Based on 2009 Census Dept data, 7 of the 10 U.S. counties with the highest median incomes are located in the DC metro area.
The old Fed government ‘halo’ is shining …
Archive for December 8th, 2010
Where the high earners live … on average, that is.
December 8, 2010A very soft sell from Ikea in China
December 8, 2010TakeAway: Even though the average Chinese consumer can’t afford most of the furniture in Ikea, the company is encouraging potential customers to spend a lot of time in its stores.
Eventually when individual purchasing power catches up to China’s macroeconomic growth, the company hopes to be top-of-mind for that new bed or sofa.
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Excerpted from Bloomberg Businessweek, “In Ikea’s China Stores, Loitering Is Encouraged,” by Michael Wei, October 28, 2010
Yang Shuqi paces the aisles of an Ikea store in Beijing, looking for a “small bed with toys.” She’s not planning to buy one—her grandson Beibei just needs to take a nap.
Unfortunately on this Saturday afternoon, every bed in the 43,000-square-meter (463,000-square-foot) store is occupied, with some children and adults fast asleep under the covers.
Managers at the Swedish furniture retailer don’t mind. They figure that the more customers choose to relax in its Western-style showrooms or grab a cheap snack at the in-store restaurants, the more likely they’ll be to make a purchase once their incomes catch up with their aspirations. …
Ikea plans to more than double the number of its stores on the mainland by 2015, to 18, on a bet that incomes in China will continue growing at a fast clip. (Per-capita gross domestic product has more than tripled in the past decade alone). …
Market researcher Euromonitor International expects China’s home-furnishings market to surge 17 percent this year, to $28 billion. “Government stimulus spending and favorable policies toward retailing and consumer lending have encouraged overall retail growth in China,” says Alex Liu, a Euromonitor analyst in Shanghai. Ikea, which has been in China since 1998, doesn’t break out sales for the country; Euromonitor figures the Swedish retailer has the biggest share of China’s home-furnishings market, at about 7 percent. …
Even after years of record-breaking economic growth, however, China’s per-capita gross national income ranked 120th by purchasing power last year, according to the World Bank. So, for now, there’s a lot more looking than buying for many Ikea visitors. At the Beijing store, Xu Nan, a 22-year-old college student, had one of her friends snap a photo of her lounging on a black Vreta sofa that sells for 7,999 yuan ($1,197)—the equivalent of one-third of China’s annual per-capita GDP. …
Edit by DMG
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Full Article
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_45/b4202022164114.htm
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When you’re transacting on line … here’s a security tip.
December 8, 2010On web sites that require a password, make sure the web address (URL) starts with “https://” not “http://”.
The “S” in https means “secure”.
Without the “S”, you risk having your password stolen.
Don’t risk it.
The Homa Files 