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To the editor:

I received my subscription copy of the November Gifts & Decorative Accessories issue at home in Arizona, fanned through it and never saw the write-up of our company's product. Subsequently, I flew to North Carolina to finalize 2007 plans.

As I was leaving the office, I grabbed another issue and opened it while sitting quietly eating lunch, reviewing the issue page by page. Low and behold, I saw the product write-up.

The moral of the story? Read every page, every month of G&DA!

—Randy Gottlieb, National Sales Manager, Elegant Baby, Burlington, NC

To the editor:

I don't normally write to editors or magazines, but after reading "Se Habla Latino?" in the November issue — particularly the sidebar "Habla Espanol?" — I simply had to write.

I am of Hispanic background, so I know what I am talking about. The question posed in the sidebar, "Which Spanish should I speak to my customers?" shows an abysmal ignorance of the Spanish language.

First of all, Spanish is a language. When you refer to dialects, they are "deviations" of the standard language. Spanish itself is not a dialect. There are dialects spoken in different Spanish-speaking regions, but again, these dialects are not the Spanish language. These dialects would be inherent to the region, and people from the region normally would speak standard Spanish when dealing with others not of their area.

I could also say, what English should I speak? Should I speak English as it is spoken in Georgia? Should I speak English as it is spoken in Maine? Should I speak English as it is spoken in Texas? Or speak English as it is spoken in Massachusetts or Great Britain? Get the picture? They all speak the same English, what is different is the accent and maybe some different local colloquialisms, which would be the same anywhere.

Just because there are vocabulary differences: i.e., different words for cigarettes, for example, depending on where you come from, and different idiomatic expressions does not make Spanish a dialect. It is a language. Otherwise, we would have to say that English is a dialect as well.

I can speak Spanish to anyone in any Latin country from Mexico to Chile or Spain and let me assure you, I would be understood 100 percent. I have friends from Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru, Dominican Republic, Peru and when we get together, I don't have any communication problems whatsoever. Why? Because we are speaking the Spanish language. It's the same language.

Also, I own a business and I have people coming here from different Latin countries and, guess what? I speak Spanish and we understand each other beautifully! Just as I have people coming from different areas of the United States and Great Britain — I speak English and they understand me beautifully as well!

So, retailers should just speak standard Spanish and they would be understood, no matter what. To say they should ..."use the Spanish dialect most commonly spoken in their area...." leaves me speechless. This also gives very wrong information to your readers. It makes it sound as though you have to speak different types of Spanish to different people and that is not the case!

For whoever wrote that sidebar, it is really showing ignorance of the Spanish language. Sorry, but there it is.

Very truly yours

—L.E. Austin, Tesoro Mio, (Spanish for My Treasure), Coronado, California

To the editor:

I want to say how much I enjoyed the Latino story in the November issue of Gifts & Decorative Accessories.

You obviously spent quite a bit of time on it, it was chock full of insightful stats and data.

Congratulations, I think you have opened some eyes. I bet we will see more retailers (in the right markets) addressing this promising market with dedicated efforts!

—Nancy Joseph, N. Joseph Marketing Communications, Venice, CA

We welcome your input. Email mweiskott@reedbusiness.com or write, Letters to the Editor, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 360 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10010