Washington Information Network
Washington's resource for political activity and issues important to retail industry professionals. Distributed to 2,800 subscribers
December 4, 2013
Washington Retail Association Newsletter
Washington Retail Association Newsletter
Washington Retail Association Newsletter
Washington Retail Association Newsletter
 Staff Contacts

 Jan Teague

President/CEO

360.943.9198, ext. 19

[email protected]

 

Mark Johnson

Vice President of Government Affairs

360.943.9198, ext. 15

[email protected]

 

Tammie Hetrick

Vice President of Retail Services (RASI)

360.943.9198, ext. 13

 [email protected]

 

Jim Szymanski

Director of Public Affairs
360.943.9198  ext. 12

 

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Quick Links
In This Issue...
Christmas is near
2014 elections approaching quickly
L&I announces workers' comp insurance rate increase
Problems plague state health exchange website
Retail imports should finish year up
Shoppers elsewhere love tax-free weekends
Watch video overview of WRA's discount shipping partner
WRA shipping partner offers prize sweepstakes
Safety tip

Christmas is near 

By Jan Teague President/CEO

 

Last week, I spoke at a local Rotary club about the holidays and had a great time talking about some of the hottest toys ever sold. 

 

People had a great time guessing when certain toys were first invented and the stories about who did them were fascinating.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the list.  It was published by the National Retail Federation.

 

Legos

 

Lego literally means "play well" in Danish, and play well they do!  In the 1930's, Danish carpenter Ole Christiansen set out to create a simple game for children with limitless possibilities.  He designed the original eight-pegged block in 1932 with this goal.  Just six Lego blocks can be combined in 102,981,500 ways. The Legendary Lego Group has remained in Christiansen's family since its founding, and is currently the fourth-largest toy company in the world.

 

Slinky

 

Half a century after their invention, Slinkies are still fun for a boy or a girl. The toy was created in 1943 by naval engineer Richard James, while trying to develop a tension spring for naval battleships. He dropped a spring and watched it continue moving after it hit the ground and thought it would make a fun toy. He and his wife Betty came up with the name "Slinky" meaning "sleek" in Swedish, and an iconic toy was born!  It debuted at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia in 1945 and sold over 400 within 90 minutes of their demonstration. Betty James continued selling the Slinky until 1998 when she sold the rights to Poof Toys.

 

Silly Putty

 

Stringy, goopy, messy, fun...it must be Silly Putty!  During WW II, chemists concerned about limited rubber supplies began work on creating a new rubber substitute when scientist James Wright invented Silly Putty.  The substance was a failure for the war effort, but became a toy when Peter Hodgson, an advertising consultant, convinced toy shop owner Ruth Fallgatter to sell the globs of putty as toys in plastic cases.  Today Silly Putty is in over 70 percent of American households and sells 2 million eggs annually.

 

Etch A Sketch

 

The Etch A Sketch was created in the 1950s by Andre Cassagnes, a French electrician.  During a routine light switch installation, he accidentally discovered that aluminum powder could be used to create images.  He played with the idea until he created a drawing board he called "The Magic Screen."  It was first unveiled at the Nuremberg Toy Fair where it caught the attention of Ohio Art Company, which purchased and launched the product for its 1960 holiday season.  After the success of Etch A Sketch, Cassagnes created several other toys including the SkeDoodle and Eleguide, and became a famous kite maker in France.

 

Play-Doh

 

Anything goes with Play-Doh! The iconic substance was originally invented by Joe and Noah McVicker as a wallpaper cleaner. However, Joe noticed that the non-toxic material was very similar to actual clay but much easier for little hands to play with and began selling it as a toy in 1956. It was not long before it was phased out as a cleaning product and was solely marketed as a toy. In 1965, General Mills purchased the rights to Play-Doh and Joe McVicker retired as a toymaker.  More than 700 million pounds of  Play-Doh have been sold to date.

 

Playmobil

 

Little toys can have a big impact on the industry of fun. In 1971, Hans Beck, a cabinet maker, pitched a metal model airplane to the owner of the Brandstatter toy manufacturer. Brandstatter instead asked him to develop plastic toy figures, predicting that plastics were the way of the future for toys, not metal, and the tiny world of Playmobil was born. Today, Playmobils are sold worldwide and even have their own amusement park. Hans Beck retired as Head of Development in 1998, however, Horst Brandstatter remains the sole owner of Playmobil.

 

Rubik's Cube

 

First created in 1974, it was designed by Erno Rubik for his students to make them think in 3-D geometry. The puzzle was so hard when he created it, it took Rubik a month to solve the puzzle.  In 1979 he signed with Ideal Toy Corporation to begin selling the puzzle as a toy called the Rubik's cube.  Today over 300 million cubes have been sold.

 

Cabbage Patch Kids

 

The doll was created by Xavier Roberts an art student for craft fairs and folk art exhibitions.  It was called "little people dolls."  Toy company Coleco discovered Roberts in 1982 and launched the toy in 1983, selling 3 million that year.  Today, they are still widely sold and a certified American icon.

 

Slap bracelets

 

These were created by a Wisconsin shop teacher, Stuart Anders, and sold to Main Street Toy company in a chance meeting. The bracelets were sold in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Anders started his own company from that toy launch called Allied Industries.

 

Tickle Me Elmo

 

This toy was created by toy & game maker Ron Dubren and sold to Tyco, which anticipated selling 400,000 in 1996.  Instead, Tyco sold  over 5 million of the dolls.  The original toy was supposed to be a monkey but the company decided on a different look while keeping the voice.

 

 

2014 elections approaching quickly

By Mark Johnson,  VP Government Affairs

 

 

As 2013 winds down, candidates are gearing up for the 2014 campaign season.  Just today I got a call from a challenger in the Seattle area who wants to meet and learn about our issues. 

 

Incumbents are feverishly shaking the money trees before the fundraising freeze goes into effect this Friday, 30 days before the Legislative Session begins.  While incumbents have the benefit of being in office, they are not allowed to raise funds while in session.  Challengers do not have the same restriction. 

 

However, challengers often have a more difficult time raising money to oust an incumbent.  Current donation levels are at $900 per election, or $900 for the primary and $900 for the general.  This will likely increase after the first of the year when the Public Disclosure Commission reviews the limits.

 

All 98 House seats are up for election and about half of the Senate seats are up.  House members serve for two years and Senators for four.  An average House election can cost from $100,000 to $250,000 and a Senate race is double that.  No statewide elections are being held, save for any potential initiatives or referenda.

 

The WRA Retail Action Council Political Action Committee has a very detailed process on endorsements and contributions.  Immediately following the 2014 Session, we will create a voting record based on incumbents' votes on key WRA issues.  Incumbents who score high enough on the Voting Record receive our endorsement. 

 

All challengers and open seat candidates who do not have a voting record receive a candidate survey on key WRA issues.  We score the surveys and decide whether or not an in-person interview is warranted.  If a survey is not returned, the candidate is not considered.  We then prioritize districts based on likely success.  That is where we will invest our precious PAC dollars, somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000.  Our PAC only contributes to legislative and statewide offices such as Governor and Attorney General.  We do not contribute to local government, congressional or court races at this time.

 

What is at stake?  Currently the Senate Majority Coalition Caucus has a two-vote majority, so if two races go to the Democrats then they gain control.  In the House the Republicans would have to gain many more seats to gain control.  Anything is possible and it depends on how the electorate feels come election time. 

 

WRA's Retail Action Council PAC's goal is to elect pro-retail legislators.  If you are thinking of running for office or know someone who would be a good legislator, please contact me at 360-943-9198, Ext. 15 or at [email protected].  I am always happy to meet with anyone considering running for office.

 

 

L&I announces workers' comp insurance rate increase

 

For the first time in three years, Labor & Industries has announced an average 2.7 percent rate increase in 2014 workers' comp insurance premium rates.

 

L&I noted that individual employers could see rates go higher or drop lower depending upon recent injury claim histories.

 

Click here to review rates changes by industry. Also, WRA invites companies to use a calculator on its website to figure how rates might change.

 

To access the calculator, go to www.retailassociationservices.com (Retail Association Services, Inc.) and click inside the red box that comes up on the page. This will open a worksheet to perform a rate calculation. Once at the worksheet, simply type in the numeric code inside the "risk class" box for your type of business and the calculator will determine changes in rates. You may be asked to "enable editing" before the calculation can be completed.

 

During the most recent recession, L&I temporarily froze premium rates. But for next year, L&I Director Joel Sacks said the $55 million in additional revenues from the rate increase would be used to build back a workers' compensation financial reserve fund.

 

WRA has consistently backed legislative reforms to curb workers' comp expenses to ensure the financial security of members.

Problems plague state health exchange website

 

 

Slow Internet speeds or brief outages have been plaguing the state's health insurance exchange website this and last week.

 

The Washington Healthplanfinder was down for repairs for four days last week, went back online over the weekend and again had to be taken down on Monday of this week.

 

The latest service problem stemmed from a related outage at the state Department of Social and Health Services system, where eligibility for free and low-cost health coverage is determined, according to a spokeswoman for the Health Benefit Exchange.

 

The ongoing technical issues have prevented an untold number of customers from signing up for health insurance coverage before a Dec. 23 deadline to enroll in coverage scheduled to begin on Jan. 1. The mishaps have forced customers to file paper applications instead of being able to compare plans and apply online, as originally planned.

 

See The Seattle Times for more on the problems.

 

 

 

Retail imports should finish year up 2.3 percent

 

 

Import volumes by retailers this year are expected to be 2.3 percent higher than last year, the National Retail Federation reported this week.

 

Industry analysts see the import volumes as an indicator of retailers' sales expectations for the year. NRF has projected that holiday sales will be 3.9 percent higher than last year.

 

Most holiday merchandise arrived in the U.S. in August, September and October. During that period, NRF reported a 4.3 percent increase in import volumes compared to last year.

 

"Import volumes have seen good growth over the last year and retailers are well stocked as the holiday season continues," said Jonathan Gold, NRF's Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy. "Holiday merchandise has made it from the ships to the shelves and the rest is up to the shoppers."

 

Visit NRF to read more details about this story. 

Shoppers elsewhere love tax-free weekends

By Mark Johnson, VP Government Affairs

 

So far, many Washington State shoppers have not felt the excitement and benefits of experiencing a sales tax free weekend.

 

It will take the approval of the state Legislature for such a promotion to be allowed in Washington.

 

Meanwhile, shoppers in other states have shared their excitement for the idea in a YouTube video produced for the Washington Retail Association, which favors establishing a tax-free weekend during the back-to-school shopping period. Click here to watch the short video.

 

Not only could our shoppers benefit. So would local and state governments from the additional revenues produced from the crowds eager to take advantage. 

 

Click here to identify your state legislators, then call or e-mail them and ask for support of a back-to-school tax-free holiday in Washington. You also may dial 800-562-6000 to leave a general message after identifying the legislators you're trying to reach.

Watch video overview of WRA's discount shipping partner

 

WRA's third-party shipping provider, PartnerShip, has released a short video overview of the discount services it offers customers.

 

As a WRA member, you could begin saving up to 27 percent on select FedEx shipping services by joining PartnerShip free of charge.

 

Four other possible advantages of joining PartnerShip include:

 

*Routing management. Based on an analysis of shipments, PartnerShip will recommend the best shippers for particular routes. The recommendation is based on a carrier's cost effectiveness and customer service.

 

*Bill auditing. Vendors such as PartnerShip say they often find invoices with rate errors of up to 10 percent in favor of the freight carrier. Corrections are made before the third-party vendor sends the bill to the customer.

 

*Improved inbound shipping. By relying on vendors to control your inbound shipping, it can be difficult to learn how and when your orders will be shipped and delivered. You can gain that knowledge by arranging shipping through a third party partner such as PartnerShip.

 

*Consolidated invoices. For frequent shippers, this can mean paying only one bill weekly or monthly as opposed to paying for each shipment.

 

Click website and its improved, separate shipping website. 

WRA shipping partner offers prize sweepstakes

 

WRA members who sign up for shipping savings through PartnerShip, 

affiliated with WRA, will qualify for a prize sweepstakes through the FedEx shipping service.

 

Joining Partnership automatically qualifies a company to enter the contest. Also, each shipment through PartnerShip between Nov. 4 and Dec. 27 will qualify a company for additional contest entries, up to a limit of 50 entries.

 

Prizes include a $10,000 grand prize, a $2,500 first price and weekly drawings for $100 American Express gift cards. Click here to learn more about the contest and to enroll in Partnership.

 

As an enrolled WRA member of PartnerShip, companies can save up to 27 percent on select FedEx services.

Safety tip: (one in a series)

Good housekeeping can prevent damage, injuries

 

Many companies probably think of housekeeping as sweeping the floors or wiping off dust.

 

But probably the most critical part of this task is putting things in order; in other words, putting merchandise and other necessities away in an orderly place the first time. A company or office is in proper order when nothing is scattered out of its logical spot for no good reason.

 

There is perhaps a not-so-obvious connection between keeping things in order and running a smarter and safer business. During the holiday season for many businesses, large deliveries of merchandise may frequently be arriving. Keeping stock in order and aisles clear could prevent an accident, injury or damage to improperly stored merchandise. It also prevents wasted energy and the possibility of injury by storing items once, rather than setting them down to be stored later.  Keeping merchandise in order maintains good use of valuable space, rather than cluttering it with items that belong somewhere else. Finally, maintaining an orderly office or shop encourages better work habits and reflects better on your company.

 

These considerations and suggestions come courtesy of Rick Means, WRA's Safety and Claims Administrator.  Rick reminds: "What is your strategy for good housekeeping? During the day, does your staff periodically stop and survey the floors and shelves to see if there are any hazards for staff or customers?  Make a habit of regularly looking over the store and housekeeping will be easier and prevent potential injuries."

 

Rick is available to members to help draw up safety plans and suggest topics for safety meetings. Contact him at 360-200-6454, or [email protected]

 

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