Moody's Bottom Rung List

Moody's recently published their bottom rung list - companies that they expect to default on their loans and which are more likely to declare bankruptcy in the next year or so. Many of the companies shouldn't be a surprise to my RCS 484 students because we've been discussing these companies and their potential bankruptcy in our class for a while.

Here are some of the notable members on the retail list:

Barneys New York
BCBG Maz Azria
Blockbuster Inc.
Bon Ton Stores
Brookstone
Burlington Coat Factory
Claire's
Duane Reade
Eddie Bauer
Guitar Center
Harry and David
Michael's
Rite Aid

Some of the other notable companies on the bottom list are:
Krispy Kreme
Perkin's and Marie Callendars Restaurants
Arby's
Carmike Cinemas
Dole foods
Eastman Kodak
Ford
GM
Chrysler
Hollywood Theater
Quicksilver
Sbarro's
Sirius

Are you surprised? What are your thoughts? Do share.

Predictions

I had predicted 2 years ago about this current depression. It was clear as a day that this was the end we were coming to. And yet Wall street, White house and all the others seem surprised! Really guys? Really? You didn't realize house prices would come down when people started defaulting on their subprime loans! Hello?

So anyway, here are two predictions from a consumer economics professor at a small university in North Carolina. Barring government or divine intervention,

a) The stock market is going to touch 6000 in the next few months
b) Google will hit $200 by May-June (buy it then!)

Companies that should shut down in 2009

In my retail strategy class we were talking about this article about the companies that may not survive 2009. the class seemed to think there were more companies that would not and should not survive 2009.

The companies were considered dingy, unfriendly, dirty, a miserable shopping experience, etc.

Brookstone: have you ever seen anyone come out of there with a purchase? We always see people 'sampling' their massage chairs and not many actually buying anything. Its basically a bunch of overpriced crap.

Sears and K-Mart: No matter what investors say, these companies should shut down. I pass the local Sears and see maybe 8 cars in the parking lot at any given time. Why is it still around? Sears should stop selling clothes and everything else besides its appliances. And have you been into a K-Mart recently - its dingy. The lights are dim, the staff is not friendly. The place just has a weird smell to it. You almost expect to see cobwebs around the stuff.

Kohl's and J.C Penney: Department stores have been losing market share to discount marketers and specialty stores for many years. The younger generation - aka my retail strategy class hates shopping at department stores. They find the layout confusing and very unappealing. While J.C Penney is definitely a little better (cleaner and brighter) than Kohl's, the class believes both should go.

Books-a-Million: The place smells. And its the same as Barnes and Nobles only uglier. Why would anyone go to Books-a-million when they could go to Barnes and Nobles, Borders or local bookstores?

Limited: The clothes are the same or similar to Express and New York and Co. So why should all three exist? The only reason we believe its going to be Limited is because we've always seen more people at Express and New York and Co. Not to mention their clothes are over-priced and cheap quality.

Others on the list are:
Wetseal
Radio Shack
Levis

$100,000 for a second

The superbowl is around the corner and just recently Sprint, Starbucks, Home Depot, Caterpillar, Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Pfizer announced layoffs.

So the question is - in this economy and with the somber mood from all the layoffs - what kind of advertising should the companies be showcasing? What is the best tone to use during such turbulent times?

Should the companies entertain the consumers, give them a little cheer?

Or should the companies talk about issues that matter to the customers?

Should they even be buying spots on the superbowl for a whopping $3 million dollars for 30 seconds.

What do you think?

Ordering a burger from India

I am an Indian who has lived in the US since 2001. And there are times when even I get frustrated dealing with phone calls to customer service to a call center somwhere in India where some kid called Rajesh with a thick Indian accent pretends to be Mike while reading to me from a scipt trying to put on an American twang.

So when I heard on NPR this morning about Jack in the Box trying to route their drive through calls to a call center in Texas (and then maybe internationally) I couldn't help but cringe.

Do I really want Rajesh to take my burger orders?

Is the company thinking of the time and effort (not to mention the annoyance factor) that will go in ensuring my order is understood and the time it will take for their in-store employees to fix the orders that are messed up?

Unless ofcourse they do what McDonalds does on some of their drive-through's where the order is printed on a screen and only once you confirm it, will it go through.

But here is a thought, why not just give me a touch screen so I can place the order myself and a key pad for any customizations!