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 Friday
Facts - Archives -
Month of January 2008Current
Week
January 22,
2008
Legislature Warming Up
Capitol News and Notes
Member Service Update
Golf Committee to Hold First Meeting
Retail News and Notes
That noise you might be hearing in the background is the
sound of the CT General Assembly getting together.
This year, under our State Constitution, the GA begins its
so called short session February 6 May 7.
The session will begin with the Governor giving her state of
the state address along with any adjustments in her two year
budget that she may have.
The Governor has already notified legislators, thru the
press, that she is going to hold the line on spending and very
well may reintroduce her proposal to eliminate the car tax.
But, before the General Assembly can go into regular session
there is still the matter of a special session.
If you are keeping track at home, and we know you are, this
special session was called for the specific reason to deal
with criminal justice matters.
The State Senate announced today that it is prepared to go
into session on Tuesday of next week. The House has yet to
officially announce when it will go in.
As for CRMA, we will begin our Legislative Committee
meetings next week with the first of our bi-weekly conference
calls.
The call will be an organizational meeting as we get ready
for the start of the regular session.
We will send you information about the call including the
time, date and the number to call in a separate notice.
Remember all members of CRMA are eligible to participate in
our conference calls and we encourage all of you who can join,
even if to just listen in, please do so.
Capitol News and Notes
We have picked up a few tidbits from the capitol that we
thought we would pass along.
Speaker of the House Jim Amann, (D) Milford, is holding a
press conference on January 31, to announce that he is forming
an exploratory committee to explore if he should run for
Governor.
Exploratory committees allow candidates to raise money for
polling purposes and to go around the State to gauge interest.
Hey here is a good one: Secretary of State Bysiewicz is
teaming up with the business community to push for the
elimination of the business entity tax.
That is the annual $250 tax that was introduced to help
close the budget gap. All businesses have to pay this tax.
The Senate ranking member of the Finance Committee, Sen.
Bill Nickerson, (R) of Greenwich announced that he is retiring
after this session. Nickerson was once described by Governor
John Rowland as the smartest guy in the Legislature.
We end with a little Washington gossip with CT flair.
In the next year, you will hear lots of chatter about CTs
Senior Senator Christopher Dodd and whether he will seek
re-election to the Senate.
There is speculation that Dodd may get an appointment if a
Democrat is elected in November. There are also rumors that
Dodd may run for Senate Majority Leader.
If Dodd should not run, it could set off a wild chess game
with lots of Democrats looking to move around the board.
Member Services Update
Energy prices remain high across the board which is causing
us to hold off just a bit before we roll out our Energy Retail
Supply Program with Integrys.
Remember, we plan on rolling out the program and then
introducing pricing on a weekly basis.
What we want is for members to buy their energy from us when
they can SAVE MONEY so we want to wait for the price to be
right. And by that we mean that it is priced BELOW the
standard offer.
We are getting there but are not there just yet! Stay tuned.
Members can call us today about our other energy program
with Consumer Power Line.
The CRMA/CPLN program is a Demand Response program that
allows members to EARN significant dollars if they can shed
load during peak periods of time during the year.
If you are interested in learning more about this program,
please call us TODAY.
Now that the holidays are over it is a great time to get a
comparison quote on your credit card processing, please call
Cathy in our office at 860-527-1044 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. Dont 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.
Golf Committee to Hold First Meeting
The CRMA Golf Classic will be held for the 7th year in 2008
and we are very excited about it.
This year our Golf Classic Committee will be headed up by
one of our Board Members, Patrick Madden of Westfield Meriden.
Pat has put together a committee of Board Members and
supporters of CRMA and they held their first meeting on Friday
to outline some details for this years event.
We are very happy that Pat has taken on this leadership
role, and look forward to having another great golf outing.
Retail News and Notes
J.C. Penney, Danny Seo partner on green initiative
J.C. Penney Co. will roll out a storewide initiative in March
to identify products that are either organic or
environmentally friendly. Danny Seo, a well-known advocate for
the use of earth-friendly and organic materials, is working
with the company as its "Green Living Partner," Seos blog
reports.
Home Textiles Today (1/18)
Double take: Two Macy's in one mall
Shoppers at the Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax, Va., don't get
worried if they can't find an item at Macy's -- they simply
walk across the mall to the other Macy's. The national
retailer has occupied two anchor positions at the mall since
the 2005 merger of its parent company with the former May
Department Stores led to the conversion of the mall's Hecht's
into a second Macy's.
The Washington Post (1/21)
Whole Foods to end plastic-bag use by Earth Day
Whole Foods Market is planning to ban disposable plastic
shopping bags in all its 270 stores across the U.S., Canada
and the U.K., starting April 22 -- Earth Day. Instead of
plastic bags, Whole Foods will offer consumers several
options, including paper bags and reusable plastic and canvas
bags.
USA TODAY (1/22) ,
The Wall Street Journal/Dow Jones Newswires (subscription
required) (1/22)
January 4, 2008
Happy New Year!
Member Services Update
Capitol News and Notes
Retail News and Notes
Happy New Year!
Welcome to the first edition of the CRMAs Friday Facts for
2008!
If you are a new member of CRMA or a new reader of the FF we
hope you will find this communication a help to you in keeping
up to date with what is going on at CRMA and in the world of
retailing and we thank you for your support.
For our existing readers and members, we also thank you for
your continued support and are looking forward to another year
of sharing information and insight with you.
It is an exciting time for us at CRMA
We begin the year with great hope for our continued growth
in both our member service programs and for our legislative
advocacy on behalf of retailers.
And with our CRMA Educational & Charitable Foundation, which
is about to open a Retail Skill Center at the Westfield
Connecticut Post Mall in Milford.
We pledge to use the FF to keep you updated throughout the
year on the money saving programs we are working on and the
Foundation and we thank you again for your support of CRMA.
Member Services Update
As we start a new year, we continue to work on two very
important member services programs and look to expanded a
third.
First our ongoing effort to develop a Retailers-only Self
Insured Workers Comp Group will intensify in the first quarter
of this year.
We made considerable progress toward this goal in 2007 and
are looking to make a final push in early 2008.
Many of you are aware of the process that we are going thru,
contacting members to collect insurance premiums for an
actuarial study as well as meeting the other very high
threshold demands that the Department of Insurance has placed
on us.
But, if you have not been notified of our efforts or would
like more information, please contact our office today or call
Frank Michaud from ABI Insurance at
www.abiagency.net at
1-800-211-4216 ext 226.
Energy Supply program to launch this month.
Another important member service program that we will embark
on in 2008 is an endorsed Energy Supply program with Integrys
Energy.
At the end of 2007 we announced that we had reached an
agreement with Integrys and are very excited about the
opportunity.
The cost of energy continues to rise but now with our
Integrys program, members will have an opportunity to have a
CHOICE where they buy their energy from.
Our program with Integrys, the details of which will be sent
to members in a separate communication, is unique in that
members will have an opportunity EACH WEEK to decide if they
like the price of energy that we are offering and will have a
window of time to make that choice.
We think this approach will allow members the opportunity to
get the best, most current market based price each week,
thereby giving them the best chance to save money.
We will also, continue to offer members opportunity to earn
money by shedding load with our Demand Response program with
Consumer PowerLine.
This program is a great way for members to actually earn
money during peak power periods throughout the year and is
offered only to members of CRMA.
Building our Bank Card Program in 2008
Also, in 2008 we are looking to expand our efforts in
reaching out to members to inform them of opportunities to
save money on their bank card needs.
Cathy Peruccio in our office will take on an expanded role
as the lead person from CRMA in working with members with this
program with Global Payments.
In 2008 we want ALL retailers to look to the CRMA Bank Card
program as the place to go for all their bank card needs.
Please continue to look for information on all of these
programs in the coming weeks and months.
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. Dont forget to mention the CRMA
Foundation to receive the 15% discount on your services!!
Capitol News and Notes
With the start of the New Year comes the Legislative
Session, only this year they wait until February before they
go back into regular session.
Under CTs Constitution the General Assembly goes into its
short session on the first Wednesday after the first Monday
in February, which this year means February 6th.
Before they go back into regular session there is still the
specter of a special session to deal with, specifically the
issue of criminal justice reform.
This special session is a result of the terrible tragedy
that took place last year in Cheshire. We are not exactly sure
when they will go back to deal with this issue but were sure
they will before the start of the regular session in February.
Also, next week at the Capitol the special task force
established to examine Connecticuts role in the Streamlined
Sales Tax Effort is scheduled to meet again.
CRMA has a seat on that task force and we will update you on
how the meeting went in next weeks FF.
Finally, we will once again engage members during the
session through our Legislative Committee.
We will begin shortly with those meetings, which are held
bi-weekly via conference call. Remember meetings of the
legislative Committee are open to all members and we encourage
all of you to call in.
Retail News and Notes
Dick's Sporting Goods moves in on South Florida
Pennsylvania-based Dick's Sporting Goods has signed a lease
for a two-story, 80,000-square-foot store at a new shopping
center in Palm Beach County, Fla. The new location, scheduled
to open in March 2009 as part of Dick's aggressive move into
the area, will dwarf the typical stores of rival Sports
Authority.
The Palm Beach Post (1/3)
After holiday rush, small businesses start fresh
Smaller retail companies such as New Jersey-based BearHands
and DaVero of Sonoma County, Calif., often earn a third or
more of their annual profits during the holiday season,
according to Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director at the
Strategic Resource Group. Although many retailers take a
well-needed vacation after the holiday rush, smaller
businesses have to be strategic about their January efforts by
communicating with customers through blogs and other methods,
attending trade shows and planning for stronger sales in the
New Year.
The New York Times (1/3)
Fifteen ways to jump-start January sales: Joel R.
Evans, a marketing professor at the Zarb School of Business at
Hofstra University, offers small-business tips to help drive
strong January sales, from discounting seasonal merchandise to
offering customers cookies and coffee, or rewarding the best
employees with an extra day off.
The New York Times (1/3)
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