Longtime NW independent shop Blake has announced its pending closure. Owner Blake Nieman-Davis made the announcement in customary verbose fashion, in a lengthy email that was framed around different definitions of the word "end."

2) Something toward which one strives; a goal.

Another good one. When I decided to start the store, I was living in San Francisco and dreaming about moving back home. What would I do if I moved back to Portland? I had been in the retail business for many years and on many different sides of the business. I loved Portland and knew that it was a wonderful city with amazing people. I knew that Portland was cooler than the rest of the country was giving it credit for. It was before the New York Times love affair with our food scene and before Portlandia turned us into a cartoon of ourselves.

Blake was one of the only indie boutiques in a city now rich with them when it first opened, and was long respected for being one of the best places for denim. If you happen to me in the market, now is a good time to strike. Needless to say, the whole store's been put on sale, priced to move.