Tis the Holiday Season

The holiday season has arrived and the hustle and bustle is in the air. I have to say to date I have been pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming cheer that I have seen and heard so far.
From customers to sales associates the act of kindness, generosity and the offering of happy holidays has been astounding.
I love this time of year, not just because it is the time of giving and receiving, but because it separates the sales associates from the good and bad, from the ones that really want to work in retail to those who can not handle it.
This is a time that tries the patience of the most skilled. If as a customer you think you have it bad when you go to buy something and it's not there, imagine what the sales associates feel like when they know they actually never had it and now have to lie to you to tell you they sold out, or that the truck didn't deliver it, or better yet, that it should be in in the next shipment. And we all know what that means.
This year stores promised to cut inventory but yet have the product at the price that you want to pay for it when you want it. It's just like a miracle, but not on 34th Street.
Speaking of, once again macy's offers generosity in the form of donating 1 dollar to every dear Santa letter that they receive to Make A Wish Foundation.
Last year I collected (thanks to my students and piers over 1600 letters)
I think that because the post office has discontinued that service that macy's should up the anti to $1.41 , the cost of mailing a Dear Santa letter.
What do we now tell the little kids, that Santa is only taking e mails, or perhaps facebook or Twitter can have a virtual Santa, OOH, what a good idea. If I were tech savy I would create one.
This year my goal is 3000 letters to Santa, anyway I can get macy's to pay, for that sales associate throwing the shoe at me last year, I'm all for it.
Plus the feeling of getting my students involved in such a good endeavor is priceless. Sometimes they forget how to be a kid again, And this is the time to be a kid again, laugh, enjoy, and remember when,
Remember when:
6 shooters were something you could actually get at Christmas,
Tinsel on trees wasn't dangerous to the environment
Eggnog, only came in one flavor

Happy Holidays until the next post!

Healthy women

I haven't posted in a while, however I feel now is the time to start posting again. I read a few articles in regards to Ralph lauren firing a beautiful young model who he claimed was "healthy" at 120 pounds and 5'8". "She no longer fits into his clothes. I think that the one thing that Ralph forgot was that 99.9% of his customers are healthy and maybe a little too healthy. The average women today is a size 14 by American Measurement Standards. Just ask my Apparel class, they'll tell you! If you go to a department store and you look on the racks for a size 0 or 2, the perfect model size for Ralph you will not find those sizes. Instead you will find numerous, 10's, 12's and 14's. These are the sizes the American women wear. Not a 0 or a 2. I fully understand the concept of putting your clothes on a stick figure because they fall better, but isn't that why we invented mannequins. The "healthy " women has a shape. And she should be proud of it. Look back to the days of Marie Antoinette, women were considered beautiful with the more curves they had. If they were scrawney, they were known to live on the street. I think that the message that Ralph is portraying is a poor one. Although not a new one. This has been going on for many years in the fashion industry. And although designers keep stating they do not condone skinny models I've yet to see a "healthy"one on the runway.

Another question arises, will this girl ever work again. Well, I doubt it. She went public and she put Ralph's name in the mud. He has a lot of pull with modeling agencies. And i would bet just like the model he "supposedly" had an affair with, never worked again after she went public. I am sure this one will follow in the same path. I wish her luck, maybe she will coome up with her own clothing line like everyone else

That one special piece

Mercedes Benz Fashion Week has just ended and the reviews are all over the board. Similar to a Broadway show, some like it and some don't. What I found most interesting , well actually there were a few things once analyzed was that the majority of favoritism was given to the same designers over and over again, Donna Karan, Narciso Rodriguez, Marc Jacobs, Philip Lam just to name a few. Other were blasted into space, literally Michael Kors collections was stated as looking like "space outfits" By the way did anyone ever wear Michael Kors before he became famous from being on project runway? I don't think so and now we know why.

These designers showed clean lines, silhouettes that could be worn by many, many body shapes and many ages. Isn't this what we have been asking for for so long. So then tell me why the buyers (not consumers) are criticizing the show, saying its too commercial, there's nothing special, collections don't look complete. So this is where the analyzing comes in. In the past buyers went to shows, showrooms and market and saw complete mix and match lines, similar to garanimals from Sears (which by the way they brought back) And it was easy for them to buy. They bought by number, 1 matches with 2 and 4 and so on and life was good , no thinking involved. Today, they need to put on their thinking caps and really look at the collection and it is up to them now to create a line for the store that is coherent and will sell. Oh, they have to do what they were hired for. So yes it may be a little harder for them, but if they knew who their customer was, what she wanted and how much she would really pay for that special piece she would have no trouble at all. But I see trouble ahead of us. When spring rolls around I see department stores not knowing how to merchandise the mishmash that was bought. Good luck buyers may the best buyer win!

Fashion Night Out

Tonight is Fashion Night Out across the USA. Many designers and retailers are offering special promotions in their stores to promote the fashion industry. As you know the industry is not doing very well this year because the consumer is being a little more frugal than they were in the past. Which can be interpreted as a good thing, We are getting a little more conscious about what we are spending our money on. But tonight the fashion industry wants us to put that frugality aside and spoil ourselves a little and in return they will spoil us to. Offering, designer photoshoots, cocktail parties, free mdse. It definitely is worth the trip to NYC tonight if you can get there tonight. It is going to be a mad house, but a fun madhouse.

So if you have the time tonight get into the city if not to buy but to support your industry.

Enjoy Fashion Night Out all day!!!

"The New Normal", if they keep saying this it won't be new anymore!

The main phrase out of NYC over an over again is "The New Normal". I would think as creative as these designers are and claim to be that they could think of something a little more interesting to call a time when consumers are getting back to reality and eliminating their obsession with greed . You know not everyone has to have a Birkin bag, we may want one but it doesn't mean we need or have to have it. And if you think about it a typical Birkin costs 7000. That could be a down payment on a house, college education or a car. So once again WWD. posts an article on the New Normal, for which I am going to call NN. It takes too long to type 9 letters. Alan Schwartz , who some might recognize as the guy who knocks off designer dresses 5 minutes after they hit the Oscars, says that "It will never go back to the way it was.....and that's a good thing becaue a lot of those people(I think he means designers) that were in there(stores) shouldn't have been.

I'm thinking that's because they had ORIGINAL DESIGNS, and took away some of his SALES!

Neal Kusnetz, president of Robert Graham(an amazing blouse and mens shirt line, says" We keep levels limited, well having bought them in the past and as a consumer let me assure you it's not because of their uniqueness which they are it's because of their cost. Wholesale on average $137 to $175, retail minimum to $230, and you have to dry clean them. And Seth Morris of Carol Hockman (no idea who that is) states" There's nothing wrong with creating demand from being out of stock on hot trends" Ok, your out of stock, I don't buy from your store, I am mad, I am determined to get it, Oh I know the perfect place, there's a little alley in China town off Canal street that will have it for let's say 75% less. Duh! This creates knockoffs, which by the way the CFDA has been fighting for years!!!

And here's the best one yet it a quote by Erin Armendinger, a director of Pennsylvania's Wharton School in the retailing initiative, YIKES! states," I would never say people going out of business is a good thing, but this will make us more efficient. We are over-retailed, overstored, overlabeled. I don't think one day this is going to be over and the faucet will turn back on. That era of overspending, "I'll just put it on my credit card" is over"

And I bet all you fashion majors paying 40,000 a year want her as a professor.

And to that I really can't say anything else.

banana republic, it's time to change

Today I thought that i would treat myself to a birthday present (it's Saturday by the way)

And I had a few discount cards from BR. So i went to Garden City with my sister, and we went into the BR. e walked around with no one approaching us at all. (let me say we were dressed in jeans, so now I hope you know where this is going) we walked throughout the store, no one approached. Instead all 3 associates were behind the cash wrap chatting with what i would say was a regular. She bought 2 pairs of shoes, More detail later. My sister pointed out a pair of jeweled ballet flats. They were 98$. I decided, like I always do when it comes to shoes to try them on. As I took the size 6 sample I waited for someone to come over, Nope, not happening. So I decided to walk to the cash wrap, nice interrupt the fawning over the regular and ask for some help. Well in comes Madge. I told her the 2 sizes I wanted to try on, she came out i about 5 minutes with only one pair stating she did not have the other size. Meanwhile, now here comes the interesting part, I found a pair of wedges 120$ that I wanted to try on, so as she put the ballet flats on the leather bench and started walking away, I asked to try another shoe on, OMG, I asked to try another shoe on. And here was the reply, "Can you just tell me what you want so I don't have to walk back and forth" ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!

So I replied, I don't know what I want to try on.

She went to the computer and yelled through the shoe dept. that they didn't have one of the sizes I was looking for, but the other was in the back. I think the back had a black hole.

5 minutes, 10 minutes 12 minutes go by and my sister and I are watching Madge in the 3 way mirror having a lovely chat with someone in the fitting room, all the while holding the box of shoes that I want to try on. I actually almost went back there myself to get them from her.

She finally came out dropped the shoes on the bench and walked away again.

That was it, i purposely made it clear that I was going to call and complain once again to corporate, and oh that's right I have the district managers e mail address. Well that got their attention. Now it was my turn to leave the mdse and walk away.

And yes when I got home, I called corporate and sent an e mail too.

So Dear Madge, whether or not you are reprimanded or retrained you do not belong in a field that requires any contact whatsoever with another human being. Perhaps working in an environment where there is no need for human contact might be the way to go.

And Saks will offer Timberland

OK, first Sears to offer cosmetic counters, Jimmy Choo at H&M and now Saks. Is there no shame or humility any longer. Saks just announced and proudly I may add that they are goig to open a Timberland department. Timberland, yes you heard it right. When I originally thought of Saks, I

thought, high quality, unique brands, fashion forward mdse. I did not think duck boots, camping shorts and anorak jkts. Is it just me or does anyone else see anything wrong with this?

What is retail coming too? I have to say, this surprises me. This past summer I met with the VP of fashion and an assistant buyer introducing a bathing suit line, they loved the line but stated it "just wasn't who their customer is, their customer comes in for unique, fashion forward, designers names. Now let's look at this Timberland are they unique? No

Are they fashion forward ? No

Are they a designer name? No

They are a brand that has a following, but I am not sure if their following lives in Manhattan. I'm think more Vermont, New Hampshire.

Well let it be said, and you heard it first, just like i do not want to buy cosmetics next to the hardware dept at Sears, I don't want to see Timberland next to Carolina Herrerra either

Sears, Cosmetics and Craftsman tools a great combination

Today the Nation Retail Federation reported that Sears is going back into the mass and full service cosmetic business. This brings a few thing to light. So I was thinking how can a store that sells craftsman tools also service the cosmetic junky.

As the article stated during a time of recession( so are we in one) cosmetics is one industry that still does rather well. So Sears feels that right now this is where they should be. But analysts are stating that they tried it before and they couldn't get it right. As I read on, it stated that it was going to carry mass market lines like Cover Girl, Burts Bee's but yet there would be full service counters. I can't imagine getting a makeover from Cover Girl while my husband is wandering around in the tool department looking for the right size screwdriver. Unless of course they put the 2 departments right next to each other. How funny would that be, imagine this, makeup brushes right next to paint brushes. Need to paint a fine line, get an eyeliner brush, need good bronzing cover get a 2 inch sable paint brush , quick easy strokes. Can't get that eyeliner off after you smudged it, try a little paint thinner. Hey this could really work. If placement was done correctly their items per transaction really could increase. Sears has never been known to carry items that were trendy, they have been known for their tools and the sales staff waiting for you when you enter near the appliances. Now they will be waiting to whisk you away to the cosmetic counter for a free makeover. Craftsman tools, craftsman cosmetics, somehow there's got to be a good commercial in this. What I really want to know is exactly how much money they are going to spend to roll this out. Millions I am sure. And remember they own KMart too, are they next KMart cosmetologists?

This will be very interesting...

And a quote from a CEO, This is not the time for Miracle on 34th St.

In Mondays issue of WWD, this was the quote of the day:

"If we sold 10 of something in the old days, we would make 12 and count on reorders. Now if we sell 10, we make 8 and chase the business. I'd rather have missed a sale than have an unsold garment". Marty Staff, CEO of JA Apparel, on the "new normal"

Ok, let me break this down Marty, in the past you could count on buyers not ordering enough and then going back into market and ordering more, Correct? Did you forget the reorders were all at off price. Next ,Now if you get an order for 10, your only going to make 8, assuming (mmmm) that there will be at least 2 buyers canceling orders, Correct? But what if these buyers are actually smart enough to know how to buy, and all 10 keep their orders. Now you have to decide which 2 will not get their order, because in todays market, manufacturers are cutting to orders and that's that. I would not want to be you when a buyer calls and landblasts you about not getting there goods. And for your last statement, "you would rather lose a sale", YIKES A ROONIE, not a very glamorous statement, but what retailer in todays market can afford to lose a sale, or send a customer to another place (reference to Miracle on 34th St) I do not know too many out there that are willing to bet let's say your salary that any store out there can afford to lose a sale, let alone a customer.

As Donald Trump would eloquently put it "Marty your fired"

H&M magazine Autumn 2009 vs. All the others

This fall it's all about that .....well I don't know what exactly it's all about. The designs are everywhere, hats are in, the "it bag" is out, there are things called hairings (earings made of hair) good gracious what are we doing. We don't know and the magazines are trying to figure it out themselves. So this lead me to this blog. Long story short first, went to H&M Monday, bought a ponte knit dress(grey not black) for 34.95. $238 in Nordy's. Picked up their FREE magazine.

Tossed it in the bag and on my merry way I went.

Just took a peek at it when I got home, and then another and then another. I couldn't put it down. Fashion on every page, statements on every page, trends, stories, on every page. DO you know what wasn't on every page. Advertisements, for face creams, mascara, wrinkle creams, designers clothing that no one can afford and best of all no smelly perfume inserts.

So I decided to weigh H&M against the others to see where one would get the best bang for their buck this fall.

H&M

Front cover: I girl, 5 statements all readable

Table of contents, 3 pages in

Editors note page 9

First fashion article page 12

Last fashion article page 82

Pages in between 70 all fashion

Sections clearly labeled, all from Autumn trends, toTrends, Moscow Guide to Interviews

Interesting read, every page

Ripped corners because of postal delivery none, in a nice stand at the store

Photographs, beautiful,

Clothing all wearable

Prices of clothing to reflect the economy : right on target

COST: FREE!!!!!

The Other

Front Cover; Charleze again, 11 statements all running into each other

Table of contents: hang on still looking for it Ok page 146 (prior to that all advertisements) sorry part one of table of contents is on page 136

Editors note: give me another minute.. page 208 in between, advertisements

First fashion article: yeah, ok there isn't one, needless to say then there is not a last one

pages of advertisements, please do not make me count them, the mag. is 586 pages 83% is advertisements, please do the math.

Sections labeled clearly...Most of them

Interesting read: not unless you think a small blip on Katie Holmes new line is worthwhile (NOT)

Ripped corners because of the postal service pages 520 to 586

Photographs; Creative, very creative

Clothing wearable None

Prices of clothing to reflect the state of the economy, None and Anna promised this issue would be cost conscious for the consumer

Cost: By subscription it was 12 for the year, newsstand $4.99

You be the judge..but if I may save yourself some money and get the free one at H&M

The colors for fall

This is just a brief entry with more to come tomorrow, but I wanted to let you know that if you are looking for anything other than, black, brown, deep crimson, shades of deep purples or greys

this fall/winter you will be very disappointed. Having worked the NEAC show New England Accessories and Clothing I can report first hand that their were aisles and aisles of these colors or should I say lack of. Now don't get me wrong because like Edna and Chanel, Black is my color, no matter what the little nit-wit sales associate told me last year. Sometimes one just needs a splash of something fabulous.

This fall it will come in the form of jewelry!

More to come........

Getting it right and what you should know!

I really didn't know what to title this entry, because I don't think the fashion industry knows how to explain it either.

This morning I was reading a 5 page article in WWD that interviewed quite a few industry personnel, including designers, owners, forecasters, analysts etc. They were all talking about how retail and the fashion industry will survive what they are calling a pre-recession. Let me start by saying they all gave up hope on the little guy. Encouraging isn't it. Most said they would focus on the vendors that they have worked with in the past for consistantcy . But this didn't work before, weren't those the vendors that they are claiming that they had to take big markdowns on because the consumer demanded a lower price. Do you know what this means don't you, that the stores are going to demand larger discounts from the manufacturer or more more markdown dollars. I know my buying students know what that means. Analysts mentioned that customers do to want to see the same thing from the year before and in order to get the non-buying consumer to buy retailers need to give them something new. There's a contradiction i all of this, retailers sticking with the steady eddies and consumers wanting something new! Who should win? You decide.

Anyway, the article continued to mention bringing in mdse closer to the season, it's called buying closer to the vest. Yeah, this is not happening as wool, cashmere and leather are already out in the stores and it's 90 degrees. But thats OK with me because by time I am ready to buy it will be at a price I want to pay.

The point of this article is because one person actually gets it, that Alan Schwartz. You may have heard of him , he is a designers and usually knocks off red carpet designs from the award shows and their in the store within a week. He said, he survives and will survive because 98% of his product is made here in the United States, Halaluia to that sister.

What does this means, US employees designing, manufacturing, shipping and selling in the US.

Fast design to store time, which means closer to the selling season. In turn less markdowns for him and the stores that carry his product. And a higher profit for all parties concerned.

Good for you Alan...now if just 50% followed suit, we'd have less unemployment, out jewelry and textile industry would be back in business.

Good for you!

Celebrities as Designers, Really now!

I decided to write this blog because I know once I head back to the classroom, someone is going to tell me that the best designer line comes from one of the celebrities that I am going to mention below. As you read this please think about it in this way "Do you see any one of these celebrites being the next Chanel, Yves St.Laurent, Dior, Jean Paul Gaulthier or even in todays standards of greatness Marc Jocobs.

So here's the list.. In not particular order of bad or bad.

Heidi Klum, paris and Nikki Hilton, Haden Panatere, Lauren Conrad, Nicole Ricci, Gwen Stephani, Jessica Simpson, JLo, Pamela Anderson, Elizabeth Hurly, Reba McIntyre, Christy Turlington, Elle McPherson, jaclyn Smith, Amanda Bynes, kane West, JayZ, Sean Combs, SnoopDOg, Nelly, Eminen, Justin T, Pharrell Williams, Rachel Zoe, Victoria Beckham, Beyonce, Bono, MaryKate and Ashley, Miley Cyrus and the newly announce Katie Holmes(hopefully Tom won't jump up and down over this)

So here's the list and quite honestly although they may be talented on stage, in the fitting room that I question. But I am not writing just about that, this is what I really want you to think about, think about all of the students who are trying so hard to pay their way through design school, who are working 2 to 3 jobs just to get through. Think about the ones who are not fortunate enough to go to school for lack of funding. Think about the students who do hours and hours of internships at famous design showrooms for free and are turned away once the commitment is done. Think about the graduates who go door to door looking for someone just to take a look at their portfolio, only be to be told they don't have a vision or get more experience. I want you to think about them everytime you see a new celebrity who has a ton of money, no education, no internships, so student loans decide because they are bored or because they want their name on something go out with their millions and decide they are a designer.

That is what I want you to think about.

I would rather buy a struggling designers goods than make a celebrity richer than they already are. And shame on the industry for allowing this. Shame on them for turning their backs on the world in which they came from. Shame Shame Shame.

September Issues: Fashion Magazines

Well the September issues are out and every editor is boasting on how well their issues look. Before you go out and spend 50$ let me give you a quick run down and a recommendation.

If you only had to buy one American magazine for couture fashion I would buy Harper's Bazaar. It was done extremely well, photo's are beautiful and has great content. For those of you who know me it pains me not to suggest Vogue as you know I love Anna. But I think this year she was too focused on looking good for her documentary rather than her magazine looking good. (The cover, not good) If your looking for a magazine that has more realistic style that has attainable fashion that many consumers can afford I would definitely buy "In Style" although the cover with Jennifer Lopez looks like a Christmas cover not a fall cover it has great products throughout. (This is a strong recommendation if your taking my buying class this fall)

Most AMerican magazines rely on advertisements and it definitely showed this fall, with Vogue getting over 75% of their content in advertisements. BTW, you will see all of these ads in every magazine you pick up. Speaking of ads if I may. I think the best fashion ads this fall come from a 67 year old women, her name Betsy Johnson, her ads this fall are fantastic, their fun, creative, loud and unique! Look at everyone elses, dark, scarey and the stick models are all distorted.

So your final cost on mags for Sept. should be less than 10dollars. And if you don't want to buy any, the log onto DailyFashion.com

Inventory levels just what I predicted

In early July WWD published a few articles stating that many retailers are cutting their inventory level and only buying what is necessary. July 7th, 2009 WWD posted this comment by Terry Lundgren. See first quote below. However, the industry seemed to forget what they promised, smaller inventories and merchandise closer to season. Haha. have you been into a store lately. There is no summer left and one is trying on cashmere sweaters, leather coats and wool boyfriend jackets (I still have mine in pristine condition form the 90')

It is 90 degreees here in New England and you can;t buy anything summer. I thought, well I hoped they would have learned. Apparently not. The second quote is what i published in a letter to WWD on the same day. Today, after receiving my WWD. they announced more stores are laying off, sales are down in some cases by over 30%. Surprised? Not at all.

Retail is not rocket science, although it is a science but mixed with art. And if they continue to force us in shoulder pads. Educationally they will get a D in science and an F in art.

"Many retailers seem resigned to the idea that the shipment faucet has been shut so firmly that they might even have to begin chasing merchandise. Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and ceo of Macy’s Inc., hinted at that possibility in an interview early this year.

“We will get our inventories down very tight,” he said. “We’ve all been scrambling to reduce orders. We will get to the point where we will be scrambling to increase orders. Inventories will be lean and that’s a good way to make money, a good way to raise margins and a good way to improve sell-throughs.”

It is amazing that it took retail stores so long to get to the position of having to realize that inventories are too high and mark downs are too steep. This was not the case in the late 70's when mdse actually did arrive just a few weeks prior to the season starting and not 4 months prior. What is happening in retail now is the result of one thing and one thing only. Greed. When stores were making a profit instead of putting that extra money in the bank they went ahead and opened more stores generally sharing the same demographic market. Without population increasing it was no surprise that same store sales started to decline. Therefore causing the trickling effect of what we see today in a grand scale. There is an easy answer to what companies are going through right now, and the key players have got to realize that a mistake was made and it needs to be fixed. If you want to stay alive in this business, follow these simple rules. 1. Stop being greedy, you do not need more stores, but better mdse in them 2. Hire, not for body's only, but associates that really want to be there 3. Train your sales staff, and yes this means follow through and finish the training, the heck with payroll hours, you'll make it up at the end 4. Decrease markdowns by not marking up so high in the first place. Imagine having the right mark-up and a customer actually buying something at full price within it's first few days on the sales floor. 5. Keep you store visually attractive. it only takes a minute for that young sales associate to come out from behind the desk and pick up something that is on the floor. A clean store means a better shopping experience for the customer 6. DMM's and GMM's control your checkbooks and your buyers. Sometimes less is better

Bathing suit beauties

Today, after 15 years truly I ventured to the beach. Being a fashion afficienado of course I had to look at what everyone was wearing. So here is my report on the wonderful and not so wonderful world of swimwear.

Lets start with the males. I must say to my approval there was not a man out there wearing speedo's , this is a wonderful thing and it should go without saying. the only one wearing a speedo should be Michael Phelps and men built like him which leaves out about 75% of the male population. Board shorts are in and the colors and designs were quite acceptable, most were floral prints, large magnolia's. Now in my day if a man wore flowers, well one can imagine.

The best thing about the board shorts and that they were actually pulled up and at navel level, thank goodness, I did not have to look at the lining of their boxers, which by the way many guys wear under these shorts. But kudo's the the males and their fashion sense.

Now on to my gender. Well there was a little of everything, and when I say a little I really mean a little. Even the life guards had itty, bitty, teenie weenie yellow and blue striped bikini's.

How I wondered would they stay up if they had to rescue someone, and what man would not want to be rescued by them.

Now on to the beach goddesses, yes you know who you are, a suit for everyday of the week..

Well for the most part neutral colors, browns, blacks, browns and black again. very few prints.

As far as the coverage, I guess only certain parts need not burn and well these suits did their job and no more. Kind of like a teenage sales associate who works at stops and shop.

Most had beautiful embellishments across the top and wonderful details. Even the young girl that had on a black suit with the brightly colored word ROXY across her behind looked acceptable.

the beach is a great place. No one is judgemental, at least not openly and anything and everything goes. Its a fashion mecca, of style, color, age and gender. Gosh even the umbrella's were high fashion.

So next time your at the beach look for me, I am the one wearing the brown or black suit in a crowd of 1000.

Customer service is more than ringing up a sale!

Today I was doing some consulting in a very pretty tourist area. The store that i am helping said they were in need of visual merchandising to help attract the customer and to gain interest in the product so that they could create multiple sales.

So today I ventured out with a plan of attack. I knew exactly what needed to be done to "create interest and sales" or so I thought. For the 3.5 hours that I was there merchandising the store, the sales associate on the floor( or should I say behind the cash wrap) didn't move. She stayed looking down ticketing merchandise. Not even acknowledging the customers when they walked in yet buy something. The young man that was on, opted to check in shipment in the back room with the door closed, the first time I went back to get his help to move a table he was out the back door, the next 2 times he was on his cell phone. Only once when asked did he come out to help move a table. But while out there never acknowledged a customer. I cannot say that I am surprised because this new generation in retail feels that ringing a customer is what they are supposed to do. That is their job, sales will just come and they will have hours to earn money, to buy new clothes, itunes, or any other trinket that is of value to them. What they don't realize and what their managers and owners better teach them is that if they don't get their pretty little faces out there to say hello, talk up the product and then ring it up, there will be no hours to buy all of the things that they want. But who do you blame, the kid or the manager/owner?

My answer....

The manager/owner.

Please don't complain if your business is failing if you are entrusting your money in the hands of an untrained teenager.

Thoughts....

Welcome to "Fashion is not for everyone"

Hi,

This blog is to inform all of you fashionista's out there on what is happening in the fashion and retail industry both good and bad.

This is a blog that will be as honest as it gets. No feelings are meant to be hurt, as long as one remembers that Fashion is a business it is not meant to be taken personally.

But I feel it is an obligation to let fashion and retailers know what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong. And unfortunately right now there is more wrong than right.

So let's get started, I hope you log on daily.

Melanie