I may have been out of the loop on news about the closing of our local Kmart, but I just saw the signage on Madera Avenue with the announcement. I am so very disappointed.

I remember as a kid here when that was an empty lot. I remember playing on the swings at the drivein theater during intermission and meeting a kid whose father was with the company building it.

How welcome it was to have a department store in Simi Valley and not have to drive "over the hill" for school clothes!

I imagine this was inevitable from the moment I knew of WalMart's bullying its way into our community.

I am all for competition in the marketplace, but we already had the Kmart right down the street, a Target, Costco and several other similar places to shop. Did we really need another "supermart" so someone can save 25 cents on toilet paper?

I'm afraid we'll have a big empty building and parking lot on that corner. What a shame in the name of progress. Carmen Allard Simi Valley