AchieveMax® Blog

The nation’s third-largest hamburger chain, known for its square hamburger, chocolate Frosty dessert, unique commercials, Dave Thomas, and his red-headed, pig-tailed, freckle-faced daughter is now owned by Atlanta-based Triarc Companies, known to most as Arby’s. Triarc will pay about $2.34 billion in an all-stock deal for Wendy’s, based in suburban Dublin. Wendy’s now operates about 6,600 restaurants in the United States and abroad while Triarc operates 3,700 Arby’s restaurants.

The deal comes as Wendy’s struggles with declining profits and weak sales compared with rivals McDonalds Corp. and Burger King Holdings Inc. In the past year, Wendy’s has spun off its Tim Hortons coffee-and-doughnut chain and sold its money-losing Baja Fresh Mexican Grill. Triarc also owns shares of Tiffany & Co. and The Cheesecake Factory Inc., according to regulatory filings.

Wendy’s has failed to connect with consumers in several advertising campaigns since founder Dave Thomas’ death in 2002. Thomas, always wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and red tie, became a household face when he began pitching his burgers and fries in television commercials in 1989.

Triarc also said expansions for both brands are planned for the U.S. and overseas and that the company will look at a dual-concept unit in high-cost real estate markets. Triarc said it will also change its name to include the Wendy’s name.

Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas opened his first restaurant in 1969. Thomas, who died in 2002, became a pitchman for his burgers and fries in 1989. The deal caps two chaotic years for Wendy’s in which it has sold or spun off operations, slashed its corporate staff and had its wholesome image tarnished by a woman who falsely claimed she found part of a finger in her chili.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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“In tough economic times, you must cut advertising, reduce marketing, and decrease or even eliminate training to reduce expenses.”

I was going to say that the above strategy has emerged as a growing trend in many industries. That would be inaccurate. It’s almost become an axiom for many organizations. (AXIOM: In traditional logic, an axiom is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be self-evident. Therefore, its truth is taken for granted and serves as a starting point for deducing and inferring other truths.)

I must admit it’s a somewhat uncomplicated strategy and takes little or no effort to execute. It does appear to produce immediate savings at first glance but has produced very little evidence of success as a long-term strategy.

In fact, many studies have produced results contradicting this long-time belief. Consistently, successful organizations across industries have actually increased their focus and investment in advertising, marketing, and training as economic pressures increased.

Considering today’s very competitive global marketplace and the many growing challenges we must deal with during this election year, what would you be willing to pay if you knew you could:

• increase productivity
• increase profitability
• increase employee satisfaction
• improve internal customer service   
• improve external customer service
• increase sales and service levels
• reduce the number of customer complaints
• increase employee feedback
• reduce absenteeism
• decrease the need for supervision
• boost personal confidence and job satisfaction
• increase creativity and innovation levels
• cause employees to feel valued, appreciated and committed to your business with everyone in your organization on the same page at the same time utilizing corporate strategies to achieve organizational goals.

All of the above results can be classified as ROI (Return on Investment) or ROL (Return on Learning). Research reveals that proper staff training, at every level, can achieve all of the above. You must first realize that there is no cost involved. It’s obviously an investment … in your people, your organization, and your future success.

We have discovered, time and time again, that successful organizations simply share the same message of strategy and direction with every level of the organization.

A recent Franklin-Covey survey discovered that most employees who leave their job cite the lack of skills training and development as the number one reason they decide to move on. No way to learn, no reason to stay. It’s that simple.

Which brings us back to the main point: employee training and development is vital to your business success. It increases your bottom line—and reduces staff turnover.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Questions often arise at this time of the year as to whether true “March Madness” takes place on the nation’s round ball courts or rather in corporate cubicles and board rooms from coast to coast.

Consider the daily discussions of team selections and bracket comparisons. Now contemplate the actual number of hours which will be spent organizing, operating, and participating in the office pools surrounding each game and level of competition.

The outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas says employers could see as much as $1.7 billion dollars in lost productivity over the next few weeks, as the tournament proceeds. The calculation includes estimates on participation in the pools, worker wages and the amount of work-time possibly spent on basketball-related activities. Some businesses are trying to limit the ability of workers to stream video on their work computers to keep their systems from seeing too much bandwidth wasted.

Under normal circumstances, $1.7 billion can obviously make a dramatic impact on the business environment. However, consider today’s critical economic status in most every industry and that $1.7 billion presents an even greater threat and “March Madness” takes on an all new meaning.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Keep your eyes peeled during future trips to the mall. The landscape during that trip is about to change drastically according to Wall Street watchdogs.

And we’re not talking about small Ma and Pa operations that can’t compete with the big boys in today’s cut-throat business environment. We’re talking about many iconic U.S. companies that you’ve known for decades. They may very well not exist at the end of 2008! Not all will go out of business. Some may simply be auctioned off in pieces. Others may be bought. Others will simply vanish.
      
And don’t forget … these aren’t unsubstantiated predictions pulled from a blogger’s crystal ball. These forecasts come to us from 24/7 Wall St. … a Delaware corporation set up to run a financial news and opinion operation with content delivered over the Internet to readers thoughout North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. They arrive at their conclusions after a great deal of research, review of historical bios, and educated projections of coming events.

I fear we’ve passed the shock threshold as a result of seeing so many powerful icons in so many industries fall by the wayside. We can’t afford to do that. Review some of the following major names and brands to appreciate the changes we can expect in the near future and then read ahead for more details on each. Hopefully the demise of these once unstoppable organizations will entice you to examine your own business, possible need for change, and current strategies designed for future success.

K-Mart, Sears, Eckerd Pharmacy, Circuit City, Ford Motor Co., Sprint, Cingular, Yahoo, CompUSA, Quest, Bombay Co., Gateway, Old Navy, Motorola, XM Satellite Radio, Citigroup and others.

K-Mart
We’ve been predicting this one for quite some time now. K-Mart is one of the two big brands at Sears Holdings. They’ve certainly tumbled from their once-lofty position as the nation’s #2 retailer. Based on same store sales for last year, they are the least successful of the Sears/K-Mart retail team. Spending to promote both retail operations may cost more that the holding company can afford. It certainly makes sense to kill off the K-Mart name and re-label all of the stores as Sears.

Sears Holdings
Here’s the other half of that once-powerful retail team. Sears was once the #1 U.S. retailer but has recently reported a string of bad earnings. Recent reports indicate that Sears leadership may spin-off the company’s real estate and break the firm into several operating units, each of which would have more operating autonomy. The CEO has been pushed out in favor of a “temp.” That sounds like the prelude to an auction.

Eckerd Pharmacy
With over 1,500 stores across the country, Eckerd Pharmacy served as the principal drug chain in several states until the nearly 110-year-old chain was acquired by Rite-Aid Pharmacy in June. Rite-Aid has since converted all Eckerd stores to Rite-Aid stores.

Dodge
Dodge is part of the Chrysler company which was recently bought out by private equity firm Cerberus. Chrysler management has already said that the company has too many brands and too many dealers. Dodge vehicles will probably be re-branded as Chrysler and Dodge will disappear. Other announced car exits include the Dodge Caravan, Chrysler Pacifica, Chrysler Crossfire sports car, Dodge Magnum and the PT Cruiser convertible.

Ford Motor Co.
There was a time when no one would have believed this one. However, Ford has a market cap of $13 billion against annual sales of $173 billion. If sales continue to fall, cuts won’t make up the difference forever. The Ford family, which has de facto control of the company, will have to look at selling the car operations to a large Asian or European auto company, allowing for a consolidation of production, marketing and R&D. Bottom line — billions of dollars in annual savings.

Circuit City
Here’s another one we’ve been predicting for some time now. Circuit City has been synonymous with electronics retail, but companies like Best Buy and Wal-Mart have brought too much marketing muscle and wholesale buying power to the industry. Outside investors are struggling to “improve shareholder value.” That means the chain will probably be sold.

Sprint
Sprint should never have merged with NexTel, but it is a little too late for that to be fixed now. It traded above $23 about a year ago and recently fell to close to $8. While AT&T and Verizon post enviable wireless numbers, Sprint struggles to keep current subscribers. Sprint is cutting bodies, but Wall St. has no confidence that fewer people and these modest savings will turn around the company.

Cingular
When AT&T acquired BellSouth in December of 2006, it also heralded the end to Cingular. Cingular also came under AT&T with this acquisition, and its brand was eventually weeded out from AT&T during the acquisition transition that ended in June.

Yahoo!
Yahoo! was not going to make it as a standalone, especially after Q4 earnings. There has been speculation that the company might be sold to Microsoft. If that happens, note that Microsoft is not generous about letting other brands have the limelight. Microsoft could take out 3,000 or 4,000 people and add as much as $100 million in operating income per quarter. Yahoo!’s brand will last while the e-mail and instant message operations are integrated, but soon enough it will all be MSN.

Old Navy
Old Navy is one of the Gap’s three brands and is currently pulling down overall sales at the big clothing company. With a little over one thousand outlets, Old Navy will struggle to maintain the costs of separate buying, marketing, and management costs. It may not be worth it. Watch closely because it may not be long before Old Navy locations may just become Gap stores.

Motorola
Motorola is still likely to sell its large handset unit to someone. That division is simply losing too much money, and it’s dragging the company under. As Motorola’s stock price drops, so does the value of its handset operation. Look for that Motorola phone to be called an LG handset sometime next year.

XM Satellite Radio
Seems as though XM Satellite Radio just arrived on the scene, and now they’ll disappear either in a merger with Sirius because without a merger, XM may not make it. The company has over $1.2 billion in long-term debt. Look for the XM brand to disappear a few months after the merger is complete.

Citigroup
With a recession and more financial company write-offs coming, Citi will have to get smaller by selling one or two of its valuable businesses. Its consumer units could be worth more on their own. This entire industry is volatile at the moment. Things are getting worse rather than better and you can expect anything to happen at any moment.

Bombay Company
After the holidays, it’s bye-bye Bombay. This furniture and home accessories retailer has been around since 1978 but officially filed for bankruptcy in September of 2007. They have been sold to Gordon Brothers/Hilco.

Gateway
Remember when Gateway was considered a peer of both Dell and Compaq? In 1993, Gateway was in the Fortune 500 but was recently bought by Taiwan PC firm Acer. It doesn’t make sense to maintain both brands as the costs are simply too high. Starting soon you will be buying an Acer PC online or at your electronics retailer.

CompUSA
The second richest man in the world, Carlos Slim of Mexico, turned a multi-billion dollar investment into zero dollars in just eight years. The 20-year-old consumer electronics retailer had closed its doors due to financial difficulties amid tough competition from retailers like Best Buy.

Qwest
Remember the break-up of the old AT&T? Quest is the last of the Baby Bells still standing from historic move. Although it’s the dominant phone company in 14 states, its shares are falling fast, it has no wireless operations, and simply doesn’t have the balance sheet to upgrade all of its infrastructure to fiber like Verizon is doing.

Vonage
Vonage almost invented VoIP. It certainly made it popular. They lost their “first mover” advantage when cable companies began to market the service to existing customers. Look for one of the large cable companies to take over the Vonage customer list and let the brand disappear in the very near future.

Levitz
This 97-year-old furniture chain, once one of the largest in the U.S., recently began closing its 76 stores after filing for bankruptcy for the third (and final) time in 10 years.

E*Trade
While their famous competitors have disappeared as a result of mergers, E*Trade has survived in a discount brokerage business thus far. Although they claim they don’t want to sell out, the firm’s $12 billion in home equity loan exposure may very well make staying independent impossible.

Countrywide
It once seemed as though Countrywide had an operation on almost every street corner. While they were known to give almost anyone a home loan, they weren’t so generous when foreclosure time came around. Bank of America is buying Countrywide. Due to Countrywide’s excessive negative baggage and very poor image, Bank of America will be wise to quickly put its name on all of the Countrywide branches.

NetBank
Known as one of the first Internet banks, NetBank has closed its doors after just 10 years of existence. After a couple of years of deficiency problems, NetBank restructured which eventually led to its demise this year.

So how was your week? Feeling sorry for the above companies but confident that you can avoid the same fate? Do you boast longevity, great sales history, competitive strategy or a great track record? So did most of those mentioned above. You might think about bench-marking, strategizing, training, continuous improvement and necessary change, and even that guarantees nothing in today chaotic business environment.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Need for Leadership Grows Daily

Flying cross-country recently, I had a chance to peruse, in depth, four major newspapers and the “big picture” was chilling to say the least! All four papers reported comments from President Bush which he made during an interview with American Urban Radio Networks.
 
“We’re not in a recession, and I don’t think we will go into a recession,” Bush said. “We’re in a slowdown, and there’s a difference.” Bush spoke as reports were released showing falling home prices, plunging consumer confidence and accelerating wholesale inflation.
 
All three Presidential hopefuls, McCain, Obama and Clinton, are attempting to convince us that they have a plan to save the economy. All three are Senators who are, indeed, familiar with Washington and the many challenges our country is currently facing. The President and the Senators, representing both major parties, have long been in a position to deal with this journey to recession and have yet done nothing to prevent it!
 
I must admit I was appreciative to learn that we’re just experiencing a “slowdown.” However, as I read further through the papers I discovered a good many contradicting reports. For instance:
 
Sharper Image: This 31-year-old company just filed for bankruptcy protection. They plan to close 90 of their 184 stores.
 
Rite Aid: The 40-year-old, Pennsylvania-based drugstore chain recently announced the closing of 28 stores.

Sprint Nextel Corp.: The nation’s third largest wireless carrier is apparently feeling the heat from opponents Verizon Wireless and AT&T. They recently announced that they will cut another 4,000 jobs and close 125 stores.
 
CompUSA: The computer and electronics retailer is winding down its retail operations after being acquired by an investment firm, which is looking to sell the company’s business and assets. They are currently planning to close at least 103 retail stores.

Movie Gallery: The video rental company said it plans to close 400 of their 3,500 Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores. This, of course, is in addition to the 520 locations the bankrupt video rental chain closed last fall.

Ethan Allen Interiors: The manufacturer and retailer of high-end home furnishings is closing 12 of its 300 retail centers.
 
Macy’s: The 150-year-old retailer, headquartered in New York City, has announced the closing of nine underperforming locations due to declining sales. The closing locations employ a total of about 900 people.

84 Lumber: Due to the decline in the nation’s housing market, the Pennsylvania-based building materials company recently closed 12 stores.
 
Krispy Kreme: In the first nine months of fiscal 2008, franchisees closed 25 stores and tumbling sales are expected to lead to even more franchised store closures ahead.

Starbucks: In order to optimize resources and potentially reduce cannibalization of existing stores, Starbucks plans on closing 100 stores and slowing expansion by 34%.

Home Depot: The nation’s second-largest retailer and home improvement company is closing three call centers, causing 950 employees to lose their jobs in Tampa, Dallas and Chicago as the collasping housing market has hurt the demand for bigger-ticket installed projects.
 
Pep Boys: The Philly-based auto parts store recently announced their plans to sell 100 Express Stores to Memphis-based competitor AutoZone. They also plan to close 33 other stores and lay off 860 employees. This will reduce the chain to 624 stores.
 
Rent-A-Center: The nation’s largest rent-to-own retail chain based in Texas recently announced they would close 280 of their 3,355 stores in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico.
 
Kirkland’s: The national home-decor chain recently closed 30 under-performing stores and is considering closing up to 100 more in the next 18 months. They plan to focus on stores not based in malls.

Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant & Catherine’s: Parent company Charming Shoppes, Inc. is closing 150 stores, laying off 150 employees and reducing the number of stores they will open in 2009. Closing will reduce Fashion Bug stores to 900, Lane Bryant stores to 923, and Catherine’s stores to 471.
 
Sofa Express: The Ohio-based furniture retailer has announced that it is shuttering its headquarters, closing 44 stores and laying off workers.
 
Levitz Furniture: The 98-year-old Pennsylvania-based furniture company is liquidating its assets and closing all 76 of its stores.
 
PacSun ‘Demo’ Stores: Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. said it will close its 154 Demo stores as a result of a a review of strategic alternatives for the urban-apparel brand. This follows the closure of 74 under-performing Demo stores last May.

Talbot’s & Sigrid Olsen: Continuing poor sales has forced Talbot’s to close 78 children’s and men’s apparel stores to focus on its core middle-aged female customer. Sigrid Olsen recently announced the closing of 54 of their stores.
 
New York & Co.: The 38-year-old upscale women’s clothing chain known as Jasmine Sola will be closing all of their 23 locations.

I must assume all of the above organizations and those many others who are struggling to survive today’s turbulent times are greatly appreciative of the fact that our country is simply going through a bit of a “slowdown.” Can you imagine what may occur should we ever see another recession?
 
Today’s leaders, in every field of endeavor, must again focus on the fundamentals which once lead us to a place of world supremacy and global respect. We can accept no less for our future generations.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Most Expensive License Plate

A wealthy Abu Dhabi man shelled out $14 million for a vanity license plate with just one number on it − 1 − shattering the previous record of $6.8 million paid for a plate with 5 on it. In total, 90 license plates were auctioned off for $24 million.

Meg Whitman Steps down as CEO of eBay 

Margaret C. “Meg” Whitman has announced that she is stepping down as CEO of eBay. Whitman, who has been the President and CEO of the online marketplace since 1998, will remain on the Board of Directors. When she joined eBay, it had 29 employees and operated solely in the United States; eBay is now a global organization with over 15,000 employees. She led the company from a few customers to nearly 50 million; revenue jumped from a few dollars to nearly $6 billion.
 
This charismatic leader has long been admired in business circles as her many accomplishments have distinguished her in many areas. To learn more about her exalted career, check out her profile right here on our blog at Little-Known Facts About Well-Known Leaders - Meg Whitman.

Largest Beef Recall in History

A California meat company, Westland/Hallmark based in Chino, California, recently issued the largest beef recall in history, 143 million pounds, some of which was used in school lunch programs.
 
The historic recall comes after a widening animal-abuse scandal that started after the U.S. Humane Society distributed an undercover video that showed workers kicking sick cows and using forklifts to force them to walk. The video raised questions about the safety of the meat, because cows that cannot walk, called downer cows, pose an added risk of diseases including mad cow disease. The federal government has banned downer cows from the food supply.

Sharper Image Files for Chapter 11

Struggling electronics and specialty gifts retailer Sharper Image Corp. recently filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. In a statement, San Francisco-based Sharper Image said it will continue to conduct business as usual while it develops a reorganization plan. Chief Financial Officer Rebecca L. Roedell said the company plans to close 90 of its 184 stores as soon as possible after it sells their inventories.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Last week I commented on the Sears/K-Mart “Death Spiral” and suggested that you watch that situation closely. If you took my advice, you’re probably aware of the fact that Sears Holdings Corp. abruptly announced the departure of their President and CEO Aylwin Lewis, leaving a management void at the top of the organization as it tries a high-stakes restructuring to reconnect with customers and reinvigorate slumping sales.
 
Doing so is an enormous challenge, if not downright impossible, as the retailer has been bleeding customers since Sears and K-Mart joined forces back in 2005. For the first three quarters of the year, their profits have fallen more than 40%, and earlier this month, they posted 3rd quarter earnings at just $2 million—down 99% from last year.
 
These trends remind me of the last days of Montgomery Ward. When their declining course became evident to most everyone, the majority of retail shoppers still felt Ward would survive. After all, they had been around for what seemed forever. And yet they’re gone. And now we see Sears/K-Mart—at one time the number one and two retailers in the country—facing the same “Death Spiral.”
 
There’s a valuable lesson here for the entire business world regardless of your industry, product and/or service. You simply can’t afford to:

• Lose your focus.
• Lose touch with your customer’s wants and needs.
• Lose touch with your internal customer’s wants and needs.
• Lose touch with technological advances.
• Lose touch with your competition and what they’re doing.
• Lose the customer loyalty you’ve established.
• Stop making the necessary changes in areas which demand those modifications.

Start LOSING these things and you begin to take on the characteristics of a LOSER. History teaches us that this label is very difficult to overcome. Some have done it successfully but most have failed and slipped into oblivion. Trying to restructure, to reconnect with customers and reinvigorate slumping sales is certainly a herculean task. Taking on such a venture in today’s challenging economic climate simply intensifies the challenge, making it near impossible to achieve.
 
This might be an excellent time to take inventory of your own organization while you still have an opportunity to pro-actively change course if needed. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Talk to your employees, customers, vendors and anyone who may enlighten you as to your current status in today’s very competitive marketplace.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

Fly the Chaotic Skies

Keep an eye on three stubborn, egotistical airline titans as they battle for survival, dominance, and your ticket dollars. None of the airlines have publicly confirmed merger talks, but industry insiders say a merger may be the only option for several of those involved, and it should happen sooner than later.
 
Delta, United, and Northwest would all benefit greatly from a merger with one of their competitors, and such an alliance may very well be their only saving grace as oil prices pass $100 a barrel, union problems continue to flourish, and customer service levels continue to plunge.
 
Here’s the problem with each and every merger option. Forgive me if this sounds like children on your local playground.
 
Northwest is open to reviewing any merger as long as the new airline will bear their name and the headquarters will remain in Minneapolis. Delta is open to reviewing any merger as long as the new airline will bear their name and the headquarters will remain in Atlanta. And, you guessed it, United is open to reviewing any merger as long as the new airline will bear their name and the headquarters will remain in Chicago.
 
Industry experts see a Delta-Northwest deal as most likely and feel that could prompt an alliance between United and Continental. It’s quite obvious that everyone but the airlines understands that somebody’s gotta give if this team-up project has a chance to work. Watch the news—this should be interesting due to the sense of urgency and obvious refusal to budge on the part of everyone involved.

Sears/K-Mart Continues Dismal Performance

Almost three years after these seasoned giants joined forces in hopes of regaining leadership among the nation’s retail forces, the opposite appears to be happening. The company earned just $2 million in the third quarter, prompting a double-digit sell off of its stock. Sales at both stores worsened, profit margins eroded badly and cost-cutting has lost its power to impact the bottom line. Industry critics are calling the 99% profit decline as the beginning of a “Death Spiral.”

The next time you drive by a Sears or a K-Mart, you might want to snap a picture with your cell phone so you can show it to your grandchildren some day in trying to describe these two one-time category killers.

Kohl’s to Open 90 Additional Stores in ‘08

Sears and K-Mart can eliminate the poor economy, global competition, increased cost for goods, or the real estate downturn for their constant slide toward retail oblivion. While these factors certainly play a role, the struggling retail giants must look elsewhere for the true cause of their demise.

This becomes more evident in light of a recent announcement by Kohl’s that they plan to open 90 new stores in the coming year after opening 112 during the past year. The chain is making changes in hopes of finding their niche among those retailers which offer sophisticated, yet affordable, shopping experiences. Their new locations offer sleek interiors. They’ve recruited the clothing lines of Vera Wang and actress Daisy Fuentes. Their appliances have been featured on the Food Network and the Rachael Ray show. While some critics feel such expansion plans might seem risky at the moment, Kohl’s vision obviously includes change, continued high customer service levels and value to maintain their current customer base while attracting new consumers in search of a rare shopping experience. Should be interesting to watch.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve pretty much had my fill of politics. This comes after witnessing my 641st televised political debate earlier this evening. After the fourth debate of the series, I was convinced as to exactly who I was going to vote for. However, I changed my mind after the fifth debate. And again after the sixth and so on and so forth up until tonight’s 641st attempt at brainwashing the American public. I’ve reached the conclusion that there are very few honest people within the beltway of Washington D.C., and I’ve met them both. One drives a colorful taxi for Liberty Cab and the other waits tables at the Café Promenade at the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Ave. NW!  

After months of countless commercials, character assignations, and a myriad of promises and pledges, I have recognized a major theme emerging from the 24/7 political madness we’ve been subliminally forcefed.
 
The theme, of course, is CHANGE! What an original concept. It must be a good one because every single candidate from both parties and possibly a third has decided to jump on that bandwagon. And why not? Of course things must change. We’re rapidly “surging” out of control on a multitude of fronts from coast to coast … immigration, social security, energy, mortgages, veterans, inflation, recession, building starts, trade balance, education, jobs, health care, foreign policy, military, global competition, abortion, affirmative action, the budget deficit, tax reform, oil prices, campaign reform, crime, death penalty, drugs, foreign relations, war, gay rights, guns, labor unions, unemployment, and the environment. Other than that, things are going well.
 
If I’m not mistaken, CHANGE has been the battle cry of every candidate in every election for as long as I can remember. And, furthermore, every victor of every election DID keep their promise of CHANGE. Some of that change was for the better and some of it was for the worse.
 
For instance, it’s quite apparent that politicians in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, have accomplished little or nothing in helping this country cope with the many challenges listed above. Overwhelming gridlock has stifled progress on every front—oh, except one. Democratic leaders joined with their Republican counterparts to agree on a $4,100 pay hike for themselves for 2008. Luckily for them, the pay increase is not tied to their approval ratings or job performance. I find it interesting that more Americans can name the three stooges than the three branches of government … probably because the three stooges are more likely to get something done.
 
What constantly baffles me is the fact that the majority of those politicians, in every debate, stating the critical need for change has been serving in a position to institute change—and yet has done little or nothing to do so!
 
The same pattern holds true in business as well. Much talk about the need—little action to succeed! Our work with many clients in this area has revealed that few employees have been exposed to information on the subjects of change, creativity, or innovation. We encourage it and expect it but do little to prepare our personnel to actually deal with it. Let’s stop waving the banners and singing the anthems and do more to focus on providing our people with the tips, tools, strategies, and training to pursue and obtain the true CHANGE that will lead to the success we so genuinely desire.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.

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Female CEOs Thrive

Female CEOs running major U.S. corporations grew from nine to a record 12 in 2007. While that’s only 2.4% of the Fortune 500, one trend is developing that might suggest that women are going mainstream. For the second year in a row, the stock performance of women-led companies mirrored that of companies run by men. By the way, these women-led companies are far from small unknown organizations. That impressive list includes Xerox, eBay, Archer Daniels Midland, Rite Aid, Avon Products, PepsiCo, Safeco, Sara Lee, WellPoint, TJX Cos. and Western Union.

Store Closings Sadden Santa

Macy’s Department Stores, of “Miracle on 34th Street” fame, announced they will close nine stores that employ a total of about 900 people. The affected locations are located in Indiana, Ohio, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Texas. Impacted employees will be offered positions in nearby stores where possible. It said employees laid off in the process would be provided severance benefits and outplacement assistance. Macy’s has faced disappointing sales and resistance from shoppers in some markets where the Macy’s name replaced local favorites it absorbed as part of its acquisition of May department stores. Macy’s operates more than 850 department stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.

Airplane Crashes Decline

An independent watchdog group recently announced that 2007 saw the lowest number of crashes in 44 years. Could it possibly be due to the fact that so many flights never left the ground? There were 136 serious accidents worldwide in 2007, the fewest since 1963. 965 people died in crashes last year—a 25% drop from 2006.

Recession Worries Continue to Grow

Factories produced less, saw their orders decline and cut workers as manufacturing activity in December was the slowest since 2003. Manufacturing accounts for about 12% of the U.S. economy and one out of every 10 jobs.

Oil Continues to Flow—Upwards

The price of oil hit $100 a barrel in commodities trading last week for the first time in history. Travel organization AAA issued a warning that “record high prices will be paid by consumers for gasoline in the coming year.” That news was especially unsettling since fuel prices typically don’t start their seasonal climb until spring.

Harry K. Jones is a professional speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of motivational speakers who provide custom-designed keynote presentations, seminars, and consulting services. Harry has appeared all over North America addressing topics such as change, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork and time management for a number of industries, including education, financial, government, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing. For more information, please call 800-886-2MAX or fill out our contact form.