It's always sad to see an old, familiar piece of local or regional tradition pass away in the name of a company's national brand and/or effienincy. We have seen this in recent years as the names of Florida-based banking companies such as Barnett have disappeared due to mergers with larger, national organizations (In Barnett's case, Bank of America).

I had meant to post this last week after hearing this bit of news on the radio, but the political/historical blog South of the Suwannee made mention of it. The Burdines brand name will be dropped from department stores across Florida beginning in January. It is part of parent Federated Department Store's effort to convert their regional nameplates nationwide into Macy's and Bloomingdale's. You had to figure it was coming when the Macy's brand was added to the name earlier. The Miami Herald has a very nice look into Burdines' history.

Thanks to SOTS for reminding us of another wonderful piece of Florida history about to pass away. Enjoy it...while you can.