Being in business semi-monopoly or otherwise means you are...

Being in business semi-monopoly or otherwise means you are competing. If you start reducing choice by rationalising your product lines to only those which are best quality and inevitably cost more then you can expect to lose customers. Ask the retailers what is happening right now - the cost of living is causing the buyers to either reduce purchases or buy cheaper lesser quality items. The major retailers are already stating this. In buoyant times I would like to think that your ESG suggestions could be worked into the WES sourcing of stock but I would not think this is a good time to be trying to pull any of the levers you are suggesting. My thoughts are that there is still some time for the effects of the higher interest rate to play out due to it lagging the rate changes by up to a year before all of the effects wash through the economy. As a retailer I went through one recession and it was a very trying experience. I eventually shifted stock by running an extended sale at much reduced margins until things began to stabilise. Luckily replacing stock I was able to restore margins because the wholesalers were suffering the same problems as I was and were reducing prices to shift stagnant stock. There is just one other point about pricing and without saying what it is I suggest you try to buy a cheap new Stihl chainsaw anywhere unless they are being advertised by Stihl as being reduced. Anyway I do not disagree with you I am just saying it is easy to talk about it but damned hard to put into practice.