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A storm hit hard. on Dec. 28 at Montgomery Ward in the Charleston Town Center mall.
It was a storm of customers shopping - some in grief, some bargain hunting - following the announcement of the nationwide chain's filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after more than 100 years of business.
The aftermath- management and employees at Montgomery Ward locations in Beckley, Charleston, Clarksburg and Parkersburg - part of the chain's 250 stores employing 37,000 people - out of a job.
"I'm real upset about it," said Ruth Bonham, a local realtor dragging a large bag of store items during one of her last sprees at the Town Center location.
"I sure am going to miss Ward's," she said. "I'm sorry this store is closing - I really am."
Bonham, a longtime customer, has used store credit since the 1960s, and shopped for clothes and appliances for her apartments there for nearly four decades.
"They've always had...