Gold Prices Touch $1,000, Bag of Chips $3.49!
Gold prices touched $1,000, oil surpassed $110, so I gotta wonder when PepsiCo is going to screw me over too.
(Stocks in this article include: NYSE: PEP, NYSE: WMT, NYSE: HD, NYSE: LOW, NYSE: SFD, NYSE: CVS, NYSE: BKC, Nasdaq: CPVNF.PK)
Gold touched $1,000 today, but everything is higher. Anyway, nobody buys gold anymore; now they sell it. I certainly will not be treating any lovely ladies anytime soon, especially considering my new ban on jewelry purchases that followed my waste of $15K on a diamond ring for a marriage that only lasted three years.
Here's what matters to The Greek these days:
An 18-Pack of Coors Light can be had for $14.99 at the local 7-Eleven here in the city. The Greek use to consider 7-Eleven a no-show, dead-duck company after watching it flail against WaWa, a super-well-run (I believe private) chain that has some stores in my local Philly area. But, 7-Eleven seems to have a niche opportunity in New York City, or it would if it held a couple brains in its headquarters. Here's an example of how a bad management team can blow an opportunity, sort of like how Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) has not optimized its pork opportunity in China.
7-Eleven stores are just about as empty in NYC as they are everywhere else around the country. Here's why. The stores are operated employing a national business model that in and of itself is also flawed. First off, the stores are ugly. The colors are the same they've been since my high school days, decades ago. I can't believe I can say that in plural.
In case you haven't noticed my dear 7-Eleven peeps, the world has gotten a lot cooler since the late 80s. So, aesthetically, the model stinks. Secondly, the stores waste space on things nobody wants except drunks shopping at 3 AM. Who else would eat one of those chili-dogs that have been spinning around for ten hours in the roto-roller? It's like the classic munchie shop for suicidal maniacs.
The management team needs to walk into the store of its locally run competition. There's no room for huge markets in the city, and nobody wants to walk more than a block to get to the market (or back from it with bags in hand), and everyone walks in this city. So, you have to sell regular market type items, like milk, eggs, bread and the bag of chips too.
7-Eleven has the opportunity to pressure its competition through bulk purchasing and undercutting on price. Believe it or not, even New Yorkers on the Upper East Side don't like getting shafted on the price of a gallon of milk. And these days, more of us are paying attention to price than ever before. This is why CVS (NYSE: CVS) is kicking butt here.
NYC is dominated by small markets run by mom and pops. So, there's opportunity for a larger store operation to come in and undercut the little guys and put the mammas and the papas out of business in good old American Wal-Mart-like (NYSE: WMT) fashion. It has happened time and again.
Working as a carpenter with my father during my childhood and while in college, I witnessed first hand the rise of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and the fall of the good old American family run lumber yard. It was sad actually. When you know the people running these businesses, they become like family. Then they're replaced by Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) and Home Depot customer service punks who do not know the difference between ceramic tiles and Jim Cramer's favorite linoleum floor. I'm sorry, but Warren Buffet helped to ruin all the other nice old folk in this country. Now, instead of running hardware stores, they're all bunched together in old folk homes or at the racetrack. I think Warren has stolen their souls too, cause he's too nice to be so rich.
Anyway, it makes me sick to see 7-Eleven missing such a great opportunity. Kudos to Gristedes, the Greek run NYC market chain. You're scoring goals, while 7-Eleven faces bankruptcy again!
Thank you. (disclosure)
(Stocks in this article include: NYSE: PEP, NYSE: WMT, NYSE: HD, NYSE: LOW, NYSE: SFD, NYSE: CVS, NYSE: BKC, Nasdaq: CPVNF.PK)
Gold touched $1,000 today, but everything is higher. Anyway, nobody buys gold anymore; now they sell it. I certainly will not be treating any lovely ladies anytime soon, especially considering my new ban on jewelry purchases that followed my waste of $15K on a diamond ring for a marriage that only lasted three years.
Here's what matters to The Greek these days:
- Junior Whopper Off the Burger King (NYSE: BKC) "Value Menu": $1.27 after tax, with cheese it's like $1.59! What a ripoff.
- Bag of Chips: $3.49, but you gotta wonder...
- 18 Pack of Coors Light: $14.99 before tax at 7-Eleven (best price in NYC)
An 18-Pack of Coors Light can be had for $14.99 at the local 7-Eleven here in the city. The Greek use to consider 7-Eleven a no-show, dead-duck company after watching it flail against WaWa, a super-well-run (I believe private) chain that has some stores in my local Philly area. But, 7-Eleven seems to have a niche opportunity in New York City, or it would if it held a couple brains in its headquarters. Here's an example of how a bad management team can blow an opportunity, sort of like how Smithfield Foods (NYSE: SFD) has not optimized its pork opportunity in China.
7-Eleven stores are just about as empty in NYC as they are everywhere else around the country. Here's why. The stores are operated employing a national business model that in and of itself is also flawed. First off, the stores are ugly. The colors are the same they've been since my high school days, decades ago. I can't believe I can say that in plural.
In case you haven't noticed my dear 7-Eleven peeps, the world has gotten a lot cooler since the late 80s. So, aesthetically, the model stinks. Secondly, the stores waste space on things nobody wants except drunks shopping at 3 AM. Who else would eat one of those chili-dogs that have been spinning around for ten hours in the roto-roller? It's like the classic munchie shop for suicidal maniacs.
The management team needs to walk into the store of its locally run competition. There's no room for huge markets in the city, and nobody wants to walk more than a block to get to the market (or back from it with bags in hand), and everyone walks in this city. So, you have to sell regular market type items, like milk, eggs, bread and the bag of chips too.
7-Eleven has the opportunity to pressure its competition through bulk purchasing and undercutting on price. Believe it or not, even New Yorkers on the Upper East Side don't like getting shafted on the price of a gallon of milk. And these days, more of us are paying attention to price than ever before. This is why CVS (NYSE: CVS) is kicking butt here.
NYC is dominated by small markets run by mom and pops. So, there's opportunity for a larger store operation to come in and undercut the little guys and put the mammas and the papas out of business in good old American Wal-Mart-like (NYSE: WMT) fashion. It has happened time and again.
Working as a carpenter with my father during my childhood and while in college, I witnessed first hand the rise of Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and the fall of the good old American family run lumber yard. It was sad actually. When you know the people running these businesses, they become like family. Then they're replaced by Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) and Home Depot customer service punks who do not know the difference between ceramic tiles and Jim Cramer's favorite linoleum floor. I'm sorry, but Warren Buffet helped to ruin all the other nice old folk in this country. Now, instead of running hardware stores, they're all bunched together in old folk homes or at the racetrack. I think Warren has stolen their souls too, cause he's too nice to be so rich.
Anyway, it makes me sick to see 7-Eleven missing such a great opportunity. Kudos to Gristedes, the Greek run NYC market chain. You're scoring goals, while 7-Eleven faces bankruptcy again!
Thank you. (disclosure)
posted by The Greek | 10:15 AM
2 Comments:
That says a lot - great writeup!
It says, Markos is trying to cheer up a concerned America in a tough economic environment.
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