21.   Retailers have used bar codes, the scanners that read them and the circuits that interpret them for years to convey price, inventory and other information on products.

22.   Retailers use them in their catalogues and advertisements, and consumers depend on them.

23.   Retailers use markdowns as a way to drive sales and clear excess inventory as the season progresses.

24.   Retailers are also using gender-specific approaches to cash in on perceived differences in shopping behavior.

25.   Retailers often use bankruptcy as a chance to regroup and close unprofitable stores.

26.   Retailers also use Schwartz to make their own special lines.

27.   Retailers typically use the haven of bankruptcy protection to close unprofitable stores.

28.   Savvy traditional retailers have used technology to quietly weed through customer lists, plucking out people they deem unworthy of receiving catalogs and notices of special discounts.

29.   Still, earnings are likely to show improvement because retailers have used fewer markdowns than last year.

30.   Suppliers need only link into the point-of-sale systems that even the smallest video retailers already use.