ThursdOy, July ,l, 19/ 1 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Nine Bue jean prices plummeting A 1 N N E A P o L I S, Minn, (A) -- Blue jeans, the work pants of gold miners and cowboys that have become a worldwide fashion, are coming down in price this summer as stores across the nation mark them down to spur sales. It all started at County Sect, a 175-store specialty chain headquartered near Minnea- polis. They started the price- catling trend last month by selling men's renim and cordu- roy Levi's, the nation's top selling jeans, for $12.50 a pair, marked down from about $15.50. OTHER RETAILERS includ- ing The Gap, the country's leading jeans seller, Macy's de- partment store in New York and Rich's in Atlanta, followed. Wrangler brand jeans, an- other big seller, also have been marked down in some stores to meet the Levi's price. Jack Crocker, president of County Seat's parent firm, Super Valuo Stores, Inc., says the chain lowered prices in a "basic fundamental marketing approach" to get a larger share' of the leisure-wear market. le would not disclose sales fig- ures. NEITHER LEVI Strauss & Co , the manufacturer of Levi's, nor Wrangler, part of Blue Ball, Inc., has lowered whole- sale prices. A pair of $12.50 Levi's jeans sells at wholesale for $8.25. And Levi's, whose sales this year. of an estimated 150 mil- lion pairs of jeans is an esti- mated 40 per cent of the U. S. jeans market, says it isn't worried. "Retail prices are the pro- vince of the retailer," said one spokesman. Another said the price cutting actually "has stimulated our business rather significantly. Stores are order- ing, and they're ordering ag- gressively." Levi Strauss ended last year with sales up 20 per cent to $1.2 billion and profits up 62 per cent to $105 million. It has di- versified into a wide range of sales this year will amount to leisure apparel. But not all ob- a 7 per cent gain over last servers think the future is to- year's sales of 140 million pair; tally bright, in 1976, sales of jeans were up "Jeans - demand growth is by 12 per cent. slowing," says the Wall Street But while the brokers, re- brokerage house of Leob, tailers, manufacturers and fi- Rhoades & Co., adding it ex- nancial wizards are dressed in pects Levi' Strauss profit three piece suits and discuss growth to slow to 17 per cent the situation, the nation's jean this year. Its estimated jeans fanciers are getting a break. MlThere IS a difference:f: 4 PREPARE FOR: v/:: MCATO DAT* LSATO SAT GRE 0 GMAT " OCAT * VAT aur broad range of programs provides an urmbrel-a at test- ing know-how that enables us to offer the best preparation available no matter which course is taken Over 38 years of experience and success Small cisses. Voluminous home study materials Courses that are constantly up dated Permanent centers pn days. evenings & week ends all year Complete tape facilities for review of class lessons and for use of supplementary materials Make-ups for missed lessons at our centers ECFMG * FLEX NAT'L MEDICAL & DENTAL BOARDS Flexible Programs & Hours Write or colf 1945 PAULNE?45BLVD. ANN ARBOR 48103 a Isal -n ,.,-' OyE UcArtotNAL CENTER e e, aSC, iiscdL,,, 5.rmsw,," TEST PREPARATION SPECIALISTS SINCE 1938mo Riots in Peru kill six LIMA, Peru (W) - Scores of labor leaders were reported ar- rested yesterday in the wake of a 24-hour general strike and rioting that authorities said killed at least six persons in the Peruvian capital. The strike was called Tues- day by the unions to protest government price increases. It ended yesterday as thousands of workers returned to their jobs in factories and stores around Lima. Buses and trains resutted service. 1. I M A NErWSPAPERS re- ported the arrests of labor leaders. Thte stoppage had closed an estintoted 80 per cent of Lima's stores and virtually halted pub- lic transportation. Buses were set ablaze, youths hurled rocks and blocked off intersections is t police counterattacked with r gas and shots while army hi-tiospters hovered overhead. i e if the victims died when i iii attacked a navy bus cii mg troops who opened fi on the crowd, authoriteis ad ey said another per- siii is killed in a separate dis iirbance. 5 1 T N E S S E S ELSE- WIhERE in Lima said they sai several people wounded or kut by police gunfire. ve itness said he saw a mi, urn down a city building m s wealthy district of 1an de Miraflores. At e person was reported t there, but there was no confirmation. ii, two men were inec by gunfire from a' n vehicle as they waited i 11twa bus stop while some yh t transportation was still running. . THE NATIONWIDE IMPACT of the strike couuld not be de- termined because long-distance telephone service was dis- rupted. ' Strikers were protesting aus- terity measures imposed by the military regime June 10 in what it described as an effort to halt the financial collapse of this South American nation of four million people. Gen. Francisco Morales Mer- mudaz' government hiked pric- es of fuel, food and public transport as much as 40 per cent, in a country where 45 per cent of the labor force is unemployed or has no full-time work. THE PRICE increases had touched off disorders in major Peruvian cities when they were announced. The government said it recognized the economic program would be unpopular; but said it was necessary to re- duce imports and enable Peru to keep foreign investor confi- dence. However, the government did act last week to ease the bur- den on the poor when it low- Styling and Regular Cuts U-H stylists at The Union 8:30 A.M.-5:15 PM. Mon. thru Sat. ered prices of bread, flour and noodles. In calling the strike, the un- ions - including Communist and other leftist groups - de- manded further concessions: wage increases for workers and a freeze on general retail prices. HAVE A UCHECKUI 1 T CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE. A NIGHT OF LOCAL WOMEN'S MUSIC FRIDAY, JULY 22 8:30 p.m. CANTERBURY HOUSE Local women musicians will be perform- ing. Time will be provided for informal playing and jamming, so bring your in- struments. Admission is free. SPONSORED BY WOMEN'S PROGRAM COORDINATOR OFFICE Johnny Bench Ouring one of my checkups, the doctors found a spot on my lungs. I thought it might be cancer. So did they. Luckily, it wasn't. Most people are lucky. Most people never have cancer. But those who find they do have-cancer are far better off if their cancer is discovered early. Because we know how to cure many cancers when we discover them early. That's why I want you to have a checkup. And keep having checkups. The rest of your life. It'll be a lot longer if you do. American Cancer Society.