In the news this week were announcements of price
increases. This is not new or stunning
in anyway, in fact it’s become somewhat expected that a few times per year
prices would be raised. But this past spring
when we had a price increase I was alerted by an industry insider to look at
all of the increases and add them up over the last few years. So I did… I went back to 2011 and added it
all up. Using all of these increases,
clear glass should be at least 30% higher today than it was then. Is it?
There are a few different angles at play here. First off I believe we need to have higher
prices, we have higher costs (and trust me from my current health care
experience, wait until next year for those costs to explode) and the cost of
doing business just continues to expand, so getting more for the product is a
must. Are we basically we’re our own
worst enemy if we’re not getting mark ups that are needed? And yes there are
surely two sides to this story, but I’m just throwing it out there, adding the
numbers up surely gets you to think.
Elsewhere…
-- I am really excited about the interest in my 2013 Industry
MVP award. Great feedback and some
additional candidates added. Now I am
even thinking about getting a cool glass award done for the winner. After all, a most valuable person should get
something to remember this award by!
-- Happy Birthday to my mom… hope you have a great one and many
many more!
-- I am doing some research into various trade groups within
our industry and I am specifically looking for regional glass and metal trade
groups. Examples would be like the
Colorado Glazing Contractors Association and Washington Glass Association. If you know of any, please drop me a
line.
-- I saw on GlassMagazine.com this week that the DOE could be
offering up to 1.6 million in funding to rate and certify the energy
performance of commercial and residential window attachments. The funding is subject to congressional
appropriations which means it may not happen.
In any case, I am not sure it’s a great usage of public money. While some of the money may be earmarked for
actual technology, it is not known how much of it will be, and right now we
need technology advancements more than rating.
And in the end, wouldn’t the NFRC just take that portion over
anyway? I would rather see funding go to
companies for R&D with milestones set for these companies to reach to
trigger additional support. Otherwise,
great ideas will die on the vine.
-- Last this week, Veterans Day is here and I just ask to please
think about supporting a veteran through charitable giving. These brave men and women fight for our way
of life daily and they deserve as much support as we can offer.
LINKS of the WEEK
-- What is AirBNB and ETSY and are they good or not?
-- A Pittsburgh man thinks he’s a dog. Yep.
What a society we live in!
VIDEO of the WEEK
And how about this a car salesman with some solid dance
skills..
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