BI Weekly 5: “The consumer is back”
Editor’s Note: The BI Weekly 5 is a collection of tips, news and data affecting the boating industry this week. Be sure to look for the BI Weekly 5 every Tuesday on BoatingIndustry.com.
1. “The consumer is back”
Retail spending surged in September, leading to the two best months for consumer spending in more than two years, according to the Commerce Department.
“The consumer is back,” Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors, told the Associated Press in the wake of the news.
This comes after last Friday’s news that consumer sentiment hit a five-year high this month, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.
2. Fallout from Brunswick restructuring, plant closure continues
You almost certainly didn’t miss the news of Brunswick shutting down Sea Ray and Bayliner production in Knoxville, Tenn., last week.
But you may have missed some of the follow-up, including the opinions of several Bayliner dealers that halting cruiser production was the right decision.
The Knoxville News Sentinel is also doing a good job of following the local angle on the story.
3. Rubber barriers latest weapon against invasive species
Divers will spend the next several weeks deploying rubber barriers in Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay in the largest effort to date to combat invading Asian clams there.
The barriers reduce oxygen and smother the clams. The divers will be placing more than four miles of barriers, which will remain in place for about a year.
4. Why you need your employees to take vacation
Many workers are afraid to take a vacation these days for a variety of reasons ranging from fear of looking lazy to concern that someone will “steal” their job while they’re gone. Author and former CEO Margaret Heffernan writes on why taking that vacation is important for them – and for your business.
5. 6 simple tips for a better Facebook page
Is your Facebook page not all it could be? (The answer would be yes.) Here are some simple tips from digital marketing agency iCrossing based on their studies of Fortune 500 brand pages. If you click through on the link from the blog you can download the full white paper that goes into even more detail.
