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Cold, blistery, snowy, cloudy and gray. Enough of winter. At least we aren’t in Florida where it’s in the 50’s or Texas where it’s in the 40’s.

When smoking ceases in restaurants and bars May 1, how much busier are the casinos going to be which will still allow smoking?

Is Toyota getting the same treatment by Congress that the Big 3 received during it’s request for a bailout?

Can someone come up with a way to create more than 52 Friday’s a year?

How often do you want to pass drivers going 30mph in a 45mph zone because it’s snowing and the roads are clear?

Do you like Sunday brunch as much as me? What is your favorite place? I would tell you mine but I’m always the one making it. One fav: Egg sandwiches. English muffin, turkey bacon, egg whites, tomato, onion, cheese, touch of mayo.

After selling snow, I’m working on my next patent: Stylish neck supports. This is going to be a huge business in 10-20 years as all the X and Y generation kids find out that keeping their head up is painful from years of constantly looking down while texting.

Over half the people who read this blog don’t read others. I wonder why anyone reads this one to begin with.

Tim Horton’s is kicking Starbuck’s butt in Michigan. Looks like donuts are coming back in a big way. BTW: What ever happened to Krispy Kreme? Back in the day, what was better than a hot glazed one?

Happy Friday!

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With Detroit getting 10” this week and NYC getting 13” today and for the first time in history, 49 states in the U.S. covered with snow, I have no idea why no one thought of this brilliant idea before: Snow for sale.

Bottled water is a multi-billion dollar business. Water is free. It rains, water flows, water is bottled. Now I’m going to do the same thing with snow. I’m going to get Dow Chemical to come up with the technology to store snow in its true form so it doesn’t turn to ice or shrivel up and like ice cream, can be stored for years without being opened.

Just think of all the things you can do with snow. Walmart and Target will sell it in their warm climate stores. Schools will use it for art class. A new sport, snow ball throwing, can be added to the Olympics. Dr. Scholl’s can sell it as a cold compress for sore muscles since it’s already frozen.

Coke can use it to sell Frozen Cokes available for home consumption. I even have an idea for it in spas: Ice cold wraps. The body is insulated with a rubber sheet and then covered with snow. The body cools down causing total relaxation, anti-aging and total relief.

I know Wolfgang Puck and Emeril will use snow in recipes from appetizers to desserts. A whole new dessert featuring snow pies will emerge.

Snow will also come in different flavors and since it will be pure, can be eaten. Mom’s can pack snow into their kids lunch boxes for a truly wholesome snack and kids will drink more water because of it.

There are so many more possibilities. I can write about more but I’m off to the patent office to get my patent before someone else does.

Wait. Aspen is calling me. “Mr. Gaynor, we heard about your idea about snow for sale. As you know, we are the world’s most famous ski resort and we want to market Aspen Snow at a premium price. Can you assist us in this project?”

And so it begins. Designer snow.

Happy Thursday!

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What timing. Yesterday I blog about optimism and pessimism and February results are released shortly thereafter that consumer confidence plunged the most in 27 years.

68 EXPERT ECONOMISTS predicted the number to fall in the range of 50-58. The January number was around 56. The actual number came in at around 46. NOT ONE OF THE EXPERTS WAS EVEN CLOSE.

This is exactly what happened in September 2008 when the economy collapsed. Not a single expert in forecasting, banking or politics predicted the course of events that would wipe out trillions and lead to the precariously situation we are in today.

IF THE EXPERTS ARE WRONG, WHAT CHANCE DOES THE REST OF US HAVE?

How much confidence do USA consumers have in Toyota right now? How much confidence do seniors in high school have in U-M’s football program? How much confidence do we have in Obama’s health care proposal passing?

The endgame dictates that we must have confidence to move forward. Gallup Organization includes confidence as one of their four key principles in engagement and this is the lowest one of the four. If we can’t even exude confidence, what chances are that the higher up principles can ever take form: Integrity, Pride, and Passion? Zero.

Consumer’s are saying that they are fed up with political infighting, wars, unemployment, indignant CEO’s, higher taxes and the list goes on.

Locally, two suburban communities, Troy and Clawson, easily rejected millage requests slamming the local communities into action. Residents are saying cut your costs, we have cut ours. People are fed up.

But if we expect government to bail us out, we are all in deeper trouble than we think. We need to take a leap of faith and block out the external crap and focus on our own “confidence” day by day. Here at TNG, we are seeing huge breakthroughs being made in technology, marketing, new products and logistics through individual efforts. This is what we need to move forward.

Right now I’m most excited about a disposable razor. I’ll explain later.

Happy Wednesday!

Do you see the glass as half full or half empty? The photo of the glass is a classic truism, I wonder who came up with it.

Now that we are nearly two months into 2010 and spring is a month away, I thought this would be a good time to measure your confidence in the US economy, personal spending and whether you think 2010 is going to end up better, the same or worse than 2009.

You are an optimist if you think 2010 will end up better than 2009, you are more excited to buy stuff and services and your expectations of what 2010 will bring are good.

You are a pessimist if you think 2010 will be equal to or worse than 2009, you are still not in the mood to buy stuff or services and you see a bleak future ahead of you.

Personally, moving into 2010 I was a mild optimist. Oh yeah, there are levels of each but for today, I’m not going to get into the levels. I think Americans are born optimistic and want to believe in good. Enduring pain is difficult at best and we have always found a way through the decades to feel good about ourselves even in crisis. I’m still on the + side but I am watching international developments in Greece, Spain and Italy and how the euro community, specifically Germany, handles the current mess they are in. This can have negative implications for the US if handled poorly. On the other hand, if they manage this properly, my optimistic meter will move up a notch.

So what will it be for you today? Are you an optimist or pessimist?

Happy Tuesday!

CAN you believe that the Olympics has had more viewers than American Idol only one night since American Idol was launched? That night was last Wednesday when the USA was going for three medals. More Americans under 49 years old would rather watch amateur singers versus athletes that have spent virtually their entire lives training for the moment.

Quick. Can you name this Gold Medalist?

BODE Miller became USA’s biggest Winter medal winner of all time (5) for skiing. Yet by the end of the Olympics, most of us won’t remember his name. But Idol finalists will still be on talk show programs, late night programs and even in the studio.

WITH all the young athletes, I think tying in the Olympics with pro beauty would be a slam dunk. Certainly the OPI Olympic collection would sell out quickly. If OPI can get Disney, why not the Olympics? And how about other players stepping up to the plate to bring more buzz to our industry?

USA has a commanding lead with 24 medals. Canada, the host country, paid millions over the past four years with its goals to win the most medals. In a slap in the face, Canada hasn’t even crossed the double-digit count as of today. Proof positive that the Olympics aren’t about money, but instead harvested talent from years of training and more training.

I have to admit that Curling looks like fun. Shuffleboard on ice, you think by watching that anyone can do it. Hardly. It’s amazing that by sweeping the ice in a certain rhythm, you can actually make the “puck” change direction. And with many rounds, it becomes addicting to watch.

FINALLY, in a time in the world that the USA isn’t highly liked, it’s nice to see the USA kick the world’s butt. When it comes to competition, good thing to see we can be #1 when we set our minds to winning.

Happy Monday!

No business is cool these days unless they have the official Twitter logo AND official Facebook logo on their website’s home page.

As recently as ten years ago, most people opened up the Yellow Pages to find a business that they were looking for along with a phone number. Yellow Pages were a big business for both the phone companies and directory publishers. When was the last time you opened one up?

As recently as five years ago, most people were content that the business they liked had a website, contact info, about us, showed some products and shipped to their home.  While those websites still exist since over half of all e-commerce companies do less than $1 Million in annual sales, they are way behind the curve.

TNG was the first pro beauty company to have a website back in 1995. I cannot tell you how many versions we have gone through but I will brag that our current version is the best one. I also established the first CEO pro beauty blog and to this day, I think I’m still the only one doing it.

But that’s not enough. People love to Tweet on Twitter and post on Facebook. After a bunch of research, we found that what our followers like best to see on theses sites are photos and videos. Now whenever possible, that’s what we are posting. Thanks to our Tweet guy, Eddie, we have it grooving.

Truthfully, all this social networking is a lot of work. People had NO time before this craze, I’m still wondering where they find the time now. Regardless, I have always found hard work is the best source of good luck.

And by all means, please visit us on Twitter and Facebook and post your photo and Tweet/post.

Happy Thursday!

Meet Nick. He is 20, single, living by himself in his parents house (parents moved to Florida), dates older women, smokes all kinds of stuff, works multiple jobs, reads fiction voraciously and most importantly

Has no expectations.

Nick doesn’t own an iPhone although he does have some outdated device that allows him to play games when he is bored. Nick isn’t connected to Facebook, Twitter or the Net. Technology doesn’t excite him. Perhaps it’s because he

Has no expectations.

Nick likes to sleep in late but his working schedule gets him out of bed before 5 during the week. He doesn’t care if he shows up to work on time, ten minutes late or twenty minutes late. Why would he when he

Has no expectations.

Mind you, Nick is smart. He is decent looking, not overweight and can clean up well. He chooses not to work out even though it wouldn’t cost him a penny. You know why by now, Nick

Has no expectations.

Oh, Nick has tried to quit smoking. Nick has tried to do the responsible thing. Nick even knows he can do more and get more out of life. But right now, life is good just the way it is. And when I ask him why, he tells me the truth: He

Has no expectations.

In a world where everything is instant, everyone is connected and personal and professional goals are measured by the minute, Nick (on the outside anyway) beats to a different drummer. Listen, if you one has no expectations, then one is never disappointed about losing, about what other’s think, and what other’s accomplish. Life is easier when one

Has no expectations.

In a way, I feel bad for Nick. If you have been watching the Olympics, then you have been watching athletes with the highest expectations of all—to win Gold. And when they don’t, agony is painful. But without expectations and the occasional victory, life isn’t as much fun and sure, even the best teams don’t win every game. But getting up in the morning and without thinking about a small victory like walking a mile, losing a pound or smoking one less cigarette, what’s the point in getting up? In the end, you end up like Nick. He

Has no expectations.

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome to Mardi’s Gras or Fat Tuesday. It’s also the day of eating 500 calorie fat bombs known in the Polish community as Paczki’s.

Recently I strolled through ULTA to see what their latest signature brands were. As I walked through the store (there was one other customer), I noticed that a good 25% of the items  were out of stock. ULTA is no Sephora when it comes to merchandising.

Pro hair care represented more than half the store which makes ULTA the biggest threat to salons. Their signature brands were all L’Oreal especially REDKEN and MATRIX adorned on the back wall. They had more hair dryers and flat irons than some of the manufacturers we buy from. Signature brands were Helen of Troy and Revlon.

OPI was certainly the signature brand when it came to nail care. The Hong Kong collection was displayed at the entrance and at the polish section. OPI itself was larger than all the other nail brands combined. Essie had many colors available but  mostly out of stock. CND color was not sold but their treatments were.

Skin care was a hodge podge and they are certainly weak in this area. DDF and Dermologica was the signature brands but neither stood out well. Make up also seems to be a work in process but certainly Bare Essentual’s was their signature brand.

Most surprising was their private label. In all categories, it was scattered and not well stocked or merchandised. I wonder what percent of their business is in this category.

Oddly, they are also carry many Target and Wal-Mart beauty brands and these too are not well stocked. What is odd is that prestige brands have allowed themselves to be sold with mass brands. Perhaps desperate times call for desperate measures but long term, I wonder.

No doubt women walking into ULTA are looking for salon wet goods, nail color and appliances. This is where they shine. Salons have the ability to compete by offering bi-monthly deals and having a nice, tight retail area. ULTA pricing on open stock items is the same as salons so salons can’t complain in that area. The complaint is the constant promotions ULTA offers. We offer plenty of the same promotions ULTA does so the resources are available.

ULTA is a work in progress. More importantly, ULTA is a wake up call to our industry. It’s time that we respond.

Happy Tuesday!

Amazon.com might sell every conceivable thing on the planet at huge discounts, but one thing for certain is that Amazon can’t sell is higher education.

This is a good thing.

Higher education is on a tear and rightfully so. It expands your mind and opens up new opportunities. And I’m not talking about Master’s and PhD’s either.

Just take a look at the unemployment rate of high school drop-outs. Compare that to high school graduates. And if you compare high school graduates to those that completed an Associate’s degree, you would be shocked. Then again, the gains for completing a B.A. vs.. an Associates are compelling as well.

What I find even more surprising is the role higher education plays in the salon industry. Our Academy has never been busier with salon professionals taking advanced courses so they can become better skilled. Today alone we had a sold out braiding course. Tracy Bocci inspired 31 hairdressers on how to do braids. Many in attendance never did braids before but they know with prom, graduation and wedding season fast approaching, now is a good time to learn.

These hairdressers spent $99 each and devoted an entire day to the course. Afterwards, many will go back to their salons, practice on fellow hairdressers and then start charging their client’s for braiding services.

Higher education done right is motivating, increases productivity, innovation and even in a low-tech industry such as ours, makes a difference.

Happy Monday!

Perhaps one of life’s great dilemma’s that even Seinfeld hasn’t addressed is: Which line is the best line to pick?

You’re in the supermarket finishing up. There are five check-outs all with three customers. You push your buggy to look what’s inside the people waiting in their buggy to make your decision. After careful consideration, you pick a line.

Invariably, you check other lines to see if they are moving faster. Sometimes to your surprise, your line moves the quickest. Then just when you think it’s your turn, the cashier can’t scan the last item and calls for a price check. Instantly and I mean instantly, you sigh, blood pressure increases and every second seems like a minute. Or even better, the person in front of you spends $17.42 and writes a check for $37.42 to get $20.00 back. The cashier needs approval and of course, there is no manager around.

Another instance of line frustration is at the airport. If you have to clear customs, which line do you pick? Once you pick your line, you identify an individual from each of the other lines to check to see if they are moving faster, slower or equal speed. If they are moving faster, you are cursing yourself for picking the slower line. If they are moving slower, you are pleased that you picked the right line.

Whether it’s a line to buy movie tickets, buy goods at Costco or anything else to do with lines, we are enthralled at the speed of which line we choose. Why?

So which line do you choose?

Happy Friday!