Family clothing store ends long run

Once again the small independent business closes and with it a good living for a family and its employees. Where will the people in the story buy their clothes now? You can guess. Its name will not pass my lips. One more nail in the coffin of the middle class in the USA. The destruction of the middle class is the greatest danger facing our country today not a ragtag band of anarchists in a far off land.

Alan Jackson's poignant country song about "The Little Man" was never more appropriate than here...
I grew up in Elmhurst, and we shopped at Ollswang's Department Store, at the Southwestern corner of York Street and the C&NW tracks... another "Little Man" also long since gone...:'-(

Walmart has done it again.

I try my hardest to shop independant retailers. Yes, things can be a little bit more expensive. The way corporations are taking over is disgraceful. There are times when I have to go to a chain, such as Home Depot to find a plant because for heaven's sake, there are no more privately owned greenhouses around. And it's the same old plants. Nothing fancy. Everything is homogenized. My friend is lucky, she can grow her own food. I'm stuck going to Whole Foods.

Deachgo, Walmart has nothing to do with Fells' closing. People who shop at Fell's can afford it and don't buy their clothes at Walmart. I grew up in Highland Park and spent a lot of money at Fell's and Fell's shoes. I miss the way the town use to be. Local stores, not chains. I hate going to Highland Park now. It's crowded and full of crappy stores. It's time people stood up for the local shops and stopped going to malls.

Thank god we have Macys! BARF!!!

A Laz wrote:

Deachgo, Walmart has nothing to do with Fells' closing. People who shop at Fell's can afford it and don't buy their clothes at Walmart. I grew up in Highland Park and spent a lot of money at Fell's and Fell's shoes. I miss the way the town use to be. Local stores, not chains. I hate going to Highland Park now. It's crowded and full of crappy stores. It's time people stood up for the local shops and stopped going to malls.

totally agree. these people will probably go to nordstrom or some other high end retailer.

It is fine to wax nostalgic and slam big box stores, but as an insider, the store was run very poorly.

You can sit on a bunch of excuses, and the factors working against them are huge, or you can adapt and innovate.
There was no innovation at the store and one of the major players had absolutely no fashion sense or business acumen at all. This person was in a major leadership position for one reason; he was a Fell and he could do no other real job and the family is very loyal. The store flunked leadership 101 and is paying the price.
The North Shore is one place that a store like Fells, run well, could have continued to florish.
I know that I am sounding mean, but it is all unfortunately true.

I'll miss it. And so will the area as we are becoming more and more forced to shop malls instead of areas and chains instead of independents, unless we want to pay unrealistic prices.

wow.. fell's closong.. i remember getting bermuda bags there! it is a shame but it wa a great ride

Fell's was more than a local clothing store, it was a beloved institution, a rock-steady anchor of the community where generations came to shop, visit, network. We would come to Fell's all through grade, middle, high school, and college, knowing our favorite blue jeans would be there in the right size. I bought a "Perry Como" sweater, my first madras shirt, my first pair of white Levi's, Fell's always had what you wanted. We also knew we could always run into friends, neighbors, or our parents's friends. We would come in just for the pleasure of being warmly greeted by first name. "Bobby, how's your golf game?" This is truly a sad moment in North Shore history.

I had my first job at Fell's in high school. It was a nice store with nice people. I will miss it. My grampa bought me my first suit there. Unfortunately, Ernie has some good points. You can blame Wal-Mart for a lot, but not everything. I have had my own business for three years, and you can not sit still for a minute. Its hard and the Fells did their best.

It is very easy to critize others. In terms of not being a success my families business lasted almost 100 years. That alone is a milestone that few business ever acheive. We have outlasted many other large stores such As Bigsby and Kruthers, and have seen many others come and go.

Dan
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Ernie Puto wrote:

It is fine to wax nostalgic and slam big box stores, but as an insider, the store was run very poorly.
You can sit on a bunch of excuses, and the factors working against them are huge, or you can adapt and innovate.
There was no innovation at the store and one of the major players had absolutely no fashion sense or business acumen at all. This person was in a major leadership position for one reason; he was a Fell and he could do no other real job and the family is very loyal. The store flunked leadership 101 and is paying the price.
The North Shore is one place that a store like Fells, run well, could have continued to florish.
I know that I am sounding mean, but it is all unfortunately true.

Why is this news?

It apparently is an institution but only to residents of some tony north shore communities.

It's not like the current owners are going to be out on the street.

Family proprietorships go out of business every day--I fail to see just what is so special about this one.

tyler durden: it's important because in some parts of the country there is really a strong fabric. You don't see it as much anymore. From what I've seen, when a new housing development goes up, the initial owners bond very well because "they're all in it together" - dealing with the issues that they ALL experience. You don't see it today because people are so different, have such different jobs, lifestyles, etc.
Another example is that I moved couple from Tucson to Chicago a few years ago and they couldn't get over that many of the yards didn't have fences between them. In many areas, people just want to keep everyone else out and they don't talk to their neighbors.
As for people whining about Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart had nothing to do with changes along the North Shore. Even in the small towns, Wal-Mart is blamed when, actually, the big changes started with the Sears catalog and with supermarkets.(Should we ban supermarkets like some people want to stop Wal-Mart?) Attacking Wal-Mart is used as a way to attack capitalism. It's not capitalism that ruins our neighborhoods, but a move away from traditions and standards that allowed things to flourish.

Al from Arlington Heights wrote:

tyler durden: it's important because in some parts of the country there is really a strong fabric. You don't see it as much anymore.

Al;

I don't doubt what you say.

However, the question remains:

So, what?

Sorry these old time stores are going by the wayside to the coldness of shopping in a mall. The only redeeming factor is it wasn't sold to buyers from outside the U.S.A. Thank you to the Fell family for a job well done for the community! Good luck on future endeavors.

As one who was raised in Highland Park that doesn't get back nearly enough, I am saddened to hear about Fells closing. Back in the 70's and 80's the store was an HP icon. It was a special treat to be taken there to get a suit.

Gene wrote:

Alan Jackson's poignant country song about "The Little Man" was never more appropriate than here...
I grew up in Elmhurst, and we shopped at Ollswang's Department Store, at the Southwestern corner of York Street and the C&NW tracks... another "Little Man" also long since gone...:'-(

Ollswang's Department Store, I knew it well. My parents owned the store, which was established by my grandfather in the late 20's. My brother's and my childhood revolved around what happened in the store, ours to inherit had it not gone under in 1963. Love to hear what else you remember. nscott29@aol.com

Why are the post from Oct 2007 on here is my question ?