Uniformity of offerings i.e. cheap Chinese tat as well.
The ‘branding’ people have attempted to convince their employers/clients as well as the public that the sign on the door is more important than the product inside. Stack em high and sell em cheap. But what about us anachronists who want a shirt or pair of trousers to last more than one season as they typically did in previous decades?
The quality of even so-called luxury brands has fallen off a cliff and for some reason the OEMs are pretending the public don’t notice despite the grim sales numbers they must be seeing at corporate.
You've pegged it. If I'm going to buy a pair of poor quality pants made in Asia, I might as well pay $11 at Walmart instead of $60 at the Mall.