Date: April 18, 2005
Vol. IX, No. 8

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMMENTARY: How Do You Read CLN? 

In this issue, CLN's Tech Topics is a discussion on the effect digital scrapbooking will have on the industry. Some of the respondents believe it will not hurt because scrappers want to touch and feel what they're creating. (The discussion is very interesting!)

The discussion got me thinking about CLN and how it's read. Do you read it online? Or print it so you can hold it in your hand? Do me a favor and answer a couple of questions to help me improve CLN for you.

And if you have any suggestions for improvements, or complaints, by all means let me know. Email mike@clnonline.com.

Tech Topics. Will digital scrapbooking help or hurt sales of supplies? CLN readers weigh in on this tricky subject. Also, new innovations in digital scrapbooking and why retailers should have a photo-printing kiosk in their stores.

"Vinny Da Vendor." Do our trade shows reflect the health of our industry? And what happens when/if scrapbooking and yarn cool off?

Memory, Paper & Stamps. Retailer Lisa Kanak offers manufacturers savvy, practical advice on racks and packaging their products so they sell better in stores.

Scene & Heard. Ellis Joos' report on New York Home Textiles show and the Extracts show, which is for the spa and personal care market.

Designing Perspectives. A manufacturer describes what vendors really need from designers – and a designer responds.

Note. If you surf to a column and it's an "old" column, click the "Refresh" or "Reload" button of your browser.

Do read it online? Print a hard copy and read that? How much do you read the trade magazines? To vote, click on Industry Polls in the right-hand column or click HERE.

What's happening in scrapbooking? Difficult to tell. In CLN''s latest poll, 48% of retailer respondents said it was "Hard to gauge the overall interest because so many retailers carry some supplies." Scrapbooking was still growing in their area, according to 19% and an equal number said it was declining; 14% said interest was about the same as last year.

Vendors have a more negative view. Half the respondents said sales were down because they were losing market share to competitors, while another 15% said sales to independents were down because some of their customers had gone out of business. One-fifth of the respondents said sales were up because more stores were placing orders, while 15% said sales were up because they were gaining market share over their competitors.

The Commerce Department reported that retail sales, excluding car sales, rose a mere 0.1% in March, the weakest showing since April 2004. And business may not improve this month, either. According to a new study by Retail Forward, 19.2% of respondents said they planned to buy craft/hobby supplies in April, down from 21% in March.

The major culprit, of course, is rising gasoline costs. An AAA survey of 60,000 gas stations revealed that the average price of regular gasoline is $2.25 a gallon, up 27% from a year ago. Wall Street's not impressed; the Dow closed the week at 10,087.51, its lowest close since Nov. 2, down 6.5% for the year and virtually unchanged in the past 12 months.

Michaels, which now reports sales by quarter, not by month, said thus far same-store sales are better than expected and raised the anticipated increase to 5-7% from 3-5%. Once again, leading categories were yarn, scrapbooking, general crafts, and kids' crafts. The strongest areas were the Pacific, Southeast, and Central zones.

Jo-Ann's same-store sales dropped 2.6% due to an early Easter and poor weather in the Northeast and Midwest. By product category, hard lines sales have been much stronger than soft lines through the first nine weeks of the year. As a result, execs lowered their same-store expectation for the quarter to flat, and earnings/share to $0.17 - $0.22 for the quarter and to $2.04 - $2.12 for the year.

A.C. Moore reported sales of $122.9 million for the first quarter ended Mar. 31, up 10.2%, but same-store sales fell 1.6%. CEO Jack Parker said, "Although we were disappointed with our comp [same-store] store decrease ... we were very encouraged with the results of our southern stores as, with comparable weather to last year, they significantly exceeded the plan. This gives us comfort in knowing that our merchandise mix is in place to achieve our objectives for the balance of the year. We now forecast that our first quarter earnings will meet or beat analysts' consensus earnings estimates." First quarter earnings will be released this Wednesday.

Wal-Mart's U.S. stores had a 4.8% increase, better than analysts expected, but Sam's Clubs had only a 2.1% increase, below analysts' expectations. Overall sales rose $2.85 billion, but the company warned that first-quarter earnings will be at the low end of its previous guidance of $0.56 - $0.58/share.

Hancock Fabrics same-store sales fell 8.9% percent in March and they're down 8.6% year to date. CEO Jane Aggers said, "We are analyzing every aspect of our merchandising and marketing programs to stabilize the business."

Garden Ridge reported a strong 7% increase in same-store sales, and cited various categories, but did not mention crafts. The company mailed its bankruptcy disclosure statement, reorganization plan, and ballots to its creditors. its confirmation hearing is scheduled for Apr. 28. If approved, the company, with 35 stores in 13 states, will emerge from bankruptcy.

Duckwall-ALCO's same-store sales rose 2.6% and the company cited crafts as one of its leading categories.

Others. Walgreen, +11.6% ... Target, +8.2% ... CVS, +7.5% ... Costco, +7.0% ... Nordstrom, +5.5% ... Dollar General, +4.2% ... Fred's, +3.5% ... Family Dollar, +2.4% ... Sam's Club, +2.1% ... Rite Aid, +1.6% ... Big Lots, +0.1% ... J.C. Penney, +0.1% ... ShopKo, -0.6% ... Factory Card & Party Outlet, -3.3% ... Sharper Image, -9.0% ... Bombay Co., -12.0% ... Pier 1, -18.2%.

An article in the 3/30 edition of the New York Times gives a brief history of the ups and downs of knitting and crochet (it dates back to ancient Egypt) and credits the resurgence to movie stars knitting and hip new projects. But the most important reason was what could be called a "post-feminism" trend.

Feminism caused knitting to decline, thinks Mary Colucci, executive director of the Craft Yarn Council of America. "If it was something that smacked of homemade women's work, no one wanted anything to do with it," she told the Times.

But now women, particularly young women, no longer automatically reject "women's work" if it brings them satisfaction.

Michaels announced that Chair and Vice Chair, Charles and Sam Wyly, would turn over to the company profits realized from the sale of Michaels stock held by the families in offshore trusts; they have also updated Security and Exchange Commission filings to include the shares owned by them through their families and held in trust, the Associated Press reported.

As CLN reported previously, Michaels reported that the matter was being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney's office and the SEC.

The new filings indicate the brothers directly or indirectly own twice as much stock (approximately 8%) in the company than had previously been disclosed. The filings did not indicate the size of the profits that would be turned over to Michaels, but the company said it did not expect the money to have an effect on its previously reported financial statements.

The publicity surrounding the investigation is also bringing to light the Wylys' connection with the Bush administration. Last year each brother contributed $10,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and in 2000 they financed $2.5 million in ads against Senator John McCain during the presidential primaries, according to Political Money Line, a campaign finance tracking service.

The doubling of the number of sewing trade shows this year apparently is causing exhibitors and buyers to choose among them – to nobody's benefit. CLN heard reports that the spring Home Sewing Assn. show was slow; now comes this report on its competitor:

"We had a good show at the International Textile Show in Las Vegas. Heard several stories that vendors at the HSA show called the ITE show from the show floor asking if there was still room at the show.

"In other news from the show, there was a vendors' meeting the last day. According to Show Manager Pat Kobishyn, the offer she has from HSA is do hold regional shows only and let HSA hold the national shows. That is an offer Pat is not going to accept and there is nothing new to report on that front.

"Vendors overwhelming supported Pat; several members of the HSA board who were at the meeting and disagree with the position of HSA on this issue have been asked to resign from the board. They have refused." (Name withheld)

First there were four sewing shows, two sponsored by HSA and two International Textiles Expo shows. Now a third ITE show has been added: July 31-Aug. 1 in San Francisco. The other is Sept. 27-29 in Las Vegas. For more, call 516-596-3937 or visit www.textileshows.com. The last HSA show of the year is Sept. 20-22, one week before the ITE show, and also in Las Vegas. Visit www.sewing.org or call 800-777-7983.

(Comment: There were two national sewing shows, one in the spring and one in the fall. ITE was one and HSA the other. Now it's up to four, just days apart in the same city. What a disservice to both vendors and retailers!)

Jaime Guthals, Publicist for Interweave Press, is in the process of assembling a list of impressive bead shops, and sent this list to CLN:

The Bead Lounge (Orlando, FL), http://thebeadlounge.net/classes.html ... Brina Beads (Atlanta, GA), www.brinabeads.com ... Beadworks (Boston, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Providence, Houston, and Norwalk), www.beadworks.com ... Femmegems (New York City and Greenwich), www.femmegems.com ... LuxeJewels (beading at home parties, based out of LA with celebrity events), www.luxejewels.com ... Bead Monkey – St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN www.beadmonkey.com ... Fusion Beads (Seattle), www.fusionbeads.com ... String-A-Strand (Chicago), www.string-a-strand.com ... Urban Arts + Crafts (Kansas City), www.urbanartsandcrafts.com. (Comment: Jamie said Urban was "awesome." She's not alone. See the following report.)

(Note: We had heard good things about an independent store, Urban Arts + Crafts in Kansas City. We checked the website, http://urbanartsandcrafts.com, and were impressed, and cited the store as an example of the new wave of designs that appealed to a younger, "more hip" demographic. Then we asked Lynda Musante, one of the industry's best designers and co-author of various columns in our Designing Perspectives, to visit the store. Here's her report.)

Really, REALLY liked the store and spent money. They only had high-end products and were right on trend. They had beads, mostly tube beads from Mill Hill; a German company (who sells threads); and Blue Moon Beads strands of beads. Lots of yarn, high end, tapes and textural, and lots of models and classes. They did have scrapbooking, but it was more altered art than scrapbooking. Lots of 7 Gypsies for albums – not a page protector in sight. K1 for papers and high-end embellishments. They did have four feet of mosaic supplies; other surprises were soldering, and glass cutting.

The fixtures were turn of the century, and an old postal counter was the cutting table. The staff was enthusiastic and very helpful. I selected a skein of yarn and they offered to ball it for me. They offered tips and techniques for the material I had selected and made sure I signed their mailing list sheet. While bagging my supplies, they told me about the area the store was in and suggested times to come back when interesting events were occurring.

The store was a good example of everything good about independent retailing. Products and models were displayed like a boutique. There wasn't a lot of depth in any line, but enough to be interesting. This was a completely enjoyable experience and I came out spending more money than I thought I would. I'll definitely be back! – Lynda Musante

(Note: Sandra Joseph is the former Exec. Director of the Memories Community, sponsor of the Memories Expos around the country.)

I really liked what Lisa Kanak wrote about in your last CLN; I thought it fit with what I wrote about 75% [of U.S. households] who do not scrapbook; they need to know what we offer.

Interesting note: when I did my first scrapbook convention in Pittsburgh in 2000, I took a trip across the state of Pennsylvania to visit all of the scrapbooking stores to tell them about the convention. Almost all of the stores that I visited have closed; I can only think of two stores that are still open, and I believe that I visited 10 stores in all.

The biggest problem has been, of course, cash flow, but also the influx of new products and the lack of new customers. I was really surprised to learn that one retailer in particular had closed her store, as she had what appeared to be a strong store in a university town where there are lots of visitors.

I haven’t talked to her myself, but I have heard that the last several years have been hard – she moved to a larger location, had more inventory, and of course Michaels and Jo-Ann’s have added large scrapbooking sections.

I did write her a note of thanks, though; because of her work and her store, there are many scrapbooks that have been made – precious memories preserved!

This month, Reminders of Faith books and theme kits will be featured in Christian stores direct store flyers; these flyers will reach over 2 million. I am hoping that this will bring new people in to scrapbook. (Of course, I want them to record the stories of God at work in their life.) We have to do more to reach out to these people who think scrapbooking is too hard and too complicated. – Sandra Joseph, Reminders of Faith, www.remindersoffaith.com.

(Note: To read Lisa's original article, click on Memory Paper 7 Stamps, then click on "Increasing the Size of the Pie" in the right hand column. Sandra's article, "Scrapbooking Is Appealing to the Wrong Market" is also in the right-hand column.)

Once again the media is filled with negative pieces about the world's largest retailer. Critics charge Wal-Mart is driving jobs out of the country, violating child labor laws, paying low wages and benefits, discriminating against women employees, etc., etc., etc.

One result is a languishing stock price, despite the fact that the chain continues to increase sales by well over a billion dollars a month – month after month after month. The stock, which has split 11 times since the company went public, has dropped about 16% since mid-November, well below the Dow, S&P, and CLN indices. Meanwhile, the company slipped from first to fourth on the Fortune Magazine "America’s Most Admired Companies" list.

The latest black eye is the alleged activities of ousted vice char Thomas Coughlin. The Wall Street Journal reported Coughlin, also once the head of U.S. stores, may have used undocumented expense payments to pay for anti-union activities. Coughlin had resigned last month amidst charges of expense-account abuses and the using false invoices to obtain reimbursements, although he had directly or indirectly sold millions worth of Wal-Mart stock since Dec. 1. The Journal said Coughlin told several employees the money for anti-union activities. If true, that's a federal offense and is being investigated by the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, the Journal reported and DSN Retailing Today said a grand jury will consider the evidence early next month.

A spokesperson for Wal-Mart told the Journal the retailer's internal investigation found "the evidence shows that corporate funds were misappropriated and used for the personal benefit of specific individuals." Later the company denied any money went to anti-union activities.

Now Wal-Mart is fighting back with full page ads in major newspapers, a new website, (www.walmartfacts.com), and CEO Lee Scott is speaking out.

In a recent speech before a Los Angeles business group, Scott said Wal-Mart will create 100,000 jobs this year, more than any other company; the average hourly pay is almost $10, almost double the federal minimum wage; and his strongest claim: Wal-Mart helps the poor.

"These savings are a lifeline for millions of middle and lower-income families who live from payday to payday," Scott said. "In effect, it gives them a raise every time they shop with us. Seen another way, Wal-Mart acts as a bargaining agent for these families -- achieving on their behalf a power, a 'negotiating power' they would never have on their own."

Critics say Wal-Mart has driven thousands of retailers into the unemployment lines, its payroll policies force its own workers into state medicaid programs paid for by taxpayers, and maybe the poor wouldn't be so poor if there were more manufacturing jobs available.

Who's right? Email your thoughts – on or off the record – to mike@clnonline.com.

Some personal thoughts:

1. Wal-Mart is the focal point for so much criticism because the company is so good at what it does. Countless other retailers have similar policies about wages, offshore vendors, etc.

2. Wal-Mart is successful because it is relentless and single-minded about driving down costs for its customers. For example, Wal-Mart is bypassing the regional utility companies in Texas to buy its energy directly on the wholesale market. If every business were as customer-conscious, our economy would be in much better shape.

3. Vendors in our industry say Wal-Mart (and Hobby Lobby) is the easiest and best retailer to deal with because it asks for the best price – period. And because Wal-Mart shares so much sales information via its advanced technology, sales aren't lost because of out-of-stocks. Luz Muller commented in The Bloom Report (www.thebloomreport.com), "In my book, Wal-Mart is one of the best accounts a manufacturer can have. They pay their bills, they keep their word, and they do not jerk you around. And do they give you volumes. But if you screw up, the wrath of God descends upon you."

4. Regarding all the lawsuits, the company has 1.2 million employees; you can't hire 1.2 million people without letting in a few jerks.

5. I admire Wal-Mart because of its policy forbidding buyers from accepting favors from vendors. I wish other chains were as strict.

6. I don't like what Wal-Mart is doing to the country, but I don't blame Wal-Mart. In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, said, "The fact is, today's economy offers us a Faustian bargain: it can give consumers deals largely because it hammers workers and communities. We can blame big corporations, but we're mostly making this bargain with ourselves."

1. Best wishes to sales rep Pam Riddell of The Riddell Group. Pam is holding a meeting Apr. 23 for the scrapbook retailers in Tennessee and Kentucky in hopes they can work together. I'd love to see retailers join forces all over the country. With very few exceptions, I think it's impossible for an independent retailer to survive and prosper – without joining forces with other independents.

2. Ah, American ingenuity. Gail Czech of The Creative Network just returned from New York and she said Manhattan was filled with street vendors selling ... readymade knit ponchos. Of course, they probably weren't made in the U.S., but it sure didn't take long to capitalize on Martha's prison poncho.

3. Kudos to Duncan for its plans for the national "Take Our Daughters & Sons To Work Day" on Apr. 28. Employees' kids will receive a tour of the company, a program inspiring them to think about what they will be doing in 20 years, and will create a new color for Tulip dimensional fabric paint.

NEEDLEWORK. "The Stitches show in Birmingham England had a couple of rough spots. One day one of the main highways to Birmingham was closed because a tanker caught fire and there was a day with snow; these events lowered attendance. Since I was demonstrating in my distributor's booth, I really did not have much time to walk around. I saw a great deal of counted cross stitch, a fair amount of needlepoint and something called long-stitch which is using yarn in a vertical fashion to cover canvas. I saw no crewel or regular embroidery. A number of other crafts had a small amount of representation." – Abby Riba, Kandi Corp., www.kandicorp.com.

MEMORY. How pervasive is scrapbooking becoming in our culture? The May issue of Food & Wine magazine includes an article, "Food To Fuel a Scrapbooking Marathon," and Stayfree Maxi-Pads is offering a free scrapbook kit to consumers who mail in two proofs of purchase.

YARN. The 3/21 edition of The New Yorker reported on Flying Fingers, a yarn shop in Westchester County, NY. The proprietors, Kevin Lundeen and Elise Goldschlag, had trouble luring Manhattanites to make the 45-minute trip up the Hudson River, so they designed and bought the Yarn Bus, a 15-passenger van topped with three enormous balls of what looked like yarn. The van drives customers to and from Manhattan. The Bus was built by the company that makes the Oscar Mayer Wiener-mobile ... The number of times the "Martha" poncho pattern has been downloaded from the Lion Brand site has now surpassed 600,000.

FLORALS. The May issue of Good Housekeeping celebrated the magazine's 120th anniversary with a feature, "The Best of Everything," that cited Aldik flowers. "Is that really hydrangea? Artificial blooms from Aldik look so alive, it's tough to tell."

FOAM. Dow offers a variety of tips and how-to's for Styrofoam Brand Foam (paper, Christmas decorations, kid, home-dec, and its new Puffy Paper thin foam which adds dimension to scrapbooks and paper crafts) on its website, www.styrofoamcrafts.com. The products are fabricated and packaged by FloraCraft and Smithers Oasis.

CANDLES. Sales totaled $3.7 billion in 2004, according to a new study by Unity Marketing. That's just under half of the $8.3 billion home fragrance market, Unity reports.

IMPORTS. The Bush administration is considering reimposing some quotas on some Chinese textiles. Since the quotas expired Jan. 1, five U.S. textile plants have closed and shipments of cotton trousers from China have risen 1,521%, the Associated Press reported.

PAPER. Hobby Lobby has added a quilling line from Lake City Craft, which should be in stores about May 1. (Quilling is a lovely, easy, delicate craft that can stand by itself or be used as embellishments for scrapbook pages.)

INTERNET. A new site, http://myscrapblog.com/newmain.php, offers scrapbookers an individual "blog" for free. It's relatively new, but will probably offer valuable insights into the minds of hardcore scrappers.

BOOKS. To see the new releases from Jeanette Crews, including books on a baby quilt, ponchos and scarves, and a wedding cross stitch book, visit www.jeanettecrews.com.

NEEDLEWORK. The National NeedleArts Assn. will provide guest lecturers focusing on the industry during the 2005 winter class session of the U. of Akron, and this summer, TNNA will support hands-on education in a variety of needlearts disciplines and techniques during three week-long courses  For more info on the class offerings, call 330-972-8313. For info on TNNA, call 740-455-6773, email: tnna.info@offinger.com, or visit www.tnna.org.

COMPANIES FOR SALE. IndustryPro, a Merger/Acquisition company, has four scrapbook/craft companies for sale. Revenues range from $160,000 to $6 million. For more info, call Chad Burnett at 801-838-7708, email cburnett@zirkle.com.

CHA. The Retail Summit seminars at the CHA Summer (formerly ACCI) show include Susan Inglis presenting "The Art & Craft of Marketing Arts & Crafts: You and Your Target Market" ... Bob Phibbs, the "Retail Doctor," will present "You Can Compete: Double Sales without Discounting" ... Mark Mayberry's presentation is "Building the Dream Workforce" ... There will also be a special presention, "Selling on eBay: What are you Missing?" There will also be 10+ mega-workshops and 61 technique classes. Educational programs begin on Thurs. July 14th and continue through Sat. July 16th. The show is July 15-17. Visit www.chasummershow.com.

INSURANCE. The Fair Share Health Care Act that would force Wal-Mart to spend at least 8% of its payroll on health benefits or pay the difference to a state Medicaid fund is moving through Maryland's General Assembly, the Associated Press reported. Gov. Robert Ehrlich says he will veto the bill, but supporters claim they have enough votes to override it. The bill applies to any company with more than 10,000 employees in the state, but the AP reports Wal-Mart is the only company that qualifies.

QUOTATION. "Consumers are capturing, storing, collecting, and displaying their entire lives, for personal use, or for friends and family, even the entire world to peruse, just because they finally can. From photos to texts to video. The necessary enablers are in place for what [we] have dubbed "Life Caching." – Trendwatching.com

CHINA. A number of Chinese manufacturers are having cash flow problems because their biggest customers – large retailers – are slow paying their bills, China Business Weekly reported. "... the pressure on many suppliers has been greatly magnified by the difficulties they face in securing short-term bridging loans from banks, which tend to favor large borrowers in the State-owned sector," CBW wrote.

STOCK. Morgan Keegan upgraded A.C. Moore from market perform to outperform ... AG Edwards downgraded Wal-Mart from buy to hold.

PEOPLE. Clapper Communications named Jeff Clapper as Publisher. He succeeds Marie Clapper, who was Publisher for 10 years and continues as President. John and Edna Clapper started the company with Pack-O-Fun magazine from their home in 1952. Their son Lyle Clapper, who continues as Chairman/Advisor, took the reins in 1974 – so Jeff is the third generation leading the company. Clapper now publishes Pack-O-Fun, Crafts 'n Things, Painting, and The Cross Stitcher, plus 101 Bridal Ideas, Crafter's Porch and Garden, Paper Made Easy, and My Own Space. For more, call Rebecca Ortinau at 847-635-5800, ext. 256.

UK. CHA is launching Make it! Month in England – a promotional campaign similar to its National Craft Month in the U.S. It will be held in September and officials hope to roll out the program in other countries. CHA will offer various promotional materials to member retailers in support of the campaign.

SALE. ShopKo signed a definitive merger agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Minneapolis-based private equity investment firm Goldner Hawn Johnson & Morrison.

LAYOFFS. Longaberger laid off 360 employees due to lower than expected sales, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. CLN reported last year that the the nation's largest handmade basket-maker had started a home-party plan that included scrapbooking ... Sears/Kmart now says it will lay off 500 employees, not the 250 announced previously.

LICENSING. For info on the 25th Licensing Int. show in New York, June 21-23, visit www.licensingshow.com or call 800-331-5706 ... The sale of the Int. Toy Center puts in jeopardy future toy shows in New York, particularly this fall’s mass market show, Playthings reported.

DUCKWALL-ALCO. Net earnings for the fiscal year fell 41% to $3,923,000 ($0.88/diluted share). For the fourth quarter, net earnings fell 46% to $2.1 million.

JOB OPENING. Chinese manufacturer of general craft products with U.S.-based sales and marketing offices looking for a Marketing Director. Responsibilities to include managing and updating existing product lines while developing new products for existing and new market areas. Expertise in stamping, foam, and craft surfaces a plus. For info, call Mike Hartnett at 309-925-5593 or email mike@clnonline.com.

Note: CLN will profile one company per issue, which will remain online for at least a year. A Profile is a perfect way for a new company to let itself be known to the industry, or for an established company to enhance its reputation by showing the industry its history, diversity of products, personnel, etc. For more information on how your company can be profiled, call Mike Hartnett at 309-925-5593 or email mike@clnonline.com.

To learn about the current job listings, click on Jobs in the left-hand column, or click HERE.

A. C. Moore (ACMR). Last*: 26.43 ... Change**: +0.33
Hancock Fabrics (HKF). Last*: 6.44 ... Change**: -1.13
Jo-Ann Stores (JAS). Last*: 25.38 ... Change**: -1.68
Michaels (MIK). Last*: 34.40 ... Change**: -1.60
Wal-Mart (WMT). Last*: 47.70 ... Change**: -1.29
CLN Retail Index. Last*: 140.35 ... Change**: -.3.7%
Dow Jones Index. Last*: 10,087.51 ... Change**: -3.0%

"Why does a slight tax increase cost you two hundred dollars and a substantial tax cut saves you thirty cents?" – Peg Bracken

"I wouldn't mind paying taxes – if I knew they were going to a friendly country." – Dick Gregory

"Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt." – Herbert Hoover

"The income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has." – Will Rogers

"I'm proud to be paying taxes in the United States. The only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money." – Arthur Godfrey

"Taxation without representation is tyranny." – James Otis ... "Taxation with representation ain't so hot, either." Gerald Barzan

"The way taxes are, you might as well marry for love." Joe E. Lewis

REMINDERS

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