31. But companies that balance their apparel offerings by selling housewares, gardening gear, consumer electronics and other hard goods fared better. 32. Slowing clothing sales could harm Penney, which in recent years stopped selling hard goods such as electronics to emphasize apparel. 33. Even more important was a plan to shift emphasis away from low-margin hard goods to better quality apparel, he said. 34. When people here declare Chapter 11, they often lack much in the way of hard goods to satisfy their creditors. 35. Sears now has more than 800 department stores and 1, 500 off-the-mall stores, which sell furniture, hardware and other hard goods . 36. But the company is looking to take advantage of the popularity of its hard good sales and also move into new markets. 37. "Last year, hard goods like computers and electronics carried the retail industry, " said Jay Meltzer, an analyst with LJR Redbook Research. 38. Both the Dutch and the Indians undoubtedly included intangibles along with any hard goods in their concept of the total transactional value. 39. In the case of hard goods like shoes or books or leaf blowers, the merchant can ship the merchandise to the buyer's address. 40. The clothing part of the business has just taken off in the last two years, and we wanted to expand into hard goods .