Reminiscing on the End of Mervyn’s

Even South Bay Assemblyman Jim Beall shared memories of his time as a Mervyn’s stock boy in 1967: “Mr. Morris arrived on Sundays – often with his whole family – with sandwiches and sodas for all the stock boys. He gave large amounts to charities around the Bay Area.”
Many other employees and customers expressed their outrage. “It’s just wrong to destroy this part of our community fabric,” wrote a long-timer. Another 10-year Mervyn’s veteran recounted the “blood, sweat and tears” he gave to the business.

“Good luck to Mervyn’s with its lawsuit against the greedy private equity owners, but that will do nothing for the 18,000 employees losing their jobs in the midst of a recession,” another reader noted.
An Oakland reader and proud 19-year Mervyn’s employee drew attention to a less-discussed victim in the sad Mervyn’s saga:

“This was a repeat of what happened to another company I also worked 19 years for, Joseph Magnin. During the 80s, numerous retailers were purchased and bankrupted by investors in leveraged buyouts. The saddest result is the absence of fashion. Today, whether cheap or expensive, the clothes look the same. There is a real lack of creative fashion for the masses.”

Mervyn’s was destroyed by a flock of vulture investors led by private equity heavyweight Cerberus, a fact that elicited an impassioned response of its own:

“If my memory serves, Cerberus was the fierce three-headed dog who guarded the gates of Hell,” observed a Palo Alto reader. “No way would I even give them the time of day, since it’s already clear (just from the name) that they are up to no good!”

One respondent summed up our collective disgust best. “Your column about Mervyn’s really resonated with me,” he wrote. “It is even more disheartening to think that former Treasury Secretary John Snow is heading up Cerberus, the same firm that owns Chrysler and is now asking taxpayers for $7 billion. The pillaging continues…”

Clint Reilly’s initial foray into political consulting at age 23 developed into a successful 26-year career in politics, during which he founded the nation’s largest political consulting firm of its time. Reilly managed winning campaigns for a wide variety of high-profile candidates, including current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, and former California State Senate President Pro Tem Dave Roberti. Recently, Reilly has led the battle to preserve media competition in the Bay Area via two landmark anti-trust lawsuits (Reilly v. Hearst and Reilly v. MediaNews, et. al.). Reilly was chairman of the board of Catholic Charities/CYO from 2002 to 2006 and is active in a variety of civic and charitable causes. This article first appeared on www.clintreilly.com/ and is republished with his permission.