Tag Archives: business

Dick’s Sporting Goods: Shooting Their Business in the Foot

29 Wednesday Aug 2018

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They actually admit they’re (partially) to blame:

Comparable-store sales fell 4%, Dick’s said. Not adjusting for the 53rd week last year, the company’s same-store sales declined 1.9%.

The weaker-than-expected results bucked a trend in the retail sector, which largely has benefited from a surge in consumer spending fueled by a booming economy.

Consumer confidence for August, measured by the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, was the highest its been in about 18 years. That sentiment, along with other factors, has powered companies such as Walmart Inc. WMT -0.42% and Target Corp. TGT +1.11% to their best quarterly results in more than a decade.

Dick’s said part of the company’s sales problems were a result of Under Armour’s decision to sell in more stores including Kohl’s.

Also hurting sales was Dick’s decision to tighten its policy on gun sales after 17 people were killed in a February shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school. The retailer halted sales of any firearms to people under age 21 at all of its 845 Dick’s and Field & Stream stores, and stopped selling assault-style weapons at Field & Stream.

Barring a course correction (and maybe an apology) we are headed towards my February prediction. (I told you [and them] so).

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Revenge and Recommendations

17 Sunday Jun 2018

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Got a business? Ever get a (maybe undeserved) bad review? The owner of a diner in St. Pete got a little revenge – albeit after he closed it down:

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I remember a bar where the owner used to try insulting everyone that walked in the door. Made him semi-famous and very popular. Maybe a little fire with fire is the way to combat the bad reviews. One notes from the TBT story that everyone loves a good review.

I have one:

Meredith Piper’s Art Studio

If you’re in Greenville, SC, drop by and see the Pipers – down by the river, kind of in between the hotels and the trolls under the bridge (which, in retrospect, might have been ducks…). Fantastic art and! with even the smallest purchase, you get a glass of Chardonnay from the proprietor. At least I did; it really helped me through a hot afternoon of shopping and duck dodging.

Five Stars!

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I also recommend Smoke on the Water – just down Main from artist’s row. The brisket with potato ball thing.

Those are your free gifts de jour. Happy Father’s Day!

Paradise Papers Demonstrate how the Elite Hide their Assets

06 Monday Nov 2017

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This must be just like bankin’ in paradise
And I don’t send the taxes home.

-My apologies to David Lee Roth…

The second largest data leak in history, the Paradise Papers, shows how the truly wealthy avoid paying taxes.

The world’s biggest businesses, heads of state and global figures in politics, entertainment and sport who have sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens are being revealed this week in a major new investigation into Britain’s offshore empires.

The details come from a leak of 13.4m files that expose the global environments in which tax abuses can thrive – and the complex and seemingly artificial ways the wealthiest corporations can legally protect their wealth.

The material, which has come from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens, was obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and shared by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists with partners including the Guardian, the BBC and the New York Times.

The project has been called the Paradise Papers. It reveals:

Millions of pounds from the Queen’s private estate has been invested in a Cayman Islands fund – and some of her money went to a retailer accused of exploiting poor families and vulnerable people.

Extensive offshore dealings by Donald Trump’s cabinet members, advisers and donors, including substantial payments from a firm co-owned by Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law to the shipping group of the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross.

How Twitter and Facebook received hundreds of millions of dollars in investments that can be traced back to Russian state financial institutions.

The tax-avoiding Cayman Islands trust managed by the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s chief moneyman.

A previously unknown $450m offshore trust that has sheltered the wealth of Lord Ashcroft.

It’s how Apple hides $252 Billion!!!! from the tax man.

They reveal how Apple sidestepped a 2013 crackdown on its controversial Irish tax practices by actively shopping around for a tax haven.

It then moved the firm holding most of its untaxed offshore cash, now $252bn, to the Channel Island of Jersey.

Apple said the new structure had not lowered its taxes.

It said it remained the world’s largest taxpayer, paying about $35bn (£26bn) in corporation tax over the past three years, that it had followed the law and its changes “did not reduce our tax payments in any country”.

One assumes that these elites and giant organizations earned the money, most of it. It’s theirs. Wanting to keep as much as possible is understandable: 1) it’s theirs, and 2) they can use the money to grow the economy. Otherwise, if taxed, the money gets spent on subsidies to ag. companies, bombing brown people, and compensating bankers for the most important kind of nothing.

The hypocrisy (and shock) comes in when one realizes these are usually the same types that rig the system for their own benefit, leaving the rest of us to pay the bills. And our paying isn’t enough. They lecture us. Regulate us. Rule us.

Carlin, Carlin, Carlin, Carlin: “It’s a Big Club. And You ain’t in it! You and I are not in the Big Club.”

I foresee this changing little, if anything. Heck, forget I brought it up. And God help whoever brought this to light. The last such intrepid reporter was car-bombed.

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A less Christie-fied Jersey. BBC/Getty.

Peak Performance, a Fitness Field Trip

09 Tuesday Aug 2016

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Yesterday morning I had the privilege of visiting the headquarters of Peak Performance Fitness International. There and online, under the tutelage of my friend Craig Bryan, ordinary people becomes athletes and athletes become superstars.

The process starts with clients receiving an assessment of their overall health and physical state. With a clear picture of where they are at present, they forge individual plans for transformative fitness. These plans vary depending on individual goals. Those goals will invariably include both cardio-vascular work and anaerobic exercises (weight training). Peak places a special emphasis on stretching in order to achieve optimal results.

Diet plays just as large a role, if not larger, in personal fitness than physical exercise. Thus, Peak assists clients with tailored meal planning to ensure proper weight loss or gain as dictated by the clients’ goals.

Peak specializes in athletic performance. “Here at Peak Performance WE BUILD ATHLETES by building functional strength which translates to better performance on the playing field making the athlete GAME READY. Providing sports specific training, speed, mobility and agility training, core and rotational strength, proper lifting techniques and progressions, injury prevention and quicker recovery as well as pre and post rehab strengthening.” That means they help the athlete perform better, regardless of the game.

It’s an impressive system and a bit more comprehensive than what most might associate with getting in shape.

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Heavy things.

The gym itself is smaller than most. Then again, most fitness clubs are designed for use by dozens or hundreds of people at any given time. Peak’s emphasis is on individuals. Smaller is better in this sense. They have everything one needs without clutter, all of it state-of-the-art. It’s like a cross between an iron gym and a sports medicine clinic.

Of course, this being the 21st century, one need not actually visit the location for benefits. Craig offers on-line training and consulting. I hear he works with people as far away as Australia.

Craig has also blended his own line of meal supplements under the Performance Zone brand. These are available for purchase by telephone and will be offered online (the website is brand new with an operational store “coming soon”).

I tried a Lean Green protein shake for lunch and was impressed. It packs 42 grams of protein with only 200 calories and a low carbohydrate count (low sugar). It easily mixed up in water without a blender and, as promised, it did taste great. I would describe the taste as vanilla spiked with broccoli – tasty and healthy together. It was filling and provided a good deal of energy for several hours.

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As seen with my bag gloves so you know I’m serious. Lean Green, so mean, it’s keen; not obscene but good for the spleen.. I may have found a product to endorse.

 

My visit for part tour, part friendly get-together, and part idea swap. I love to hear and see what other people are up to, to see friends excel. Craig’s been doing this a long time. In his office, there’s a picture of him and Arnold Schwarzenegger, circa the Pumping Iron days. Still, he’s finding new ways to bring fitness to the digital age, faster, better, with more efficiency and accuracy than ever.

Idea trading is more than just shooting the breeze, although that can be fun in its own right. Cross-business exploration provides inspiration on all levels. One can always learn something new and apply it to one’s life – even if the observed subject is outside one’s core field. The there’s the rubbing-off aspect; I left Peak wanting to play football.

 

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*The ads above this line are endorsed by Perrin Lovett; those below are not.

The Devil’s In The Details: Pokemon Craze

30 Saturday Jul 2016

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Yesterday I had the opportunity to sit in for a little while and attend an e-conference on cyber-security and Pokemon. This was put on for the benefit of large businesses and organizations which have something to lose to the game – many things actually. I was astounded.

I see people playing the game everywhere. To think it just got started a week or so back. People are having fun but there is cause for concern. Many businesses are using their exposure to the game (unwittingly hosting Pokestops) as free advertising. Outwardly they welcome players and tout themselves as hip. Inwardly, many of these exact same companies are worried. They have good cause.

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blackappleintl.com.

Pokemon Go was designed to work very well on both Apple and Android devices. Part of its universal success is the way it utilizes most of a phone’s features. Depending on one’s device, the game and its makers may have root access to up to 60-70% of the device’s systems. Root access means the game can, theoretically, manipulate and control most of the phone. It probably has easy backdoor access to the rest.

The odds are those who made the game are not interested in maliciously accessing or misusing a player’s phone – that would be very bad for business. When it was pointed out to them that they had such unprecedented control, they admitted to overkill in their software design. They wanted the game to run smoothly and it does because it is so powerful as an app. Players give them the right to that access and potential control – it’s in the terms in the app agreement people click without reading. People willingly give Pokemon a level of access to their digital lives that the FBI has been unable to obtain with Court orders.

This presents several problems for businesses. First, people are using company phones and devices to play the game. That means they are signing over access to and control of cloud information which might otherwise be privileged. It also means they are probably playing on company time.

Remember, Pokemon itself is not likely to misuse the information it is privy to. However, this breach of security is a hacker’s dream. Experts suggest it would be very easy to hack the app and upload a variety of malware or ransom-ware or to simply clone the device or steal information.

Big business is now spending big money to combat this threat that didn’t even exist a month ago. They are also concerned that a host of similar knock-off apps are coming to ride the wave of Poke-success. A Harry Potter app is likely in the works right now. Success upon success.

Ordinary people would be wise to assess how all of them might affect them. A hacker could backdoor his way into one’s iPhone and essentially lock down the best features until the owner paid a fee for restoration.

There are other and more common problems with the game too. It has already been reported that people are trespassing while in search of the little … whatever they ares. People are winding up in places, some of them sensitive (power grid, etc.) where they probably don’t need to be. People are getting lost. They falling and injuring themselves. They are causing traffic accidents.

All of these things should be cause for second-guessing the utility of the game. I would suggest playing (if one must) on a throw-away device – a Trackfone or something similar – something disconnected entirely from one’s other accounts and business. Pokemon spotters might be a good idea to keep players from falling down old wells. People probably shouldn’t play on company time or while driving automobiles. As with most things, a little common sense goes a long way.

Getting The Business

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

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Money reports there were fewer small business start-ups these days in America:

Bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs: Now might not be the best time to launch your own business.

Total entrepreneurial activity in the U.S.—measured by the number of people starting and operating new businesses—fell to 12% in 2015, from 14% in 2014, according to a report released Tuesday by Babson College. The drop reverses upward growth in small business activity during the previous four years.

The findings could indicate that employees are satisfied with their jobs and unwilling to strike out on their own. But the research could also show a lack of confidence in the small business environment in the wake of the recession, Babson professor Donna Kelley told CNBC. The Small Business Optimism Index, a metric from the National Federation of Independent Business, has remained below its 42-year average since the recession.

I find it interesting that commentators keep throwing around “since the last recession” and “the wake of the recession” so much. Are they talking about the 2008 financial crisis recession? You know, the one that will soon be a decade past. Or do they really mean the current or immediate future recession? We are historically overdue.

Ebay.

This story is a little personal for me as I launched (full-time) my small business this summer. I’ve had several in the past – all failures. This time will be different (as I’ve said before). A business idea, even if it’s the very best idea in the world, isn’t easy to get off the ground anymore. Big, existing, and stagnant business dinosaurs join with the government to make the start-up process as painful as possible.

Aside from the licenses, taxes, regulations, inspections, prohibitions, and general meddling, the corporatist/banking/state cabal has seen to it that your potential customers and investors are not in the best position to help you with your incredible idea launch – they too still recover from “the last recession”.

You’ve got the likes of Speaker Paul Ryan who promises to crack down on job-taking and nightclub-shooting immigrants just after he rubber-stamps another 300,000 of them coming in on visas.

It’s amazing that any small business starts today. I’m not so sure about that idea of employee satisfaction with existing work. CNBC reports on the woes of “regular” employment, the loss of jobs and pay, even on Wall Street. This story deals with Wall Street banks – those very entities that OWN America… If their employees are getting the short end of the stick, what does that suggest about the rest of the workforce?

Anyway, I’m plowing ahead with my new enterprise. Of late I have finally developed an email list of sorts. Someone important once said, “You’re an idiot if you don’t have a list.” I was an idiot up until last week… In my defense, I was still recovering “from the recession.”

Muddling Through College

11 Monday Mar 2013

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Given the popularity of my postings on the law, generally and regarding specific topics, and given the inclination of so many people to ask me about becoming a lawyer and what it’s like, I thought I would write something about legal education in America.  It won’t be pretty but it will paint a good overall picture of the modern training lawyers undergo.  First, however, I thought I would write something about the undergraduate experience which precedes law school.  That’s what this article concerns.  It is mainly drawn from my experiences at the University of Georgia in the early – mid 1990’s.

As my personal collegiate experience is somewhat dated (ugh….), I have tried to incorporate a little news concerning more modern college education as well.  So, this piece is really about my personal muddling with an updated, universal background.  I hope it serves as a guide of sorts for those entering college or already there and struggling to decide what to make of the situation.  For those you who have already completed your formal education, I hope this resonates with you.  It’s up to us to enlighten the younger generations so that they may achieve their full potential.

College today is much the same as it was back then.  Modern students have a wealth of on-line information to assist them in picking the right school and program for them.  I wished we had had that.  I recently stumbled across a fantastic website that goes beyond the normal rankings and summary guides.  Check out this site: http://www.whatwilltheylearn.com/.  It’s an initiative from numerous alumni to assess what, if anything, colleges teach these days.  The results are eye-opening.  Of the 1000 or so schools surveyed only 21 got an “A” based on required core curriculum.  I’m proud to say my alma mater was among them.  Several famous and pricy schools did not fare so well.  Watch their video too.

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(Google Images.)

Back to yours truly.  I started college in 1993 immediately after graduating from high school.  I applied to and was accepted to three colleges (I think it was three, I’m lazy).  I got accepted to Mississippi State University (in my original home town) and the University of Georgia, where many of my relatives attended.  I think the other school was UVA; I attended classes for a week as a high schooler and was most impressed. 

MSU offered me a scholarship, I think it was a full ride.  My dad had been a professor there and apparently they needed someone from Georgia.  I probably should have accepted but, given my poor choices in college, I would have likely lost the scholarship anyway.  In the end, I went to UGA.  The Georgia HOPE scholarship was recently enacted at the time.  My high school grades were excellent and so I would have qualified.  Unfortunately, my parents made something like 50 cents over the family income maximum.  The next year they raised the maximum but by then my grades were so dismal it didn’t matter.  I must say I had a great time in Athens.  The city is overrun with bars and hot girls and there is always something to do.  Oddly, none of that matters looking back.

I have since analyzed why I did as poorly as I did in the early half of my college career.  I used to blame the school and several professors in whose classes I did poorly.  I have come to the conclusion though that any failings (pun intended) were my fault only.  I had considered that perhaps I was not ready for college.  Then again, I’m not sure what I would have done instead at that time.  I wanted to continue my formal education, I just went about it all wrong.  I was not true to myself.

I have devoted a whole chapter in The Time Given (not long now….) to being true to yourself.  My understanding of the concept comes from my own self-betrayals.  In high school and for the first few years I was at UGA I was under the delusion of the great “American dream.”  George Carlin once said, “it’s a dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”  I know what he meant.  The dream went something like this:  You go to college to get a valuable degree.  The degree gets you a ticket to work for a big corporation for 30 or 40 years.  By working hard for your employer you get rich and enjoy a comfy retirement.  You can vacation in Destin, Florida and such.

I tried to take the dream to its extreme conclusion.  I just knew I had to major in business in order to get that golden job ticket.  I started out as a general business major and then switched to a speciality in real estate.  UGA’s real estate program is excellent and I did learn some things in my concentration classes which came in handy at Trammel Crow and in my brief real estate sales career.  I also found some of my advanced economics classes fascinating – but only from an academic standpoint.  The rest of the core business classes bored the ever-loving hell out of me.  My grades reflected this.  I recall mornings when I remembered I had to drop classes I had not attended all semester – on the last day possible.  Still figures into some of my nightmares.  I recall passing finance my reading the booklet for my fancy calculator the night before the final exam.  I wasted a semester in a business MIS class that covered things like floppy disks and the new-fangled internet, whatever that was.  That all says something – I’m not sure what…

The “hard” problem I found with an undergraduate business degree was that you studied based on scenarios only a CEO would encounter.  Then you get into the job market and discover only entry-level jobs are available.  It’s kind of depressing.  I really lucked out with Trammell Crow and it took me months of interviewing for scores of other positions to find.  Another problem is that once you’re on the job, they retrain you completely.  I’d say only 10% of what I managed to learn ended up being useful on the job.

If you want to enter business, I think it’s best to get an MBA. It also helps to study something you have connections to (the family business, etc.). Otherwise, you’re wasting your time.  I wasted a lot of the stuff.

The “soft” problem I had was that I didn’t really want to be a business major.  I look like a businessman but I have the heart of a history professor or a latter-day dragon slayer, neither of which benefit from a class in marketing.  This was made clear to me during my senior year.  For whatever reason I finished most of the required classes and had an abundance of electives to take.  Out of curiosity I wound up in a number of classics (ancient Greece and Rome) and philosophy classes. 

Suddenly, I was immersed in subjects that spoke to me about eternal issues I could relate to everyday American life.  I also got “A” after “A” and it wasn’t hard to do.  I liked the programs.  I identified with the programs.  I dig ancient wisdom and logical discourse more than ROI statements and accounting baselines.

It occurred to me a little late in the game to change majors and stick it out.  I probably should have done that.  At the time though, the same stubbornness that got me into my plight held me there.  I made excuses like “I’m almost done.  I need to settle, get out, and get that dream job.”  Ha!  The job I got was great.  I foresaw myself rising in the ranks and becoming a developer, another Donald Trump.  I was good at it.  I thought I could even open my own business and build skyscrapers.  Then, they called me one day and thanked me profusely for my hard work.  I smelled a raise.  Then they said the division was closing and I was no longer needed.  More depression followed.  This is the real American dream – you lie to yourself, waste time and money, and end up getting laid off after giving 150%.  Well, it was the dream.  I think most people have to settle for permanent unemployment or food stamps these days.

After a year of flopping around I headed to law school.  It was my attempt to right my ship.  It almost worked.  I know now that while I love the concept and theory of law, present and historical, these are not good reasons to go to law school.  I’ll have more on this in my coming column on the legal education racket.

I should have gotten a Ph.D. in political theory or history.  Then I would have been primed for a happier career in higher education, pondering the big ideas and helping young people seek questions and answers.  I’m currently trying to re-route myself that way.  This blog is a grand outlet for my academic pursuits.  I’m delighted by the support I have received so far.  I plan to press forward regardless of what kind, if any, formal institution I end up in.  I don’t mean an “institution” where I weave baskets…

Counting the four years I was locked up in high school, it’s been about 24 years getting around to being honest about my ambitions.  I have been extremely lucky in the alternative.  I’ve had the opportunity most people don’t get in the business and legal fields to interact with academics, statesmen, titans and ticks of all stripes.  I have also been able to strike a few blows for freedom over the years.  Everything happens for a reason and I have accepted my long way home.

I hope you, dear readers, find and accept yours too.  Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you.  I genuinely like helping people.  It’s really why I’m here.

Top Shelf Cigars

03 Sunday Mar 2013

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I like to help people.  I also appreciate good people and good services.  So, I have no problem whatsoever writing this column about my great friends at the Top Shelf Cigar Shoppe in Martinez (Evans [greater Augusta]), Georgia.  This is part of my continuing series on good businesses.

My family and I moved to Augusta about six years ago.  I needed to find a top-notch place to purchase and enjoy fine cigars.  There were and still are several tobacco businesses in the area, each unique in its own way.  However, when I first visited Top Shelf I knew I was “home.” 

Just about every city over 100,000 in population has at least one cigar shop.  Some are decent, others are good, some are great.  Top Shelf falls into the rare great category.  If you live in the area and enjoy fine cigars, I highly recommend a visit.  Find them on the web, here: http://www.topshelfcigarshoppe.com/.  If you’re visiting or just passing through, you’ll feel right at home.

Top Shelf is the brainchild and proprietary interest of Mr. Russell Wilder.  After retiring early, Russell knew he wanted to develop a special place dedicated to premium cigars and pipe tobacco.  He has more than accomplished his original goal, having built one of the most recognized and distinctive stores in America.  This has not been am easy process.  Often he reports to work before the sun rises and doesn’t leave until it is dark again.  He goes the extra mile for his customers and with his suppliers and employees. 

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(Russell and his boss.)

Russell regularly attends national conventions and trade shows and has a personal relationship with most of the major players in the modern cigar market.  Just the other day he returned from a trip to Esteli, Nicaragua and a visit to Nick Perdomo’s growing and production operation.  Nick and other cigar royalty have been quests at Russell’s shop over the years. 

I’ve been to cigar shop’s from Florida to New Hampshire.  The really good one’s are memorable because they get things right.  In addition to maintaining an inventory which works for the local market, owners must follow trends and design their stores to be as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.

Russell has had three different locations, each an improvement over the previous incarnation.  His original shop was in a shopping center.  As is (or was), it was an excellent place.  However, when the opportunity presented itself to move to a larger space where he could upgrade most of the shop’s features, Russell didn’t hesitate.  I helped move some of the stock and furniture from place to place as did most other “regulars.”  A great shop will always have at least a few regular customers on hand to demonstrate the quality of the business.

Last summer Russell made a quantum leap.  He bought his own freestanding building and moved his shop to its current location on Columbia Road.  This provides easy access from Washington and Wheeler roads, both major arteries, as well as access to Interstates 20 and 520.  There are some interior pictures of the new shop at the link above.  You may notice a rounder version of your’s truly in one of those – seated at the domino table with a few other vagabonds.

The new shop is a model of cigar industry environment and decor.  It features a giant, two-room walk-in humidor with dark wood and exposed brick trim.  The rest of the building (even the huge bathroom) is covered floor and ceiling in rich judge’s panelling and tongue and groove Arkansas pine.  The floor is a beautiful faux stone.  I played a small part in the remodeling of the new space, working several nights until late with a crew of other dedicated regulars to help Russell build his dream.  It was well worth it.  And, it says something about a man when so many of his friends and customers will pitch in on a construction project of that magnitude for free.  The greater portion of the credit for the new design goes to one Scott Kirby, who single-handed did about 80% of the interior work.  Everything you see is hand, scratch built.  The design rivals anything I’ve ever seen in the cigar best of any major city.  Think a luxury shop in New York or London.

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(Kipling in the humidor.)

Any liquor store with a license can sell cigars.  Some lower-rent aficionados go so far as to buy cigars on-line.  A great shop makes for a great experience.  Russell and his staff – wife Sharon (the real boss), daughter Sarah, Gerald, Tom, and Matt – know the business inside and out and can make tremendous recommendations and comparisons. 

Another critical facet of a successful shop is the smoking lounge.  As noted above, Top Shelf’s is trimmed in luxurious wood and stone.  It has three air-cleaners to keep the atmosphere breathable no matter how many cigars are being enjoyed.  There is spacious seating for many friends to gather in comfort.  Russell provides humidified lockers, a giant screen television with cable, a refrigerator, free coffee, and innumerable other services.  The lounge is usually busy any hour of the day, any day of the week.

As part of going the extra mile Russell offers many additional perks.  The shop is home to a premium club with meets at least once a month.  The meetings provide an entertaining opportunity for fellowship and the enjoyment of the latest cigars.  The shop also hosts a friendly poker game once a week (no cash).  Russell also is deeply involved in the community.  From his annual charity golf tournament to providing cigars to local businesses and clubs to keeping the smoke-loving patrons of the Masters happy, Russell is everywhere.

An arch-libertarian, Russell is happy to give his opinion on politics and economics to both his customers and friends as well as the local media.  Russell also has a keen sense for the stock market and is always dropping profitable hints to those who will listen.  This level of personal service is what puts Top Shelf above just about any other store in the Southeast.

Drop by for a visit if you can.  If not, scour your area for a shop with the traits I’ve listed here.  You’ll be glad you did.  Not a cigar lover?  Shame on you.  There is still time!