11.19.10
Well, it’s the end of November and I missed Roger Waters and The Wall…again. Back in 1979, when Pink Floyd’s The Wall album about an alienated rock star debuted, I never got a chance to see the show live. At 15, my parents considered my mates and me too young to attend a rock concert by ourselves in New York City. By the time I was old enough to see Waters bring The Wall back to the States (sans the other members of Floyd), college, work or other responsibilities always seemed to get in the way.
So, when a new The Wall tour was announced this spring, I was determined to go. After all, Waters’ 57 and I’m 46 and who knows how many years either of us has left...to rock out that is.
And yet today, after an email from a ticket aggregator and a glance at the calendar, I realized that somehow, I missed Roger Waters again. This isn’t another diatribe about an aging Baby Boomer and his Peter Pan complex, it’s about consumer choices. You see, my schedule was clear, but my conscious was not. With TicketMaster prices in excess of $500 a pop, I couldn’t spend that kind of money—not with three kids’ college bills on the horizon.
With the holiday selling season here and retailers and their suppliers gaining confidence every day, everybody has to remember that a lot of shoppers are still hurting and making choices and tough ones at that. To get products moving again, items must be priced right. At the same time, a little innovation would go a long way in getting consumers to loosen their purse strings.
Innovative products that are priced right are always a good idea. After all, the next recession will probably be here sooner than Roger Waters and The Wall are back on tour.