Geographic research

GEOGRAPHY

"Seattleites are even more pessimistic about the economy than national peers, Deloitte's annual survey of retail spending trends found. The survey found that 59 percent of Seattle respondents expect the economy to weaken in 2009, compared with 53 percent nationally on average"

"Seattle business people and shoppers said they have known for months that trimming spending is how people are coping. People are cancelling their gym memberships because of job losses. Seattle based Nordstrom Inc. has seen the pinch at its more than 100 stores nationwide. This is the toughest economy climate that we've been working in, in anybody's recent memory, Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White said."

-www.seattlepi.com

"Nordstrom cut its third-quarter earnings and sales outlook as it reported a 9.6 percent decline in same-store sales, worse thatn the 7.1 expected."

"Luxury stores such as Neiman Marcus Inc. and Saks Inc. which had seen a sales slowdown, suffered sharp drops as well-healed shoppers cut back on $600 stilettos and other luxuries."

- www.komo4.com

According to the Lifestyle market Analysis (zipcode edition), The population for Washington state in 2007 was 6,402,104 and the projected retail sales for 2o11 was 129,765,321 dollars. Residents age 18-44, which covers our target market, was the more populated group at 2,458,931 people. Ages 25 and older with a college education was 27.7%, another target market of ours.

According to www.sustainability.com, Seattle is the #3 ranked city for Sustainability. The city was #1 in energy and climate change policy and innovation. This shows that the region is a bit concerned with the environment, making the inspiration for our vegan style bag.

CONSUMER PROFILE

Single females ages 18-34 years old, when asked to rank their top ten lifestyle choices, and Fashion Clothing was the highest ranked by index according to the 2008 Lifestyle Market Analysis.