| Love Those Loyalty Programs: But Who Reaps the Real Rewards?
Click to enter the mileage mall, a cyberspace bazaar where everything from flowers to golf clubs to cruises is bought and sold in the mall's own currency -- frequent flyer miles. At American Airlines' AAdvantge e-shopping site, more than 200 vendors -- including Bergdorf Goodman, Home Depot and Petco -- offer bonus miles to shoppers. Like the currencies of countries, the value of vendors' currencies fluctuates as well. At the Apple Store, a dollar spent earns just one mile, while Hallmark pays 10 miles for each $1 in sales. Continental's OnePass program allows members to earn two miles for every $1 paid for electricity from Gexa Energy of Houston. Miles are even available for the civic-minded: Northwest Airlines' WorldPerks members can donate $50 to the Red Cross and receive 500 miles in return.
Future of Medley Centre: Customers would come to unique stores ...
The next owner, Scott R. Congel, a principal with The Pyramid Cos., has significant experience running malls in New York and Massachusetts. And like Medley Centre, many of these malls face competition from other local malls. The Palisades Center in West Nyack, for example, succeeds despite competition from stores in nearby New York City and New Jersey. I've visited this mall myself, being drawn by its sheer size and offerings including an ice skating rink, bowling alley and restaurants not found in Rochester. I visited Medley Centre this past weekend, and it is a beautiful mall. The two-story design is more modern than that of other local malls and looks more like the malls where I am used to shopping near Boston and Washington, D.C. Eastview Mall is nice but it's one story. So, how many people do you know drive from one end of the mall to the other in order to avoid having to walk a long distance carrying heavy bags? The idea that there is a crime problem at Medley Centre is a joke.
Neu Markt public improvement funding plan OK'd
The Madison County Board of Supervisors approved a special financing plan on Monday that will pump $20 million into public improvements for a planned outlet mall near Gluckstadt.
The $180 million Neu Markt shopping center will be built on Madison County School District-owned land on the west side of I-55 at the south Nissan interchange.
The tax increment financing (TIF) plan will be used for roads, water and sewer improvements on the site, said Chris Gouras, an advisor to Gluckstadt School Properties, the development company.
The bonds will be paid off over 20 years using a portion of the proceeds generated by the increase in ad valorem taxes.
The city of Canton is holding a public hearing Tuesday on the same TIF plan.
Canton is proposing to annex the land that will hold the shopping center at the developers' request.
Port’s revival hinged on a few crucial actions
It was 1960. In Washington, D.C., Ike held the White House, with John Kennedy and Richard Nixon each hoping to be the next to occupy the Oval Office. In Massachusetts, Democrat Foster Furcolo was governor, trying to deal with the fading of the post-war economic boom, striking unions, rusting industrial complexes and fleeing manufacturers taking jobs with them as they left for friendlier business environments.In Newburyport, the economy and historic downtown center were crumbling. Local merchants, like Byron Matthews running his family's market, were holding their own, but other businesses had already fallen by the financial wayside. Al Zabriskie had been elected mayor. His theme was "A better Newburyport for all people." Setting a nine-point agenda, he promised "action and progress, rather than words and stagnation." His plan included open government, better schools, more off-street parking, a search for new industries and urban renewal of the downtown.George Lawler, then 33 years old, was president of the City Council.On High Street, the well-respected cardiologist Dr.
Privacy 2000: In Web We Trust?
A year and a half ago we took a comprehensive look at privacy abuses on the Net. Today, with e-commerce booming, the situation is worse. Daniel Tynan In the real world, nobody knows what TV commercials you watch or which sitcoms you surf. When you go strolling through the mall, no one's making note of the stores you visit or the clothes you try on. But on the Internet, Web sites are doing all of this and more. And that makes some people mad as hell. Jeffrey Wilens is so outraged that he filed a class action suit against RealNetworks for allegedly violating his and other consumers' privacy. The attorney from Mission Viejo, California, claims in his suit that the company's RealJukebox software secretly recorded the titles of music CDs and MP3 tracks he played on his PC, then sent the data back to RealNetworks--creating a detailed profile of Wilens' musical tastes.
Manteca plans to lure stores
That's good news for numerous Manteca residents who have been starving for sit-down restaurants, more shopping opportunities and other services so they don't have to drive to Modesto, Stockton or Tracy. Manteca's elected leaders heard those requests loud and clear. They also don't like the idea that there is a large "retail bleed" of people leaving Manteca to spend consumer dollars. "We (as council members) get calls all the time from people who want certain businesses in Manteca," said Manteca Mayor Willie Weatherford. That's why the City Council Monday night sitting as the Manteca Redevelopment Agency commission, directed staff to include in next year's RDA budget spending upwards of $135,000 on demographic research and services necessary to target and lure specific types of retail, restaurants, lodging, and hospitals.
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