Main Street Fairness gets ‘green light’The legislative battle for Main

Street Fairness was gaining impor-tant ground as Michigan lawmakers prepared to adjourn and resume work

Foodies’ holiday mall cartgrows to 2 gourmet stores

It began as a simple vendor cart at a shopping mall – a specialty business aimed at catching con-sumers’ eyes during the holiday shopping season.

Even then, owners David Drees and Jeff McDonald knew there were bigger things in store for their Ol-ive Cart operation, which sells oils and balsamics used in cooking.

Four years later, the partners of-fer more than 90 flavors at stores in South Haven and St. Joseph.

“Our product is more geared to-

ward a boutique-style store,” said Drees, explaining the decision not to return to the Grand Rapids-area mall once the holiday season end-ed. “Long range, we thought South Haven would be a great place to end up, because South Haven didn’t have any gourmet stores.”

A few months after leaving the RiverTown Crossings Mall in Grand-ville, Drees and McDonald opened their first brick-and-mortar loca-tion, in South Haven, sharing a 2,000-square-foot space with anoth-er retailer. The store enabled the partners to increase their product line from about 17 balsamics and oils to around 30.

They soon realized they would need even more room. When they found their current location in South Haven, a 2,500-square-foot space, it

in the new year.The biggest gain came on December

2 – ironically, Cyber Monday – when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to

get involved in state efforts to force online retailers such as Amazon and Overstock.com to collect sales tax in states where they don’t have stores or some other traditional physical presence.

“The Supreme Court’s action gives a green light to our bipartisan legis-lative efforts in Michigan,” said MRA President and CEO James P. Hallan.

Meanwhile in the Michigan Legisla-ture, Main Street Fairness legislation was introduced in the Senate in late October as similar bills awaited ac-tion by the entire House.

House Bills 4202 and 4203, which would help level the playing field be-tween Michigan-based retailers and non-Michigan, online retailers such as Amazon, were approved by the House Tax Policy Committee on September 11.

They are sponsored by Rep. Eileen Kowall (R-White Lake) and Rob Ver-

by Doug Henze

2 3 4Reducing Legal FeesMRA legal counsel Bill Hallan provides inside tips on how to lower your legal fees and get the most for your money.Page 4

Setting the StageThe Michigan Retail Index shows increased October sales setting the stage for an improved holiday shopping season.Page 3

Aggressive GrowthRetailers Mutual Insurance Company adds two highly accomplished marketing professionals to accelerate its solid growth. Page 2

Continued on page 6

®

December 2013 Vol. 38 No. 6 The official publication of the Michigan Retailers Association www.retailers.com

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SM

Solid job growthforecast for 2014

The state economy will add nearly 131,000 jobs in the next two years, according to University of Michigan economists.

In their annual November forecast, the researchers said Michigan will add 65,000 jobs in 2014 and 65,800 the next year. They project Michigan will end 2013 with 79,600 new jobs.

“These yearly gains would exceed the average change of 57,000 jobs per year recorded from 1971 to 2000, prior to the extended downturn of the 2000s,” the Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics at U-M said in a statement.

The forecast noted that by the end of 2015, the state will have replen-ished nearly half (48 percent) of the payroll jobs lost in the 10-year down-turn that ended in early 2010.

The economists, led by Director George A. Fulton, predict inflation will remain low: 1.2 percent in 2014 and 1.5 percent in 2015 after finishing 2013 at 1.7 percent.

They also see personal income growth and real disposable income rising in 2014 and 2015.

More than $30,000available for 2014scholarship awards

Michigan Retailers Association’s annual competition for college and training scholarships begins January 2.

Applications will be accepted through April 1 for the estimated 34 one-year scholarships for the 2014-15 academic year.

A total of $34,000 is available for the $1,000 and $500 awards, the same as this year.

Through this year, a total of 393 students have received a total of $365,000 in scholarships from MRA since 1999.

The scholarship program benefits the employees and families of MRA member businesses. It is funded by the Michigan Retailers Foundation, which pays for the awards out of the earnings on foundation assets.

Details of the competition will be sent to Association members, schools, colleges and other business groups by mid January.

New for 2014 is the Helen McCurry Legacy Scholarship, established by MRA Board of Directors member and past chair Joe McCurry in honor of his late wife. That brings the total number of

legacy scholarships to 18. Legacy scholarships are named for

Foundation contributors of $10,000 or more. They provide a way for retail-ers to give back to their industry and establish their legacy within MRA.

Again this year, the program is trying to increase awareness that scholarships are available to stu-dents of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) and other approved

MRA’s and Retailers Mutual’s holiday card reminds everyone to “Buy Nearby.”

Joe McCurry

2

At this moment it appears another important holiday season will have come and gone without action by state lawmakers to level the playing field between Michigan retail busi-nesses and their out-of-state, online competitors.

The inactivity is dangerously short-sighted, of course, because of the damage being done to Michigan’s re-tail industry.

Nevertheless, progress is being made toward enacting Main Street Fairness legislation (see page 1), so let’s steer away from the humbug and end the

Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

by James P. Hallan, MRA President and Chief Executive Officer

A Happier New Year

year on several upbeat notes for 2014.• Economists predict our state will

add more than the usual number of jobs for the next two years.

The University of Michigan forecast of 68,000 additional jobs in 2014 and a few more than that in 2015 tops the old-normal of 57,000 new jobs a year the state added during better times between 1971 and 2000.

Even with all those new workers our state’s economy will only be halfway back to restoring all the jobs lost during the decade of recession that started the new century. But halfway up that huge

mountain is still a milestone to cheer. (And think of the thousands of ad-

ditional retail jobs that could come over time with Main Street Fairness.)

• Buy Nearby, MRA’s new statewide campaign to encourage consumers to shop at Michigan retail businesses and keep those dollars in our com-munities, will grow next year.

Our goal is to make the expression “Buy Nearby” a household word. With strong support from retailers, local communities and enlightened sponsors, we’ll reach more Michigan-ders with our message in 2014 and increase our impact on consumers’ buying habits.

• Michigan Retailers Association will continue to fight for a stronger retail climate in our state, while pro-viding the critical business services that retailers and other businesses need to grow and prosper.

Look for more new membership services offerings next year to make your job of running a business easier and more profitable.

Yes, Virginia, there are better things ahead. All of us at MRA wish you a successful holiday season, a Merry Christmas and a happier and more prosperous New Year.

Board of Directors:

Thomas UngrodtChairIdeation, Ann Arbor

James P. HallanPresident and CEOMichigan Retailers Association

Dan MarshallVice Chair Marshall Music Company, Lansing

Peter R. SobeltonTreasurerBirmingham

Jean SarasinSecretaryMichigan Retailers Association

Barb SteinPast ChairGreat Northern Trading Co., Rockford

Brian DucharmeAT&T

Becky Beauchine KulkaBecky Beauchine Kulka Diamonds and Fine Jewelry, Okemos

Orin Mazzoni, Jr.Orin Jewelers, Garden City

Joseph McCurryCredit Card Group

Larry MullinsBrandon Tire & Battery, Ortonville

R.D. (Dan) Musser IIIGrand Hotel, Mackinac Island

Joe SwansonTarget Corp.

James WalshMeijer, Inc., Grand Rapids

D. Larry ShermanBoard Member Emeritus

Michigan Retailers Services, Inc.Board of Directors:

Bo BrinesLittle Forks Outfitters, Midland

Bill GoldenGolden Shoes, Traverse City

Lisa McCalpine-WittenmyerWalgreens

James P. Hallan Thomas B. ScottPublisher Editor

Pat KerwinDesign Manager

Publication Office:603 South Washington AvenueLansing, MI 48933517.372.5656 or 800.366.3699Fax: 517.372.1303www.retailers.comwww.retailersmutual.com

Subscriptions:Michigan Retailer (USPS 345-780, ISSN 0889-0439)is published in February, April, June, August, October and December for $20 per year by Michigan Retailers Association, 603 South Washington Ave., Lansing, MI 48933. Subscription fees are automatically included in the Michigan Retailers Asociation membership dues. Periodical postage paid at Lansing, Michigan. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 603 South Washington Ave., Lansing, MI 48933. The Michigan Retailer may be recycled with other white office paper.

RMIC adds marketing professionalsIn moves that reflect both the com-

pany’s solid sales growth and plans to aggressively boost market share, Retailers Mutual Insurance Company

has added two highly accomplished marketing professionals.

Retailers Mutual hired Kurt Dettmer as senior vice president, insurance sales and business development, and Teresa Breed as director, insurance sales. Both will work directly with the company’s network of Independent Insurance Agents to increase sales of Retailers Mutual policies.

Dettmer served as vice president and chief marketing officer for Fre-mont Insurance Company in Fremont. During his tenure at Fremont, the company increased direct written premium to $117 million from $28 million over a 10-year period.

A licensed Agent in P&C and Per-

sonal lines, he also previously worked for The ASU Group in Okemos as a TPA and multi-lines claims adjuster.

Dettmer is a graduate of Ferris State

University, where he received his degree in insurance and real estate management. A Macomb Township resident, he is the father of two sons.

AwardsBreed also comes to Retailers Mutual

from Fremont, where she was market-ing manager. A licensed Agent, she previously was senior marketing repre-sentative for Titan Insurance Company and an Independent Agency manager.

This year Breed was the Michigan Association of Professional Insurance Agents (MIPIA) nominee for national sales rep of the year award. In 2005 she received the national sales rep award for the Nationwide Insurance

Retailers Mutual’s expanded sales and marketing team: (from left) Teresa Breed, director, insurance sales; Tom Tuggle, senior vice president sales and member-ship; Kurt Dettmer, senior vice president sales and business development; (seated) President and CEO James P. Hallan. Photo by David Trumpie

Companies, and in 2002 received the Michigan Insurance Agents (MIA) Young Agents Council Master Award.

She and her husband are Cheboy-gan residents.

“We’re excited about Kurt and Te-resa joining Tom Tuggle, senior vice president, sales and membership, and the rest of the Retailers Mutual team, including Underwriting Man-ager Patty Zaskowski, that we’re building to accelerate the company’s growth,” Hallan said.

“Tom, Kurt and Teresa are prov-en insurance professionals who understand the needs of our excel-lent Independent Agent network and will work well with everyone to help move the company to the next levels. Retailers Mutual has a bright future.”

The insurer was formed by MRA in 2006 through the conversion of Re-tailers Fund to a mutual insurance company that provides coverage to all types of businesses. Retailers Fund was MRA’s self-funded, group workers’ compensation insurance program created in 1981.

At the beginning of 2013, Retailers Mutual also added MRA’s dental in-surance program to its products.

December 2013 3

More Michigan retailers increased sales during October, setting the stage for an improved holiday shopping season.

October’s Michigan Retail Index, a joint project of Michigan Retailers Association (MRA) and the Federal Re-serve Bank of Chicago, registered the best retail industry sales since July.

“The retail industry’s better per-formance during October points to increased sales during the holiday shopping period,” said Tom Scott, MRA senior vice president, commu-nications and marketing.

“The gains this autumn, while small, show consumers are still very much engaged. With gasoline prices at a relatively low level and the fed-eral government open again, retailers should be able to meet their projec-tions for modest year-over-year increases in sales.”

MRA members’ earlier holiday fore-casts showed cautious optimism, averaging a 1.3 percent gain over last year. The survey took place during the federal government shutdown, the showdown over the debt ceiling and the flawed rollout of the govern-ment’s health reform website – all of which tempered their forecasts.

The October Michigan Retail Index

found that 45 percent of retailers in-creased sales over the same month last year, while 39 percent recorded declines and 16 percent saw no change. The results create a season-ally adjusted performance index of 54.8 up from 52.8 in September.

The Index gauges the performance of the state’s overall retail industry, based on monthly surveys conduct-ed by MRA and the Federal Reserve.

Seasonally adjusted diffusion index, calculated by adding the percent of respondents indicating increased sales and half the percent indicating no change, and then seasonally adjusting the result using the U.S. Census Bureau’s X-11 Seasonal Adjustment procedure. Index values above 50 generally indicate an increase in activity, while values below 50 indicate a decrease.

3-Month Outlook Index

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October sales point to improved holiday resultsMICHIGAN RETAIL INDEX

700

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2012 2013

634602

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Aug Sep Oct

Be sure to complete youronline survey each month!

Index values above 50 generally indi-cate positive activity; the higher the number, the stronger the activity.

Looking forward, 48 percent of retailers expect sales during No-vember–January to increase over the same period last year, while 21 percent project a decrease and 31 percent no change. That puts the seasonally adjusted outlook index at 64.3, down from 76.3 in September.

At the national level, October retail sales excluding autos, gasoline and build-ing materials rose 0.2 percent, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

Complete results of this month’s Michigan Retail Index—including data on sales, inventory, prices, promotions and hiring—are available at www.retailers.com/mra/news/michigan-retail-index.html. The website includes figures dating back to July 1994.

IT’S THE LAW

by William J. Hallan, MRA Senior Vice President Operations and General Counsel

Ah, the billable hour – an archa-ic way of doing business. Law-yers hate them just as much as clients do.

No one wants to keep track of his or her day in

six-minute increments. And no client wants to pay for a minimum of six minutes when it only took 30 seconds to respond to an email.

With hourly fees creeping up, legal bills are getting bigger. As a former litigator for a large Michigan-based firm, and now as general counsel for the As-sociation, I thought I would provide some inside tips on how to lower your legal fees and get the most bang for your buck.

Scope of ProjectThe single easiest way to man-

age your legal fees is to limit them before a single hour is even billed. To do that, you first need to have a discussion about the scope of the project.

Be specific about what you want to accomplish. For example, if you’re asking your lawyer to review a lease, read it yourself in advance and only ask for advice on certain terms where you need clarification.

In addition, some clients may be hesitant to suggest a budget, but you absolutely need to give your lawyer a ballpark on what you are willing to spend. Establishing a budget helps you rein in costs that could get out of hand.

Details, Details, DetailsLawyers need clear guidance to ef-

ficiently accomplish a task. The more details you provide your attorney, the fewer questions he or she will have (translation: lower bills).

Let’s say, for instance, you have a conversation with your attor-ney about drafting a new incentive program for your store. After the discussion, it may be helpful for you to summarize the details in an email, so there is no confusion about your objectives.

For example, you could write: “As we discussed, please develop an incentive program for our Sales As-sociates. The terms of the program should include a 10 percent com-mission payment after the sales associate has sold a minimum of 10

units in a month. There will be an an-nual catch-up if the sales associate sells 120 units in a year.”

Who Does the Work?Before you engage an attorney, de-

termine who will be doing the work. Large law firms often have associates do the grunt work, which is reviewed by the partner.

While associates may have cheaper rates, they may (not always) lack ex-

pertise in the subject matter. In other words, you may find yourself paying for inter-office conferences and an as-sociate’s legal development.

The take-home point is not about barring associates from working on your project. Instead, ask your attor-ney to provide a list of all attorneys assigned to the project (including their billable rates) and determine the necessity of each lawyer.

Such a description should be in-cluded in the attorney’s engagement letter. If it’s not, ask for it.

Read Your Bill Did it really take your attorney six-

tenths of an hour to send you that PDF? What is “Attention to File” and why did it cost two hours? Demand specificity.

If the description of the task on the bill doesn’t make sense, ask about it and why it took as long as it did. A lawyer’s job is to account for his or her time.

A time entry that says “Attention to File” with no explanation should be contested. Each time-entry should contain sufficient information for you to know what you are paying for.

Realistic ExpectationsYou need to have realistic expecta-

tions when dealing with a lawyer, not only about the cost but also about the outcome. If at the start of the relationship you’re clear about your objectives and budget, you will have a more productive relationship with your attorney.

Finally, if you have a problem with your bill, ask your attorney about it. It’s been my experience that most attorneys will be reasonable and will work with you to maintain the relationship.

“you absolutely need to give your lawyer a ballpark on what you are willing to spend.”

64 Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

Legal fees: tips to get most for your money

“We are starting to see a ‘revolution’ in the look and feel of payment cards.”

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY NEWS

John Mayleben CPP, is MRA senior vice president technology and new product development and a national expert on electronic payment processing. He is the first person in Michigan and among the first in the nation to receive the Certified Payments Professional designationfrom the national Electronic Transactions Association.

Check out the new cards…

Over the years, merchants have become accus-tomed to seeing the various pay-ment cards in traditional for-mats and have trained their staff what to look for

when a consumer presents a card for payment.

Most of the changes in the past were evolutionary in nature. But now we are starting to see a “revolution” in the look and feel of payment cards.

Some of the card brands have changed the orientation of the card

from landscape to portrait (horizon-tal to vertical) and also eliminated the raised type your old-fashioned “knuckle buster” machine used when imprinting a card on the receipt.

If you are presented with a new card that does not have the raised embossed type, you need to, in some cases, handle the card differently.

In a case where the card is swiped and you successfully read the mag stripe, there is nothing different you need to do during the sales transaction. But if you can’t swipe it because the card is damaged or your terminal mag stripe reader is broken, you should make sure to enter the CVV2 (commonly referred to as the “security code”) into your terminal.

This will allow you to prove that you had the card in your hand and the transaction was not a mail order

or telephone order.If you can’t swipe the card and

aren’t able to enter the CVV2 value in your terminal, or if the CVV2 val-ue comes back as a mismatch, don’t accept the transaction! Ask the con-sumer for another form of payment.

Chip CardsAnother change coming in the card

world is the transition to chip-based transactions instead of mag stripes. This transition will be occurring slow-ly over the next two to four years as consumers’ cards expire and card issuers generate new cards to those cardholders.

At this point, all of the cards will

also have a mag stripe on them, and you should be able to swipe them.

If you have not already upgraded your terminal and are considering a replacement device, we recommend that you upgrade to a unit that will accommodate the chip-based trans-actions.

One of the benefits for upgrading is that in late 2015, the card associations are changing some of the procedures around chargebacks, and a merchant that uses a chip-based machine (even if the card is not a chip card) will have more protections against some types of chargebacks than a merchant that has not upgraded.

If you have questions about either of these issues or any other mer-chant processing questions, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our merchant processing experts at 800.563.5981.

5

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December 2013

Heulen (R-Walker).Senator Jim Ananich (D-Flint) intro-

duced similar legislation in the Senate in October to build additional sup-port. Senate Bills 658 and 659 await consideration, expected in early 2014, by the Senate Economic Development Committee.

Ananich was a sponsor, along with Rep. Kowall, of 2011 legislation that died when it did not make it out of committee by the end of 2012.

Supreme CourtThe U.S. Supreme Court declined to

get involved in petitions from Ama-zon and Overstock.com to review a decision by New York’s highest court upholding that state’s 2008 Main Street Fairness law. The New York law requires Amazon, Overstock.com and similar online merchants to col-lect sales tax on merchandise sold to New York residents.

Amazon has no distribution cen-ters or employees in New York but sells to residents through third-par-ty affiliates, which the 2008 law said constitutes a physical presence.

Michigan’s legislation is similar to New York’s.

“Retailers all across Michigan ap-plaud the action by the U.S. Supreme Court because it removes an excuse that critics have used to hold up pas-sage of our legislation to remove the 6 percent price advantage Michigan government gives to out-of-state on-line retailers,” said Hallan.

“The court’s action is of critical importance to our efforts here in Michigan.”

Treasury ReminderHallan also noted that the Michi-

gan Department of Treasury issued a news release the day before Thanks-giving advising residents to save their receipts from online purchases and report their use tax on the MI 1040 tax return.

“…Treasury is reminding shoppers that purchases made online are not tax-free during holiday season or at any other time of year,” the news re-lease stated.

“Michigan’s use tax generally ap-plies to transactions in which the retailer does not collect sales tax. When out-of-state vendors do not collect sales tax on purchases, un-der Michigan law the purchaser is responsible for reporting and paying the use tax.”

Hallan said the news release is im-portant in helping increase awareness that Main Street Fairness legislation does not create a new tax, as some critics have falsely said.

“Treasury’s reminder underscores the fact that this is a collection issue, not a new tax,” he said.

“Government should treat all retail-ers and all sales the same, not put Michigan businesses at a 6 percent price disadvantage. Current law is damaging the retail industry, killing jobs and hurting Michigan’s economy.”

Main Street Fairness gets ‘green light’

Scholarship awardseducation and training institutes.

Recipients are selected for their average to above-average academic performance and extracurricular ac-tivities, which can include part-time employment.

Financial need is not a consideration. Those eligible to apply are high

school seniors and college fresh-men, sophomores and juniors who are dependent sons and daughters of owners or full-time employees of MRA’s nearly 5,000 member busi-nesses. Part-time employees who are full-time students may also apply.

Applications must be submitted by April 1, 2014, to International Schol-arship and Tuition Services, Inc., of Nashville, Tennessee, which coordi-nates the application and selection process for MRA and many other as-sociations and companies.

Students are encouraged to com-plete the application process online at MRA’s website, www.retailers.com. Students may also contact MRA’s Laura Schilling at 800.366.3699 or lschilling@retailers.com by March 15 to request an application by mail or to check eligibility.

LYNCHSales Company

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Michigan Retailers:For personal

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(586) 413-0215 or visit our

website for an outline of our

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Just a sample of the hundreds of fine retailers that we have had the privilege of serving since 1914. Sign up for a Lynch Sale today!

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6 Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

Continued from page 1

Continued on page 7

Offer Gift Cards,Increase Sales. 800.366.3699

Holiday mall cart grows to 2 storesfit the bill – except for the fact it was an empty shell without plumbing.

Second Location “We worked around the clock,”

Drees recalled. The day after the old store closed, the new one opened.”

“In June of this year, we opened a second location in St. Joe,” Drees said. That store also is about 2,500 square feet.

A third Olive Cart “location” is its ecommerce site, which offers all the products customers can buy in the

stores, except pottery items.“People mostly shop in the store,

but they go to the website, too,” Drees said. “We’re getting more and more business through the website,” he said.

For Drees, who has owned a bed

and breakfast in Fennville for the past decade, and McDonald, a chef, the business is a way to turn passion into profit.

“We’re both kind of foodies,” Drees said. “We both enjoy oils and balsam-ics and we believe it’s a healthy thing to eat. We believe in educating people in the use of oils and balsamics in their cooking.”

Olive Cart offers oils from all over the world, including Greece, Italy and Mexico, Drees said. The business in-fuses the products with fresh fruit and herbs to give them their signa-ture flavors.

They’re sold as salad dressings, marinades or to drizzle on pastas and vegetables.

“You can use them on dessert and, of course, for dipping bread,” Drees said. “The balsamics are 25-year aged, so they’re very thick and rich. They’re like a sauce, almost like a fudge sauce.”

Olive Cart also offers a full line of nut oils, truffle oils, pastas, breads and crackers. Pottery and wood items – such as cutting boards – also are available.

Heart-HealthyDrees describes his customer as

“basically anybody who likes to cook or likes eating.”

“We have everyone in our shop from gourmet chefs to people who have never had anything but ramen noodles,” he said.

Those customers benefit from the

Olive Cart owners Dave Drees (left) and Jeff McDonald sell more than 90 flavors of oils and balsamics in their two stores.

LOTTERY

by M. Scott Bowen, CommissionerLucky Lottery players win game-show trips to Las Vegas

Entering the holiday season, a few lucky Lottery players received their gifts early.

Four Michigan players won the Family Feud In-stant game 2nd chance promo-

tion and traveled to Las Vegas to participate in the $1 million Las Ve-gas Game Show Experience.

While none of the Michigan Lottery contestants won the $1 million grand prize, all the players came home with a taxes-paid prize and the unforgetta-ble memories of playing their favorite game shows in Las Vegas.

Michigan boasted selling a grand prize winning ticket in the exciting Halloween Millions Raffle that came to an end on November 1.

Three $1 million grand prize win-ning tickets were sold in the seven participating states of the multi-state raffle. The top prize tickets were sold in Michigan, New Jersey and Ohio.

Michigan’s winning ticket was sold at Meijer #43 Gas Station in

Saginaw. The winner was Raymond Draus, of Saginaw.

We’re also pleased to announce that the new Poker Lotto’s nightly drawing yielded its first $100,000 jackpot winner. The winning ticket was sold at Mathews Food Liquor & Wine in Detroit.

The lucky winner matched all five cards (meaning both the suit and the number/value) to all five winning cards that were drawn on November 13.

New PR DirectorThe Michigan Lottery is happy

to announce that Jeff Holyfield has joined the team as the Lottery’s new director of public relations.

Holyfield has more than 30 years of experience in journalism and public relations. Before coming aboard at the Lottery, Holyfield worked for Governor Rick Snyder’s office, where he served as the di-rector of communications after a 15-year career in communications with Consumers Energy.

Important DatesMichigan Lottery offices will be

closed December 24-25 and Decem-

7

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December 2013

ber 31 and January 1. Please note that all regularly scheduled draw-ings will take place on December 25.

Over 97 cents of every dollar spent on Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players

and commissions to retailers. In fiscal year 2012, the contribution to schools was a record $778.4 million. Since its inception in 1972, the Lottery has con-tributed over $17 billion to education in Michigan. For additional informa-tion, please visit the Lottery’s website at www.michiganlottery.com.

Holiday mall cart grows to 2 storesheart-healthy properties of Olive Cart products, Drees said.

“There aren’t saturated fats,” he said. “Balsamics are very good for the natural digestion.”

In addition to being proud of his products, Drees boasts that the busi-ness isn’t tied to a franchise.

“We’re the only one in Michigan we know of that’s independent,” he said.

Olive Cart’s growth suggests that the formula is working. While Drees elects not to give sales figures, he said the business has come a long way from its break-even days at the mall.

“We’re making about 15 times what we did the first year [with a store-front],” he said.

Relying in the past on eight to 15 part-time employees, depending on time of the year, Olive Cart recently hired two full-time managers to run the stores.

Drees and McDonald devote part of their time traveling to trade shows in Chicago and San Francisco to get ideas and make connections.

But it’s the contact with customers that keeps them going, Drees said.

“We’re always intrigued by teach-ing people how to cook gourmet and the health benefits of it,” he said.

Doug Henze is a freelance writer and former business reporter for the Oak-land Press in Pontiac.

Cheerful games that give your customers chances to win up to $500,000 instantly and your business a jolly seasonal boost. Little wonder these tickets make everyone’s season so merry and bright.

‘Tis the season to stock up on Michigan Lottery holiday instants.

Overall odds of winning Oh Deer: 1 in 4.76. Overall odds of winning Golden Gift: 1 in 4.55. Overall odds of winning Silver Bell Bucks: 1 in 3.60. Overall odds of winning $500,000 Riches: 1 in 3.33.

If you bet more than you can afford to lose, you’ve got a problem. Call 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help.