You Can't Win, Mall

As wallets and purses around the world snap shut in close unison, there is yet another eerily titled phenomenon upon us.

"Ghost Malls" are becoming an increasingly common sight, pockmarking the retail landscapes of countries around the world. As consumer preferences shift toward thrift and keeping a roof over their heads in troubled times, shopping malls find themselves deprived of lease-paying retail tenants. Some might argue that aside from the obvious large scale contractions in consumer retail spending, there are certain transformational shifts occurring that consign malls to a fate most certain.

As anybody not stuck in solitary confinement for the previous decade might know, the internet has created incredible potentials in every sector of the economy. The astronomical growth of web-based businesses, the immense wealth created through the entrepreneurial spirit and the spread of information are all fine and dandy. Now, when I said "potentials" two sentences back, I was not referring solely to the positive potentials.

Everybody likes a deal and no-one likes to pay more than somebody else for a product or service. The great variances of housing price, median income, and cost of living does vary substantially from Wheeling, West Virginia to - say, Malibu, California - but Cletus and Barbie both pay pretty much the same price for identical items in their respective areas. The great equaliser is the access to decentralised "virtual" retail outlets.

Now, thanks to the Internet, there is significantly less need for physical "bricks and mortar" storefronts. Freed from the fiscal constraints of having to rent or lease property and employ higher numbers of front-line staff, these web-based retailers can offer goods at prices that very few traditional retailers can effectively compete with. What we are left with is evident. A handful of large companies controlling most of the retail business, and lack of diversification of retail outlets. In Cambridge, Ontario, where I live - I have seen 3 Starbucks coffee joints open in the last year or so. My Wife is of the opinion that Starbucks, having researched Cambridge, found out that we are supporting 11 full service Tim Hortons as well as 3 kiosk locations with a population of approximately 125,000. I would bet you a large regular that this type of growth pattern will not be sustained, and that within a few years at the outside, some of these retailers will be unable to eke out a living selling their wares. Did anybody see over-saturation becoming a potential deal-breaker?

I came across this article that provided me a few ponderances on this trend.

Once burgeoning centres of cultural identity throughout the western world, Malls are pre-deceased by "Mom&Pop" corner stores and Farmers. Donations can be made, via Paypal to Amazon.com's Ebay Powerseller account.

All Your Juice Are Belong To Us!

Surprise!


According to recently published articles, there seems to be critical vulnerabilities within the integrity of the US power supply infrastructure. Allegations that Chinese and Russian hackers have embedded code within the systems that provide electricity to the United States have put into question the reliability and stability of the power supply. The Chinese State News Agency, Xinhua released a statement from a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson that altogether denies the situations existance. We have been well primed in scapegoating the Chinese for all of the problems faced by the Western world. It seems only natural that this compromise of America's energy security would be carried out by the perennial nemesi "Sneaky Chinamen" and their beloved buddies the "Evil" Russians.

I have more faith in the espionage capabilities of Russia than to believe they would leave their marks all over a covert operation of this scale. Who is perpetrating the act? Can't say I could rule out anyone. Given the crash-burn of international relations that the US has experienced under their prior regime, any scenario could be plausible. I guess the classical approach to solving this mystery may be to apply the question of motive..


Who would have something to gain from instability in the US power supply?

• Canada, fed up with perceived unfair treatment surrounding Softwood Lumber the BSE crisis and SARS, infiltrates the American network through CSIS, using Chinese proficient sabatouers..

• Iran, peeved at constant critiqing of its nuclear power program, enlists sympathetic hackers to..

• Taiwanese separatist groups, looking to create a deep rift between the two Mega Powers, instigate a false-flag attack on US cyber-infrastructure and interests..

It may sound smug or contemptuous to some, but I never thought of the Bush Administration as vanguards of either technological advancement or protectors of the interests of the American people. From attempting to sell ports to the UAE in the Dubai Ports controversy, to the imposition of puritanical beliefs on the Spirit of Justice by John Ashcroft. At some points, I found myself just waiting for these guys to ban computers altogether and institute sime kind of decree completely banning progress of any kind - save for military advancement.. Kind of like a Christianised Sharia Law is what I was thinking.


Hopefully this gets resolved and the systems patched so that we don't have a repeat of that nasty incident in August 2003..

My Favorite Def Leppard Album? I'd Have to Say "HST-eria"

"Don't do it, Dalton!!"

This was roughly my initial reaction to the announcement made within the 2009 Ontario Provincial Budget. The announcement of another financial burden for all Ontarians on the Liberals' watch did not really surprise me, it was more the sheer size of the financial impact that this announcement carries. When I say "another" I am referring to The "Ontario Health Premium" unveiled by the Libs in the '04 budget, has been eating away at the incomes of working people to the tune of $300-900/year. This premium, much like the ancient "Trojan Horse" stealthily sneaks into your paycheque without you actually seeing the deduction from your earnings. Dalton's reasoning for this premium was ostensibly the unexpectedly large deficit inherited by the slash-burn practices of the Progressive Conservative tag-team of Harris & Eves.

To some people, although probably not many -the harmonization of Provincial and Federal sales taxes seems benign. I think if George Orwell were around today, he would quickly point out the "new speak"present in the term "Harmonized Tax". The expression reeks of the scariest parts of "1984".

Will we ever learn to see through these types of misleading and dishonest treatment of our resources? This tax has some elements of fairness, in that it excludes from harmonization, previously exempted goods like diapers, kids clothes, and books. I guess the Liberals could have gone a couple of steps farther, and taxed staple foods; or imposed an environmental levy on breathing (the levy might only apply to exhaling, in order to be fair).

In a time where jobs are being cut wholesale at an increasingly rapid pace, many people are feeling the barbed walls of economic misery closing in. People are apparently not full of optimism that their futures are bound to get brighter financially.

A lucky person right now is still on the receiving end of a raise. For many, the picture is probably a little more nerve-wracking. Pay cuts, wage freezes and erosion of other employment benefits (supplemental financial, health benefits) are leaving many people looking for the proverbial silver lining to their financial strife. The setbacks are immense for a great many folks right now. RSPs in the crapper, nest eggs and rainy day jars pillaged to make the next months payments - everyone has been impacted in some way. Even those insulated by supple, inflation-adjusted pensions, and life-long good saving habits are seeing the increases at the grocery store and on the utility bills. Time can act as a middle-weight inflationary pressure all on its own, without adding fuel to it.

As of July 1/2010, things are going to get more expensive.

Now, we can enjoy some added expenses, like:

+8% on Hydro Bills, Hair Cuts

+8% on Gas Bills (Heating and Vehicular)

+8% on Internet/Cable/Phone et al.

+8% on the Morning Timmies

But, hey - couples are getting three cheques totalling $1000.00 over a period of one year. Singles can expect to cha-ching in for a mere $300. A cap of $160,000 has been put in place on the income of couples receiving the rebate, in a valiant act of Social Justice by the Liberals.. $1000.00 before taxes. This amount, I would imagine would be taxed as income, much the same as the Federal Universal Child-care Benefit. I love being taxed on tax rebates. What a scam. This is Real Politik, Dalton - feeding people their own tax monies while acting as if your doing it to help them weather the migration to the HST is not morally fair, nor will it make the pill much easier to ingest for Ontarians.

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.