boo hoo retail

a colleague e-mailed our entire company the following list of retails stores that are either closing all stores, a specific number of stores, or just some unknown number of stores between oct. '08 & jan. '09.

closing *all* stores: linens & things, cache, wickes furniture, bombay, levitz, talbots, wilson leather, sharper image, j. jill, piercing pagoda, whitehall, movie galley

closing "x" many stores: the gap (85), ann taylor (117), footlocker (140), eddie bauer (27), zales (82), ethan allen (12), home depot (15), pep boys (33), disney (98), sprint/nextel (133), KB toys (356)

closing "some" stores: loews, dillard's, circuit city, lane bryan, fashion bug, catherine's, JC penny, pacific sunware

the e-mail was to serve as a list of retail stores that we should avoid buying gift cards from during the holiday season as gifts.

it is evident from some of the names in this list (see linens & things, the gap, ann taylor, footlocker, lowes, home depot) that things aren't right side up in the economy. luckily everyone i know still has a job & for the most part it sounds like everyone's company is doing well. so kudos to those of us in austin for now at least.

of course you didn't need this list of retail stores to realize something wasn't right in the economy. unless you've been living under a rock you know what i'm talking about. think freddie & fannie, the $700 billion bank bailout, & now the BIG 3 detroit auto manufactures are on their knees looking for $25 billion from the government. lucky for me & kris right now mortgage rates are looking good & we are hoping to lock any day now.

i've digressed to far from where i wanted to go with this one. back on topic.

so my initial thought when i saw the list was wow, the ripple of effect of a down economy is just beginning. my other thought was what little value these stores added to begin with & how i wasn't going to miss any of them.

when i drive between austin & dallas (almost once a month now) it's evident to me that there are way more BIG box stores than we need. hell, it's evident when i drive to & from work each day that there are too many BIG box stores. it drives me nuts to see so many of these stores. the stores take away from the personality of a city/town in my opinion. many will argue that they offer convenience & low costs. convenience is one of the last things i'd suggest that the offer. shopping in my opinion is one of the most inconvenient things we could do with our time. internet shopping, that's convenient. too many folks are running around shopping after work & on their weekends versus spending "real" time with their family & friends, traveling, going to the park, exercising, cooking, enjoying a nice meal, reading, drawing, you get the picture by now. as i walk through most department stores & grocery stores the isles are packed with 5 or more of the same item. take for example laundry detergent. there is an entire isle in the store full of detergents with 15 or more scents, some with bleach added, some powder, some liquid, different sizes, etc. --- give me a break --- i just need laundry detergent. do we really need that many choices? does what type of laundry detergent we buy say something about "who" we are?

maybe i'm a bit of a socialist but i'd be just as happy as i was when i was a kiddo in school. remember when you got a list of what you needed for school? i'd be more than happy if i got my home supplies determined for me based off the square footage of my home, number of rooms, bedrooms, pets, number of people living in the space, etc. just ship me my supplies once a month & let's call it good. does anyone really enjoy shopping for groceries, cleaning supplies, or anything at stores like walmart, target, etc.?

i think what's happening in the retail market right now is more than just some economic disaster. it's a sign of excess being cleaned up. we never needed so many retail stores to begin with. it's urban sprawl to the extreme.

what scares me most right now is what will come of these big & empty stores (warehouses). will our strip malls begin to look like ghost towns? how long will these building that don't have any architectural character sit emtpy? if i had my choice i'd like to see them all torn down & have them replaced with parks & the wild/natural areas they once were.

i could go on & on about this. so many parts of retail frustrate me. maybe i should just say, oh goodie thanks for the e-mail b/c now i won't buy a gift card (what kind of gift is that anyway - tis this season to be shopping versus finding something that will have some meaning to someone) from one of these stores.

while i'm hating on shopping for the holidays for a moment. has anyone else noticed how quick the retailers have moved to hang christmas lights, reefs, etc.? can't we wait for thanksgiving to pass before putting this stuff up? if you are a UT fan you have to wonder if the UT/ATM game was moved this year from the day after thanksgiving (black friday) to thanksgiving day so no one (to include men) have an excuse for not being out shopping.

bah humbug :)

87 - 89 - 93 - $$$

oh my! i've been listening to NPR & i realize oil is at its highest selling price per ever - $107.88 a barrel - but damn i didn't realize the impact to us (the consumer) until i was at the pump tonight.

*** 87 - $3.139, 89 - $3.269, 93 - $3.399 ***

it may be time for me to consider riding that new shiny bike to & from work & if kristin wants that honda fit then i'm going to support that decision all the way. is it possible that we may see the price for a gallon of gas reach $4 before end of year? at this rate of increase i'm afraid it's actually possible.

republican or democrat

walt, a buddy of mine, sent me a link to www.votechooser.com. i've been leaning towards obama since the beginning so i wasn't surprised to see obama at the top of my list. i was however surprised to see clinton in the 2nd position & edwards (prior to him dropping out) in the 3rd slot. my one, two, & three were all democrats!

i started to wonder, am i a democrat too? maybe i am. i know i grew up in a conservative household. i was in the military. i'm a hard worker & it grates my every nerve when i'm around someone that is not. i liked reagan. i'm not a fan of giving stuff to people that don't work for it. i even used to watch rush limbaugh's TV broadcast with my dad when i lived at home & i own a couple of bill o'reilly & michael savage books!

so what happened?

i still think people should work hard & that we must maintain a strong military. that doesn't mean that i think that our approach to the war we are in was right. i think the topic of abortion & gay marriage are just distractions & that isn't what determines whether you are a republican or a democrat. i think our health care is better than any other country's, however, i think the costs are insane & too many people can't afford health care. i think global warming is a real thing & that we need to address many other environmental issues. i think we should allot more money to education because we as a nation are *not* getting smarter.

so is this how a democrat thinks?

i should have mentioned that giuliani was my least favorite according to www.votechooser.com. when i first learned of him running i thought for sure he would win my vote. i've always liked the guy, i've read quite a bit about his tenure as mayor in NY, & i've seen him speak once in dallas & let me just tell you he's nothing like our current president - thank goodness!

in the end i think this year's ticket will look like obama/edwards & mccain/giuliani. if that's the case, i'll be voting for the smoker.

out with the old, in with the older

today i departed with my a4. i know it is going to a good home; however, i am still sad. i’ve never owned a car longer than 2 years & i had this a4 for 4 ½ years. i was $2K away from having it fully paid off too. we had some good times & i will miss driving it. i remain very impressed with german engineering. a good friend of mine likes to say, “if it isn’t german, sweedish, or jap it is crap.”

so now i start a new chapter with automobiles. the old (’03) a4 has been replaced with an even older (’99) 4runner. the 4runner fits my current lifestyle – i don’t need a fancy car to pick up hot chicks (didn’t have one when i picked up kristin 6 years ago either - i was driving a civic at the time), i don’t need a standard transmission to have fun driving because now i need something that is hands free so i can hold conference calls from my car & drink coffee at the same time, i need it to be easy to haul around bikes, we now have a BIG dog (payton – a rhodesian ridgeback), & most importantly i don't need a car payment & now i’ve got a car that is paid off! NO more car payments – well that’s not exactly true, we still owe on kristin’s ’06 4runner.

it’s been 10 years since i haven’t had a car payment. i was 20 years old living in hawaii & i was driving an ’89 prelude. i suppose i’ve owned a few cars – 8 in 14 years to be exact. that’s a different car every 1.75 years (21 months). i think i like the aspect of buying a car more than anything else. not to mention my needs (wants) change as i mature. i’ve got an entire theory on male car buying (based on my own knowledge) that will find its way to the blogosphere very soon.

vorsprung durch technik

it is about time starbucks!

times finally aren’t so good for starbucks. about three years ago i tried to give starbucks coffee up – let me repeat that. i tried giving up “starbucks coffee”, not “coffee” – i’m not that crazy :) it wasn’t that i didn’t enjoy their coffee, in fact i love their coffee. i’m not one to order a frappucchino, a mocha, etc. – i just want a cup of black coffee with nothing added to it & in my opinion starbucks coffee quality & taste is consistent & rocks.

so why did i try to give it up? starbucks was becoming to commercial. it started feeling like a fast food shop – how quick can we turn a customer in/out appeared to be their driving concern. drive-thru windows were even installed. OK, i’ll admit that drive thru can be convenient at times. ever try sitting at a starbucks to actually do work? have you noticed that it’s always freezing inside starbucks & loud? you think that’s an accident? heck no, they want you in & out that door as quickly as possible. so they crank down the air & turn up the music & people leave because they can’t concentrate. the straw that broke the camels back was when they introduced t-mobile & *not* free internet - i was so pissed! then more food items started showing up (none of them good for you), they started selling walls of merchandise to include $1,500 espresso machines, CD purchases, & over-priced odwalla drinks, water, etc. most importantly of all these things – a tall coffee costs over a $1.70! i was checking out starbuck’s menu one afternoon & if you order anything other than a tall coffee or a espresso shot you are in for a $2+ drink. most drinks on their menu range from $3 - $4 bucks! give me a break!

the problem i ran into while trying to give up starbucks... other coffee spots were convenient given my location & the coffee was usually hit or miss day-to-day. it also seemed that ever corner i turned someone was giving me a starbucks card as a present so how could i avoid free coffee?

so i continue like so many others to frequent starbucks on a daily basis. how do i afford it? you’ll love this – the credit card kristin & i use is a starbucks rewards card. we don’t earn air miles – we earn starbuck’s points. for over two years now we’ve been fortunate enough that we’ve never had to “pay” the high dollars at starbucks due to the plethora of points that we earn each month.

we’ll i’m not the only one that has been frustrated by starbucks obviously & as a result starbucks IS now starting to feel some pain due to all their “dirty” tactics. they claim to serve their consumers – yeh right! gouge them for every dollar you can & get them out as quickly as possible has been their approach for too long!

it was just two weeks ago that they brought back their original CEO that took them to the top. early this month they fired jim donald & they reinstated howard shultz. if you own starbuck’s stock then you know that on jan. 4th their stock price was sitting at $18.11. the stock had fallen over half of its value since may 5th of 2006 when it was at its peak of $39.63 a share.

upon hearing this news i visited starbuck’s website & the home page was nothing but a letter from their CEO howard shultz explaining to consumers (aka investors) how he was going to turn things around & serve his customers ethically. you can still find the letter on their website but it no longer makes up their main page.

oddly enough starbucks is supposedly feeling the crunch from dunkin donuts & mcdonalds. i hear mcdonald’s coffee is actually really good & cheap; however, it goes against everything i believe in to visit a mcdonalds. as for dunkin, there is only one that i know of in austin & it’s out of my way to visit. i have been reading a lot about dunkin & how they have been working on changing their brand image recently. they’ve always been the coffee/donut shop for the common man. while i think they still stand by that statement, they are changing things up to draw more consumers (yuppies that are frustrated with starbucks) through their doors.

so this morning i heard something on NPR about starbucks that really peaked my interest. starbucks is going to offer a $1 cup of coffee. i have repeated it over & over that a cup of black coffee should *not* cost any more than a buck. unfortunately for me starbucks is only rolling this promo idea out in its seattle store locations to see how it’s going to work & probably more importantly whether they can sustain at selling coffee at this price. i think it may actually work for them & more importantly us – the consumer! now how about turning that A/C down & providing us some free internet shultz!

additional information about starbucks if you are curious:

- 1971: first stoor opened in seattle
- 1982: howard shutlz gets involved
- jul. 03, 1992: starbucks IPOs for $0.71 – 165 stores
- 1999: starbucks buys TAZO tea (ever wonder why they sell TAZO?)
- 2000: shultz steps down & orin smith becomes CEO
- 2001: the starbucks card that we all have learned to love makes its appearance
- 2003: starbucks acquires seattle’s best
- 2004: t-mobile hot spots installed (bad (greedy) move)
- 2005: orin smith retires, jim donald takes charge
- may 05, 2006: starbucks is at it’s peak $39.63 – 12,440 stores!
- jan. 04, 2008: starbuck’s stock is at $18.11 (less than half of what it was worth in may ’06)
- jan. 04, 2008: starbucks sells naked juice brand (cutting loss leaders)
- jan. 04, 2008: starbucks stops offering organic milks (cutting costs & inventory)
- jan. 07, 2008: donald is fired & shutlz is brought back in as CEO
- jan. 23, 2008: trying $1 coffee in seattle stores

- jan. 23, 2008: starbuck’s stock is at $18.67 (well, we are headed into a recession folks)

stuff to sell in 2008

normally folks consider all the things they want to buy for a new year (a house, a car, a BIG screen TV, a laptop, a pet, etc.). well this year we, well maybe just me, are starting the new year off with some stuff we need to sell/get rid of.

you all know that feeling of getting rid of stuff right? i feel like a "weight" has been lifted. i love it! i'm proud to say that each year kristin & i get rid of even more stuff that we don't really need. granted, kristin & i do have 5 bikes between us & i'm looking to buy another... i suppose that is my BIG purchase of '08, a full carbon tri bike! anyway, that's probably the only area that we have excess & in all honesty i need a road, mountain, & tri bike - they all serve *very* different purposes. i will most likely sell my existing tri bike when i get a new one, or just permanently leave it attached to the trainer & kristin is definitely selling her crosstrail bike this year (hasn't ridden it once in the 6 years that we've been together).

so what's all on the chopping block for '08?

- the '03 audi A4 is the biggest of the things we need to sell

- the new sofa we bought in sept. & already hate

- my pull-up/dip/leg-lift machine (no room for it)

- the crosstrail bike

craigslist here we come!