The end of a long tradition

Just heard on the radio this morning that Strawbridges has been bought up by some department store conglomerate (with the semi-Orwellian name of Federated Department Stores) and will be phased out in the near future; a few individual stores will be sold to competing chain Boscov's. The story said that most of the stores in this area (including the downtown store) will be replaced by Macys, and in malls where there's already a Macys, the Strawbridges will just be shuttered. Wow!! (Other regional chains will also be eliminated, including Famous-Barr, which I knew from my St. Louis days, and Filenes, of Boston fame.) The Inquirer story is here. I guess I also didn't register the import of Above Average Jane's post on the subject back in January...