I do wish talk of doom and gloom amongst retailers and passers by would cease, it has the same effect as sneezing in a crowded subway, the virus spreads like wild fire. We're not buying into it. All the slash and burn sales tactics. It contravenes basic economic principles; "less effort for greater return" not the other way round.



It's like clear felling a forest to make way for cash crops knowing that in a mater of years the top soil will have been washed away and the land becomes worthless. The value is in the forest.

Here are just a few headlines found in Drapers, England's number one fashion business magazine.

oCost-cutting drives M&S

oMore administrations loom as Elvi collapses

oJobs axed at Macy's

oUS suffers low start to year

oMulberry slashes its dress prices

oSlow down forces Irish Indies to trim budget

And we're only on page 12.

We're just small online retailers selling luxury men's fashion accessories and we've had a very busy January and February looks dam good so far. September, October and December 2007, better than expected. I think we've got something.

Big retailers should develop closer more coalitional relationships with small independents because the indies have more direct relationship with customers They work at the coal face and thanks to the internet are able to see what customers seek just by the keywords they are typing into Google. Where as corporate decisions are generally made in the board room and the topic is always the bottom line, so they bring in high cost consultants to give advice on trend patterns and marketing strategies. Small retailers listen to their customers and keep a very keen eye on changing trends. Armed with a flexible strategic plan they can change positions quickly, just the way a sail boats tacks in the wind.

Take Floyd Mayweather for example, he always prepared a workable, flexible strategy for every fight. He sussed every possible scenario and quickly adapt to changing environments. There are always risks and he prepared to take a few head shots on the way to achieving his goal. Exactly like sailing, you have to forecast the wind changes and a prepare to tack quickly. Imagine having Floyd as your strategic planning consultant?

As small retailers we did a bit of economics and decided to hold our position true, not devalue our products by selling them at half the price. After all we would have to put in double the effort to get the same return, that's of course if we were able to sell double, if not, the loss is even greater. Besides we know the value of what we sell. With brands like Vivienne Westwood, Timothy Everest, Ian Flaherty and London Badge and Button

During sale time, the high street stores refer to it as shifting stock, this is the value they put on big brand names, I think there's some work to do on this one. It's like calling your customers punters, that's a good way to drive them off.

We take a different view, ours is to increase percentage of profit as turnover increases. The way to do this is drive down overheads. Continually improving the way we do things and adhering to basic economic principle of "less effort for greater return" is part of our strategy. It's a vicious cycle. All are interdependent on one another, like links in a chain, where there's a weak link there is loss of value in a process and that means you are not improving. Your turn over increases but your profit margin stays the same, what's the point? It might sound like a lot of malarkey, but it works.

As the big retailers get bigger, so do the opportunities for small retailers to slip in under their noses and fill the ever growing gap with good service, maintain value in products and continually improving. The customer wins on all fronts.

All we do is sell high quality English Cut, Made and Trimmed silk ties and a very nice collection of silver and enamel cufflinks that are made by the designer's hand. It helps fill the niche market, which continues to grow.

If you have an opinion voice, we'd like to hear from you.