My friend Deko and I, were recently discussing maternity clothing stores. Given our interests, obviously running one would be potentially very enjoyable, and a hypothetical discussion is almost as good. Being a specialty type of clothing, the market is fairly small, and too small a population wouldn't economically support one. We were trying to figure out if the town I live in is large enough to support such a store. This is difficult because of how many assumptions you have to use. The expenses of running such a store. The profit margin on maternity clothing. The birth rate we had to work with is the national average. What large a portion of the local population of pregnant ladies will shop at your store, rather than the internet, catalogs, and other maternity clothing stores in the nearest major city? How much do pregnant women spend, on average, on maternity clothing over the course of their pregnancy?

The last one, I might actually be able to find out more about, hence this journal. I'm most interested in hearing from women who've had pregnancies, and those who've had a direct connection to those women (husbands, boyfriends, etc.), then just anyone in general. People with a fetish for pregnancy, I still want to hear from you but your answers come about dead last in usefulness, regrettably. Please mention which group you fall into. So, basically, what I want to know:

How did you/they perceive your/their pregnancy, in terms of appearance? How did your/their clothes shopping habits change? Did you/they buy lots of maternity clothes, or as little as necessary? More clothes than they usually buy? Less? The same?

Geez, I sound like a marketing researcher. Heh, I guess I sort of am, even though I'm not selling anything.