Buyouts lead to retail sameness

To the editor:

I would like to send apologies to all those who have suffered a buyout. I take my hat off to all the good companies that have suffered the fatal blow of corporate purchases. St. Louis has been hard hit by the corporate buyout. I recently found myself reading May Co.'s obituary by way of Federated's press releases. In these press releases they spell out the dissecting of the May legacy. The numbers of changes and closings are staggering. The hardest bit of news is that the flagship Marshall-Fields store in downtown Chicago is going through a name change. That news along with the closing of the Plaza Hotel in New York, strikes the deepest harm to my soul.

There are two iconic businesses that have met their deaths by corporate buyouts with stoic majesty. Imagine a world where every plane is American Airlines and every store is Macy's, and every iconic business that carries a legacy is turned in retail space. It pains me to imagine the palm court of the Plaza Hotel being turned into a J. Crew. It also pains me to see the Famous Barr name covered on the downtown headquarters.

Downtown St. Louis will lose 1,700 jobs in the next two years because of Federated's move of its regional headquarters. We need to value our local businesses and patronize them as much as possible. Without such autonomy, we will blend into a nation without destination.

DAN PRESSON, Cape Girardeau