FOLEYS & FIELDS FOREVER

Not the fanciest, but for good basic home wares, Foleys is selling a ton of stuff for next to nothing. I bought my son a canister set ($9.99, white ceramic), a colander for $8.99, and a quality stir-fry pan for less than $20. The sales clerk told me the secret: Foleys has to unload all of its merchandise to make way for Macy’s. Ugh, that just reminds me that Foleys is soon to become Macy’s, as is Marshall Fields in Chicago. Not for me. I refuse to call Foleys by that name, and as for Marshall Fields, I will flash my dark green charge card (it was my very first credit card) at that store till the day I die. In fact, I am sure that when the grim reaper grabs me it will be when I am in the process of handing over one of my many, many pieces of plastic. (Do you think my estate will have to pay the bill? Such morbid thoughts!) Macy’s, if you want my money, you will take my Foleys and Fields cards. Shame on you for wiping out the names of such great department stores.

I grew up on the outskirts of Chicago and shopped at two department stores that were locally owned: Sensenbaugh’s and Joseph T. Spiess & Company. Joan Spiess, grand-daughter of the founder, was in one of my elementary school classes. (Her dad ran the store with a pencil behind his ear.) Both stores had old-fashioned candy counters — hey, I am not that old — and we’d walk over there after school to buy candy, try on bras, and check out the latest fashions. Yes, we walked. I thought of those days many times when my children wanted to be driven to the mall in middle school. Thought of it the other day amid the crowds at the beautiful new NorthPark addition. How times have changed, and really, I’m not that old.