I want to live my life with the optimism of the person who left my daughter Buck Wheat a one-minute and 45-second long voice mail.
THE Lanyard!
The lanyard was first introduced during the 15th century; the woven neck straps originally made of leather allowing French pirates and soldiers to climb their ship’s masts or enter combat while leaving both hands free for their respective tasks.
With the passage of more than 600-years lanyards have found new uses, becoming corporate memorabilia more likely to hold an ID badge or QR code than musket or cutlass.
Hold My Beer
Of course, it’s not just corporate events who have come to recognize the value of leaving attendees with a free hand. Sporting events have long embraced the lanyard, replacing the scabbard with a clear pocket to hold your ticket, and another inch of advertising space!
Change THE Subject!
It’s hard for me to imagine that any topic is more relevant to paint dealers and other channel stakeholders than the availability and price of paint, and it would seem that you agree! My podcast last week with Clay Fenstermaker, THE Vice president of manufacturing for paint maker Dunn-Edwards, garnering more first-week views than any previous episode.
The dealers I spoke with who viewed the episode expressed gratitude for Clay’s candor. And frustrations that other paint makers have not been so forthcoming with information about product availability and price increases.
Three questions were on the minds of most of the dealers I spoke with this week: How long will paint remain in short-supply? How high will the price of paint go? And, when will Benjamin Moore announce a pricing action?
On the first two questions Clay proffered that barring any recession-tempered reduction in the demand for coatings, paint retailers may be in for a challenging time for the next two-years.
And I don’t need Clay to tell me that you’ll be hearing from #DanCalkins before the next federal holiday.
And, How High?
Showing off my skills as an economist, when Bloomberg reported recently that the nation was already in a recession, I agreed with them! Though it’s still too early to tell how “deep” this recession will be and what effect it will have on the demand for paint.
And while nobody in their right mind would ever want a recession on the plus side, hiring should get easier!
But in the absence of a decline in demand, dealers can expect the price of paint to continue to rise until the TiO2 market can replace what has been destroyed or sanctioned due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The point made recently when the country’s fourth largest paint manufacturer RPM announced a 28% price increase!
THE Lanyard–A Reprise
Among the lanyards and ticket stubs of my collection was evidence of my good fortune as a sports fan, aving sat in the bowl for some of my favorite sports’ great moments.
Included among the highlights are an All-Star game, U.S. Open Final, Yankee World Series clinching games in 1996, 2000 and 2009 and game three of the 2001 World Series in THE Bronx when just weeks after terrorists made sure we would never forget the date 9/11, wearing body armor hidden by an “FDNY” sweatshirt President Bush threw out the first pitch to a thundering ovation I can still conjure.
This week my fiancéeic Gaetana and I add another lanyard to the collection as we road trip to Louisville for the 148th running of THE Kentucky Derby. The most exciting two-minutes in sports!
Only 1:59:40 for fans in attendance on May 5, 1973, though they did not feel cheated.
Not wanting to disturb a dream in the process of being fulfilled, I plan to turn my phone and keyboard off for the week, trading them in for mint juleps.
I won’t be posting any new content next week, though I will have new episode of “In THE News” on Thursday of this week.
If you're looking for me on Saturday, I should be easy to find!
