Wilson's, Greenfield, Mass.: One of the Last Family-Run Department Stores in the U.S.
Walking into Wilson's Department Store in Greenfield, Mass., reminds us of a simpler, more community-oriented time where we knew businesses owners by name and when the chance to shop and buy local was the only way we knew how to shop. One of the last family-owned and operated department stores in the United States, Wilson's features 20 departments on four floors, which can be accessed by long-narrow staircases and an older-style elevator. Completely different than a 21st superstore, the scene looks like a retail version of a townie coffee shop with customers and staff conversing about life in Greenfield and families, little old ladies with blue hair, college students, and all walks of life, for that matter, finding everything they need under one ancient roof. You see, Wilson's has been in business since the 1880s and, to so many, is truly a national treasure! It's hard to believe a department store like this still exists in an often impersonal, generic day of age...