| As I See It... | |
My "ah-ha" moment at the conference a few weeks back was something we talk about all the time... but it never really set in as to how I could get the message across in my store.
When we were in our groups during the Daryl Rosen seminar, we had a variety of stores represented, large and small off sales and combo stores. We had new managers, city leaders and veteran managers. It was really a great group. These participants had really great ideas!
So, you are wondering, about my "ah-ha" moment? What sets our stores apart from all other retail? Our success and profits go back to the tax payers and our communities!
There is something to be said about selling less product at a higher price and earning a higher gross profit. There is also something to be said about contributing dollars to our communities! We need to let our customers know how we are helping the community. Whether it is dollars transferred for a new park, a new police car or just a small amount into the general fund which helps maintain lower property taxes, what we do every day in our stores to generate profits is important!
I am starting a store campaign to inform my customers where the profit dollars are going. My store transfers $100,000 into the general fund each year. $50,000 of it goes to support a variety of community programs like arts, recreation, transportation for the elderly, and the library to name a few. These programs may not be able to exist without the profit dollars from the liquor operations. These programs affect all ages from children to the elderly!
The other $50,000 goes directly into the general operating budget to help maintain property taxes of the residents and business owners. This is equally important.
I am making posters detailing where our profits go, and I will be hanging them up in the store and at City Hall. I am educating my employees so they can inform our customers. I have asked the newspaper if we can do informational stories in the newspaper throughout the year.
If we do not lead the cheers of our successes, no one will ever know how valuable our businesses are to our communities!
Get out there and get heard!
Lara Smetana
MMBA President
Voyageur Bottle Shop (Pine City) Manager |
| Savage Passes Social Host | |
The City of Savage recently created a video explaining their Social Host ordinance.
The ordinance affects adults who provide a place for minors to gather, penalizing those adults who knowingly allow minors access to, possession of or consumption of alcohol.
The adult hosting the gathering is required to take reasonable steps to prevent alcohol possession or consumption by underage attendees.
Violation of the ordinance is a misdemeanor.
A person who hosts an event or gathering does not have to be present at the event or gathering to be criminally responsible.
Click Here to See the Video |
| Barriers to Change: The Real Reason for the Kodak Downfall & What All Organizations Can Learn | |
By John P. Kotter
Kodak has recently declared bankruptcy. Usually, when this hits the news it is analyzed by the numbers people who, looking at five years' worth of financial data, give their quantitative and financial explanation of the failure. More qualitative types will go back 10 years sometimes, and even go beyond finances to talk about strategy, CEOs, competition, and the like. Recent well-done Financial Times articles ( here and here) go back even further for Kodak. And yet people still fail to see Kodak's real problem.
The Kodak problem, on the surface, is that it did not move into the digital world well enough and fast enough. Recent articles dig a bit more and find that there were people who saw the problem coming - people buried in the organization - but the firm did not act when it should have, which is decades ago. Kodak faced the technological discontinuities challenge, first clearly articulated by my colleague Clay Christensen: a new technology has fierce competitors, low margins and cannibalizes your high margin core business. And Kodak did not take decisive action to combat the inevitable challenges.
Everyone thinks of all this in terms of strategic decisions either avoided or made poorly. What no one seems to do is go back and ask: Why did Kodak make the poor strategic decisions they made? In 1993 they brought in from the outside a technology expert to be CEO. George Fisher was believed to be almost as good as Jack Welch or Lou Gerstner. Great CEO, people buried in the hierarchy who had all sorts of good ideas, and still poor strategic decisions. Why?
Answer: The organization overflowed with complacency. I saw it, maybe in the late 1980s. Kodak was failing to keep up even before the digital revolution when Fuji started doing a better job with the old technology, the roll-film business. With the complacency so rock-solid, and no one at the top even devoting their priorities toward turning that problem into a huge urgency around a huge opportunity, of course they went nowhere. Of course strategy sessions with the BIG CEO went nowhere. Of course all the people buried in the hierarchy who saw the oncoming problems and had ideas for solutions made no progress. Their bosses and peers ignored them.
How can CEOs learn from Kodak's failure? Historically, Kodak was built on a culture of innovation and change. It's the type of culture that's full of passionate innovators, already naturally in tune to the urgency surrounding changes in the market and technology. It's these people - those excited about new ideas within your own organization - who keep your company moving ahead instead of falling behind. One key to avoiding complacency is to ensure these innovators have a voice with enough volume to be heard (and listened to) at the top. It's these voices that can continue to keep a sense of urgency in your organization. If they are given the power to lead, they will continue to innovate, help keep a culture of urgency and affect change.
As Kodak became more successful, complacency grew, leaders listened less to these voices, which made complacency grow some more. It can be a vicious cycle. It certainly was at Kodak. And if you don't address it first... good luck. |
| Shakers Vodka Bankruptcy On-Line Auction | 
Buy the Brand - Buy the Equipment - Buy it All!
AWARD-WINNING VODKA
FROM THE FOUNDERS OF PETE'S WICKED ALE
All Intellectual Property, Patents & Trademarks, along with Equipment to be Auctioned!
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT ON DESIGN/PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
SHAKERS SUPPORT EQUIPMENT SELLING SEPARATE!
Complete Accutek Bottling Line - New in 2010, 16,000 Gallon Mueller Stainless Bulk Tanks - New in 2010, Vinquip 2,325 Gallon Stainless Tanks, Wigen Titan 7000 R/O Water Treatment System, Filter Press, Air Compressor, Lab Equipment and More!
ENTIRETY OFFERS are encouraged and may be presented up to Thursday June 21st!
Inspections: Monday, June 11 Noon - 5, Monday, June 25 Noon - 5. Other times by appointment.
Location: 1262 98th Ave NE Blaine, Minnesota, 55434
13% Internet Buyer Premium.
Principal Auctioneer Tyler Maas #55-145
US Bankruptcy Court, District of MN, Ch. 7 Bankruptcy No. 12-50010 (GFK). J. Richard Stermer Law Firm, PLLC. Trustee
Click Here for the Auction Website
For More Information Call Maas Companies at 507-285-1444 |
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"Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death."
~ Albert Einstein |
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| Future Dates to Remember!! |  |
2012 MMBA Regional Meetings Fall 2012 2013 MMBA Boot Camp February 19 & 20, 2013 Breezy Point Resort 2013 MMBA Annual Conference May 18 - 21, 2013 Arrowwood Resort |
| Ask A Director |
Gary Buysse
Rogers
763-428-0163
Cathy Pletta Kasson 507-634-7618 Vicki Segerstrom Milaca 320-983-6255 Brian Hachey Stacy 651-462-2727 Nancy Drumsta Delano 763-972-0578 Lara Smetana Pine City 320-629-2020 Michael Friesen Hawley 218-483-4747
Tom Agnes
Brooklyn Center
763-381-2349
Toni Buchite
50 Lakes
218-763-2035
Brenda Visnovec
Lakeville
Bridgitte Konrad
North Branch
651-674-8113
Shelly Dillon
Callaway
218-375-4691
Karissa Kurth
Buffalo Lake
320-833-2321
Paul Kaspszak MMBA 763-572-0222 1-866-938-3925 |
| Wine 101 |  | |
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| A Thief Breaks Into a Bar... |  |
A thief breaks into a bar and goes straight for the cash register.
He's about to jimmy open the drawer and take the loot when he hears a voice in the darkness say, "God is watching."
He turns around but doesn't see anyone, so he goes back to work with his crowbar.
Again, he hears the voice, "God is watching."
He turns toward the voice and this time sees a parrot cage in the corner.
"It's only a parrot," he says. "Hey pretty bird, what's your name?"
"Moses," the parrot replies.
"That's a funny name. Who would name his parrot Moses?"
"The same guy who names his Doberman, God." |
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