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 Friday
Facts - Archives -
Month
of November 2004
Current
Week
November 26, 2004
Dyson withdraws from Speaker’s race clearing the way for Amann’s election.
Holiday survey sent to members.
CRMA to co-host event with CBIA and CFA.
· Late last week, Rep. Bill Dyson, (D- New Haven) withdrew his candidacy for Speaker of the House against Milford Rep. Jim Amann. Dyson’s withdrawal now makes it an almost certainty that Amann will become the next Speaker of the House.
· With Dyson no longer a threat, Amann now is cleared to be elected by the full House of Representatives when the new Legislature gets sworn in on Jan 5, 2005.
· There is still some unfinished business with this election, including whether Amann re-appoints Dyson to his position as the powerful Appropriations Committee Chair.
· It is unlikely that Amann will do that, but Dyson is the most experienced member of his caucus and is a very effective Chair. In addition to Dyson, what happens to other Dyson supporters?
· We expect that Amann will stick by his vow that he will not officially name Committee Chairs until he is sworn in on January 5th. So we may not know that answer for awhile.
· Meanwhile, we will keep our ear close to the ground, and may even talk to the new Speaker, to see if we can get an idea as to his plans.
Holiday Survey sent to members
· By now you should have received via email our annual Holiday Survey.
· As you can imagine, retailers are in the news a lot this time of the year, and we get many calls from members of the media regarding all things shopping.
· So, we need your help in answering some of those questions. If you could fill out our Holiday Survey it would be greatly appreciated.
CRMA to Co-host event with CBIA and CFA
· We are pleased to invite members and friends to an important breakfast meeting we are hosting at our office along with CBIA and the Connecticut Food Association.
· The event is the 6th annual OSHA/CONN-OSHA Emergency Evacuation & Egress Seminar. It will be held Dec 6, 2004 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at our offices at 60 Forest Street.
· The event is free to all members and includes guest speakers from OSHA and CONN/OSHA who will talk about issues that could give you insight and answer any questions you may have about OSHA regulations. Especially during the busy holiday season.
· If you are interested in attending this free breakfast, please email us at cathy@crmaonline.com or call our office at (860)527-1044.
Happy Thanksgiving!
· Our office will be closed on Friday in observance of Thanksgiving. So this is our last chance to offer our best to all our members and their families this Thanksgiving.
· From here on in it is the busy season for most of you so we would also like to wish all of our members a happy and healthy holiday shopping season.
· Remember, if issues arise during the course of this holiday shopping season, please call us, we are here to help in anyway we can.
November 19, 2004
Inside the leadership races at the State Capitol. CRMA News and Notes.
Member Services Update. Retail News and Notes.
· In our previous FF we reported how the Democrats in both chambers increased their majorities after this past election. In addition, the Democrats would be electing new leaders for both chambers for the first time in over eight years.
· Since our last FF some leadership issues have been settled while others are still in doubt.
· First the easy one: the Democrats in the State Senate as expected named Sen. Don Williams (D- Willimantic) as their next President Pro Tem for the next two years. In addition, the Senate, which increased its majority by three seats, also named Senator Marty Looney (D-New Haven) as their Majority Leader.
· Both Looney and Williams ran unopposed. They are expected to begin naming Committee Chairs sometime within the next week or two. We may have some announcements by next week.
· On the House side, things did not go so smoothly on all fronts.
· For Majority Leader the House Democratic Caucus elected Meriden Democratic Representative Chris Donovan.
· But that was the easy; Donovan ran unopposed.
· The race for Speaker of the House is where things did not go as planned for some members of the House Caucus.
· As you may recall from previous FF’s there were two candidates for Speaker, Jim Amann (D-Milford) and Bill Dyson (D-New Haven).
· The majority of House members that were present for the vote for Speaker, which is attended by only House members, voted for Amann, 75 – 23.
· Normally that would be enough, but with the one member absent, Amann did not have enough votes to be officially declared the victor and with Dyson threatening to take his 23 votes and join forces with the 55 House Republicans, nobody could claim victory.
· So rather than end the night with a clear winner, the race for Speaker of the House continues.
· Remember, the official vote comes on opening day of the Session, so really we may not know who the Speaker is until Jan. 5 when the new Legislature gets sworn in.
· Meanwhile, there is still a lot of jockeying back and forth, but it appears that more of Dyson’s people are leaving him and going to Amann.
· In fact, this week Team Amann released a list of 81 House D’s who have pledge to support him.
· Despite the apparent victory, Amann has vowed not to name Committee Chairs until Jan. 5 – an unprecedented move, just to make sure.
· Normally, the Speaker names Committee Chairs well in advance to give members time to get organized for the Session.
· We will see if Amann sticks to this vow or if it is just a way to make sure no members get any ideas of leaving him to go to Dyson because they did not get named as Chair.
· Meanwhile, both the House and Sen. Republicans have elected their leaders and they are familiar names to us. The House re-elected as Leader Bob Ward (R-North Branford) and the Senate elected Lou DeLuca (R-Woodbury) as their leader.
· One last note from the State Capitol, OPM Sec. Marc Ryan, who will be leaving his post in January to enter the private sector, announced that the State has a surplus for the end of this fiscal year, but in the so called “out years” there was a deficit close to $700 million. Happy days!
CRMA News and Notes
· The CRMA Educational and Charitable Foundation will hold its next Board of Directors meeting on December 7, 2004.
· The date for the CRMA Golf Tournament for 2005 is JUNE 14, 2005. Please mark you calendar now to attend that event. It will be held once again at the Blackledge Country Club, in Hebron CT. Look for more information on this event as we enter the New Year.
· Next week we will be sending members our Annual Holiday Survey. PLEASE take the time to review this survey and send us your information. It is very helpful in responding to press inquiries.
· The CRMA Board of Directors will hold its 4th Quarter Board Meeting on Tuesday Dec 21, 2004.
Member Services
· Are your Insurance rates going up? Have you checked into the wide range of Insurance services that we offer at CRMA for your business needs? This includes all types of Commercial Lines, including Health Insurance.
· Email or give us a call with your renewal date and we would be happy to quote your policy at no cost or obligation. Please call or email Cathy Peruccio in our office at (860) 527-1044 or cathy@crmaonline.com.
· We just received word from Global Payments that our Credit Card Processing rates have been reduced. Please keep an eye out for the formal announcement in our up-coming issues to see how you can take advantage of this great opportunity!!!
Retail News and Notes
· Kmart snaps up Sears for $11 billion
Kmart (KMRT, news, msgs) agreed Wednesday to acquire Sears Roebuck (S, news, msgs) today in a deal the companies value at $11 billion, combining two of the most famous names in retailing. The new company will be called Sears Holdings and will have 2,350 off-mall stores, 1,100 specialty retail stores and $55 billion in annual revenues, making it the No. 3 retailer in the country.
· Kmart Chairman Edward Lampert will be chairman of the new company. Sears Chairman and CEO Alan Lacy will be vice chairman and CEO of Sears Holdings, with Kmart CEO Aylwin Lewis becoming president of the new company.
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Articles/Dispatches/P100792.asp?GT1=5809
· Mall company in legal tiff over gift cards
Simon Property Group, the continent's largest shopping mall company, sued Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire last week in anticipation of complaints over its gift card practices. The three states contend the mall operator violates state laws by charging a fee on unused gift card balances, while Simon maintains it is only subject to federal, not state laws. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Associated Press (11/16)
· Analysts: Discounters may be eyeing Sears' mall properties
Target CEO Robert Ulrich yesterday said the company would consider expanding its stores inside of shopping centers, sparking talk of the possibility of more discounters buying some of Sears' mall-based assets. Speculation is growing that Sears may unload its Lands End brand as well as some smaller, under-performing locations, a report says. Chicago Sun-Times (11/12)
November 5, 2004
Election Day ends with no real surprises. Democrats maintain control of State Legislature expanding majorities in both Chambers.
U. S. Senator Dodd re-elected to record 5th term while the State’s Congressional Delegation remains the same. CRMA Annual Meeting wrap-up.
Member Services update. Retail News and Notes.
· With Election 2004 now behind us, the big story in Connecticut was how the Election was really a non-story.
· With polling numbers showing that Connecticut would go to Democratic candidate John Kerry easily, the only real question in CT was how many seats would the Democrats pick up in the House and Senate and would there be any upsets in two of the 5 Congressional seats.
· And by the way, in case anybody missed it, U.S. Senator Chris Dodd was also up for re-election.
Legislative Races
· With all the results in, the House Democrats can claim they have added 4 seats to their already huge majority. They now hold a 99 – 52 advantage.
· In House races there were no real upsets with incumbents returning in overwhelming numbers and with the few open seats breaking to Democrats.
· House Democrats will gather next week to pick a new Speaker with Milford State Rep. James Amann the leading candidate.
· Amann will be challenged by New Haven Rep. Bill Dyson. Dyson will make a strong run at Amann, but our sense is that Amann will prevail in the end.
· With Amann moving from Majority Leader to Speaker, House Democrats will gather to elect a majority leader from its ranks. Meriden State Rep. Chris Donovan is expected to be elected by the House D’s as Majority Leader.
· Soon after the election of Leaders both Amann and Donovan will get together and begin announcing Committee Chairs.
· One committee we are keeping a very close eye on is the General Law Committee which will have a new Chairman for the first time in almost 20 years due to the retirement of Stamford Rep. John Wayne Fox
· We will up-date you next week on the results of the leadership races as well as any news on Committee Chairs.
Some upsets in the Senate
· While there were no real surprises in the House, there were two major upsets in the State Senate where Democrats expanded on their majority by adding 3 new seats. After Tuesday’s Election Democrats now hold a 24 – 12 majority.
· One upset was in the 12th Senatorial District, where 8 term incumbent Bill Aniskovich was defeated by Edward Myer.
· Mr. Myer is a former Justice Department lawyer who ran a campaign that linked Mr. Aniskovich with former Governor John Rowland who resigned earlier this year.
· The other major upset on Tuesday was in the 14th Senatorial District where 5 term incumbent Win Smith lost to Galye Solsberg. Ms. Slosberg is a lawyer in private practice and serves locally on the Milford Board of Alderman.
· Sen. Democrats also picked up an open seat in 25th District. That was held by a Republican Bob Genuario who is moving on to be Governor Rell’s OPM Secretary. State Rep. Bob Duff won that seat.
· With those 3 pick ups, the Democrats now have a 24 – 12 advantage in the Senate.
· As we have mentioned before, we expect that the Senate D’s will elect Sen. Don Williams as Sen. President Pro Tem and Sen. Marty Looney as the Sen. Majority Leader.
· Like the House, the Senate leadership will get together in the next couple of weeks to name Committee Chairs and Assistant Leaders. We expect that Sen. Tom Colapietro, who won reelection fairly easily, will return as Chair of the General Law Committee.
· There are a number of other committees that we are watching and we will keep you up-to-date on all of those announcements as well.
Congressional Races
· Tuesday was Election Day for members of Congress as well, including U.S. Senator Chris Dodd.
· Dodd won in a landslide and will return to the U.S. Senate for a historic 5th term. No United States Senator in CT history has served for 5 terms.
· On the House side, three members of the Delegation won reelection easily.
· In the 1st District, Rep. John Larson will return for his fourth term. Rep. Rosa Delaura will return for her eighth term in Congress representing the 3rd District, while in the 5th District veteran GOP lawmaker Nancy Johnson will return to Congress for her 12th term.
· The real races for Congress in CT were in the 4th District where veteran lawmaker Chris Shays had to fend off a very strong challenge from Westport First Selectman Diane Farrell and the 2nd district where incumbent Rob Simmons was being pushed by Norwich Town Councilman Jim Sullivan.
· Shays held off Farrell 52% to 47%.
· And in the 2nd Congressional District, Simmons survived a nasty fight with Sullivan, winning 54%to 45%.
CRMA Annual Meeting follow-up
· Although our Annual Meeting was held 10 days ago, we wanted to again extend our congratulations to:
Stackpole Moore Tryon as our 2004 Retailer of the Year!
· Stackpole is celebrating its 95th year in business and we are proud to have named them as our Retailer of the Year.
· In addition to naming our retailer of the year, earlier that day, the CRMA Board of Directors elected a slate of Officers for the 2005 year.
· We offer our congratulations and thanks to the following members as they continue their service and leadership to CRMA:
· Chairman – Jim McGinn, Filene’s
· Vice Chair – Ann Loesch, WallRub, LLC
· Sec/Treasure – Marc Green, Lux Bond & Green
· Immediate Past Chair – Tom Zapf, Macy’s
· Again, we offer our thanks to these individuals along with the other members of the CRMA Board of Directors for their dedicated service to the Association and the industry.
Member Services Update
· Global Payments offers a complete line of processing solutions for credit and debit cards, gift cards, check guarantee, verification and recovery.
· Cathy Peruccio is the CRMA liaison to the Global Payments program and would be happy to help you with any of your processing needs. Please contact Cathy today at cathy@crmaonline.com, or (860) 527-1044.
· Please keep in mind our new business insurance offering with One Beacon Insurance. Now is the time to review your business insurance needs.
· Our Insurance Professionals are always available to give you a free no obligation quote. For more information please call 1-800-211-4217 and let them know you are interested in the CRMA/One Beacon Program.
Retail News and Notes
· Retailers should expect a good holiday season.
The retail industry is anticipating a profitable 2004 holiday season. November and December sales are expected to rise by 4.75% to 5.25% over 2003. BusinessWeek (11/2)
· J.C. Penney selects new CEO
Myron E. Ullman III, formerly of Macy's and LVMH, will succeed Allen Questrom as J.C. Penney CEO on Dec. 1. It is only the second time in Penney's history a company outsider has been named CEO. USA TODAY/Associated Press (10/28)
· Survey: Holiday shopping starts early this year
Shoppers plan to spend the lion's share of their holiday funds on gift purchases, but just as important is when they plan to start buying, according to a new survey, which indicates the holiday shopping season will kick off before Thanksgiving. Experts suggest online retailers should brace for high traffic even earlier than brick-and-mortar stores. eMarketer (11/1)
CRMA Foundation Update
· Training for the CRMA Internship Program has begun. Interns will begin working on November 15th.
· CRMA would like to thank Shop Rite of Manchester, Filenes Distribution Centers in South Windsor and in Manchester and Bernies of Manchester and Newington for taking a total of 9 interns.
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