How the mighty have fallen:

[Dallas:] The new Washington Mutual Bank branch on Greenville Avenue never opened its doors.

And Monday, a wrecking crew was busy tearing down the mint-perfect building.

Constructed near the popular Central Market grocery store, the 3,500-square-foot branch bank building was finished more than a year ago, just in time for Washington Mutual to go kaput. The company was the country's largest thrift when it failed in 2008 and was taken over by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, a fast-food chain, didn't need the building's special-purpose amenities (vaults, etc.), so they just razed the place. Another brand new WaMu branch in Dallas was demolished so that a QuikTrip service station could take its place. This is an apt allegory for our new economy.