Israel Style

Today we walked around Tel Aviv and went to the Art Museum here and also the stores, grocery, and cafes.

What I really liked was seeing it up close and not from the back of a tour bus. 

After just a day or so, I started to feel like I was really experiencing life here. 

Crossing Menachem Begin Road, we ran into these fashion-conscious ladies. 

The colorful clothes and hair, the tall blue shoes, the ripped leggings of the women on the left definitely stood out.

Juxtaposed is the lady on the right in the black dress, short haircut, bag, and glasses. 

This pair was a standout!

In a way, I miss the Holy lifestyle of Jerusalem here in Tel Aviv, but at the same time, I like the cosmopolitan and modern life here too.

Anyway, I feel like I am learning a lot and enjoying experiencing culture and religion Israel-style. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Israel Style

@Sawgrass Mills Mall

Thought these alligators were pretty cute at Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Florida. 

Sawgrass with over 300 stores and outlets is the 10th largest mall in America. 

And much of it is very upscale--apparently, the economy is very good for some people.

By the time, we got out of there, my head was spinning with sampling the stores and merchandise.

It was a delightful retreat to pass some nice outdoor eateries by the Colonnade with these creative and colorful alligators. 

Remember most of this place was built on Everglades swamp, so there are plenty of real alligators to go around. 

My favorites from these:

#4 - Forever Glades

#7 - The colorful blue, pink, and orange gator.

#9 - Relax and Rejoice

What are yours?

Not sure, why I took #1--the watermelon alligator--in the other direction, but it adds effect and I hope you enjoyed these. ;-)

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

@Sawgrass Mills Mall

Turkish Lights

Just wanted to share these beautiful Turkish lights that I found in Hollywood, Florida. 

We had a delicious lunch at L'Chaim Asian Cuisine and Steak House--the honey chicken was to die for--OMG, it was like candy!

Afterwards, we walked about the shopping strip there and came across this store with these amazing lights. 

It was a hookah (not hookers!) store which I am completely not interested in, having never smoked a cigarette or anything my entire life--true!

But these light were gorgeous. 

I took these pictures and was even tempted to buy one--loved the colors and happiness of them. 

Held off for now, too many nice things, especially since we then followed up with a day trip to Sawgrass Mills today--what an unbelievably huge shopping and outlet mall.

I know it must definitely be time to head home soon, because the shopping experience down here is wearing me down--just kidding, but it's definitely a paradise not only for the beach, but for the shopping fun as well. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Turkish Lights

Amazon + Teva = A Marriage Made In Heaven

Amazon has upended so many industries--and you can basically buy almost anything there.

And yes, what you can't buy today, you will be able to buy tomorrow. 

What started as books and DVDs is now virtually synonymous with e-Commerce itself!

Next up for Amazon is pharmaceuticals!

Some people may think that Whole Foods gives Amazon the footprint it needs to sell these and dominate.

But what people aren't considering is that Amazon can sell the pharmaceuticals online.

Amazon can do what other online drug distributors can't.

Why?

Because Amazon has the most unbelievable distribution network in the world. 

Currently, people can order drugs through the mail, but these tend to be for regular reoccurring prescriptions that have lead time. 

However, Amazon can outdo these mail order pharma companies, because they can get you the drugs you need when and where you need it. 

- You don't feel well and can't make it to CVS, Amazon will deliver to your door. 

- Need same-day delivery, no problem. 

- Plus do all your shopping together in one fell timesaving swoop. 

My prediction: 
Amazon the low cost, efficient online seller of everything to everywhere is going to partner with Teva Pharmaceuticals, the #1 world leader in low cost generic drugs.

Teva already produces 120 billion tablets and capsules every year, operates in 80 countries, and currently fills 1 in 6 generic prescriptions in the U.S. 

Together, Amazon and Teva can make beautiful music, that is medicine + money!

Who needs CVS when pharmaceuticals perhaps soon can be gotten at Whole Foods or at your Trusty Amazon.com.  

One more time, I see some radical disruption--and this time it will bring you cheaper and more convenient drugs--make a l'chaim to your health. ;-)

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)

(Endnote: I am a big fan + investor in Teva, and of course, all opinions here are my own.)

Amazon + Teva = A Marriage Made In Heaven

Camera Of Life

So this open-door market has no workers there.

Someone comes in to stock the shelves periodically, and that's it!

It's completely automated of workers, and only has this automated kiosk for check-out. 

As you shop, there are cameras watching you, so you don't steal anything. 

Then you go to the checkout and like in other stores, you scan you items and pay with your credit card, but the difference is that it's without anyone else around at all.

Can you imagine someone would leave there business and there is no one watching you, except the cameras.

You're on your honor system. 

Just think how much money the owner saves by not having to stand there or hire someone to stand there all day. 

He can have 10 or 100 or 1,000 of these stores and no daily labor to pay for. 

Talk about people losing their jobs to automation and robotics!

So even if someone does steal 1 or 2 things, it's a minor loss to the owner compared to paying someone to stand there and check people out all day (salary, benefits, payroll taxes, workers comp insurance, and more). 

What if the camera isn't even real and it's just a dark cone, so you are just left to think that you're being surveilled...another savings for the owner. 

Now imagine if we all internalized this thought in life that we were under the watchful eye of our Maker, and everyone would do the right thing even when no one else was there watching. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Camera Of Life

Survey The Performance

So I was in the Apple store recently and made a purchase to upgrade some technology.

Afterwards, I got an email asking:

"How was your experience with Beverly?

When I opened this my wife saw this and was like, "What the heck is that?!"

We should be surveying the work performance and not the experience with the person.

I can't imagine that super smart Apple didn't see this sort of double entendre about sweet Beverly.

All Apple needed to do was add in the word(s) at the top, shopping and/or at Apple, as in "How was your shopping experience with Beverly at Apple? (rather than burying it in the subtext later)"

But then their customer satisfaction survey maybe wouldn't get as much attention.

Sexualizing the customer experience shouldn't be part of marketing, unless maybe your purposely visiting a shady part of town for unscrupulous reasons. 

Anyway, I did respond that Beverly was a definite 5!

Thank you for the wonderful technology Apple and for the experience with Beverly--it was great! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Survey The Performance

I'm Telling You They're Really New

So I ordered a pair of swim fins to replace a pair that recently ripped in the pool. 

I went online and ordered a brand NEW pair. 

A few days later, the fins arrive in an envelope (no box). 

Already sort of terrified at what I will find in this strange bag, I slowly open it up, and find a completely disgusting dirty, scuffed, USED pair of fins with no tags or packaging. 

Ew...I am so grossed out and contact the vendor right away to return these, but instead of customer service, I got a boat load of b.s. and chutzpah.

They made a million excuses, tried to make me feel bad, and basically refused to provide for a return, saying that the product is not really used, that it just got dirty in the mail and on the trucks and all, and I just have to clean them off a little!

When I question them about why there was no box or packaging, they say, "Oh that, well we take it out of the box, so we can ship it more cheaply for you! 

I said, "What right do you have to take it out of the packaging when I ordered it new--maybe I want the packaging or need to give the item as a gift?"

Then they go on to give me an ear-full about about the high cost of shipping and that I should thank them for removing the packaging to the keep costs down (but the problem is that they were trying to keep costs down in more ways than one here). 

They continue to berate me as well about how I should be more understanding as to the dirt and scuff marks, since it's no big deal, because when I put it in the pool, the water and the chlorine will wash it off and kill all the germs anyway!

After patiently taking this abuse for a while, I went online and saw that others had the same experience with this merchant--getting sent used goods in the mail that had been advertised and paid for as new.  

Now I had had it up to HERE, and I promptly did my duty and went online to give them an appropriate customer review to help others from getting cheated like this in the future. 

Guess what happens next? 

They email me to tell me that they took note of my feedback and not that they are sorry about what happened and want to fix it, but that "We will never ship to you again." 

My wife explodes laughing...mwahahahahaha--like who would ever want to go back and do more business with these crooks. 

People are absolutely crazy out there.

Caveat emptor (buyer beware) a million times.  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

I'm Telling You They're Really New

Beautiful Florida

(Source Video: Andy Blumenthal)

Beautiful Florida

Weighing The Evidence

Here is an interesting idea.

In front of the inner doors to this supermarket in Florida...

There is a huge scale for weighing yourself.

Before you shop for the mac and cheese, hero sandwiches, pizza slices, cookies, cakes, ice cream, and chips, why not have a look at the scale!

Then decide what you want to buy in the supermarket today.

Maybe you'll spend a little more time and money in the fruit and vegetable isle.

Or getting some healthy and diet snacks.

The scale only goes up to 300 pounds.

So if that that doesn't scare you straight...

Maybe the fact that everyone can see your weight when you get on, will. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Weighing The Evidence

Paint Can Art

Thought this was pretty cool art in Anthropologie in Washington, DC.

It was different paint cans attached to the wall in the store in a colorful display. 

To go with this paint theme, they also had paint brushes (dry of course, but they looked wet with colored paint) hanging from the ceiling. 

Anyway, in the back of the store, there was a beautiful new rug that I got for my daughter--it was a real find (and sort of looks like this paint display in terms of colors, but very refined and feminine for her with gorgeous flowers and a rich texture).  

Anyway, she loved it and I ended up getting a pretty good deal on it, so I was happy too. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Paint Can Art

Bodega D.C.

This little deli and grocery in downtown D.C. always reminds me of the spanish bodegas back in NYC. 

The smallish store has just a couple of aisles of stuffed shelves of all sort of fast food eatsies. 

Usually not very organized, but more like you see something from all the grab it type foods and drinks and just go for it. 

Signs are handwritten and taped on to shelves, doors, and counters. 

Food packages jut out from shelves into the aisles and frequently get knocked down by customers on to the floors of the narrower aisles. 

Pour your own cup of coffee or softdrink.

Sandwiches in the back are freshly made while you wait and come heaping with toppings and the price written with a black marker on the celaphane wrapping. 

The store is laidback and informal with the proprietor at the counter reading from his newspaper as people come by to check out and he looks up between paragraphs.

Very working class and for students in the area, the lines can get long to the door at lunch hour. 

A little unkept and no place to sit and dawdle--this is a get in and get out little neighborhood store. 

A big contrast with the cookie-cutter chain stores and franchises--this is mom and pop style. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Bodega D.C.

I Think I'll Just Take A Snooze--Right Over Here

This was a funny photo in the mall this weekend. 

We are passing by this mattress store. 

The sign over the bed says:

"See and feel how a Sleep Number bed adjusts to you"

This family is apparently trying out the new mattress. 

They have made themselves quite comfortable--and they sort of just continue to lay there and lay there.

The guy looks like he's watching TV and the mom and daughter are playing something. 

We take a stroll around the mall and eventually (maybe 20 minutes later) pass back by this store.

Guess what? These people are still laying on the mattress, and they haven't budged an inch. 

They don't look homeless or anything. 

Not sure if this Sleep Number is adjusting to them or they are still adjusting to the Sleep Number.

Honey, can you pass the cover. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

I Think I'll Just Take A Snooze--Right Over Here

You're Getting Milked

If you have a pulse and have been to the stores or even shopping online lately (hey, it's the holidays so of course you have), you know that prices are on the rise.

And this is amazing, because--

Major factors point to pricing that should be driven down:

- Commodities--which are the basic raw materials from agriculture to oil and gas and metals and mining--are at a more than 16-year low!

- Manufacturing has moved to low cost sourcing countries (China, India, Vietnam, Africa, etc.)

- Technology continues to benefit us in terms of cost-efficiencies from the transformation to robotics and automation.

Yet, we keep on seeing prices move ever higher:

Just a few examples...

- "Housing market is on fire" with existing home prices exceeding the pre-recession peak!

- "Car prices at records highs - and rising"

- "Food prices are sky high"--it's not your imagination.

- Fashion "prices rising so fast"

- Health care spending is "again accelerating"

- "College costs are so high and rising."

Forget the B.S. of the basket of inflation stats your being feed...you know that your bills are going up, while your income is stagnant.

The real question is why is the middle class always getting milked--whose interest does it serve? ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

You're Getting Milked

Makeup That Leaves You Wondering

So I was in Macy's yesterday doing some holiday shopping for the girls. 

And came across these eye-catching advertisements for MAC cosmetics, especially lipstick. 

The one with the mustache lip and the big gap in the front teeth caught attention--like what in the world is that?  

And the poster with twenty-one different lips certainly let you know that there is quite a bit that makeup can do to express your lips and yourself. 

Overall, thought it was quite an effective advertisement, even if the one with the mustache was a little gender confusing. ;-)

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Makeup That Leaves You Wondering

Trader Joe's Is Growing On Me

I took this photo in Trader Joe's.

I like how organized (and colorful) they are.

A binder for everything...dairy, produce, bread, cereal, meat, cheese, snacks, cookies and candy, frozen goods, beverages, and flowers, , 

Another binder for training...nice, they care about their employees.

And even for donations--another sign proudly stated that the store had donated $925,000 of goods so far this year...that's pretty amazing!

I previously wrote about 10 Reasons To Love Trader Joe's (and 2 to not), but this store is continuing to grow on me. 

Especially with all the healthy eating you can do from there--that's probably the most important reason of all to shop there. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Trader Joe's Is Growing On Me

The Hottest New Jewish Site

Just in time for the New Year you can shop at Jewish fashion site Hot Chani. 

"Sexy things for heimish girls."

Hot Chanis are modest and proper Jewish women who are still unbelievably sexy. 

You can truly be a "good Jewish girl" and feel and be gorgeous inside and out. 

Find your confidence, feel sexy, be beautiful, find love and romance...shop at Hot Chani.

Spice up your New Year and your life.

Be a Hot Chani! ;-)

(Source Photo: HotChani.com)

The Hottest New Jewish Site

Shopping At CVS Florida Style

So I am posting this with permission of my wife.

This is how people walk around in CVS in Florida. 

This is not how people dress in CVS in Washington D.C. even on the hottest August days. 

It is really weird how people seemingly change their entire conception of appropriate and modest dress (code) just because they can. 

I remember when at least people coming off the beach would put on a wrap or towel or something.

Uh, not anymore--the feeling of freedom has been extended quite some to the point of this becoming all too blase. 

Maybe this is similar to the trend of some women in Times Square in New York who are going around topless with nothing but some paint even though there are families with children that frequent that touristy area. 

Perhaps it would be nice to leave a little mystery for everyone involved. ;-)

Shopping At CVS Florida Style

B&N Chairs Are The Pits

So if you ever go to Barnes and Nobles, you'll see that they have the most horribly hard wooden chairs. 

They are so  uncomfortable--many people seem to rather sprawl out on the floor to browse the magazines and books, rather then get a butt bender in those darn chairs. 

Some other people that I've seen now have resorted to placing cushy stuffed animals on the chairs to ease the discomfit on the arse!

I took this picture of someone's chair by the window with 2 stuffed animals left over after what must've been a much needed cushion liner on the the bare wood. 

[BTW, sorry for whoever buys those sat on, smelled on stuffed animals afterwards--ew!]

The question is why invite people in to browse and sit--if you are only going to make them so uncomfortable.

Ok, I get the implicit message, "You can read for a few minutes, but otherwise buy something or get the h*ck out!"

And not that they are wrong (they aren't), but why resort to making people physically uncomfortable and forcing them to leave instead of making everything welcoming and encouraging shopping and sales.

Barnes and Nobles--a nice place to visit for 20 minutes as long as you have some stuffed animals for your butt--but Amazon will reign bookstore supreme. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

B&N Chairs Are The Pits

Customers Gone Stinkin' Wild

I took this photo yesterday in a Home Goods store. 

This is the aisle for rugs and mats. 

And it is a disaster zone!

I asked the clerk (with the orange apron on) knelling on the floor at the end of the aisle if the customers did this.

And he said, "Oh yes!" and he had to clean it all up. 

My G-d, what gets into people? 

It's one thing to shop--pick things up and put them down--but throwing everything all over and trashing the place--stuff on the floors and literally left dangling off the shelves. 

And forgetting for a moment what this does to other people's shopping experience and the potential loss of sales for the store...

How about we think for a moment about the poor guy working in the store to earn a few bucks for his family who now has to go on and his knees to clean up this pigfest? 

Is this really shopping or for some people perhaps it's is a way of venting their anger by choosing to sh*t on the innocent next guy.

Gee whiz folks--can you have a heart? ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Customers Gone Stinkin' Wild

Big Data, Small Moments

There is a definite rhythm to our lives. 

And by analyzing the peak times of Google search terms, we can get a good picture of what it is (as Seth Stephens-Davidowitz notes in the New York Times Sunday Review).

- From starting a new day to taking care of bathroom business, looking for healing, and even goofing off. 

- Midday is some personal time for shopping, travel plans, and a news update. 

- The evening is a nice dinner and maybe some sexual intimacy.

- The night time is scariest with anxiety about health, leading to panic and thoughts of suicide, and easing off with drugs and pornography. 

- As we roll towards the early hours of the next day, we have a philosophical reawakening with contemplation about the meaning of life and our place in it. 

If we can get all this just from some data analytics of Google search terms, can you imagine what else we can learn about the masses and YOU, the individuals that make it up. ;-)

(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal)

Big Data, Small Moments