Comments on: Retail Preview & Update

By: Christopher

Christopher — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 17:59:17 +0000

Barry – It’s tough to pick up women in the shoe dept. I’ve tried. They usually think your gay. I get better results in the dress dept at Barney’s. Also, models can’t resist hedge fund managers! Just a tip….

By: Leisa

Leisa — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 07:59:27 +0000

These comments have made me feel old. I’ve worn a watch every single day for my adult life–that makes it a trend of at least 10 years (g). And the most annoying people are those who do not own a watch but pester you for the time–but we know that the only folks who do that now do not own a cell phone.

Anyway….I cannot imagine going out without one, and I plan to be buried with one. I have this odd watch…it’s a women’s Chase Durer stainless band with a copper face (I opted out of the diamond encrusted model). It’s a seriously clunky, unfeminine watch, but it’s a man magnet for sure (not that I’m in the market having a husband and all that, and I’m certainly too old to wear fur trimmed over the boots which have a less polite name than Barry has given them).

I bought the watch discount online ~$300-400, about 50% off list BUT It felt like buying a $200K watch (and BR I got your joke!). However, as I write this I realize that I’m unhealthily attached to this watch and must post it on e-bay.

By: dryfly

dryfly — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 23:28:17 +0000

Great post BR.

BTW – listen to your wife re the fashion thing but be VERY careful. She will see what is coming but that doesn’t mean it will sell (ie will the dogs eat the dog food???).

You might train her to look for winners & stinkers besides just reporting what is on the drawing board. Most women know the difference between hot & not instinctively while more than a few marketing managers wouldn’t know the difference if they walked up arm-n-arm and introduced themselves.

By: brion

brion — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 22:36:21 +0000

cellphone-wallet-ipod-wristwatch….check check check and CHECK!

By: wyler

wyler — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:50:22 +0000

Agreeing with RPs comment:
From WSJ 01/18/2006: The Times They Are a-changing:

“Cellphones, iPods and laptops are standard equipment for young people these days. But there’s one device that they are increasingly doing without: the wristwatch.In a challenging development for…”

By: RP

RP — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:15:21 +0000

People still buy watches? Gonna get a nice buggy whip too, with each $200K purchase to use on your horse
drawn carriage?

The fact that you actually looked at a watch as a useful item, worries me far more than the price tag. Help! – you’ve fallen from the pedestal, and you can’t get up. Press the life alert. I’m going to guess that at least one piece of portable hardware, and probably more, that you carry at all times already has a frickin clock and alarm in it….probably plays music too….

(wanders off mumbling to self)…a watch?!?!…

By: tt

tt — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 21:15:05 +0000

Boots go well with $200k watches !!!

By: donna

donna — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 20:07:56 +0000

Boots go well with long skirts.

Which go well with recessions.

By: Hilly Jacklin

Hilly Jacklin — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 19:24:56 +0000

Everyone seems so prickly and thin skinned! The moral of the story was that even the very very wealthy are now doing more recreational looking than shopping. And obviously because the wealthy have more money they don’t run out as soon as those of us who don’t. So, Wal-Mart sales will slow down first, before Tiffany’s. And If I had relatives come in from all over the globe and they wanted to window shop I’d take them to the really nice places, not the local Target.

By: eco-none

eco-none — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 18:31:31 +0000

Did you notice the sports goods (green) and the health/personal care (black) lines in the graph mirror each other? Both began to diverge at about 99-00 and both leveled off at Arp 04 and stayed flat. Maybe it’s telling us something about the reasons for the expansive health care…