so long, Mervyns

In 2007, all Washington and Oregon locations of Mervyns are slated to close.

I blame myself. In the good old days, I never shopped at K-Mart or Walmart or even JC Penney. I was a Mervyns man. Mervyns had an outstanding clearance section--up to eighty percent off shirts, slacks, sweaters. Glorious, never paying full price for anything. Glorious for me, but not for profit-starved Mervyns.

But it got worse. In recent years, I discovered Ross and Marshalls, entire stores full of clearance racks, making a trip to Mervyns entirely unnecessary.

I'm sorry, Mervyns, that I couldn't remain loyal. But you can be sure I'll be there for the last orgy of discounts, digging through marked down socks and dress shirts, clambering over piles of sheet sets and comforters, stumbling dazed through aisles of pots and pans, weeping all the while.