Demise

During brunch with friends - after our county's quarterly finance advisory meeting, a few of us decided to extend our meeting and have brunch - I mentioned that I was planning to go to Mervyn's to look for some shoes and that I'd forgotten my 15% off coupon. A friend said 'you'd better use it quickly since they're closing at the end of the year'. I was stunned. I hadn't heard anything.

This evening, while wading through the never ending stack of stuff that arrived while we were out of town, I finally (FINALLY) got the the newspaper stack and saw the headline on the Saturday paper. They are closing. Their efforts to emerge from bankruptcy were thwarted by a bad economy. And bad management.

I was pretty sure the store was heading towards the point of no return - and have been sure of that for some time. I worked there in the 80's - Mervyn's put me through college, basically - I worked full time to pay for school. I worked in the store office and then moved up to the Bay Area for the opportunity of a lifetime - a Financial Management Training program. I interviewed and was one of 3 people they offered a job to - and the only one from the stores. I moved to Hayward, CA and worked at the corporate office. For 18 months, I worked in all the different departments of the Finance division. At the end of the 18 months, I was offered a job in the credit department and accepted. It's where I started my career path - staying in the credit industry for two decades.

Anyway, the stores have changed a lot in the 20 years since I first shopped there. And while we clothed the kids there through most of their early childhoods (before they started caring about what they wore and being picky about their attire and shoes, etc.), there are very few things they will wear that Mervyn's carries. I can sometimes get them underwear and socks there...but if they see a Mervyn's bag, they will be less inclined to wear it.

It's true for me, too. I only just recently - for the first time in YEARS - found some tops that I can wear to work. I'm in my late 40's - and the target market of Mervyn's lately is most definitely not middle aged, working women. I don't wear sparkles or glitter or tight fitting tops or pants. I wear nice looking, 'business casual' clothes - not sweats. Not jeans. Mervyn's doesn't carry a lot of those items anymore. They are competing with WalMart now. That's not what I want to buy.

I feel sad for the employees - I still have friends there and they are now out of work. And it's sad for the Bay Area, where Mervyn's got their start. They are a Bay Area tradition and now, they are a sad reminder that the economy is seriously in trouble. And a reminder that often, people buy companies who know absolutely nothing about what that company does. And when that happens, the inevitable will result: once you've sold off the real estate properties you own, there's not much left. And if you've done that, and are now paying rent for your stores when people aren't shopping much, you are in deep trouble.

I've shopped there for 30 years. It's going to be sad to see them close. Especially here - near their home base. What a sad story....for all of us.