We used to send dozens of their fruit baskets to relatives and friends every Christmas.

Wasserstein Haunts Harry & David in Doomed Buyout - Bloomberg

I am afraid LLBean is next. We used to buy a lot of stuff from LLBean but the only thing we buy from them now are backpacks for the the kids. I actually wrote them a letter saying why we stopped buying clothes from them. Basically I said two things..

1. Although the quality of their stuff is still good, the styles have become pretty staid.
2. The quality and appeal of their competitors has increased dramatically. Effectively closing the gap.

As I write this, I cannot help but think of Mercedes Benz. The older cars were awesome. They were awesome because they were engineered well and the competition was not. Now the competition has closed the gap considerably making consumers think twice about buying a Benz.

Sad.

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo