Happy New Year!!!!

The biz buzz wants to thank everyone for blogging here over the past few months. When we launched it, we weren’t sure what the response would be. Needless to say, we’re very pleased with the interest in all things business in and around Northeast Mississippi, and this forum has been another outlet for us and our readers.

We’re going to keep on blogging next year, which I’m sure can’t be as exciting as 2007. But then again, anything can happen. After all, has it really sunk in that Toyota is building a $1.3 billion plant just 15 miles down the road, near Blue Springs?

Again, thank you readers, and thank you bloggers for helping make biz buzz such a success!

We’ll be taking a break on Tuesday, but we’ll be back Wednesday.

Have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve, and have an even better 2008.

– Dennis and Carlie, your biz buzz team

Repainted buildings behind Malco

Last week, we saw the “Courtyard” buildings behind the Malco Theater in Tupelo Commons repainted. As some suspected, they were being repainted.

As of this morning, they now appear to match the Malco color scheme – light on top, brown on the bottom half. The controversial checkerboard pattern that was the top half of the buildings are now more, shall we say, eye-pleasing.

Now – let’s see if we can get some stores/shops in there!

Gas prices going up

After about a month of gas prices in Northeast Mississippi relatively holding steady, they took a jump over the weekend.

Sorry I didn’t get to post on Friday, but at the time, the cheapest gas was in New Albany at $2.85. It was the same on Saturday, but I’m not sure what it might be today. Kroger in Tupelo jumped up 4 cents on Friday, to $2.96, and I saw some stations at $2.99 this morning. A station in Amory was at $3.05 on Friday.

Oil, after dropping below $90 a barrel a couple of weeks back, went back up to about $96 by the end of the week. Gas prices followed.

And the latest news from experts is that record high prices are expected in the spring.

Target sales could be off-target

In case you missed it, Target – Tupelo’s favorite retailer that has yet to build a store here – warned Monday that its sales may fall in December compared to a year earlier.

The nation’s No. 2 retailer (behind you-know-who) said its sales for the five weeks ending Jan. 5 will be between a 1 percent decline and a 1 percent increase. That compares to a 3-5 percent increase it had forecast earlier.

It should be noted that Target’s third-quarter earnings dropped 4 percent compared to a year ago.

Still, we won’t know the total damage done until Jan. 10, when the company announces its final numbers.

So you’re wondering, what will that have on Target’s expansion plans? Who knows?

Some retailers, in “unsure” times, will scale back expansion plans and instead concentrate on “getting the right product mix out” and “enhancing the customer experience,” retail wonkisms that sound good to investors. Could that mean the long-awaited Target in Tupelo will have to wait a little longer? Again, who knows?

I would predict a significant bump in retail sales if Target built a store here, but that’s just me.

Maybe they’ll roll out a store opening about the same time Toyota opens its plant.

Wouldn’t that be something?

Oh – and don’t wallow too much for Target. Its November sales were up 16.7 percet, to nearly $6 billion. And through Dec. 1, the company’s sales had risen 10 percent, to more than $48 billion. They ain’t hurtin,’ trust me.

Wal-Mart gift card problems fixed

When gift cards go bad!

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, on Thursday said it has fixed the problems some stores had in processing gift cards on Wednesday.

“The issue was resolved yesterday afternoon. We apologize for this inconvenience to our customers,” the store said in the statement.

In a statement, Wal-Mart said once it discovered the problem, it investigated and found that a “third-party verifier’s systems had an inadvertent processing error.” The retailer said the error caused delays in gift card verifications.

Anybody have problems with theirs? I didn’t – because I didn’t get one.

But we did use an Olive Garden gift card and it worked just fine.

Attention, shoppers!

If you are still on the prowl for the perfect Christmas gift, here are a few popular retailers that are open today. And, if you really procrastinate, Walgreens is the only retailer we know of in Tupelo that will be open Christmas Day. Let us know if there are any other retailers that won’t be turning off the lights tomorrow.

Christmas Eve hours (starting with the latest closing hour):
Walgreens: not closing
Kmart (in Corinth): closes at 10 p.m.
Best Buy: closes at 9 p.m.
Kroger: closes at 7 p.m.
The Mall at Barnes Crossing: closes at 6 p.m.
Wal-Mart: closes at 6 p.m
Toys R Us: closes at 6 p.m.
PetSmart: closes at 6 p.m.
Books-A-Million: closes at 6 p.m.
GameStop: closes at 6 p.m.
Todd’s Big Star: closes at 5:30 p.m.
Palmer’s Supermarket: closes at 5 p.m
Village Green: closes at 5 p.m.
Reed’s (downtown Tupelo location): closes at 4:30 p.m.

Cheapest gas: New Albany

How can gas be so much cheaper in New Albany than everywhere else in NeMiss? It’s $2.72 in this town off of Highway 78.

If you can’t make it to New Albany, your best bet for cheap gas is in Sherman ($2.83) or Sam’s Club in Tupelo ($2.83 for members). Starkville and Iuka are selling regular unleaded for $2.89. Oxford and Tupelo (Kroger at Crosstown) have gas for $2.92.

Most expensive gas is in Amory ($2.95 for regular).

Check out Sunday’s Business & Money for more gas prices, airfares and CD and mortgage rates. Plus, we’ll fill you in on how NeMiss shoppers feel about returning or regifting bad Christmas presents. The answers might surprise you.

Hancock reports monthly loss

Hancock Fabrics today reported a loss of $17,000 for the month ended Dec. 1. Sales for the period came in at $27.1 million, compared with $25.1 million in the period ended Nov. 3.

The craft and fabric retailer posted a profit of $2,000 in the period ended Nov. 3. As of Dec. 1, Hancock had $56.9 million of availability under its debtor-in-possession credit facility. Read the entire SEC filing.

The Baldwyn-based retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 21. The company is required to file a monthly operating report as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.

Read previous Hancock coverage at djournal.com.

A whopper of a Christmas bonus

Goldman Sachs Group Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein got a $67.9 million bonus for 2007, MarketWatch reported Friday afternoon. Read more here.

You think if I bake him cookies, he’ll leave a present under my tree?

Vegas furniture market ups ante

Everyone in the furniture business knows the impact that Las Vegas has had on the market-side of the business. It’s spending billions to build the largest furniture market in the world, and money is no object.

The Las Vegas Market’s latest move – it’s giving away $500,000 in CASH at its January market to qualified buyers. Yes, cold, hard, cash. Forget about cruises, plasma TVs, Hummers and other gifts. Yep, Vegas has upped the ante, literally.

Here’s the official news from the World Market Center, which runs the show:

“Dubbed ‘The Fashion 500 Runway Rewards’, the promotional event will include 10 daily winners who will win $5,000 each and will be selected randomly each day of market. On Wednesday, January 30, the grand prize will be drawn in which one lucky buyer will return home with a grand prize of $250,000. Robin Leach, celebrity host to the rich and famous and Las Vegas resident, will be on hand to host the festivities and to aptly announce the grand prize winner. “

Caviar dreams and champagne wishes, indeed.