Len Scaffidi, Sr. Client Executive, at ToolingU.com and I have had a great discussion over at Linked In about CIT Group (CIT) and the arrangement worked out with creditors to avoid bankruptcy.
With the news today that the bailouts so far, will saddle all of us with another $24 Trillion in debt on top of the $11.5 Trillion we already owe, I invite you to join the discussion. Is this the road we want to continue down? Is there a better way?
Last month I posted about gadgets, I'm Addicted To Gadgets And Thingamabobs! Some of the neat things in that post were Candles that doubled as a chalkboard and a corn peeler that cuts the kernels off an ear of car so it's ready for Bobbie Flay's charred corn salsa.
How's this first one: a LED in your shower head that by it's color tells you the temperature; blue for cool or cold, red for warm or hot. Imagine. no more opening the shower door risking water on the floor and testing the water temperature with your hand which you then have to dry off with a towel. No more jumping into the shower risking skin on...Read More
CIT on Sunday night clinched a two-year, $3bn rescue financing with its creditors that will enable the troubled US finance group to avoid a bankruptcy filing. ...Read More
In May, there appeared an article in Home Accents Today that announced that American General Finance, a subsidiary of troubled financial company American International Group (AIG), was decreasing its exposure to retail financing. Heath Combs wrote that American General was a major source of financing home furnishings retailers providing a deferred interest program. Two companies cited as being affected were Crest Furniture of Dayton, N.J and the Furniture Marketing Group. If financing were available it would carry a very high interest rate.
Now, another shoe may be about to drop. CIT Group that provides short-term financing for small manufacturers...Read More
Beverly says, "If business gets any worse, we might have to sell beans in the store!" Kidding aside, we have not seen it this bad in all the time we've been in business. We started after 9/11 and things, as you know, were real slow. We've gone to the owner of the building to seek lease relief and he won't budge. He recently bought the building and based on rents, is probably on the hook to the bank with no room to cut rents.
I found this article in the Beaufort Gazette that raised some eyebrows with Beverly.
Interior designer Michelle Pearson was considering closing her Bluffton retail store when she came u...Read More
The blog Blue Tomatoes introduced to me a new word, or words to be exact, Wabi-Sabi and claims that this is a new trend in the West. Architect Tadao Ando defines Wabi-Sabi as "the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay, and death. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered-and it reveres authenticity above all."
Andrew Juniper claims, "if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longi...Read More
UPDATE:The MercuryNews.com is just reporting thatSmith & Hawken will cease all business by the end of 2009, having a hired a liquidator, Gordon Brothers Group of Boston, to help it do so.
Paul Hawken, who founded the company with Dave Smith thirty years ago, asked, "How could you possibly have a gardening store in this economy and go wrong?" He hinted he may start up a gardening company again.
I spent quite a bit of time this morning on two blogs, more than usual, even reading many of the comments, and there are quite a few. Seems the bloggers struck a nerve.
I started on Jackie Von Tobel 's blog, Jackie Blue Home. Von Tobel is an author, iIllustrator, designer, and artist located in the Las Vegas, Nevada Area. She wrote a piece about the demise of good home design magazines and that what we are seeing in the few that remain, feature bad design in many cases. It generated 52 comments.
Sorensen is the founder and global scientific director for TNS Sorensen, a market research company whose retail partners include Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot, along with a wide range of supermarkets, convenience stores, and drug stores. Among the company’s services and research methods is an offering called
In June Congress passed the "Cash for Clunkers" law. The GM site states in part
Recently, an important new law was passed to provide U.S. Government vouchers valued from $3,500 to $4,500 when you trade-in a vehicle and purchase a new one that meets or exceeds higher MPG standards. The Car Allowance Rebate System (or CARS -- commonly referred to as Cash for Clunkers or Customer Assistance to Recycle and Save) will be available to new car shoppers at registered, participating dealers later this summer.
There's hope for us'ns! Cynthia Aiken, prominent Atlanta interior designer and owner of Cynthia Aiken Interiors says she's seeing a pickup in business from clients seeking design help to upgrade their homes rather than trade up. Even though interest rates are low and it's a buyers market for homes, Aiken says people are deciding to stay put. They are staying because of required larger down payments required by banks and the difficulty of selling their existing home.
"In today's market, where people are staying put, I am being asked for help in complementing existing furnishings or to "fill in" where there are gaps in the
My wife and I have had this discussion. Have you had the same?
I came across a high-end furniture manufacturer that is not represented in Oregon or in the design center in Seattle. I asked her to take a look. She liked it, but wonders if the high end luxury furniture will sell in this climate. Later, she is visited by another furniture manufacturer that wants her tocarry a line with a lower price point than we normally have on the floor. She wonders if she should add the line. I can only pitch her on exclusivity!
