The most important lesson in business is
You are your own worst enemy.
Nobody, no competition, no nothing will hurt you as much you will hurt yourself.
The youth jobless rate in Greece has just reached a mind-boggling 64.9%
Europe did austerity. The U.S. did monetary expansion. Look at the different results:
Back home, I’m warming to Sprouts Farmers Market, kinthe genre of Whole Foods Trader Joes.
They’re a new IPO. I’ve been reading their S1 — Click here. Here are two charts from the S-1:
The stock came at $18. It’s now $39 and change. Will it get any cheaper? I hope so. But I doubt it. Look at the chart. There seems to be a floor just below where it is now:
I owuld have loved to get some stock on the IPO. But it was a Goldman Sachs deal. And those guys have told me in no uncertain terms that I will never be allocated even one share of one of their IPOs because they reserve them for clients (I’m a Goldman client), who do more business with them and don’t write nasty things about them on the Internet — like I occasionally do. Essentially this means Goldman did their institutional clients a huge favor by selling them stock one day at $18, which they could sell the following day at $40. In doing so, of course, they screwed Sprouts, the company, out of many millions of dollars they could have used for expansion. But who’s complaining — just me.
Suffice, I’m still interested in Sprouts, the stock. What I don’t know is what their stores are like. They’re all in the west. I haven’t been in one. Hence I’m asking my observant readers to go shop at Sprouts this weekend and tell us all if Sprouts is going to be the next Whole Foods.
My teeth suck. I play “Where’s the only live tooth in my mouth?” It’s a variation of Where’s Waldo?
“Are my teeth are disaster?” I ask my dentist?
He ponders and answers, “No Harry, they’re an annuity..”
For him and his children’s education.
I’m obsessed with teeth and gums.
Men’s Journal is another of the men’s magazines (like Men’s Fitness), which I love. They just did a big six part piece on gums. It begins:
You can and should read the rest of the piece. Click here.
Notice my nice white plastic teeth.
Harry Newton has a friend who sends him 37 gloom and doom emails each day. Most have to do with how Obama is driving us to rack and ruin. This morning I emailed him, “Please send some positive, happy articles, for a change. It’s raining and grey where I am.”
He sent me this — a happy face on a drone armed with Hellfire missiles. Such joy.
The photo was photoshopped, I hope. We couldn’t be that tasteless. Could we?
A friend is ancient. This is what he says he’s learned — to ponder this weekend.
1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
2. My wild oats are mostly enjoyed with prunes and all-bran.
3. I finally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart.
4. Funny, I don’t remember being absent-minded.
5. Funny, I don’t remember being absent-minded.
6. If all is not lost, then,where the heck is it ?
7. It was a whole lot easier to get older, than to get wiser.
8. Some days, you’re the top dog; some days you’re the hydrant.
9. I wish the buck really did stop here; I sure could use a few of them.
10. The world only beats a path to your door when you’re in the bathroom.
Enjoy the weekend. I hope the weather is better where you are.
Sprouts is to Whole Foods what Radio Shack is to Best Buy… meah
i live within walking distance of SPROUTS. i won’t shop there anymore. they r not only expensive, but they can’t b trusted & r liers in my opinion!
I recently became a regular shopper at Sprouts, giving up on Von’s after decades. I’ll never go back. Good fish selection, although most of what I buy is produce (I’ve been happy with quality) and bulk grains (steel cut oats, quinoa, and lentils). I haven’t shopped at Whole Foods for comparison. Good prices on their sale items, which I can find online and plan before I go to the store (clean and attractive). I’m a happy customer.
here r my comments on sprouts: I shop there all the time but in contrast to “lucky” I find that their produce (many times) is lacking in freshness. I once entered their warehouse at the nearby store and found that some of the produce was not maintained in cool conditions (which is a must here in Austin…). as a result, they throw out lots of spoiled vegies and fruit as soon as they put it on the shelf, since no one buys it… other times they do not stock adequate quantities and r out of stock of produce. yes, they r much cheaper than WFM but u cannot compare the quality of the merchandise. Lately, though, I found that SFM’s prices have escalated and r getting close to other major supermkts in the area (e.g., HEB).. I also don’t think that they utilize their limited real estate adequately..they try to sell vitamins which occupy a respected area and every time I come to the store that area seems empty. bottom line, I still shop there since I am cheap…
Harry…Sprouts is a FANTASTIC store…we shop them frequently in Arizona. They are clean! Their vegetables are “always” fresh! They cut their own meats! They bake many of their own breads! They have the very best quality and prices beating their poor competition super markets by a mile! They have a descent selection of wines…I once wrote about their 72 hour sale on Mateus wine for $3.12 per bottle if you bought 6 bottles. Can’t compare to Whole Foods as we do not have a store within 30 miles of us, in The Valley. All our friends and everyone we have ever heard comment on Sprouts…love their stores. Their huge, in-shell stuffed clams are the best we have ever eaten and are often on sale for $1. each.
It would appear that like any other business…quality depends on the in-store management. Maybe we are just lucky…we are halfway between two Sprouts stores and enjoy shopping at both.