When I heard the news of Duckwall closing, it was as if I was kicked in the stomach.

We knew it was coming — eventually — but not now. We’re not ready.

Monday evening, I was ready to launch a campaign to save Duckwall. I was going to gather a thousand signatures on a petition and drive it to Abilene to give to the board of directors of ALCO stores. That would change their minds, I thought. Unfortunately, since the company is closing all Duckwall stores, there probably isn’t much we can do to sway the powers that be.

When a store closes in our community, we take it personally. There wasn’t anything store manager Janie Meierhoff and her employees did wrong. In fact, Janie and her crew did a lot of things right.

Duckwall employees were great ambassadors for our community. If the store didn’t have an item, they would send the customer to a store in town that did. More than once, Janie opened her own purse so Duckwall could participate in sales events and promotions.

I think about the number of trips I make to Duckwall each week. How many times have we run down to the store to pick up a baby gift or a printer cartridge? My better half and I shop there nearly every Saturday. It is going to be tough to break that habit.

This isn’t the demise of Marion’s downtown. Marion hasn’t done anything wrong. This could be the beginning of something great.

It’s going to be difficult to watch the store be cleaned out by bargain-hunters — many who never stepped foot in the store until now.

We need to take a lesson from this experience the next time we think about saving a dollar on a tube of toothpaste by driving 30 miles one way to the big department store. The only way we can prevent this from happening to another business is by doing everything we can to support our local businesses. Most of us do our share but some still don’t get it.

If we don’t support what we have today, it may be gone tomorrow. Some people think if the store has a “mart” at the end of its name, it is automatically less expensive than stores like Duckwall. Not true.

So, thank you, Janie and company. We appreciated your efforts and we’ll miss you and Duckwall.

— susan berg