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Higher Expectations
Slightly more Michigan retailers expect improved 3rd Quarter sales, following a small slip in sales during June. Page 3
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Protect Data Like Cash
You should protect access to credit card data as carefully as you control access to cash in your business. Page 5
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Key to Success
Smart retailers understand that customers and staff are the most important groups of people who affect success. Page 7
® August 2011 Vol. 36 No. 4
Annual meetings to elect directors, focus on tourism
www.retailers.com
Main St. Fairness support growing Dan Marshall voices a complaint common among Michigan’s “Main Street” retailers. “We’ve become a showroom for Internet retailers,” said Marshall, an
MRA board member and president and CEO of family-owned Marshall Music, which operates seven stores throughout Michigan. Marshall says shoppers browse his
34 more students earn scholarships from MRA 2011
Scholarship Winners
Annual meetings for Michigan Retailers Association and Retailers Mutual Insurance Company will be held on Tuesday, August 23, at the Lexington Hotel in Lansing. The short business meetings of the MRA membership and RMIC policyholders will follow a noon luncheon that includes a presentation by George Zimmermann, vice president of Travel Michigan, on the importance of tourism to retail and the state’s economy, as well as the effectiveness of the “Pure Michigan” advertising campaign. In addition, new Michigan Centennial Retailers and MRA scholarship recipients will be recognized at the luncheon. The chief item on each meeting agenda is the election of nominees to the board of directors. The meetings are expected to start at 1:30 p.m. Seeking re-election to three-year terms on the MRA board are James Walsh, retired CFO of Meijer and an adjunct professor of finance at Grand Valley State University, and Dan Marshall, president of Marshall Music in Lansing. In addition, Becky Beauchine, owner of Becky Beauchine Kulka Diamonds and Fine Jewelry in Okemos and a member of the Michigan Retailers Services, Inc., board, is seeking a three-year term on the MRA board. Seeking re-election to three-year terms on the Retailers Mutual board are Thomas Ungrodt, president and CEO of Ideation in Ann Arbor; Peter Sobelton, owner and partner in several downtown Birmingham retail property companies; and Rod Phillips, owner of Country Casuals, Petoskey. Notices of the meetings and proxy ballots were mailed to members and policyholders in late July.
The official publication of the Michigan Retailers Association
Thirty-four students will head to college this fall with a total of $34,000 in financial assistance from the Michigan Retailers Association. Each scholarship is funded by the Michigan Retailers Foundation, a nonprofit educational organization established by MRA to benefit MRA members and their employees and families. All 34 students will receive $1,000 for one year at a public or private college or university. In the scholarship program’s 13year history, $298,000 has been awarded in 320 scholarships to students who are employees or the
children of owners or employees of MRA-member businesses. “The success of our scholarship program is a direct result of our board of directors’ strong commitment to the scholarship program,” said MRA President and CEO James P. Hallan. “The scholarships help dozens of students and their families afford a college education while providing an opportunity for contributors to give something back to their industry and add to their legacy of good works. It’s a valuable, additional benefit of membership in MRA.” MRA’s scholarship program is managed by International Scholarship and Tuition Services, Inc., in Nashville, Tennessee. A panel of educators selects the recipients based on above-average academic achievement and extracurricular involvement. Financial need is not a consideration. See special insert
stores, trying out merchandise and then ordering it online from out-of-state sellers to avoid the 6 percent sales tax they would have paid in the store. “A 6 percent savings on a $1,500 or $2,000 item is plenty incentive to go outside of Michigan,” Marshall said in a recent story run on the mlive.com Internet news site. The issue is a serious and familiar one for MRA, which has been urging public officials to level the playing field for Michigan retail stores. Retail businesses with a physical presence in the state are required to collect the state’s 6 percent sales tax. Although shoppers are required by law to pay 6 percent tax on goods they buy from out-of-state retailers, the sellers aren’t required to collect the tax on shoppers’ behalf. That loophole means most consumers aren’t aware of their tax obligation and don’t pay it. MRA has argued since at least the 1980s, when the problem first started to become serious with catalog and drop-ship furniture orders, that all sales should be treated the same regardless of where a sale takes place. “A sale is a sale is a sale,” said MRA President and CEO James P. Hallan. “With the proliferation of e-commerce Continued on page 6
Two state retailers make ‘top 100’ lists One Michigan headquartered retailer, Grand Rapids-based Meijer, made the 2011 list of the nation’s Top 100 Retailers. The National Retail Federation’s Stores magazine ranked Meijer 25th largest based on U.S. retail sales in 2010. Topping the list was Wal-Mart, followed by Kroger, Target, Walgreen and The Home Depot in the top five. All held the same spots on the 2010 list. Meijer was joined by Ada-based Amway on the magazine’s 2011 list of fastest growing retail chains. Amway ranked 83rd and Meijer 100th. Ascena Retail Group, whose major businesses are the Dress Barn, Maurices and Justice apparel chains, was named fastest growing.