 Well, if you've lived in Bemidji within the past 70 years, you might have bought shoes from Harrington's shoe store. Hady Clider visits the store that's been around for so long as he gets ready to make its final sale. It's really hard leaving this and leaving our customers and our staff. The year was 1947 when Harrington's shoe store first opened its doors and it's been a staple in downtown Bemidji ever since. Now going out of business signs are plastered on windows. Soon the store will close for good as owners Bob and Judy Harrington retire. Bob's father started the business. I came back after college in 1977 and worked for my dad, so I've been here for 40 years. The sense of family was felt as customers walked in and were greeted by name. Over the past seven decades, relationships formed and customers are asking themselves, where do I go now? He mentioned that I go see my friend in Grand Rapids, Ponners or something like that. Judy says it's bittersweet, but the public support means a lot. You can't be in a community this size and not have a successful business without that. Usually it's the business thanking customers for shopping, but in this case customers thank the Harrington's and staff for their business as they bought shoes in bulk. Jenny Carroll started working at Harrington's as a teen and 25 years later she's still around. She says she enjoyed helping people the most. You become friends with the community. It's not just your local shoe store, it's more than that and it has become more than that. Talk about a family affair. Bob's sister came from South Dakota to help out and knows the impact Harrington leaves behind. It's been wonderful. There are great customers that have come in that have come up and recognized me and said hello and talked about their memories with Harrington's shoe store. This has been a wonderful life. The store will remain open until all shoes walk out the door. In Bemidji, Katie Clutter, Lakeland News. Bob Harrington estimates the store has sold hundreds of thousands of shoes in the last 70 years. He says the last day is likely to be in June or July when all inventory is sold. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.