Can you give an example of a "well known, mid-priced dept store"? Do you mean Pennies or Sears? Except for sales, price will affect the quality of the fabrics. I do a lot of clothes shopping online. I've found that I had to learn which stores met all my requirements: acceptable price, acceptable quality, consistant fit, style. I did quite a bit of return shipping in the beginning and that hurts! But it taught me which places just don't work for me. Some places simply do not use the generally accepted sizes. Victoria's Secret for example, generally runs large, J Crew runs small. It's really the same for brick and mortar stores - you find which stores carry what you like and want. Unfortunately too many cater to teenagers. I think that is extremely short-sighted, given the larger Baby Boomer group who are now middle-aged. In the end, I settled for higher prices to get quality and fit over bargain prices. Lately, I've been trying to use some newly opened brick and mortar versions of the same online stores (like J Jill or Talbots) to save on shipping costs. I notice that these stores have *less* selection than their online versions. The only time I notice sizes lacking for online clothes is if I wait too long to order. Catalog stores definitely carry a lot less inventory than they used to. Some, like Soft Surroundings, seem to have everything on back order. I wonder if they wait until there are enough orders for something before they have it made?! Since I buy higher priced materials, I can't buy as much so I make sure I get classic separates that can work together. Better fabrics last longer too. I do still shop locally for bargains. Some shops not inside malls will offer lower prices to get customers. See if there is a Cato store near you. The clothing styles are rather youthful but they have nice accessories and the prices a great. In addition, check out consignment stores. I found a local second hand clothing store where a lot of well to do women drop off their used clothing. I've gotten some real bargains there of good name brands. In the end, you have to determine your personal clothing priorities. If lower cost is first on your list, you will probably have to compromise on other issues. I have a friend who is on a budget, but still manages to always be amazingly put together in a seemingly endless variety of outfits, from shoes to ear rings to lipstick color! She does no online shopping but spends most of her free time bargain hunting; haunting TJ Maxx, Marshalls and sales, sales, sales. For myself, I have better things to do than spend all my free time in stores. ;) I don't know about marketing strategies, but I often wonder about retailers in particular. I've been in so many stores with racks too full of clothes, poorly lighted dressing rooms, dressing room hooks full of rejected clothing (even piled on the floor), no clerks, clerks who were slooooowww or rude, etc., etc. And I do understand hating malls. It's like shopping at the zoo sometimes. ;) No wonder people prefer to shop online.

gr8day, I'm glad that your spider situation is under control. You may not get them in your home in October where you live. But we always have them coming in to find a warmer place when it starts to get cold. I've been seeing a lot of spiders lately in my house. I don't have ants, so I can't comment on that, but I think that the DE kills ants. You sprinkle the DE in areas that have activity inside and outside. The DE will need to be re-applied after it rains. I had tried the Ortho Home Defense Max spray and also a permethrin spray, but the (dried) residual does nothing for spiders; the spiders walk right over the residual. These insecticides only work for spiders if they are sprayed on the spiders or if a spider walks into the wet spray. These insecticides won't destroy a spider's egg sac, so the egg sac has to be removed. I know what you mean about hired workers not showing up for appointments. So frustrating. When I hired Terminex, they showed up a lot when I wasn't home, so they only sprayed the outside of my house and not the inside. I had to keep calling them back to finish the job. They also were supposed to take down any spider webs, but the technician never bothered with removing the webs.

I did have chance to look this company over recently. Palliser makes a wide variety of stylish products in the medium price range. The regular sofa category has sinuous springs seat construction with sewn in seat and back cushions. They have a step up category with a drop in coil spring system and foam with coil seat cushions which are removable but I think here again the back cushions are sewn on. They have plywood frames as well. They have plants in Canada and Mexico. The company is based in Canada. They also have a good selection of leathers and fabrics with quite a few protected and semi-aniline leathers. I thought the recliners looked good and here again they have a wide selection will all kinds of pieces and configurations. In the medium price range I think it is a good company to look at.

Just a thought. In one particular fabric shop, the very knowledgeable clerk recommended that I use indoor-outdoor fabric for pillows and window coverings. It won't fade and it cleans with water. Some of those fabrics are similar to a basket print. For your requirements, many of the outdoor fabrics have spa blue and white strips and prints. Good luck with your search!