That is a contagious afflication. Retail and even restaurants, have been closing left and right, in some areas.

The Gainesville outlet mall is almost a ghost town. Used to have to park way out in the lot, there.

Lots of car dealerships in DFW have closed, too. (No great loss there.)

Been curious as to how the San Marcos outlet mall is doing, with the drop in travel.

Some friends of ours retired in Marble Falls several years ago. I wonder how they are liking it now with the changes in retail.

We were through San Marcos a couple of years ago and stopped at that mall. There were lots of cars there, so must have been doing good business. We just got some nice outlet stores here in Allen a few years ago and they have already built more. Those stores are doing great business because across Highway 75, they're getting ready to build a huge mall area with JCPenney, Macy's, etc. like the new Firewheel Mall in Garland where it is outdoor walking to each store. I don't really care about the car dealerships, especially the used car lots. Those make areas look bad really fast. We have no car dealerships here in Allen. Not sure if our city would allow one to go in, but we do have two motorcycle dealerships - Harley and Honda.

That's a shame about Marble Falls, that was one of our old haunts, where DH proposed, lol

We bought our cars across the Freeway from San Marcos outlet mall and they were full when we went to buy and pick up and that was just a few months ago
They jusy opened a new one in Round Rock across from a new IKEA

Maybe boutiques are a thing of the past? Same thing happening here in FW. Our car dealerships look like they're doing OK tho. PJ

Yup. Big box stores, is all there are anymore. Carbon copies of everything in all the stores.

I have resorted to the web, but been somewhat disappointed there, as well.

Did find a nice shirt from an Jemez Pueblo artist at Red Earth. 'Bout to decide that the only place that had something different, is Arizona. Of course, for that something different, you gotta pay 2-3 times as much, so you can't buy many. (Lookin' forward to a visit to Sedona.)

I think I can buy jewelry cheaper than I can make it. (grin) Oh well, at least I will have some unique pieces, even if they aren't too "polished".

There are some nice porcelain pieces being made in China now, by a non-Chinese designer. You might run into the Franz label, on made in China goods. Those are good stuff. German designs, made at a price, in China. (That means not cheap, but less than you can make it for in Germany.)

For the French stuff, I still prefer old Limoges. Or old Hutschenruther, or Prussia, in German.

Oh......since Farberware bought Pfaltzgraff.....you can now get some of that ware in Farberware outlets, as they closed a lot of the Pfaltzgraff outlet stores.

Allen's outlets have gone downhill, for me. Lenox closed, Gold Toe closed, can't afford Waterford, nobody on the planet carries a men's shoe in a retail store in a narrow, and clothing in general, is really borrrriiiinnnggg!

If I go down to Austin, I will take the time to go to San Marcos, and see if they have anything. May go next month.

I sure hope you can find something in San Marcos. That outlet mall is the size of my home town! lol

Rick - you can always make a macaroni necklace cheaper than you can buy real jewelry anywhere! hee-hee!

There are a few stores at the Allen outlets that I really like. I don't shop for all that collectible stuff you're talking about - Franz china, Limoges, etc. They do have a Mikasa store now, but I don't even go in there. With three boys, I just don't need all that breakable stuff. There are quite a few women's clothing stores that have some nice things where I like to shop. We occasionally will buy our boys athletic shoes at the Reebok or Adidas outlets and if they don't have any there, we head on over to the Factory Brand Shoes store and we can usually find some there. I just know on weekends, there is usually a traffic back up off Highway 75 and Stacy Rd. with people trying to get to the outlet mall.

Ah.....boys. Well, I doubt I would be buying name brand athletic shoes for kids, if I had any. Too overpriced. Kids today, have way more "stuff" than I would ever agree to provide. Good thing I ain't got 'em.

Besides, I know how those shoes get made.

Problem with macaroni necklaces, is that someone is always trying to eat them. (smile)

Yeah....San Marcos is big, but when you deduct all the carbon copy stuff.....there isn't a lot of other selection, just the same. (sigh)

I'm glad you don't have kids Rick. That's a compliment! I wish more people were more self aware and knew they weren't parent material!
If Denisew's kids are in an environment anything like mine they've earned those shoes. For example, my oldest son earned some money working for the lady across the street the other day. My dad was in one of his dopey moods and asked my son if he gave me any of the money "for room and board" or some such thing. I knew what my son was going to say before he said it. Both my boys have chores and clean up after themselves. I insist on it. I don't nag. I ground and punish. I can't do this all by myself and be OK. My son gave a run down of his chores and shut my dad up.I happen to know my dad was the youngest and spoiled by his mom and sisters. HA! I'll bet Denisew's kids earned those shoes working too! It's so important to make sure kids don't get a free ride. It aint reality!!! PJ

Reality doesn't have much impact on kids, these days. At least not until they get out of school, and have to get a job.

The reality hits the parents, about the time the kids return home, sometime in their 30's or 40's, about the time the parents are looking to retire.

While life has certainly been real for me, I already knew what it was like to make my way in the world, without much in the way of parental help, so I chose not to put children in a similar environment.

Too many people, who struggle themselves, to make a living, foolishly put their own children into that very same life path. I consider that irresponsible, myself. The world has enough struggling people.

I've never been to Marble Falls. Our little town of Granbury sadly is growing by leaps & bounds.
The old stores downtown on the square are having a tough time staying open. I personally don't go there much because it's expensive or cheap junk. Not much in between. Even the consignment stores are letting china/taiwan junk in instead of selective crafts & gifts & etc. Several of our antique stores have closed. Some of the proprietors are pretty rude not a good way to do business.

RE kids today.... I have 3 of my grandkids here for a month and I do have to remind them of their chores and to clean up after themselves, but they do it. If they want something, they do extra work for it, even the 5 year old.
I have 6 more coming Fri, hope they're as good as these 3.
Their energy does wear me out!

Back when i was growing up in New Orleans there were many local stores on Canal Street ( the main Street ) and many local business throughout the city. They have since been replaced by Large Corporate Stores etc which prompted a local musician to write a song: " AIN'T D'ERE NO MORE "
it is a litany of all of those memorable places that are gone, now. There are so many that he now has a second version