Business & Personal Finance

The rise of the department store

(Le Bon Marché, Paris, 1867)

Can you picture a world without Walmart, Zellers or The Bay? It's hard to believe that there was a time when people bought what they needed from local markets, small shops and even directly from craftsmen and street vendors.  During the Elizabethan age shopping was about acquiring basic necessities, not self-indulgence.  By the eighteenth century shops became more elaborate allowing customers opportunities to browse and to be enticed by artistically displayed goods.

During the Industrial Revolution people started to earn more money and a middle class began to emerge.   This, in addition to cheaper factory-produced goods, created an expanded consumer demand that could no longer be met by small retail outlets. In fact, the department store introduced people to the fine arts and to new styles and ideas. Up until the 1830's shops tended to be specialized but when Aristide Boucicaut founded Le Bon Marché in 1852 in Paris, now considered to be the world's first department store, retailers everywhere sat up and took notice. Le Bon Marche inspired the growth of department stores around the world with names like Macy's, Marshall Field's, Strawbridge & Clothier, Lewis's of Liverpool, Eaton's and many others. Over the years department stores have provided a wide range of consumer goods from fabrics to plants and automobiles to airplanes. Although the recent recession has taken its toll on department stores, they show a determination to survive by continuing to reinvent themselves.

To read more about department stores, check out these books:

 

Starbucks effect: Not just a great cup of coffee

 

I love going to Starbucks, and judging by the statistics so do you!  Maybe it's their coffee or snacks or maybe it's just the atmosphere.  Whatever it is that attracts us to them, the success of Starbucks has influenced the way we do business and has spawned the publication of many books on various business topics.

In 1971 Starbucks opened their first store in Seattle, Washington at the historic Pike Place Market. Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegler and Gordon Bowker started the company with the encouragement of their friend Alfred Peet who had his own store called Peet's Coffee and Tea. By 1980 the partners had grown the company to six retail outlets and it had become the largest coffee roaster in Washington State. In 1987 Howard Schultz bought the comapny and turned it into the business that it is today by fashioning it after the coffee houses he visited while on a trip to Italy.  The company is now the largest coffee store chain in the world with over 17,000 stores in 50 countries.

What makes Starbucks unique is their sense of community, the same sense of community that is evident in corner coffee houses all over Italy. It is a place where employees and customers are treated with respect and dignity, and being green is a an important part of how the company conducts its business. Although experts have been predicting the demise of Starbucks for some time because of it's efforts to keep up with shareholder expectations, Starbucks seems to have shrugged off the naysayers by continually introducing new products that keep customers interested. Books about Starbucks continue to be published, and from Beijing to Moscow and Toronto to Seattle the coffee keeps on brewing.

Here are some titles you can borrow from the library:

Living in a world without Twinkies

One of my fondest memories of childhood was the occasional treat of the pure indulgence of a Twinkie.  My mother in law, when my husband was young, would put a candle in the middle of one, and presto - a ready made birthday cake!

Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, as well as the equally delicious Ding Dongs, Hostess Cupcakes, and Snow Balls, recently announced that the company was filing for bankruptcy protection.  It seems that today's consumer is after healthier snacks. 

This whole discussion about Twinkies got me thinking about the snack cake industry in general. So I decided to have a look to see what I could find.  A field trip to my local grocery store showed that a couple of other companies are out there in terms of competition.  Vachon, a Quebec company founded in 1923, has multiple lines of products, as does Little Debbie, a Tennessee based company also founded around the Great Depression had significant shelf space.

But all of these companies are privately held - therefore they don't need to give any sales figures.  So how does one find information on industries that are rife with private companies? 

I began my search with the Gale Virtual Reference Library, which has a directory called The Market Share Reporter.  A quick search revealed that Little Debbie and Hostess are the top brands for sales.  This reference also gave me a NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) code to work with.  This gives what the company sees as its major line of business.  In this case it was 311812 (Commerical Bakeries).  With this code I could now search a number of databases to find out more information. 

Other possibilities for searching for more industry information, to name a few, include:

• Scott's Online

• Marketline
  

• Business and Company Resource Centre

• Canadian Business and Current Affairs

All accessible with your TPL library card through our website.  Marketline is the only exception - you need to be at one of the Research and Reference branches of the system.  This approach can be used for almost any industry that you are looking to find information on.  Industry periodicals, and statistical sources such as Statistics Canada and the Census Bureau of the United States compiles industry statistics  are also great sources for information.

By the way - Hostess has assured that the flow of Twinkies will continue despite its bankruptcy filing.  Another crisis averted!

 

 

There's no business like show business

It's that time of year.  Oscar buzz is abounding at our house.  Once the nominees are announced the race is on to predict who will take home the golden statue.  This years race is particularly interesting, with the silent film "The Artist" up for 10 awards, including one for best picture.  If it wins, it will be the first silent movie to win top honors since the very first award was presented in 1929 for the picture "Wings".

"The Artist", follows the path of a silent film star who is not able to make the leap to the "talkies" in the late 1920's.  If an actor could not make the transition, his career would most likely be at an end.  The movie industry today is going through another major upheaval, with video streaming, bootleg copies of current films abounding, the industry is faced with similar challenges that it encountered when it had to accept that talking pictures were the future. 

So what is the future of movies?  A vast array of ideas come up (mainly technology related) including holograms, 3D.  Check out a PBS discussion on this topic.

According to a DataMonitor industry report (available through Marketline -an on-line database available at North York Central Library and Toronto Reference Library),  the global movies and entertainment market shrank by 1.1% in 2010.  The North American market accounts for 42% of the market value of this industry, and despite its shrinking market value, this industry still has a large number of buyers and investors, since it is such a major part of popular culture.   Sony Corporation is identified as the top player in the market.  Check out this source and other business databases available through the TPL website.

Want more information about the history of silent films?  Check out Silent Films, a website that will take you through some of the great silent movies of all time.  Want to read up on the history of film companies?  Check out a few titles available at the library:

       

   

Enjoy the awards ceremony on February 26th.  Guess which movie I will be rooting for!

Movers and shakers

 

I visited the new Loblaws at Maple Gardens the other day and was very impressed by how the building was used to create a retail space while at the same time preserving its architectural heritage. Not an easy task.  Loblaws has been a fixture in Canada since 1919 when the first store was opened in Toronto by Theodore Pringle Loblaw.

Theodore came to Toronto from Alliston, Ontario with only a few dollars in his pocket.  He quickly found work in a grocery store and decided that one day he would own his own business. He began a partnership with J. Milton Cork and together they started a chain of grocery stores making their mark by using innovative merchandising methods that continue to this day.

So, what does it take to be successful in business? Is it persistence, competitive drive, vision or just plain luck? Every successful entrepreneur has their own idea of what it takes to make it big.  Do you have what it takes?  Want to find out? The library has many biographies of famous entrepreneurs that started out with an idea, just a few dollars in their pocket and lots of ambition.  Check out these new titles:

 

Beauty for sale

Cosmetics have been used by both men and women for thousands of years. Roman slaves whose function it was to bathe men and women in perfume were called "cosmetae".  From face painting mentioned in the Old Testament (Ezekiel 23:40) to the use of eye shadow and kohl in Ancient Egypt for ritual purposes, the use of cosmetics dates back as far as 10,000 BCE.  As trade expanded throughout the world the assortment of cosmetics increased and people had many more choices available to them. Although the use of cosmetics was frowned upon by some, they continued to be very popular with women. They helped improve their looks in poor lighting conditions, made them look younger and hid imperfections.

With the establishment of beauty salons around 1900, the cosmetics industry expanded by leaps and bounds and has never looked back. Today the cosmetics industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with Canadian sales alone totalling $730 million (MarketLine industry profiles available online at the North York Central Library and Toronto Reference Library only).  Companies such as L'Oreal, Maybelline, Avon and Elizabeth Arden compete with each other by bombarding us daily with advertising.

Are cosmetics your thing?  Do you want to know more about your favourite brand? If so, then read one of these great titles available at the Toronto Public Library:

 

Value Line now available on-line at select TPL branches.

If you are investing in the stock market, now more than ever, doing your research can result in either making a bundle or losing the same.  The two major business departments of the Toronto Public Library system, located at North York Central Library and the Toronto Reference Library, have always offered a variety of investment newsletters to assist individual investors in their research.  Value Line has been one of the most popular resources over the years.  And now it is available in electronic format, in house, at both of these branches.

If you aren't familiar with this source, you should become acquainted.   First a bit about Value Line from the company itself.  "Arnold Bernhard founded Value Line in 1931 and built it into one of the nation’s largest independent investment advisory services as well as a major money management institution. He was known as the "Dean of Wall Street" by many in the investment community because of his keen analytical acumen and the number of security analysts he trained."

The Value Line service as it appears today, was started 32 years ago.  Reports for companies traded on major exchanges are set up as "one stop shopping" for information about a company and include analysis and rankings from Value Line staff. 

Statistical data includes graphing of stock over the past 10-13 years, growth rates, quarterly sales and earnings, statistical milestones, including long term trends.  A brief description of the company is given as well as analysts commentary on the company's recent developments and future prospects.  The on-line version includes industry analysis as well. 

Stop by either business department and have a look at this exceptional resource.  While you are in the library, why not check out some of the other investment newsletters each subscribe to.

 

 

Small Business Forum 2011 - "Learn Today, Grow Tomorrow"

Enterprise Toronto's Small Business Forum 2011 will take place on Tuesday, October 18th, from 9:00 - 7:30 pm at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 222 Bremner Boulavard, South Building, Level 700, 9am - 7:30pm.

This exciting event will include a morning keynote speaker, Nadja Piatka, Founder of Nadja Foods, fifteen seminars, and a business-to-business tradeshow with over ninety exhibitors.

Don't forget to check out TPL's tradeshow booth #417!

See you there!

 

Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. co-founder, 1955 - 2011

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc., died on Wednesday (October 5) at the age of 56. 

In August of this year, Steve Jobs announced that he was resigning as CEO of Apple Inc., a technology company that he helped develop.  Under his innovative leadership, Apple Inc. evolved into a 'giant' corporation within the computer industry.

For books about Steve Jobs, check out the following titles at the Toronto Public Library:

Elliot, Jay.  The Steve Jobs Way : iLeadership for a New Generation.  New York, NY : Vanguard Press, c2011.

Gallo, Carmine.  The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs : Insanely Different : Principles of Breakthrough Success.  New York : McGraw-Hill, c2011.

Kahney, Leander.  Inside Steve's Brain.  New York : Portfolio, c2008.

Young, Jeffrey S.  iCon : Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business.  Hoboken : Wiley, c2005.

For additional titles, search the Toronto Public Library's catalogue with the subject heading Jobs, Steven, 1955 - 

For books about the company that he co-founded, the following titles may be of interest:

Chen, Brian X.  Always On : How the iPhone Unlocked the Anything - Anytime - Anywhere Future - and Locked Us In.  Cambridge, MA : Da Capo Press, c2011.

O'Grady, Jason D.  Apple Inc.  Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 2009.

Wozniak, Steve.  iWoz : Computer Geek to Cult Icon : How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-founded Apple, and had Fun Doing It.  New York : W.W. Norton & Co., 2006.

For more titles, search the Toronto Public Library's catalogue with the subject heading Apple Computer, Inc.

A brief history of advertising

 

                                       

Various forms of advertising have been around for thousands of years.  The Egyptians used papyrus to advertise goods and services. In ancient Rome and other parts of the ancient world mosaics, pictures on signs or walls were used by businesses to advertise their wares.  The Athenians, however, took advertising to a whole new level by using town criers to stroll the streets advertising products and services (very similar to our television and radio commercials) and can probably be credited with being the inventors of advertising as we know it today.

 

 

The earliest surviving printed ad in English (above) was published in 1477 by William Caxton, English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. This ad announces Caxton's edition of the "Sarum Ordinal" or "Pye", a list of rules for clergy at Salisbury on how to deal with the changing date of Easter.

At the beginning of the 17th century printed advertising was very common and was written by the merchant himself. La Gazette, the first French newspaper established by Theophraste Renaudot in 1631 contained personal ads for those seeking and offering employment, buying and selling goods and services and announcements of all kinds.  In the 18th century illustrations began to appear in advertisements and advertising agents, as they became known, started writing and illustrating the ads. 

And the rest is history!

Check out these books and DVD's for more in-depth information about the history of advertising: