Dear Gang,
I'm new to the "new" website, but my member name at the old website was MarkD and I was somewhat of a regular at the old website. I joined as I need to re-establish myself in this internet community as you guys were always very patient and friendly about answering my questions on the old website. Also, I wanted to respond to this thread about the Oak Street store in Chicago.
The Oak Street B&O Store has been the store that I've dealt with the most, and I personally know and very much like the former owner (Tom Berichon) as well as the staff (particularly Pat Roche). I've always found them to be very upstanding, and they've always treated me like I'm much more important than I am despite being well aware of my financial status as compared to their other, richer customers. I love those guys and their store so I was very distraught to hear that they were going through changes and leaving their current location.
Here's my humble perspective: I think the Oak Street store is / was one of the oldest in the USA (if not the oldest). Mr. Berichon and his crew have always run a top notch operation despite having limited space. The building they were tenants in is going through changes that are beyond their control, and they had to move. Mr. Berichon has been at this game for a few decades, and I think he chose to back out of this end of the business during this transition. However, his staff (including Pat Roche) has temporarily set up shop in B&O's USA headquarters in Chicago while awaiting new space that is being prepared for them at the place that Linder mentioned. I've always had good service and interaction with whatever B&O store that I've dealt with here in the USA, but I will personally continue to use this particular B&O store (where ever it locates it's shingle) for all my B&O needs as I trust this team.
Mark D