At 01:34 PM, 9 October 2002 -0400, Joseph B. Reid wrote: >Jim Elwell wrote in USMA 22542: >> >>If customers hate buying in pounds, if he has obsolete equipment, if he >>wants to still "ride a horse," why do we need to prosecute him? >> >>He will go out of business on his own. > >Canadian experience indicate that this won't happen. Retail food scales >in Canada were converted to weigh in kilograms during 1982 and 1983, and >loose food was scheduled to be priced by the kilogram or 100 grams in >[1984]. ... Retailers can not be persuaded to stop selling and advertising >by the pound. I know because I have tried to persuade many of them to >switch to selling by 100 grams. I only persuaded only one retailer to >switch, and he went bankrupt soon afterward. I think most customers don't >care one way or the other > >Many delikatessens sell by 100 grams since that seems to be a more >appropriate size of unit for their kind of goods.
The premise of my comment is "If customers hate buying in pounds ...." Joe concludes "I think most customers don't care one way or the other." If customer DON'T care, then of course there will be no change due to market forces. The obvious question is: if the customers don't care, and the store doesn't want to change, why should government be involved in the first place? Where does the government get a mandate to force a change when neither party to the transaction is asking for one? Jim Elwell, CAMS Electrical Engineer Industrial manufacturing manager Salt Lake City, Utah, USA www.qsicorp.com
