Posted 5:56 PM by Gene

On my usual sojourn down South Street I discovered dismaying news: The Pearl Art store was closing -- it has closed by now -- and I don't know where I'll get my fix of its pungent smell, its arty smell, its paint-and-canvas-and-wood smell, the sort of smell that conjured hardware stores. It appears alas the whole Pearl chain is closing, leaving a Web site behind. Indeed the place was a True Value or Ace shop and it will be a mighty thing to fill -- three stories. Walgreen's occupies one floor of the three-level Tower Records and gave up on a pharmacy. Next door to it three shops including a Foot Locker and a former Mickey D have been gone for a while. There are a few too many other signs of distress on the street. A high-end caterer shut down its grocery end; likewise gone are several jewelry stores, an electronics retailer, a video-game shop, and three of four Asian-owned handbag stores caught in a counterfeit-goods sting. Unlike at the beginning of this de -- ECONOMY the local merchants aren't filling the vacant storefronts with art anymore. The street is still bustling and it will come back because you can't buy ambiance on the Web, or strange cheap clothes and tattoos, but ambiance may not count for much when there's so much you can.