A Bowl of Elusive

Some time back, I was hunting for slippers in UK size 12 in a north-eastern city. I searched through several shops in two to three markets but could not find sizes beyond UK 10. For the uninitiated, I should mention that most brands work on certain common sizes, be it footwear or apparels. These are the sizes that sell the most and most brands cater mainly to these sizes. But for someone like me, who has always been over-sized in clothes and footwear, this poses a problem. Finding shoes has been a challenge since ninth standard – that’s when my feet moved beyond UK size 9. Only high end brands like Nike or Skechers have my size, and even there it’s only available in select options and at select outlets. Being from Retail, I know the reason for it. Take for instance my slipper search – the north eastern population is generally smaller in size as compared to the rest of the country. So finding oversized anything is usually a problem there. When it comes to apparels, certain “plus size”...

I don't claim to be an expert in anything. That would just be arrogance. But I write about things I have seen and experienced and hence I feel that I have the right to discuss it. I have spent the last year in the trade wing of a readymade garment brand. And I realised that all plans and agendas that are agreed upon in the beginning of a period are invariably flushed down the toilet by the end of that period. The bottom line is always sales. How much are we selling at the end? So much so that, for the company I work for, nothing else matters, not even the satisfaction of the buyer. And the most ridiculous thing about it all is the fact that the buyers are harangued to pay for goods that was billed to them without their full consent. Promises are made and not kept. And all this is done by the representatives of a very prestigious company. All this happens after months of endless reports, analysis and crunching of data. How can a company carry on neglecting the basi...