The afternoon walk along the Edina Spine has two new wrinkles: now Birch leaves a log every visit, which takes the pressure off the evening walk, and we go to check on the doomed Daytons home store. It was the most modern building in town, once.

Earth-sheltered, because the end of bounteous energy meant we'd have to huddle underground for warmth. And as long as you're there, why not buy a coffee table? And say hello to the Home Furnishings Fairy.

I restored color to the original opening day ad.

The meaningless sculpture was there until the end.

Typical Redditism:

"Care and thoughtfulness":

"Everything around it is a prison"

If ever I go to prison, let it be one with a second-floor balcony that looks out on the trees and the water and the walking path.

I'm not crazy about the complex that will rise on the site, but it will have a promenade that connects with the Edina Spine and leads to the stream and the lake.

Makes a fella proud to be an Edinaite!

Which I am now, I suppose.

Fine day, good mood. That's a Tuesday for you. Filed, wrote, filed again, radio interview, gym, nap, woke to rain. The reports said it would last the rest of the day. Fine by me; felt cozy up here with the commanding view of rush-hour traffic. But it ended after supper, and Birch and I headed out for the walk in the cool air. One of those days where you change clothes five times because it's warm and then it's not and then it is. Perfectly togged when we began the walk; sweating and uncomfy by the time we got back.

Tremendous sunset:

You expect to see a Pegasus bursting from the clouds to the sounds of Beethoven's Sixth.

I would be in a much worse place if I was in, well, a much worse place, like The Fountains at Brookhaven or The Brooks at Fountain View or The View at Havenbrook, a 1997 apartment complex with a small gym and a "party" room used by no one, with nothing but views of parking lots. I lost a home but gained the sky.

It's 1971.

Front page news: the newspaper’s been sold.

The new “General Manager” of the paper was 28 years old.

Up With People! I saw them in Fargo in Junior High. We thought they were awesome. They're still around.

A thriving company!

Sporadically.

A standard American retail story, alas.

Weiner's was founded by Isidore Weiner in 1926. Weiner was an immigrant from Vilnius, Lithuania. The first shop was located on what was then the outskirts of Houston. In 1932 the firm filed for bankruptcy during the Great Depression.

Greg Hassell and Deidra M. Lemons of the Houston Chronicle said that Weiner's achieved "its zenith" in 1994, when it had 158 locations.In 1995 the company received a lot of debt and began cutting locations. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 1995, ended 27 locations, and unloaded $40 million worth of old merchandise that was in its warehouses.

In August 1997 the company emerged from bankruptcy protection.. The store chain itself had a hard time competing against big box retailers that were rapidly expanding into the area like Walmart and Target, and also with the advent of online shopping and the rise of household Internet use, Weiner's also suffered as they were slow to adopt online retail.

In October 2000 the company declared bankruptcy again.

In 2001 Weiner's announced that it was changing its name to Weiner's Plus.

On Tuesday June 26, 2001, after 75 years of operation, the company announced that it was liquidating; all 97 of its stores would close, and all 2,900 employees would be laid off. Tropical Storm Allison, which had flooded seven of its stores, was the final factor that caused the liquidation, since the company did not have flood insurance.

Ouch.

Breaking news

		Lloyd! Haven't thought about him for a long while.

There’s a headline that doesn’t tell you much of anything

		If you can believe it, they’re running this because of the local angle. The guy's parents live in town.

Why?

		Because children were catching on fire. A lot of children.

		A column of military news. People were interested in the comings and goings, and accomplishments.

He lived here.

There’s really not much in this one, so we’ll give you some ads . . . from Weiner’s.

Bring your BankAmericard!

What happened to the BankAmericard? Turned into something called Visa.

When you get a card from Bank of America today . . . it's a Mastercard.

"Gorgeous" seems a matter of opinion, but very 1971. What the hell that shell-thing on the right is supposed to be, and why it is floating in the air, I cannot say.

That will do. Outtakes at the Substack today, for paying customers, and some Sears Office Furniture in the Sixties update section. Thank you for your indulgence, and I'll see you tomorrow with some nifty stuff. And Friday? Niftyness galore.