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Packers Shutout Means Free Furniture

Gotta love the customer satisfaction here!!!

Roughly 150 shoppers will be reimbursed for leather sofas, china cabinets, kitchen tables and beds bought during a wacky Labor Day promotion that unexpectedly paid off at World Furniture Mall in Plano. They owe nothing, and they owe it all to the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers and Randy Gonigam. “We’ve been pretty busy. Lots of very happy customers have been calling us,” said Gonigam, owner of World Furniture at 5606 W. Route 34.

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M & A Lotto

Josh Kopelman has another great post challenging conventional wisdom where he says the odds of winning the lottery are better than selling your company to Yahoo! or Google. It’s time for people to stop focusing on Web 2.0 and focus on real businesses that satisfy real unmet needs which also can be profitable.

On another note, congrats to Josh on winning the 2006 Joseph Wharton Award for Young Leadership!!!

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Marshall Field’s Sentiment has Blogosphere Legs

Yesterday’s loud announcement of a Macy’s boycott (forward via e-mail to friends) and destruction of new Macy’s credit cards to loud cheers shows that customers aren’t satisfied with Macy’s decision to remove and destroy the Marshall Field’s (and other) brand name. If Federated’s CEO Mr. Terry Lundgren and board of directors thinks this strong feelings of people are going to go away on this they are wrong. Since traditional newspapers get significant advertising revenue from Federated they have little incentive to push the true story (notable exception: big props to P.J. Huffstutter of the LA Times), this is a job for bloggers to work to reduce the store’s sales and eventually force Federated to sell these stores to someone who will change the name back to Marshall Field’s. This may take months or even years, but it can happen!

Notice all the blog posts out there, the conversation is only starting to link, bond and discuss (use “Macy’s boycott” and “Marshall Field’s” in your posts/tags): Dauber’s Chicago Blog, The Budget Fashionista,  baka_duo_neka, ikam, Temporary Trouble Spots, All-American Girl’s Road Trip, etc…

The Chicagoist.org also recently reported Macy’s doesn’t even know what street it’s located on!!!

Stay tuned to fieldsfanschicago.org and the blogosphere for more info. Rumor has it Macy’s is seeking a variation to put up a large neon sign and that there is a zoning committee meeting on September 15, 2006 at Chicago City Hall regarding this eyesore. Contact your Alderman and ask that this be stopped!

Macy’s is not what the lady (customer) wants, she wants Marshall Field’s (other flickr photos):

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Marshall Field’s – Always Alive in Our Hearts

Though the name Marshall Field’s survived 154 years, two major fires and one flood of it’s basement, those heartless people at Federated Department stores have already killed Marshall Field’s and it’s web site – a full day early! OK, for those of you not in Chicago, some “branding geniuses” thought changing the name of Marshall Field’s after 154 years to Macy’s was a good idea, but it’s isn’t, wasn’t and never will be. You can see the hatred in Chicago blogs. See the outpouring of emotion on this issue here and here and well you get the idea already.

Please join us to witness anger, tears and protest at 9AM Saturday in front of the Marshall Field’s State Street store!

200px-Marshall_Field's_logo.svg

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Tumi – Big Thumbs Up!!!

My Tumi laptop bag strap wore out recently. I called Tumi’s 800 number regarding their lifetime guarantee and within a week, a new strap arrived at no charge on a 6 year old item!!! Yes Tumi is more expensive, but the service level justifies it based on their actions after this phone call.  

It’s great to see a company that stand behind their product and are customer focused like this, it’s all to rare.  So please join me in showing Tumi some love as an example of a company that sets the bar in how to treat customers.

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Future CEO Hired Outside of Industry

In a smart move, Ford hired outside it’s own industry for it’s next CEO.

Imagine that, hiring someone for their knowledge and competencies, realizing that fresh perspectives are necessary to lead in a different way and solve unique and complex problems. Great article and a better decision. Are you listening search engine and interactive marketing leadership and boards of directors?

Good luck, Alan Mulally, you are taking on an immense challenge.