They’re ordering at lower prices, they’re keeping orders small and they’re planning to buy more only if consumer demand picks up, said David Wolfe, creative director of The Doneger Group, which consults with stores on apparel buying.

For shoppers, this hesitance will translate into fewer choices and, if demand increases at all, fewer bargains. For factories abroad, it’s feeding desperation at the time of year when manufacturers usually start ramping up to fill summer and Christmas orders.

But retailers are more worried they’ll be stuck with unsold merchandise they’ll have to discount than that their shelves will go bare.

“We would rather chase than not and, if we cannot get it, we would rather not get it than have too much inventory,” J. Crew Group Chairman and CEO Millard Drexler told investors during a recent conference call. “Because none of us really have figured out where this thing is going, where is the bottom, where is it settling in at.”

Saks Inc. Chairman and CEO Steve Sadove recently reminded investors that full-price selling is “largely a result of supply and demand.”

Isserlis has been instrumental in expanding house counsel from 2000 cases with supervision of 10 attorneys and 20 support staff to more than 20,000 cases and supervision of 40 attorneys and 50 support staff.

Isserlis is not only a champion of women in the law, a specialist in a high volume practice and in personal injury defense work, her expertise in insurance coverage was instrumental in changing the laws regarding rental car agencies and their refusal to defend and indemnify the renters of vehicles involved in accidents.

Her efforts led to a Court of Appeals decision which insures that rental car agencies provide primary coverage and a defense to the renters of their vehicles.

Isserlis attended Syracuse University where she received a bachelor of science degree, summa cum laude, and was awarded her juris doctor degree from Hofstra University School of Law. She oversees the litigation and management of approximately 30,000 lawsuits venued in almost every county in the State of New York and is the proud mother of 18-year-old twins attending Cornell and Syracuse Universities.

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