"Computers, desks, lockers: Back-to-school shopping is different this year; Parents are planning, and spending, “for all possible scenarios,” says one retail industry expert" by Janelle Nanos Globe Staff, August 28, 2020
This past winter, Staples began planning for the 2020 school year much as it always has: by ordering pallets of backpacks, notebooks, and pencils, and scheduling block parties in its parking lots. The slogan the company had planned for the academic year was both upbeat and reassuring: “Back to Awesome,” but there will be no back to awesome this year. As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into the start of a new school calendar, parents are struggling to both educate their children and keep them safe, and Staples has been scrambling in its effort to serve them.
Much like today’s parents, the Framingham-based office supply store has had to reset expectations. That means scrapping its “awesome” slogan for one that better reflects the realities of the year ahead: “School Goes On.”
That's where the turn-in was as the slogan is now akin to $hit happens.
Amy Lang, Staples senior vice president for strategy and insights, who added that the company changed the slogan to ensure it didn’t sound tone deaf to the stresses facing parents, said, “It’s not going to be the year we thought it’s going to be.”
Oh, so all the businesses were suckered into this abominable Great Re$et scheme with mass vaccinations and exterminations based on a simulated exercise?
Told you it would be over in two weeks and then everything would go back to normal, huh?
Back-to-school season is typically upbeat for both parents and retailers. (Staples famously dubbed it its “most wonderful time of the year.”) Adults get their “must-have” lists from teachers, and then stock up on school clothes, sneakers, and backpacks. Retailers blanket media outlets with ads for back-to-school necessities. Kids shake off the annual arrival of autumnal ennui with the unique excitement that accompanies a new lunchbox or outfit, but as 2020 will be a school year like no other, so will the shopping season.
“I have to buy a computer for my kindergartner. I would never have done that in pre-2020 times,” said Lauren Beitelspacher, a marketing professor at Babson College who studies retail consumption. “I don’t think parents are going to care as much about clothes and backpacks. It’s going to be about safety and masks, and ways to make at-home learning more palatable.”
Retail industry experts say parents are planning to spend their cash on back-to-school basics, in case in-person classes resume, and on outfitting their basements, kitchens, and playrooms with resources to handle at-home schooling — if they can afford it. Several retail surveys released in the past few weeks have reported that despite an overall economic slowdown, parents on average expect to spend hundreds of dollars more this year on their back-to-school shopping, thanks in part to the purchase of additional electronics and at-home furnishings.
Where will they be getting the money?
“Back-to-school is always expensive, and there’s a lot that goes into that,” said Stephanie Cegielski of the International Council of Shopping Centers. So far, consumers are holding off on making all their purchases, but analysts expect them to keep buying through the fall.
Do I really have to comment on this rubbish anymore?
Though some schools have already begun classes down South, most “consumers are still dealing with a fair amount of uncertainty about the upcoming school year,” Katherine Cullen, the National Retail Federation’s senior director for consumer and industry insights, said. With so much unknown, she added, parents are forced to plan — and spend — “for all possible scenarios.”
The forced spending just happens to serve the big tech firms with the stay-at-home lockdown nonsense, and what if they can't afford it, state comes and kidnaps the kids?
That's another thing that irritates me regarding this slop: they are soft-selling the absolute tyranny while pushing shopping!
I mean, really, the $hamele$$ne$$ leaves one speechless.
That could mean buying desks, laptops, and whiteboards for elementary and high school kids, or updating a college student’s bedroom for at-home coursework. “Unlike the spring where it sort of happened really quickly, parents have more time and might also know what worked for them and what didn’t in terms of a home learning environment,” Cullen said. “We know that their kids might need their own headphones or a desk for a dedicated space.”
That’s what Jenna Teeson of Dover has planned for her two children, ages 10 and 12. Her older son attends private school and will be attending in-person four days a week, while her daughter, who attends public school, will be fully remote. Now, as she preps for the school year ahead, Teeson’s converting the playroom off her kitchen into a study space. She says her daughter was really upset about starting school remotely, but the home project has restored a bit of back-to-school excitement.
“I gave them a budget of $400 for paint and supplies and a new cheap rug on Wayfair,” she said. “Part of this for me is creating a functional space where they can be while I’m in my office upstairs, but it’s also making a space they’re excited to be in.”
Kind of the way you would DECORATE a PRISON CELL!
As for the choice of decor, could they not have picked a better vendor?
The Globe's silence on what is going on over there shows they are in full panic, and I suspect it has something to do with the recent exclusivity as well.
For their part, other retailers acknowledge that the 2020 academic year will be unique. Still, many point out that the educational gaps between haves and have-nots are not just reflected in how adept a school district is at holding Zoom classes and distributing laptops, or in parents’ ability to form pods or hire private tutors. The purchases that parents are able to make this school year will likely have an impact as well.
“Not only are some parents able to create a dedicated space for at-home learning, but they’re also paying for supplementary tools and apps to keep their kids engaged,” Beitelspacher said. “I really worry about the inequality piece of things.”
In the meantime, some parents, like Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, are just trying to find ways to bring a sense of normalcy to their kids lives. That’s why her sixth-grader now has a locker for his books in their living room. While her son begins his remote learning full time in their Florida district at the end of this month, she says he’ll have to walk up and down stairs from his bedroom to his locker between classes.
“It’s his first year in middle school, and one of the big differences is it’s the first time you have a locker,” she said. “I wanted to try to recreate that experience for him as much as I could.”
How frikkin' sad is that?
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The Globe is helping to rob the kids of their futures by supporting the Great Re$et with insult on top, and that is all I have to say.
So which mall did she go to, and what do you mean my card won't go through?
Leaves you looking for a restroom:
"As 5,000 students prepared for move-in day at the University of Arizona this week, the school warned they would be tested periodically for the coronavirus. One test, though, doesn’t involve a nose swab. The university is regularly screening the sewage from each dorm, searching for traces of the virus. On Thursday, officials said the technique worked — and possibly prevented a sizable outbreak on campus. When a wastewater sample from one dorm came back positive this week, the school quickly tested all 311 people who live and work there and found two asymptomatic students who tested positive. They were quickly quarantined. Researchers around the world have been studying whether wastewater testing can effectively catch cases early to prevent covid-19 clusters. There are programs in Singapore, China, Spain, Canada and New Zealand, while in the United States, more than 170 wastewater facilities across 37 states are being tested. Earlier this month, officials in Britain announced testing at 44 water treatment facilities. The Netherlands has been collecting samples at 300 sewage treatment plants. With colleges battling large outbreaks around the country, the University of Arizona — which is trying a mix of online and in-person courses — elected to test sewage from all 20 residence halls. Other schools are doing the same....."
That's because, get this, COVID-19 can waft through toilets into other apartments, according to a Chinese study.
With all due respect, the STENCH of this FRAUD is becoming overwhelmingly eye-watering and STINKS to HIGH HEAVEN, and putting out such ludicrous scenarios doesn't help!
Best thing to do is literally seal your kids in a pod at home:
"State to allow remote learning pods, kids’ programs outside schools" by Stephanie Ebbert Globe Staff, August 28, 2020
State education officials announced Friday that families can form small remote-learning co-ops, after-school programs can operate during typical school hours, and churches and community centers can host students who might otherwise be unsupervised when out of school this fall.
The move was made in recognition of the challenges that working parents will face in many districts where schools are expected to hold virtual classes at least part of the week.
The Baker administration had encouraged schools in areas with low rates of COVID-19 to start the school year normally, but since many districts opted for some form of remote learning, Education Secretary James Peyser said in a statement Friday, “it’s critical that we enable parents, after-school providers, and community organizations to offer additional child-care options and learning supports when students are unable to attend school in person.”
Licensed child-care providers will automatically be allowed to serve older children during the school day, in addition to before, after, and out-of-school time.
The state is also expediting licensing so that child-care providers can tap additional space to expand capacity to serve older children. Some day-care centers, for instance, aim to open kindergarten rooms to accommodate the siblings of younger children already in their care.
A larger change will be making spots available for students to be supervised during their remote learning time. “Remote learning enrichment programs” will accept children on a regular or drop-in basis to supervise children from kindergarten to 14 years old, or up to 16 with special needs.
Organizations that want to provide such a space must apply to the local city or town for approval, beginning Monday. The municipality will be responsible for overseeing safety, conducting background checks of staff, and maintaining COVID-appropriate group sizes and health protocols. Group sizes will be limited to the state’s limits on crowds: 25 people indoors and 50 outdoors.
Your local tyrants will need to approve, but it may be worth it.
Learning pods, or groups convened by up to five families, will be able to operate without licenses, as long as a parent is on-site at all times. Payments are not allowed, and exchanges of funds are limited to compensation for food and materials.
There is your way to keep the children safe, for it is now well known that state agencies such as DCF and CPS are involved in the kidnapping and trafficking of children for elite pedo purposes.
The above is not perfect, but it gets them out of the snare of public school.
Governor Charlie Baker on Friday made the changes by executive order.
Like a dictator would do.
The Department of Early Education and Care will also support providers in creative solutions to partner with communities to meet the needs of families, officials said.
Some parents and providers had pushed for more flexibility to be able to care for children who will not all be permitted to attend school at the same time, due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
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{@@##$$%%^^&&}
How you pay for all that is your choice:
"Despite lower infection rates, Mass. economy continues to take a hit; Big job losses and reductions again strike several key industries" by Larry Edelman Globe Staff, August 28, 2020
Massachusetts has one of the lowest coronavirus infection rates in the country, but the pandemic continues to take its toll on the job market, with at least 2,200 furloughs and permanent layoffs announced in the past two days by employers in key sectors of the local economy.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst, facing a projected budget deficit of $169 million, said 850 workers, mostly dining hall workers and residence hall operations staff, would be put on indefinite furlough starting Sept. 13. The move affects 12 percent of the campus’s 7,100 employees.
The Canyon Ranch spa in Lenox filed notice with the state that furloughs for 228 workers have been extended.
Cape Cod Healthcare, which runs Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals, said 118 workers who had been on furlough will not be rehired.
Hospital workers were furloughed during the pandemic?
Whatever for?
MGM Springfield told 1,000 furloughed employees that they would not return to their jobs as its hotel remains closed and it operates with limited table games, reduced restaurant capacity, and not large gatherings such as concerts and conferences.
I was just going to suggest that the parents who are out of work with no money coming in could gamble their way to $ucce$$.
The job cuts underscore how hard it’s been for pivotal industries — leisure and accommodations, higher education, and health care — to rebound even as the closely watched seven-day weighted average of positive coronavirus tests stands at 1 percent, the lowest rate since the pandemic began. Those sectors, along with retail, bore the brunt of mass layoffs in March and April.
Yeah, I heard that a factor in the state’s big loss of jobs is its reliance on industries especially hard-hit by the shutdown, including health care, education, and travel-related business such as restaurants and hotels, but a few days later I was told given the employment mix in Massachusetts, the state’s economy will be less hard hit than many other states.
So which is it?
The state’s unemployment rate, at 16.1 percent in July, is the highest in the nation, in part because hospitals, universities, and tourism-related businesses are struggling.
At UMass Amherst, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy detailed the financial hit the campus is taking after deciding to allow just 1,100 students to live on campus, compared with 13,000 in a normal year.
In a memo posted on the school’s website, he said losses for the fall semester include $67 million in housing and dining revenue, a projected $31 million decline in tuition revenue, and a $21 million reduction in other revenues, including grants. Meanwhile the school is spending a projected $13 million on virus testing, safety, isolation, and quarantine measures, Subbaswamy said.
Don't let your kid set foot on campus!
“While some permanent layoffs are expected in the coming weeks, we are doing everything possible to lessen the number of layoffs and are currently in discussions with other staff labor unions with the hope of reaching an agreement that prioritizes temporary reductions in hours and furloughs,” he wrote.
You thought they would protect you?
The administration delayed the state graft positions as long as they could, and now the first and perhaps only flood of bureaucrats is going to be cut loose from colleges that can then be repurposed as COVID extermination camps.
As for the rest of the state apparatus of oppression, I suspect that is where all the tax loot will go these days as the government bureaucrats are meant to enforce the communi$t tyranny of corporate oligarchs.
Canyon Ranch, where guests can spend thousands of dollars for weekends of yoga, hydrotherapy, and massages, said that while it remains committed to the Lenox spa, it would continue to keep many workers on furlough with benefits.
“Any colleagues who received a notice this week were being extended on furlough, not laid off or terminated,” the company said in a statement.
Cape Cod Healthcare said it has brought back 477 of the 595 employees it furloughed in May as it gradually ramped up services that had been restricted, including elective procedures and outpatient and ambulatory care, but with patient volume still depressed, the health system has cut the remaining 118 full-time positions, including eight senior leadership positions
Cape Cod Healthcare said it would also extend a 10 percent salary reduction for senior executives through the rest of the fiscal year.
They went from $1 million to $900,000.
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If infection rates are low why are we still under lockdown?
I gue$$ life is a gamble at best:
"MGM Springfield tells 1,000 laid-off workers that their jobs may not return; The number represents half of the casino’s employees prior to the pandemic" by Andy Rosen Globe Staff, August 28, 2020
MGM Springfield on Friday told 1,000 laid-off employees that they were unlikely to reclaim their jobs anytime soon, citing lagging business following a monthslong shutdown because of the pandemic.
The casino said it told the employees — who accounted for half of its staff before the COVID-19 pandemic — that they would be “separated” from the company Aug. 31, but that affected employees’ benefits would be paid through September.
MGM said 800 people now work at the casino, which was closed from March into July. While it has resumed some gambling activities, the hotel remains closed. State rules to prevent the spread of the coronavirus have limited the availability of table games, reduced restaurant capacity, and barred large gatherings such as concerts and conferences that are important to casino’s business.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to impact many businesses, including our own,” MGM Springfield president Chris Kelley said in a letter to workers. “Due to the mandated capacity restrictions and business demand, many of our amenities and venues remain closed for the time being. With these positions currently unavailable, it has not been possible to bring back all of our team members.”
Can spend all the excess loot on school supplies!
The move underscores just how badly the pandemic has hurt the state’s young casino industry, which was approved largely as a way to deliver economic development benefits to communities that sorely needed them.
Soon casinos will no longer exist and all gambling will be done online.
Even before the crisis, the casinos had struggled to find their footing in a competitive regional market.
MGM Springfield had been expected to create about 3,000 permanent jobs, and even if it brought back all of its separated employees, it would still be well below that figure. Encore Boston Harbor in Everett — which has opted to reopen its hotel — has 2,700 people on its payroll, and another 1,300 on furlough. Encore had been projected to employ 5,000 people on a permanent basis, and Plainridge Park, the slots-only casino in Plainville, declined to say how many people had returned to work after the shutdown forced it to furlough all but a skeleton crew for months. It had 485 people working there at the end of last year.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said in an interview that local and corporate leadership at MGM resorts has assured him that the casino will be able to make a strong return as a contributor to the local economy once the restrictions related to COVID-19 subside.
When is that because we are going backwards with the "public health experts" calling for further lockdowns.
He said he was encouraged that MGM Springfield followed through during the pandemic with a plan to contribute $16 million to a project that will create 74 market-rate and workforce housing units, part of the redevelopment of a historic portion of downtown near the casino. Work kicked off this week.
“MGM is committed to bringing these employees back, ASAP, so that’s our goal,” Sarno said. He added, “We’ve had a good relationship, and I take them at their word.”
Either another delusional "public" $ervant, or a liar.
The employees affected by the MGM decision have largely been laid off or furloughed without pay since April. Many had been hoping to be called back before the end of August — a date the company had previously said would be a legal deadline for formal separation. Across MGM Resorts properties, 18,000 employees were affected.
“The heart of this company is our employees and the world-class service you provide,” MGM Resorts chief executive Bill Hornbuckle said in a separate letter to staff. “Please know that your leadership team is working around the clock to find ways to grow our business and welcome back more of our colleagues.”
The company characterized the decision as an administrative one. It said affected workers would retain access to internal job boards, and that people could still be brought back as business improves. Workers won’t have to reapply if they are reclaiming a position with the same duties they had before.
“While I understand this is difficult to hear, I want you to know that as we progress through our phased reopening, team members separated today will remain on our recall list, and we have established a system to welcome them back based on business needs, position, and seniority,” Kelley said.
So when will that be?
These corporate heads who have thrown in with the Great Re$et are stringing you along with fal$e hope -- not that surprising when you consider the indu$try.
One former MGM employee, however, said the fact that workers were getting separation notices gives him a feeling of finality after months with his career in limbo. The man, who asked not to be identified because he still wants to be rehired, said the temporary continuation of health benefits relieves some pressure as September looms, but he’s anxious about what comes after that.
“I started that job with a lot of hope — optimism for the future — and right now I’m mourning the death of a dream I had. I’m mourning the death of a relationship,” he said.
He isn't alone, and I hope you're happy for helping to bring this about and continuing to promote it, Globe.
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Some say gambling is an art form, and the pile of chips is the proof:
"In the latest sign that major life science developers are looking beyond crowded Kendall Square in Cambridge, Kendall heavyweight Alexandria Real Estate Equities this week closed on a deal to buy a Waltham office park, along with room to expand. Alexandria paid $330 million for the Reservoir Woods East campus from Davis Co. and Marcus Partners, according to real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank, which helped broker the deal....."
Now you know who owns the road in the Seaport.
Related:
"The gains keep piling up on Wall Street, and the S&P 500 rallied again on Friday to close out its fifth straight winning week. The benchmark index rose 23.46, or 0.7%, to 3,508.01, setting another record high and several more superlatives. It was the seventh straight day of gains for the index. A report released before trading began showed that U.S. consumer spending grew more in July than economists expected. That’s key because consumer spending is the main driver of the nation’s economy. Consumers increased their spending by 1.9% for the third straight month of gains, though it was a slowdown from June’s 6.2% growth. Income also rose by 0.4% for Americans last month, snapping back from a drop in June. It adds to other reports showing the economy has improved since the worst of the business lockdowns of the spring, though it remains well below where it was before the pandemic. Stocks are continuing to rise after the Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled a change in strategy that likely means interest rates will stay low for a long time, even if inflation rises above the 2% target level of the central bank....."
After markets closed, they all had a Coke and a $mile.
