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Buy Nearby Makes News
Local retailers and city officials praise the Buy Nearby campaign at news conferences in Detroit and Grand Rapids. Page 3
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Processing Expert to Consult
Although stepping back from full-time work, payments expert John Mayleben will serve MRA as a year-round consultant. Page 5
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It’s the Law
An employer can successfully challenge a former employee’s eligibility to collect unemployment benefits. Page 9
® August 2016 Vol. 41 No. 4
Costly changes to federal overtime rules take effect December 1 for business Reprinted with permission of the Michigan Lodging and Tourism Association and Jodi Schafer of HRM Services. In May of this year the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced a big update to the nation’s overtime rules. By raising the salary threshold under which white-collar salaried workers qualify for overtime pay to $47,476 per year, more than 4.2 million workers will get overtime protections or see an increase in their salary above that threshold. Think about that for a minute. How many employees do you currently have on payroll who are salaried (exempt), but earning less than $47,476? Effective December 1, 2016, all of those employees will qualify for overtime pay unless you increase their base salary above this new amount. While this rule change does not affect all employers, it will affect many in the retail and lodging and tourism industries. Who’s Covered Covered entities that have over $500,000 in annual sales and/or have employees engaged in interstate commerce (i.e.: accepting/processing credit card payments, receiving goods/services from out-of-state vendors, making or receiving interstate phone calls, etc.) must all comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA), including these new provisions. For more information on whether your business is subject to the new overtime rules, visit www.milodging.org. These most recent updates to FSLA align the salary threshold more closely with current compensation Continued on page 9
The official publication of Michigan Retailers Association
www.retailers.com
Retail hardware group joins MRA The Michigan Retail Hardware Association (MRHA) became a division of Michigan Retailers Association on July 1, a move strengthening both long-time membership organizations. MRHA was established as a trade
association in 1895 and brings some 300 business members and their nearly 400 hardware, home center and lumberyard locations into MRA. Those members now become full MRA members as well as retain their
group identity as a hardware division within the larger association, said James P. Hallan, MRA president and CEO, and Patrick Harrington, who served as MRHA president and CEO. “It’s a great fit, because our two Michigan-born-and-based organizations share the same goal: to help retail businesses be successful and grow in Michigan,” the two CEOs said in a statement announcing the new arrangement. MRA began in 1940 and has become the largest state retail association in the nation. With the addition of the MRHA members, the Association now represents more than 5,000 mainstore members and their more than 15,000 stores and websites. Many of the MRHA members also Continued on page 7
36 students receiving Retailers scholarships
Price Competitive Ayers served as chairman of the
MRA’s annual scholarship competition is awarding 36 scholarships totaling $33,000 for the 2016-17 academic year. The awards are funded by the Michigan Retailers Foundation from earnings on contributions from MRA members and other donors. There are 30 $1,000 scholar ships and six $500 awards this year. The $1,000 awards go to students attending four-year colleges and universities, and the $500 awards go to students at community colleges or approved institutes. The program’s totals have now reached $467,500 awarded to 501 recipients since 1999, when the current program format began. This year’s awards include the first to a student who will be attending the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), in Carlsbad, California. GIA provides valuable education and training for current and future jewelers. She is Rachel Dery, of Pleasant Ridge, whose father, Roger Dery, owns Spectral Gems, Inc., in Royal Oak. Judging by third-party administrator International Scholarship and Tuition
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Michigan hardware industry leader Chad Ayers of Allendale True Value. Photo by David Trumpie
Hardware stores continue improving level of service by Doug Henze Independent hardware retailers traditionally have relied on top-notch, personalized customer service as the great equalizer against larger competitors. The best ones have built reputations for dispensing home- and marriage-saving tips on a broad range of building and fix-it projects, as well as going to great lengths to locate just the right tool or a single nut or bolt to fit the need.
In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, paying attention to the needs of individual consumers is more important than ever, says Chad Ayers, a leader of Michigan’s hardware industry. That’s because the stores’ larger competitors have been working hard to close the service gap. “I think the largest retailers have stepped up their game,” said Ayers, owner and general manager of Allendale True Value in Allendale, west of Grand Rapids. “Customers expect us to have a high level of service, and as the big retailers raise theirs, we need to continue to raise ours.”