A recent trip to the mall was the perfect environment to test this theory. My wife and I were recently in Nordstrom's, a high-end retailer known for its excellent customer service, to pick up my son's pants for homecoming. On our way out the door, I noticed a sales rack in the men's department. I found a delightful shirt–just my size!–but one glance at its $150 price tag left me reeling.
I immediately went to the sales clerk. After explaining that we are, after all, in a recession, and in my own words "it's unlikely you will sell a shirt on a clearance rack for this much money," the clerk quickly summoned her supervisor.
Depending on one's perspective, my actions were either a bold move in a challenging time or an opportunity to find the elasticity of non-durable goods in the Western U.S. My wife's utter disgust signaled her apparent disregard for either explanation (she ran to women's shoes to avoid embarrassment). Tune in next time to find out what happened.
