Outdoor Co-op REI Is Thriving, but Does It Have Members, or Shoppers?
Seattle — REI’s business acumen has taken it to lofty heights rarely seen by a retail cooperative. But as a record-low turnout in the latest annual election shows, REI’s original democratic fervor seems to have stayed at base camp. Members these days engage more via Twitter, Facebook or email. They behave more like customers than co-owners, underscoring how rapid growth has radically altered the relationship between members and a...
Parental Leave Still A Rarity for Most
There’s never been a better time to have a baby at Facebook. Or at Netflix. Or Credit Suisse Group. But as those and other big-name corporations expand paid leave for new parents, millions of ordinary Americans face a hard truth: they get no parental leave at all. Call it the baby gap. In most wealthy nations, getting time off to care for a new child is a given. But in the United States, generous parental leave — indeed, any parental...
VW to Offer Owners $1,000 in Gift Cards
Detroit — Volkswagen is offering $1,000 in gift cards and vouchers as a goodwill gesture to owners of small diesel-powered cars involved in an emissions cheating scandal. The offer announced Monday goes to owners of 482,000 cars in the U.S., many who are angry at the company because they paid extra for the cars to be environmentally sensitive without losing peppy acceleration. VW is working on a fix for the cars, which are equipped...
Obama Talks Link Between Robots, Jobs
Washington — In one of his first attempts at selling the just-completed Trans-Pacific Partnership, President Obama made a statement about what’s actually ailing the American worker. Offshoring might have sent a lot of jobs overseas in recent years, he told the radio show Marketplace, but the current headwind is robots. “Frankly when you look at job loss and lost leverage, automation and technology has probably contributed more than...
The Cautious Trump
New York — Donald Trump sells himself as a bold empire builder, the kind of businessman who could force through big changes in Washington as president. Yet for all his bravado — “I’ve done an amazing job,” the Republican White House hopeful boasted during his announcement speech — a review of the billionaire’s financial filings and recent deals suggests he’s no swashbuckler. Trump is reluctant to take on debt after it nearly ruined...
