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Facts - Archives -
Month of
February 2008
Current
Week
February 29, 2008
General
Assembly’s Short Session is Moving at a Fast and Furious Pace
General Law Committee Public Hearing on Tuesday
Other News and Notes from the State Capitol
Member Services Update
Retail News & Notes
During the short session, which runs from February to May, the
pace of activity at the State Capitol can sometimes move at a
dizzy speed. We fear that we have come upon that pace this
week.
One look at the Bulletin, the daily publication which is the
guide to what’s happening at the Capitol, you can see what we
mean.
There are loads of bills that we are watching that impact
retailers, because of that, and because we are in a short
session, our Legislative Committee has decided to meet weekly
for the time being to stay on top of things.
We will hold our next call on Wednesday March 5, 2006 at
10:00AM. Please call Cathy in our office at 860-527-1044 for
more information.
General Law Committee Public Hearing on
Tuesday
The committee that has jurisdiction over issues affecting
retailers is the General Law Committee. The committee is
planning two public hearings next week with a number of bills
on the agenda that will impact retailers.
Before we get to next weeks bills, the General Law Committee
held a hearing this week on two bills that we are interested
in. SB 30, “An Act Concerning Consumer Privacy and Identity
Theft” and HB 5610 “An Act Requiring Last Sale Dates For
Retail Food Products”.
SB 30 is one of Governor Rell’s top priority bills. We
encourage all members to review this bill closely and send us
your thoughts.
Also, a friend of retailers on the Committee, Rep. Len Green,
(R) Beacon Falls, introduced HB 5610 “An Act Requiring Last
Sale Dates For Retail Food Products” and we would also ask
that members review that bill as well.
On Tuesday of next week the General Law Committee will hold a
public hearing on a number of bills we are interested in.
Here is a list of the bills that the General Law Committee has
before them next week.
SB 515, “An Act Concerning Internet Web Site Tracking of
Consumer Data”
SB 520, “An Act Concerning the Unauthorized Release of
Personal Consumer Information”
SB 527, “An Act Prohibiting Certain Harmful Chemicals in
Children’s Products and Banning the Sale of Recalled Products”
HB 5761, “An Act Concerning Organized Retail Theft”
HB 5766, “An Act Concerning Consumer Deposits”
HB 5658, “An Act Concerning the Confidentiality of Social
Security Numbers”
If members are interested in any of these bills, please send
us your comments today. You can email them to Cathy in our
office,
cathy@crmaonline.com
Other News and Notes from the State Capitol
As we mentioned there is a lot of activity at the Capitol and
we happen to be right in the middle of most of it
In addition to the activity of the General Law Committee,
there are other committees holding public hearings next week.
On Monday the Environment Committee is holding a public
hearing on a bill that will ban the use of plastic bags, HB
5717 An Act Banning Retail Use of Plastic Bags.
Health care will be on the Insurance Committee’s list of bills
for Public Hearing on Tuesday. We are especially concerned
about this years’ play or pay bill, SB 473 An Act Concerning
Business Fee’s for Healthcare Insurance.
The Labor Committee will hold a public hearing on 19 Workers
Compensations bills on Tuesday.
Again, if members are interested in any of these bills, please
call us today for more information and please join us in our
weekly Legislative Committee Conference calls.
Member Services Update
If you are a member that has store located in the United
Illuminating territory, we can save you money on your energy
supply bill.
The CRMA/Integrys Energy Program has rates that beat the
standard offer in the UI territory, and we will begin
aggressively seeking out retailers in that area beginning next
week.
Call our office today for more information, 860-527-1044.
Background Check Services
The CRMA Foundation has partnered with Castle Branch to offer
CRMA members 15% off background check services when you
mention the CRMA Foundation in your correspondence with them.
For more information on Castle Branch please go to
www.castlebranch.com.
To get started, please contact Charlie Kessler at
1-888-723-4263 ext 7118. Don’t forget to mention the CRMA
Foundation to receive the 15% discount on your services!!
Retail News and Notes
•
Border goes digital in new concept store
Border's new store format will offer a new digital center
where customers can burn CDs, download books or music, print
pictures and order photo albums, and even research the family
tree. "We had to build something that would cause the consumer
to drive five or 10 minutes past the competitor's store to
come here," CEO George Jones said.
USA TODAY (2/14)
•
More U.S. retailers ramp up environmental initiatives
A growing number of U.S. retailers, including Safeway, Target
Corp. and Trader Joe's, are stepping up their environmental
initiatives to win back shoppers and gain a competitive edge.
"Retailers are getting that they need to do two things -- show
consumers ways that they are trying to reduce their carbon
footprint, in their own operations. And then sell products
that help consumers do the same," a retail consultant said.
MediaPost Communications (2/13)
•
Nautica celebrates 25 years with e-commerce site launch
Nautica has launched Nautica.com, where it will sell its
apparel and accessories directly to U.S. customers via the
Internet. GSI Commerce will help with the order processing,
fulfillment and customer-service operations.
Display & Design Ideas (2/13)
February 1, 2008
Legislature Set to Begin on Wednesday
CRMA Legislative Committee Holds Organizational Meeting
Golf Committee Update
Member Services Update
Retail News and Notes
• On Wednesday of next week the Connecticut General Assembly
will officially start the short session.
• By law, the short session runs every even numbered year,
beginning on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in
February to the first Wednesday after the first Monday in May.
• The General Assembly’s primary role during this session is
to deal with fiscal matters, but in reality everything is on
the table.
• The session will be highlighted by the Governor’s address to
a joint session of the General Assembly. No word has leaked
out just yet as to what will be included in this year’s
address but we will keep our ear to the ground to see if we
can pick up any news.
• Remember last year, the Governor made a bold and
controversial budget address by proposing an increase in
income tax rates to pay for some new initiatives. She later
backed off when the State’s surplus had grown larger than she
anticipated.
• Already this past week the Senate D’s and the House R’s and
the Senate R’s have all announced their plans for the next
session.
• To view each caucus’ plans, we suggest you visit their
respective websites and take a look for yourselves.
• For the House Republicans go to
www.housegop.ct.gov/
• For the Senate Republicans got to
www.senaterepublicans.ct.gov/
• For the Senate Democrats go to
www.senatedems.ct.gov/
• The House Democrats will introduce their plans later today.
For the House D’s plans go to
www.housedems.ct.gov/
CRMA Legislative Committee Update
• CRMA’s Legislative Committee is ready for the session to
begin.
• We held our first meeting of the year this past week
reviewing possible issues that we may face as well as laying
out a schedule for the remainder of the year.
• Remember the CRMA Legislative Committee is open to ALL
MEMBERS and we encourage you to participate in the call – even
if you just want to listen in.
• Our next call is scheduled for Wednesday February 13, 2008
at 10:00 am EST.
• If you are interested in joining, please call our office at
860-527-1044 or email Cathy at
cathy@crmaonline.com
for the call in number.
Golf Committee Update
• The CRMA Golf Committee held its first planning meeting of
the year and is planning some major changes to this annual
event.
• We are looking at holding this year’s event at new, exciting
location as well as adding some new features.
• The committee is schedule to meet again this week and we
would welcome input from members who are interested.
• We will keep you up to date when plans for this year’s
outing are finalized. It is the goal of the Committee to
expand our event to make it bigger, better and more exciting –
not to mention even more fun – and we are hoping that more
members will participate.
• If you are interested in serving on the Golf committee,
please contact us today.
• The CRMA Golf outing is one of the major fundraising events
for the Association and we would encourage any member that
wants be part of putting this great event together to jump in.
Member Services Update
• Our new energy supply program with Integrys will soon be
available to all members as we finalize plans to roll this out
to members.
• Remember to look to our website for weekly price offerings
for this new program.
• As you know, the cost of energy is a major expense and our
program with Integrys will give all retailers the opportunity
to compare the price you receive from CL& P and UI with what
we offer.
• It is, for the first time a real choice in where you buy
your energy from. It is an exciting program for us and we want
to be very careful before we introduce it so that members will
get the chance to save money.
• That is why we are not going with a fixed price over a long
period. Our program will offer weekly pricing, so that members
can always receive the most up to date pricing that is
available.
• The way to do that is for us to announce each week what that
price will be.
• So, keep a close eye out for this program. We expect to have
a formal announcement sometime next week.
• We continue to work on our efforts to form a Retailers Only
Self Insured Workers Compensation program for members.
• And believe it or not, we are making slow steady progress.
• Quite frankly we are being very; very careful because NO
OTHER STATE WIDE TRADE ASSOCAITION has gotten this far in the
efforts to form a group and the State Department of Insurance
is holding us to a very high standard.
• This week we took some small, but important steps toward
that goal and we will continue to march on because we feel
very strongly that this program will help members save money.
• It is not too late to participate in this part of our
effort. If you would like to participate, please email me at
tim@crmaonline.com for
more information.
• Background Check Services
• The CRMA Foundation has partnered with Castle Branch to
offer CRMA members 15% off background check services when you
mention the CRMA Foundation in your correspondence with them.
• To get started, please contact Charlie Kessler at
1-888-723-4263 ext 7118. Don’t forget to mention the CRMA
Foundation to receive the 15% discount on your services!! For
more information on Castle Branch please go to
www.castlebranch.com.
Retail News and Notes
•
Old Navy recasts itself in fashionable new light
Old Navy, seeking to boost its appeal among women in their
20s, has unveiled a multiplatform marketing push that includes
a new logo. The Gap unit hopes the new campaign will recast
its image as more of a fashion brand rather than a discount
retailer, according to this article.
Advertising Age (1/30)
•
J.C. Penney CEO tackles "tough decisions" amid slowing economy
Myron "Mike" Ullman III, chairman and CEO of J.C. Penney Co.,
is expected to announce today that the company's buying and
marketing operations for both store and online sales plan to
merge, the Wall Street Journal reports. Ullman says he
anticipates some tough decisions in the year ahead as the
economy slows, but he also sees opportunity.
The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (1/31)
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