21.   The Opryland merchandise was discounted and sold to the public.

22.   To cope with the slump, many companies heavily discounted merchandise to bolster sales.

23.   To pare down excess stocks, companies heavily discounted merchandise, offered free-financing and other incentives and factories throttled back production.

24.   To reduce inventories, companies are laying off workers, reducing shifts to curb production and deeply discounting merchandise.

25.   To reduce inventories, companies have laid off workers, reduced shifts and deeply discounted merchandise.

26.   To reduce inventories, companies have sharply cut production, laid off workers and deeply discounted merchandise.

27.   To work off inventories and bring them more in line with demand, companies are laying off workers, reducing shifts to curb production and deeply discounting merchandise.

28.   To cope with lackluster sales, manufacturers sharply cut production and companies ended up heavily discounting merchandise, which began piling up as the economy slowed.

29.   To revive sagging sales, retailers have heavily discounted merchandise and offered other incentives.