Dammit, dammit, dammit. My favorite clothing store—I used to get a suit and a few skirts every year from them. Great stuff, really good fabric and workmanship, and the kind of designs you couldn’t get anywhere else. Suits designed from 1930s and '40s patterns, skirts from the 1910s.
The company went into bankruptcy last year and was bought by Eddie Bauer. The wonderful catalog was discontinued, but there was still a huge Peterman store right across the street from my office—just this month I bought a nice black wool skirt, a (lined!) gray corduory traveling skirt and a pair of red silk lounging pyjamas.
Well, today, I breezed on by and saw the store was BOARDED UP AND CLOSED. Dammit. I need a pill.
I always liked their catalog, too.
Never bought much, though, because of the prices (high).
Always thought “Someday…”
Guess I snoozed and lost.
(IIRC it wasn’t lack of catalog sales that forced them into bankruptcy, it was over expansion into the “bricks and mortar” retail market. A classic tale.)
(IIRC it wasn’t lack of catalog sales that forced them into bankruptcy, it was over expansion into the “bricks and mortar” retail market. A classic tale.)
—You’re absolutely right. Also, they were so successful that they over-expanded into things like furniture and over-priced evening clothes that NO ONE is going to buy from a catalog. They should have stuck with their good sportswear and suits.
Oh God, I always loved their catalog. I envy the english-majors who got those jobs. What fun! A pen and colored pencil drawing of a 125 buck straw hat, and:
“Bombay sunset, waiting on the netted-off back veranda of the Prussian Consulate in the humid shade of the baobab trees. The native waiter hums a Cab Calloway tune as he politely offers a glass of aquavit-- chilled glass, no ice. The prop planes fly overhead, as they always do. The sunset. The hat. . .”
This is the honest to goodness truth. I’ve purchased J. Peterman’s PC.
As you may know, J. Peterman was headquartered here in Kentucky – in Lexington to be exact. And, Yes, Virginia, there is a J. Peterman. When the company went bankrupt, they liquidated and the computers were sold. My friend bought one. It turned out to be J’s own Sony. Apparently, there were some personal (but fairly innocuous) files on the hard drive which confirmed this.
I’ve now bought this computer from my friend. Although I have yet to pick it up since it’s intended to be a Christmas present for my daughters, it is mine.
