Old Princeton stores
Luttman’s Luggage is closing, after decades of serving Princeton. It’s yet another local business that’s gone because of the high rent costs and the difficulty of attracting new customers. two letters to the Editor highlight this situation, one by Ms O’Nolan, who shares my view of the downtown development situation,

And so it went. Store after store, encounter after cold encounter. All the charming shops I’d patronized — gift shops, luggage, stationery — all the unique, individually owned stores and restaurants that imbued Princeton with its quaint cachet, had been replaced by chains or subsidiaries of some fiscal hydra called Pottersville Inc.
I was losing my marbles. I said, “Margaux, relax. You just need a little pick-me-up.” I decided on an espresso and a raspberry sorbet chaser at that cute café on Palmer Square. But like a recurring nightmare, I spied an unfamiliar sign. The café that once purveyed handmade ice cream was now a well-known home-furnishings outlet zoned to look like it had stood here for 250 years: “Ye Olde Ikea.”

In related news, Polo Ralph Lauren (pronounced ralf low-REHN, not ralf LOH-ren. Thank g-d rafe fines wasn’t famous when Ralf was getting started) is having a sale.