Some observations about our wonderful retail sector and clothes made in Asia

[nadinbrzezinski]

Well, let me preface this by saying I have not gone shopping for blouses in literally years. Me, like Hawaiian shirts and got used to wearing them
while in Hawaii. But I guess it is time to replace some of them, thanks to conure and use (Yes my sun conure loves to chew on clothes, cotton, tasty...and I hear she's not the only sun conure that does that)

Anyhow I went to Sears today and yes I could have gone to Marshalls but have not been able to find anything there in years

So first observation... you know things are bad when we have deep sales in APRIL, and they still have some WINTER clothes on the sale rack

Now here is the other observation, which I first got at Target the other day.

Folks since them clothes are no longer produced in the US, they are smaller... there are good and valid reasons for that. After all they are also sold in other countries, where people tend to be smaller. I made the comment to my hubby, who did more than one westpac, after Target. He said, well DUH, when shopping for clothes go for a size larger than what you usually wear and don't feel bad about it, and yes this has actually gone against the trend that we used to have, where things were getting larger.

Now I asked the staff... thinking... my I may have lost some weight, actually quite a bit, but this might be ME.

Nope, they have noticed this too. And the ones who are the most affected are the anorexic kids who don't fit on a six skirt and have to buy anywhere from an eight to a ten. Yes that can have an effect on those kids.

Suffice it to say, Small is X-Small, I don't know about X-SMALL, Medium is SMALL, Large is Medium, and they told me this as well, not at one, but two stores

So there you have it folks.

And yes, more than half their merchandize was on deep sales. And I do need a dress tomorrow, so going to another retailer that is having a major sale tomorrow.

Yep, but nobody is seeing any problems ok.

[JDPriestly]

1. I am petite, and I notice it.

The clothes aren't smaller everywhere. They are smaller where western women (including African American women) sometimes are a little generously endowed (to be polite). If you have what is called an hour-glass figure, good luck. You may have some difficulty getting clothes that fit unless they are loose everywhere. Also, the styles --- if you can call it that, are really boring in my view. And cutsey in the wrong way. Finally, and most important, the fabrics are horrible. They don't feel good. They don't look good. They don't drape and fall well. Most of them are the cheapest synthetics imaginable. When you do get cotton, the weave is cheap, cheap, cheap. I'm not at all happy with the clothes we get today.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. Yes, the clothes are too little for americans.

I'm petite and they are still too little for me -- I'm a bit overweight.

The only answer I can see is learning to sew. I already know how. I need to sit down and do it.
You can make unique clothes without spending a lot of time or money. Today's clothes are pretty loose fitting. That makes them much easier to fit and to sew.

[Rex]

3. Funny, I was sorting through a lot of new shirts today and noticed

the same thing. The 'large' was about a medium size.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. well good to know it wasn't me and the staff

at the stores.

Anyhoo, use the advise from my husband...

Just shop a size larger, and you will be fine

As to sewing my own... I might have to learn how to do that...

[Sherman A1]

5. Your thoughts are pretty much on "Target"

Couldn't help the pun there....
This is what I have seen from my spot working in the grocery biz...(and a retired game store owner, who is real happy he doesn't have that to worry about any more).

Since Jan 1 of this year... 300+ price advances (increases) per week in just the grocery department. In many cases prices advance one week only to be followed by more advances on the very same item within 2 -3 weeks.

A heavy push from the Ivory Tower of the chain for which I work, to cross merchandise (place related items from different departments together on a display to generate impulse sales) like crazy.

A heavy push from the Ivory Tower for cost cutting ideas from the worker bees (of course when we submit an idea, we get resistance because they didn't think of it and have to prove that it will work before they will accept it and don't even expect as much as a thank you for help us to save money).

A push to do things we have never done before such as turn off lights in areas that are not being used (which is a good thing) and turn off lights in cases when we close at midnight (which is fine, except it takes forever to accomplish) and using CFL's in the main freezer really didn't work out as they take too long to come back up when you need to get in there and are a safety concern.

Cut backs by vendors on direct store deliveries (DSD). Coke cut out one load per week, Nabisco has changed their schedule to over night drop (to put their trucks on the road with less traffic), fuel surcharges being added to smaller invoices, cutting routes by some vendors and adding more stops to each driver.

Less sales of seasonal items such as Valentine, Easter etc in our General Merchandise Department... Although I have to say that the selection was pretty much a retread of the last few years.

The folks from Operation Food Search coming more days per week to pick up what we can give to them for their pantries (we have one women's shelter and one inner city church at my location, coming twice per week, where they were only coming once)

Ads in the local Sunday Paper for places that have I have never seen advertise in such media before such as Dollar General, Family Dollar and Hooters Restaurant.

Lots of clothes as you mentioned at the Department stores and Discount Stores backed up from the season that is ending.

More houses sitting for longer in the neighborhood with For Sale Signs on them. What would be considered small starter homes that would snap up in a few days are now sitting for months or longer.

None of which in my opinion bode well for our economy, but then I just count cardboard boxes for a living and what would I know.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Well RPG sales are down by about 50 % and you know that is a luxury product

These days I have cut down on some of the costs.

Anyhoo, we have seen these losses and that started over nine months ago.

Indeed the canary in the mine is chirping.

And you have a front row to the economy. My hubby works at the post office, and he is also seeing it

As to the clothes... it is fun.. NOT (I hate shopping)

[Sherman A1]

7. No doubt about RPG's being a luxury product

I recall in the past at the shop when we saw economic downturns that we tried every avenue to push the theme of games and game nights at home being inexpensive entertainment. Figure the price of a RPG module add some popcorn & sodas, then divide by the number of players and it usually comes out far less than a trip to a theater or whatever. Not sure we did any good with it but it only cost us some time to make up a few signs for the store. Also this month is national turn off the TV week, which is another theme to wrap the concept of a gaming night at home around.

Just some thoughts.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. True, I may add that on the website

but it is a dying hobby... and a canary in the mine.

We did taxes today, and the guy who did them for us his wife is a massage therapist and he mentioned the same thing

Canaries are chirping all over the place

[EmilyAnne]

8. Interesting observation. Btw...someday, when my partner and I buy our dream house (lol) we are

going to have a sun conure. She had one growing up. Her parents bought it before she was born and it lived until after she was out of grad school, about 25 years! Do you have other animals?

My mom swears by Kohl's, by the way. She says they have the best sales. Maybe try that?

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. We have a Nanday, he is 16 this year, a Cockatiel, who is twenty, going on

twenty one this year (and the senior citizen), and our sunny Connie, she is seven

If and when you decide to get a bird, I will recommend a hand fed bird from a reputable breeder (I recommend Dan's Greenhouse on Maui, and yes they will ship to the mainland), feeding them a balanced diet and finding an avian vet to take care of them ASAP.

By the way, our kids do not eat seeds, really. They eat what I cook, Ezekiels instead of seeds and the only thing they don't get is chocolate and avocado

Nanday used to eat only seeds and he almost died from malnutrition. These days he begs (Not kidding) for steak, he LOVES meat,,, crazy bird

And we expect at least two of the kids to be around for decades to come. Our cockatiel is our senior citizen

And yes, this has taken us far away from the economy

[Digit]

11. Regarding birds who chew on our clothing...

When I get home from work, I wear what I call a "bird shirt" which has already been chewed before I get my gal out of her cage. Her "shoulder time" is from 8 to 10 pm, and she KNOWS when it is 8pm, believe me.
She will ask me, "Are you going on the computer?"
When I sort my mail, she begs for some to chew so I give her the trash mail....
maybe I should give her my bills....