The end of the corridor brings a trio of local businesses: Bergman Luggage (which used to be a somewhat larger local chain, but is now down to just two locations with the other one being in Bellevue), Ben Bridge Jewelers (which is now a medium-size chain owned by Berkshire Hathaway, but is still based in Seattle), and Nordstrom. I quite like the interestingly-shaped skylight at the intersection of the corridor gables!
Huh, I had no idea Ben Bridge is from Seattle. We have them in Houston, or at least we did. I don't pay much attention to jewelry stores unless they are also a catalog showroom...which none of them are these days! I do know that Ben Bridge used to advertise here a lot back in the day and they had a really terrible jingle. It was so bad that it was memorable, but I don't know if that helped sales any!
ReplyDeleteI miss luggage stores at malls! We had a local chain here called Bag'n Baggage that was at a lot of our better malls, including my local one, but it looks like the last one went out of business around 2020. Maybe Katy Mills still has a Samsonite Outlet, but then I'd have to shop at a Mills mall and I just don't want to do that! I guess it is better than an outdoor outlet mall, but that isn't saying much.
Yep, they're a big deal around here, and until I looked them up for this post, I didn't realize how big they had gotten! I don't remember them having a jingle -- maybe they didn't need to advertise as much around here since they're already well-known.
DeleteLuggage stores seem to be all but extinct these days... except at airports, for some reason (who buys luggage airside at an airport??). I can understand why -- luggage is something that lasts a long time and that doesn't change that much over time (apart from the 2 versus 4 wheel thing), so even the type of people who always have to have the fancy new thing don't have much reason to buy luggage more than once every several years. Heck, my first suitcase lasted me at least 15 years, and it was just a cheap no-name one from Gottschalks!
I found an old post by Mike from early 2023 saying that Ben Bridge was expected to close their last Houston location(s) around that time. I guess their terrible jingle didn't help them out much here! Link: https://houstonhistoricretail.com/2023/01/09/retail-news-ben-bridge-jewelers-rumored-to-leave-houston/
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