PUBLISHER'S FORUM part 2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JOE TATULLI |
Futon Imports Issue— Pragmatism vs. The Long View
Dave’s essay:
| |
|
| |
Joe’s Favorites from the 2003 Summer San Francisco Market |
| |
Pete Dodge’s "Scooter" futon frame |
| |
Night & Day’s Futon Sofa Sleeper Bunk Bed |
| |
Big Tree futon Chair |
Over the past two years I have become a fan of Dave Perry, the Executive Editor of Furniture Today. Dave has been around furniture for the past twenty-five years and he knows his stuff. Every week he writes an online essay called Furniture Sketchbook about something or other in the furniture world. He writes, we respond with comments, and he writes back. On August 8th Dave’s essay was “Did Jake go too far in his tough criticism of antidumping leaders?” The essay is archived online so you can still read it. The bottom line is some domestic manufacturers have banded together to protest “dumping” imported product here at home. Jabs called them a bunch of crybabies. This was my response to Dave’s essay:
Mayor Laffey Update— CNN Covers Laffey Cam
 |
| Cranston, RI Mayor Steve Laffey and the Laffey Cam gains national coverage on CNN’s American Morning as predicted here in Futon Life. This certainly confirms the genius status of Futon Life Publisher, Joe Tatulli. |
Whining Crybabies From The Abyss
Every time we do a survey we invariably get back some with nasty notes written in them with no return address or name inside. Some people, I venture to guess, are not willing to stand up and complain in public. To you I say, grow up and be a man (or woman). How can we answer questions and resolve complaints when we don’t know who you are? I am not the bogey man. Write me a letter with your name on it and use your own postage. It’s about speaking your piece to improve the category and the futon industry.
FL
For those of you who read the pages of Futon Life cover to cover (maybe three or four of you) there was a story in the last issue about my friend, Cranston, RI Mayor Steve Laffey.
We predicted national coverage and we hit the nail on the head. The CNN American Morning interview was the first of many (we hope) national opportunities Steve will get to tell his story of true statesmanship and the advent of real change in municipal government both here (in Rhode Island) and beyond.
Steve was interviewed by co-anchor Bill Hemmer on CNN's American Morning. The interview lasted four and a half minutes. Mayor Laffey told his story of change and the breakthrough programs he has put in place as he fights for the taxpayers of his hurting city. Cranston has the lowest bond rating in the United States, and Laffey is doing what it takes to turn things around. And believe it or not things are turning around even as I write.
More to follow.
Providence, RI was once known as the “jewelry capital of the world.” That's the WORLD. We had (note past tense) Tilden Thurber, Imperial, Coro, Monet, Gorham and many other very large manufacturers and their attendant subcontractors in and around the Providence area. That business is gone. There are still some futon manufacturers who thrive but their impact on the local economy is minimal. Due to the nature of the jewelry product (small size, huge quantities) it was one of the first to be taken to Asia for production, essentially eliminating an entire futon industry.
This same paradigm has occurred and continues to occur in the textile, furniture, computer, electronics, automotive, and other major industries all across the country. I recently read in my local paper about Pillowtex shutting down and laying off 5000 employees.
Like many today Jake Jabs is a pragmatist. His remarks accentuate a trend in our country (mostly in the minds and hearts of mega sized companies) that growth in volume, marketshare, and profits TODAY is more important than anything to do with TOMORROW. Pragmatism is a philosophy that produces a false security because it does not count the cost in terms of the future but only in terms of the present.
Dumping is bad. It is a way to gain marketshare by circumventing normal business conventions by essentially “buying” marketshare. Since Jabs has built his empire on a pragmatic business model, where price is king, his key justification is to paint the US manufacturer as part of the antiquity of the past. In reality, in my opinion, he is undermining the very economic structure that allows him to succeed.