November 10, 2014

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MnRA visits Duluth and St. Cloud this week to answer the question "what should
legislators do, or not do, to help the retail economy grow in 2015."
 
Election Results
What Does The New Minnesota House of Representatives Look Like?

Last week's election brought about a change to the Minnesota House of Representatives with Republicans obtaining a majority.  If you missed MnRA's election results recap in our Retail At The Capitol publication, click here

To sign up to receive the Retail At The Capitol weekly e-mail (during the legislative session) click here.

The public information offices of the Minnesota Legislature recently released interests facts about the 2015-2016 Minnesota House in its 2014 Election Directory.  The directory is available for download here.


From the 2014 Election Directory:

About the House Membership

- 72 Republican members
- 62 DFL members
- 90 members are men
- 44 members are women
- 54 Republican men
- 36 DFL men
- 18 Republican women
- 26 DFL women*

Unofficial list as of November 5, 2014.
About the Newly Elected Members

- 26 newly elected members
- 21 newly elected Republican members
- 5 newly elected DFL members
- 19.4% of members did not serve last session
- 20 newly elected members are men
- 6 newly elected members are women
- 90.7% of incumbents were re-elected
- 0 Republican incumbents lost
- 11 DFL incumbents lost
- 15 seats were open at the time of the election
- 9 races were uncontested

2015 Legislative Session
MnRA Headed To A City Near Your To Discuss The 2015 Legislative Session

What should legislators do to grow Minnesota's retail economy? Tell MnRA at a feedback session coming soon to a city near you.  This week MnRA is visiting with retailers in Duluth (Tuesday) and St. Cloud (Thursday). Coming soon: Alexandria (January 14) and Rochester.

All retailers welcome!  No cost. You do not need to be a member of the Minnesota Retailers Association to attend. Beverages and breakfast pastries served.

Jobs and the Economy
U.S. Added 214,000 Jobs in October; Unemployment Fell to 5.8%

From the New York Times, Patricia Cohen, November 7, 2014

"Only days after many voters complained of worsening economic prospects, the new employment report from the government on Friday provided fresh evidence that the economy was actually getting better, with a sizable jump in the number of people saying they found a job last month.

The Labor Department estimated that employers added 214,000 jobs in October, and the official unemployment rate dropped to 5.8 percent, down sharply from 7.2 percent a year ago.

The increase in payrolls - combined with a revision that added 31,000 jobs to previous reports from August and September - put the average monthly job gain for the last six months at about 235,000. That pace, several analysts said, indicated that the economy was gathering momentum. But the report also found that wages were rising only slightly faster than the rate of inflation, fueling the debate over just how strong the labor market really is."

Holiday Spending
Holiday Forecast: 14% Of Sales Online

From The Boston Globe, November 3, 2014

"This year, more Americans than ever are expected to make their lists, check them twice, and then click the ''add to cart'' button.

Forrester Research said Monday that it expects US consumers to spend about $89 billion online in November and December - up 13 percent, or about $10 billion, from a year ago.

Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru predicted that online shopping will make up 14 percent of total retail spending over that period. She estimated that 3.4 million Americans will try online holiday shopping for the first time this year.

Forrester's figures exclude spending on items such as gasoline, travel, restaurants, and autos, except for replacement parts."

Minimum Wage
Most Low-Wage Workers In Prime Working Years

From Star Tribune, Adam Belz, November 7, 2014

"Low-wage workers in Minnesota are predominantly a middle-aged group, many of them working more than 30 hours a week, caring for families and struggling to get by. According to a new analysis from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, 60 percent of the state's workers earning less than $20,000 per year are between 25 and 64 years old.

"Although some people work for low wages as a trade-off for more time or to supplement other sources of family income, the majority of low-wage workers rely on every penny," Amanda Rohrer, an analyst for the state, wrote in the report.

Amid the debate over the merits of a higher minimum wage, one criticism of an increase has been that it will mostly help teenagers working part-time jobs. Legislators earlier this year voted to raise the minimum in a series of steps through 2016.

Opponents of the minimum wage increase have moved on and are setting their sights on the next legislative session to try to remove a provision that would index wage increases to inflation starting in 2018.

"We're most concerned about the inflator, and we think that's worth taking a look at," said Bruce Nustad, president of the Minnesota Retailers Association. Nustad said retailers are looking to August of next year to gauge the effect on business. Firms farther from the Twin Cities will feel it more, because wages in rural areas and small towns run well below wages in the Twin Cities.

"That's where you really feel the crunch," Nustad said. "It's one Minnesota, it's one great state, but it's made up of different pockets with different dynamics."

Data Security
Broad Merchant Coalition Urges Passage of Comprehensive Breach Notification Legislation

From the National Retail Federation, Stephen Schatz, November 6, 2014

"A broad coalition of national and state associations representing retailers and other merchants sent a letter today to congressional leaders calling for federal legislation to establish a single national standard for notifying American consumers when a business suffers a breach of security involving financial data or other sensitive personal information.

The letter, signed by 44 organizations, urged Congress to pass comprehensive data security legislation that would apply to all businesses, including financial institutions, merchants, payment card processors, technology companies and telecommunications providers. The group supports federal legislation that would standardize and streamline data breach notification rules so the public is promptly informed when breaches occur.

"Any legislation to address these threats must cover all of the types of entities that handle sensitive personal information," the letter said. "Exemptions for particular industry sectors not only ignore the scope of the problem but create risks criminals can exploit."

Some data breach notification proposals being considered in Congress would only require merchants collecting payment card numbers to notify consumers of a breach while exempting other entities in the payments system including card processors, financial services companies and telecommunications providers."

Holiday Trends
Stung Last Year, Retailers and Shippers Retool for the Holiday Season

From the New York Times, Rachel Abrams, November 3, 2014

"This year, Santa's reindeer will be huffing and puffing their way from the North Pole, carrying more than they usually do. Americans are expected to buy a record $89 billion worth of gifts online this holiday season, according to a new report from Forrester Research.

That's a 13 percent jump over last year, when hundreds of millions of gifts and bad weather overtaxed United Parcel Service and FedEx, leading to shipping delays and empty space under the tree. Given the expected spike in online sales, the big question will be whether retailers and carriers can plan well enough to avoid the same problems.

"Is it a redux of last year, or did we learn any lessons to fix the problem?" said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst with Forrester, who wrote the report predicting this year's holiday sales.

U.P.S. expects to ship 585 million packages in December, 11 percent more than last year, when it shipped 31 million parcels on Dec. 23. This year, the carrier, which ships an average of 17 million packages a day, is preparing to send 34 million pieces of mail on Dec. 22, according to a spokeswoman, Susan Rosenberg."

 

Upcoming Event
Women's Leadership Forum November 20

MnRA's friend, the Alliance for Women in Media, Minnesota Affiliate (AWM-MN) , is hosting its first in a series Women's Leadership events sponsored by Venture Bank, with keynote speaker, Laura Sobiech, author of "Fly A Little Higher".

 

Member Service
MnRA's RetailPlus+ Buying Group

The Minnesota Retailers Association (MnRA) has leveraged the collective clout of our members to offer increased savings on the products and services essential to retailers. These vital products and services help Minnesota retailers navigate the often complicated terrain of operating as a retailer.

Thank you for your patience as we redesign the web presence of the RetailPlus+ Buying Group in the coming weeks.

Question on the program? Contact the MnRA staff at (651) 227-6631.  

 
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Minnesota Retailers Associaiton
400 Robert Street North, suite 1540
St. Paul, MN 55101
Tel. (651) 227-6631 - mnretail.org - [email protected]


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