Youseff wrote:

Brantt wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Brantt wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

Brantt wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:Supermarkets started laying off people last week because soda sales were down in Philly last month?

I'm calling #$!&@ on that.

Edited to add: That ShopRite owner is laying off 300 workers at six stores (50 per store) because he sells less soda? Yeah right.

And if it is true, that dude needs to improve his business model. 50 workers per store is probably 10% of his workforce, if not more (hard to estimate without knowing what his total operation looks like). Does that mean >10% of his revenue stream is made up of soda sales? Because remember, it was just a 30-50% decrease, not a total loss in sales.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... much-as-50

Uh huh.

And I have to laugh at the idea of people living in the Philly area (where gas prices are nearly $3.00) will drive more than a couple of extra miles to not pay the soda sales tax, which amounts to less than the price of a gallon of gas. Some people may do that on the short-term, but they won't inconvenience themselves long-term if it doesn't save them money.

And again, these stores need to find a better model then if they were vulnerable to a dip in soda sales that they knew was coming.

What model would you suggest given how tight their margins are overall in the first place?

One that doesn't rely as heavily on one category of product. Allegedly.

OK, so come up with a business model to change people's behavior and buying habits while still making money.

Best of luck.

you just described the start up plan of every successful business, bruh. it's a tediously cliched word in silicon valley, but what you're describing is called "disruption" and it's exactly what every successful entrepreneur has done or strives to do.

Except it's not a start up business "bruh."

It's a fucking supermarket or corner store, many that have existed for decades selling the same product. You can't adjust your pricing models or you will be out of business quick given the level of competition you face.

We aren't talking about Silicon Valley.......we are talking about C-stores and grocery stores in inner cities.

you are not smart, man. sorry. a start up is what a business is when it starts up. sometimes business have to pivot their business model, including small businesses. I live in a gentrified neighborhood in an "inner city" and all of the corner stores and bodegas have gone through multiple shifts as the demographics of the neighborhood change. the guy on my block has described it being a black neighborhood, then a Caribbean neighborhood, and now a gentrified neighborhood. each time he's had to adjust his business model to survive and thrive in a new market. it happens all the time, in every space, including small biz. it's almost like you're lying about being a big shot CFO that physically writes and signs checks for all his employees.

Tim Mak ‏@timkmak
I think we'll have another Supreme Court vacancy this summer, Cruz says

Big story if he has any inside info on this, and big difference on whether this is Thomas or Kennedy. Imagine if Cruz has reason to know it, stronger reason to believe it'd be Thomas.

also it's dubious that this will hurt businesses long term. I do think it's instructive that the group of people most likely to be terrified to step in an "inner city" (or take a vacation to Sweden or Germany) would be the ones most concerned with the plight of the small inner city business owners.

And if one corner store closes doesn't that help the others, proportionally?

Not that I take someone losing their business/jobs lightly, but I'll never understand Republican inconsistencies on this stuff.

all policy decisions should be made on the micro scale of hundreds of jobs imo.

JUburton wrote:all policy decisions should be made on the micro scale of hundreds of jobs imo.

which, again, I don't think is necessarily a fair conclusion this early. certainly not enough to raise a hissy fit and change why you're mad about it multiple times on a message board.

jerseyhoya wrote:

Tim Mak ‏@timkmak
I think we'll have another Supreme Court vacancy this summer, Cruz says

Big story if he has any inside info on this, and big difference on whether this is Thomas or Kennedy. Imagine if Cruz has reason to know it, stronger reason to believe it'd be Thomas.

I bet he put a hit out on Sotomayor

His father is an experienced assassin

jerseyhoya wrote:His father is an experienced assassin

hey jersey made me laugh

On the soda thing, I do know this from having worked in the supermarket industry, that they really lean on soda as a money-maker - at least when it comes to how they present their business model.

What do I mean? Well, I distinctly remember watching a training video in which we new employees were told that a bottle of soda that would have retailed (at that time) for one dollar would cost the company $100 to replace, if lost to "shrink" - retail for anything that can happen to a product before it can be sold at retail, but for which the company has paid: contamination, damage, and most importantly, theft.

This, of course, must be absurd, and was a nice lesson to young me that figures lie and liars figure: if each $1 bottle of soda represented a potential loss of $100, meaning that for each lost bottle 100 would need to be sold to replace it, it would be senseless to carry the product. This is a game of averages across the entire company, including the salaries and benefits for loss prevention staff, weighed in such a way that all this spending was to prevent the theft of a single bottle of soda.

I resented them lying to me (but I worked there anyway). And now, I smell another rat, regarding Brantt's ShopRite layoff story (I used to frequent the South Philly locations): seems like either their business is down overall, or someone up the food chain figures he can just divvy up bigger bonuses for himself and a few of his friends if he lays off some staff, and the soda tax provides effective cover for why they "have" to let go of staff due to factors beyond their control.

Fuckers.

The whole soda thing seems like a bit of a canard to me. Are we to assume all soda buyers are suddenly going to stop drinking anything besides tap water? Won't a good proportion of them find other beverages to slake their thirst?

Jaime Harrison dropped out of DNC race and endorsed Tom Perez. I was scared at first because it was re-tweet notification and didn't mention Harrison at first, thought we might have lost Booty Judge.

JFLNYC wrote:The whole soda thing seems like a bit of a canard to me. Are we to assume all soda buyers are suddenly going to stop drinking anything besides tap water? Won't a good proportion of them find other beverages to slake their thirst?

No, you're totally missing the point. They're driving to fucking Jersey to save $2 on their cases of Mountain Dew.

Because that's a thing.

slugsrbad wrote:Jaime Harrison dropped out of DNC race and endorsed Tom Perez. I was scared at first because it was re-tweet notification and didn't mention Harrison at first, thought we might have lost Booty Judge.

this is a pretty big deal; he's fairly popular with some Southern democratic committes

hope they don't get enough votes so it can go to the floor to start wheelin' and dealin'

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:The whole soda thing seems like a bit of a canard to me. Are we to assume all soda buyers are suddenly going to stop drinking anything besides tap water? Won't a good proportion of them find other beverages to slake their thirst?

No, you're totally missing the point. They're driving to #$!&@ Jersey to save $2 on their cases of Mountain Dew.

Because that's a thing.

That's ridiculous.


I drive to DELAWARE for my diet mountain dew. (but I buy 20-40 12 packs a pop!)

Bucky wrote:I buy 20-40 12 packs a pop!)

Never would have taken you for a yinzer

does Mike's Hard get taxed under the law?

Bucky wrote:

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:The whole soda thing seems like a bit of a canard to me. Are we to assume all soda buyers are suddenly going to stop drinking anything besides tap water? Won't a good proportion of them find other beverages to slake their thirst?

No, you're totally missing the point. They're driving to #$!&@ Jersey to save $2 on their cases of Mountain Dew.

Because that's a thing.

That's ridiculous.


I drive to DELAWARE for my diet mountain dew. (but I buy 20-40 12 packs a pop!)

Save it for the Slickdeals forums, moneybags.

Brantt wrote:Ugh......Alan Colmes died. Only 66.

Putin!!