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Death at Walmart heralds a new era of madness
30th November 2008
So Black Friday in the US, the day after Thanksgiving, which always marks the start of the Christmas spending spree has been a lot slower than 2007 but still up 3%
Not a total surprise eh!. What was incredulous was that one poor shopper ended up crushed to death trying to bag a 40% off bargain in Walmart. It does seem that whatever the economic climate getting a bargain always tends to bring out the worst in people, has all the bad news sent them all mad?
In the UK the news of carnage in India has diverted our attention from our own economy which in itself has at least given us the opportunity to think about other peoples problems for a moment, which can’t be bad thing. The demise of Woolworth’s came as no surprise to anyone who has walked past the job in the last 2-3 years. I am surprised it didn’t get snapped up a long time ago. There is a simple reason, however, it appears Woolies doesn’t own any of its freeholds. Yes, management sold and leased back those a few years ago to keep it afloat. I think the brand could do well and perhaps returning to its roots as a £1 shop with a big new website offering thousands of items could be the answer. Go online buy 10 items with free delivery next day and loads of coupons and special offers to boot!
I went along to the Business Startup show at Olympia on Saturday and found a large crowd all clambering for advice and knowledge from a very good line up of business gurus, entrepreneurs and the odd Dragons Den Star. It was a mishmash of very tacky stands but there were plenty of people attending and as a ‘free to enter event’ I expect every one gained a little inspiration. It just goes to show that business people do need to get out and talk to each other and be open minded about opportunities. I was impressed by a new business networking company called 4networking run by Brad Burton. This is a National network of breakfast networking events regionally spread for anyone who wants to sell and be sold to. It has a good social networking site and as, perhaps, we all anticipated in the digital marketing world, creating local niches with a National agenda (SME growth) and adding a face-to-face element has worked. It’s a reason to get out of the office and connect and beats waiting for an email. It also is a well presented brand with a strong simple message, with a simple philosophy which is quite cute in a way. (It appears all the marketing has been produced by the members in a collaborative way. Now that’s neat and cheap.. and Brad has kept the quality in as well. I think the concept will certainly will be attractive to younger business people who find the ‘chamber of commerce lunches’ a bit old fashioned. Well done Brad I really think he is on to something. You know this is something that Linkedin should look at, Brad if you are reading this give them a call… they need something on the ground and focused to stay relevant during this downturn.
So the BBC has started all live streaming of BBC One and BBC Two. This will be the tipping point for broadband especially in rural areas. BT provides over 50% of all broadband in these areas, speed and consistency is already poor so expect a loads of news about this between now and Christmas. It is incredible how poor mobile and broadband coverage still is in the UK and it all adds to inability to compete on a level playing feed with the rest of the World. Time to get this sorted.
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Tags:
BBC , Credit Crunch , Walmart , Woolworths
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