...or less.

I think it was a furniture store.

Now, it doesn't appear to be much of anything.

On Thursdays, the Great Lileks has been using Google Maps pictures to document downtowns from small municipalities around the nation. Some are bustling and thriving; some are falling to pieces. The Hudson Valley town that hosts this former store seems to be doing just fine. But it just shows, even when others are able to carry on, some fall behind.

I'd like to think whoever owned the place just decided to retire, sell off the inventory, and take the big pile of money he or she saved to a Caribbean island to enjoy the golden years. I figure, though, that every closed store means a broken heart somewhere. And a large number of big-box stores opened within a couple of miles of this place within the last 15 years, which would have been a problem. Some larger furniture dealers also exist just a few exits up the highway; unlike eggs or socks, people don't mind driving half an hour to save money on furniture, or find the selection they want.

Once, when I was a kid in the city, I got a day job helping to clear inventory out of a furniture store that had gone belly-up. Some of the stuff was ghastly, but it was the very early 80's, and so a bunch of late-70's crap was not the reason for the store's demise. Everyone had crap like that. No, sometimes everyone picks up tents and the caravan moves on, and there you are. Or the neighborhood goes to hell, which was a factor in that store in the city.

It is sad when a shop fails despite everything the owners can do. Of course, when More opened, it may have driven a little local store called Just Enough out of business, for all I know, so maybe it was karma. I'd love to hear from anyone attached to this. I'm sure there's an interesting story in this store. More to be told, as it were.