The economic downturn is hitting local stores especially hard. Saddest among those affected are the decades-old establishments suddenly facing bankruptcy or liquidation. Recent news affects regional chains with long histories:
- Colegate Food Center in Marietta, Ohio, is closing up shop after 52 years in business. "We're not closing because we want to be closing," said owner Glen Antill, who has been working at Colegate since 1955, two years before it turned into a supermarket.
- Next Friday is the last day for Crocodile Pie, the 20-year-old children's bookstore in the Chicago suburbs. The store was bought in a rescue maneuver last year but sometimes fails to generate as much as $100 in sales in a day. Chicago's 35-year-old Prairie Avenue Architecture Bookstore is also closing if it fails to find a buyer by September 1.
- In Grand Junction, Colorado, Appleseed Health Foods is closing after a 31-year run. The official reason is the owner's retirement, although the store tried to sell itself for two years without success.
