Corporate States of America by Steve Lovelace

After writing an article about corporate feudalism, writer, artist and photographer Steve Lovelace took it upon himself to map out, subjectively, each state within the US and the corresponding corporations he felt best represented that state and the inhabitants within.



The visuals above illustrate his hypothesis that "that, as corporations become the dominant organizations on Earth, people will start thinking of themselves as citizens of Apple or partisans of Starbucks."

Steve describes the project as follows:

"This is a map of “The Corporate States of America”. For each of the fifty states (and the District of Columbia), I selected a corporation or brand that best represented the states.

My criteria are subjective, but in each case, I tried to use a brand that a) is based in that state and b) is still in business (as of 2012). I created this map after writing an article about corporate feudalism. My hypothesis is that, as corporations and non-governmental organizations grow in power, the power of nation states will become increasingly irrelevant. We’re already seeing this on a small scale, as people turn to the Internet to make friends, instead of befriending their neighbors. I think that, as corporations become the dominant organizations on Earth, people will start thinking of themselves as citizens of Apple or partisans of Starbucks.

One thing I discovered while writing this article is that corporations are not evenly distributed across the country. Some states, such New Mexico, Alaska, Montana and West Virginia, simply do not host many big corporations. Others host so many that choosing one was difficult. In these cases, I went with the company that I though best represented the state, rather than the biggest or most notorious. Hence, I used Dr Pepper for Texas instead of ExxonMobil."

Steve Lovelace

Shoppers' Feelings About Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday

infographics courtesy of CSA

Lousy Holiday Sales, High Energy Costs & Housing Slumps Hitting Retailers Hard

Cash registers at some of America's best-known merchants will also be thermometers in the coming week.

As some key retailers trot out their quarterly results, analysts say they're interested in watching for signals about how much consumer spending could cool in the months ahead.

Merchants including Lowe's, Home Depot (HD, Fortune 500), Macy's, Nordstrom (JWN, Fortune 500) and Target (TGT, Fortune 500) are slated to report earnings next week.

This cross-section of sellers should provide good insight into whether or not consumer spending is holding up in the home improvement, department store, apparel and discounting sectors.

Given that consumer spending fuels two-third of the economy, a healthy economy depends, in a big way, on the ability and inclination of Americans to keep shopping.

Here's what we already know: After a very poor holiday shopping season, most of these retailers are expected to log profit and sales for the quarter that will be softer than a year earlier. And sluggish gift card redemptions and more price cuts did nothing to spur sales in January as cash-strapped households buckled under the burden of steep winter energy bills, gas prices, and ongoing pressures from housing and credit market problems.

"Over the last couple of months the topline growth [revenue for retailers] just hasn't been there," said Stephen Hoch, director of Wharton Business School's Jay H. Baker division of retailing.

"Consumers have retrenched, but I think it's been much more than retailers are telling us," Hoch said.

Even if companies aren't telling the whole story, their actions speak volumes.

Macy's, Home Depot, Sears, J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500) and others recently announced they were consolidating operations and cutting jobs to curb costs to offset weakening sales.

What's more, Hoch and others are betting on more tell-tale signs from companies in the days ahead that will show just how tapped out American consumers really are.

Here's what they're looking for.

Turmoil at home.

The home improvement market has taken it on the chin over the past year as both Home Depot's and Lowe's business has been badly hurt by the housing slump.

Moreover, the weakening economy has dented demand for new appliances, which typically are a higher-margin category for both retailers.

Home Depot is expected to report a 13% drop in fourth-quarter profit and an 11% sales decline for the period. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial also expect Lowe's profit to tumble 37% with just a marginal 2% rise in quarterly revenue.

Stevan Buxbaum, with the Buxbaum Group consulting firm, said he's watching for weakness in both retailers' contracting business. "This will show if people are afraid to commit dollars in the spring and summer months," he said.

Two other factors - slowing store traffic and a drop in average amount of money shoppers spent - would signal further sales contraction ahead.

One analyst feels differently, however.

Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, is forecasting a rebound for the sector. He said much higher home heating bills stumped consumers over the winter and further eroded household budgets.

"As it gets warmer, we could get a decent rebound in home-related purchases even though it won't turn things overnight for the sector," Johnson said.

Discount distress.

Although both Wal-Mart and Target operate in the same discount space, Wal-Mart's sales have outperformed its rival's over the past few months.

That's because Wal-Mart's prices are cheaper than Target's, and Wal-Mart sells more of everyday consumables such as milk and groceries. Target is expected to log a 5% drop in quarterly profit and a 2% increase in sales.

Morningstar analyst Joseph Beaulieu will be watching for announcements from Target about price cuts and changes in the product mix to include more consumables.

"Target typically doesn't announce big price cuts the way Wal-Mart does," he said. "If they do, it will mark a major strategy change for the company in a difficult environment."

Bigger the box, bigger the problem.

Macy's is already in crisis mode, according to Wharton's Hoch. "It's hard to look good to consumers or investors when you're closing stores and laying off people," he said.

Macy's is expected to report a 4% profit decline and a 6% drop in its fourth-quarter sales. Macy's problems are three-fold. First, sales at anchor stores such as Macy's are suffering from overall declining mall traffic as shoppers increasingly opt to shop closer to home.

Second, spending on clothing, shoes, jewelry and home-related goods - all discretionary items that fill up department stores - typically gets slashed first when consumers rein in their spending.

Third, Hoch said Macy's just has too much retail space chasing fewer shoppers.

Johnson said Macy's has no choice but to resort to its old strategy of weekly promotions. The retailer has tried to scale back on coupons and discounts, only to see its customer counts drop.

Luxury isn't immune to a downturn.

This is especially true of the "aspirational" luxury brands - such as Coach, Tiffany and Nordstrom - whose clientele comprise of a mix of mid and high-income shoppers.

Nordstrom's profit is forecast to dip 1% amid a 4% decline in quarterly sales.

Hoch expects margins at Nordstrom to decline, especially after the retailer was forced to cut prices in order to clear inventory over the holiday shopping season.

"Nordstrom still has a strong balance sheet. Its business is holding steady for now," Hoch said.

Still, given that its business evolves around discretionary purchases, Hoch said he's keen to hear what the retailer says about its inventory heading into spring and customer traffic trends.

Nordstrom's biggest challenge is in the top three U.S. luxury markets of New York, Florida and California, where the housing slump and energy costs have stymied retail spending, Johnson said."Aspirational customers aren't super-rich. These are consumers who've been badly hurt by declining equity in their homes, higher heating bills and gas prices," he said.

source: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com)

Apple Outperforms Tiffany & Co, Best Buy and More

How productive are Apple’s (AAPL) retail outlets?

“Out of this world” according to a report issued this morning by Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research. In fiscal year 2007, he estimates, Apple stores generated an average of nearly $4,500 in sales per square foot — a figure far higher than any other consumer electronics or luxury retailer. That’s nearly five times the productivity of Best Buy, for example, one of the most efficient consumer retail outlets, and nearly 12 times that of Saks. Only Tiffany & Company comes close, with sales of $2,750 per square foot. (see charts)

The findings were part of a follow-up to the in-depth report on Apple’s retail strategy that Bernstein Research issued a year ago. Since then, Apple has opened 20 new stores (total: more than 200) and reportedly has plans to expand to China, France, Germany and elsewhere.

Among the report’s other findings:

• Mac sales per store grew 26 percent year-to-year in fiscal 2007. Apple’s brick and mortar stores sold an average of 8,000 Macs in 2007, or a “stunning” 21.4 per day.
• Apple Stores boosted the company’s total revenue by at least $1.35 billion (5.6 percent) during the year, with gross margins of 42 percent (versus 34 percent for Apple overall)
• Despite the high gross margins, the stores have somewhat lower profitability than the company overall because of high operating expenses. The average Apple Store has 40 full-time-equivalent employees, double the number four years earlier. All told, Sacconaghi estimates that the retail segment’s operating margin was 16.9 percent for the year, compared with 18.4 percent for Apple overall.

source: Fortune Magazine

Polls Show Consumers' Expected Shopping Habits This Christmas

New York — Despite the early sales push by major retailers, a Consumer Reports Holiday Shopping Poll shows that consumers plan to start shopping later for the holidays this year. Only 22 percent expect to get their holiday shopping done right after Thanksgiving this year, compared to 30 percent in 2006.



Another 45 percent said they expect to finish shopping for the holidays by the second week of December, while 20 percent don't expect to complete their purchases until Christmas Eve.
A full 6 percent don't expect to finish their shopping until after the season is over.



Clothing tops the list of gifts that consumers plan to buy, at 71 percent, followed by gift cards at 62 percent and electronics at 53 percent. But while clothing is the most-purchased gift, it isn’t the most wanted. The poll found that consumers would most like to receive electronics gifts, at 19 percent, followed by gift cards at 12 percent.

Men wanted electronics the most, at 25 percent, while women want gift cards (15 percent) and electronics (13 percent). Last year Consumer Reports found that clothing was the gift which most often disappointed, at 38 percent.

Some 23 percent of respondents anticipate they will spend less than last year, and 65 percent plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping online.

Men (23 percent) are more likely than women (13 percent) to do more of their holiday shopping online. The 22nd Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, by Deloitte, got slightly different results, finding that gift spending will hold steady and the number of gifts consumers plan to give is up.

Consumers plan to buy an average of 23 gifts, up from 22 last year and the highest over the last six years. Women plan to buy even more, with an average of 26 gifts. Consumers aged 61–74 plan to spend 27 percent more than the average.



However, the survey also showed that 41 percent expect to reduce their spending this holiday season, just not on gifts.

Areas where spending is likely to be down include home improvements, socializing/entertaining, charitable donations, home/holiday furnishings and non-gift clothing.

Department stores, both traditional and discount, continue to be the top shopping destination. Gift cards are expected to be the top gift purchase for the fourth straight year, with 69 percent of consumers surveyed planning to buy them, compared with 66 percent last year. Shoppers are planning to buy an average of 5.5 cards, compared with 4.6 cards last year. Consumers are also spending more per card: $36.25 on average, compared with $30.22 last year.



Some 39 percent of consumers would rather get a gift card than merchandise, an increase over last year's 35 percent. And only 19 percent say they don't like to give gift cards because they're too impersonal, down from 22 percent last year. While 46 percent intend to buy them for immediate family; however, only 14 percent plan to buy gift cards for spouses or significant others.

More than half of consumers surveyed (54 percent) say a product's country of origin is important to them when making a purchase decision, with those over age 44 being most concerned; 35 percent said non-food products importer from other countries are not safe. Even more (58 percent) say recent news stories about product recalls will influence some of their purchase decisions.