Tag Archives: fred meyer

Business/Economics, Idaho, Opinion

Washington Unions & city officials opposed to employee owned WinCo! It’s not evil crony Walmart man, it’s employee owned WinCo!

31 May 2013 (14:51 UTC-07 Tango)/21 Rajab 1434/10 Khordad 1391/22 Ding-Si (4th month) 4711

“Bellingham will not win with the opening WinCo…..It is an unfortunate ‘race to the bottom’ for jobs, wages and benefits in Bellingham.”-Jack Weiss, an obviously ignorant Bellingham city council member

I’ve been shocked to learn of a growing anti-WinCo movement in Bellingham, Washington.  It involves unions and some city council members.

They claim WinCo will crash local wages, and hurt other businesses.  On the first count, WinCo actually pays well, damn good in fact.  And the benefits are considered some of the best in the whole U.S. of A.

My ex-wife worked for WinCo for at least a decade, she admitted to me many times that it was the best damn job she ever had (considering she never finished high school, at one point she was making more money than me).  She loved the medical benefits!  She also loved the employee ownership of WinCo stocks.

My eldest daughter is working for WinCo, nine years now, and she’s extremely happy with her income and benefits, especially since she sees what’s going on with the rest of the grocery industry.  She was started several dollars an hour above minimum wage (a WinCo policy. WinCo’s pay policy is also adjusted according to region) and gets periodic raises.  She’s now making more money than her mother did while she was working for WinCo.  She also loves the medical/retirement benefits and the employee ownership of the company through stocks.  That’s the real threat to unions, they don’t own the company.

As far as hurting other businesses, I know another Idaho based grocery store, Albertsons, went down, but not because of WinCo, but partly because of their unions!  The unions forced Albertsons to charge outrageous prices for food.  (There are cases of mom and pop stores going under because of competition from bigger stores, but not any case that could be specifically pinned on WinCo.)

Employee owned businesses threaten both the traditional ‘publicly’ held evil elitist corporations and unions (I think some unions have become a type of evil elitist club).

Employee owned businesses usually have tougher employee work policies, which are voted on by your fellow co-workers so it’s hard to challenge (WinCo employees don’t dare be late to work, and if you’re sick for more than one day better get a doctors note).  Isn’t that similar to a union, except, once again, the union doesn’t own the company.  Also, no outrageous union dues, in fact WinCo employees get back more in their medical/retirement/stock benefits than what the average union member gets from their union!

A weakness is that it is possible for the employee owned business to be tricked into becoming a publicly held company, which would open the door to Romney style vulture capitalists.

In Pocatello, the new WinCo 117 recently opened up across the street from the ‘new’ Fred Meyer, yet I don’t see any sign that Fred Meyer is being adversely affected by the new expanded WinCo.  Fred Meyer is still just as busy (my other daughter works for Fred Meyer and loves it, employee pay/benefits similar to WinCo but it’s not employee owned), as is the evil Chubbuck Walmart.   I have noticed a lot of out of county and out of state license plates on the vehicles parked in the WinCo 117 parking lot, so it seems the WinCo is actually bringing new customers into the area.

The manager of the Bellingham, Washington, Fred Meyer was asked about any concerns over the idea of a WinCo being built.  His response: “It’s just an additional competitor in town. I’m sure there will be some customers who are price sensitive and will go to WinCo for certain items. But we have the one-stop shopping concept, where WinCo is just the basic food store.”-Bill Pelan, Lakeway Fred Meyer store director

(if Bellingham has a publicly held Fred Meyer, then there’s no excuse for Bellingham not to have an employee owned WinCo!)

Construction/remodeling started on the new Bellingham WinCo on 09 May 2013.  It should be ready to go before the end of the year.

WinCo is proof that employee owners know how to run a company better than unions or corporate elites! 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Occupy America: Gasoline vs Diesel prices, East Idaho gas prices drop while diesel remains the same. International demand means bad news for diesel users

As of November 5, 2011, some of the fuel stations in the Pocatello/Chubbuck area had dropped their gas prices to $3.29 per gallon.  Yet diesel prices remain unchanged, still between $3.99 & $4.09 per gallon.  Local gasoline prices had been falling steady for more than a week now, diesel has not.

fredmeyer november 5 2011

Fred Meyer, Pocatello, Idaho

According to indexmundi diesel commodity prices have been falling ever since prices peaked in July, 2011.  August saw a 5% drop, and September saw another 1% drop.  In September the average daily commodity (New York Harbor Ultra-Low Sulfur No 2 Diesel Spot) price for diesel was $2.98 per gallon.

phillips66

Phillips 66, near Kmart, Pocatello, Idaho

For those of you who continue to believe it has something to do with low sulfur refining, let me remind you that the commodity price is for already refined diesel.

Indexmundi also reports that refined gasoline commodity prices have been falling, also since their peak in July.  Gas (New York Harbor Conventional Gasoline Regular Spot) has actually been falling more then diesel: August saw a 6% drop, September a 2% drop.  The average daily commodity price for gasoline in September was $2.77.

Interestingly, The Associated Press reported in October that wholesale fuel prices went up, which contradicts the indexmundi web site.

Here’s the bad news for diesel users: When we look at the latest November commodity prices diesel has actually gone up; $3.06 as of November 1, versus gasoline commodity prices which were only $2.7o per gallon.

This might explain why diesel pump prices haven’t dropped, and why gasoline pump prices should continue to drop (unless you’re living in an area of the U.S. that’s actually seeing gas prices go up).  The latest diesel commodity prices also indicate that pump prices will probably go up.

In a quick survey of international news stories, it seems diesel prices are going up because of growing demand around the world.

In the Indian state of Manipur, an economic blockade has caused fuel prices to jump by four times, since the blockade started on August 1.  Basically there are people in Manipur that are seeking independence from India.

The Indian government controls the price of fuel in the country (it’s part of how the Indian government generates revenue for itself, and they’re hurting for more revenue), and is trying to hold off on raising diesel prices anymore: “It is always difficult to raise diesel prices as it is widely used by farm sector and industry for transportation. It is not perceived as a luxury fuel.”-Victor Shum, Purvin & Gertz.

On October 25, Reuters reported that China’s busy economy will drive diesel prices upward, and that fuel producers can’t keep up: “In the last 12 months China’s demand for diesel for power generation has been one of the major drivers (of the market). They do tend to step in and stockpile. We are not seeing any significant squeezes yet but this is a supply side story, if we carry on with this current trend we will have some problems in the light, sweet products.  I don’t believe supply can keep pace.“-Tony Hall, Duet Commodities Fund

Don’t forget that Japan has seen half its nuclear power plants shut down since the March 11 disasters.  Japan was almost totally dependent on nuclear power, now they are switching to other forms of generating electricity, and that includes diesel powered generators.

In South Korea demand for fuel, including diesel, has skyrocketed, and the government has approved the opening of 1,300 new fuel stations!  Ironically the South Korean government thinks by opening more fuel stations (thereby increasing demand) they can provide cheaper fuel: “Nonghyup and the KNOC [both government controlled companies] will jointly buy fuel from local refiners or from abroad, so they can be sold to the thrift gas stations. Prices will be kept down further by the gas stations operating on a self-service basis, where the driver fills his or her car.”-South Korean government statement

Another reason for an increase in diesel prices is that petroleum supplies are falling behind.

There is a problem with a refinery in Indeni, Zambia.  The refinery can not meet current standards of fuel refining, and needs U.S.$40 million to become compliant.

In Mexico, oil production has dropped.  In September oil production was 2.863 million barrels per day, the lowest levels since October 1995!

In fact around the world oil production dropped by 7% in September.  More specifically, diesel fuel production dropped by 12.7%!

In an earlier posting I explained how decreased gasoline production was the real reason for gas pump prices going up, now it’s diesel.

Like I said, bad news for diesel fuel users.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

Answer to Idaho Coupon Thieves: Shop at Fred Meyer or Smiths

Recently Idaho newspaper circulation directors speculated that the increase in thefts of newspaper coupons were due, in part, to people trying to save money and deal with high gas prices.

Here’s a solution, that unfortunately for me ends up being free promotion for two stores; shop at Fred Meyer or Smiths.

Both these stores give away thousands of free in store coupons.  Also, if you join their points club (free to join) you get discounts on their already competitive gas prices, and a quarterly rebate based on how much you shop during that quarter.

Actually, at the Fred Meyer in Pocatello, their gas prices are usually the cheapest, even before the points discount for club members (again the club is free to join).   Take advantage, save some money, and don’t be a coupon thief!