Made in China

A friend of the ex-Girlfriend’s is the North American distributor for what I am told is a well-known fashionable line of shoes. I understand that for several years, she has been their top salesperson world-wide. The company has always made their shoes in Spain, but this year, they decided to make shoes in China.

The ex-Girlfriend’s friend has a few problems with this. First, it seems that the Chinese manufacturers have missed a number of deadlines. The product has not shipped, sales calls have had to be cancelled or postponed, and retailers are getting irate. The second is that “Made in Spain” or “Made in Italy” seems to have a certain cachet that “Made in China” does not among people willing to spend $200 + on shoes.

Will all that change? And how long will it take?

PS. The series on Republican and Democrat Presidents will continue on Monday. I’ve been looking at data and found something I think is very interesting. Basically, I think I can explain why any given Democrat performed better or worse than other Democrats, and why any given Republican performed better or worse than other Republicans. I want to mull on what I’ve found for a bit before I write it up.