Letter to the editor

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 5/14/2001 12:00:00 AM

Who is to blame for the domestics industry's problems? Answer: 50 percent the retailers, 50 percent the manufacturers.

The great value in America is sheets and towels, but who knows it?

In almost any industry, a buyer's first question is "What's new?" In the domestics industry, the questions and statements are: "Where will I put it?", "What can I replace?" and "You are not my regular resource."

Then there are those retailers whose credo is: "We must cut down on vendors." They overdo it, and thus they cut down on new ideas.

Manufacturers make items that appeal to tens of millions of customers, but they keep it a secret. Ads should be run for the benefit of the dumbest person reading the ad, and that goes for packaging as well. People do not read the small print on packages.

Too many times the emphasis is on price rather than the usage of the item.

Woman spend more than one-third of their lives in the bedroom. They are constantly buying new dresses. Why not [a promotion that suggests] "change your life — change your sheets?"

For years, I have been advocating Grandparents Day, the second Sunday in September. It would provide added business [because] there are more grandparents than parents. How can retailers be blind to new ideas and good will?

— Alvin L. Levine