Recent sales data collected on purchasing trends in Thompsonville indicate that sales of premium ladies handbags at department stores are up over 40 percent from last year. However, there is not a single store in the city that specializes in premium ladie

The author claims that a new ladies handbag store should be built in Thompsonville because lady handbags sales have risen by 40 percent, families in Thompsonville have extra money now and will have more in the future, and that 43 percent of women in Thompsonville are going to buy a handbag in the next 6 months. The argument fails to mention answers to key questions that are integral in its evaluation. The conclusion relies on assumptions for which there is no evidence; therefore, the argument is weak, unconvincing, and has several major flaws that question the author's conclusion.

First, the writer claims that the purchasing trends of handbag department stores in Thompsonville are up by 40 percent in the past year. While this could be positive news for a new handbag store, what it fails to mention is the general economy in the area. Or more specifically, is 40 percent above or below the average growth of all other store departments? By answering this question we will be able to predict if 40 percent is average or not and thus we would know if the handbag business is special or not.

Second, the author assumes that just because families have extra cash, and that this amount of cash will continue to rise, that they will spend it at all, spend it on handbags, and that the amount of money these people have will be enough to purchase a handbag. This author needs to provide us with some evidence that each family first has enough money to even purchase a handbag, and that they will in fact use that money to buy a handbag. Without knowing this evidence, we are left in the dark in the plausibility of the claim that extra money means more handbag sales.

In a final analysis of the reasons, the writer states that 43 percent of the women in Thompsonville plan on buying a new handbag in six months and that this means that a new store would be able to capture these sales. This is deeply flawed because where is the evidence that these women who are going to buy a new product will in fact go to a new store in the area that sells that product? This assumption is rooted in believing that all of these women will become customers. Without knowing the purchasing behaviors of these women, we are unable to tell if any of them would go to a new handbag store. While 43 percent of women will buy new bags in 6 months, we have no idea from this information if a new store would be able to capture any sales.

In summary, the argument is unsound and questionable. The argument could be strengthened if the author clearly provided answers to important and relevant questions. In order to assess the merit of an argument, it is essential to answers to vital questions to all of the contributing factors.