Quality during a recession

Does anyone remember the triangle model that reflected the qualities of Speed, Quality and Price? The deal was you could pick any two, but all three were not possible. In other words you could have something (a product or a service) quick and cheap, but like fast food, its probably not going to be too high a quality, you could have fast and good, but it wont be cheap, or you could have good and cheap, but not get it very fast. I believe that this model still holds true, but the question is does anyone choose high quality during a recession? Does fast still matter during a recession. I worry that most people choose the low cost option no matter what the consequences.

We see Wal-Mart is doing good business during these hard times, but that most of the higher end retailers are reporting life-threatening results.

I for one, believe that higher quality is typically a better option. Quality has many components to it, including the characteristic of being appropriately sized and engineered (with regards to software development and technology architecture anyways). Over my career, I have found countless examples of how experienced teams of people who deliver high quality solutions save companies money in the long run. They also decrease pain associated with a project (on time delivery, done right the first time, etc.).

I find that paying for quality rarely leaves someone regretting their decision. I don't think this is true for the other options in the triangle. When wise people evaluate the real cost of the low cost option, they rarely find it was as cheap as they expected or that much cheaper than the higher quality option.