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UzZx32QU

UzZx32QU

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The holiday season hit hard over the last two days. I'm working all day today to catch up a bit. I hope this is a good sign.

framer
 
Yeah, I am the prep person at my store,and I looked at our list yesterday and I had to pull my stomach out of my kneecap.
 
same thing here... this weekend was great. Noticed the surge building about two weeks ago. Gonna be a killer season!

---
Mike
 
same here.... and long may it run! (but I am already obsessing about getting everything out in a timely manner...)
 
GREAT week! Looking forward to Black Friday.

I hope it continues.
 
we had a really crazy day yesterday too! It's a good thing we got a whole truck load of work done for the first part of the week - so we had shelf space for all the new stuff that came in!

time to pull up our socks boys and girls and quit taking long coffee breaks! LOL!!

jingle bells! jingle bells! Jingle all the way,
down on to the framing store for stuff for Christmas day!!!! yeeeeehaaaaaaa!!!
 
And while we are singing 'carols', my favorite is the Stan Freburg, "'Tis the Season To Make Money, Fa La La La La, La La La La"
 
must be the area, because I had one of the slowest weeks I've had in a long time!

I hope those bells start jingling!!!
 
The folks here in Central MAss are still asleep too. We need a good old-fasion snow storm to get them moving.

May the register start singing my favorite Holiday song soon.....
 
Just read an article that said people are expected to do a lot of "donating in the name of ..." for the holidays, due to all the problems we've had lately.

Sounds like a nice idea ... as long as it's not MY customer's idea! oh my!

P.S. when I mentioned the article and expressed a little concern about it to my wife, she reminded me that we did exactly that for her aunts and uncles! oh my!
 
The Motor city is very slow..........all retailing not just custom framing.

Now that GM announced that there will not be any local plant closings...........we will see.
 
Up here in the "Not Yet Great White North", I have to say that unless there is a major change, November is turning out to be our worst month ever!

Spent Sunday decorating the outdoors of the shop and front lawn. Hopefully that will remind people that Christmas is coming :-(

I guess the joke is one me. Two weeks ago I boldly changed the front lawn sign to read, "Holiday Framing - Beat the Rush!"

The way its going, you could come in the week of Christmas and still beat the rush. Quite a change from last year!

Sorry for the downer, but we're all getting a little nervious around here.

BTW, the GM announcement is not going to help. GM is the largest employers in St. Catharines (5 minutes away).
 
Yes, that GM announcement was really bad. I wish they waited till after the holidays.

Typical big business stupidity, I can imagine how many of those employees will be having a horrible Christmas.
 
Ain't that the truth! We have several friends who are GM employees. Our thoughts and hopes are with them.
 
Didn't Jerry say there would not be any local plant closings? Isn't that good news? Sounds like good news to me.

Things still very slow here. They have been since the middle of August, at this rate I will never make it up by the end of the year.
 
Guys-These affected will be a direct effect of union contracts that made the American AutoMaker the most overpaid in the world.

It's not gery Holiday-like, But I have a little less compassion for someone that makes a gazillion dollars an hours installing a muffler.

It's like the Delta pilots being the highest paid pilots in the biz. And not by a little, but by a ton difference.

What's that old expression about the chickens coming home to roost?

It's pretty easy to always suggest that it's bi business that is stupid; I think the unions can step up to the stupid level, too
 
I don't know all the in's and out's of the GM story, I was just saying it should bode well for Jerry if people are not in immediate threat of losing their jobs they might go out and spend some money.
thumbsup.gif
 
Bob:

I would agree with you. Except for that fat $200 million they gave to Mr. Walsh (you know, their ex CEO) plus a Manhattan penthouse, general expenses, medical, and airplane for life, and other assorted million dollar gifts, leaves me with a frameable bad taste in my mouth.

And by the way, Toyota, Hyundai and Honda (maybe others too) have factories in the US and are doing quite well.

I am sure the unions are not the only problem GM can hide behind.
 
We agree that there is no single reason for th eproblems at GM and it is unfair to say Unions are solely responsible

Remember, it was Management that agreed to these untenable contracts
 
read in the morning paper part of the problem was costs of health care. Imagine we'll be hearing that more and more as healthcare costs for working and retired employees continues to spiral.

What other industry lately had this problem? I'm forgetting but I thought it was the airlines.

Anyway, article said the CEOs and others were spending more time managing healthcare issues than they were running the business.

And Paul: the perks are well in line when you consider the return to stockholders. I'll give 'em an island in the Carribean if they give me as a stockholder a constant 10% dividend on investment.

And that was GM; check out Harley Davidson and see how their top execs live.

Or check out Bill Gates and see how he spends his money--on HUGE foundations worldwide.

And Bernie Marcus--he of Home Depot--just reached into his wallet to shell out over $200 million for the Atlanta aquarium.

they ain't all Walshes you know.
 
The Crunch has kicked in here, too.
There is plenty coming in, but I am working very hard for it. There is lots of hesitation and hand-wringing over price.

Maybe I should raise my prices to really give 'em something to fret over...

edie the workingtheroom goddess
 
No rush yet, last November was slow as well but then picked up from Early December until June.

Is it a Northeast thing?
 
I stood up today and got a heck of a rush.

Where's me Unseal?
 
It must be the North-East. We are still very slow. All of my suppliers are looking very sick to their stomachs when they come through the door. Hopefully this is just a cycle. I've spent more in advertising, and remodeled the store, yet this is my worst year ever. If it continues I may just be looking for a job at Michael's. (OK, I'm not that desperate) It doesn't appear to be just framing either. The only stores that seem to be doing a killer business here are the liquor stores.
 
Hey Jacob-If I had your two Senators, I would probably be visiting a liquor store, too?

Okay, okay, it's just a joke
 
We noticed we have gotten lots of orders for big pictures and needlework.


And by the way, Toyota, Hyundai and Honda (maybe others too) have factories in the US and are doing quite well.
Click to expand...
I read that Toyota chose to build their new plant in Canada because of Canada's healthcare system. That way Toyota doesn't have to worry about providing health insurance for its workers. That sounds like a good business decision to me.

My boss's father is retired from GM. We have a plant in Mansfield. It's safe from closing for the moment. Anyway, he thinks a large part of the job losses are from attrition. It sounds more widespread than that though.
 
For the new store opened 12/12/2003
Gross Sales
Oct 05 up 55% over Oct 2004
Nov 05 (thru 11/22) up 45% over Oct 2004 (Should see 55% by months end)
2005 (thru 11/22) up 20% over all 2004 should see up 25% overall by years end.

Location Location Location
 
Don't you know it Paul!! Bob will have to invest in the liquor store :D

In NY, it always seems to be the lesser of two evils to choose from. :D
 
In NY, it always seems to be the lesser of two evils to choose from.

Which begs the question, were the opponents of the current crew Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun or what?
party.gif


Tough to imagine a question whose "lesser of two evils" answer is Hillary and Chuckie. :D
 
Well Bob, having Chuck and Hillary are the only two things that have kept me from believing that the evil empire has taken over completely. They're like Leia and Luke holding out hope to destroy the evil emperor.

Although investing in a liquor store might not be a bad idea. It could be a first, a boozeNframe. :D
 
whatabout you guys in Mass? You've already got one drunk as a Senator, who obviously is a lousy swimmer, or at least can't swim at Chappaquidick, and Heaven only knows what the other creaturs you've got up there.

But I shouldn't talk. We got weenies from TN in office too who lack something called "cojones" which I won't translate 'cause children read this forum too
 
Hey, guys, it was a joke. In truth, no matter who takes over, about half the folks will be "a'drinkin'". Personally, I think a change every so often isn't all bad. It just proves that no matter who is running the show, so many problems will still be around

Now, if we can just get Congress to quit spending like they all just came back from the liquor store...
 
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