| When I started researching this book, it was going tocover only factory outlets and mill shops. But as I con-tinued my research, I found that construct too limiting.I found that I had to include designers and artisans ofall kinds who sold directly to the public at prices farbelow retail. Obviously, the line blurs when the "far-tory" is a one- or two-person operation in the back ofthe store. The same thinking led me to include local craft centers which, because of their nonprofit status, also sold beautiful and unusual merchandise at less than retail prices. Some favorite designers and shops may be con- spicuous by their absence. In most cases, I haven t over- looked them, I ve discarded them. If you are looking for specific products or a brand name, check the indexes. You may find that I have discovered better bargain sources for your "wish list." A brief word about prices in this book. The enor- mous swings in rates of exchange in the past few years that saw the British pound drop to $1.05 and bounce back to $1.58 and the Belgian franc rise from 70 francs to 42 francs to the donar were a clear signal that it would be foolhardy to use contemporary dollar equiva- lents in discussing prices in Europe. Instead, it makes much more sense to leave prices in their own currency and only rarely convert them to dollars to compare them to U.S. prices for identical items, or to give a quick |
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