Helter Skelter. Football Weekend. Showrooms Only?

Serious Spend on Charles Manson.  I Can Be Wrong.  Online vs In-Store.

• Over 46 years ago he was charged with orchestrating the murders of seven people, including Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant and at that time the wife of movie director Roman Polanski (he is another story altogether).  Last week I learned that Charles Manson, the maniacal menace who commanded the worldwide media’s attention with his outrageous behavior and cult following, was hospitalized in critical condition and hopefully will never leave that hospital.  Manson was sentenced to death but the death penalty, in that period of 1969, had temporarily been abolished by the state of California.  Sentenced to life in prison, Manson has somehow come up before the parole board twelve times in his 46 years in prison.  I reviewed a Congressional study on U.S. prisons and learned that the average annual amount of money spent on each inmate in California is $50,000, so my math tells me that taxpayers have spent well over $2.3m keeping Manson alive over the last 46 years.  Note: in the year 2014 the U.S. spent over $80B to maintain it’s prison population.  With respect to religious beliefs and feelings, it may be time, for many reasons, to reevaluate the use of the death penalty.
• My opinion and take on things don’t necessarily relate to reality.  With that said I will eat crow regarding my post way back in August about Matt Ryan and his declining skill set. His season:  5,000 yards passing, 38 TD passes and only 7 interceptions. Don’t get me wrong, as an Atlanta Falcons fan I am thrilled that he proved me wrong and I can only hope that his level of play continues next Saturday against Seattle.  A lot of things came together for Ryan this year including his very talented wide receivers, the protection he gets from the offensive line and his execution of Kyle Shanahan’s complicated scheme.  I thought Matt Schaub might replace Ryan after the sixth game of the season and wow, was I ever wrong.  Ryan, depending on next Saturday afternoon’s performance, may be selected as the MVP of the league.  Go Falcons!
• I would be very concerned if I was an executive with a big-box retailer.  In previous posts I have discussed how the customer experience influences loyalty and spend but there is only so much a retailer can do to grow year-over-year top line revenues.  The National Retail Federation reported that many big-box retailers, including Macy’s, Kohl’s, and J.C. Penny reported a drop in revenue in the November-December holiday season while online sales were up over 16% for the same period.  Are customers using stores to preview the new lines of clothing or product and then going online to purchase?  Are stores morphing into showrooms?  Years ago it would be crazy to think this way but unless you are a specialty or discount retailer you better find a way to elevate your customer experience and do it very quickly.  Mike Wittenstein specializes in customer experience design and speaks to the subject at worldwide meetings and conferences.  Take a look at his website:  www.Storyminers.com.  Very interesting ideas and information.
• Updates:  great NFL football watching this weekend and more to come later today.  Bagelicious in East Cobb, after 25 years, is still the best deli food on the Northside of Atlanta. Ice and snow on a weekend is No Bueno.  March 5th for Atlanta United is coming fast….the first/inaugural home game is at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd stadium and if you want to be there you better get tickets quickly because it will easily be a sell out.  Heartfelt thoughts to the people mourning the loss of their loved ones at Friday’s incident in Ft. Lauderdale.

Adios and have a Funday Sunday!