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Christmas in July
Some U.S. retailers are trying to get shoppers to buy early for Christmas - really early - by selling Santa in July. Retailers, The Associated Press notes today, ran Christmas promotions in September during the recession, trying to lure shoppers into the stores. Now, Sears, Toys R Us and Target are all promoting "Christmas in July" online. Toys R Us and Sears had success with this last year, the news agency said, and Target is getting in on it this year, launching a one-day online sale Friday.
“We really wanted to create that sense of excitement, that sense of urgency,” said a Target spokeswoman told the news agency.
Some retailers think July is too far ahead. “Customers don't like it when you push Christmas too early,” Mike Boylston, J.C. Penney's chief marketing officer, told AP.
Onex, CPPIB eye Tomkins
Here's something a bit different. Onex Corp. OCX-T and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board are teaming up to consider a bid of £2.9-billion, or about $4.5-billion (U.S.), for British auto parts company Tomkins PLC. Tomkins said today that due diligence by the Canadian suitors is at an advanced stage. In a twist of sorts, Onex and CPPIB have the right to reduce the offer price if the board agrees, Tomkins said. Reuters noted that the move by the Canadian group is the latest example of North American suitors tryingt to take advantage of the softness of the pound.
Lockout sidelines Port of Montreal
Shippers at the Port of Montreal have locked out about 900 longshoremen, halting virtually all operations but for grain silos. The Maritime Employers Association, which represents ship owners, operators and agents, stevedoring contractors and terminal operators, said last night it was taking the action given the union's "refusal to acknowledge the urgency of the matter as well as the need to radically amend the collective agreement." Union "pressure tactics," it said, were begin to affect the port's operations. The union said the lockout was "incomprehensible."
Mystery cocoa buyer identified
A British hedge fund manager has made a massive bet on cocoa, buying up more tha 240,000 tonnes of beans last week, an amount reports said is the equivalent of "the whole of Europe's cocoa." The buyer wasn't identified on Friday when the trade, the biggest in about 14 years, was made and sparked a jump in the price to the highest since 1977. But reports today identified him as Anthony Ward, co-founder of Armajaro Holdings. The New York Times said the hedge fund now owns enough cocoa to turn out 5.3 billion quarter-pound chocolate bars and, according to Reuters, has sparked fears of a supply crunch in September. Cocoa production has fallen shy of demand for four years running, The Financial Times said, and low supplies could push up prices that already have jumped dramatically.
Armajaro purchased July cocoa futures and held them until they expired Thursday, taking control of the beans, The Financial Times said. Mr. Ward, dubbed "Choc Finger" by Britain's tabloids, is known to be bullish on cocoa. He would not comment, reports said, but the amount is said to be equal to 7 per cent of global annual production.
