The Airline Business: FEE-Fi-Fo-Fum

Hate airline fees?

You're not alone. I do all sorts of things to avoid them without having to drive to Indy to catch a Southwest flight. After all, the cost of gas, car wear and tear, and such to get to IND as opposed to Fort Wayne International, even if driving a fuel-efficient car like a Ford Focus or a Toyota Camry, can neutralize the fee savings of flying Southwest as compared to flying out of FWA often times. (And the Hoosier Shuttle is even more expensive than driving in your Buick, even at current gas prices.) To avoid pesky airline fees, I pack as much as I can in a carry-on (and don't even check a bag on short trips), eat at connecting airports (better food for the buck than airplane buy-on-board), and buy tickets online and on websites with no booking fees.

And regarding the fee issue, I've talked with a former United Airlines exec several times. He worked in the (now-closed) call center on the southwest side of Fort Wayne, and later went all the way up to United's World Headquarters in Chicago. It's true that the "friendly skies" lead the way in fees with the introduction of the now-mandatory-among-airlines $25 second checked bag fee last year and has also introduced fees for other things that used to be free (booking award tickets, etc.), but one proposed fee did actually backfire! It was (drumroll please) a proposed test of charging for meals and snackboxes on trans-Atlantic flights out of the Washington-Dulles hub. Not only was United deluged with complaints from their most frequent flyers, but the executives, including their CEO Glenn Tilton, actually had to taste-test the food. Right there, they knew they had a problem. (Oh, and I've tasted United's snackboxes once, on a flight between O'Hare and Orlando. Though it was surprisingly good for a short 2-hour flight, I couldn't see how one could have one for a 8-hour trans-Atlantic flight.)

Meanwhile, all these fees do have a good purpose: they keep Delta, American, United, Continental, and the likes in business (without bailouts!). And since folks in many areas, Fort Wayne included, either don't have the choice of "no hidden fees" Southwest or have to drive a considerable distance to fly on them, people often times have to pay these fees to the majors. Which is good for the airlines.

Now let's hope that no airline starts a carry-on fee...

Glenbrook Recession Watch: Part 1 (Now With Good News!)

First off, I'm sorry that I haven't posted in precisely 2 months. I've been very busy with getting my classes done at Ivy Tech, and that leaves little room for blogging. Rest assured, I am not leaving the blogging business... I'm just refocusing my blogging efforts on one of my greatest loves, business.

And now, for our feature presentation: Well, the recession is putting some stores in danger at Glenbrook Square, though not nearly as badly as some malls. Here's a list:

Closed Stores over Past 6 Months:

• B. Moss Clothing Company: Parent company of women's clothing store chain ("around since 1939", as the store signs said) filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in December 2008.
• Clem's Collectibles: Store actually moved to Jefferson Pointe. Maybe the rent was cheaper...
  
• Club Libby Lu: Saks Incorporated (yes, that Saks) decided to close the never-profitable division in November 2008. The Glenbrook store closed in January 2009.
• Dippin' Dots: I'm actually sad about the Dippin' Dots franchise closing.... I loved getting some dots during my Glenbrook hauls. Location closed February 2009; reason unknown.

Stores That May Close due to Parent Company Financial Situation:

• Centennial Wireless: AT&T is buying Centennial, and AT&T already has a brand-new store in their new "Evolution" store format near JCPenney, making the just-renovated (what a waste of money) Centennial store near Macy's redundant, along with the Centennial kiosk near Penney's. As soon as the FCC approves the merger, look out for Ma Bell to give the Centennial stores the axe within months.
  
• Kirkland's: If you look at their press releases, they want to replance mall-based stores with off-mall stores. Sounds like moving to me.
  
• Lane Bryant: Their parent company (Charming Shoppes) plans to close 100 Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug stores, plus has mountains of debt. And the Glenbrook store is never busy. Is it on the list? Who knows.
  
• US Post Office: Even the Feds aren't immune: the US Postal Service is losing boatloads of money and needs to cut costs due to the unique self-sustaining nature of the USPS. In other words, they need to close redundant satellite mini-post offices like this one.

On the other hand, many things at Glenbrook look bright despite the recession:

• Macy's added a Sunglass Hut, FAO Schwarz toy section, and LUSH bodycare kiosk over the past few months
  
• Circus Funatics (fun carnival/circus foods) took over the Dippin' Dots space
  
• A new Greek restuarant (Planet Pita) took over the old Arby's space in the food court (I'm not a fan of Greek food and I'm addicted to Panda Express, but it's nice to have choices)
  
• And rumors say that Express will return by the end of the fall after a 3-year hiatus (can't wait) and Sephora will open by Christmas (really can't wait).

Last, but not least, it's nice to see that despite their financial troubles, General Growth Properties is still putting a lot of effort into Glenbrook. That says a lot about the mall. Anyone who works at a store at Glenbrook want to chime in?

What Plants Will GM Close? (And Hope for GM)

With General Motors planning on submitting its plan for viability to the Feds one week from today, one can only wonder what plants GM will close and which ones will stay open. I think that Fort Wayne Assembly is safe from the closing lsit (and you'll read why in the list), but some others are't.

That said, here's six GM plants that in my opinion are likely to close:

• Arlington Assembly: Arlington, TX. Although this plant makes the profitable full-size Tahoe/Escalade/Yukon/Suburban SUVs (and hybrid variants), sales of these vehicles are on a rapid decline (GM already closed one other plant making the product two months ago), and GM has also canceled the GMT-X replacements in favor of crossovers based on the next-generation GM Lambda II architecture (an evolution of the GM Lambda architecture found on the Chevy Traverse, Buick Enclave, and such). Until the end of the product cycle, GM can build the current GMT900 full-size SUVs in Silao, Mexico at far lower labor costs.
• Lordstown Complex: Lordstown, OH. Until recently, things were looking rosy in Lordstown, with GM planning to build the Chevy Cruze there. Now it's down to one shift. With budgets tight, GM can simply make the Cruze on the same line as the Volt at Hamtramack Assembly in Michigan (they're both based off the GM Delta II platform) and save a boatload of money.
• Oshawa Truck, Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Although already announced, IMO, GM will probably accelerate the closure of Oshawa Truck from mid-2010 to mid-2009 and transfer production of the Two-Mode Hybrid and crew-cab pickups to Fort Wayne Assembly (GM's newest full-size truck plant). The only reason they didn't do it sooner was because Buzz "No Concessions" Hargrove was probably holding up the works at the Canadian Auto Workers union until recently. And GM's full-size pickups are the company's most profitable vehicles with very loyal followings, despite lower sales as of late.
  
• Shreveport Operations: Shreveport, LA. Here, they make three poor-selling vehicles on one lonely, slow shift: Chevy Colorado, GMC Canyon, and HUMMER H3. With HUMMER sure to go away, GM can't sustain volume at Shreveport. But they can simply import the Colorado/Canyon from low-cost Thailand (where it's also made for other markets) and still make money, even with the 25% tariff on imported trucks.
  
• Toledo Transmission: Toledo, OH. This plant makes 4-speed automatic truck transmissions for models like the HUMMER H2 and GMC Canyon. Plus the market wants 6-speeds. In other words, this plant is toast.
  
• Wilmington Assembly: Wilmington, DE. This plant makes the Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, which are low-volume models. And the plant runs on one slow shift. With Saturn all but pronounced dead and Pontiac destined to be either a niche brand within the Buick-Pontiac-GMC dealer network or killed, this plant is sure to be closed.

Last, but not least, I hope General Motors survives. I really, really do. More competition is good for everyone, plus GM has been making much better products as of late and they've been making good strides with the UAW to reduce the labor cost gap with the transplants. Plus a GM pullout would be catastrophic for Allen County.

Message To The Detroit 3: Don't Mess With Successful Concept Cars

With all the news about Chrysler's 35% buyout by Fiat and continued trouble at big-time local employer GM, I wanted to reflect on a little story I had about one well-known car that epitomizes all the troubles of the Detroit Three.

The year was 1999. I lived in northwest Indiana, and I went to the Chicago Auto Show that year with my father. One of the Detroit Three automakers had a really cool bright yellow concept car on display. It looked cool, was fuel-efficient, had a lot of neat features such as multi-configurable storage and a neat colorful instrument panel, and the automaker's reps at the Chicago Auto Show wanted to know if they should build it or not. My thought: "Build it!"

Fast-forward 18 months. Our relatives came to town in a factory-fresh burgundy and gray-colored production version of the same vehicle, straight from the Avis rental lot. The styling of the vehicle in question was all mushed up and ugly, with a bunch of gray Rubbermaid-esque body cladding. The multi-configurable storage was gone (but the center console now doubles as a cooler!). The interior was now a sea of hard gray plastic derived from minivans, as the automaker that made it squeezed it onto their corporate minivan platform. But at least it was still fuel-efficient compared to comparable vehicles... but who cares if it's ugly?

The name of the car in question: the infamous Pontiac Aztek. Rust in peace, my fellow ugly duckling. (And before you can blame the Aztek's failure on the UAW, don't: the Aztek was hecho en Mexico.)

Printer Ink-Now with Platformate!

Well, one of the printers in the McConnell House is on life support. It's my parents' trusty old HP Officejet d145, which has been a real workhorse for 6 1/2 years. So it's off to Office Depot later today to buy a new HP.

This reminded me of the tactics that printer manufacturers use to sell their obscenely expensive ink. It costs way more per ounce than other well-known liquids such as Dom Perignon (I don't drink), Visine (which I might have a use for every once in a while), Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male (which I wear often), and Pepto-Bismol (which I might need after I write this post). Canon has their "ChromaLife 100+" ink. Epson has "DuraBrite Ultra" and "Claria". Lexmark has "Evercolor 2". Brother has "Innobella". And the 800-pound gorilla, HP, has "Vivera" and "Officejet" inks.

All this ink must be pretty chemically similar... either dyes or pigments chemically arranged. But the printer ink manufacturers say otherwise... HP claims that after two years, photo prints with store-brand ink and paper and not HP's special sauce and magic paper will fade. (If I want to print my photos, I just go to Walmart and have them do it for 19 cents a print. And it won't fade after two years, either.) And Epson uses scare tactics: it says on their cartridge boxes (I have one in my hand) that "We recommmend that you use genuine Epson cartridges. The use of other products may affect your print quality and could result in printer damage." Wait a minute... who did Epson hire again?

This reminds me of a famous well-documented 1960s ad camapaign. (Of course, I wasn't born until much later, but thanks to the miracle of YouTube and the Internet, I found it.) The ads were done by adman David Ogilvy for Shell to promote "Super Shell with Platformate". Two identical cars, one with "Platformate-enhanced" Shell gas and one without, conducted "mileage demonstrations" to see which car could go farthest. The Platformate-enhanced car always went farthest. One problem, though: All brands of gas at the time, whether it was Shell, Texaco, Philips 66, Standard, or Mobil, contained platformate (shorthand for platinum reformate). They had to use platformate, or else mileage would suffer. It wasn't until much later when Shell's ad campaign was exposed by one of the TV networks and Shell had to change ad campaigns to the famous "Shell Answerman".

The printer ink companies are basically up to the same thing as Shell to deter people from low-cost alternatives (and in the case of Epson, suing the makers of cheaper ink to prevent competition). And in this recession, it might backfire.

Bring IMAX To Fort Wayne!

Well, I loved the movie The Dark Knight in the theaters. Great flick. I'll probably get the DVD soon, too (I still haven't upgraded to HDTV and Blu-ray yet).

But you know what makes me mad? That I never got to see The Dark Knight in IMAX. (And I've read that it was really stunning in IMAX form.) Why? Because there's no IMAX theater in Fort Wayne!

Right now, you have to drive 100 miles each way east to Toledo or southwest to Hamilton (pick your poison) just to get your megascreen fix. (Heck, there's not even an IMAX theater in South Bend/Mishawaka, a slightly more reasonable 80-mile drive each way.) Even Northwest Indiana has one: Just after I left my old hometown of Valparaiso, they built an IMAX screen in Portage, just 15 minutes from my old house. It really irritates me to see movie ads saying "Now Playing, And Also in IMAX" when I would have to drive 100 miles to see the IMAX version, especially for the movies where it would make a difference. No one, especially in a recession, wants to drive 100 miles to see a movie, but they do want their IMAX!

However, I have heard rumors (from Macy's employees of all things) that an IMAX may be coming to Glenbrook Square to fill the 120,000 square-foot question. We'll see...

3 Holiday Shopping Tips

Here's three quick holiday shopping tips. Merry (early) Christmas!

• When Giving Gift Cards, Give Visa/MasterCard/AmEx Gift Cards, Not Retailer Gift Cards. This one's pretty self-explanatory... you don't want your recipients to end up like the poor soul who got a Steve & Barry's or Sharper Image gift card once, only to find out that the store closed. Bank-issued gift cards are welcomed just about anywhere the particular card type (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) is accepted. But remember that the cards do normally have expiration dates, so use them quickly and read the terms and conditions. (Hint: Banks and credit unions normally have lower purchase fees than supermarkets and discount stores for their customers/members on gift cards.)
  
• Black Friday Isn't The Only Day For Deals. Since both us and the European Union are in a recession, expect deals to intensify right before Christmas to satisfy weary shoppers.
• Look For Coupon Codes Online. They can save you big bucks on online shopping.

Coming up soon: a BlackBerry Storm review.