Looking out my Backdoor: Everything changes

Remember when the Big Store in Havre was Buttrey’s? What a magnificent place to shop, in the Atrium, with an escalator. That was truly “down town”. And Havre boasted many, many smaller stores, enough to satisfy any shopper’s needs.

Then the Mall on the hill was built; things changed. Stores closed in the center of town. The Mall struggled, filled, struggled. Another big store came to town. An independent grocery left.

My heart lurched when I read that K-Mart, Sears and Herberger’s are due to close. To me, these seemed to be community keystone stores. Things change.

Havre, the community and the...