Saw this in the New York Times and I had to chuckle:
The chief executive of Wal-Mart Stores, H. Lee Scott Jr., said yesterday that the introduction of upscale products, like silk camisoles and 300-thread-count sheets, had proved “choppier than it should be” and that the company had “moved too far too fast” with fashionable clothing.
“What we did was overload the fashion part,” he said, by introducing new trendy clothing lines like Metro 7, a Wal-Mart-designed brand, in too many stores too quickly. The solution is to carry “fashion basics” that are less intimidating to the company’s consumers, Mr. Scott said.
While apparel sales have not met expectations, those of everyday products like socks and laundry detergent have surged. Mr. Scott said Wal-Mart has sold 675 million pairs of white socks in the past year.
Wonder how many pairs of sandals they sold to go with those white socks.