Exactly--I miss the days of being able to pop out to the store and grab the dye I need that day, or have a jug of liquid starch available when I don't have the time to mix my own,,,,,, I do still have one of the Wal-Marts with a fabric section nearby, so I can pop out for kid's costume fabrics if I need to. Small consolation for the Fabric Place being gone.
On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 7:35 AM, <annbw...@aol.com> wrote: > Many formerly readily available items are available via mail order, > granted. But that doesn't help if you need it tomorrow! I know, I know, > just need to plan ahead. > > > Ann Wass > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: R Lloyd Mitchell <rmitch...@staff.washjeff.edu> > To: Historical Costume <h-cost...@indra.com> > Sent: Thu, May 17, 2012 6:56 am > Subject: Re: [h-cost] Grrrrr ... ! > > > I googled both Argo and Sta-flo and these brands are readily available on > line...coupons and free shipping for some of the sites. Letting my fingers > do > the shopping sure saves on gas! > -----Original Message----- > From: <penn...@costumegallery.com> > Sent 5/17/2012 3:44:33 AM > To: "'Historical Costume'" <h-cost...@indra.com> > Subject: Re: [h-cost] Grrrrr ... !I believe the reason people are having > trouble > finding starch depends on > supply and demand. I have no trouble finding Argo and the old blue bottle > of Sta-flo starch in my area. If there is not a big demand for the product > in your area, the stores will drop the product. In my county, there is > diversity in age depending where you live. In the neighborhoods near me, > people are old enough to know what to do with powder or liquid starch. If > I > drove 10 miles west, where the average people are younger generation, the > stores' products differ. That generation would rather go to a dry cleaners > than iron their clothes. If you show a lot of the younger generation a > box or bottle of starch, they probably wouldn't know what to do with it. > Many do not even own an ironing board. > As far as product selection and retailers: > Watch the Costco documentary that is showing this month on MSNBC. We have > problems with Costco dropping products. The documentary explains how > Costco > buys, product lines, markets, etc. The problem is that the retailer and > manufacturer cannot agree on their wholesale prices. When this happens, > Costco drops the product. Costco has a 15% markup and regular grocer > retailers have 25%. Costco is the number one retailer right now. When > Costco, Sam's Club or WalMart drops them a product... what an impact the > top > three grocery stores can make on a manufacturer. Costco carries a limited > assortment or only one product (example ketchup) to deliberately not give > customers choices. Research shows that if you only have one or two choices > of a product, a customer will buy it on spot so they don't have to go to > another grocery store. Given a big assortment, a customer is confused and > will not purchase. > Here a video of 10 minutes of the documentary: > http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rock-center/47182853#47182853 > Calvin Klein sued Warnaco Group, a supplier to Costco and other retail > clubs, for selling CK goods to these cheaper retailers. BTW, you can still > buy SK goods at Costco. > > http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000601&slug=40239 > 91 Which would you choose for clothing-- Costco's 15% markup or a > department store's 50%+ markup for a designer brand. > My husband and I did an interesting survey last week. I was at Sam's Club > and he was at Costco at the same time. We both had a copy of our monthly > grocery list. We talked on the cell phone and compared prices. Sam's does > carry a larger assortment of products than Costco. Costco only carries > 4,000 products. Off the mainland U.S., Costco carries more products...I've > been to their stores in Hawaii and Liverpool, England...love them! I wish > we had the choices these location have. > A big problem with retailers and manufacturers is the extreme couponers who > are purchasing entire shelves of products. I don't think either end knows > how to get a grip on this problem. But it is causing problems of keeping > merchandise on the shelves for the other customers to purchase. > Lastly, some retailers have different prices according to the location of > the store. I have seen this at Lowe's and Food Lion within 10 miles of my > house. Strange, both charge higher prices in lower income areas. Lowe's > actually carries lower and higher ends goods at higher income > neighborhoods. > Now, Lowe's is tracking your purchases by your name. Try it! Get their > Lowe's discount card, and purchase an item. Go to any Lowe's without a > receipt to return the product. They will scan the item and card, and pull > up your receipt from when you originally purchased the item. This can be > good and bad. > Penny Ladnier, owner > The Costume Gallery Websites > www.costumegallery.com > 15 websites of fashion, costume, and textile history > FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/TheCostumeGallery > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > -- Katy Bishop, Vintage Victorian katybisho...@gmail.com www.VintageVictorian.com Custom reproduction gowns of the Victorian Era. Publisher of the Vintage Dress Series books. _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
