DESPERATE times call for desperate measures and in the retail business times are getting pretty desperate.
Booming Hong Kong, economic miracle that it is, seems to be having difficulty doing what it used to do best - selling things.
Retailers across the territory are desperately slashing costs in an attempt to offset the pressures of massive rents, reduced consumer spending and high staff costs.
We already are seeing major retailers sacking permanent staff and replacing them with casual employees - always a sign that a company is seeing harder times.
But we have been forwarded a fascinating letter from reader John Bryant, a director of Foreign Press Distributors, which is owed money by retailer USA & Co, and wanted to draw attention to this innovative method of cost control.
In what amounts to a sob story, this letter provides an interesting insight into what the retail environment is really like out there.