One gift to avoid on Mother?s Day
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I remember back in the early days of Business Pulse, my mom was the only person who read this column. Now I?m proud to say readership has grown to include my dad, my wife and occasionally my in-laws. I?m hoping one day to have people outside my immediate family to read this thing.
Since we?re on the topic of Mother?s Day, I wanted to mention that a new bathroom scale has hit the market that?s capable of weighing up to 1,000 pounds. While this new scale may come in handy for some people, this is NOT an appropriate gift for Mother?s Day.
I realize you likely have many things to do on this fine day so I won?t bore you with my usual Business Pulse foolishness. But I will take just a second to poke fun at the Canadian postal system, which has stopped delivering mail to a Winnipeg home for what has been described as a ?very threatening cat.?
According to a Canada Post spokeswoman, the agency is very concerned about the safety of its carriers and this menacing cat is too much to handle. The cat has been described by mail carriers as a ticking time bomb.
Cat owner John Samborski contends such references are ludicrous and that his loveable 8-year-old cat named Shadow is harmless. Somehow I doubt it.
My thoughts are that the postal carriers in Canada need to eat more protein. It?s one thing to be scared of a vicious dog. Being scared of a cat makes you look like a wimp. And speaking of the post office, this is a perfect chance for me to transition right into my business news for the day.
Postal rate increase goes in effect Monday
There?s a bunch of neat local business news this week but none of it has as much of an impact on everybody in the entire community as the 2-cent postage increase. Beginning Monday, the cost of a first-class stamp will be 41 cents. That moves the price of a book of stamps up to $8.20.
It?s doubtful the extra 2 cents is going to plunge anyone into bankruptcy (OK so the 2 cents won?t plunge anyone into bankruptcy), but it?s another sign of how our everyday cost of living continues to soar. Gasoline, milk, postage, it all continues to climb.
?It?s just part of the way things are,? said Brent Nunley, the officer in charge at McMinnville Post Office. ?The cost of doing business keeps going up.?
?But we?re ready for the transition,? added Brent. ?We have plenty of 2-cent stamps on hand for people who still have a lot of 39-cent stamps to use.?
Some folks don?t realize the postal service is completely self-sufficient and receives no government tax dollars to operate. Therefore the money customers pay for postage has to pay all the bills, including employee salaries and their health care benefits.
The postal service last raised its postage rates about 16 months ago in January 2006.
The post office is also unveiling a brand new stamp this Monday called the Forever Stamp. This stamp is being touted as a way to save time and money. Once you buy it, you can use it indefinitely on first-class letters, even in the event of future rate increases.
?We?ve had a lot of questions about the Forever Stamp,? said Brent. ?It?s really a matter of convenience. You don?t have to worry about having a 39-cent stamp and a 2-cent stamp. You can just use one stamp.?
Simpson starts his own real estate company
After working with legendary realtor Paul Holder for the past six years, David Mason Simpson has started his own business called D.M. Simpson and Company.
?I was raised up in a stockyard and been around auctions all my life,? said David, who is well known for his family?s cattle barn on Old Smithville Highway. ?Buying and selling land and auctions are what I like to do.?
David says he will have a full-service brokerage, meaning he will offer residential and commercial property as well as land. His brothers, Casey and Michael, have transferred their real estate licenses to his business and are joining his staff.
?The housing market isn?t real fast right now,? said David. ?What I?m seeing is raw land is what people are looking for, in a lot of cases for investment purposes.?
David pointed to an auction last week on Smithville Highway where the property of J.C. Slatton was subdivided and sold in tracts. David said the undeveloped land sold for an average of $10,189 an acre.
As for his auction strategy, he says you have to get a feel for the crowd when determining where to start the bidding. You want to start low to stimulate brisk bidding and hopefully drive up the price, but sometimes that plan can backfire.
?If you start out low, you might end low too,? said David.
As for another interesting aspect of his business, David has this assessment: ?I have a really cool phone number.? It?s sure easy to remember, 473-LAND. The business is located on Chancery Street directly behind your award-winning Southern Standard.
There?s a new JCPenney manager in town
Jody Gambill brings an eye-catching r?sum? with him to McMinnville as the new manager of our JCPenney. You could certainly say Jody is well traveled as he worked as a Lowe?s manager in seven different states during a 10-year management career with the building supply company. Most recently, he was the manager of a Target in Knoxville for the past two years.
?I really enjoy developing employees and managing people,? said Jody, who has been on the job a little over a month. ?I enjoy the process of training them, promoting them and seeing them grow.?
He inherits a successful store that was managed well for many years by Jamie Dowdy, who decided to leave the hustle and bustle of retail life to do mission work. Jody says there are many similarities between JCPenney and Target, but not so many between JCPenney and Lowe?s.
?Target has shoes and jewelry and the same type of mix, although they have toys and food and other things too,? said Jody. ?Lowe?s is definitely a different clientele. You don?t get this type of Mother?s Day traffic at Lowe?s. You?re dealing with contractors and people who are remodeling. It?s more of a family atmosphere here.?
Jody has the benefit of a veteran staff and says he?s been pleased to see this store is so well supported by the community. One of his main chores will be overseeing new products and new promotions on the market.
?Companies that don?t change go away,? said Jody. ?So we?ll be coming out with new clothing lines and new looks.?
Trucking company buys Main Street property
The downtown building that?s been the home of Chole?s Art Gallery for over a year has been sold and trucking company owner Tom Allen is the new owner. Tom told me Friday he plans to move his business Allen Enterprises/ Tennessee Logistics to Main Street in the next four to six months.
?We?re going to put the offices for our trucking business on the first floor,? said Tom. ?And we?re going to build upscale condos on the second floor.?
Tom has 31 years experience in trucking and started his current business about a year ago. He has a dozen trucks and a local staff of drivers that travels all over the Midwest and Southeast.
?America doesn?t function without trucks moving freight,? said Tom, who added a trucking business downtown in no way means there will be large trucks on Main Street.
Another exciting aspect of this business is Tom plans to expand his workforce to 25 to 30 employees in the near future. More employees is certainly a promising sign.
As for Chole?s, business owner Linda Dunlap says she is currently exploring her options for keeping her business on Main Street. She says she doesn?t need much space because she wants to de-emphasize her art work and concentrate on her art lessons.
?I?d like to keep having art lessons downtown,? said Linda. ?But I don?t know where I?ll end up right now.?
That?s all folks
If you?ve ever been scared of a cat, or have a business tip, give me a call at 473-2191.