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Making it Work: Internet Shopping Entrepreneurs Talk Shop

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Carla Holtze and Kimberly Skelton used business school as an excuse to do what they already wanted to do: create a social website that roughly imitates the experience of having your best friend give you the thumbs-up or thumbs-down in the dressing room. Thus was born WingTipIt.com.

But starting a company isn’t easy – especially when it involves learning new technology in a relatively new industry. Watch them talk about what’s worked and what hasn’t:

>> TILE brings you exclusive opinions, explanations, and interviews from experts in every industry. Have a burning question or an expert you’d like to see interviewed? Just Ask TILE!

Sharing the Stuff That Drives Electric Cars

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

“Xatori, a Silicon Valley software start-up, aims to create a network of electric car enthusiasts who make their household power outlets and home chargers available for drivers who need to top off their battery or who find themselves out of range of the few public-charging stations currently available.”

What do you think?

Would you ever pay for a total stranger’s gas? What about letting them charge their phone in your garage?

Are electric car owners just more generous?

Gilt Free Luxury: Gilt Groupe’s Co-Founder Talks with TILE

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Alexandra Wilkis Wilson took her 5th Avenue fashion sense to the world wide web, and the result – members-only designer discount site Gilt Groupe – is changing the way luxury retail is done. She sat down with TILE to talk about the online sample sale phenomenon, and to share some advice about buying designer.

This Fall, Look Forward To High, High Prices!

Friday, February 18th, 2011


(photo credit: Thing Three)

“Most” consumer goods are about to get a lot pricier - food, clothing, appliances, you name it. Why? Commodities, demand, and labor! Here’s what that actually means for you…

  • The cost of raw materials, like cotton, wheat, and metal, has increased wildly in recent years. These raw materials are traded on exchanges kind of like stocks, but they’re called commodities. Just like stocks, the prices of commodities changes frequently.
  • When commodity prices shoot up, it’s more expensive for companies to make their products, and that cost gets passed on to you, the consumer.
  • Besides the price of materials, there’s the cost of people. Workers overseas now demand higher wages than they used to, and with more money to spend, there’s an increased demand for certain goods (like cars and meat). That all adds up to more expensive products.
  • Retailers have been holding off on raising prices to keep customers during the recession, but they say they can’t hold out anymore.
  • Will rising prices lead to inflation? Stay tuned.

Facts & Figures

  • Unemployment in the U.S. is still at 9%, and wages have risen less than 2% in the past year
  • Some brands planning to raise prices include: Nine West, Anne Klein, Victoria’s Secret, Polo Ralph Lauren, Whirlpool, Kraft, Starbucks, Sara Lee, Brooks Brothers, and Hanes
  • Inflation has been low – about 1.4%, but economists expect the rate to rise to 2.5% 2011

Best Quotes

“Consumers are not exactly in the frame of mind or economic circumstances to say ‘Oh, pay whatever they ask.’ There’s going to be pushback.” – Joshua Shapiro, Chief U.S. Economist at MFR Inc.

“These companies are constantly walking a tightrope on how far do I go. Do I offset with price or other cost cuts, or do I just take it and have it eat into my profit margins?” – Jack Russo, Consumer Goods Analyst at Edward Jones

What do you think?

Do you know what goes into the price of the products you buy? Did you ever imagine that the price of popcorn at the movie theater could be connected to weather in the Midwest and a commodites trading floor in Chicago?

Americans Open Wallets Wider Than They Have In Three Years

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

The financial times they are a’changing. At least, that’s what these new statistics would have us believe…

  • In 2009, the American GDP (gross domestic product – a measurement of economic activity) dropped more than it had in sixty years. But like a phoenix made up of economic statistics, it rose back up in 2010.
  • We can’t know the exact cause, but the numbers say that people earned a little more, saved a little less, and spent a little more than they had in recent years.
  • Since consumer spending makes up almost three-quarters of all economic activity in the U.S., this is good news. But there are still those issues around high unemployment and a trashed housing market…

Facts & Figures

  • Consumer spending represents 70% of all economic activity in the U.S.
  • In 2010, spending rose by 3.5% – 0.7% of that was in December alone
  • The last time spending rose that high was in 2007 (pre-recession)

What do you think?

Have you been spending more lately? Do you think the economy will recover faster depending on where you spend your money (at independent stores versus chains)?

(Check out this week’s Today at TILE for a closer look at signs of life in the economy.)

Gourmet ice. You heard it here first.

Monday, January 31st, 2011

ice-cube-blue.jpg
credit: _Fidelio_

(Is this some sort of sign from Zeus that our crazy American economy is chugging back to life?)

What You Should Know Before You Budget

Monday, January 3rd, 2011

evil-marketing-rays.jpg
Credit: apium

Sticking to a budget is more or less like sticking to a diet: It sucks, and you’re almost guaranteed to fail.

BUT! There’s another way. With a few simple tricks, you can take control of your spending and avoid feeling guilty all the time. Here’s what Tara Siegel Bernard from the New York Times has to say:

  • Let the robots take control. Set up automatic transfers to your savings and investment accounts. It only takes a few minutes. If your savings is being automatically transferred out of your spending account every month, you don’t have to worry about spending it!
  • Start at the finish line. What are you saving for? Saving is easier when you have a goal in mind (a vacation, a new car, an obscenely expensive pair of shoes). Figure out how much money you need and you’ll know how much money to have automatically transferred each month.
  • Separate the fun money from the serious money. If you have a phone bill or rent to pay, keep that money separate from the money you plan to squander irresponsibly at the mall. Obviously.
  • Brace yourself for big surprises. One of the easiest ways to muck up your budget is to suddenly spend a lot of money you hadn’t planned for. This one’s easy, though. Put a little extra away somewhere each month. You can use that to cover your surprise expenses without feeling like a total budgeting loser.

Best Quote:
“Ultimately, what we want our money to be is an energy source. It should help us get somewhere or do something.”  – Amanda Clayman, Financial Therapist (only in New York!)

Lenin! Get your Lenin heeeere!

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

lenin-portrait.png

This is probably not what he was going for when he commissioned all these pictures and sculptures of himself.

The Hungarian government is auctioning off a bunch of Lenin memorabilia to help pay for cleanup of the massive wave of toxic waste that flooded Budapest this October.

Some bourgeois bidders are just picking up kitschy decoration for their homes, but others appear to be having a little Communist-bloc nostalgia.

“When I was young, I didn’t really look deeply into the faults of the system,” says Mr. Torok, a real-estate entrepreneur who says that his business is struggling amid the economic downturn. “I lived a calm, secure life where bread cost 3.5 forints and everyone had a job.”

Hmm.

Black Friday’s Supertroopers

Friday, November 26th, 2010

It’s Black Friday, the biggest and most aggressive shopping day of the year. Stores slash prices and determined shoppers wait up all night, push each other, bribe each other, and occasionally trample one another to get their hands on the goods.

This year has seen an increase in the number of shoppers from the broke years after 2008, and the L.A. Times was kind enough to interview some of the consumer warriors swarming the local malls.

Best Quotes

  • “It’s cold, cold, cold, frustrating and stressful standing for five hours but you just do it. My mother-in-law put me in this spot.” – Monica Ferreira, 27, hoping for a $600 washer-dryer from Sears
  • “We are in it to win it. Go hard or go home.” – Ilene Agan, 27, veteran Black Friday Shopper at Toys R Us
  • “This is professional shopping for a lot of these customers, and they know exactly what they want. They plan these things, they have their routes and they make a beeline.” – Mike Boylson, Chief Marketing Officer, JCPenney
  • “Maybe I’m sacrificing too much for this TV.” – Vanessa Barrera, 20, Sears

Cabbage Shortage Causes Big Kimchi Problem in Korea

Friday, October 15th, 2010

In an interesting spin on food consumerism, Koreans are universally appalled at having to eat commercially-made kimchi instead of the homemade variety.

  • There’s a shortage of Napa cabbage in South Korea, and it’s threatening the national dish. Kimchi is a spicy fermented cabbage concoction used as a condiment, a main dish, and an alternative to salad. It’s eaten at pretty much every meal, every day.
  • The shortage is probably related to heavy rains this year, which reduced the cabbage harvest. To compound the problem, farmers may have planted fewer crops this year in response 2009′s overproduction (which resulted in lower profit).
  • Traditionally, kimchi is made by women at home. Whole heads of cabbage are salted and spiced, then buried in earthenware jars until they have pickled. When they’re opened – voila! – kimchi.

Facts & Figures

  • In 2009, the price of a head of Napa cabbage was about $1.40. Now it’s about $14.
  • Homemade kimchi can cost twice as much as pre-made.
  • A typical batch of kimchi includes cabbage, radishes, red chili peppers, salt, and garlic.

Best Quote

“The prices will go down. Sometimes they’re high, sometimes they’re low. Easy come, easy go. That’s life.” – Lee Young-ae, Food Vendor at Mo Rae Ne Market

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