Sporty retailer Eddie Bauer will close all of its North American stores by April 30, after filing for bankruptcy failed to tempt any buyers. Founded in Seattle, Bauer sold sportswear (including its famed quilted down jackets), expanding to everything from eyeglasses to cars to home furnishings; its mail-order catalogs became tempting “wish books” worldwide (I am a Vermont Country Store girl, myself). During WWII, the United States Army Air Corps commissioned Eddie Bauer to develop the B-9 Flight Parka, and many famous mountaineering expeditions relied on their supplies. Its founder, Eddie Bauer (1899-1986), was a Pacific Northwest woodsman who opened his first store as a tennis shop; eventually he had stores worldwide, and wrote such books as The Eddie Bauer Guide to Family Camping, The Eddie Bauer Guide to Cross-Country Skiing, and The Eddie Bauer Guide to Backpacking.
