A new feature: the FRIDAY SURPRISE

Friday, August 25, 2006 Filed in: Current Events, Completely irrelevant, Friday Surprise!
Here in Oregon, we once had a thriving retail enterprise known as Meier & Frank. M&F, as their logo appeared, was a department store in the grand old tradition - think of what a Nordstrom department store would look like, and you have Meier & Frank. The store expanded to several stores here in the northwest, but never got really "big"; many years ago the family sold out to a corporation, and the circus began.

Since then, the small but elegant little chain has had several owners (and bad management teams), culminating in their recent acquisition by Macy's.

We should have sensed that this behemoth from the east was up to no good, in the way that RiteAid (another large eastern corporation that purchased another homegrown chain, Payless Drugs) proved to be. Sure enough, Macy's announced that they would eliminate the venerable Meier & Frank name and paste their own (far less stylish) moniker on their buildings.

It is the end of a fond era.

But why "Friday Surprise"? Back in the good old pre-corporate-takeover days, Meier & Frank had a tradition of having some special sale or event every Friday. It was never advertised, but everyone knew about the Friday Surprise. So, to keep the memory of an Oregon institution alive, I'm inaugurating my own version of the Friday Surprise. This is where I hope to share all of the wilder (non-gun related) stories that I come across, pictures, events, personal stuff, and so on.

I hope you enjoy it!

-=[ Grant ]=-
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