Say Something Good About the Economy

How some small U.S. businesses thrive in a recession

2009-03-05T08:57:00.000-08:00

A tweet from Inc.5000 just pointed out this GhanaBusinessNews.com article that highlights how some small U.S. businesses are doing well despite the economy. Here's what they have in common:

They diversify
They buy what they need when they need it
They provide good service
They offer products and services that their customers need
They make the most of niche markets or offer hard-to-find services.

Click here to read the article: http://ghanabusinessnews.com/2009/02/28/some-small-us-companies-thrive-despite-recession/

Looks like Wal-Mart is doing something that works -- even in a struggling economy

2009-02-17T20:16:00.000-08:00

Discount retailer Wal-Mart has made the most of our tendency to bargain shop during an economic downturn and ended its 4th quarter of 2008 with higher than expected earnings. Quarterly sales rose 1.7%, according to a story in today's Wall Street Journal. Good inventory management is cited as part of their successful strategy, the story said:

"Amid the recession, the Bentonville, Ark., retailer is using its reputation for low prices to pull sales from rivals and honing its operating skills to improve profit. Year-end inventories, for instance, fell compared with a year earlier, even as sales rose 7.2% during the same period."

Experts expect Wal-Mart to continue to do well in the coming year as more customers turn to their lower-priced goods as the recession continues. To appeal to customers trading down from department stores, Wal-Mart is introducing more well-known brands and electronics the story said.

We are no longer too afraid to shop

2009-02-12T11:39:00.000-08:00

Today we have some honest-to-goodness good news about the economy to report. According to The Wall Street Journal:

"U.S. retail sales unexpectedly rose in January, opening the year with a broad-based increase that marked the first advance in seven months."

Woo-hoo!

Ok. Then the story goes on to talk about rising jobless claims -- but we know all about that already and we'll skip that because this is blog about good economic news.

Retail sales were up 1.0% in January, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Economists had predicted a .8% drop in retail spending, the story says. Experts suspect the increase was less an indication of any kind of recovery but rather a correction for the plunge in spending that occured in the months leading into the holiday season.

The story says:

"The last time sales had gone up was June, recording a 0.1% increase. Year over year, sales were 9.7% below January 2008, which was a month after the recession started."

But I'll take a 1% increase and feel good about it, too.

Take that Dow Jones

2009-02-10T15:58:00.001-08:00

Ok. Today's a tough day to say something good about the economy -- but I found a bright spot. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner's plan to possibly spend $2 trillion to help the troubled banking system freaked out Wall Street, sending the Dow plunging nearly 400 points -- the worst drop since last November. Meanwhile, Sirius XM Radio prepared its bankruptcy filing and GM, Nike, HarperCollins Publishers, Wal-Mart and US Airways, cut or prepared to cut, jobs. But here in Bel Air, Md., Kim Norris, a mother of two, is getting ready to open Tiddlywinks toy and bookstore here on our Main Street. Her plan attracted the attention of our local ABC news affilitate, which featured her on the 6 o'clock news. And, hoping to start a trend, the local Bel Air Downtown Alliance is hosting an entrepreneur tour next month for people who might want to start their own Main Street businesses. (Call 410-638-1023 for more information.) Perhaps a small business owner that starts a business now and goes in with eyes wide open will be able to navigate this market more effectively than those behemoths who've been tripped up by the economy's implosion. We can only hope.

Two new businesses are opening in my town

2009-02-09T20:48:00.000-08:00

Sure, one big grocery store is closing this month and Circuit City is still liquidating its inventory, but two new businesses are about to open in my town of Bel Air, Md. A local mom is due to open a toy and book store on our town's Main Street next month. Up the road, a consignment store is preparing to open in a large space in a shopping center across from Harford Community College. Not everyone has thrown in the towel. Some people see opportunities to open new businesses. Good luck!

Hershey Co. sees boost in fourth quarter share price

2009-02-07T09:03:00.001-08:00

The Hershey Co. seems to be doing something right. The Associated Press reports that the nation's second-largest candy maker dropped capital costs, raised prices and boosted its advertising to wind up with an increase in its fourth-quarter share price. According to the story: "The Hershey Co. earned $82.2 million, or 36 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, up from $54.3 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier, when it was spending heavily to expand overseas and streamline its domestic supply chain."

Click here to read about how they did it: http://www.valleymorningstar.com/articles/marc_44094___article.html/business_news.html

Kellogg's profits up despite salmonella scare

2009-02-05T16:44:00.001-08:00

A frightening peanut butter salmonella scare couldn't keep Kellogg's profits down. The New York Times reports the Kellogg Company's profit rose 7 percent during its fiscal fourth quarter.

"The company said it earned $179 million, or 47 cents a share, during the three months that ended Jan. 3, compared with $176 million, or 44 cents a share, in the last quarter of 2007. Its revenue increased to $2.93 billion, up 5 percent from $2.79 billion a year ago."

This increase came despite costs related to the recent national recall of peanut products, which included a package of Kellogg's peanut butter crackers and resulted in a $34 million expense for the company that reduced its earnings 6 cents a share. And yet, Kellogg's profits were up for its fourth-quarter as well as all of 2008:

"For all of 2008, the company reported a profit of $1.15 billion, or $2.99 a share, compared with $1.1 billion, or $2.76 a share, the previous year. Annual revenue climbed 9 percent to $12.82 billion from $11.78 billion."

Credit card company does better than expected

2009-02-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

I think it's significant that much of the bad news about the economy has to do with companies not meeting analysts' expectations. So, it would seem that if those expectations are lowered, perhaps it would appear that our economy was actually doing better than expected. A recent New York Times story reports that at at least one company, that has happened already. MasterCard's fourth-quarter profits easily beat analysts expectations, the Times reported this week. Analysts had forecast earnings of $1.61 a share on revenue of $1.2 billion. Instead, the company earned $1.84 a share on revenue of $239.4 million. Of course, those earnings were 21 percent lower than the during the same period a year earlier. And, much of the earnings came as a result of the company's own cutbacks and consumers using its cards to pay their bills -- two things that don't exactly strengthen our economy. However, it beat expectations and when so much of our economy has to do with our psychology, that has to be a good thing. And, it resulted in a $14 boost to its stock price. Can't argue with that.

The amazing power in a single good idea

2009-02-05T12:20:00.001-08:00

Here's a little industry that's booming: iPhone apps. According to The New York Times' technology columnist David Pogue, iPhone owners have downloaded to their iPhones a half million of these mini-programs often written by amateurs and usually sold for just a dollar or two in the past six months. Pogue writes:

"But even when the economy is crashing down around us, there's still amazing power in a single good idea. And the one on display here--pricing software so low that millions of people buy it without batting an eye--is turning a few clever programmers into millionaires."

Click here to read his article.

Countdown to economic growth

2009-02-05T07:42:00.001-08:00

Might the economy start growing again in just a little more than a year? George Colony of Forrester Research did an informal poll of Davos attendees last week and posted the results on his blog: Counterintuitive. He found some evidence of optimism, with a number of those attending the World Economic Forum citing April of next year as the month when the GDP would finally begin to increase. Here's a countdown to help you pass the time til then:

Health club kick-boxing class is still packed

2009-02-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

Took my mom to work out at my Bel Air health club on Tuesday and a class full of kick-boxers joined us on the running track for a couple of laps. There had to have been about 30 people in that mid-day class. That has to mean we still have plenty of families here in Harford County, Md. who can afford to maintain their health club memberships and are doing well enough to have at least one family member not working in the middle of a weekday. That's got to be promising.

People are still eating out on Friday nights

2009-02-04T19:55:00.000-08:00

Here's a tidbit of good news about the economy. Last Friday night, the parking lot in front of the Harford Mall restaurants in Bel Air, Md. was packed. We ate at the newly opened Red Robin Restaurant and every table was full.

C'mon, there's got to be something good you can say about the economy

2009-02-03T20:18:00.000-08:00

I was watching a discussion on CNN the other day about how the U.S. economy is consumer-driven and the way consumers feel about the economy makes a big difference in our success -- or failure. All the depressing news were getting lately about our economy doesn't do much for our consumer confidence. So I thought why not try to inspire a little? I started this blog "Say Something Good About the Economy" to do just that. With each post I'll mention something good I've noticed going on in the economy. I hope anyone reading this blog will do so too. Then just when you think things can't get any worse, you can take a peek at this blog and think maybe, just maybe we have a chance.