Eyes on the Prize

For the first time this year I have had the opportunity to invoke the Scanning Code of Conduct on a retailer. Over the past couple of years, I've experienced more than a few instances where the price of an item was incorrectly advertised (either at the store or the flyer-price level). In these cases, the method of remedy that I usually pursue is to request that the item be free because it has been improperly priced (the code does not discriminate as to whether the scanned price is higher or lower than the advertised price). A list of major companies who subscribe to the Scanning Code of Practice can be found here.

My reasoning for paying attention to price-scanning (along with money saving potential) is that it serves to increase diligence and expedience on the part of the store. If this money were coming out of an individuals pocket, or resulted in some type of tangible hardship to a person, I would be quite reluctant to call them on it. I don't mind taking a large company to task though; as, unlike the laws of certain countries, I do not consider corporations to be persons or even pseudo-people. Yes, people count on the share-performance of a company to create wealth for themselves, but I have been purchasing groceries for years and god-willing, I fully intend to continue this trend. An old saying goes: "the house always wins." I'm more than certain that in this case, the house of Loblaw has won back its losses - thousands of times over. I'm sure that the number of people who pay attention to their thrift is certain to increase mani-fold as the economy continues its unyielding march toward the pits of hell.

Some retail institutions/cashiers have a habit of turning the display away from the customer while inputting prices, which occasionally results in some neck-craning or manoeuvering to have a clear line of sight to the display. In some cases this is probably for viewability/ergo. In the back of my mind I imagine a morning meeting where the Store Manager, after telling his Cashiers "really push the reward-points credit card today, guys", reminds everyone to "keep the Code claims to a minimum - we got eaten alive last quarter.."


This is some of what our friend, the Competition Bureau has to say about the Code:

"There is no federal legislation governing the question of price scanning accuracy per se. However, some types of price representations that result in overcharges to consumers may be examined under the Competition Act. In addition, it should be noted that the Bureau has endorsed the Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code, which provides participating retailers of four major associations with a mechanism to provide redress to consumers when there is a scanner error. When the scanned price of an item without a price tag is higher than the shelf price, or any other displayed price, the customer is entitled to receive the item free when it is worth less than $10, or receive a $10 reduction for more expensive items. The Bureau regards scanner price accuracy as an important element of maintaining consumer confidence."

This v. That - 1st Edition

Three Rounds - One Victor

Tonight's Feature Bout:

Kid Rock v. Ralph "Karate Kid" Macchio


Round 1: The Cool Factor

The Karate Kid is as emblematic of the 1980's as any film could be. The crane kick entered the broader lexicon of young men, and served to drive enrollment levels in martial arts classes across the western world. The Karate Kid predated today's mainstream MMA competitions, showcased previously unfathomed uses for chopsticks and broadened the horticultural awareness of a generation through its showcase of the grooming of a bonsai by Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi, by way of his love of trees, would have made a great environmentalist tag-team with David Suzuki. Mr. Macchio rubbed shoulders with Steve Vai, as well as the late-great Stevie Ray Vaughan during the filming of the movie Crossroads.

Kid Rock is a self proclaimed "Rock'n Roll Jesus" with years of experience inside the arena of gritty rock-rap/metal. His trademark unkempt appearance, combined with his hard partying ways have inspired a legion of devout, (if somewhat greasy) fans. Kid Rock's ascencion into the folds of the mega rockers has coincided with a sharp rise in wallet-chain ownership and
a spike in the clientele of North American tattoo parlours. Kid Rock has given shout-outs to legendary musicians including Bod Seger, Johnny Cash and Grand Master Flash and has even gone so far as a crafting a Michiganized mash-up entitled "All Summer Long". The bulk of the music is derived from Lynrd Skynrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and the late Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London". I don't know if the Skynrd crew or Mr. Zevon would be that ecstatic at the results of this endeavour.


Round 2: Risk Tolerance

Kid Rock entered into wedded bliss with a past best-before-date Pamela Anderson, proving that love is not only blind, but that Kid Rock is just as "American Badass" wreckless about his health and wellness as his media persona portrays. He's got cred.


Ralphy (as Daniel, of course) took on the Cobra Kai - 'nuff said.



Round 3: Cultural Significance in 50 years time



Will our childrens children be interested in things from our era? I wonder if they will be any more interested in 1980's movies, such as The Karate Kid than the average person now 30 is interested in Charlie Chaplin films. Kid Rock may still be rocking in 50 years, at the ripe age of 88 - but he'll have to change his moniker to Old As Rocks or Kid Rockingchair.

Who is the winner?

Answer the Poll at the bottom of this page to decide!

Costco + Value = BFF

Costco's store brand, Kirkland Signature seems to be a strong label, with a focus on quality and satisfaction in the vein of President's Choice. The big diff is that with Costco's modus operandi as a wholesaler, the products generally have a much lower price per unit cost, and hence a better proposition of value for money.


On our last trip to Costco, we noticed a flurry of cross-branding between Kirkland Signature and such products as Kettle Brand Chips, Jelly Belly jelly beans and Kirkland Signature brand fair-trade coffee, roasted by Starbucks where the package contains both the logos of KS and the major label brand. This is an interesting development to me, because it not only elevates the brand cache of KS, but also exposes products from the "name-brand" producers to a potentially new market for their wares.




As many of us know, name brand producers are often behind store brands, sometimes with the exact same product specifications (most notably ingredients & packaging format). The flip side of the coin can come when store brand products are made with inputs of different qualitative properties, such as, in the case of processed meats, the meat/filler balance, natural smoking vs. smoke extract, lean/fat allowances.



Recently, the Maple Leaf tainted meat scandal exposed the extent of production sharing between brands. Brands under Maple Leaf's corporate umbrella such as Schneider's, Shopsy's and Burns as well as products from store-brands such as No Name, Equality, and Compliments were affected during the scare. The pooling of resources to produce goods represents the best opportunity for capacity utilization and cost-control, but if not subject to stringent quality oversight, can run amok in a manner that compromises the safety of a broad strata of consumers



Costco Pro/Con Breakdown:



Pros:

• Kirkland Signature Brand is great for consumable household goods that a family is sure to plow through (think laundry detergent, garbage bags, batteries, paper towels)
  
  
• If at any point during your membership, you are not "satisfied", you can obtain a refund of your membership fee

• Free warranty extension (to 2 years) on certain electronic items (including televisions and computers) at no charge, in addition to a 90-day return policy on most consumer electronics
  
• For the social activist inside all of us, Costco employees sport a badge complete with not just their name, but their start year. From the badges I observed, it is not uncommon to see start-dates going back many years, with a few dating back to the early 1990's. This is increasingly uncommon within most modern retail operations, who seem to engineer (through low pay, lack of affordable benefits, lack of hours) rapid turnover of staff. Pay rates in Canada are much higher than their main competitor Sam's Club (owned by guess-who). Despite this great wage/benefit disparity, Costco manages to be the dominant force in wholesale retailing. Some people may find it re-assuring that Costco's business model does not take the view that success and decent remuneration must be mutually exclusive. I find a bit of satisfaction in the idea that I am supporting a company that allows it's workers and their families a fighting chance at a reasonable standard of living, all the while offering very competitive pricing. If employees earn a decent income they pay these things called taxes, that apparently contribute to sustaining the benefits we enjoy as Canadians. Kind of like a karma of consumerism, no? The trendy adage of "voting" with one's wallet comes to mind..
  

Here is simple example of the money saving power of Costco:

5% Cream (1L container)

Costco: $2.44
Sobey's: $3.89
If a couple of coffee fiends consume a 1L jug of cream in a bi-weekly period, they would save:

26 jugs x $1.45 = $37.70 per annum

Cons:

• Close proximity parking is definitely at a premium, especially on Saturdays (my family doesn't mind a little trot though)

• Membership fee of $55 applies to "Gold Star" annual pass, and Executive Membership comes with a price tag of $100 (both figures are pre-tax). Executive Membership offers a 2% annual rebate on almost all purchases (excluding postage stamps and a few other items) to a maximum rebate of $500. I obtained a discounted Executive Membership through my work, so the decision wasn't too hard. If you fail to reach the difference between membership levels ($43) Costco will cut you a cheque for the amount difference. Bear in mind that to reach the tantalising $500 rebate, a person would have to spend $25,000 within one year.
  


• Lack of organic food selection
  


• Brand breadth is limited (necessitated by volume purchasing approach)
  Risk of spoilage or expiry of perishables, if one succumbs to eyes-bigger-than-stomachitis
  Methods of payment are limited to cash, Costco Cash Card, debit or American Express
  
  

For historical disclosure purposes, The Wife and I were members of Costco years ago, when a previous employer also had a discounted membership available. We had switched to Sam's Club, because it is closer in proximity, and found the product selection to be substantially more narrow than Costco's. Sam's had the main advantages of abundant parking and a slightly less costly membership rate. In retrospect, I now understand the surplus of parking spots at Sam's Club.

Magic 8 Ball: Nobel Laureate For Economics?

The traditional definition that economists find consensus with, is that a recession is constituted by: "two consecutive quarters of negative growth". This is where consensus apparently decided to exit; onto a poorly-lit series of side-streets, and finally a dark, foul-smelling back alley known to those who live there as: "2009".

We have witnessed the uncanny knack possessed by the all-knowing stars of the financial world to predict the future as far as the economy goes. Apparently the Economist has become the Weather-Man, because these days transparency and predictability are two luxuries clearly amiss from the financial system. Conflicting opinions and constant revisions of forecast rule the day. One would find more insight from a "Magic 8 Ball" than from these flip-flopping Chicken-Littles/Polyannas we call "Economists".



Unlike these financial gurus who have seemingly been asleep at the wheel for many months, I propose that we form our judgements by a mix of what we observe in our own immediate surroundings and what is occurring in the wider economy.




Here are some of my observations as of late:

• Inventories of produce are literally rotting in the grocery store, as people pare down their grocery expenditures. Coincidentally, Kraft Dinner, a perennial bellwether of economic malaise - has shot up to $1.69/box.
  
• Despite the crash and subsequent stabilisation of crude oil prices, gasoline has settled into a holding pattern in the neighbourhood of 80 cents. Obviously, enough people are still somehow able to purchase gasoline to enable this retailing behaviour to continue. Although there exist pockets of resistance to the obvious price gouging taking place, these companies know full-well that we haven't the collective ability to avoid their tills for any meaningful period of time.

• Certain vehicle dealerships in the United States are resorting to drastic measures to rid themselves of excess inventory. I found this unsettling ad posted on motherjones.com. Looks like the right time to take the leap and buy a truck - as long as you aren't hoping to finance it.
  
  
• On my trip to Future Shop this weekend, I saw two people walk out with large televisions. Nice to see some people are ignoring all this fire and brimstone talk. I also saw the home installation crew loading some equipment into the ConnectPro van. Somebody is still coughing up the few hundred bucks to have their television set-up through the ConnectPro service.

The silver lining to all this crud is that we live in a country as immense and diversified as Canada. We have the fortunate ability to shift stance more rapidly than most other countries in the world. If oil is not doing so hot, we will survive it. If newspapers are rendered fully obsolete, we will be fine. If some other countries, in the rush toward world-dominating industrialisation, ruin their water supplies, contaminate their farms and exhaust their mineral resources, we will still be open for business, with the wisdom and sage guidance of our Magic 8 Ball.