Here’s a new take on direct mail that we’ll call the “painfully honest but kind of sad” approach. George Anderson at RetailWire writes that a local men’s retailer sent him the following plea via snail mail.

“In my extensive retail career of 42 years, I have never experienced such difficult times. Tightened credit and economic uncertainty have created the perfect storm of of falling sales… We realize that we must act decisively to raise revenue in an effort to pay suppliers and secure our future.”

Anderson says there’s more, like promises to provide superior customer service, but we’re just surprised that the retailer sent this out in the first place.

The readers at RetailWire are in the retail and/or marketing business and seem to mostly agree that it’s not a good way to drum up business. But what do you think? Would you be moved by a “desperate times calls for desperate measures” letter like this?

“Dear Customer: Please Buy Something” [RetailWire] (registration required)
(Photo: feverblue)

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