Quirky local indicators and other fun biz angles
By Flickr user Roland Tanglao
Miscellaneous is probably my favorite among the 600,000-plus words in our English language. Like potpourri, salmagundi, hodgepodge, pastiche and its others sisters, it conjures up pleasant notions of variety, spontaneity and surprise.
That’s what you’re getting today: A veritable gallimaufry and mélange of topics that don’t quite merit their own posts but nevertheless will make for interesting additions to your repertoires.
First, a primo example of what we at the Reynolds Center like to call “quirky local indicators.” Things like a spate of restaurant closings, or an uptick in factory closures, or other community-level economic portents.
Check out this blog post, “Haulin’ it out of Michigan,” by Kurt Metzger, one of the Detroit region’s top demographers and author of The Detroit Data Guru site.
Metzger analyzed U-Haul rental rates and found that heading out of the state is a lot more expensive than heading in. To lease a truck in Detroit and drop it off in Charlotte costs about $1,048, Metzger found. Charlotte to Detroit: $341. Just more proof that people aren’t packing up and flocking to the state with the nation’s highest unemployment rate.
I stumbled across a similar indicator a couple of months ago when the local auto-repair shop owner was giving me a lift home. In response to “How’s business?” she said that in the last couple of months they’d given complete tune-ups to the cars of 20 long-time customers – all of whom wanted the automotive checkup before they hit the highway for new lives far away from the mitten state. Compiling similar data from other mechanics would’ve make a great little local index, and been a wonderful source of fleeing job-seekers.
Other interesting tidbits of late include:
Dumpster diving: A year-round sport for some, a means of subsistence for others. This AOL Walletpop feature shows how some modern suburbanites experience the thrill of the hunt. Check with solid waste companies, municipal public works departments and other sources to see if trash-picking is on the rise; in communities that offer large-item curbside pickup it’s become common for scavengers to snap up items that later will be featured in their own garage sales or at swap meets. Wonderful personal finance feature.
Travels of a taco: The ultimate business-of-food story. This class project traced the provenance of raw materials and concluded that “ingredients for a typical taco collectively travel 2.6 times the circumference of the earth to reach your local taco truck.” Hmm. Kind of reminds me of that “from field to French fry” potato story that snared a Pulitzer prize at The Oregonian. Great lesson in how to break down the components of a larger story into a nitty-gritty feature.
The cost of a children’s menu: Ignore the flame war this blog post ignited among the pro-/anti-kiddie factions. The important take-away for business writers is the virtue of examining one facet of the business or industry and getting your source to explain it in minute detail. It helps you better understand industry economics and helps readers appreciate the many intersecting concerns and dilemmas that a small business owner faces. You can find similar cost-benefit conundrums in just about any sector.
Planning ahead: Here’s a look at major economic releases and other newsworthy items in the week ahead:
Mar. 20: First day of spring.
Mar. 23: Existing home sales
Mar. 24: Durable goods orders, National Association of Realtors new home sales
Mar. 25: Initial jobless claims
Mar. 26: Gross domestic product, University of Michigan consumer sentiment
