For example along Main Street in downtown Hartford was G. Fox & Company (now a community college, office space and retail space) which was one of the largest department stores in the nation and the largest one in New England. Next to that was Brown Thompson’s (now a hotel), next to that was the Sage Allen Department Store (now townhouses) and across back across from G Fox was Korvettes (condos coming soon). Everyone would travel to downtown Hartford for all their shopping needs. These department stores were the life and blood of Hartford for many years and created thousands of memories for people.

Now Hartford has shifted away from retail to the business sector (insurance industry) and area malls and lifestyle centers have taken the shopping needs

Quite frankly, the American middle class, the backbone of the department store industry’s market, still needs the guidance of the old stores. Without the elevation of taste that these stores offfered, we’ve drifted into a logo-laden sloppiness that’s only partially mitigated by the advent of ‘lifestyle merchandising,’ which in itself has created another sense of blandness. I mean, how many contrived faux-Mayberry strip malls with Williams-Sonoma, Talbots and Chico’s does America have to bear before this, too, becomes uninviting?

We need more merchant princes. People who are guided by something other than a balance sheet and a hefty severence package after they cost-cut the creativity and individuality out of every successful store. If the industry can find people who care about creating a real sense of community and public service again, this could be the lead to the revival of the types of stores people are passionate about like they used to be.