Everything that goes up, must come down

Man, are things ever down.

A while back, you may recall I posted an entry extolling the merits of the dolla theatre. I pointed to it as an economic indicator, as the trashy theatre in town, the one that people get to make fun of in the good times, was packed during the lean times. I mean, movies that had been out for months were being patronized.

Well, a few weeks ago, that Rockford institution shut down with barely any notice. Like, I was reading the paper during my lunch break and the hed of the story said, "theatres to close (cuz, guess what - Colonial Art's gone too)" and later in the story, it was mentioned that the theatre closed the day off publishing. Sad, I wish I had a last chance to visit. Not that I frequented the place or anything, but it holds a special place in my heart.

As I said, the Colonial Village Art theatre closed too, leaving behind just the two Showplaces, which are far cleaner, but as I said, are less nostalgic for me. Granted, once the megachurch purchased Colonial Village Mall, the theatre lost all its indie cred, but I'll always remember watching the Royal Tenenbaums there and taking in those R-raters with Sara way before I turned 17.

Restaraunts and other businesses in town are shutting down left and right. Cannoli Cafe, which I had always meant to stop at, is now gone. Apparently, Tumbleweeds is closing too. They have the worst food but I'll miss in the way that it reminds me of Arianne, since she worked there. I don't even know what else is going. Really, I think the only places we can be sure of are the fast food place. Mickey D's, T-Bell, and the Roo are never going to go out of business, that I know fo sho.

Not just the mom and pop stores are affected either. I wasn't surprised when Lula's Boutique downtown announced it was closing. It's a cute store, but it's just not going to survive and in a non-stylish city like Rocktown. But when giants like Circuit City and Linens n Things crumble, that's a sign that things are rouuuugh. Ya, I always wondered about CC, just because Best Buy has so many more options, but I thought Bed, Bath, and Beyond could survive alongside Linens n Things.