March 23, 2015

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At a Senate Transportation & Public Safety Committee hearing Friday, Holiday Companies Government Relations Director Steve Rush expressed concern over the impact of a gas tax increase on Minnesota consumers.
 2015 Legislative Session | Week 11
Retailers "Reintroduced Retail" Through 200 Introductions At Thursday's I Am RETAIL Day At The Capitol 
 
The Minnesota Retailers Association (MnRA) appreciates retailers from across the state for their participation in last Thursday's I Am RETAIL Day At The Capitol. Retailers introduced themselves to legislators 200 times at our half-day event beginning at the Minnesota History Center followed by visits at the State Capitol.

Special thanks to legislative leaders Senate President Sandra Pappas, House Speaker Kurt Daudt, House Minority Leader Paul Thissen, and Senate Minority Leader David Hann for sharing their perspective on the legislative session at the morning legislative reception.

If you missed the event but would like to connect with your legislators on issues vital to the 788,000 Minnesota jobs dependent on the success of retailers, contact MnRA's government relations director Brian Carr at [email protected].

MnRA thanks these event sponsors for their support:
   
Presenting:
 
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Transportation:Contributing:
Gas Tax
StarTribune Poll: Minnesotans Split On Gas Tax Hike, Depending On Where They Live 

 

From the StarTribune, Patrick Coolican, March 23, 2015 

 

"Suburban and outstate Minnesotans whose roads and bridges would benefit the most from Gov. Mark Dayton's transportation plan are solidly against the gas tax increase he would use to pay for it.

A new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll taken March 16-18 shows 52 percent of adults oppose the plan while 45 percent support it, but the opposition is fiercest in the suburbs outside Hennepin and Ramsey counties and in outstate Minnesota, where about 3 out of 5 residents are against the plan. Respondents in Hennepin and Ramsey counties favored the gas tax, 59 to 37 percent.

 

"I feel that the state should be getting enough money from the tax we're already paying, and to jack the price up just because the price of gas came down" is unfair, said George Wosika, a Republican-leaning resident of Bena who owns a fishing resort. "For me to go to Bemidji and go shopping, it's 100 miles, so the price of gas is a big part of our cost of living."  

   




Generations
Ever Wonder Why Baby Boomers Don't Respond To Your Advertising? 

 

From MediaPost, Jim Gilmartin, March 2, 2015 

 

"As people age, they typically move into the higher levels of personality development and become increasingly resistant to advertising. Having seen and listened to tens of thousands of ads over their lifetimes, it isn't likely that you are going to come up with an ad that a Baby Boomer views as startlingly original. We've learned doing the familiar in an unusual way, provided of course that the customer is qualified for and has a generic interest in the product for which the ad is being done, will increase the effectiveness of your ads.

 

Connecting with Baby Boomers in an unusual way means creating messages and images that doesn't idealize aging or aging people by invoking images that are connected to life as a younger person. A past Duke University study found that older people were more likely than younger people to express satisfaction with their lives. Many will not read messages that talk about "reclaiming youthful vitality" as being one of the benefits of the advertised product.

 

Don't include hyperbole. Talk about the product or service but do it without exaggeration. Don't present the product as being in a superior class all by itself. Aging Baby Boomer customers generally don't need or want to be told that an advertised product is peerless. They've received this pitch so many times it is no longer believable or at best, a platitude. This approach is typically perceived as hucksterism or deceptively selling fraudulent products or services."   

   


Pharmacy
Generic Or Brand-Name Prescription Drugs? A Harris Poll Examines Americans' Preference

From drugstorenews.com,Antoinette Alexander, March 17, 2015

"A new Harris Poll finds Americans favor generic prescription drugs over brand name products by a considerable margin.

Eighty-one percent of those who buy prescription drugs say they would purchase generics more often than brand-name drugs. A 42% subset goes so far as to assert that they would "always" choose to buy a generic drug. Older generations are especially likely to indicate that they would always go with generics (50% matures, 44% baby boomers, and 46% Gen X versus 33% millennials).

Meanwhile, 19% of those who purchase prescription drugs would more often choose to fill their script with the brand-name drug, and a mere 6% would "always" choose brand names. It is worth noting, however, that though majorities of adults both with and without children in their households favor generics, the minority preference for brand names is stronger among those with children in the household (24% with versus 17% without)."

   


Consumer Trends
Spending On Home Goods Increases

From azcentral.com, Sue Doerfler, March 2, 2015

"Consumers increased their spending on small appliances and other home goods over the past two years. That's because the home-goods industry responded to what customers wanted, according to industry analysts. They expect 2015 to be similar.

Consumers spent more than $47 billion last year on home fashion, non-electric housewares products and small appliances, according to analysts at NPD Group. That's a 1 percent rise over 2013 figures, which were a 4 percent increase over 2012 sales, the Long Island-based information company found."

   

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]