All That's Left.

I had to break down and get my hair cut today, taking me to Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge.  I have been putting this off for several weeks: next door to the hairdresser was a favorite store which has just closed permanently, and I didn't want to have to face it.  There has been a store for woodworkers there for nearly four decades.  When I first came to Boston, it was called The Woodworkers' Store.  Then, some thirty years ago, it was bought by another company.  Nothing much changed: the same woodworking guys continued there, as helpful as ever, they sold machinery, some lumber.  There was a continuity.  
Back in November, the company announced that they were going to close the Cambridge store; it was just too small, and didn't fit their business model.  There was an outcry from the regulars. I wrote to the corporation expressing my sadness and disappointment, and asking why they didn’t just move the store to a bigger space in the city.  They politely told me to go pound sand...  This place was the only one of its kind right in the city.  Now, the nearest is a 30 minute drive out to the northern suburbs, otherwise it's mail order.  The store closed its doors finally at the end of December.  As I recorded this scene, all that is left are the posters in the windows.  I said my goodbyes to the staff back in November, bought some lumber on sale.  The For Lease sign is up already. End of an era.