I was just driving home and some young man ("yuppie" type, early 20's) flipped me the "bird." I just waved at him. He might have been motivated by my pro-Democratic bumper stickers or he might just dislike smart women. Whatever. Because he looked like he was coming out of one of the banking offices in the Polaris area, I will assume that he is a supporter of super bank lobbyist, Republican Steve Stivers.
> This morning before I was "flipped off" I was out doing some chores and some shopping. One store I visited did not have enough cashiers. It was JoAnn Fabrics. The line to check out was very long (about 10 people) and there was one cashier. I found out that JoAnn Fabrics, like other retailers, are enjoying bigger profits but cutting back on the number of hires. This helps their profit margin because they have less people to pay. Those employees working in the store are doing many tasks, and filling many positions that were previously done by two people. When there are less employees, customers suffer in long lines and less real "customer service."
In case you are interested, JoAnn Fabrics is enjoying record profits. Cleveland.com (The Plain Dealer):
Hudson-based Jo-Ann Stores Inc., the nation's largest fabrics and crafts retailer, reported that profits for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 soared 187 percent to $8.6 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, compared to $3.0 million, or 12 cents per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
That $8.6 million includes a $700,000 after-tax gain, or 3 cents per share, from the company's purchase of senior subordinated notes. Without that gain, profit for the quarter would have been $7.9 million, or 30 cents per diluted share....
I hope that the company spends some of their profits on hiring some additional people. Sooner or later, people will stop shopping at a store if the customer service does not improve. In the case of JoAnn Fabrics, I hope that they don't take their profits to reward their CEO and executives. They are not the ones doing the work in the stores. Their employees are overworked, underpaid, and there are not enough of them.
