Piggybacking on the strike

The writers strike has been over for some months, but companies are still using it to explain away their earnings disappointments. The thing is many of those companies have little or nothing to do with the entertainment industry. Writing in Silicon Alley Insider, Hilary Lewis says it's a variation on the "blame the weather" trick. (You know that one - sales goals were missed because it was too hot/cold/rainy/snowy/foggy/sleety/haily.) Among the companies that blame the strike: Neiman Marcus, Macquarie Infrastructure (company provides fueling and transportation services at airports), Morton’s Restaurant Group, and Sport Chalet. "Miraculously, the networks and studios themsleves emerged from this winter's writers' strike largely unscathed," Lewis writes. Guess she's a little doubtful about connecting, say, a drop in Neiman Marcus revenues with the four-and-a-half month walkout. I can’t say I blame her. Has a Writers Guild member even been inside a NM store? Does the Neiman Marcus CEO have any idea what writers wear?