Don’t Blame Recession for Retailers’ Slump

Nordstrom and many other retailers are blaming the recession for slumping sales but failing to look at other reasons why customers aren’t buying (“Retail Stocks Depressed by Nordstrom’s Flat Profit,” Oct. 10).

Too many stores are stocked with items that are poorly made, overpriced, unattractive, unnecessary and ridiculous. Shoppers find ugly prints, horrible colors and weird styles. Most women want designs that flatter, not distort.

How many women can afford to pay $400 for a suit to wear to work or $170 for a pair of shoes? How many parents can afford to pay $38 or more for a pair of kid’s tennis shoes that will be outgrown in a few weeks? Many little girls’ outfits look like small copies of attire that a prostitute might wear: school and play clothes covered with garish ornaments, in adult styles and impractical fabrics.

The workmanship on some clothes is a disgrace. Even on expensive clothes you find hems that dip, uneven seams or misplaced buttonholes.

One analyst was quoted as saying that “consumers are staying stingy.” Consumers aren’t stingy, they are tired of being ripped off and manipulated by retailers only interested in the bottom line. Consumers recognize shoddy, overpriced merchandise, and I think it is a good sign if they resist buying it.

FLORENCE RICHARDS

Whittier