They're doing a lot of preparation. On the other side, on the home store side, it's not a question of fashion as much as of knowing your market, the demographics and what they're buying. Northern California buys something different than southern California because of the weather. And then there's Texas, which is a whole other world. And then there's Minnesota, where clothing is totally based on weather.
Most people go up through the ranks.
They get in training programs at department stores or work on the sales floor in a store and grow within it. I was kind of born into it. My father and mother were both buyers. My father started with Gimbel's and ultimately went on to work with a buying office in New York. My first job was in the mailroom at my father's company.