I recently made the challenging trek to Lost Wages, Nevada (also known as “City of Lights” – “Glitter Gulch” – “Sin City” – “The City That Never Sleeps” – oh, and Las Vegas) to speak at an annual meeting. It was 110 to 112 degrees every day! New casinos were going up everywhere. There was no sign of recession or depression anywhere.

I’ve been coming to Vegas for decades, and while it looks different every time you get off the plane, some things simply never change. This town is full of gambling devices … roulette wheels, crap tables, slot machines, and wedding chapels!

I personally don’t drink or gamble and seldom have time to make it to pool side at these events so I skipped the obligatory “Cooks’ Tour” … getting baked in the sun, stewed at the bar and burned at the crap tables!

One of the challenges for anyone flying from east to west is the time change. It’s interesting to leave Detroit at noon and arrive in Vegas at 1 p.m. It certainly doesn’t feel like a mere hour of flight time and, of course, it isn’t. The non-stop flight is actually 4 hours and 11 minutes, which feels more like 4 days and 11 hours. Add the hour you must arrive early prior to the flight, another hour for the usual delay and the eternity between touching down and actually arriving at your gate, and you’re pushing close to 7 hours.

I learned long ago to come prepared by bringing my laptop and the enormous stack of magazines and newspapers I review weekly to keep current on business news, political situations, and world events. However, on this particular trip I think I may have overdosed on negative news. In the future, I think I’ll be limiting myself to just a few sources a day. Here’s some of what I learned on this trip.

12,000 Laptops Lost Each Week! (624,000 Per Year!)

A new study by the Ponemon Institute estimates that about 12,000 laptops are lost every week (based on interviews with officials at 106 American airports). That same study revealed that half of all the business travelers surveyed said they fly regularly with important information on their laptops. Most of them—more than two thirds—don’t use any type of security system in the event that laptops are lost or stolen. Eventually, one of those laptops is going to be loaded with our Social Security numbers and names. I wonder what they do with all those computers?

Growing Trend

The Wall Street Journal reports that many small towns and community colleges are switching to four-day workweeks in an effort to help employees cope with the rising gasoline prices and could soon be joined by some larger local governments. Expect to see this trend become the norm if something isn’t done about oil prices.

Waterless Washing Machines?

BusinessWeek reports that researchers at Xeros, a British company linked to the University of Leeds, have developed a machine that washes a regular laundry load using as little as one cup of water, about 1% of the 10 to 15 gallons a typical washer requires. The machine uses tiny plastic chips and a bit of detergent to rub dirt from clothes, which emerge virtually dry—and extremely clean. According to research, washing machines in Britain alone consume about 120 million gallons daily, enough to fill 145 Olympic-size swimming pools!

Bye-bye, Billy

In one of the most carefully orchestrated transitions in corporate history, 52-year-old Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates, third richest man on earth, walked away from his day-to-day duties at the company he co-founded. He plans to spend more time working on philanthropy. He will continue to play a key role in Microsoft’s biggest long-term technical bets.

Going to the Dogs

Real estate baroness Leona Helmsley apparently earned her famous nickname, “The Queen of Mean,” by the way she treated her staff. However, following her death, she left instructions that her estate, estimated to be up to $8 billion, be spent on the care and welfare of dogs. The Humane Society of the U.S. and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said they will be suggesting programs for applying the funds in the most productive method.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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Last month, I shared an experience I had with an old business associate in which we visited several of his customers. He wanted me to see what had resulted from a book we both read and enjoyed very much decades earlier. It was a Tom Peters’ classic, In Search of Excellence, in which he encouraged MBWA (Management By Wandering Around). My friend applied this strategy within his organization and was so pleased with the results that he decided to extend his execution to his own client base. That’s what he wanted me to see.

Well, it appears that my friend was right on the money and maybe even got a bit of a jump on what may soon become a critical strategy. A recent survey revealed some shocking results which SHOULD act as a wake-up call for any and all organizations trying to deal with the many negative ramifications of today’s chaotic business environment.

24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware corporation set up to run a financial news and opinion operation with content delivered over the Internet. The company publishes about 35 pieces of content a day and has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The company currently has its content picked up at websites including TheStreet.com, AOL Finance and BloggingStocks, The Wall Street Journal online, MarketWatch, and StockHouse.

Looking back over the past 50 years, you’ll discover that some of the most successful companies were led by CEOs that spent a great deal of their time with customers and at company locations around the world. In short, MBWA (Management By Wandering Around). Two of the most famous supporters of this strategy were Willard Marriott and Sam Walton. At one point, Walton visited hundreds of stores a year. If these CEOs wanted to know how they were doing with the consumers who spent money with them, they did not have to check with anyone else in management.

Along these same lines, 24/7 was apparently interested in how this philosophy is viewed by today’s business icons and what impact, if any, those views correlated with the current success of the organizations involved. What they discovered in this latest study is not new. In fact, it’s been known and well-documented for decades. Obviously, few leaders give credence to this powerful strategy at a time when all should do so.

In this article, they examine a good number of companies that are currently making headlines in the media … some good, some not so good. They name the company, give a quick run-down of why they’re in the news, and then compare their current status to the CEO’s philosophy on MBWA. It’s amazing that those leaders who get out to their locations and keep in touch with their employees and customers are doing much better than those who don’t. The majority of these leaders encourage their staff to practice MBWA as well. In short, it becomes part of the culture. This strategy has been proven time and time again over the years regardless of the product, service, or industry. Bottom line—it works. Why then, don’t more leaders, at every level, practice this concept? The excuses are numerous. The results remain the same.

Want the proof? 24/7’s quick review of the following companies will open your eyes: Sears, K-Mart, Ford Motor, Radio Shack, Dell, TDAmeritrade, Sprint, Palm, Target, Wal-Mart, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, McDonalds, Schwab, & CostCo. What you do about it is up to you.

Want to hear more about MBWA? Click and share: Does MBWA (Management By Wandering Around) Still Work?

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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As if we didn’t have enough to deal with in today’s chaotic U.S. business environment, another obvious crisis is quickly rearing its head and must be seriously dealt with before it gets out of hand. Unfortunately, many organizations have not or are not able to recognize this challenge as the crisis it is.

It’s interesting to note a growing concern by many of our clients in refocusing their efforts on the development of their mid-management levels. Most are not doing this because of an interest in developing their future leaders … it’s being done, wisely, as a survival strategy!

Media at every level is reporting the increased stress levels and challenges facing businesses today for an alarming number of reasons, which include global competition, rising prices, expensive technical enhancements, decline of the dollar, consumer fears, political turmoil, and threats of a recession that many say has already arrived.

At a time when most organizations are therefore required to do more with less, recent reports from staffing professionals indicate that the attrition rate among middle-level managers has risen to 20 to 25 percent. And, if measures are not taken, this situation could worsen profoundly in the next two to three years.

The role of the middle manager has become all the more crucial simply because they are the liaison between the frontline staff and senior management. If top management is described as “thinkers,” then middle management represents the “doers.” They have the capability to make or break the company as they harness the potential of the entire staff in their effort to achieve organizational goals.

While experts agree that there is a scarcity of middle-management talent today, many feel that the organization itself is to be blamed for this development. This condition has emerged and continues to grow because leadership had ceased or minimized investments in training at this level and no longer develop their future leaders as thoroughly as they once did.

We’ve been fortunate over the years to consult and train in a wide variety of industries and organizations of every size all over North America. While diversity is apparent, we’ve witnessed countless similarities in both leadership and middle-management behavior in the last few years.

As we’ve worked with newly appointed managers and supervisors, several identical concerns have been voiced again and again. See if they sound familiar. From middle-management, we’ve heard:

• “I was outstanding in my individual performance and, as a result, was promoted to a position of leadership or supervising others. However, I knew nothing of the skill set required to lead and develop others. I felt that, overnight, I was expected to produce immediate results with little or no training or development.”
• “I feel as though I was simply thrown into the fire and expected to learn through experience alone.”
• “After my promotion, I heard nothing in the way of expectations or goals. I was just told to get to work. That’s very difficult to do with no training or preparation. I’m considering a return to my old position where I knew what I was doing.”

From leadership we hear comments such as:

• “Time, budget, and current challenges simply don’t allow us the luxury of developing our middle-management staff to the degree we’d like to.”
• “While we’d like to see more training and development of our mid-managers, they seem to be handling things as well as can be expected at the moment.”
• “Fortunately we’ve had few, if any, complaints from middle-management staff thus far and we plan to focus more on their development as soon as things get back to normal.”

First, of course, reality tells us that we shouldn’t expect to return to “normal” anytime soon, if ever.

Second, how would you know if they couldn’t be doing an even better job if they had the proper training, development, mentoring, and expectations?

Developing this critical group of employees should be viewed as a necessity rather than a luxury.

We must realize that until reaching this level, these employees have been doing what they’ve been told. NOW … we’re asking them to think, problem-solve, and make decisions, as well as lead and develop others to do the same.

Top leadership today must realize that it is indeed crucial to mentor, nurture, and grow productive middle-management talent.

We congratulate those who have recognized this challenge and opportunity and have taken the necessary action to deal with it successfully. They will enjoy a substantial return on their investment in the future.

Those that refuse, for whatever reason, to acknowledge the seriousness of this issue or delay action in dealing with it, will pay a price which could prove to be extremely costly in a number of ways.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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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.

About Harry K. Jones

Harry K. Jones is a motivational speaker and consultant for AchieveMax®, Inc., a company of professional speakers who provide custom-designed seminars, keynote presentations, and consulting services. Harry's top requested topics include change management, customer service, creativity, employee retention, goal setting, leadership, stress management, teamwork, and time management. For more information on Harry's presentations, please call 800-886-2629 or fill out our contact form.

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