As the myth goes, of course she wants to sort through racks of clothing for individuals who have no hips, to feel that something is seriously off about her body shape, to compete with her daughter for the same garments, and so on. And if this brief rebuttal isn’t eloquent enough, Chico’s, Coldwater Canyon, Yzza by Liz Claiborne Canada, upscale department stores and a number of newcomer boutiques such as the one whose sale in West Oakland comprised the content for my recent blog, say it even better. Of course women—especially busy, tasteful, trend-setting, sophisticated, savvy boomer women—want somebody to go through the pre-sorting process for them before they set foot into the store. They want choice and freedom, but within the boundaries of what might possibly work for them. So, in brief, any particular boomer-oriented retailers’ demise is not an issue of “those boomer women” but rather a matter of concept and marketing.

As one of the few women outside of suburban New York and Illinois who actually got to go shopping at Forth and Towne, I’ll share some of the highlights of my visit—and you can pass your own judgments. I went to the suburban New York location, by the way. Traveled by loooong train ride and expensive taxi, determined to freshen up my wardrobe at all costs. Here’s what happened:

• The location, a Gap-style storefront in a suburban mall, disappointed right off the bat. The promise of Forth and Towne, embodied by the name, was to have been a hip, upscale downtownish boutique. This one was inside a cavernous and not particularly attractive mall, fluorescent lights, knick-knack carts selling be-jeweled cell phone holders and so on.

• I was confused. The Forth and Towne concept was that there were different types of women, each with her appropriate area. Each had its own descriptive made-up name, none of with which I identified. One area was artsy, soft-fabric casual clothes, for instance. Another was more conservative, structured business clothes.

Continued tomorrow...

Carol Orsborn