July 29, 2005

Day 75: South American business sense

I mentioned something in the last posting about how the business sense in Argentina much closer resembles ours at home than that of the Bolivians or Peruvians. But today provided me with a clear and precise example of just how skewed and unprofitable their sense of business can be, even here in Buenos Aires.

I was in the Levi's store at the mall, trying to find some jeans (stupid me thought I could go 3.5 months without a pair of jeans, bad idea considering how messed up your clothes get on such a long trip, jeans are durable thus jeans are good - remember that next time Matt!). So I am about 6 feet tall, or 180ish centimeters. Your average Argentinian is about 5 foot 7 inches. So in theory I should go into this Levi's store and generally find jeans that are too small and short for me, right? Au contraire, my logically thinking friend. I tend to wear size 32 length jeans and expected to find mostly size 30's. Instead every single pair of jeans in this store, and we are talking about 50 or more pairs of jeans, were size 34 and up. Literally every style, every color, size 34 and up. Nothing at all to fit me, and I am pratically Gulliver in the land of Lilliputians.

Sometimes you just want to wring people's necks in the hope that your hands might squeeze some sense into the people here. Argentinian's are short, and yet you only have jeans that fit your average Viking? What fucking sense does that make? I asked the guy at the counter about it and he just shrugged and looked at me like I was asking a dumb question. Maybe I was. Maybe the people here just accept that nothing works the way it in theory ought to. Maybe I should open up a jeans store right next door to the Levi's store, offer size 28 and 30 and 32 jeans, and laugh my way to the bank.

Posted by Matt at 04:37:11 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |
Comments
1 - Matt, remember, "it's not the size of the Levi's but what you pack into them!" Ask any girl in Argentina! (Comment this)

Written by: Donaldo Lepori (grandpa) at 2005/07/29 - 20:15:26
2 - As I have just realized that you have this vehicle with which you can express your opinion, I am thrilled to enter in the conversation with the jeans catastophe. I had no intention of requiring jeans on my brief journey through South America, but was sadly mistaken and so I cannot feel bad for you in the slightest. However, now that I am safely away from Bahia and all the fabulous sambas here in Long Beach, CA I hope that it all works out in time, especially given that you are in a more (western) civilized location than La Paz where I happened to meet you. Good Luck. K (Comment this)

Written by: Kate at 2005/07/30 - 07:38:46
3 - I've noticed it, too, whenever buying pants....I asked my Argentine girlfriend, who used to own a clothing store in BsAs, about this thing with the length of pants. She said that most clothing stores here will only buy long lengths for two reasons: 1) in order to reduce the risk that they might get stuck with an inventory that will not sell; 2) the wholesale price that the stores pay for the long pants are less than it is for the shorter, more regular sized lengths.

It seems like Argentines are just used to the fact that they must have their pants hemmed, which can be done for less than $10 pesos though a lot of people have someone in the family who can do it for free. Of course, walking around Buenos Aires, you'll also notice that a lot of people have their pants rolled up....trying to turn the problem into a fashion statement. As I write this, my own slacks are about 5" too long...sigh. (Comment this)

Written by: Jeff Barry at 2005/07/31 - 01:21:22
4 - Cool, I guess that shines some light on the weird situation! I did manage to find some pants that fit, just took a couple days of shopping around. Gotta love this continent, takes two days to do what at home is a matter of 30 minutes.

PS Hey Gramps! (Comment this)

Written by: Matt at 2005/07/31 - 23:45:28
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