Small Business Saturday. Shop Local.

Yesterday, on “Black Friday,” millions of Americans spent billions of dollars with the multi-national corporations that sell imported products in U.S. shopping malls. Some of us resisted this retail feeding frenzy and bought nothing. Today people from both camps will buy local, shopping with neighborhood shops on Small Business Saturday.

$100 spent with local businesses returns $68 to the community vs. $43 spent at big box stores. So think outside the big box and shop local. The Small Business Saturday campaign was started in 2010 by American Express, but your local shopkeepers will really thank you if you pay cash and leave your Amex card at home (shops have to pay Amex swipe fees).

Trump’s Taxes: He Screwed His Investors, Not Just Uncle Sam

Donald Trump paid no personal income taxes for 18 years by deducting the $916,000,000 he lost in 1995, reported the New York Times in a story based on leaked information from state tax returns. To do this Mr. Trump had to forgo the depreciation deductions on his properties, which included his Atlantic City casinos. Donald Trump formed a public corporation and funded his casinos with securities he sold to ordinary investors impressed with his celebrity and a promise of 14 percent interest who were unaware of the tax burden The Donald had imposed on the properties by taking personal deductions on them. As the company collapsed and the bond value plummeted 70 percent, the CEO paid himself a $5 million bonus and bought a private jet. So much for Mr. Trump’s sense of “fiduciary duty.”

As Drew Harwell explained in the Washington Post:

“Many of those who lost money were Main Street shareholders who believed in the Trump brand, such as Sebastian Pignatello, a retired private investor in Queens. By the time of the 2004 bankruptcy, Pignatello’s 150,000 shares were worth pennies on the dollar.

‘He had been pillaging the company all along,’ said Pignatello, who joined shareholders in a lawsuit against Trump that has since been settled. ‘Even his business allies, they were all fair game. He has no qualms about screwing anybody. That’s what he does.’”

Trump: The Art of the Deadbeat

Reality TV star, mob associate, scam artist, and tax evader Donald Trump touts his business acumen as his chief qualification for the presidency of the United States. Examination of Mr. Trump’s activities finds his business plan involved a clever strategy —  just not paying his bills. Small business owners who support the Republican candidate should talk to the many small business owners he has stiffed over the past 3 decades.

More:

“Hundreds allege Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills,” Steve Reilly, USA Today

“Trump’s art of the deal – Dispute your bills,” Emily Flitter, Reuters

“Donald Trump Has a History of Not Paying His Bills. That Offers Some Insights Into His Personality.” Jesse Singal, New York Magazine

“Scourge, Not Saviour: What Small Business Owners Might Wish to Know About Donald Trump, The Economist (paywall)

“‘Little guy’ contractors still angry at Trump Taj bankruptcy,” Bernard Condon, Associated Press

Small Business Saturday. Shop Local.

Yesterday, on “Black Friday,” millions of Americans spent billions of dollars with the multi-national corporations that sell imported products in U.S. shopping malls. Some of us resisted this retail feeding frenzy and bought nothing. Today people from both camps will buy local, shopping with neighborhood shops on Small Business Saturday.

$100 spent with local businesses returns $68 to the community vs. $43 spent at big box stores. So think outside the big box and shop local. The Small Business Saturday campaign was started in 2010 by American Express, but your local shopkeepers will really thank you if you pay cash and leave your Amex card at home (shops have to pay Amex swipe fees).

DC Cat Café Opens June 20th

Crumbs & Whiskers, DC’s first cat café, is opening at 3211 O Street NW in Georgetown on June 20th. Kickstarter backers can schedule now, Gentlemeow’s Club members can sign up on June 15th, and the rest of us must wait until June 18th.

So reservations are required; sounds pretty exclusive. Will there be valet parking?

The Phase

Cosmic balance returned to Barracks Row two weeks ago when the Phase 1 Bar and Nightclub was reopened after three months of  renovation. Founded in 1970, “The Phase” is said to be the oldest continually operating lesbian bar in the USA and the oldest LGBT bar in the Nation’s Capital. That’s pretty amazing, since America’s lesbian bars are an endangered species.

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Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-l8v

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Small Business Saturday. Shop Local.

Yesterday, on “Black Friday,” millions of Americans spent billions of dollars with the multi-national corporations that sell imported products in U.S. shopping malls. Some of us resisted this retail feeding frenzy and bought nothing. Today people from both camps will buy local, shopping with neighborhood shops on Small Business Saturday.

$100 spent with local businesses returns $68 to the community vs. $43 spent at big box stores. So think outside the big box and shop local. The Small Business Saturday campaign was started by American Express, but your local shopkeepers will really thank you if you pay cash and leave your Amex card at home (they have to pay Amex swipe fees).

_________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-ki7

Image (“Small Business Saturday, after Edward Hopper”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

The Unkindest Cut

Brice’s Barber Shop (532 8th Street SE), long a fixture near the Marine Barracks, is closing. The window reads “It Pays to Look Well,” but there’s no truth to the rumor that Brice’s was shut down by the Grammar Police.

Small Business Saturday. Shop Local.

Yesterday, on “Black Friday,” millions of Americans spent billions of dollars with the multi-national corporations that sell imported products in U.S. shopping malls. Some of us resisted this retail feeding frenzy and bought nothing. Today people from both camps will buy local, shopping with neighborhood shops on Small Business Saturday.

$100 spent with local businesses returns $68 to the community vs. $43 spent at big box stores. So think outside the big box and shop local, maybe even buy some art. The Small Business Saturday campaign was started by American Express, but your local shopkeepers will really thank you if you leave your Amex card at home (they pay swipe fees).

_________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-hTO

Image (“Small Business Saturday, after Edward Hopper”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine

Small Business Saturday. Shop Local.

Yesterday, on “Black Friday,” millions of Americans spent billions of dollars with the multi-national corporations that sell imported products in U.S. shopping malls. Some of us resisted this retail feeding frenzy and bought nothing. Today people from both camps will buy local, shopping with neighborhood shops on Small Business Saturday.

$100 spent with local businesses returns $68 to the community vs. $43 spent at big box stores. So think outside the big box and shop local.

More:

“Gift buyers like local mom-and-pop shops’ unique choices,” Erin Kutz and Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today

_________________

Short Link:  http://wp.me/p6sb6-f0G

Image (“Small Business Saturday, after Edward Hopper”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine