ayout 1 - Retail Council of New York State

Retailer
NEW YORK STATE
The Retailer is a publication of the
Retail Council of New York State
James R. Sherin, President and
Chief Executive Officer
V O L U M E
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Unpredictable state legislative session looms
By Ted Potrikus, Executive Vice President and Director of Government Relations
We shoot for a ‘crystal ball’
story at the start of every year in
the legislative report section of
the Retailer, and usually, they’re
pretty easy to write. The ingredients often are the same: a
heaping teaspoon of budget
deficit, a pinch of political mayhem, and a few cups of legislative squabbling, all stirred
together and baked into a
soufflé of danger for retailers
large and small.
2 Safety Group 493
participants: Return
your payroll audit
forms
3 Webinars in the
works for 2012
Inside
3 Milestone membership anniversaries
recognized
4 Shipping expenses
even more important in today’s
business world
5 Retailers merry
about holiday sales
5 Meet Lori Kelly
7 Retail Council goes
social: Find us on
Facebook
This year it’s not much different, but it seems to be a lot
harder – probably because
those ingredients have been
tempered, refined, moved into
different cupboards, and otherwise altered to render entirely
unpredictable the dish that ultimately comes out of the oven.
There’s a budget deficit, yes –
and it’s a dogfight political year
with elections for the state
Legislature (not to mention the
top-of-the-ticket presidential
campaign); battles between and
among legislative conferences
are as inevitable as bad weather
in March. But we’re entering the
2012 Legislative Session with a
sense that, challenges notwithstanding, things have the
chance of getting done.
Credit
Governor
Andrew
Cuomo,
Assembly
Speaker
Sheldon Silver,
and Senate
Majority Leader
Dean Skelos for
creating the
foundation for
a seemingly
renewed resolve to address
issues that heretofore had been
tabled. Whether or not one
agrees with the final products,
the 2011 session – and its surprise return-to-Albany early in
December – took on issues that
Continued on page 6
New posting requirement delayed
In the December 2011 Retail
Link (dated Dec. 15) the
Council told members about
the National Labor Relations
Act (NLRA) posting requirement that was to take effect Jan.
31, 2012. The effective date of
the posting requirement has
been pushed back to April 30,
2012.
The National Labor Relations
Act (NLRA) – a federal law –
guarantees the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively with employers, and to
engage in other protected concerted activity or to refrain from
engaging in this activity. The
poster highlights employees’
Continued on page 6
Safety Group 493 participants: Return
your payroll audit forms
Many members of Safety
Group 493 will receive a document in January from the New
York State Insurance Fund
(NYSIF) regarding their 2011
payroll audit. This document is
entitled “payroll report” or “payroll statement” and both are
used to determine actual
employee payroll for last year. It
is also possible that policyholders have been or will be contacted by NYSIF’s Payroll Audit
Department to be scheduled for
a physical audit.
If you have been asked to
complete a payroll report or
statement, it is very important
that this document be completed and returned to NYSIF as
soon as possible. Please be sure
to check your report or statement for the date it is due back
to NYSIF. Typically, you have 30
days to complete the paperwork.
If you haven’t received
either form, or are unsure if
you are scheduled for a
physical audit, please call
the Council for assistance at
(800) 442-3589. Estimated
payroll reports will be
issued in early March by
NYSIF to policyholders
whose forms have not yet
been received and/or
processed. A second form is
generally included with the
estimated report, giving the
policyholder another
opportunity to submit the
actual payrolls for the prior
year(s). The estimated report
will generate additional premium billing, which can only be
corrected by receipt of your
payroll report or statement.
the payroll audit will be divided
according to the number of
renewal installments remaining
for the current policy period.
This gives you, the policyholder, the option to pay the premium in installments or pay the
entire balance in full.
In addition to ensuring accuracy on your workers’ compensation insurance for the year,
you must return your payroll
report/statement to be eligible
for any declared dividend from
the Retail Council in 2012. The
Council sent checks to more
than 1,200 eligible members of
Safety Group 493 in November
2011 as part of a more than
$3.2 million dividend. Don’t
miss out on the opportunity to
receive this benefit of participation in our Safety Group
because you haven’t returned
the audit form!
Workers’ compensation
renewal policies are based on
audited payrolls. By submitting
the payroll report or statement
in a timely fashion, you assist
NYSIF in more accurately estimating your policy payroll on
the next renewal. Upon receipt
of your payroll report/statement,
NYSIF will correct the 2011
estimated payroll to actual and
forward notice of either a credit
or an additional premium on
the next invoice.
Although you should mail
the original, signed payroll
report/statement to NYSIF
directly, you can also fax a copy
of the report to the Retail
Council. We can expedite the
audit process for you and retain
the copy for our records in case
you misplace yours.
Should you have any questions about the audit, please call
the Retail Council’s Insurance
Services Department at (800)
442-3589 and ask for Virginia
or Ken.
If there is a substantial
increase in premium, the earlier
the payroll report/statement is
submitted, the better. The additional premium generated by
www.retailcouncilnys.com
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800.442.3589
New York State Retailer
A publication of the
Retail Council of New York State
258 State Street
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 465-3586 phone
(518) 465-7960 fax
www.retailcouncilnys.com
OFFICERS
Michael Shaffer
Chairman of the Board
James R. Sherin
President and Chief Executive Officer
Sharon Fenno
Ted Potrikus
Vice Chairs
Clint Hegeman
Treasurer
Thomas Zapf
Secretary
Ted Potrikus
Executive Vice President
Director of Government Relations
Robert Leonard
Vice President of Finance and
Operations
Rebecca Marion Flach
Vice President of Membership and
Communication
The New York State Retailer (USPS
064370) is published bimonthly, for a
total of 6 issues per year. Subscriptions
are $12 per year for members.
Periodicals postage paid at Albany, N.Y.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes
to The New York State Retailer,
258 State Street, Albany, NY 12210.
The Retail Council of New York State
is a full-service membership trade
association that represents nearly
5,000 stores, of all size and sort,
and affiliated businesses throughout
the Empire State. The “Voice of
Retailing” in New York State, the
Council offers money-saving group
benefit programs and government
relations expertise to our members.
For more information, visit
www.retailcouncilnys.com.
Webinars in the works for 2012
The Retail Council is
putting the finishing
touches on a webinar
series designed for
members for 2012.
Topics will include customer service, social
media, succession planning and data
security/credit card
fraud.
www.retailcouncilnys.com
or on Facebook at
Facebook.com/RetailCouncilNYS.
The Council hosted a webinar series in 2011 in conjunction with several other state
retail associations around the
country. Topics included internal theft controls, social media,
finance (with a focus on factors
like volume, margins, pricing
decisions and staff training that
influence the bottom line),
marketing and inventory
management.
Stay tuned for program and registration
details in upcoming
newsletters, at
Recordings for the 2011
events are still available.
Members were generally complimentary of these webinars in
evaluations and the majority
said they learned new concepts
they didn’t know before. To
learn more about the 2011
events visit www.retailcouncilnys.com/webinars. Contact
Rebecca Flach at [email protected] or call (800)
442-3589 if you’re interested in
receiving free copies of some or
all of the 2011 events.
Milestone membership anniversaries recognized
The following businesses recently celebrated significant membership anniversaries. All have been members of the Retail Council for 10
years or longer. We are humbled to have had their support all this time.
Member Name
Harold Finkle Your Jeweler, Inc.
Blossom Heath Florist
I. Buss Uniform Co., Inc.
Center Island Pharmacies, Inc.
Howard Jewelers
Jamestown Cycle Shop, Inc.
Kenco Work & Safety Store, Inc.
Shirts ‘N’ Stuff
Ariel & Shya Kane, Inc.
Direct Selling Association
Easy Pickins, Inc.
Fallon Wellness Pharmacy, LLC
Michael C. Fina Co., Inc.
Ruthies Run
A.V. Costa, Inc.
Berger’s Ski & Snowboard
Bi-Wise Pharmacy
Years of
membership
Albany
50
Oceanside
30
New York
30
Hampton Bays
25
Queens Village 25
Jamestown
25
Kingston
25
Lake George
25
New York
20
Washington, D.C. 20
New York
20
Latham
20
New York
20
Lake Placid
20
Troy
15
Binghamton
15
Brooklyn
15
www.retailcouncilnys.com
Member Name
Years of
membership
Connecting Point Computer Center New Hartford
15
Creative Closets
Yonkers
15
Klearview Appliance
Brooklyn
15
Lakeview Gardens
Jamestown
15
Lyell Crest Hardware, Inc.
Rochester
15
Maggie’s Gift Shop
Latham
15
Marcy Discount Beverage Center
Marcy
15
Miller’s Drug Store
Margaretville
15
Nugent Hardware, Inc.
Waterloo
15
Party Shops
Scarsdale
15
Pintchik Ace Hardware
Brooklyn
15
Sacred Melody, Inc.
Syracuse
15
Somers Pharmacy
Somers
15
The Fitting Place
West Seneca
15
Woyshners Flower Shop, Inc.
Lackawanna
15
Altria Client Services Inc.
Washington, D.C. 10
First Cardinal Corporation
Latham
10
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800.442.3589
Shipping expenses even more important in today’s
business world
Shipping costs are an oftenoverlooked contributor to rising
business expenses. With annual
carrier rate increases, skyrocketing fuel costs, and accessorial
charges that may increase 30
percent or more year over year,
finding a way to reduce your
shipping expenses can make a
serious impact on your overall
balance sheet. Here are five key
strategies to help get your shipping costs in line. Implement
any or all of them and watch
your shipping costs go down—
increasing your profits.
Key Strategy #1
The easiest way to lower your
shipping charges is to obtain
shipping discounts. Shipping
discounts can be obtained by
working directly with your car-
riers if your company has favorable shipping characteristics;
working with a reputable third
party logistics provider (3PL);
or working through an
endorsed shipping program,
such as the Retail Council
Discount Shipping Program.
Key Strategy #3
Examine the mode and service level that comprise your
transportation expenditures. Is
your spending concentrated in
LTL (Less-Than-Truckload)
rather than small package, or
air instead of ground? These
distinctions are called modes of
transportation, and which you
utilize can cost you serious
money. For instance, it can cost
twice as much to ship air versus
ground. Service level refers to
the timeframe in which the carrier will ship the package from
origin to destination, such as
same day service, next day, two
day, three day, etc. Why pay for
next day service if you don’t
need next day service? Using
the appropriate mode and serv-
Key Strategy #2
Are your vendors passing
along their shipping discounts
to you? Reducing inbound
shipping costs is one of the easiest, yet most overlooked ways
to reduce overall transportation
expenses. File routing instructions with your vendors, which
allow you to be billed directly
by your preferred carriers at
your discounted rate, reducing
your inbound shipping costs.
www.retailcouncilnys.com
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800.442.3589
ice level to meet your shipping
needs is critical in keeping your
transportation costs down.
Key Strategy #4
It is estimated between 5
percent and 10 percent of
freight invoices contain some
sort of error. Auditing your
freight invoices on a regular
basis can help you catch and
receive credit for costly mistakes, such as an improper discount, incorrect service level or
mode, and many, many others.
And always be sure to verify
product classification for all LTL
shipments.
Key Strategy #5
Why send three separate
shipments if you can consolidate and send just one?
Consolidating shipments will
help save you time and money,
and you can save up to 25 percent or more by simply combining multiple shipments into
one.
PartnerShip, LLC is an
independent 3PL that is an
industry leader in managing
shipping programs for trade
associations. PartnerShip manages
the Retail Council Discount
Shipping Program, featuring
shipping discounts with FedEx.®
For more information on the
Retail Council Discount
Shipping Program please visit
www.PartnerShip.com/56RCNYS,
email [email protected] or
call 800-599-2902.
Retailers merry about holiday sales
Members give 2011 holiday season an AVisions of a successful holiday season danced in many a
retailer’s head as consumers
rushed to stores the critical
week before Christmas to finish
lengthy lists. Members of the
Retail Council of New York
State awarded the season an
“A-” letter grade in response to
the strong finale.
Eighty percent of retailers
polled by the Retail Council of
New York State said their weekbefore-Christmas sales were better than or the same as their
sales during the same week in
2010. Armed with gift cards,
shoppers hit stores again on
Monday, Dec. 26 buoying afterChristmas sales. Sixty-five percent of participating merchants
said their after-Christmas sales
week before Christmas,” said
Retail Council President and
Chief Executive Officer James R.
Sherin. “Couple this news with
the start of Hanukkah on Dec.
20, extra shopping time with
Christmas Eve falling on a
Saturday and cold, but clear
weather and you have the makings for great sales in the crucial
days leading up to Christmas.”
to date have been better than or
the same as their sales for the
same time period in 2010.
Retailers throughout the state
reported the results through the
Retail Council’s annual “Holiday
Sales Watch,” a periodic snapshot of sales activity in stores
small and large. This third
Holiday Sales Watch was conducted Dec. 28 and 29 and
gauged retailers’ perceptions of
sales activity the week before
and just after Christmas. This
report concluded the Council’s
assessment of the holiday season.
Retail sales flourished all season long, reflecting improved
consumer confidence. Eightyfive percent of merchants surveyed by the Retail Council
reported solid sales activity following a record-breaking Black
Friday weekend. The momentum continued through midDecember, exciting many retail-
“The average shopper had
completed less than 50 percent
of his gift buying by midDecember so we had a hunch
retailers would have a robust
ers who anticipated a lull in
sales before gift buying ramped
up again the week before
Christmas. Seventy-eight percent of surveyed merchants
reported sales were the same as
or better than 2010 sales
through mid-December.
“Another long New Year’s
weekend should further boost
sales,” said Sherin. “In this postrecession economy it’s hard to
predict with any certainty how
willing consumers are to spend.
Shoppers surprised us once
again with their buying power.”
Thank you to the Holiday
Sales Watch participants who
graciously volunteered to help
us with the surveys! We truly
appreciate your input.
Meet Lori Kelly
Council welcomes new staff member
Lori Kelly has joined the
Retail Council as executive
assistant and office manager.
position of director and supervisor with the Capital District
YMCA – Schenectady/Guilderland. She has also served as senior claims examiner for
RMSCO, Inc. in Albany, N.Y.
administrative assistant to
President and Chief Executive
Officer, Jim Sherin, and other
Council managers as needed.
She also serves as the staff liaison to the Council’s board of
directors, executive committee
and other internal committees
and oversees the general management of the Council’s facility
and service providers.
“Lori’s more than 10 years of
experience in customer service
and administration fits perfectly
with the Council’s mission to
provide our members with the
highest level of service every
Previously, Ms. Kelly held the
Ms. Kelly is the primary
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800.442.3589
day,” said Council President and
CEO Jim Sherin. “Her exceptional organizational skills will
allow other Council staff members to focus on enhancing the
already impressive programs
and services we offer our members.”
Ms. Kelly lives in Rotterdam,
N.Y. with her husband Gary,
her two sons, Evan and
Cameron, and their two dogs.
Unpredictable state legislative session looms
Continued from page 1
admit our crystal ball could use
a good dose of Windex and our
deck of Tarot cards seems to be
running a few short.
Issue-wise, the Retail Council
is prepared for anything. We
know that budget talks will
pose the annual problems associated with addressing a multibillion-dollar budget deficit –
and that ALWAYS puts onto the
table issues like the escheat of
gift cards (particularly with
New Jersey’s state court system
still weighing the retail industry’s challenge to recent New
Jersey law requiring retailers to
turn over to the state unused
gift card receipts) and the future
of the state’s exemption of its
four percent sales tax on clothing and footwear.
The Retail Council’s government relations team is ready to take on any challenges
on behalf of our members in the 2012 Legislative Session. L to R: Jim Sherin,
Melissa Googas and Ted Potrikus.
prior legislatures had avoided
and plotted a course for a 2012
that, despite the formidable
political blockades that could
rise, could prove to be an efficient disposition of various
issues large and small. Of
course, having said that, watch
the session devolve into a finger-pointing tumult of political
standoffs and protracted problems!
That’s how unpredictable it
all is as we head into 2012 – we
A note on that particular program: Now is a good time to
remind Retail Council members that – unless something
changes between now and
then – April 1, 2012 brings
yet another change to the
clothing and footwear sales
tax exemption program.
Under current law, beginning
April 1, 2012, clothing and
footwear costing up to $110
per item will be exempt from
the state’s four percent (4%)
sales tax. We’ll update readers
in both the Retailer and in our
online Retail Link publication as
the date gets closer – but again,
barring changes in the law, the
per-item threshold moves up to
$110 per item from its current
$55 per item beginning April 1.
Continued on top of next page
New posting requirement delayed
Continued from page 1
rights under this act. Retail
businesses with annual gross
sales of $500,000 or more will
be required to post this notice.
Several national organizations
and a coalition of members
from the U.S. House of
Representatives are challenging
the legality of the law on the
the posting requirement asked
the agency to delay the implementation date. This is the second time the date has been
changed.
grounds the National Labor
Relations Board – the enforcing
agency – does not have the
authority to impose posting
requirements on private sector
employers. Opposition grew to
such a fever over the measure
just before Christmas the federal
judge considering the legality of
www.retailcouncilnys.com
The Council is monitoring the
action on this law and will advise
members if it looks like the
enactment date will stand or be
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800.442.3589
delayed again. And, of course,
we’ll inform members if the law
is overturned or materially
changed in some way.
In the meantime, you can
learn more about the NLRA and
take a look at the poster at
https://www.nlrb.gov/poster.
While we’re on the subject of
sales tax, let’s shift the focus to
Washington, D.C., where retailers continue to press Congress
hard to adopt legislation that
would permit states to require
out-of-state merchants (e.g.,
online giants) to collect and
remit sales tax on purchases
sent into those states. The Retail
Council has been working with
our national colleagues at the
Retail Industry Leaders
Association (RILA) and the
National Retail Federation
(NRF) to encourage New York’s
congressional delegation to get
on board with the effort, and
we spent the autumn meeting
with state government officials
to urge that they, too, work with
Congress to level the playing
field for New York’s Main Street
merchants.
Key legislative staff sat up and
took notice when the Retail
Council reported studies showing that New York could be forfeiting as much as $800 million
annually in sales tax to uncollected online transactions – an
important number in these days
of budget deficits. Look for the
Retail Council to continue its
advocacy throughout the year
on this issue.
Another big-ticket item on
tap affects the entirety of New
York’s beleaguered employer
community – and no retailer is
immune from the sting.
Prolonged periods of low
employment have left the state’s
unemployment insurance trust
fund (UITF) tapped well
beyond its means, and New
York is among the dozens of
states that have borrowed from
the federal government to pay
UI benefits to out-of-work New
Yorkers. Absent federal action –
which would probably be only
another delay – New York faces
a massive debt to the federal UI
fund. And it’s up to the employers to repay it – through various
UI tax surcharges and increases
that could span the next several
years.
Retail Council goes social
Find us on Facebook
The Retail Council’s
Facebook page is now up and
running at Facebook.com/
RetailCouncilNYS. Visit our
page often for news and
updates and also “like” our
page while you’re there (you’ll
have to have a Facebook
account to do so). As a way to
support our members we’ve
The Retail Council met several times late in 2011 with financial experts who think a bond
issue from New York State
would repay the federal debt
and, in a sense, restructure the
loan and give the employer
community a more structured
and predictable repayment
plan. On tap for early 2012 are
meetings with our colleagues at
The Business Council of New
York State and others to consider strategies that would best
help our respective member
companies small and large.
are impossible to predict – as
merchants are all too aware,
new bills crop up with every
story on the nightly news that
smacks of any consumer
aggrieved by a perceived slight
or disappointment from a retailer. As we have said many times,
the retail industry is always one
news story or celebrity explosion away from a spate of new
(usually bad) bills.
Our usual list of retail-specific issues remains in place, too –
with lawmakers growing more
conversant in and accepting of
the Retail Council’s longstanding pitch for new laws addressing organized retail theft. Look
for the Council to face an agenda spanning tax issues, a
panoply of consumer protection
bills, workers’ compensation
and unemployment insurance
matters, environmental protection, and business operationsrelated bills that we’ve seen
before (along with the many
surprises that will pop up along
the way).
Top all of it off with the
aforementioned political mayhem. The 2012 presidential
campaign should, more than
likely, suck all the air out of the
media balloon – but it’s the state
legislative races on which the
Retail Council will necessarily
focus. The full legislature is up
for its biennial election, and
while the Assembly Majority
Democrats will have no problem retaining their overwhelming majority, it’s going to be yet
another pitched political battle
for Senate Republicans striving
to keep their majority over the
Those parenthetical surprises
www.retailcouncilnys.com
7
800.442.3589
been “liking”
member
stores when we find them;
if we haven’t “liked” your
Facebook page yet, please
contact Michelle Bruck at
[email protected]
or call (800) 442-3589
and let her know about
your page.
Democrats. Mix in the fact that
the 2012 Session could find its
fiercest battle in the redrawing
of legislative district lines, and
you have the makings for one
or two headline-grabbing “situations” on the horizon for New
York.
So it’ll be an exciting year.
We urge our members to stay
up-to-date throughout the 2012
session and to participate in our
legislative advocacy – remember, there is no charge to add
your e-mail to our regular legislative updates, and our onlineonly Retail Link provides updated coverage in between issues
of the published Retailer.
(Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in receiving the Council’s legislative updates, which are sent as
needed throughout session, contact
Assistant Director of Government
Relations Melissa Googas at
[email protected] or
(800) 442-3589).
Periodicals
Postage Paid
at Albany, NY
Retail Council of New York State
258 State Street
Albany, New York 12210
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