[mewzilla]

It bothers me as well that some here will not take the time to consider buying in their communities first, even if it means paying a higher price because it is brick and mortar.

Dude, do NOT go there with ME. Buying in my retail wasteland of a community?

SNORT.

Pard, I literally cannot do that most of the time thanks to choices my local retailers have made. For instance, nobody around here stocks tall women's clothing? What do you want me to do. Run around in high water pants? If a local retailer wants my biz, they can carry what I want or need at a price I'm willing to pay. And on price I am fortunate enough to be flexible. But if they don't have what I want or need in the first place and/or are charging an insanely markup, I'm damned if I'll settle for less when I can easily get it elsewhere.

[Dr. Sivana]

Pard, I literally cannot do that most of the time thanks to choices my local retailers have made. For instance, nobody around here stocks tall women's clothing?

I had the exact opposite problem. I had been ordering wide shoes for men online from Hitchcock for years. I ordered the same model shoe (different color) in the same size, and they changed the size on me. They refused to acknowledge their fault, and though I received a refund on the shoes, I paid shipping both ways. They were supposed to pay return shipping but never did. They have permanently lost my business. In the meantime, I found a wide shoe store in nearby Mesa, AZ, and found a pair of walking shoes that fit perfectly. On-line is not the best for everything.

P.S. my wife agrees with you about the Tall Women's clothing.

[Mr. Jeeves]

You've put your finger on the real problem for brick-and-mortar retail going back decades - 90% of its owners/managers/employees have no idea what they are doing. They go out of business and blame Amazon, instead of their own poor customer service and incompetent merchandise buying.

A good local store selling non-commodity products (this is an important choice fro new owners to make) should be able to run rings around any online retailer, becoming a trusted resource for its customers.

[Sans-Culotte]

For instance, nobody around here stocks tall women's clothing?

Clothing stores have always been like that. One reason I quickly adjusted to buying things online is that I have always had trouble finding men's clothing that was tall enough for me (I'm 6''5"). I was ordering out of catalogs like Eddie Bauer and Lands End for years before Al Gore invented the internet. I don't really blame stores for not carrying sizes they cannot sell to 80% of their customers. Even a lot of online retailers do not sell tall clothing.

Gay C, Penny used to have a pretty good Tall Men section in their stores until their CEO changed the way all the stores were laid out several years ago. I would rather buy from actual stores if I can.

[Tallguy]

“For instance, nobody around here stocks tall women’s clothing? “

Or Mens... I’m 6’5” 225 lbs. Tall but not heavy. I used to be able to pick up Levis bluejeans with a 36” waist/36” leg at the local Sears. No more. They don’t stock any leg lengths beyond 34” and that is getting hard to find. Sales associates just direct you to the website.

I got the message. I buy all my clothing online. I never go into Sears anymore.