Encouraging start for Buy Nearby dayJanuary 1 marks startof new insurance era

Buy Nearby’s first annual celebra-tion has gone into the books as a qualified success and an encouraging start for the new campaign.

Company embraces roots,honors long-time workers

In a bygone era, when working for the same employer for decades was more rule than exception, com-panies were like families.

Global competition, greater re-liance on technology, downsizing and a more transient workforce have largely eroded the familial feeling – and with it much of the sense of company history.

Step inside the Lansing home of Marshall Music, however, and you’ll experience a blast from the past.

In August the company hon-ored its first set of pioneers -- now known as the “Legends of Marshall Music” -- by unveiling a series of portraits drawn by artist and em-ployee Elyse Gray. At the same time, the company paid tribute to its longest-serving employees: 11 Lansing store workers who have served the company for at least a quarter of a century.

Roots“As a company gets older, some-

times you lose track of your roots,” said President and CEO Dan Mar-shall, explaining why the lunchtime ceremony was so important.

“All my legends are gone. And the fact is, I’m bringing people in who have no idea what these people did. I’m going to make sure, in every store,

The first Saturday in October, branded as Get Caught Blue-Handed Day to encourage shoppers to buy nearby at Michigan retail businesses,

generated fun and increased sales for many participating retailers.

Not all retailers and shoppers were aware of the new campaign, however.

“For the first year of such an am-bitious, statewide campaign to modify consumers’ buying habits, things went very well,” said James P. Hallan, MRA president and CEO.

“Buy Nearby more than met our ex-pectations and demonstrated strong potential for the future. We still have a long way to go, but we’re pleased at this year’s results and we’re com-mitted to growing the campaign next year and for years to come.”

Survey ResultsMRA launched Buy Nearby this

past April as a year-round campaign to increase traffic and sales at Michi-gan retail businesses. The campaign is “celebrated” one day a year – the first Saturday in October – to focus media and shoppers’ attention on it.

The campaign is both fun and educa-tional. It’s intended to remind shoppers of the fun of shopping at Michigan re-tail businesses and to drive home the economic importance of supporting Michigan communities and businesses.

Among respondents to MRA’s fol-low-up survey, 28 percent said their

by Doug Henze

Editor’s note: On October 1, the feder-al online marketplace for purchasing health insurance opened for business. Millions of would-be users have been thwarted in their attempts to access the website because of high demand and “bugs.” Efforts are underway to address the issues as of this writing, and Amer-icans are still expected to purchase health insurance or pay a tax penalty for non-compliance.

January 1, 2014, marks the begin-ning of a new era for health insurance in the United States.

That’s when the final and most significant provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA for short) take effect.

The federal health reform law is fundamentally changing the structure of health insurance in this country and will have an impact on you.

Many people who already have health insurance are unaware that the ACA will affect them person-ally. All health insurance plans for businesses that employ less than 50 people have been modified to meet ACA requirements. Today’s individual and group plans won’t look exactly the same next year.

These are four major ACA-related changes coming to health insurance that take effect with the start of the new year:

1. The individual mandate to have health insurance

For 2014, the tax penalty for not having insurance is the greater of $95 per adult and $47.50 per child up to $285 for a family, or 1 percent of household income.

By 2016, the tax goes up to the greater of $695 per adult and $347.50 per child or 2.5 percent of household income.

Gaps in coverage of three months or less are exempt from penalty.

3 9 11New Lottery Game The Lottery introduces a new game that combines features of instant tickets and games with a nightly drawing. Page 11

Help with Bad ChecksAn innovative county prosecutor has come up with a highly cost-effective program for dealing with writers of bad checks. Page 9

Positive Holiday ForecastsMichigan retailers see improved sales for the holiday season, but their optimism is tem-pered by the uncertainty created in D.C.Page 3

Continued on page 4

®

October 2013 Vol. 38 No. 5 The official publication of the Michigan Retailers Association www.retailers.com

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Two youngsters celebrate Buy Nearby Get Caught Blue-Handed Day in Downtown Rockford. Photo by David Trumpie

SM

Main St. Fairnessclears committee

Main Street Fairness legislation cleared an important hurdle in the Michigan Legislature on September 11 when it was reported out of com-mittee and sent to the floor of the House.

After months of discussion and several holdups due to partisan poli-tics, nine members of the House Tax Policy Committee voted for the bipar-tisan issue that’s critical to the health of Michigan retailers.

Committee Chairman Jeff Far-r ington (R-Utica) al lowed the committee to vote on the issue even though he did not personally support the bills.

House Bills 4202 and 4203 help level

2

Thanks to all of you for making our first-ever Buy Nearby event a booming home run.

As shown in some of photos in this issue, shoppers and retailers had a lot of fun getting “Caught Blue-Handed” and supporting Michigan businesses.

Governor Snyder proclaimed October 5 as Buy Nearby Get Caught Blue-Handed Day and the Michigan Senate and Mich-igan House passed similar resolutions.

Clearly, we are on to something here! Everybody who was tuned into it seemed to love the idea.

Facebook “likes” exceeded our expectations for a brand new event, and retailers who got in-volved said it was an excellent sales day.

In retrospect, this was a wonderful challenge for Michigan Retailers. Tak-ing a big idea and making it real by

Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

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

Thanks to everyonefor Buy Nearby success

building a new brand, reaching out to communities, lining up media buys, purchasing billboard space, develop-ing a website, issuing press releases, seeking legislative and executive

resolutions, conducting interviews, selling the concept to sponsors, de-veloping starter kits for retailers – it all was great fun and an exhilarating project.

Even the Michigan House Tourism Committee requested that we formal-ly present our Buy Nearby project to them, and panel members loved the campaign.

So I want to “tip my hat” to all of you who got involved. Special thanks go to Barb Stein, of Great Northern Trading Company in Rockford, who chaired our inaugural Buy Nearby Committee, and to our entire com-munications team led by Tom Scott, senior vice president communica-tions and marketing.

And more thanks go to our key sponsors who jumped right in and be-lieved in our Pure Michigan-type idea: DTE Energy, MSHDA, AAA Michigan, Retailers Mutual Insurance Company, and the MEDC and its Pure Michigan efforts.

Selling Michigan and encouraging people to Buy Nearby reflects the heart and soul of this Association. It’s a message that resonates throughout the state and one that Michigan Re-tailers can build on in future years.

In the meantime, my blue gloves are hanging in my office waiting for my next nearby shopping excur-sion. No doubt they will be used often in the coming months. Buy Nearby is a year-round message and commitment.

And mark your calendars for October 4, 2014, for the second “cel-ebration” of Buy Nearby. Together we will make the first Saturday of every October a blue-letter day.

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.

Members of the Michigan House Tourism Committee don blue gloves during MRA’s October 3presentation on the Buy Nearby campaign. Photo by David Trumpie

Three promoted, accountant hiredMRA has promoted three em-

ployees and Retai lers Mutual Insurance Company has hired a staff accountant.

William J. Hallan was named senior vice president operations and general counsel. Tom Tuggle became senior vice president insurance sales and membership. Amy Drumm is now manager of government affairs.

The new staff accountant for Re-tailers Mutual is Mark Baynai. He succeeds Tina Kaur, who moved out of state.

Hallan was promoted from vice president of government affairs and general counsel. His expanded role includes greater responsibility for MRA’s internal operations. An at-torney previously with the Dykema law firm’s Bloomfield Hills office, he joined MRA as vice president and general counsel in 2011.

As manager of government affairs,

Drumm takes on additional responsi-bility for day-to-day policy advocacy and monitoring and analysis of leg-islation. She joined MRA in 2012 as

legislative coordinator after serving as legislative director for State Rep. Sharon Tyler.

Tuggle was vice president of sales for MRA and agent relations for Retailers Mutual. His promotion continues to reflect his dual role as head of sales for MRA and Retailers Mutual. He joined MRA in 1993 as a marketing representative.

Baynai comes to Retailers Mutual after his graduation from Michigan State University, with degrees in ac-counting and criminal justice.

A lifelong Michigan resident origi-nally from Trenton, he previously held jobs in the Michigan Department of Human Services and as a tax pre-parer and assistant manager for H&R Block.

Hallan Tuggle Drumm Baynai

October 2013 3

Michigan retailers’ forecasts for holiday sales show cautious optimism, averaging a 1.3 percent gain over last year, according to the Michigan Re-tail Index, a joint project of Michigan Retailers Association (MRA) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Fifty-three percent expect to increase sales, 30 percent predict flat sales and 17 percent project sales will decline.

“Most retailers forecast better sales for the holidays, but their optimism is tem-pered by the great amount of economic uncertainty out there, largely because of the mess in Washington,” said James P. Hallan, MRA president and CEO.

“We were in the field with our sur-vey during the federal government shutdown, the showdown over the debt ceiling and the flawed rollout of the government’s health reform web-site. All that uncertainty doesn’t sit well with consumers or businesses.”

Pre-shutdown projections by the National Retail Federation and Inter-national Council of Shopping Centers put U.S. holiday gains at 3.9 and 3 per-cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the September Michigan Retail Index found that 40 percent of retailers increased sales over the same month last year, while 40 per-

cent recorded declines and 20 percent saw no change. The results create a seasonally adjusted performance in-dex of 52.8, the same as in August. A year ago September it was 54.0.

The Index gauges the performance of the state’s overall retail industry, based on monthly surveys conduct-ed by MRA and the Federal Reserve. Index values above 50 generally indi-cate positive activity; the higher the

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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Washington turmoil restrains holiday forecasts MICHIGAN RETAIL INDEX

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Be sure to complete youronline survey each month!

number, the stronger the activity.Looking forward, 55 percent of

retailers expect sales during Oc-tober–December to increase over the same period last year, while 13 percent project a decrease and 32 percent no change. That puts the seasonally adjusted outlook index at 76.3, up from 70.3 in August. A year ago September it stood at 76.8.

The government shutdown delayed

the release of national figures. State sales tax receipts totaled

$657.7 million, 16.7 percent above the level in September 2012.

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.

64 Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

Continued from page 1Company embraces roots, honors long-time workersthere’s a portrait of every legend.”

The company’s legends eventually will encompass the enterprise’s entire history, according to Marshall, who also serves on the boards of directors of MRA and Retailers Mutual Insurance Co.

Marshall Music has satellite loca-tions in Allen Park, Troy, Kalamazoo, Traverse City, Grand Rapids and West Bloomfield, with total employment reaching 300. But it all began with the dream of Willis and Mary Marshall, the now-deceased parents of Dan, when they founded the company in

Lansing in 1948.The subjects of the first portrait

Dan unveiled at the ceremony, the two World War II veterans knew noth-ing about the music business when they decided to open their store.

They learned as they went along, their son said, tapping into the knowl-edge of the manufacturers’ reps who called on them.

“My mother and father were the inspiration of Marshall Music,” Dan said. “They treated the company like it was a living, breathing thing. It deserved everything it could be giv-en. They just wanted Marshall Music to be better.”

The couple ran their labor of love alone for eight years before hir-ing their first employee. While Mary eventually backed away to pursue personal interests, Wil-lis “lived and breathed” the business until he was 92.

Emotional“Marshall Music was

everything to my dad,” said Dan, visibly emo-tional in front of the group of about 50 em-ployees.

The end of the Mary and Willis Marshall era nearly meant the close of Marshall Music. That was until then-general manager Bruce Wood-hull -- simply “Woody” to all who knew him -- talked 30-year-old Dan into taking the torch from his retir-ing parents.

“Woody had the greatest impact of anybody on Marshall Music,” Mar-shall said, recalling Woodhull’s sales pitch. “We went out and talked in his

Buick about life. Somehow, without ever saying the words, he convinced me to take this into a second genera-tion. I thought, ‘That sly dog.’”

Woodhull, the third Marshall “leg-end” honored, always seemed to know how to solve a problem.

“He was legendary for knowing what to do and what was right,” Mar-shall said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, he was right.”

The final Marshall Music legend re-membered was Thomas Pantalone, the former director of school service for the company. The personable Pantalone was the driving force behind several store openings.

“He had the greatest impact in the shortest time,” Marshall said. “We only had the pleasure of having him in our employ from 2003 to his death in 2011.”

ServiceMarshall Mu-

sic workers, passing a microphone among themselves at the August event, remembered Mr. Pantalone as an upbeat spirit with great gusto for life.

“With some people, the glass is half empty and with some it’s half full,”

said one worker. “With Tom, his glass was always overflowing.”

To recognize employees for their roles in building the company, Marshall handed out certificates pro-viding a financial award for each year of service.

Taking in the biggest rewards were Ray Paquet, a 42-year employee, and John Simpson, who has worked for Marshall Music for 37 years.

Also honored were Ann Meyer and Bill Clements, both with 33 years of

service, Jeff Grove, a 32-year employ-ee, and Tom Seyffert, who has worked for Marshall Music for 31 years. Other honorees were Kris Wood, 28 years; Chuck DeClarke, 26 years; Frank Jack-son, Michael Fox and Marcia Geller, all with 25 years of service.

Employees also recognized Mar-shall for his 29 years as president.

SatisfactionHonoree Paquet has spent his

career repairing electronic organs and keyboards. His travels take him throughout Michigan, fixing in-

struments for customers, including schools and churches.

“I enjoy what I do and I get the satisfaction of completing a job and making the customer happy,” Paquet said, explaining his longevity. “I’m just thankful I can still do it. I hope

I can still do it for a num-ber of years. They attract good people here and we all get along.”

Simpson, who worked for Marshall Music even prior to his 37-year stretch -- leaving in 1970 to play clarinet on a riverboat before returning to the company -- said the integ-rity of the business has kept him there. Still a part-time, working musician at 71, Simpson is a machinist for Marshall Music.

People ask him when he’ll retire, Simpson said.

“I say, ‘And do what?’ I like what I do and who I do

it with. I can’t think of another place I’d rather be. I think everybody here is grateful to work for this company.”

Employee Mike Daniels summed up Marshall Music this way:

“It’s a family,” he said. “It’s always been a family. We argue like broth-ers and sisters and we get along like brothers and sisters.”

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

Also honored were 11 Lansing store workers who have served the company for at least 25 years.

The Legends: founders Mary and Willis Marshall; Thomas Pantalone, former director of school service; and Bruce Woodhull, former general manager. All are deceased.

The awards ceremonies took place during lunch for Lansing store employees and family members.

Dan Marshall unveils one of the “Legends of Marshall Music.” Photos by David Trumpie.

“You should take basic precautions to protect andlimit access to your terminal”

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.

Don’t let card data thievestamper with your terminal

One more way b a d g u y s a re gaining access to consumer credit card data is by actual ly going out and tamper-ing with a store’s merchant pro-cessing terminal,

that “gray” box sitting on the counter next to your cash register.

You, as the merchant, should be taking basic precautions to protect and limit access to your terminal.

Most merchants already have sys-tems in place to limit access to the area behind the counter and would probably notice a non-employee be-hind that counter. But your staff also should be trained to control access for people who might pretend to be a vendor or service tech.

If someone approaches an employ-ee requesting access to the credit card terminal or is “delivering” a re-placement terminal, the employee should make sure the visit was ex-pected and the stranger can prove he is who he says he is.

I am surprised, as I visit stores throughout the country, by the num-ber of times I am allowed behind the counter and given access to the credit card terminals after providing nothing more than a “good” story about what I am there to do.

Watch OutStaff should also be trained to

watch for the following anomalies:1. Does the terminal look different?

Are there missing screws or broken seals? Are there new “labels” on the de-vice that might be masking a broken seal or damage to the cover of the device?

2. Has the terminal been moved? You may want to consider attaching the terminal to the countertop or wall to prevent a sleight-of-hand swapping of your terminal with a similar machine or to make it more difficult for someone to outright steal the terminal.

3. If you have spare terminals, make sure they are securely stored and you have controlled access to

those machines.4. Make sure you are aware of the

“normal” number of cables going in and out of the terminal and that you periodically review the device to make sure there are no “new” cables connected to the device.

5. Do you have a CCTV system? Is there a camera on the register area? Can that camera see the terminal?

6. If you have a camera on that area, are you controlling access to the re-

cording device? Could someone use that CCTV camera to scoop up card numbers from the video screen?

Don’t discount the creativity of thieves trying to steal your cus-tomers’ credit card data. Take precautions, and if you suspect your machine has been tampered with, call your merchant processing ven-dor immediately.

5

Continued from page 1

October 2013

2. The online insurance market-place, which was scheduled to open Oct. 1, becomes the primary pur -chasing mechanism for consumers who are eligible for premium sub-sidies for coverage that is effective in 2014.

Michigan has a federally facilitated exchange/marketplace. Marketplace plans available from various carriers will be described by the bronze (60 percent), silver (70 percent), gold (80 percent) and platinum (90 percent) metal-tier labels to make them easier to compare.

The lowest level of coverage is a 60 percent plan, which pays, on average, 60 percent of the cost of essential health benefits, leaving the insured to pay 40 percent.

Open enrollment on the market-place began Oct. 1 and continues until March 31, 2014. Coverage is ef-fective Jan. 1 for plans selected by Dec. 15. Member Insurance Solutions is able to assist MRA members on the marketplace.

There will be more plans available than those on the marketplace. For example, Blue Care Network and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan offer only two marketplace indi-vidual plans, but they offer 16 plans that are available from agents off the marketplace.

A person who is not eligible for a subsidy and wishes to buy health in-surance will have little reason to use the online marketplace, due to the restricted plan offerings there.

3. Premium subsidies will be avail-able to individuals earning up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level (about $45,000) and who do not re-ceive access to health insurance from their employer or who must pay more than 9.5 percent of their income for single-person coverage for employer-provided plans.

Being eligible for a subsidy does not mean that the premium will be paid in full by the government. There is a sliding scale for subsidies based upon income and family size.

Subsidies will be paid monthly by the federal government to the insurer to lower the monthly premium the individual must remit. The payments are reconciled on the taxpayer’s tax return.

Insurance carriers will provide documentation that insureds must include with their federal income tax return to demonstrate they have health insurance.

In order to take advantage of an available subsidy, a marketplace plan must be purchased.

Member Insurance Solutions agents can help with subsidy de-termination and marketplace plan

selection and enrollment. Call us at 877.878.6765 for assistance.

4. Medicaid is being expanded to include those up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, effective April 1 in Michigan.

In addition, the following ACA-relat-ed health insurance provisions take effect next year:

• All health insurance coverage is guaranteed issue, meaning you can-not be denied coverage due to health conditions.

• All coverage is guaranteed renew-able, so you cannot be canceled from your selected health insurance plan, except for non-payment of premium.

• All annual limits on 10 essential health benefits are abolished.

• Pre-existing condition coverage exclusions are eliminated. Health care services for current and/or chronic conditions are eligible for benefit pay-ment when your policy is effective.

• Waiting periods of greater than 90 days are prohibited. If you offer insur-ance to your employees, you cannot require them to wait more than 90 days to participate in your plan.

Employer mandateIn July, the so-called “Play or Pay”

employer mandate for those employ-ing more than 50 full-time equivalent workers was delayed until 2015 to allow parties the necessary time to develop reporting mechanisms to track compliance with the mandate.

However, employers still must pro-vide employees with a notice that the online insurance marketplace is avail-able, regardless of whether health insurance is offered as a benefit.

Model notices are available on the home page of the Member Insurance Solutions website, at www.memberinsurancesolutions.com.

And, expect to distribute new sum-maries of benefits and coverage documents in 2014, since carriers are rolling out new plans to comply with the metal-tier structure.

This article was written by Craig Start, president of Member Insurance Solutions, located in Okemos. MRA endorses Member Insurance Solu-tions for Blue Cross health insurance. It costs nothing ex-

tra to work with a Member Insurance Solutions agent to purchase a health insurance plan, and MRA members and their employees are encouraged to call 877.868.6765 for personal assistance with plans off or on the online marketplace.

Start of new insurance era

Craig Start

6 Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

Continued from page 1

Encouraging start for Buy Nearby celebrationstore traffic was up from the first Sat-urday in October last year.

As for sales, 27 percent said they were better than the first Saturday in October last year. Fifty-one percent said sales were as good as last year.

Responses to the unscientific poll were submitted online and without names attached.

Participation Mattered“It appears that the more active

and involved the communities and retailers were in Buy Nearby, the bet-ter their sales,” said Hallan.

“That is a great bottom-line mes-sage for us to carry forward as we continue to recruit sponsors to help us advertise what Buy Nearby is de-signed to accomplish.

“And with increased advertising will come greater awareness and partici-pation, which spells greater success.”

Communities from Rockford in West Michigan to Huron County in Eastern Michigan actively partici-pated in Blue-Handed Day. Retailers and shoppers donned blue gloves, posted photos of staff and custom-ers on Facebook, and offered special activities and sales promotions.

Survey CommentsComments from survey respon-

dents covered the spectrum of experiences. A sampling: • “I loved it and everyone who knew about it that I talked to or told about it did too!” •“Many of the downtown retailers in our area were not aware of it.” • “I think it was a good first year. I will push for my city to be more in-volved next year.” • “I am grateful for this promotion because customers came into my business specifically for this promo-tion. Because it was warm on October 5, had I not participated in Buy Near-

by, I believe sales would have been lukewarm.” • “There needs to be more adver-tising on this. Most customers never even heard about this.” • “We have participated in [American Express] Small Business Saturday since its inception. That project started very slowly but has become very success-ful, primarily owing to the saturating marketing campaign put on by Ameri-can Express. I think that if Buy Nearby is to be successful, it will require an enormous amount of marketing from retailers as well as MRA. I commend you for doing this, but caution you that I don’t believe it will work without ap-propriate marketing.”

SM

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7October 2013

What’s ahead for Buy Nearby

Scenes from across the state on Get Caught Blue-Handed Day.Photos by David Trumpie

Saturday, October 4, 2014, is the next statewide celebration of Buy Nearby. But MRA will de-liver the message of Buy Nearby throughout the year and urges communities and retailers to do the same.

Here are some of the ways to spread the word:

• Keep Buy Nearby window clings (available at www.retailers.com/buy-nearby) and posters (up-dated posters are now available at www.BuyNearbyMI.com/toolkit) displayed in stores year-round to remind customers and passersby.

• Communities and retailers can make use of the campaign to fit their own promotions, any time of

the year. • The Buy Nearby logo (available

at a link off the toolkit page) can be used in retailers’ ads and commu-nities’ marketing materials during the holidays and throughout the year as a reminder to shoppers of all the good they’re doing by buy-ing nearby.

• Be creative in drawing at-tention to Buy Nearby, and then share your success with MRA and on Facebook (facebook.com/BuyNearbyMI).

8 Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

Membership Services CornerQuick notes on key services. Call 800.366.3699 for details.

Credit Card Processing

• To protect our members’ accounts and information, w e a l w a y s ask for and re q u i re t h e business bank

account number, Social Secu-rity number or tax identification number whenever we receive a request for secure data such as full credit card numbers or bank account information.

• The IRS requires us to have valid business taxpayer W-9 in-formation for all of our merchant processing accounts. Call cus-tomer service if you need to verify your business information or if you need a W-9 form.

• To make sure your credit card transactions are processed at the lowest cost, always an-swer the following prompts on

keyed transactions: - Enter AVS (street number and

zip code) of the billing address - Enter purchase order number - Enter sales tax amount if

prompted - Obtain and pass through a

valid authorization number - Make sure authorization and

settlement amounts match (except for tip adjustment)

- Settle within 24 hours.• P i n - b a s e d d e b i t t r a n s -

a c t i o n s c a n n o t b e v o i d e d . • Data security compliance is mandatory; therefore, you must complete an annual PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire to verify if your business is PCI compliant. Visit http://www.compliance101.com to begin the questionnaire.

• These terminals are no longer PCI Compliant: Zon Jr, Tranz, Omni and Hypercom T7P. Contact Cus-tomer Service for terminal upgrade information.

We appreciate your membership. Let us know whenever we can help you with a question or a problem, no matter how large or small.

by Penny Sierakowski, MRA Customer Service Department Manager

RE: RETAILERS

Tourism means over $1 billion to Traverse CityThe Traverse City area economy

receives a more than $1 billion boost from tourism, an increase of nearly $300 million in the past six years, ac-cording to a new study.

The report by East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group found that tourism’s impact on the area jumped nearly 28 percent since 2006 and reached $1.2 billion in 2012.

According to the study:

• In 2012 over 3.3 mil-lion visitor trips were made to the Traverse City area

• These visitor trips resulted in $1.18 billion in direct spending to area businesses

• Tourism is responsible for cre-ating and maintaining nearly 12,000 jobs in the Traverse City area, repre-senting nearly 30 percent of the area’s employment

• Almost $67 million in sales tax rev-enue was generated from tourism for the State of Michigan.

In keeping with those new figures, the Traverse City Convention and Visitors Bureau changed its name re-cently to Traverse City Tourism.

Brad Van Dommelen, president of the organization, told the Traverse City Record Eagle that the civic group wanted a name “that was simple, a name people would understand and, most importantly…a name [that] rep-resents what you do. Traverse City

Tourism clearly defines what we are involved in.”

He added, “The chang-ing of the name will help us become better understood in our own community. Our brand is Traverse City. It’s what we promote…”

...One in four U.S. consumers now re-

lies on a smartphone for assistance when shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, a development that can help traditional retailers combat Internet competitors, according to a new study by Parks Associates, an international marketing firm based in Dallas, Texas.

“Consumers are using apps and smartphones to enhance their brick-and-mortar shopping experience, with Target shoppers emerging as the most enthusiastic app users,” said Jennifer Kent, senior analyst for Parks.

The firm advises all retailers to em-

brace mobile commerce apps – both their own and popular third-party apps – as a way to give consumers a differentiated shopping experience that can combat showrooming.

Showrooming is a phenomenon where consumers visit a retail store to com-pare products and prices but ultimately purchase items later online, reducing expensive brick-and-mortar locations to mere “showrooms” for products.

“There’s no such thing as a pure ‘in-store’ shopper anymore,” Kent said. “Consumers are checking online in-formation about products before, after and while they shop in stores. Retailers that embrace this trend will be in a good position to drive more sales within their stores.”

...Art Van Furniture, Warren, plans to

open a total of 18 Chicago-area furni-ture stores under the Art Van name and 15 smaller PureSleep mattress stores as it moves aggressively into Illinois’ largest metro area, reports Crain’s Detroit Business. The publica-tion said Art Van is part of a “wave” of out-of-state retailers moving into the Chicago area to take advantage of opportunities caused by several “storied Chicago chains” going out

of business during the past decade. Art Van Elslander, now 82, continues to serve as chairman of the 77-store furniture chain he founded in Detroit in 1959. He predicts that success in Chicago can propel the company to $1 billion in annual revenue within two to three years.

...As many as 30,000 people visited

downtown Grand Rapids’ new indoor market on September 2 for the grand opening, according to MLive.com. The special event at Indoor Market Hall followed the indoor facility’s soft opening on August 26 and its outdoor seasonal market’s debut back in May. The market, which offers everything from fresh meat and fish to ice cream and organic foods and products, is open seven days a week.

...Gordmans, a Nebraska-based na-

tional retailer of clothes and home decor products, received approval from the City of Wyoming in West Michigan to open a 50,000-square-foot store. The store, its first in Michigan, is planned for a location near Ri-verTown Crossings mall, next to an existing Home Depot.

IT’S THE LAW

Creative prosecutor helps victims of bad checksby William J. Hallan, MRA Senior Vice President Operations and General Counsel

T h e p a p e r check. I saw one once. I remember it vividly.

The year was 2005 and I was in line at a local retail store (for w h a t s e e m e d like an inordinate

amount of time). The customer in front of me scrawled something down in a little booklet and tore out a page to pay for the goods.

I had to ask about this primitive form of currency. What was it? How did it work?

The cashier informed me it was a check. I’ve heard they still exist today.

You’re not likely to encounter one, as it was put on the endangered spe-cies list years ago. However, if you come across one, you’ll know it, be-cause the checkout time increases three-fold.

CrusadeA check is technically an order

to your bank to pay someone else.

While much of this article has start-ed as a joke (I actually still use them to pay certain bills), checks are de-clining in use.

Credit cards, mobile payments and automatic billing have pushed checks to the brink of extinction. Although retailers may be less likely to encoun-ter bad checks, one Eaton County prosecutor is on a crusade to protect businesses from their effect.

Douglas R. Floyd, the prosecutor, started the Economic Crimes Unit (ECU) in 2002, which has helped return over $5 million to local busi-nesses. Each day, retailers lose money and time due to bad checks.

Before there was the ECU, retailers had two poor options: sue the con-sumer (cumbersome and expensive) or report it to police (who were often interested in other matters).

Today, the ECU helps resolve bad checks by offering a diversion pro-gram. Through this program, writers of bad checks are offered an oppor-tunity to resolve the issue and avoid prosecution.

Essentially, the writer must make the merchant whole and pay a fee to

9

“One county prosecutor is thinking outside the box to help local businesses.”

October 2013

the ECU. It should also be noted that participation in the program is free to retailers.

No Tax DollarsBy treating the ECU as a business,

the program has been able to oper-ate without accepting public financial

support. The diversions fees cover its expenses and allow a government entity to operate without taxpayer funds.

Such flexibility has allowed the ECU to resolve other economic crimes, such as retail fraud and situ-ations involving unreturned rental property.

The bad news for retailers is that the ECU only handles checks that are passed in Eaton County. The good news for retailers is that one county prosecutor is thinking outside of the box to help local busi-

nesses, and his program is starting to spread to Clinton and Ingham counties.

Protect YourselfWhile you wait for an innovative

program like the ECU to spread to a community near you, there are sev-eral actions you can take to protect yourself from the increasingly elusive bad check.

1. Understand that retailers are not required to accept a check from any customer.

2. Study the entire check.3. Be suspicious of checks that

have a low check number, handwrit-ten check number or printed name.

4. Ask for picture identification such as a driver’s license and com-pare it to the name on the check. Write down the driver’s license num-ber on the check.

5. Make sure the check is dated the same day it is presented.

6. Look to see if the check has a perforated edge that has been taken out of a checkbook. Fake checks often lack the perforated edge.

The Write Touch, Ann ArborSenior Citizens Housing of Ann Arbor, Ann ArborCliff Keen Athletic, Ann ArborAtkinson Trucking, Auburn HillsC & G Delivery, Auburn HillsJoJo Express, Auburn HillsBrett Meldrum Trucking, Auburn HillsSieradzki Trucking, Auburn HillsToriella Trucking, Auburn HillsWhitetail Trucking, Auburn HillsJesses Delivery Service, Auburn HillsThumb Industries Inc., Bad AxeTeam Management Concepts PLC, Battle CreekMini Market, BeldingDutton Marathon, CaledoniaJohn Pizzimenti, DearbornS & L Transportation, DetroitUnited Christian Church of Detroit, DetroitParadise Fish & Chicken Market, DetroitTaste of China Inc., FarmingtonLandmark Food Center, FlintThe Creative Fringe LLC, Grand HavenBC Pizza of Hart Inc., HartJonny G’s LLC, HollandAll Metal Designs Inc., HollandKalamazoo Country Club, KalamazooSamantha Combs LMT, LansingCrossroads Church & Ministries, Marshall

Good Marks for Schools LLC, MarshallCity of Newaygo dba The Stream, NewaygoVoss Insurance Services Inc., OkemosHarbor/ Brenn Insurance Agencies, PetoskeyBickersteth Brown & Associates, PetoskeyThe Calico Rabbit Craft & Antique Mall, PlainwellDancing Dogs Quilt Shop, PlainwellSt John’s UCC, Port HuronWool E Bullys, Rives JunctionJT Stitchery, RockfordSassy Pants Boutique, RockfordElite Plumbing & Heating Inc., Royal OakSolar Kit Direct, Saint ClairMike’s Power Equipment, Saint JohnsScarlet Macaw Community Art Center, SawyerNature’s Country Cupboard, South HavenPanache The Spalon, SturgisImage Wear, SturgisGrand Traverse Area Catholic Schools, Traverse CityIntegrity Business Solutions, Traverse CityCentral Woodward Christian Church, TroyDairy Mart, Ypsilanti

NEW MEMBERS10 Michigan Retailer www.retailers.com

LOTTERY

by M. Scott Bowen, CommissionerLottery’s new Poker Lotto combines instant and drawing

The Michigan Lottery is proud to introduce its newest game: “Poker Lotto.”

Poker Lotto of-fers players two g r e a t g a m e s i n e v -

ery hand: a chance to win instantly right in the store and a nightly lotto drawing.

When a player purchases a Poker Lotto wager, five cards are dealt at random on the ticket and shown on the Lottery terminal dis-play. Get a winning poker hand and win up to $5,000 instantly.

There are no poker skills necessary, because the tick-et and the display indicate whether the Poker Lotto ticket is an instant winner or not.

In addition, the same ticket is also valid for the nightly Poker Lotto draw-ing. Five cards are drawn at random

Continued from page 1

11

every night, and if those cards match the cards on the Poker Lotto ticket, the player wins up to $100,000!

There are 13 ways to win on every Poker Lotto ticket. Poker Lotto sales started October 19, and each ticket costs $2.

Holiday InstantsLotter y a lso

will be introduc-i n g f o u r n e w holiday-themed instant tickets anticipated to

be very p o p u -lar with players. T h e s e t ickets h a v e p r i c e p o i n t s ranging from $1-

to-$10. The $1 Tick-

et, “Oh Deer ,” f ea tures over

$9 million in prizes. The $10 ticket,

“$500,000 Riches”™, features over $15 million in total cash prizes – with top prizes of $500,000.

Big game hunters are sure to em-brace the bucks.

Retailers are reminded to always activate Instant ticket books before selling, to ensure the validation of tickets.

Offices closedThe Michigan Lottery headquarters

and regional offices will be closed on three important dates in November:

• November 11 – Closed for Vet-eran’s Day

• November 28 & 29 – Closed for Thanksgiving holiday.

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 contributed over $17 billion to edu-cation in Michigan.

For additional information, please visit the Lottery’s website at www.michiganlottery.com.

October 2013

LYNCHSales Company

Established 1914

Michigan Retailers:For personal

attention please Call Jim Schwark

Former MRA BoardMember at

(586) 413-0215 or visit our

website for an outline of our

copyrighted Sale Plansand our One-Page

Contract.

• Christensen’s Furniture • Classic Interiors • DeKorne’s: Authorized Ethan Allen Retailer

• Dopp Furniture • Great Lakes Interiors • Gorman’s • House of Denmark

• Israels • Klingman’s • Newton Furniture • Schwark Furniture

• Thomasville Home Furnishings • Tyner Furniture • Walker Buzenburg Fine Furniture

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!

®

161 Ottawa Avenue N.W., Suite 300-F Grand Rapids, MI 49503 Tel: (800) 824-2238

www.lynchsales.comCopyright 2013 Lynch Brothers Licensing Corporation

U N C O M P R O M I S I N G

I N T E G R I T Y. U N P A R A L L E L E D

R E S U LT S .

For 99 years...Michigan's finest retailers have trusted The Lynch Sales Company.

the retail playing field by requiring certain out-of-state, online retailers to collect Michigan’s sales tax on pur-chases by Michigan residents.

“We applaud the lawmakers who stepped up and championed this legislation to help Michigan busi-nesses,” said William J. Hallan, MRA senior vice president operations and general counsel.

“Our state cannot afford to give a 6 percent price advantage to busi-nesses that sell to Michigan residents but don’t invest, don’t pay taxes and don’t provide any jobs in Michigan.”

The legislation is now in position for a vote by the full chamber. The

Offer Gift Cards,Increase Sales. 800.366.3699

Main St. Fairness clears committeeSenate has yet to take it up.

Hallan urged MRA members to thank the following “champions” for their leadership on the committee vote:Committee Chairman Farrington, 517.373.7768,JeffFarrington@house.mi.gov

Rep. Margaret O’Brien(R-Portage),517.373.1774,MargaretOBrien@house.mi.gov

Rep. Kevin Cotter(R-Mt. Pleasant)517.373.1789,KevinCotter@house.mi.gov

Rep. Frank Foster(R-Pellston),517.373.2629,FrankFoster@house.mi.gov

Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons(R-Alto),517.373.0846,LisaLyons@house.mi.gov

Rep. Amanda Price(R-Holland),517.373.0838,AmandaPrice@house.mi.gov

Rep. Tim Kelly(R-Saginaw Township)517.373.0837,TimKelly@house.mi.gov

Rep. Harold Haugh(D-Roseville),517.373.0854,HaroldHaugh@house.mi.gov

Rep. Bill LaVoy(D-Monroe),517.373.1530,BillLaVoy@house.mi.gov

Rep. Jim Townsend(D-Royal Oak),517.373.3818, JimTownsend@house.mi.gov

AVAILABLE AT PARTICIPATING RETAILERS ONLY. Odds of winning an Instant prize: $2: 1 in 8; $3: 1 in 22; $5: 1 in 48; $20: 1 in 255; $50: 1 in 509; $75: 1 in 695; $150: 1 in 4,165; $500: 1 in 72,194; $5,000: 1 in 649,740. Odds of winning a Drawing prize: $3: 1 in 17; $25: 1 in 241; $500: 1 in 11,060; $100,000: 1 in 2,598,960.

Overall odds of winning: 1 in 4. If you bet more than you can afford to lose, you’ve got a problem. Call 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help.

• Terminal-based Lottery game where Lotto numbers are replaced with playing cards, and there are 13 ways to win on every ticket.

• Tickets are $2 Easy Picks—no playslips! Five cards are randomly chosen from a standard 52-card deck. The same cards are dealt on the Terminal Display for players to view.

• Win up to $5,000 instantly at time of purchase if the cards dealt form a winning Poker hand.

• Then five winning cards are drawn nightly, where players can match their ticket to the winning cards to win up to $100,000.

• Overall odds of winning: 1 in 4.