Kaufmann’s

Dear Kaufmann’s,
I miss you. Please come back. We all miss you. You were OUR store, one that every good Pittsburgher identified with.
I can’t speak for my fellow denizens of the ‘Burgh. I don’t hate your replacement, Macy’s. There’s nothing wrong with it. But somehow, it’s just not the same. The clothing departments are still there. The restaurant is still there. Macy’s is trying its best to fit in. But I don’t know… www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh­trib/search/s_469 362.html
Kaufmann’s is where I first bought adult clothes and cosmetics for myself. It’s where I went shopping by myself for the first time. It’s where Mom used to drag my brother kicking-​and-​screaming to buy clothes. Ah, Brother Dear, you were always the «Fine, let’s buy it and get out of here sort». But a cheeseburger and ice cream at the Tic Toc restaurant afterwards was enough to pacify you (and stop us from fighting)!
And the basement! They closed that when I was about 17! But I could always find some off-​season closeout down there cheap! My first boyfriend had a real eye for value. He could find anything, and I mean anything good down there!
So, Kaufmann’s is gone now, much like Chicago’s Marshall Fields, and Macy’s is the new kid in town. I have to accept that what is, is. It’s like my favorite TV character Red Green said, «You can’t start a new chapter without finishing the old one!». But I take consolation in that somethings do not change. «Meet me under the clock!». If you’re a true Pittsburgher, you’ll know what I mean!