From: The News-Sentinel
Mike Dooley at mdooley@news-sentinel.com.
Well, almost. You can get a pair of pantyhose at a convenience store.
There was a time — and it wasn't all that long ago — when you could buy everything from a ham hock to a head of hair in downtown Fort Wayne.
Times have changed.
Fort Wayne's downtown has undergone a shift in the last several years from a retail center to one that focuses almost entirely on professional services and entertainment, similar to what has taken place in other communities. Long gone are the legendary stores like Wolf & Dessauer and the Grand Leader. Memories are all that's left of the Bon Ton, a bakery, and Tapp's Market.
In their places are an assortment of banks and offices occupying downtown's low-and-high-rises. Only 10 years ago, you could still go downtown to buy a car, try on a new pair of shoes, have a doll repaired or get a haircut. Today, if you're doing business there, it's more likely you're preparing a will, opening a bank account or having your taxes done.
The changes downtown have been documented and are a topic for not only newspaper stories, but academics who claim to have discovered the reason behind the changes. The fact that downtown isn't what it once was is well known. But take that reality to its more elemental level: With the shift in purpose, does downtown Fort Wayne still offer some of the goods it once did? Can you still buy a tie downtown? How about a pair of pantyhose?
The answer to both questions is yes, provided you're willing to look long and hard.
Given the absence of stores downtown specializing in women's and men's clothing, the intrepid shopper of 2004 must take his or her search in a different direction. No longer does a woman go to a woman's store to replace the hosiery that suddenly decided an inch-wide snag is a wonderful fashion statement.
Downtown, she goes to one of two convenience stores where she also can fill the car with gas and pick up a loaf of bread before heading back to the office with a fully intact pair of hose.
Men will find no such luck with ties, however. If the office clown decides this is the perfect day to take a pair of scissors and cut your tie in half, you won't find a suitable replacement at a convenience store. You have to head for one of two downtown museums to fix the problem.
Museums? That's right. Gift shops at the Lincoln Museum, 200 E. Berry St., and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, 311 E. Main St., sell ties.
At the art museum, you'll find creations bearing names such as famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. At the Lincoln, its wide selection of ties sporting political and historical themes, along with those bearing reminders of the museum's namesake, make it the downtown hub of the men's tie universe.
Be warned, however: Representatives of both shops said their ties are pricier than what you'll find at Wal-Mart.
The reasons behind the shift in downtown are many, including the obvious — customers go where the stores are, and when the stores discovered customers wanted them closer to their homes, they moved. Other reasons are less obvious — when men stopped wearing hats, stores specializing in men's hats went out of business.
The decisions to close or move largely spelled the end of retailing downtown, but while that's been bad news for prospective tie and pantyhose buyers, it hasn't been a total calamity.
No longer, for example, are corsets on sale in downtown Fort Wayne. Meaning everyone can breathe easier.
This column is the commentary of the writer and does not reflect the views or opinions of The News-Sentinel
Posted by Admin at August 30, 2004 03:11 PM