One word - dismal. There's nothing else to be said but absolutely dismal.

Victoria's Secret is a well-known and revered brand, a very popular brand, one that evokes images of sexiness and Lord knows what else. There's no question it is exploiting this rather interesting way of presenting itself, and consumers are responding.

On the one hand he's extremely capable, a very strong manager, administrator and visionary. On the other hand he seems a bit remote from the field, ... He must absolutely acquire the sense of dealing directly with Mr. and Mrs. Consumer. Can he deal with someone who places an order for $10 rather than $10,000 or $10 million?

To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.

These two companies gave a must-have lesson for all retailers, Sharper Image combed the globe for unusual and exciting products that weren't run-off-the-mill ... Retailers made the mistake of taking customers for granted and the payoff came two weeks ago in much weaker Christmas sales because of ho-hum kind of merchandise.

They feel they no longer need to go broke when they go shopping,