As I walked through the city that afternoon, I saw example after example of confused customers walking up to the closed stores and reading signs that said, "We are closed today to protest for our freedom" or, "We are closing our business today from 12 PM to 8 PM in support of our families, friends, and loved ones who are stranded at US airports and overseas".
GM has said it will save $2.5 billion from the closings, while Chrysler warned it could be forced to liquidate if the closed stores were reopened.
Over the weekend, the last of the closed stores — except for the store in Irvington, which will be closed at least through February — reopened.
Kmart will take a pretax charge of $300 million for the closings, plus pretax charges of $75 million to write off the inventory in the closed stores.
There was $350,000 in lost sales from the closed stores.
Alpine Confections said it chose the best-performing of the closed stores to reopen.
And, though his own business has picked up, Mr. Cheese said nothing had replaced the closed stores.
About 1,500 jobs were eliminated, 1,200 at the closed stores and warehouses and 300 by reducing the number of supervisors and consolidating store-support centers.
Asked whether the closed stores would remain at the seaport, he said, "We're in discussions with our tenants about what is in their best interests.
The ghosts of Butte are some years away from taking over the town, but a good many local citizens view the boarded-up houses, the closed stores, and the decreased population as ominous signs.
