The sad end of Brooks Brothers

In the midst of a pandemic that may well lead to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, one risks accusations of heartlessness by lamenting the fate of a men's clothier. Still, I think it would be churlish to say nothing about what has happened to Brooks Brothers, which recently filed for bankruptcy.

Only two years ago, America's oldest clothing company was celebrating its glorious two centuries of existence. Here was a company that had outfitted some 40 American presidents, one that still made things to a high standard of quality while managing to pay thousands of Americans honorable wages. This was true not only of its manufacturing concerns but of its stores, in which bygone notions of decency and professionalism in what we now call "customer service" were preserved as if in amber.