Joseph Crowley previously worked as a credit manager for the Detroit wholesale firm of Burnham Stoepel and had great experience reorganizing struggling ventures.

The opportunity to assume control of the retailer came when an executive of the Central Savings Bank of Detroit, one of the store's creditors, approached Joseph Crowley.

Immediately after the incorporation of Crowley, Milner and Co., its owners envisioned the store as one of the highest quality retail operations in Detroit.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Detroit was regarded as one of the most affluent cities in the United States, and Crowley, Milner & Co. helped to uphold this image.

Joseph Crowley succeeded his friend and partner as president, but the loss of full control by the tight-knit group affected the company for many years.

[4] In 1972, the firm purchased the Demery's chain which consisted of a store at Woodward and Milwaukee in the New Center neighborhood, and in the suburbs of Birmingham and Farmington Hills.

Offices moved to a building on Lafayette Boulevard at the western edge of the downtown business district and remained there until the company's liquidation.

This was an attempt to lure customers back from newcomers to the Detroit market such as MainStreet, a unit of Federated Department Stores which later became Kohl's, and Mervyns.

This move alienated many traditional customers as Crowley's was seen as a more mid-market store with locations in Detroit's older suburbs.

The program kept track of each customer's monthly purchase amounts, and then the stores issued gift certificates based on each person's sales figures.

In March 1991, Crowley, Milner & Co. announced it was seeking a merger partner that was large enough to help the company expand.

[8] In 1993, the company obtained a revolving line of credit from Schottenstein Stores, which provided Crowley, Milner & Co. with the ability to resume payments to its creditors.

It then implemented other changes which included a new computer software system to manage personnel, closing the Westland store and eliminating the Frequent Buyers program.

Management continued to rebuild financial stability by obtaining a new working capital loan from Congress Financial Corporation to replace the agreement with Schottenstein Stores Corp. Management also announced a two-for-one common stock split, introduced its own credit card and the new slogan "Detroit's Own Department Store".

On November 21 of that year, Crowley's purchased the Steinbach chain with 24 stores in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Vermont from the Schottenstein family.

[9][10] In 1996, Crowley's proposed a new store for Novi's Main Street development but this fell through by 1999, as did a 1998 takeover of local women's fashion chain Winkelman's.

The expansion was 7,500 sq ft (700 m2) in space previously occupied by Winkelman's and a bookstore which became children's and home stores separate from men's and women's clothing.

Crowley's lost the lease on the Birmingham store it acquired as part of the Demrey's merger when the landlord announced it would redevelop the site into a retail-entertainment complex.

[14] Another mall-based location at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights was sold to Target Corporation to create an expansion to the Hudson's store.