Back in the day, when I was in between journalism jobs, working part-time gigs at Coffee Bean and the art gallery, I would do occasional shopping trips to Ross and Shoe Pavilion along Wilshire in West L.A., along the border of Santa Monica. So Shoe Pavilion has a special place in my shopping heart — the shoes I’ve bought there have been reliably well-made and inexpensive. Even most recently, when I needed a classic pair of black pumps for my mom’s funeral, but didn’t want to pay $80 for a pair at Macy’s, I managed to fine a great pair for about $40 at Shoe Pavilion at the Topanga mall.

Even five years later, I still like Shoe Pavilion — during down time, I would often go to their site to check out what they had online, to get an idea of what I might want for my next shoe purchase. Their site wasn’t as nice as Famous Footwear’s (another favorite) or DSW, but still not bad considering. So hearing the news that Shoe Pavilion would be liquidating their stores, I am actually quite sad, but now flummoxed by what I saw when I tried to go to their website.

Shoe Pavilion website, now offline

Dude. Did the 64 locations being closed include their website??? *sob*