Supermarket produce buyers, never the most romantic of souls, have become even less susceptible to regional appeals.

"With a strong economy, buyers become future oriented," she said.

As economic weakness continued, buyers became extremely price sensitive.

As a result, traders and investors are moving cautiously and large buyers have become scarce.

And throughout the region buyers have become standoffish.

But buyers - and legislators - of any age have become more concerned with safety at the wheel.

What actually happened was that the buyer became suspicious and decided to check out the competition.

Since then buyers have become accustomed to the procedures.

The buyer of paper goods, I was later told, had become depressed and taken off - no lie - for an ashram in India.

But as buyers have become more sophisticated, she said, so has the selling environment.