4 October—Today is the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. You can refresh your memory about the patron saint of animals (and Italy, archeologists, merchants, messengers, metal workers, and, more recently, the environment) by clicking on A single shade of grey.

So a week ago, as a parting gesture to the Stop & Shop on High Street in Torrington doomed to close at the end of October, I drove up there to do some grocery shopping. The experience was depressing. First, the parking lot of the little mall known as Torrington Commons was close to empty, most of the tenants, including co-anchor J.C. Penney, having moved out some time ago.

There were fewer than 25 vehicles in the lot and most were parked near the Shop & Shop and most of those probably belonged to employees rather than customers. Most of the shopping carts had disappeared from the store, many—perhaps most—of the shelves were bare, never to be restocked, and there was a paucity of produce. Surprisingly, though, I found all the promos I was looking for. (Who can afford anything but promos these days?)

And that was good because a sign at the front of the store warned customers that rain checks would not be issued. Of course, even in this sad circumstance that’s illegal according to Connecticut General Statutes. It’s also rather stupid, since the rain checks must be honored at other Stop & Shop locations anyway. (Not that any retailer likes to issue or honor rain checks. But that’s another story.)

The Stop & Shop suits in Quincy, Massachusetts, claim they’re closing the High Street location because, like 32 others on the chopping block (including five in Connecticut) it’s allegedly underperforming. I don’t know about the others, but as concerns the Torrington Commons location, that’s a crock. Clearly a crock. Until last week, I’d never in scores of visits known that store to not be absolutely bustling with business.

Rather, I suspect—at least in this case—Quincy simply couldn’t negotiate a new lease with the apparently struggling little back-street mall’s owners, DLC Management, whose website boasts, “DLC is winning for tenants and investors.” An alleged operating officer in Quincy naturally denied that and a person at DLC wouldn’t comment. Naturally.

The Torrington location that Stop & Shop’s suits have chosen to keep going is at the top of East Main Street, Torrington’s main drag, beyond where the famous sidewalk to nowhere ends. It’s just across Torringford Street from competing Price Chopper and Walmart. And in the scores of visits I’ve paid to that outlet through the years, I’ve never but never seen more than a relative handful of customers stopping or shopping.

Let’s hope that the pleasant, little, always busy Stop & Shop in Litchfield’s Greenberg Plaza doesn’t meet the same fate as its big sibling in Torrington Commons . . .