Happy Black Friday, everyone. Let's start with our own story from the Opening Day of Christmas Shopping Season: - Local shoppers out early for bargains - Samantha Maziarz Christmann/The Buffalo News Rose Silver left Toronto for Amherst at 4 p.m. Thursday in search of a $198 laptop computer from Best Buy. By 1:15 a.m., she was third in line with 175 people behind her, about a dozen of them camped out in tents and sleeping bags. "It's demented is what it is," she joked, her legs wrapped in a garbage bag for extra warmth. "But why did I do it? Because it's a very, very good deal." Or: -Project promotes talking, not shopping, on Friday - AP/The Buffalo News A national oral history project is trying to start a new tradition for Black Friday. Instead of hunting for bargains, StoryCorps suggests families sit down together and talk about their lives on a National Day of Listening.
Putting up the storm windows and hunkering down for winter. The question for some businesses -- as we see in today's Buffalo News Business Today section -- is whether there will ever be a spring.
- Quality Markets may close by Feb. 15 - Matt Glynn/The Buffalo News Quality Markets’ 13 groceries in Western New York would close by mid-February 2010 if a buyer for the locations is not found, putting at risk close to 700 jobs at those stores. Companywide, more than 4,000 jobs are threatened. The disclosure came in a notice submitted by Quality’s parent company, Syracuse-based Penn Traffic, to the state Department of Labor. More coverage from The Observer in Dunkirk and The Union-Sun and Observer in Lockport.
- WNY maker of garb for NBA, Bills losing contracts to Asia - George Pyle/The Buffalo News The exclusive supplier of game jerseys for the National Basketball Association is moving all of its production contracts to Asia, a decision that may idle a sports uniform factory in Perry and its 100 employees. Adidas, the global sportswear powerhouse that manufactures game jerseys for the NBA and several National Football League teams — including the Buffalo Bills — notified the owners of the American Classic Outfitters factory in Perry about six weeks ago that it was canceling a contract that began in 2008 and was supposed to run through the end of 2014. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., is among those calling on Adidas to change its mind and continue to produce NBA uniforms in the United States rather than move the work from ACO and two other U.S. suppliers to factories in Thailand. [Notice that the ACO Web site has not been changed from the days, not so long ago, when it did not just bill Adidas but hustled other business from colleges, high schools and amateur leagues. Given that the new owners of ACO -- the R.J. Liebe Athletic Lettering Co. -- knew of the loss of the Adidas gravy train and bought the plant anyway, that may be the plant's future, too.] After our deadline, Adidas, which for some reason prefers to spell its own name with a lower-case a, e-mailed me this:
Statement from The adidas Group regarding NBA Uniform Production at ACO "In August, the adidas Group informed ACO that it had decided to begin to transition the production of NBA uniforms to facilities located closer to the source of uniform materials. This decision is in line with both the company's product strategy of developing and introducing new, innovative materials and technologies to basketball uniforms, and the company's sourcing strategy of consolidating our supply chain. This decision is in no way a reflection on the capabilities or performance of ACO who has been a great partner for many years. The adidas Group continues to produce uniforms for professional, college and other amateur teams at more than 30 facilities in North America and will continue to do so moving forward."
- Group scraps Saab deal with GM - AP/Buffalo News A Swedish automaker has backed out of a deal to buy Saab from General Motors Co., casting serious doubt on the future of the troubled brand.... Buffalo Niagara is home to two Saab dealers, Cappellino Pontiac Buick GMC Hummer Saab in Clarence and Checkpoint Foreign Cars in the Town of Tonawanda. Prior to the collapse of the Koenigsegg deal, Cappellino had been told it would continue as a Saab dealer under the new owner, while Checkpoint believed it might lose its franchise. More on this non-deal, and a postmortem on the similarly failed resuscitation of Saturn, from The Detroit Free Press.
Finally, some respect. A while ago, you surely remember, I was on about how the New York Times managed to write a big Page One story about chicken wings while almost not mentioning Buffalo at all. How typical. But Calvin Trillin, the wonderful food, travel and true crime writer for The New Yorker, gives credit where it is due in a great piece in the Nov. 23 issue. Of course, Trillin knows food, knows Buffalo food, and, like me, was born in Kansas City, a great place to learn about eating. The article is about poutine, a uniquely Canadian dish that consists of french fries, cheese curd and brown gravy. "If you ate it often," he quotes a Canadian friend, "it would kill you." In order to describe how a nation can fight over the purity of a regional dish gone viral, Trillin has to come up with an American example. His choice, what else but Buffalo wings? You have to be a New Yorker subscriber to read Funny Food: Is a national joke becoming a national dish? online. But here are the important bits:
In recent years, poutine has rapidly widened its range -- although someone from Quebec who's tasting a poutine in Alberta is likely to appear disdainful, like a travelling salesman from Buffalo sniffing suspiciously at what a Southern California sports bar lists on its menu as Buffalo Chicken Wings. In addition to pointing out that the proper pronunciation is poo-TIN rather than the more commonly heard poo-TEEN, a Quebecois would respond to, say, the use of shredded cheese rather than Cheddar-cheese curds the way a strictly raised Buffalonian would respond to wings served with cucumbers and Thousand Island rather than celery and blue-cheese dressing... Eating a smoked-meat sandwich at Schwartz's was what I thought of as a tip of the hat to an old champ -- the equivalent of having one beef-on-weck sandwich in Buffalo before turning to some serious chicken-wing consumption.
Meanwhile:
- BusinessWeek magazine has decreed that Tonawanda is the Best Place to Raise Kids in New York. Runners-up were Cheektowaga and Irondequoit. The photo they use to illustrate the piece is the downtown Buffalo skyline. OK. Tonawanda may have good schools, but it doesn't have a skyline. That's better than the page naming Salina, where my younger son was born, as the best place for kids in Kansas, and illustrating it with photos of the landmarks of Wichita, 95 miles away.
- And the aforementioned New York Times updates the fact that there is nothing to update in the battle for the rights to turn the down-at-the-hooves racetrack at Aquaduct into a video gaming extravaganza. Buffalo's Delaware North Company is among the bidders. But, this time, the Times gets all the way through the story and never once types the word "Buffalo." How typical.
Well, they warned us. If Barack Obama gets elected president, they said, the cost of health care will only go up and up. Well, he got elected, and the price of health care is going up. Of course, Congress has not passed anything yet. The health care industry is managing to raise the prices without, so far, any government mandate.
- Health plan premiums are again on the rise - Jonathan D. Epstein/The Buffalo News As Congress debates the most significant changes to health care in decades, consumers in Western New York and elsewhere are again facing increases in health insurance premiums that far outpace inflation or any gains in their income.
- Anticipation of health bill raises costs - The Omaha World Herald Pick a health problem: asthma, high cholesterol, diabetes. Ask a consumer what it's costing to treat such conditions, and you'll hear that, after years of rising drug prices, the rate of increase in the last year has been particularly sharp.
- Medical malpractice, as reported by The Tulsa World Since 2000, the Oklahoma board has disciplined 328 practitioners for various things including sexual misconduct, writing false prescriptions, unprofessional conduct and alcohol abuse, according to an analysis by the World. Of those, nearly 190 are still active medical professionals whose disciplinary background remains largely hidden from patients who don't know how or where to look for the information.
- Smoking, as outlined in The Dayton Daily News Public health advocates foresee a perfect storm heading to Ohio next year that could increase smoking rates, gut enforcement of the indoor smoking ban and allow Big Tobacco to lure children into using new, mint-flavored tobacco products.
-Before any healthcare reform, U.S. doctor supply is already strained - The Miami Herald/McClatchey News It's a phrase people are loath to hear when they're looking for a new primary-care doctor: Not accepting new patients. Some parts of the country already lack an ample supply of general internists, pediatricians and family physicians, forcing patients to drive further or wait longer for care. If a comprehensive health reform bill passes and extends coverage to millions of uninsured Americans, many are asking if there will be enough primary-care doctors to handle the increased demand for medical services.
Today's Buffalo News Business Today section front tells the story of how businesses -- one local and small, one global and still pretty darn big -- are trying to get ahead on the technology curve.
- Optical lab's vision pays off - The Buffalo News Keeping competitive in the eyeglasses business requires some vision. "There's all kinds of bells and whistles these days," said Forrest M. Reukauf, co-owner with his wife, Denise, of the Optics Plus eyewear laboratory in the Town of Tonawanda.
-GM team compares notes on test driving Volt - The Detroit Free Press ROYAL OAK, Mich. — From charging the Chevrolet Volt’s revolutionary power system to washing the car, everything about the extended-range electric vehicle is new, but owners must find the Volt familiar and easy to use. [A New York Times test drive of the Volt is recounted here.]
Meanwhile, news about some top execs of each of The Not-So-Big-As-They-Were-Last-Year Three:
-Ford chief is staying, but not forever - The Detroit Free Press Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford likes to joke that President and CEO Alan Mulally, who saved his great-grandfather's auto company from the brink of ruin and has become a beloved and respected figure at Ford, won't be leaving anytime soon.
-'Different' Chrysler zeroes in on quality - The Detroit News Chrysler Group LLC is backing claims that it will be a quality leader by the end of 2012 with a revamped, refocused and much larger quality team, tougher standards and a commitment to achieving sustainable quality gains crucial to its long-term success by changing company culture. "It's different now," said Doug Betts, senior vice president in charge of quality at Chrysler. "People are talking openly about problems now and how to fix (them.)"
News that one of the Buffalo area's signature companies is cutting back -- way back -- is serious and disappointing for many. Thus my hat is off (sorry) to the Buffalo News writers and editors who resisted what must have been a strong impulse to make all kinds of puns out of the company's name and/or its main product.
- Uncertain future for New Era’s local plant - Matt Glynn/The Buffalo News New Era Cap Co. is cutting back its U.S. manufacturing and will soon choose which one of two manufacturing plants to keep open — in Derby or Demopolis, Ala. The Buffalo-based hat and apparel manufacturer says it needs only one plant, not the three it currently operates, to meet reduced consumer demand. New Era has already determined it will close a plant in Jackson, Ala., in the first quarter of next year. The company will also shut a distribution center in Mobile, Ala., probably in the second quarter of 2010. New Era’s Delaware Avenue headquarters and a distribution center in Harrisburg, Pa., are unaffected.
This is, of course, big news in Alabama, too. And a couple of headline writers there were not so self-controlled.
- End of a New Era - Mobile, Ala., Press Register New Era Cap Co. will close its Jackson, Ala., factory and Mobile distribution center by early next year, laying off 322 workers in Jackson and 70 in Mobile, the company said this morning. Paul Gallagher, a spokesman for New Era of Buffalo, N.Y., said the firm has been hit by falling demand in the recession, and that its small-batch custom business has been decimated by the closure of more than 500 former retail customers. - The End Of New Era - WKRG TV, Mobile Almost four hundred people will be looking for a job next year after a big announcement at the New Era Cap Company. - New Era closing Jackson plant, Demopolis plant future uncertain - Dermopolis Times New Era Cap Co., Major League Baseball's official cap supplier, is consolidating its U.S. manufacturing operations from three plants into one, putting the future of one of Demopolis' largest employers in limbo.
And then there's this headline, which contains no puns because they were crowded out by all the optimism: - New Era Cap Co. may consolidate 3 plants into Demopolis facility - The Tuscaloosa News New Era Cap Co., which supplies Major League baseball players and celebrities, said Thursday that low consumer demand is forcing the consolidation of its U.S. manufacturing operations from three plants into one. ... A decision on which of the other two plants will go — either Demopolis, Ala., or Derby, N.Y. — will be made after discussions with the Communications Workers of America, which represents employees at both facilities, Gallagher said. That decision is expected in the spring.
But, then, if I worked in a town called Tuscaloosa, I might be tired of puns, too.
I remember a day when I was in the process of moving from one town to another, standing in a Wal-Mart, and not remembering whether I was in the old town, there to buy cleaning supplies for the house I was moving out of, or in the new town, there to buy window blinds for the house I was moving into. I had the same feeling this morning sweeping through the business sections of various newspapers:
- Termini bid disrupts Buffalo Place board - Jonathan D. Epstein/The Buffalo News Tensions erupted over the downtown Buffalo commercial real estate market Wednesday, as several developers complained bitterly about some projects seeking government assistance while others struggle to fill excess office space.
- Starwood Hotels To Move Global Headquarters To Stamford - The Hartford Courant The state will provide a $9.5 million loan and up to $80 million in tax credits and exemptions, according to Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who called the move "a triumph for Connecticut."
- County approves Boeing incentives, but financial details remain secret - Charleston (S.C.) Regional Business Journal Charleston County Council members voted Tuesday in favor of a tax incentive package for the Boeing Co., but most of the details remain under wraps. County officials said that’s because they are still negotiating the financial deal with Boeing. Some details could be made public before the third and final vote on the package, scheduled for Dec. 22. Other details could remain secret, even for a year after they are approved, said Councilman Elliott Summey, who made the motion for the council to approve the incentive package.
-Tax break is approved to keep McKesson jobs here - The Commercial Appeal of Memphis For the first time, the Memphis and Shelby County Industrial Development Board on Wednesday approved tax breaks to encourage a company just to keep some or all of its 813 jobs in Memphis, not necessarily create new ones.
And now for something a little different: - Meet the innovator behind Duluth's building boom - The Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune [registration required] He’s a multimillionaire who took a shine to Duluth in the 1980s, and he’s had a giant impact on his adopted Northland home. ... “We came to Duluth and saw it as an opportunity because everybody was so negative about being there,” he said. “There wasn’t anyone taking advantage of good sound opportunities.” This article has a huge reportorial hole in it, not saying whether developer Lee Anderson did or did not get a lot of tax breaks, government-backed loans, etc, for his projects. Still, somebody otta send this guy an e-mail.
In New York, it seems, nobody wants to build anything, or rebuild anything, unless they get grants, loans or tax forgiveness from the government. From today's Buffalo News Business Today section: - Developers in a snit over AM&A's plan - Jonathan D. Epstein/The Buffalo News Downtown real estate developers are objecting to an effort by Rocco R. Termini to get a low-interest state loan to redevelop the dormant AM&A's building on Main Street in Buffalo into a hotel, residences and offices. The developers say the loan would amount to a government subsidy or "taxpayer handout" for Termini and the AM&A's project, which would then compete with their own projects for new tenants in a market that already has excess vacant space. Termini's plan has even created a rare spat among the directors of Buffalo Place, who have been asked to consider a resolution endorsing the loan request. Many of the directors are Termini's rivals. The Buffalo Place board met this morning. A story on the fireworks will be filed this morning on BuffaloNews.com.
- IDAs seek revised incentive policy - Matt Glynn/The Buffalo News Business projects that make an exceptional impact on the region’s economy would receive a higher level of financial incentives from any one of Erie County’s six industrial development agencies, under policy changes proposed by those agencies.
In today's Buffalo News Business Today section, a couple of national stories that, under today's standards, just about qualify as good news.
- GM 3rd-quarter loss drops to $1.2 billion GM lost $1.2 billion in the third quarter — far less than the $6 billion it lost in the first three months of the year, before it was transformed by a stay in Chapter 11. The company credited a sharp reduction in debt and sales of new models. In what it called a sign of progress, GM also pledged to start paying back $6.7 billion in U.S. loans. But the money will come from a contingency account full of government cash, leading critics to question just how healthy the automaker really is. Progress: Losing only $1.2 billion. And paying back debt with borrowed money. Meanwhile, reports The Detroit Free Press, GM needs a ton of state tax breaks to keep its iconic downtown Detroit HQ, The RenCen, up and running.
- Fed to watch falling dollar Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that the central bank will monitor the sliding U.S. dollar but pledged anew to keep interest rates at record lows to nurture the economic recovery. Translation: The Fed boss knows the dollar is dropping, and that he may have to do something about it. Something that might hurt somewhere. He also knows that the really low interest rates, kept that way to stimulate growth and maybe even reduce unemployment, are encouraging the kind of investment bubble that would up killing the housing market. He may have to do something about that, too. Folo from WSJ/Dow Jones: Bernanke's remarks help shore up dollar. But that rise is also a sign that investors are worried and see the dollar as a safe haven.
Some of us who Aren't In Kansas Anymore were happy to watch The Wizard of Oz on TBS over the weekend. Twice. Sunday's Buffalo News Business Today section front accidentally picked up the theme with stories about
Brains: - Region has the brains to build upon - David Robinson/Buffalo's Business The Buffalo Niagara region, for instance, does a good job of producing college graduates. The nearly 14,000 people who graduated in 2006 from local colleges and universities with bachelor's degrees or above was more than double the graduates produced by the typical U.S. metro area. It was good enough that Buffalo ranked 26th among U.S. metro areas. But our work force isn't loaded with a heaping portion of people with degrees in high-value fields, like computers, mathematics and engineering. And because it's easy for people to move, the percentage of workers in the Buffalo Niagara region with bachelor's degrees is actually a tick below the 25 percent national average.
Heart: - City landlords profit by doing right - Samantha Maziarz Christmann/The Buffalo News But there is money to be made in an ethical way in such a market, experts said, for those willing to do things the right way. And doing things right involves a lot more work than just buying low and selling high.
Courage [maybe too much] - Stocks are hot again, but are they too hot? - Rachel Beck/The Associated Press Consider the very thing that has boosted the market. The U.S. government has spent nearly $1 trillion to stimulate the economy and the Federal Reserve has maintained a policy of keeping interest rates near zero. Those will disappear as the economy's health improves, potentially halting the bull market by taking away what has been its crutch — sources of cheap and plentiful money.
And, [in a backwards sort of way] Home: - Continental's long good-bye in Elma - Matt Glynn/The Buffalo News Now the end has arrived, on the schedule that Continental had forcast. Production stopped at the Jamison Road plant early this month, said Sue Frederick, a Michigan-based spokeswoman for Continental, whilch is headquartered in Germany.
