The Economy

Private equity claims another

Party City shutting down, will fire employees

 

Just curious. Why buy a steel company? Do you think Trump's tariffs will spark a cyclical rebound.

 

Met an executive with the company during deer season. Had a good discussion over some malted beverages. In addition, the family that owns it also owns the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Politics wasn't a factor.

 

More importantly, how was deer season?

 

LOL! I'm sorta from the Russ Grimm School of Hunting.
"So, what the hell (belch) did you guys bring back to eat?"
Not much.

 

That was me this year. A couple mornings I didn’t roll out of bed until almost 9. I’d make breakfast for the morning shift hunters, then I’d mosey out around 11 for a nap in a tree stand.

 

I caught three blues this morning. All I can contribute at the moment.

Well, that and just checking my shopping email and realized my inbox volume will happily decrease once Big Lots closes shop.

 

I don’t even think about the possibility of a holiday bonus anymore.

Closest thing I’ve had to one in the past 15 years was when our shop had a few extra $25 gift cards to a local grocery store. Everyone in the newsroom got one!

 

We have a handful of coworkers in the Philippines and we abide by the local custom of giving them a “13th month” bonus - equivalent to a month’s pay prorated for how many months you’ve been with the company.
My co-owner and I decided it was only fair to do a similar thing for their US colleagues but we cap it at 10%.

 

There is an upside to all your hospital visits costing tens of thousands of dollars. It means I get a large check in profit sharing every Christmas. My son thanks you for the giant Paw Patrol Big Truck Pups set due to your $19,000 colonoscopy.

 

Our paper also sent out a letter that explained how tough times were, how much newsprint had risen, how much ad revenue was down, but the family had worked hard to secure us a Christmas bonus in the form of a $6 turkey we could pick up at the local grocery store (which of course, they got on ad trade out). It was basically a form letter year in and year out.

This was early 2000s. An old timer laughed one day and brought in a Christmas bonus letter from the 1950s that was nearly word-for-word the exact same letter. The only difference was the date, and it had the father's signature instead of the son's.