AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to millions of articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
Shelf life: retailers and manufacturers juggle expectations against reality when trying to anticipate the next big thing.
When the Spice Girls came blazing through Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, they left a lot of empty toy store shelves in their wake.
Spice Girl dolls are the newest incarnation of the "hot" toy, a retailer's fondest dream - or worst nightmare, when there aren't enough to go around.
A K-Mart in the North Hills had 250 Spice Girl dolls in stock when the British pop stars came to Pittsburgh last month - all 250 were gone after one day on the shelves.
One thing there was no shortage of: finger-pointing.
"Usually, the manufacturers don't make enough - they don't estimate how it's going to sell," said Bill Manchester, a store manager at Kmart, McIntyre square, …
