Tag: Retail

Billionaire Vs Billionaire

This is what our economy has come to….billionaires in competition….itr has always been about profits but there seems to be something deeper than that there days.

Musk has Starlink and now Bezos has Project Kuiper which will be giving Starlink a run for its money….(it is hoped)

Amazon has launched its first Project Kuiper internet satellites, signaling its official arrival in the fast-expanding race to blanket the globe with broadband from space. The company launched its first batch of 27 Project Kuiper internet satellites into orbit Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the AP reports. The satellites were carried by the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. The launch marks Amazon’s entry into the satellite internet market, currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX and its more than 7,000 Starlink satellites. The Kuiper satellites will eventually reach an altitude of almost 400 miles.

Two test satellites for Project Kuiper were launched in 2023, also using an Atlas V rocket. Project officials said the newest satellites have major upgrades over the previous test models. Each satellite is coated with a mirror film designed to scatter reflected sunlight to address concerns from astronomers about night sky visibility. Stargazers and astronomers have criticized the increase in low-orbiting satellites, arguing they interfere with observations and may increase the risk of satellite collisions. The European-based OneWeb satellite constellation also has hundreds of satellites, but they operate at a higher orbit.

Amazon, founded by Jeff Bezos, plans to launch more than 3,200 Kuiper satellites with an aim of delivering fast and affordable broadband internet globally. Bezos now also runs Blue Origin, another private rocket company. Amazon has purchased dozens of launches from both United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin, as well as other providers, to further deploy Kuiper satellites. The Verge recently reported that Project Kuiper is behind schedule; its FCC license requires it to have launched 1,600 satellites into orbit by next summer. Bloomberg reports the company has been struggling to increase satellite production at the rate it needs to.

It is all about the multi-billion dollar government projects….mo money, mo money….

As long as I was writing about Bezos I read a report of something that Amazon was considering….

Earlier this month, economic effects from the Trump administration’s tariffs blitz hadn’t yet made their way to Amazon, though that’s been changing in recent days as vendors have started to raise their prices, stating that keeping their costs to consumers the same amid the trade war is “unsustainable,” per CNBC. Now, the online giant is apparently trying to separate itself somewhat from the rising price tags: A source tells Punchbowl News that Amazon will soon be posting how much the tariffs are adding to each product it sells—meaning next to the total price of the product will be, in black and white, the added fee for consumers to see for themselves.

That news comes at the same time that the Financial Times reports Amazon has been putting the squeeze on suppliers to keep costs stable for consumers, according to a trio of vendor consultants. “Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla in the room,” Scott Miller, a consultant and former Amazon vendor manager, tells the outlet. “Brands have grown dependent on the platform and have little choice.” In a statement, Amazon notes: “We’re working with our broad, varied range of valued selling partners in our store to support them in adapting to the developing environment while maintaining low prices for customers.”

Two consulting sources tell the FT that Amazon has nixed a bunch of orders from China and pivoted to scooping up merchandise from suppliers carrying American inventory. Third-party sellers on the site are starting to get spooked by the tariffs upheaval: Reuters reports that some who hawk China-made goods are cutting down on the deals they’d planned to offer for Amazon Prime Day, which takes place in July, or pulling out of Prime Day altogether. “Last year Prime Day was a no-brainer,” says Rick Sliter, CEO of a therapeutic-pillow company that last year saw Prime Day sales that exceeded a typical day’s sales by seven times. “But if tariffs continue, discounting gets thrown out the window.”

I believe this is damn good idea….let people see just how much all these stupid tariffs is costing them in their purchases….

Just when I was giving Bezos a good pat on the back disappointing news breaks….

The Trump administration is taking none too kindly to reports that Amazon might slap labels on their imported wares letting consumers know how much tariffs affected the price. “I just got off the phone with the president about … Amazon’s announcement. This is a hostile and political act by Amazon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday, Politico reports. The honeymoon between President Trump and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could be cooling in light of the report, with Leavitt holding up a printout of a 2021 story about Amazon’s ties with China with Bezos’ photo featured prominently. It’s “another reason why Americans should buy American,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt questioned why Amazon didn’t enact similar labeling “when the Biden administration hiked inflation to the highest level in 40 years,” per the Independent, which notes independent retailers that depend on imports account for some 60% of the behemoth’s sales. Amazon, however, is quickly distancing itself from the initial Punchbowl report. In a statement to USA Today, Amazon spokeswoman Rachael Lighty ruled out the new label: “The team that runs our ultra low cost Amazon Haul store considered the idea of listing import charges on certain products,” she said. But “this was never approved and is not going to happen.”

So one of the world’s richest men caves to the likes of Little Donny…..that is a gutless move….and just when I thought there was integrity left in these social parasites….what did he say to Bezos to scare him off?

Any takes on these subjects?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Dreaded Black Friday

Since today will be a slow day here on IST I thought I would offer up a little history on the trials and tribulations of this day.

Black Friday has traditionally been the day after Thanksgiving that offers up sales and cheaper Christmas gift….it is considered to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

Until recently it was a single day of craziness and business but recently it has bee the whole month of November…..but where did all this craziness begin?

Might as well learn something….and that is why I am here….

The first recorded use of the term “Black Friday” was applied not to post-Thanksgiving holiday shopping but to financial crisis: specifically, the crash of the U.S. gold market on September 24, 1869. Two notoriously ruthless Wall Street financiers, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, worked together to buy up as much as they could of the nation’s gold, hoping to drive the price sky-high and sell it for astonishing profits. On that Friday in September, the conspiracy finally unraveled, sending the stock market into free-fall and bankrupting everyone from Wall Street barons to farmers.

The most commonly repeated story behind the Thanksgiving shopping-related Black Friday tradition links it to retailers. As the story goes, after an entire year of operating at a loss (“in the red”) stores would supposedly earn a profit (“went into the black”) on the day after Thanksgiving, because holiday shoppers blew so much money on discounted merchandise. Though it’s true that retail companies used to record losses in red and profits in black when doing their accounting, this version of Black Friday’s origin is the officially sanctioned—but inaccurate—story behind the tradition.

In recent years, another myth has surfaced that gives a particularly ugly twist to the tradition, claiming that back in the 1800s Southern plantation owners could buy enslaved workers at a discount on the day after Thanksgiving. Though this version of Black Friday’s roots has understandably led some to call for a boycott of the retail holiday, it has no basis in fact.

The real history behind Black Friday, however, is not as sunny as retailers might have you believe. Back in the 1950s, police in the city of Philadelphia used the term to describe the chaos that ensued on the day after Thanksgiving, when hordes of suburban shoppers and tourists flooded into the city in advance of the big Army-Navy football game held on that Saturday every year. Not only were Philly cops not able to take the day off, but they had to work extra-long shifts dealing with the additional crowds and traffic. Shoplifters also took advantage of the bedlam in stores and made off with merchandise, adding to the law enforcement headache.

https://www.history.com/news/black-friday-thanksgiving-origins-history

There you have it….while you are out throwing money at retailers you can see that it is just blind consumerism and not something that will benefit you personally.

On another side….ever hear of ‘Brown Friday”?

Plumbers have!

If you’re one of those sit-com families that sit around the table on Thanksgiving and tell everybody what you are grateful for this year, maybe your answer should be “plumbers”.

While you eat your turkey, various potatoes, squashes, vegetables, and cranberry sauce, spare a thought for plumbers, who are preparing for what has become known in the industry as “Brown Friday”. The day is often the busiest of the year for the professionals, as they tackle the aftermath of Thanksgiving.

According to data analyzed by Yelp, searches for “emergency plumbing” surged by an impressive 65 percent on the day following Thanksgiving in 2023 compared to the previous and following two weeks. Google data shows a similar spike in searches for the same term.

Los Angeles saw a particularly sharp increase in searches around Brown Friday, with a 73 percent increase in searches for terms related to plumbing, and a 400 percent increase in searches for “plumbing repair”.

The cause for this surge in interest in plumbing is fairly obvious, as people stay at home and use their toilets and sinks more, while also not following the best guidance on disposal of foods and fats.

“Turkey may seem like the one thing that doesn’t cause harm to a kitchen sink, but that’s exactly what makes it such a threat,” Mr Rooter Plumbing explains in a blog post, outlining the main culprits. “While most of us know not to throw poultry skin and bones into the garbage disposal, grease is another matter. If poured into a kitchen sink drain, the drippings from your turkey can re-solidify into fats that coat your drain and lead to serious clogs.”

https://www.iflscience.com/while-you-enjoy-thanksgiving-plumbers-are-preparing-for-brown-friday-nightmare-76989

There you have it….the Black and the Brown…..

Enjoy your day and think about where all this began and why.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Brand That Just Keeps Giving

That brand would be the Trump brand….we have had Trump steaks, water, vodka, wine, university and on and on and now we have….wait for it….sneakers!

As he closes in on the Republican nomination, former President Trump made a highly unusual stop Saturday, hawking new Trump-branded sneakers at “Sneaker Con,” a gathering that bills itself as the “The Greatest Sneaker Show on Earth.” Trump was met with cheers as well as boos at the Philadelphia Convention Center as he introduced what he called the first official Trump footwear, per the AP. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” he told the crowd, per NBC News. Details:

  • The shoes, gold lamé high-tops with an American flag detail on the back, are being sold as “Never Surrender High-Tops” for $399 on a new website—GetTrumpSneakers.com—that also sells Trump-branded “Victory47” cologne and perfume for $99 a bottle. He’d be the 47th president if elected again.
  • The website says it is run by CIC Ventures LLC, a company that Trump reported owning in his 2023 financial disclosure. A similarly named company, CIC Digital LLC, owns Trump’s digital trading card NFTs, or non-fungible tokens. The website states the new venture “is not political and has nothing to do with any political campaign.”
  • Need a sneaker review? “Trump’s shoe is more Hulk Hogan than (Michael) Jordan, with gold paneling all the way around and an American flag hugging the upper heel,” writes Jacob Gallagher at the Wall Street Journal. “It is adorned on the side with a gigundo T,” he notes. “A poised Nike this sneaker is not.”
  • This isn’t the first money-making venture Trump has announced since launching his third campaign for the White House in 2022. Trump last year reported making between $100,000 and $1 million for a series of digital trading cards that portrayed him, through photo editing, in a series of cartoon-like images, including an astronaut, a cowboy, and a superhero.

I guess this is a good time to offer these after all he, Trump, just got nailed with a with a $350 million ruling in a civil fraud case.

“There’s a sucker born every minute”

How many suckers will buy the sneakers?  (Kinda sounds like a country song)

Any griping thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo” or should it be “cognito ergo conturbo”

Closing Thought–01Nov21

Have you been to the store lately for groceries?

There are plenty of empty shelves and a limited amount of products to choose from…..this began with the pandemic (so we are told) then in my area a hurricane hit making products in short supply we were told that people from Louisiana were driving over and buying up the stuff (this did not ring true to me) then we are told that there were not enjoy drivers to deliver stuff but a local chain here has little problem stocking their shelves so if this small enterprise can did it why not a national stores?

This is a problem that is not going way….especially if Sen. Hawley has anything to do with it….

Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) has a plan to address the current supply chain issues bedeviling the American economy.

He wants to make them permanent.

In an op-ed for The New York Times published Friday, Hawley uses the temporary supply chain problems as an excuse to push for a permanent expansion of federal power over the affairs of private businesses. We must “fundamentally restructure our country’s trade policy,” Hawley demands, and that means injecting both the Pentagon and Commerce Department bureaucrats into companies’ purchasing decisions. Under the terms of a bill that Hawley is proposing, any product determined to be “critical for our national security and essential for the protection of our industrial base” would have to have at least 50 percent of its value made in the United States.

Why is it necessary for the government to get significantly more involved in the system of global trade that’s allowed Americans to enjoy unparalleled prosperity in recent years? Because “the global pandemic has exposed this system for what it is—a failure,” Hawley writes.

One must assume that if the lights in his home went out due to a storm, Hawley would respond by declaring electricity to be a mistake and demanding that the government require homes to be lit with candles and gas lamps. After all, what is the electrical grid but a complicated supply chain that leaves Americans woefully dependent on production and distribution systems (power plants, substations, and lines) that they do not fully control? Better to produce your own lighting, right? If that means you have to live without television or the internet, well, those are just the trade-offs required to achieve self-sufficiency.

Josh Hawley Wants to Make the Supply Chain Crisis Permanent

I have thought that Hawley was a joke and nothing he has done in 2021 has changed my mind…..and the people of Missouri ought to be smart enough to know what an embarrassment this toad is and will continue to be.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

“Jesus Shoes”

Category:   The More Money Than Brains……

Every product looks for the gimmick that will make it stand out from the rest of the similar products…..and Athletic shoes are NO different…..however there is a new twist to the shoe…..

A new example of “some people have more money than brains”……

Have you ever imagined what it felt like when Jesus walked on water?

While you may never have that surreal experience, an American creative firm MSCHF, has created shoes that let you literally walk on water and not just any type of water but holy water.

The repurposed Nike shoes dubbed “Jesus Shoes” went on sale for $1,425 (₦514,425) Tuesday and (wait for it) sold out within a minute!

MSCHF bought a normal pairs of Nike Air Max 97 sneakers at retail value and completely revamped the shoe and added a golden Jesus on a crucifix as a shoelace charm.

MSCHF also sourced holy water from the River Jordan, which was blessed by a priest in Brooklyn and injected the Air Max 97 bubble soles.

https://guardian.ng/life/jesus-shoes-filled-with-holy-water-sold-out-in-a-minute/amp/

Seriously?

Again….”more money than brains”

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate squirrels?

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

Closing Thought–17May19

We are in a war of words and deeds…a trade war….with China….Our Beloved Supreme Leader went on the Tube and soothed the ruffled feathers on Wall Street and the markets calmed down a bit…..but how about the rest of us unwashed masses that do not depend on Wall Street for our wealth?

Me? I do not shop on 5th Avenue so I want to know how I will fare with Trump’s mash up with China…..

Walmart warned on Thursday that higher tariffs on imports from China will mean higher prices, the AP reports. The comments came after the nation’s largest retailer reported its best sale performance at its established US namesake stores for the fiscal first quarter in nine years. It marked 19 straight quarters of same-store sales gains. “We’re monitoring the tariff discussions and are hopeful that an agreement can be reached,” said Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs. But he told reporters, “Increased tariffs will lead to increased prices for our customers.” Walmart declined to comment on what type of price hikes shoppers could expect and which products would get the biggest increases.

The specter of higher prices was also echoed by Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette. He told investors Wednesday that if a fourth round of tariffs takes effect, that could mean higher retail prices for both store label and national brands. Target, JC Penney, and other major retailers will be reporting results in the next few days and should shed more light on the issue. Walmart, Macy’s and other major retailers have been left largely unscathed by the first several rounds of tariffs since they focused more on industrial and agricultural products. But that changed last week when the Trump administration slapped 25% tariffs on imports like furniture. The administration wants to extend the 25% tariffs to practically all Chinese imports not already hit with levies including toys, shirts, household goods and sneakers.

While Wall Street smiles the rest of us get raped……well our wallets to be exact……not what I signed on for…..

You?

Just Days Before Christmas

AS we get closer to the day our shopping and thoughts are on Christmas….but did you know that we passed a milestone a couple of days ago?

11 December is the horniest day of the year……say what?

December is the most popular month for making babies, research shows, and the horniest (or at least most fertile) day of them all may be December 11, according to a new report. Perhaps it’s because sperm thrives in the cold. Maybe eggnog is an aphrodisiac, or it’s the pent-up stress of endless retail lines finding carnal expression.

Regardless, December 11 may be your lucky day.

This estimate is based on the fact that more babies are born in the middle of September than at any time of the year. The most popular birthday is September 16, based on analysis of national UK birth records (admittedly, one conducted by a sex toy retailer and not a team of researchers), making the sexiest day for prospective parents December 11. However, other data indicates that the most popular birthday is closer to September 9, which may shift this slightly. Suffice to say there’s some wiggle room.

https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/what-is-the-most-fertile-and-horny-day-of-the-year/

Could this explain the depression that is so reported in this “time of the year”?

Now aren’t you glad you came by?  LOL

Step Right Up

***First I need to state that I am NOT endorsing nor am I compensated for any product mentioned in this post***

Sundays in the Fall….a lovely time of the year……and as usual I want to help my readers understand stuff and hopefully I can entertain them as well…..

I got one of those irritating ads on my Twitter account…..the ad made me think of something from the past…..the “Snake Oil Salesman”…..

You may be too young to know much about the time or the people that were called this “insult”…..but again as usual…I can help……

“Snake Oil Salesman.” The phrase conjures up images of seedy profiteers trying to exploit an unsuspecting public by selling it fake cures. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines snake oil as “a quack remedy or panacea.” What the OED does not note, however, is that the history of snake oil is linked to an often forgotten chapter of Asian-American history.

But what, exactly, is snake oil? And why is peddling it such a terrible thing?

The 1800s saw thousands of Chinese workers arriving in the United States as indentured laborers to work on the Transcontinental Railroad. According to historian Richard White’s book Railroaded, about 180,000 Chinese immigrated to the United States between 1849 and 1882. The vast majority of the workers came from peasant families in southeastern China and were signed to contracts that ran up to five years for relatively low wages (compared with their white counterparts), wrote David Haward Bain in his book Empire Express.

https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2013/08/26/215761377/a-history-of-snake-oil-salesmen

I got an irritating ad (as I have said) on my Twitter account about the benefits of Hemp Oil……

Hemp Oil?  Really?

The protein and fiber in hemp combine to slow digestion, which prevents spikes in blood sugar and therefore sustains your body’s energy. A diet rich in hemp promotes digestive regularity.

When sprinkled on your cereal or fruit at breakfast, hemp protein and fiber also help aid in satiety, which will prevent you from snacking and keep you fuller longer.

The Omega-3 fatty acids in hemp reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, lower blood pressure, and may even ward off Alzheimer’s disease. Hemp seeds are one of the few Omega-3 sources found in plants.

The Omega-6 fatty acids in hemp stimulate skin and hair growth, maintain bone health, regulate metabolism, and help the brain function.

Hemp seeds contain essential amino acids, which improves muscle control, mental function, and normal body maintenance of cells, muscle, tissues, and organs.

(cannabliss-labs.com)

After visiting the site and reading their “pitch” I first thought of a Snake Oil Salesman and the I recalled a song by Tom Waits…..

Time out…..chuq

Shop Local Sunday

I have been thinking about stuff….not important stuff….just stuff in general……Mo has been NO help she keeps thinking my planters are play toys…..

I watch MSNBC and on weekends they have a show about your business and how to make it succeed.  They are big supporters of the “shop locally” movement….this is where people go out on weekends and shop in only Mom and Pop stores….showing them support.

But these days is there truly any way to save those Mom and Pop stores?

Probably not!

If you want to understand “retail death” — and I’m using quotes here because the concept of buying and selling things is very much alive — all you have to do is look at one very specific street.

In the ’90s, the stretch of Bleecker Street that snakes north through New York City’s Greenwich Village was home to dozens of independently owned bookshops, sex shops, antique stores, and framing galleries. But the death knell rang when the luxury fashion house Marc Jacobs decided to settle there in 2001, the year after the nearby Magnolia Bakery was featured in an episode of Sex and the City.

Within the next 10 years, 44 of those original neighborhood businesses would close to make space for the chains and luxury boutiques that followed. By now, the big brands have moved on, leaving nearly a quarter of storefronts sitting vacant for months on end and asking sky-high rents that small businesses can’t afford. The only ones that can are major developers.

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/10/16/17980424/shop-local-jeremiah-moss

Sad for I remember my area and the stores and restaurants that have disappeared and replaced with corporate  crap…..bars, neighborhood bars, are all but gone from the area…..great eateries gone because they could not compete with Pizza Crap all you can eat for 5 bucks…..people did this!

Time to let Mo do her thing and me to try and figure out where to put the radishes….

Peace out guys…..see you tomorrow…..chuq

The Real American Addiction

To close out my posting day I would like to re-visit posts from the past…..

I have written about our addictions in the past….our addiction to drugs or the addiction to war…..but our real addiction is……. consumerism….

Whatchu talking about professor?

You Are An ADDICT!

Let me refresh your memory if I may…..these are from past posts here on IST….

For those who think this will be a diatribe on the value of Marx’s statement on religion….you would be mistaken.  While I appreciate a lot of the work of Karl Marx I will disagree with …

Source: The Real “Opiate Of The Masses” – In Saner Thought

Or a later post……

We all are addicted to something…..drugs, cigs, sex, whiskey and so on……but we Americans have an addiction to……consumerism.  A couple of years ago I wrote a piece enti…

Source: The Power Of Addiction – In Saner Thought

About here you are starting to wonder just why I bring this past posts up, right?

The iPhone7…..is the answer.

Apple has released the new version of its popular iPhone series…..

Apple has officially announced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus today. The new iPhone features a design that’s very similar to last year’s iPhone 6S (and the year prior’s iPhone 6), with a rounded aluminum body. But what’s entirely new is the phone’s water resistance, which means you can get the iPhone 7 or the larger iPhone 7 Plus wet without worry. Also new is the long-rumored dual camera system, stereo speakers, and a darker black color scheme. And, as expected, the iPhone 7 does not have a headphone jack, rendering countless 3.5mm headphones useless with the device (or requiring the use of an adapter).

The new phone may look very similar to last year’s models, but instead of the matte metal finish we’ve become used to, it has a glossy, mirrored design. The new color is called jet black and is much darker and richer than the space black of years past. Apple is also releasing a standard black model, along with gold, silver, and rose gold.

People will stand in line to acquire this new gizmo….even if there is NOTHING technologically new with it…..

It is a sickness…….And that my friends is an addiction!

Consumerism….the Real Opiate of The Masses!