Where I live now - a small city in Alabama - if I look at the names of the department stores downtown (long gone, of course) all the names are Jewish. They indeed ran all the southern dry goods stores and many were beloved by the citizenry. Where did they all go? It’s impossible to find a decent bagel down here!
It sorrows me that those dry goods stores have disappeared. I honestly think I got better value and prices than I do at Walmart these days. Yes, the biggest burden we older FReepers face is remembering "the good old days".