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Facts - Archives -
Month of April 2010Current
Week
April 23, 2010
Legislature Moves Closer to Adjournment Date
News and Notes from the State Capitol
Save the Date
Member Services Update
Retail News and Notes
• The short, legislative session is grinding towards
adjournment with another week off the Legislative calendar.
• As we mentioned in last week’s FF, this has been an odd
session in the sense that while the Legislature has been
active they have not been in formal session all that much and
have had no real long session days.
• This week was similar with the House and Senate both in
session at the same time only two days and neither chamber in
session today.
• But, as we look ahead to next week, the House is scheduled
to be in every day (it is the last full week before
adjournment) while the Senate is expected to be in Tuesday
thru Friday.
• Despite the slow nature of business there are still critical
issues facing us (see below) and our Legislative Committee
will be reviewing those issues during our next conference call
on Wednesday of next week.
• The Legislative Committee calls are open to all members of
CRMA and we encourage all members to participate.
• The call will be held on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 10:00
EST.
• We will send out a reminder notice on Monday of next week.
If members would like more information about the call, please
feel free to contact Cathy in our office a t 860- 527-1044 or
by email at
cathy@crmaonline.com.
News and Notes from the State Capitol
• We think we might have a good compromise on HB 5227, “AA
Prohibiting Penalty Fees in Certain Consumer Contracts”.
• The sponsor of the bill, House Chair of the General Law
Committee, Rep. Jim Shapiro (D- Stamford) has reached out to
us in an effort to find common ground on the bill.
• The original bill would have placed serious restrictions on
retailers’ ability to charge restocking fees. We testified
against that bill when it was in Committee and we continued to
oppose it after it was reported out.
• This week we are pleased to report that we have made
significant progress with Rep. Shapiro on this issue.
• Rep. Shapiro has agree to narrow the bill’s focus to the
disclosure of the restocking fee and is no longer interested
in prohibiting restocking fees or in capping restocking fees.
• In addition Rep. Shapiro is offering to exempt retailers
from the bill if they disclose the restocking fee in more than
one location.
• We have sent out to the members of our Legislative Committee
a copy of the amendment that Rep. Shapiro has drafted and will
talk about it during our next conference call.
• Also, this week the House passed the paint steward ship
bill, HB 5122, AA Establishing a Paint Stewardship Program.
The Senate is expected to take the bill up next week.
• The House this week had on its GO List (an internal document
that gives Legislators an idea of the bills that are planning
on acting upon that day) HB 5481 “AAC the Collection and
Remittance of Sales Tax by Remote Sellers”, but did not act on
it.
• We are hopeful they will take action next week on that bill.
• The paid sick leave bill (SB 63, “AA Mandating Employers
Provide Paid Sick Leave to Employees”) was shipped to the
Appropriations Committee this week.
• We are still very concerned about this bill and will not
rest easy until the session adjourns.
• The House is also expected to act next week on HB 5217, “AAC
Energy Efficient Products”, despite our opposition.
• We did have a very productive meeting with the Sen. Chair of
the Energy Committee, Sen. John Fonfara (D-Hartford) late last
night on this issue.
• We are hopeful that Sen. Fonfara will support our position
that this bill will only harm retailers and drive more
business to online retailers.
• Speaking of Sen. Fonfara, we spoke to him about our concerns
over HB 5505 “AAC Electric Rate Relief”. He was receptive to
our concerns and remains open minded about the bill.
• Also, earlier this week we participated in a spirited
discussion with pawn brokers about HB 5342, “AAC the Licensing
and Record Keeping of Pawnbrokers and Precious Metal and Stone
Dealers, The Retention of Certain Goods and Certain Fees
Charged by Pawnbrokers”.
• We support very much the efforts that a number of law
enforcement folks have in tightening up the practice of pawn
brokers and will continue to monitor this bill.
• It does face an uphill battle though.
• And as we head into the last 10 days of the session any
controversial bills that could take up valuable time are often
times not dealt with.
• One last bill in the area of law enforcement that we are
still hopeful will be dealt with before adjournment is our ORC
Bill (HB 5223, “AAC Organized Retail Theft”).
• We are planning on making a big push this week with the
House Chair of the Judiciary Committee Rep Mike Lawlor (D-East
Haven) to take action on the bill.
• Finally, please remember to participate in our Legislative
Committee conference calls. The bills that we mention here are
just a sampling of the issues that we are tracking and during
our calls we review these and many others.
Save the Date for our next LP Committee
meeting!
• Our next Loss Prevention committee meeting will be held on
June 23, 2010 at the Westfarms Mall in Farmington, CT.
• Notice of the meeting was sent to our LP Committee members
this week. The LP meetings are fast developing into a great
way for the LP community in CT to exchange ideas and give
updates on activities that are taking place throughout CT and
the region.
• There is no charge to attend the event. If you would like to
come, please call Cathy in our office at 860-527-1044 or email
her at
cathy@crmaonline.com
Member Services Update
• We urge members to call Chris Flynn in our office today to
learn more about ways that they can save money by using our
preferred energy supplier Public Power.
• Public Power is a Danbury CT based energy supplier who
offers CT retailers REAL savings on the supply portion of
their energy bill.
• Members that are currently on STANDARD SERVICE with either
UI or CL&P will see an IMMEDIATE savings if they move to
Public Power.
• PLEASE contact Chris today at 203-876-7900 or by email at
chris@crmaonline.com
and he will quickly show you how much money you can save buy
switching to Public Power.
Retail News and Notes
•
Schwinn campaign invites harried consumers to ride back in
time
Bicycle maker Schwinn hopes to revamp its brand image with a
nostalgic new ad campaign that urges busy people to take a
break and take a ride. The company's revamped website urges
visitors to "GET OFF THE COMPUTER and get ON A BIKE," and
includes a store-locator button leading consumers to the
closest Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target or other Schwinn-selling
store.
Brandweek (4/22)       
•
Sears partners with Edwin Watts to launch in-store golf shops
Sears announced a plan to boost sporting-goods sales by
opening Edwin Watts golf shops in 12 of its stores. The first
in-store shop is slated to open in Utah at the end of next
month, with additional locations planned in states including
New York, Virginia and Texas.
Bloomberg Businessweek (4/22) 
•
Pent-up demand drives shoppers back to stores
Shoppers are returning to the stores this spring and are
spending more on some of the luxuries and impulse purchases
they denied themselves during last year's downturn, USA TODAY
reports. "Thrift only lasts so long. You eventually have to
replace stuff," says David Wyss, chief economist at Standard &
Poor's. "People are making up for lost time."
USA TODAY (4/22)
April 16, 2010
Legislature Acts to Close Budget Gap…Sort of
Update on CRMA Priority Bills
Electric Deregulation in Trouble?
Member Services Update
Retail News and Notes
• This week the CT General Assembly took steps to close the
CURRENT year budget gap while leaving open the possibility for
more action to deal with next year’s deficit.
• The vote the General Assembly took was bipartisan in nature
as both the Republican Minority in the House and Senate and
the Governor’s office worked with the Democratic Majority in
crafting the so called budget mitigation plan.
• You can review the same summary of the bill that legislators
do by going
here
but we are happy to inform you that the action taken does not
include any increases in the state’s sales tax or income tax
and does not eliminate the Sales Tax Holiday.
• That is, at least, for now it doesn’t.
• After passing the budget mitigation plan there was immediate
speculation that the Legislature might attempt to tackle the
2011 deficit before they adjourn in a couple of weeks.
• If that is the case, we have to continue to monitor the
discussions and keep an eye out for harmful tax increases that
might be imposed by the General Assembly on our members.
• But for now, it appears that leaders of the General Assembly
are just satisfied that they took steps to close the current
year budget deficit and that might be enough for them to call
it a day on budget matters before the session adjourns May
5th.
Update on CRMA Priority Bills
• Outside of the budget matters the General Assembly had
another pretty quite week.
• While both Chambers where in session on Tuesday and
Wednesday, they concentrated mostly on the budget mitigation
plan along with a bill dealing with CT election laws.
• For CRMA we continue our work on the issues facing us and
are pleased to report on some progress with regard to a few of
them.
• On Monday of this week, the Judiciary Committee reported out
of its Committee
HB 5223.
• This bill remains a high priority for us and while the House
Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Michael Lawlor (D-East
Haven) raised some concerns about the bill, he did sponsor an
amendment to strength it and pledged to keep working with us
to try and get a bill passed before session adjourns.
• Meanwhile, we also held a positive dialogue with the House
Chair of the General Law Committee, Rep. Jim Shapiro
(D-Stamford) regarding one of his priority bills,
HB 5227.
• We may have come to some agreements with Rep. Shapiro in
areas where retailers should not charge restocking fees; while
leaving the ability for retailers to charge restocking fees
when appropriate as long as those fees are transparent to the
customer.
• Hopefully, we will have more on that issue in next week’s
Friday Facts.
• No new updates on the pawnbroker’s bill this week as
interest in that bill took a back seat to budget matters. We
may have an update on that bill in next week’s FF.
• Same with the paint stewardship bill. No new action on that
bill; possibly next week.
• The House and the Senate are both scheduled to be in session
beginning Tuesday of next week as they prepare their sprint
towards adjournment date of May 5th.
Electric Deregulation in Trouble?
• One last very important note from the Capitol.
• We are hearing strong rumors that the General Assembly, led
by the Co-Chairs of the Energy Committee, are seriously
looking into changes to CT current deregulated electric supply
market. And not in a good way.
• We don’t have any language we can share with members about
proposed changes only that we know that the House Chair of the
Energy Committee, Rep. Vicki Nardello (D-Beacon Falls) has
been pushing for changes in the deregulation market, but she
may now be joined by her Senate colleague on the Committee,
Sen. John Fonfara (D-Hartford).
• Sen. Fonfara has always been a strong supporter of
deregulation of supply market for energy but there is some
rumbling at the Capitol that he is working on his own version
of a re-regulation bill.
• We will keep a very close eye on this issue as we head to
adjournment date and keep you posted.
Member Services Update
• One of the reasons we are so concerned about energy
deregulation is because we feel very strongly that
deregulation has resulted in lower cost and helped businesses
save money.
• To that end, we encourage all of our members to call us
today if they are still on standard service with either UI or
CL&P.
• Last week we reported how we saved one member over $200 a
month by switching his business from CL&P to Public Power our
endorsed energy supplier.
• We want all of our members to save money on their energy
bills and encourage all of you to call us today and we can
show you how to save money using the CRMA/Public Power Energy
Supply Program!
Retail News and Notes
•
CMO: Recession helped Kmart launch turnaround
Kmart's layaway plan proved popular with shoppers during
the recession and gave the chain a chance to prove itself with
new customers, the company says. Upgrades to the merchandise
mix may be paying off for the retailer, as shoppers start
spending more. "There's a genuine confidence that we are on
the right track, reconnecting with the basic customer and
building a base that perhaps wasn't there before," said Kmart
Chief Marketing Officer Mark Snyder.
MarketWatch
(4/15)
•
Merchants find waiting lists for prime locations as
retailers begin eyeing store expansion; many are finding the
best spots taken. Despite higher post-recession vacancy rates
at many shopping centers, space at top-tier malls has remained
tough to come by, experts say. "The good property is always
going to be good and tenants want to be in it," said Richard
Baker, CEO of NRDC Equity Partners, which owns Lord & Taylor.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek (4/16)
•
T-shirt company shares its profits with young designers,
charities
First-grade teacher Meri Zeiff
says she launched Verymeri to produce shirts with upbeat
designs -- submitted by children and voted on by customers --
because she was frustrated by the cynical messages on the
T-shirts her young students wore to school. Winning designers
receive 3% of the profits and they get to earmark another 3%
for a favorite charity.
Entrepreneur (4/2010)
April 9, 2010
What is up with the Connecticut General Assembly?
Budget Shortfall Update
Other News and Notes from the Capitol
CRMA Golf Outing Update
Retail News and Notes
• This week the CT House of Representatives was in session one
day from about 2:00 p.m. to about 5:00 pm. and the Senate was
not in at all.
• That was it for the week.
• Given that there are about 4 weeks left until adjournment
date, it raises the question to those of us who live at the
Capitol during the session: what is going on with these guys?
• There is still time left for the General Assembly to do lots
of work, but they really seem to be in no real rush to get to
it.
• Now, of course, some Committees are still meeting and
dealing with bills that have been referred to their Committees
but the fact that the House and Senate could not agree on a
deficit mitigation plan and the fact that neither the House or
the Senate can come to agreement with the Governor make us
wonder just how much they really want to get done.
• This does not mean in any way that we can let our guard
down.
• There are still many bad bills floating around (more about
those in a minute) and as we mentioned they still have time to
do those bills, but with each passing day the clock is ticking
down to adjournment.
Budget Shortfall Update
• As we have mentioned in previous FF, the elephant in the
room with this General Assembly is the huge deficit that the
State is currently facing as well as structural deficits into
the future.
• The General Assembly attempted to deal with a so called
budget mitigation plan but could not come to an agreement,
mainly because Sen. Democrats could not come to an agreement
and the Governor threatened to veto the plan anyway.
• The House never took up the plan based primarily on the
threat of a veto from the Governor.
• Given that background, the Finance Committee went back to
work last week in another attempt to come up with a deficit
mitigation plan.
• Keith Phaneuf, who is a terrific reporter, especially as it
relates to budget matters, has written a couple of very good
pieces about the current state of the State’s finances in
today’s edition of the CT Mirror.
• You can review those articles by going
here
and
here..
Other News and Notes from the Capitol
• Here is an update on some of the bills we are following:
• HB 5223, “AAC Organized Retail Theft”, is before the
Judiciary committee which has until Monday to act on it.
• Also on Monday, the Judiciary Committee has HB 5227, “A
Prohibiting Penalty Fees in Certain Consumer Contracts”
(restocking). We remain opposed to this bill.
• Paint Stewardship HB 5122, “AA Establishing a Paint
Stewardship Program” remains a work in progress, but it is
getting closer to where we would like it.
• We are also happy to report that one of the pawnshop bills
we opposed was defeated in the Judiciary Committee last week
but one more remains.
• The bill that died was, HB 5472 AAC Pawnbrokers, Precious
Metal Dealers and Second –Hand Dealers but the one that
remains is HB 5342 AAC the Licensing and Record Keeping of
Pawnbrokers and Precious Metal and Stone Dealers, The
Retention of Certain Goods and Certain Fees Charged by
Pawnbrokers.
• We were asked to attend a meeting about this bill with key
legislators next week and will update you on the progress of
that bill in next week’s FF.
• On Monday the General Law Committee is holding a committee
meeting to consider bills that were referred to their
Committee.
• One that we are very interested in is HB 5130, “AAC Child
Safe Products”, is on the agenda. We will be there and will
update you next week.
• The Energy Committee reported out HB 5217, “AAC Energy
Efficiency Products”.
• We remain opposed to this bill, and are scheduled to meet
with Sen. Fonfara (D-Hartford) the Co-Chair of the Energy
Committee to discuss our objections.
• Also, paid sick leave (SB 63 AA Mandating Employers Provide
Paid Sick Leave to Employees) is still alive and kicking.
• Finally, you can get a full report on all of the bills that
we are following by joining in on our next Legislative
Committee conference call which will be held next Wednesday,
April 14th at 10:00.
• If you are interested in participating in the call, please
call Cathy in our office @860-527-1044 for the call in number.
CRMA Golf Outing Update
• With spring finally here, we wanted to remind members about
our Annual Golf Outing.
• We are still putting the finishing touches on the event and
will make a formal announcement and invitation about this
year’s event, but want to encourage members to hold September
27, 2010 on their calendar.
• Our Golf Committee is hard at work and we are very excited
about this year’s outing. We will update you in upcoming FF
about more of the details but please hold September 27, 2010
and join us for a great day!
Retail News and Notes
•
Sears Web site sports price-matching guarantee
Sears' new Web site for customers who want to research new
lawn mowers and tractors comes with a guarantee that the
retailer will match prices at Home Depot and Lowe's. The
retailer also is offering gift cards to buyers.
Chicago Sun-Times (4/9)
•
Q-and-A: Kmart CMO shares industry outlook, chain specifics
Kmart has been adding social and digital media tools to the
marketing mix, while not losing focus on tried-and-true
efforts customers care about, such as the year-round layaway
plan. As the chain touts a new deal with teen star Selena
Gomez while simultaneously celebrating a 25-year relationship
with Jaclyn Smith, marketing chief Mark Snyder shares his
outlook on the industry and thoughts on balancing old and new.
Brandweek (4/8)
•
Payless to debut shoe line from Isabel Toledo
Designer Isabel Toledo is launching a line of women's shoes
for Payless ShoeSource, thanks in large part to a higher
profile after first lady Michelle Obama was seen sporting some
of her apparel styles. The first seven styles in Toledo's new
footwear line are set to debut in Payless stores this
September.
USA TODAY/The Associated Press (4/8)
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