Grumpy Editor

PROPERTY OWNERS SEE EASY REPLACEMENT FOR BED, BATH & BEYOND STORES

Losing anchor tenant Bed, Bath & Beyond in many U.S. shopping centers in coming months isn’t worrying most property owners, finds Grumpy Editor.

Bed, Bath & Beyond filed for bankruptcy and plans to close remaining stores in coming months.

Property owners believe there is no problem obtaining replacement tenants.

That’s because demand for big-box space in open-air shopping centers around the nation remains strong.

So other retailers, especially those expanding, are ready to jump in at well-located shopping centers.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

CALIFORNIA TO BAN DIESEL-RUN BIG RIGS, BUSES.  Under just-passed California rules, new big rigs and buses that run on diesel would not be sold in the Golden State starting in 2036.

MILITARY SPENDING RISES.  Worldwide military spending last year rose 3.7 percent to a record $2.24 trillion, influenced by the war in Ukraine and tensions over China’s larger military.

TRANS-PACIFIC SHIPPING COSTS RISE.  Trans-Pacific shipping costs are heading upward as container lines aim to reverse a months-long slide.  Shipping a 40-foot long container, for example, from Asia to the U.S. West Coast jumps 34 percent.

VOTERS FAVOR GUN CONTROL MEASURES.  With mass shootings in the news almost daily, an overwhelming majority of American voters favor a wide variety of gun control measures and over half worry that they could be victims of gun violence, finds a Fox News poll.

JAPAN’S POPULATION DWINDLES.  Japan will lose almost a third of its population by 2070, a study suggests.  The depopulation of Japan is continuing despite measures to encourage births.

MORE OLDER DEMOCRATS FAVOR BIDEN.  About one-fourth of people under 45 say they would definitely support President Biden in a general election, compared with 56 percent of older Democrats, according to an AP-NORC poll.

PROCESSING PASSPORT APPLICATIONS SLOW.  A major increase in travel demand is creating a backlog of passport applications.  Increased processing time now takes up to three months, warns the State Department.

STORES CONCERNED ABOUT GROWING THEFT

Retailers are concerned about growing theft at stores, notes Grumpy Editor.

“It’s an industrywide trend,” Macy’s Chief Executive told analysts this month.

 

In the industry the swiping is called shrink.

 

“Theft is growing at a faster rate than sales,” said Dean Rosenblum, senior retail analyst at Bernstein Research.  It is starting to affect margins, he added.

 

In efforts to combat the problem, Macy’s, for example, is using radio frequency identification tags in tracking inventory, adding more security personnel and securing high-end brands with locked cables and sensors.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE  NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

HALF THE WORLD DUE TO BE OVERWEIGHT BY 2035.  Half the world will be overweight by 2035, warns the World Obesity Federation.  That means more than four billion people will be obese unless preventitive measures are implemented.

 

MEN NAILED FOR LEAVING STORE WITH MUCH BABY FORMULA.  Two men nailed shoplifting at a Georgia grocery store had an estimated $26,000 worth of baby formula in their car.  Seems they left a store near Atlanta with backpacks filled with cans of formula. Police found 662 more cans of formula inside the car.

 

NORDSTROM LEAVING CANADA.  Nordstrom, the luxury department store chain, is liquidating operations in Canada — closing 13 stores and laying off about 2,500 workers.

 

VAST VANDERBILT ESTATE SOLD.  The Vanderbilt estate --- on 40 acres of gardens on Long Island, N.Y. --- sells for $8 million.  It’s about the same size as the White House with 55,000 square feet and 106 rooms, the largest shingled-style home in the United States.

 

NORTH KOREA COMES UP WITH UPTEEN ANNOUNCEMENT.  In another periodic announcement, North Korea claims almost 800,000 people signed up to join or volunteer for the military to fight against U.S.  

 

INDIANA SCHOOLS SHELVE HANDWRITING.  Schools in Indiana are abandoning teaching children handwriting in favor of showing them how to type.  Individual schools will no longer be required to instruct pupils in longhand from the age of eight.  So now it’s only print.

 

NEW TITLE ON DAILY NEWSPAPER.  Remember when newspaper editorial room staffers only had titles such as managing editor, city editor, sports editor, etc.?  The Los Angeles Times just announced the newly-created editorial position of senior vice president for content business strategy.

 

U.S. SENDING $171 MILLION TO VENEZUELA.  The U.S. on Friday pledged more than $171 million in humanitarian assistance and development funding at a donor conference to help Venezuelans impacted by the South American country's economic and political crisis.  Some seven million people have fled as a result of the crisis in Venezuela in recent years.

 

OLDEST FEMALE HOCKEY PLAYER.  Linda Sinrod, of Lorton, Va., was a figure skater before becoming enamored with hockey at age 35 after a friend asked her if she wanted to try the sport during a visit to a frozen pond. Now she’s the world's oldest female hockey player, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

 

FRENCH BULLDOG GAINS NO. 1 SPOT IN U.S.  The American Kennel Club announced that after a record 31-year reign, the Labrador Retriever has been eclipsed as the most prevalent purebred dog in the U.S. by the French bulldog. The sturdy, push-faced, perky-eared, world-weary-looking and distinctively droll French bulldog became the nation’s most prevalent purebred dog last year.

 

FAKE REVIEWS ON ONLINE SITES DRAW FEDERAL ATTENTION

While fake news has been widely covered in recent weeks, now the focus is on fake online reviews of retailers’ items, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Wall Street Journal points out “pressure is mounting on major retailers to fight back.”

The Journal notes Fakespot Inc., which identifies fraudulent reviews, says more than a third of online reviews on major websites, including Amazon and Walmart, are fake. Those reviews are generated by people paid to write them — or robots.

The Federal Trade Commission is starting to crack down on violators and lawmakers are pressing Amazon to do a better job of policing its website reviews.

Many people searching the web rely on reviews before buying products.

November-December online sales are expected to increase as much as 14 percent, according to the National Retail Federation.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FIRST MOVIE THEATER DESIGNED FOR TALKIES TO END RUN.  At year’s end the Avalon, a classic 1,184-seat movie theater on California’s Santa Catalina Island will stop showing first-run films, ending a 90-year tradition.  Built in 1929 as part of the iconic Catalina Casino, it is the first cinema in the world designed for talkies.  Daily tours and special events such as Catalina Film Fest and Silent Film Benefit will continue.

BILL TO CURB ROBOCALLS.  The House, by a 417-3 vote, approved a bill to curb robocalls in an effort to halt illegal marketing calls and scams. It is expected to be approved in the Senate and signed by President Trump.

FEMALE MARINE COMPLETES COMBAT TRAINING.  Lance Cpl. Alexa Barth is the first female Marine to complete the Marine Corps’ rigorous reconnaissance training  since the Pentagon lifted a ban on women in combat roles in January, 2013.

NORTH KOREA PLANS 'CHRISTMAS GIFT.'  North Korea says it will send a "Christmas gift" to the United States, but what that means will depend on the outcome of ongoing talks between Washington and Pyongyang.

HEAVY TV VIEWING.  On a day-to-day basis, the average adult watches TV for three-and-a-half hours, amounting to 1,248 hours each year, finds a survey commissioned by LG Electronics.

15 CHAIRS BALANCED ON CHIN.  David Rush from Idaho appeared on TV to balance 15 chairs on his chin and recapture a Guinness World Record.  Rush previously held the record with eight chairs.

CHINA HALTS U.S. NAVY VISITS TO HONG KONG.  China is suspending U.S. Navy visits to Hong Kong in retaliation over President Trump’s decision to sign legislation that supported the city’s pro-democracy protesters. 

EAT COFFEE CUPS WHILE FLYING.  Air New Zealand is testing edible coffee cups in an effort to cut waste on board its airplanes. The cups are made from vanilla-flavoured biscotti. The airline serves more than eight million cups of coffee a year. 

VETERAN MONEY WRITER RETIRES.  Jane Bryant Quinn, writer of a money column in AARP Bulletin since 2010 is retiring.  She and her husband plan to live in Rome for a year.

 

 

SOME RETAILERS RATED 'NICE' IN USING CHRISTMAS IN ADVERTISING

Some retailers during the holiday season refrain from using the word “Christmas” in advertising and the American Family Association (AFA) notes them on its list of "naughty" companies while branding "nice" another list of firms that use Christmas, observes Grumpy Editor.

The AFA, headquartered in Tupelo, Miss., placed these companies on its “nice” list:

1-800-Flowers.com, Ace Hardware, AFA Online Store, Banana Republic, Bass Pro Shops, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Belk, Big Lots, Books-A-Million, Cabela's, Cracker Barrel, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dillards, Do-It-Best Hardware, Dollar Tree, Fred's, H.E.B. Stores, HSN.com, Hallmark, Harbor Freight, Harris Teeter Stores, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Hy-Vee Stores, JCPenney, JoAnn Fabrics, Kirkland's, Kmart, Kroger, L.L. Bean, Lowe's, Macy's, Marshalls, Meijer, Menard's, Michael's Stores, Neiman Marcus, Pier One Imports, ProFlowers.com, Publix, QVC.com, Rite Aid, Sam's Club, Scheels Sporting Goods, Super D Drug, TJ Maxx, Toys R Us, True Value, Wal-Mart and Zappos.com.

The AFA evaluates five areas to decide whether a retailer is "Christmas-friendly" in its advertising: print media (newspaper inserts), broadcast media (radio/television), website, social media (Facebook, Twitter) and/or personal visits to the store.

“If a company has items associated with Christmas, but did not use the word ‘Christmas,’ then the company is considered as censoring Christmas, pointed out AFA.

The list is continually updated, added AFA, and only national companies are evaluated “naughty” or “nice.”

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FEDEX DRIVER SAVES FLAG.  An unidentified FedEx driver in Maryland saw an American flag on the ground from a wind-blown broken flag pole, made a quick unscheduled stop on his delivery route to work the flag in the proper triangular fold and place in on the porch of the home.  The action was captured on video.

 

RADIO STATION BANS CLASSIC SONG.  FM radio station WDOK in Cleveland pulled the 1940s classic song, "Baby It's Cold Outside," from its lineup after one listener expressed concern over the lyrics. In the tune, which has been spotlighted by many artists since its debut, a female sings: "I really can’t stay,” to which a man responds: "But baby, it’s cold outside.”

 

JERRY SPRINGER TO BECOME JUDGE JERRY.  Jerry Springer, best known as host of “The Jerry Springer Show” and who started his career as a lawyer, next fall will debut as “Judge Jerry,” where he will hear testimony and render verdicts before a studio audience on NBC.

"MISINFORMATION" RATED TOP WORD IN 2018.  “Misinformation,” judged word of the year from Dictionary.com, was selected to serve as a “call to action” in the battle against fake news.