First They Came for the Boutiques on Pine...

Last week we noticed that chi-chi children's clothier Flora and Henry had closed their storefront on Pine to focus on online sales. Today we walked past an unilluminated Illuminations store in Pacific Place, which had a clearance sale followed by a "Two Hours Left! Everything Free!" smash 'n' grab over the weekend. Who will be next? Because there will be next. We'll be posting about last night's Paul Krugman talk at Town Hall later on, where he predicted a "pretty ugly several years" ahead of us, and not just for upscale retailers. [UPDATE: Aha! The Napa Auto Parts store at Westlake and Harrison has closed. That's about as far from upscale as you get. We were told auto repair would be a bright spot in this economy, since people aren't buying new cars. What gives?]