Kristin recently moved back to the Lehigh Valley, and he submitted their story through the Community page of our website.
Dean worked at the downtown store from 1987-1992 during high school and college breaks. He worked in the spiral parking deck, customer pick-up, as a stock boy, then a Salesperson in Men's Sportswear. During Dean’s winter break in 1992, the first day of his last time working for Hess’s, a beautiful young lady walked in to work alongside him. That young lady was Kristin, a seasonal employee who was originally hired as a gift wrapper ahead of the busy holiday shopping season. Dean asked her to lunch and the rest is history.
So put on your Dockers and relax, because we’re going back to Christmas Eve 1992 to hear the beginning of their department store love story.
- Referenced in this Episode: 1994 Chandelier Sale from The Morning Call
The Patio's original music: Theme created and produced by Dave Meyers, with Vocals by Sam Cummings.
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