I will give you an example. There used to be a fantastic store called "Marshall Field's" in Chicago. Their own Field's brand clothing, say simple white T-Shirts, were fantastic. Well priced and would last forever. They have since then been bought out (by Macy's???). Now, I would have never thought that it would be very difficult to bring thick-white-cotton T-shirts to market at $25. I would pay for these and so would many others. But that option is just not there any more.
Why is it that when big chains come in, quality goes down? I am sure they would make plenty of profits on good quality stuff, no? And, you can't blame the outsourcing of production to China or Bangladesh -- they would be happy to produce for you whatever quality you want, shoddy or good, as you desire.
So why the decline in quality on so, so many things that we buy? Has there been a general decline in people willing to pay 20% more for something that will last twice as long?