No Turn On Red

This week, I’ve been talking about the retail growth in Atlantic City. The recently completely Nike Factory store is another fantastic example of how great retail in that city is looking:

The store opened within the past two months and is reportedly the first store of it’s kind for Nike.

The location of the store is unbelievable. Situated in the median of the Atlantic City Expressway, right as you get to the beachfront/casino area, it is one of the most visible, non-casino properties in the city. The exterior of the building has floor to ceiling windows, filling the interior with natural light. I was there on a beautiful, sunny Summer day and I couldn’t believe how bright the interior was.

Merchandise is presented well, with the full range of Nike products shown. Mannequins and innovative fixturing, mixed with huge (over 10 feet tall) graphics showing their products in action, lead to a great shopping experience. Sneakers are presented in a self-serve format, with a range of products offered.

There is also an separate, smaller store that is dedicated to the Converse brand. Same level of excitement, innovation, and merchandising excellence.

I was really surprised to see how nice this store looked. It compliments the rest of the Walk outlets. Atlantic City is becoming a destination shopping experience, with a great mix of high and low-end retailers. If you are in New Jersey and looking for a great place to shop, check out Atlantic City.

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Spent some time in Atlantic City this weekend and I love the growth of retail down there. I’ve talked about the rise of retail in the city before. What really interested me this weekend was some of the new construction going on in the The Walk / Atlantic City Outlets. Recent openings include Eddie Bauer, The Children’s Place, Adidas, Easy Spirit, and BCBG Max Azria. There’s still more construction going on, including locations for T-Mobile and G By Guess (which will actually be the third Guess-related location in the city, after the Guess located in The Pier at Caesar’s and the Guess Factory location elsewhere in the outlets).

What I got a kick out of where the notes on the windows of two stores. Both Jones New York (first photo) and Maidenform (second photo) stores are opening soon, apparently:

I have got to say that, from what I could see through the windows, the Jones New York store looks great. Perfectly folded and displayed merchandise, ready for customers to come in and tear it apart!

I’ve got some more photos from Atlantic City coming later in the week.

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When I graduated from high school and made the decision to go to Rutgers University, I know that it was somewhat looked down upon by some of my classmates and my peers. In the mid-90’s, Rutgers University did not have the kind of prestige within the state of New Jersey that it deserved. In fact, it did not have the kind of prestige within it’s own state that it did nationally. Some people looked down upon Rutgers as being just a state school and did not think that a school 20 or 40 minutes away could offer a great education.

Although I did not complete my education at Rutgers, I still have strong ties to the school and the New Brunswick community. I always thought that it was a fantastic school with a great program. Like many people around here, I have been very excited and proud to watch the sports program do so well in the national spotlight lately.

And, of course, the comments made by Don Imus this week have again thrown Rutgers into the national spotlight.

But how do you measure the success of all of this? How do you quantify “increased national recognition”?

As the Associated Press reports (see: Rutgers Sports Teams Undergo Renaissance), enrollment applications are up, alumni donations are up, and, to tie this in to this blog, sales of Rutgers apparel is up:

Last year, Rutgers received a record number of applications, more than 40,000. This year’s applications are running 7 percent ahead of that.

And through January 2007, donations to the Rutgers Foundation are up a whopping 35 percent over the same period last year, school officials said.

Rutgers is relatively selective for a big state university. It accepts about 60 percent of the students who apply, and more than half of those it admits were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes.

Meanwhile, the university’s “R” logo is popping up in more places as school pride grows throughout the Garden State and elsewhere. Marybeth Schmutz, assistant director of the university’s trademark licensing department, said sales of Rutgers merchandise are up more than 30 percent in the last year.

“You can’t walk into a Kohl’s or a Target or Modell’s without seeing Rutgers stuff,” she said. “We are getting new designs sent to us by people interested in selling Rutgers products every single day. It’s huge for us, and it’s still growing.”

Good news for Rutgers, even in the trying times. With a high quality recruiting class for Rutgers football, I foresee the sports teams only continuing to do well in the near future. Higher profile translates into more money for the school. I see this as only a good thing.

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The supermarket near my house rennovated part of the store last year and put in a pharmacy. Across the street is an Eckerd, one traffic light away is a Drug Fair, about a half mile away is a Rite-Aid, and maybe a mile and a half the other way is a CVS. Throw in a smattering of some other local pharmacies in the town and a Target with a pharmacy nearby. They all share one thing in common - they were all around before this supermarket put in it’s new pharmacy last year - and now, they’re all around after this failed experiment.

This weekend I went shopping and noticed the pharmacy shuttered with a sign saying that all prescriptions have been transferred to Drug Fair. “Due to business considerations”, the sign says the pharmacy has been closed.

running a pharmacy can’t be an easy thing - I’d imagine that there’s an outlay of at least $150k in payroll, minimum, per year. Maybe I’m off base and that number is much higher or much lower, but either way, I didn’t see this phamarcy doing very well. It’s not suprising that this one closed so soon.

But as one pharmacy closes, New Jersey pharmacies are about to undergo a radical change in the retail landscape as Governor Jon Corzine signed legislation that will establish a website allowing consumers to comparision shop for prescription drugs. From the AP:

Under the legislation, the Division of Consumer Affairs will establish and maintain a state prescription-drug retail-price registry that will be updated at least weekly. The Web site, which will be in English and Spanish, will allow visitors to comparison-shop for prescription drugs by name, dosage and ZIP code, the Governor’s Office said. The information will also be available on a toll-free hotline and at pharmacies in the state.

There is a similar website/service in New York (www.nyagrx.org) which reportedly has helped bring prescription drug prices down $17 per prescription.

As a resident in New Jersey, I’m really excited for this service. The Internet has long given consumers the ability to research products and shop for the best deal. As energy prices have risen, so have websites that allow you to find the best gas price in your neighborhood. Putting this kind of information out there, in a very accessable way, gives consumers the information they need to make smarter choices. I believe it also leads to better service, as everyone is now competing harder for the same dollar.

This change will be great for New Jersye consumers, but it will make a very competive retail enviroment even more cut-throat. If this spurs competition and drives prices down, how will pharmacuetical retailers like CVS and Eckerd react? Will this hurt local pharmacies more and give an edge to national chains?

If anyone has any information on how this has actually affected the pharmaceutical retail landscape in New York, and other states that have these comparision web sites, I’d be very interested in hearing about it.

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Just a few quickies this weekend:

In case you missed in, Andrew Young resigned from his position with Wal-Mart after putting his foot in his mouth.

EnVision Marketing Group has partnered with Kroger Food Stores to offer advertising on the conveyor belt at the supermarket checkout. Interesting concept. Whenever I go to my local supermarkets, I notice how much advertising they cram in there. Any marketable space seems to be taken up by an ad for a local contractor or lawyer. One food store has a model train that goes around the front end, with the track suspended by wire from the ceiling. The train pulls a number of cars with advertisments for said local companies. But my question is, who’s looking at it? Will these conveyor advertisments actually work or will they just be another outlet for an unnoticed advertisment for the local computer repair place, although this time covered in meat juice?

Over at Starbucks Gossip, one story has ignited a debate over the cost of two ounces of coffee. Read the story and read the comments, some very interesting points are brought up from both customers and employees alike.

I like throwing in some local retail notes, so here goes: looks like White Castle has an application for construction on Route 36 in Hazlet, NJ. That’s the last thing I need nearby! Also, lots of development at the Monmouth Mall as Jessica McClintock and Yankee Candle are opening new stores while The Limited is opening up a new location.

Until next week.

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I haven’t been down to Atlantic City since The Pier at Caesar’s has opened. I just haven’t had the chance to make it down there. Not all the stores were open with the grand opening, so they’ve been having openings of new retailers all throughout the Summer. Today, the new Apple store opened to much fanfare. There’s good coverage, and photos, of this event over at O’Grady’s Powerpage.

See also: Is Atlantic City the next retail Mecca?

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From the Asbury Park Press:

STAFFORD — A security guard sustained minor injuries Tuesday when he was dragged through the parking lot of Wal-Mart by a car as he tried to stop a shoplifting suspect, township police reported.

Store security personnel at the Wal-Mart on Route 72 tried to stop a black male who took a 32-inch high definition LCD television set and DVD player and left the store, police said.

The guard struggled with the man as the man sat in the back seat of a gray Pontiac
Aztec with New York registration. The driver, a black female, pulled away, police said.

The vehicle stopped in front of a nearby Pathmark, and the man and the guard fell to the ground. The man re-entered the van, which drove off, police said.

The guard sustained minor injuries to his hand, and the merchandise was recovered, police said. The two are being sought for strong-armed robbery and shoplifting, police said.

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Yesterday, the sales tax in New Jersey rose from 6% to 7%. This is due to the new budget that was signed after the statewide shut down last week - I’m sure you heard about this.

If you live in the area and read the newspaper or watch the local news, you’ve seen a number of stories on this. The media has been talking about how this is going to change consumers spending habits and they’ve basically made it seem that the New Jersey economy is about to collapse, because of the 1% increase.

Let me tell you a secret - the impact of the rising sales tax on New Jersey’s economy isn’t as dire as the media is making it seem.

Although sales tax is lower in Pennsylvania (6%) and Delaware (none!), New Jersey’s 7% sales tax is equal to the sales tax in Philadelphia and still lower than the sales tax in most of New York state.

Like Pennsylvania, apparel is still completely exempt from sales tax. As of right now, only 11 counties and 5 cities exempt apparel purchases up to $110. On April 1, 2006, New York state took away their statewide 4% on apparel purchases up to $110, however the counties/cities not listed above, local taxes (in the area of 4%) still apply.

The Route 17 corridor in Bergen County benefits greatly from the New York sales tax on clothing. The area boasts a number of retailers, including Kohl’s, Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Lane Bryant. Travel down 17 more and you have Garden State Plaza and Paramus Park Mall. The entire area capitalizes on the affluence of Bergen County and the sales tax in New York. I’ve known more than a few people who live in the Suffern, NY area who would travel down 17 to do all of their shopping.

The major effect on the tax changes is going to be on car dealerships, who, in addition to the 1% increase, now face a surchage on vehicles costing over $45,000 and vehicles that get less than 19 mpg. But how noticable will this be, in the scheme of things? With the rise in gas prices, more and more people have long been making the switch to fuel-efficient vehicles. This surcharge is just another variable for a purchaser to consider.

And, maybe I’m off base because I don’t know the extent of the over $45,000 surcharge, but I don’t think it will hurt auto retailers all that much. In today’s economy, the person who is purchasing a car with that sticker price, probably isn’t going to be effected as much by a surcharge or fuel prices.

One article, from northjersey.com [”Shoppers sigh, dig a little deeper as sales tax hike boosts their bills“], seems to agree with me by pointing out that first day sales weren’t effected much:

At Maroon Auto Group’s KIA dealership on Hamburg Turnpike owner Ray Maroon said business is booming.

Customers, he said, are less concerned about a 1 percent tax hike than they are about fuel efficiency and savings.

“We delivered 10 cars last night and today,” he said, adding that three were sold on Saturday morning. “People aren’t complaining too much about the 1 percent … Since this thing has flared up in the Middle East, we’ve seen tremendous reaction, because they’re trading in very, very large vehicles, and it’s amazing.”

Economists estimate that the rise will cost the average New Jersey family $276 over the course of a year. The larger issue is that $276 is going to effect a family in Cumberland or Salem counties much more than a family in Somerset or Morris counties [see: New Jersey locations by per capita income].

I believe there will be localized fluctuations in consumer spending, but the state economy will be fine. Consumers have a way of reacting and adapting to all of the variables that the economy throws at them. I don’t think retailers in New Jersey should be, or are, as concerned about the rise in the sales tax as they are concerned about the rise of the price of oil, the conflict in the Middle East or interest rate levels.

A 1% rise in the sales tax is just a blip in the grand scheme of things that drive consumer spending habits.

With all of this said, can I just point out how ridiculous the local media has been? All week I’ve watched news reports showing luxury car dealerships, boat dealerships, and other very high-ticket items. One report on NBC said that the price of a new boat would rise over $2,000! But of course the sticker price on that particular boat was over $200,0000. I don’t think that the person buying that boat is going to be too concerned with 1%.

Also let me leave you with this gem of a quote, from the previously linked to article from northjersey.com:

The new tax would add another $1,035 to the $103,500 price of a concert grand piano, said John E. Weiss, a salesman at Steinway & Sons in Paramus.

I’ll just leave that one alone for now.

More local coverage from the Asbury Park Press: New car buyers feel brunt of newly imposed higher state taxes and New Jersey more expensive place now.

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From the Asbury Park Press:

ASBURY PARK: The implosion of C-8, the abandoned steel skeleton high-rise that became the symbol of the failed redevelopment of the 1990s, is scheduled for 7 a.m. April 29, city officials said Wednesday.

Details of where the public will be allowed to gather to watch the demolition are still being worked out.

Metro Homes, a Hoboken-based developer, bought the site between Third and Fourth avenues on the waterfront and plans to begin construction of a 224-unit high-rise to be called the Esperanza.

Anyone who’s been to Asbury Park in the past decade knows what building this is. I remember seeing the Suicide Machines at the Warped Tour in 1996 and Jason Navarro pointed the building and asked, “When was the war and why the fuck wasn’t it on CNN?”

The implosion of this building will be a huge step in the redevelopment of Asbury Park. Besides that, it is just going to be fucking cool to see a building get imploded. I am going to do my best to be there.

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