Monday, August 29, 2011

News You Missed Because of Hurricane Irene

Let's see...
Former Destiny's Child lead singer Beyonce' Knowles announced that she is pregnant.

Hooray.

More Later

KCD

Friday, August 19, 2011

Bank Of America Musings

As part of a company wide "restructuring", Bank of America apparently plans to layoff 3,500 employees with plans to reduce staff by another 10,000. Or so says the Wall Street Journal, that august chronicle of the doings and goings on in the financial world. The stated reason is that the bank's profits have been hit because of lawsuits and related liability stemming from the mortgage mess of 2008.

That may be true.

But I think a far more compelling reason lies in its interiors. For example, the branch of BofA that I do business with just underwent an interior re-fit. And it's horrible! Pale grey-green on the walls, and a dreadful charcoal and grey tile carpet. Moreover, there's no art on the walls of the place! The branch office feels cold and sterile, much like the doctors' office, and don't we just love going there! The very nice people working at the branch informed me that it was a "corporate decision".

Of course it was.

Now, they're thinking of laying off 10,000 plus people. Might there be a connection between their lack of an aesthetic and their lack of soul and imagination which could be affecting their bottom line?

Just a thought.

Might be time to find a new bank though.

More Later
KCD

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Another Bit of "Jersey Shore" News

A brief from the USA Today Money desk yesterday stated that clothing giant Abercrombie & Fitch has asked that Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino, and the lot of his "Jersey Shore" mates stop wearing their clothing on their show. They've even offered to pay an undisclosed sum of money for the "cast" to wear something else. Now this little bit of a dust-up does pose a risk for Abercrombie & Fitch since they've lost market share in recent years, but lately they've had a 64% increase in net income and they've achieved name recognition again after J. Crew. So maybe they feel like they can afford to pick a fight with the decidedly low-brow MTV hit and play the "elitist" card. Of course, all this could raise the profile even higher for Sitch, PaulyD, JWOWW, Snooki, and all the rest, which is, as we all know, something the world desperately needs right now.

From my perspective, this can't be good. When a major clothing retailer is asking you not to wear their clothes in public and will actually pay you not to, the standard reaction is to feel perhaps a bit slighted. One might ask, "What? Is your clothing too good for us?"

Abercrombie & Fitch is saying, in effect, "Yes. It is."
Is it a bit elitist? One could argue that. Or one could argue that since we seem to be celebrating lowlifes on TV these days, certain brands might not want to be associated with that.

Personally, I got quite a laugh out of all this. Just what I needed with my coffee.

Talk amongst yourselves.

More Later
KCD