The little shop around the corner is leaving: Redmond/Kirkland corner’s Red Apple store. Like in the phrase from “Cheers,” “Where everyone knows your name.”

It is a time where dollars are more important than people, and relationships have just gotten a bit lost.

It was a time when our seniors had a place to go, sit and enjoy a cup of coffee, then pick up a few items from the store. Slowly, the store will be emptying every item on the shelves and then the shelves themselves. It will leave an empty spot in our hearts.

Maybe the corporation who purchased the land may not be able to keep the property in the end, as they have priced out mom-and-pop businesses. Loyalty to the Red Apple may not translate into a busy store replacement. Again the future site will be sold, at a lower price, and maybe mom-and-pop stores will come back and share a piece of our lives for another time, but not in 2018.

Karen Gonzalez

Redmond