Two landmark stores in my neighborhood Borders (Palo Alto) and Andronico (Stanford), closed shops recently.
I used to think that the Bay Area is so different from the rest of the America (and the rest of the world). It is the cream of the crop. It seems invulnerable. It felt almost nothing has changed, even after the dot com bubble, which it triggered. When America and the rest of the world set into recession after 2008, it managed to come up with a bubble on social networks. Companies are still hiring, and well paid jobs are plenty. It even landed several friends of mine who recently graduated from top Asian schools.
But I am not so sure now. The closure of these 2 shops, which I thought will be there forever, just felt different. Something has changed.
Are those the natural parts of relentless creative destructions, or signs of more ominent things to come?