Tips for a great yard sale

There are so many good tips for running a yard sale. The seasoned yard seller will tell you there’s more to it than putting your unwanted junk in the yard. We have a primer (full story) in today’s paper about how to have a successful yard sale. Here are some more tips as well:

• Set the day of the sale to coincide with when people get paid – the first weekend of the month or the middle of the month.
• Don’t have it on a holiday weekend. Your shoppers will be out of town.
• If you are in the Tupelo city limits, buy a permit from City Hall (841-6414). You run the risk of being fined if you are caught without a permit.
• Start your sale when other people have their sales, usually around 7 a.m. or 8 a.m. Expect people to show up early, either the day before or an hour or two before your sale.
• Get the word out about your sale through the Journal classifieds (842-2622), Craig’s List, Facebook, myspace and word of mouth. Make sure include a location, date, time and whether it is rain or shine.
• Make signs that are easy to read and take them down after the sale.
• Have at least $100 in small change. If you are selling more $10-and-up items, get more change.
• Keep your money on you. Wear a fanny pack or a carpenter’s apron and never ever put your money down.
• Have a collection of plastic shopping bags ready for purchases.
• Don’t let anyone in your house to try on clothes or use the bathroom. As another safety precaution, carry a cordless phone or a cell phone in your fanny pack.
• Price your items in advance. If you are OK with your shoppers bartering, price a little higher than you would accept. If your prices are firm, put the actual price. Remember when you set your prices that shoppers are looking for a bargain.
• Don’t sell broken items.
• If it’s hot, put your items in the shade or have fans blowing. People shop more when they are comfortable.

Looking for more tips? Go to yardsalequeen.com. Got some you’d like to add? Leave a comment and tell us.

Tupelo’s response for Gustav

This just in from the Tupelo CVB:

The Tupelo CVB will be trying to assist hurricane evacuees as much as possible by providing Red Cross and other important information on our website. We are awaiting final word from Red Cross about shelters (locations, hours etc). Once we receive word from the Red Cross it will go live on the front page of www.tupelo.net.

We will also have a staff member in the office answering phones on Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to help with any questions evacuees may have about our city. They will have limited information about Red Cross, they will be here more as a “what to do while in Tupelo” source. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to call or email us.

Our prayers go out to the people along the gulf coast and we hope that you all have a Happy and Safe Labor Day weekend.

Hurricane’s coming – got your supplies?

What is it about a hurricane (or threat of snow for that matter) that sends people scurrying for bread, milk and water?

Go to a store, and those aisles usually looked wiped out because of the run. OK, Katrina was an exception, but it’s not like we’re out of power for days and we can’t get in and out of our homes or go to the stores. And are our pantries and refrigerators THAT empty that we can’t skip a trip to the store?

If you’re in the direct path of a major storm, I might see a little reasoning behind the run on groceries. It’s still a major overreaction in my humble opinion.

Now, the need for batteries – OK, I can see that. And if you’re on the Coast, investing in plywood comes handy, too.

But mark my words: This weekend, as Gustav gets closer, the stores will be busy.

Will you be joining in the madness?

Duh – no bids for million-mile truck

And this guy wonders why nobody’s offered a bid.

From the AP:

A 1991 Chevrolet Silverado that has traveled more than 1 million miles is still on the market, its owner says, though it failed to fetch the premium price that he had hoped for.

Frank Oresnik said he failed to sell the 1991 truck during a 10-day auction on eBay that ended Sunday. He had placed a minimum bid of $30,000, and said all he got was a couple of feelers.

But he’s not giving up.

The 58-year-old Oresnik said he is going to put the truck back on eBay later this week with no minimum bid.

Oresnik bought the truck 12 years ago when it had 41,000 miles. He used the vehicle to deliver seafood in three states, putting on about 85,000 miles a year.

When the odometer hit a million miles earlier this year, on a road near Fond du Lac, the feat brought him national attention.

Over the years, the truck has had four radiators, three gas tanks and six water pumps, but the engine is still original. He practiced such car-friendly techniques as always letting the engine warm up first, even in summer, according to the Web site www.roadsbridges.com.

Toyota cuts 2009 global forecast

No big surprise, really, but Toyota lowered its global sales forecast for 2009, to 9.7 million vehicles. That’s down from the 10.4 million it had forecast earlier.

Highlights from the Associated Press:

We have been going at top speed up to now,” President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters at a Tokyo hotel after announcing the numbers. “It is time to set more cautious targets.”

The lower target would still be a 2 percent increase from the company’s 2008 sales goal of 9.5 million. But even that figure was reduced last month from an initial 9.85 million units.

Toyota has been on such a potent growth track in recent years it is getting closer to ending General Motors Corp.’s 77-year run as the world’s top automaker by sales.
Japan’s top automaker sold more than 4.8 million vehicles worldwide in the first half this year, more than its U.S. rival’s 4.5 million vehicles. The sales tallies for this year are too close to call, as GM is also struggling with the same industry problems and restructuring its operations.

What is clear from these sales revisions is that Toyota, which had so far averted the serious problems of its money-losing American rivals, is now grappling with the same industry woes.

Watanabe said Toyota is also planning to produce a next-generation electric vehicle in the early 2010s.

Toyota will also start making the Prius hybrid in the U.S., at its Mississippi plant, to meet growing demand for fuel-efficient models, while scaling down production of trucks and other gas-guzzlers there, he said.

ARC awards $75K tourism grant

After making a flurry of phone calls, it turns out that this money will be used as part of the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance, a Tupelo-based group dedicated to driving heritage tourism in North Mississippi:

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran today announced the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has approved a $75,000 grant for the CREATE Foundation in Tupelo to expand the capacity of the Mississippi Hills Institute for Heritage Resource Management organization and train more than 100 people to help grow the region’s local heritage tourism industry.

“The Mississippi Hills Heritage Area includes a multitude of historical, cultural, and recreational opportunities throughout north Mississippi,” Sen. Wicker said. “This funding will enable local communities in the region to develop initiatives to promote and market these important tourism resources to the widest audience possible.”

The Institute was launched in 2007 to create a strong heritage tourism sector within the regional economy and assist communities with conservation, interpretation, development and marketing of historic, cultural, natural, scenic and recreational assets. ARC funds will be used to implement elements of a three-year strategic plan developed by the Institute. These elements include: training and technical assistance workshops for community leaders on heritage tourism, building partnerships with other state and local organizations, creating an area management plan, and expanding the expertise of the Institute’s board of directors.

Cultural heritage tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry, and spending by cultural tourists is significantly higher than the general tourism industry average.

In addition to the ARC funds, local sources will provide $100,000, bringing the total project funding to $175,000.

Atl Bread grand opening today

I love it when we find out information from our own paper, courtesy of the ads.

It appears today is Atlanta Bread’s grand opening. The ad says there will be free giveaways. An employee tells the Biz you’ll get a free cookie if you buy a meal.

Read our previous Atlanta Bread coverage.

Tupelo Wendy’s tests new items

Ah ha! I had an ordeal ordering an iced coffee from Wendy’s earlier this month and now I have the reason – it’s a brand new item. More on the iced coffee debacle later.

Anyway, this press release just made its way over to the Biz Buzz team:

Tupelo Selected to Test New Wendy’s Product

TUPELO, MS – August 5, 2008 – The city of Tupelo has been selected to test the new Iced-Coffee and Frosty-cino products at the local Wendy’s restaurant.

Wendy’s International in association with Carlisle Corporation and other Mississippi Wendy’s franchisees, have commissioned a product test in the fall, which is the only test within the Wendy’s system. Now consumers in your area will be able to get premium cold coffee drinks at Wendy’s as part of new product line.

The Frosty™-cino, leading these two new innovative products in the test, is a rich creamy Frosty™ fused with premium coffee in 4 Great flavors – Turtle, Confused Turtle, Vanilla and Hazelnut.

The Iced-Coffee is premium coffee, cold over ice and mixed with a flavor kick of Turtle, Confused Turtle, Vanilla and Hazelnut.

The test is designed to see how the consumers respond to these premium beverages due to the demand for these products throughout the QSR industry.

“It is our hope that our business can capitalize on these superb premium coffee drinks that the consumer has shown a significant demand for,” says Gene Carlisle, CEO and President of Carlisle Corporation. “We have a unique opportunity to build a new coffee brand for our franchise and other franchisees and what we have is something truly unique with the Frosty™-cino as well as a better tasting premium Iced Coffee.”

Pork industry still hurting

Pork news from MSU via the Cattle Network. An excerpt (full text):

MISSISSIPPI STATE — Fuel, feed and packers have Mississippi pork producers over a barrel.

According to statistics from the National Pork Board, Mississippi’s hog production numbers over the last seven years (2000-2006) averaged about 470,000 head, which includes market hogs, feeder pigs and sows. But from 2005 through 2007, the average was about 434,000 head. Production at the end of 2007 totaled 412,000 hogs valued at $63 million.

The industry is in transition and will have to do what it has done for the past 20 years to survive – reinvent itself, said Mark Crenshaw, Mississippi State University Extension swine specialist. Survival in the aftermath of the Bryan Foods plant closing in West Point in March 2007 makes the task much more difficult this time around for Mississippi producers.

“High fuel and feed costs have made 2008 pretty rough for the state’s swine industry, but the loss of the market that Bryan provided has created an additional hardship,” Crenshaw said. “The closing came at a time when producers in general were struggling because of the economy.”

Swine feed in general contains 70 percent corn, 20 percent soybean meal and 10 percent other nutrients. While higher corn and soybean prices made feed prices rise, the cost of fuel has had the biggest impact on the industry.

Blue Springs lands Toyota-related company

Have you seen the land being cleared on Highway 178 near the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi site? We have too. And after a bit of digging, we have answers.

A representative from the Three Rivers Planning Development District confirmed today the 30-acre site on Highway 178 in Blue Springs is being cleared for an unannounced automotive-related company. He couldn’t give us any names, but said it is related to Toyota.

We hear it’s a Tier 1 supplier, but our Three Rivers source declined to comment further.

Read tomorrow’s Daily Journal for the full story.