2 Faces 4 The Great Recession

Interior of Klein & Son, 1925. 

     Two storied businesses have closed in Montgomery, both victims of the economic earthquake that hit in 2008.
     Klein & Sons Jewelry fled East, joining others who left Downtown for more a profitable location. But The Montgomery Advertiser now reports on the closing of that EastChase store.

The Klein & Son Clock is to the top right of the yellow bus.

     A few years ago Klein & Son replaced a street clock that was originally outside their store on Dexter Avenue. They had taken it with them to EastChase, but later decided it belonged downtown. At the time I commented that it would have been nice if they had restored their retail store downtown instead of the clock.

     And CBS 8 reported the closing of D.W. Moody Hardware, a store that had been on South Decatur Street for six decades. They had closed their other location on McGee Road in late 2010. Not long before that closing, the website www.MidtownMontgomeryLiving.com had published a story about the company, and what made the stores different from the "Big Box" hardware warehouses.
     
     On one end of the spectrum, the closing of a place where people spent a fortune on the finer things of life...their wedding rings...wedding gifts...fine watches a gift for a wife or husband. 
     On the other end, a neighborhood store where people would buy a replacement hinge for one of the century old homes in the Garden District and Cloverdale. Or a gallon of paint...with instructions from the staff.
     Both closings are sad, reminders of how much our place has changed in the past four years, victims of the almost economic collapse.