What the people of Keswick want to know. Where’d it go?

In the beginning, Keswick (finally) got a Bargain Shop (TBS!).  Then Wal-Mart opened.  Bad news for TBS!, so they closed their doors (and are currently undergoing a court-supervised corporate restructuring, complete with Notice to Creditor orders and the like (ruh roh – See the Court documents here).

Then time and money was spent renovating, painting and beautifying the old store.  This was not without mystery and intrigue, let me tell you.  And finally, the much-anticipated opening day! What was this painted neon green storefront?  Keswick need not wait too long to find out.  MyMark was here.  And it was clean.  And it still carried the same over-priced stuff that TBS! did, but added some new over-priced stuff (the wall of overpriced bulk candy was an admiral attempt to get those “Mommy, I’ll stop screaming if you buy me a cup of candy” dollars).  But unlike the former TBS! store, it was clean and bright inside.  And never busy.  There was never a lineup at the cash.  The hours of operation matched those of the neighbouring Dollarama, so as to cater to those among us who commute to work and need to shop after 5 or 6 o’clock in the evening.

And then the store hours got shorter.  They now closed earlier than any other store in Glenwoods Plaza.  There were fewer and fewer people shopping there (just a guess, no empirical data to back it up, other than the ‘store closed’ sign currently in the window).  And somewhere between two and four months after the big Grand Opening, they were gone.  And now, today, after performing some half-hearted Google searches, Facebook checks (meh, I’m tired, shoot me), it would appear that My Mark never really existed at all, so completely have they erased the cyber evidence of their retail operations.

And now, the big lime store sits empty and alone, like a beacon in the night, warning the other would-be discount stores: “Just because you build it, doesn’t mean the Keswickians will come. Unless you’re building a discount pajama bottoms and Beer Store.  Then they’ll come for sure.”