# Optical Forums > Canadian Discussion Forum >  Big News. How well is the economy really doing in Canada  ??????????????

## Chris Ryser

Just heard that TARGET is closing all 133 stores in Canada and letting go 17,000 employees.

Bombardier is doing the same with the Lear Jet division and laying off 1,000 employees.

Will that affect our optical retail section in any way looking at the general picture ?

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## Chris Ryser

Target says it will close its stores in Canada  a market that it entered only two years ago.
The U.S. based retail company has 133 Canadian locations and 17,600 employees across the country.
Target Canada has struggled from the start and there has been speculation in business circles that its days were numbered.
Brian Cornell, who became the U.S. company's chairman and chief executive last year, said he had promised to take a hard look at ways to improve the discount retailer's performance.
"After a thorough review of our Canadian performance and careful consideration of the implications of all options, we were unable to find a realistic scenario that would get Target Canada to profitability until at least 2021,'' Cornell said in a statement.
"Personally, this was a very difficult decision, but it was the right decision for our company.''
The company says the stores will remain open during a court-supervised liquidation period and it's working to ensure employees are paid at least 16 weeks of severance.
Target says it will also work with an advisor to sell its real estate and expects to spend between US$500 million and US$600 million in cash to end its Canadian operations.
Target Corp. will also record about US$5.4 billion in pre-tax losses in its fourth-quarter, mostly related to the Canadian operation.
The company said it would provide US$175 million of credit to fund Target Canada's operations while it winds down under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act, or CCAA, which is one of the Canadian equivalents to the U.S. Bankruptcy Act.

It is seeking to have the court appoint Alvarez & Marsal Canada as CCAA monitor, a role that acts as a liaison between the court, the company and other stakeholders.

http://www.cjad.com/cjad-news/2015/0...ian-operations

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## HindSight2020

> Just heard that TARGET is closing all 133 stores in Canada and letting go 17,000 employees.
> 
> Bombardier is doing the same with the Lear Jet division and laying off 1,000 employees.
> 
> Will that affect our optical retail section in any way looking at the general picture ?


Let's not forget Suncor laying off 1000 employees (although still making billions).  Looks like the glory days of Alberta are being threatened.  Reports say the province is headed into a deficit situation...

And since both Eye Recommend and FYI are based out of Calgary (not to mention the many independents), the answer is yes - the industry shall be affected.  The Alberta gravy train is slowing down.

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## erichwmack

This is a dumb question but do you have stores that are similar to target that Canadians shop at instead?  Target is very popular in the states and its hard to imagine them doing so poorly in Canada.

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## SharonB

> This is a dumb question but do you have stores that are similar to target that Canadians shop at instead?  Target is very popular in the states and its hard to imagine them doing so poorly in Canada.


It is hard to maintain the same price points for consumer goods at Target in Canada vs. the U.S. Most of the goods are shipped into the U.S. at Pacific coast ports from Asia, and then have to be transported to Canada. - The Canadian dollar is now down about 11% against the U.S. dollar. We are near the border, and Canadians have been flocking to our malls for holiday shopping. Our prices are lower, and there is a greater variety of brands and choices. That will change with the recent changes in exchange rates. I don't think that with the higher tax rates Canadians pay on their goods (remember they get medical care etc. for those higher taxes), that consumer goods made outside of Canada can be priced any lower. One example: Payless shoe stores in the U.S. have an _average_ price point of U.S.$15.97. In Canada that goes up to C$ 31.02. No wonder the Payless stores in Plattsburgh NY and Watertown NY just about sell out. I happen to think that the Canadian model may in fact be better. I would gladly pay more taxes for increased medical services, etc. Also, the Canadian model is somewhat protectionist when it comes to favoring goods made in Canada. If we did that here in the U.S. most of our major corporations would still be U.S. owned. But - The U.S.is in soooo much debt to China, that will probaly never happen in my lifetime.

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## rbaker

I would hope that the Canadian economy is not totally dependent on Target or Bombardier. In the case of Bombardier the are also cutting a bunch of jobs in Kansas it their Learjet division due to increasing competition from Embraer, Grumman and other manufacturer.

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## Chris Ryser

One little Canadian example.

When we buy something for our company, we need to buy a minimum of $ 500.00 to get it delivered at a cost of $ 75.00 plus 5 to 10% additional fuel surcharges.

So far I have not seen one, not adding the additional fuel surcharges since the price of fuel has gone down.

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## HindSight2020

> One little Canadian example.
> 
> When we buy something for our company, we need to buy a minimum of $ 500.00 to get it delivered at a cost of $ 75.00 plus 5 to 10% additional fuel surcharges.
> 
> So far I have not seen one, not adding the additional fuel surcharges since the price of fuel has gone down.


Good point, let's see what happens when I disregard the fuel surcharges and shortpay my courier company this month.  All these companies are just a bunch of greedy suits with no ruefulness.

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## Golfnorth

> This is a dumb question but do you have stores that are similar to target that Canadians shop at instead?  Target is very popular in the states and its hard to imagine them doing so poorly in Canada.


Target's foray to the Canadian market was screwed up from the beginning.
They took over most of the Zeller's locations. Most were B and C locations (not top line). 
The prices were higher in Canada than in the states and there were supply chain problems.....the shelves were often bare 
and merchandise was often out of stock. Also they opened too many stores too soon. They should have opened a handful at a time. 
All of these factors were responsible for their failure.
If they replicated the same shopping experience that happens in the U.S. stores, then they may have had a chance.
They didn't get it that us Canucks like to shop at Target U.S. the way it is.....then changed the formula.

Regards,
Golfnorth

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## Golfnorth

> Just heard that TARGET is closing all 133 stores in Canada and letting go 17,000 employees.
> 
> Bombardier is doing the same with the Lear Jet division and laying off 1,000 employees.
> 
> Will that affect our optical retail section in any way looking at the general picture ?


So do you also post stats of Canadian companies that are hiring people or do you just post the doom and gloom stuff?

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## rbaker

If you predict that all is going to Hell in a hand basket you will be correct more often than wrong. You cant go wrong betting on the stupidity of the human race.

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## Chris Ryser

> *So do you also post stats of Canadian companies that are hiring people or do you just post the doom and gloom stuff?*




As you have noted, or you would not have asked that question........I do not.

The ones that do hire are on an upturn and too many are stale and waiting how their commercial sector is going sometimes in the near future, without too much thought.

How did you optical retailers let an optical manufacturer and supplier become your largest optical retail competitor ? 




> *Quick Facts*Founded in 2000, Coastal Contacts Inc. (Coastal) is the largest optical ecommerce companyCoastal is owned by Essilor International, the world leader in ophthalmic optical productsOperations in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and BrazilOver 5 million customers worldwide and growingWorld's largest online optical store globally offering contact lenses, eyeglasses, sunglasses and accessories600 employees worldwidehttp://www.coastal.com/aboutus




There have been so many laughs about Coastal making no money on OptiBoard over the years, but now it is owned by an Optical Giant who is no joke.

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## Golfnorth

How did you optical retailers let an optical manufacturer and supplier become your largest optical retail competitor ? 

I don't deal with them.

Regards,
Golfnorth

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## SharonB

Just another coffin nail - The Swiss have "un-pegged" their Franc from the Euro. "So what?" you might ask. Massive inflation for Euro country visitors during the main ski season, and Swiss goods and services costing much more (think cheese, chocolate, lodging, transportation etc.) everywhere. This will have a ripple-down effect on other economies, and could bring the Euro to its knees. That will in turn affect both the US and Canadian economies when it comes to trade and tourism.

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## Chris Ryser

> *............This will have a ripple-down effect on other economies, and could bring the Euro to its knees. That will in turn affect both the US and Canadian economies when it comes to trade and tourism.*



There is a lot more. Here is a comment made in Switzerlands east side:

The decision of the National Bank to abandon the euro minimum price, sweeping the eastern Swiss export industry for great excitement. "With the decision our export capabilities were degraded within a few minutes by 15 to 20 percent," says Andreas Sallmannshausen, President of the Association of Swiss Textiles. Get the overvaluation not weakened, this is life threatening for many companies in the industry.

Many offices these days meeting series to session. Desperately searching for savings - this is after the last three years have already been reduced due to the low euro costs.

In particular, firms that produce in Switzerland and sell in the EU, are under severe pressure. For example, the Frauenfeld sensor technology manufacturer Baumer. Director Oliver Vietze says: "I am a firm believer of manufacturing in Switzerland. However, with this decision, it is not without incisions. "Price increases are not realistic, so do you also think about outsourcing.

These are not isolated cases, as economist Peter Eisenhut says. The Eastern had been hit especially hard because the industry has a high importance and many customers in the euro area is irrelevant. He says: "If the euro exchange rate level off at 1 to 1, a recession in eastern Switzerland will be unavoidable. A substantial rise in unemployment would be the result. "

http://www.tagblatt.ch/ostschweiz/os...120094,4100182

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## SharonB

:cry: *And Then There Is Greece 

*The recent elections may pull Greece out of the Euro Zone. The newly elected majority (almost) "anti-austerity" party may be another nail in the Euro's coffin. They will have to form a coalition government. It will be interesting to watch it play out. I have a close optical friend who emigrated to the U.S. over 20 years ago, and he reports that his widowed mother's pension has been reduced by over 50% under the austerity measures. It has been especially a hardship for the un-employed youth, and the elderly; naturally there has been a wicked backlash among voters.

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## SharonB

Syracuse, N.Y. — The Canadian dollar is slumping and that could spell trouble for Upstate New York businesses that bank on Canadian tourism, including Destiny USA.
The Canadian dollar, also known as the loonie, dropped below 80 cents U.S. for the first time in nearly six years this week, according CBC News. The loonie was close to 95 cents U.S. a year ago.
It now costs more than $1.25 Canadian to buy $1 U.S., according to the CBC.
That means when Canadians come here, it's more expensive for them to shop, dine and stay in our hotels. And it could mean Canadian consumers spend more of their money at home, one analyst told the CBC.
Destiny has been on a relentless Canadian marketing push since its expansion opened and the mall has often trumpeted the amount of business it attracts from Canadian tourists.
Destiny estimates that Canadians account for about 20 percent of the more than 25 million annual visits to the mall. The mall has said Canadians account for about a quarter of its sales.
It's not just Destiny.
Walden Galleria near Buffalo, the Waterloo Premium Outlets and Eastview Mall near Rochester all target Canadian tourists. Turning Stone's new retail development is looking for love from north of the border too.
Plenty of other Syracuse-area businesses benefit from Canadian tourism as well. Hotels, restaurants and other attractions all see Canadian visitors, according to the Syracuse Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The effects of a weak loonie might already be showing up locally. The area has seen some declines in hotel performance lately, which seem to correspond with the currency's dip, said David Holder, president of the visitors bureau.
But Canadians don't make travel decisions based on the loonie alone, he added.
The bureau began an aggressive advertising campaign in Toronto and Ottawa in the last few months and the early returns are encouraging, Holder said. Canadian visits to the visitors bureau website are up dramatically.
Target's decision to close its Canadian stores could also benefit the area as Canadian shoppers flock south to hit up the chain's U.S. locations.
"We got to look at the big picture," Holder said.
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Well, it is good news for those of us who travel frequently to Canada.... but bad news for our local U.S.retailers who depend on Canadian business. I liked it better when we were about par...easy to convert currency and calculate our spending. This summer we will be in the Gaspesie and the Maritimes. Maybe a bargain for us, but harder on the locals.

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## Chris Ryser

> TORONTO — The Canadian dollar fell heavily Wednesday as an impressive string of gains in oil prices stalled amid signs of growing crude inventories in the United States.





> The loonie tumbled 1.08 of a cent to 79.59 cents US following a run-up of two cents over the previous two sessions.
> 
> The jump in the Canadian currency paralleled a string of gains in oil prices that saw the March contract in New York jump four per cent over the previous four trading days.
> 
> Prices started heading higher late last week following a string of cutbacks in oil-sector capital spending — and in some production cuts — that raised hopes for relief from a huge demand/supply imbalance.
> But crude moved down $4.60 to US$48.45 a barrel after data released Wednesday by the Department of Energy showed a bigger than expected increase in U.S. inventories last week.




So I guess this summer the Americans will be back into a cheaper summer holidays as they used to be for years.

However Swiss products as cheese and chocolates  will take a large jump in pricing after the new 20% rise of the Swiss franc.

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## SharonB

I know it's little solace for our Canadian neighbors... but we are locking in our reservations for the Gaspesie and the Maritimes at about a 25% discount (when currency exchange is factored in). Of course... appenzellar from Switzerland is totally off our menu right now. Ours has to come from Wisconsin.

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## Chris Ryser

In the News ................today


http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com...CMO-EN02092015

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## Golfnorth

> In the News ................today
> 
> 
> http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com...CMO-EN02092015


Well truly the sky must be falling. I'm going to liquidate everything and hide all the money in my mattress and wait for the inevitable.

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## idispense

> I know it's little solace for our Canadian neighbors... but we are locking in our reservations for the Gaspesie and the Maritimes at about a 25% discount (when currency exchange is factored in). Of course... appenzellar from Switzerland is totally off our menu right now. Ours has to come from Wisconsin.


I am not  sure what your point would be because first off you would have to want to go to those areas and for the most part Quebec and New Brunswick hold no interest. I view them as places to avoid and only places you have to travel through to get elsewhere.

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## SharonB

> I am not  sure what your point would be because first off you would have to want to go to those areas and for the most part Quebec and New Brunswick hold no interest. I view them as places to avoid and only places you have to travel through to get elsewhere.


We feel very differently about the Maritimes and the Gaspesie... we love the surroundings, the people, the food, the views, and the activities available. We are not far from the border, so we do enjoy Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal for 1-2 day trips. Looks like you feel the same way about these parts of Canada as many Americans feel about Kansas and Nebraska.

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## idispense

actually Quebec is an interesting and beautiful province, but I choose not to travel there further, New Brunswick has little to offer, see or do. The rest of the real Maritimes I thoroughly enjoy. 

I am also saying that you would have made your trip regardless of the exchange rates. The exchange rates were not the deciding factor but rather only a bonus.

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## SharonB

> actually Quebec is an interesting and beautiful province, but I choose not to travel there further, New Brunswick has little to offer, see or do. The rest of the real Maritimes I thoroughly enjoy. 
> 
> I am also saying that you would have made your trip regardless of the exchange rates. The exchange rates were not the deciding factor but rather only a bonus.


 The exchange rates allow us to spend 2 weeks, rather than 10 days.

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## Chris Ryser

Canada’s economic freedom score is 79.1, making its economy the 6th freest in the 2015 Index. Its overall score is 1.1 points lower than last year, with modest improvements in monetary freedom and the control of government spending outweighed by declines in labor freedom and freedom from corruption. Canada continues to be the freest economy in the North America region.

Over the past five years, Canada’s economic freedom score has declined by 1.7 points, highlighting a trend that has pushed the country into the “mostly free” category for the first time since 2007. Score declines have been spread over five of the 10 economic freedoms, with an increase in the level of perceived corruption contributing the most to the moderate slide in Canada’s score.

Nonetheless, Canada remains one of the world’s most stable business climates and an attractive investment destination. With the world’s second-best property rights regime buttressing openness to global commerce, Canada has a solid foundation of economic freedom. The financial sector is competitive, and its efficiency is supported by prudent lending practices and sound oversight.

http://www.heritage.org/index/

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## Chris Ryser

*Regional Ranking*

rank
country
overall
change

1
Canada
79.1
-1.1

2
United States
76.2
0.7

3
Mexico
66.4
-0.4

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## Chris Ryser

Having had open heart surgery 4 1/2 years ago, which included a double by-pass and an Aortic valve replacement, I am stuck with having to take my daily
assortment of pills.
During the 5 to 6 month of winter spent in Florida we usually take the full amount of medication needed along with us.

Last Tuesday I discovered that the supply of one sort of pills was short by one month and a half by a mistake of the drugstore in Canada.

Solution: See the doctor in Florida and get a prescription which was no problem.
The diabetic pills I was told where free at the Publix (SuperMarket) pharmacy 
this month....nice. My Nitro-Glycerin Spray just for a backup was on an extra prescription. So I could ask how much they would cost me and I was told 
$ 350.00 for a tiny pocket size 200 sprays pump. At the Costco drugstore it is $ 280.00.

In Canada my drugstore charges me between $ 6.00 to $ 12.00 per bottle.

The 2 countries have a duty free agreement for many years, so if its made in Canada or the USA there should never be such a difference for the same item.

I hope there no examples like this in our optical field.

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## Lab Insight

> Having had open heart surgery 4 1/2 years ago, which included a double by-pass and an Aortic valve replacement, I am stuck with having to take my daily
> assortment of pills.
> During the 5 to 6 month of winter spent in Florida we usually take the full amount of medication needed along with us.
> 
> Last Tuesday I discovered that the supply of one sort of pills was short by one month and a half by a mistake of the drugstore in Canada.
> 
> Solution: See the doctor in Florida and get a prescription which was no problem.
> The diabetic pills I was told where free at the Publix (SuperMarket) pharmacy 
> this month....nice. My Nitro-Glycerin Spray just for a backup was on an extra prescription. So I could ask how much they would cost me and I was told 
> ...


Having worked for a major global supplier, the costs when landed from Asia into the U.S. were incredibly low.  They were marked up substantially for the U.S. market distributors, and even higher (20% or more) for the Canadian market distributors.  All of the distributor channels were owned by the same parent company.

They take a huge slice of the pie at each stage and make it much more expensive than it actually is.  When I was in Asia, lens and frame prices of the exact same quality brands as North America were priced at the retail level about 70-80% below vs. North American retail.

I'm sure it's no different than all of the other industries that import from Asian based manufacturers.  It's pure corporate greed, not strategic marketing.

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## Chris Ryser

> *I'm sure it's no different than all of the other industries that import from Asian based manufacturers.  It's pure corporate greed, not strategic marketing.
> *



I got your point ..........................

However I found one on the web on line, sold in the USA:

*Nitroglycerin Lingual Spray 0.4mg/Spray 200DS*

*$39.95*
*
SKU: HF2060* *same bottle as have been using,             and the drugstores in Florida want between US $ 350.00 to $ 180.00 at Costco.

contrary to $  12.00 maximum, I pay in the drug store in Montreal Canada*

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## rbaker

Who is your health insurer? Its like $12.00 co-pay if you have BC/BS.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Who is your health insurer? Its like $12.00 co-pay if you have BC/BS.
> *


Being a Canadian Citizen, we are fully insured for medical services by doctors and hospitals, when in Canada. We pay ourselves for prescribed medications from the drugstore.

However when spending the winter in Florida we are on our own, and can cover ourselves with a private travel insurance for the period. No pre-existing conditions are covered. 

Doctors services and Hospital care can be reimbursed by the Can Health insurance at their rate which is way lower than in the US. 

My 5 hours open heart surgery including nearly 3 weeks of hospital stay, was valued at $ 59,000.00 versus several hundred thousands in the USA.

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## oculus

> Being a Canadian Citizen, we are fully insured for medical services by doctors and hospitals, when in Canada. We pay ourselves for prescribed medications from the drugstore.
> 
> However when spending the winter in Florida we are on our own, and can cover ourselves with a private travel insurance for the period. No pre-existing conditions are covered. 
> 
> Doctors services and Hospital care can be reimbursed by the Can Health insurance at their rate which is way lower than in the US. 
> 
> My 5 hours open heart surgery including nearly 3 weeks of hospital stay, was valued at $ 59,000.00 versus several hundred thousands in the USA.



In Quebec . your medication have insurance to .. the 12.00 is only a part of the real cost.

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## Chris Ryser

> *In Quebec . your medication have insurance to .. the 12.00 is only a part of the real cost.*


Would you please explain the amount of co-pay by the government of Quebec.

My Montreal pharmacist has told me that if somebody is in urgent need of a spray without an RX
just by showing the empty bottle. he will charge $ 24.00. I assume that this is the full resale value in Quebec.

Thefore that does not justify a selling price of $ 350.00 by Florida drugstores

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## oculus

WE have obligation to be cover for medication insurance, private one if your company offer one .. or you will have to be on the provincial one, you pay the amount on your annual tax report.  After 65 .. you are on the provincial plan (not sure but I think you don't pay) 

This page describe the plan .. 

http://www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/citize...ion-drugs.aspx

But I am with you on the 350.00 $  ...  nitro is not a new drug .. they must have lots of generic ?? 






> Would you please explain the amount of co-pay by the government of Quebec.
> 
> My Montreal pharmacist has told me that if somebody is in urgent need of a spray without an RX
> just by showing the empty bottle. he will charge $ 24.00. I assume that this is the full resale value in Quebec.
> 
> Thefore that does not justify a selling price of $ 350.00 by Florida drugstores

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## Chris Ryser

Nitro has been around since:




> *Following the discovery that amyl nitrite helped alleviate chest pain, Dr. William Murrell experimented with the use of nitroglycerin to alleviate angina pectoris and to reduce the blood pressure. He began treating his patients with small diluted doses of nitroglycerin in 1878, and this treatment was soon adopted into widespread use after Murrell published his results in the journal The Lancet in 1879.[10] A few months before his death in 1896, Alfred Nobel was prescribed nitroglycerine for this heart condition, writing to a friend: "Isn't it the irony of fate that I have been prescribed nitro-glycerin, to be taken internally! They call it Trinitrin, so as not to scare the chemist and the public." [11] The medical establishment also used the name "glyceryl trinitrate" for the same reason.
> *



I think I solved the question why is it so expensive  The drugstores are selling the old Nitro sub lingual drug pills between $ 1.50 and $ 1.75 each.

The small liquid spray bottle is containing the equivalent of 200 sprays as marked on it. That would make it the same amount of 200 pills.

I have checked with 5 pharmacies here and they all to the same. The pharmacist goes on the calculator and multiplies 200x$1.50 plus some thing else and comes up with something over $ 300.00.

It is not of what is the cost + the profit = selling price. They take another product (the pill) as the base to charge for the liquid product in a 40ml. 200 spray bottle.

However on line it is available for $ 39.95.

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## Chris Ryser

> Having worked for a major global supplier, the costs when landed from Asia into the U.S. were incredibly low.  They were marked up substantially for the U.S. market distributors, and even higher (20% or more) for the Canadian market distributors.  All of the distributor channels were owned by the same parent company.
> 
> *They take a huge slice of the pie at each stage and make it much more expensive than it actually is.  When I was in Asia, lens and frame prices of the exact same quality brands as North America were priced at the retail level about 70-80% below vs. North American retail.*
> 
> I'm sure it's no different than all of the other industries that import from Asian based manufacturers.  It's pure corporate greed, not strategic marketing.



That is also why on-line optical s can exist with selling at way lower prices than the B&M stores.

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## optimensch

> That is also why on-line optical s can exist with selling at way lower prices than the B&M stores.


That is also why I am buying directly from overseas suppliers.

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## Judy Canty

Read *Factory Man* by Beth Macy. See where our industry is headed.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Read Factory Man by Beth Macy. See where our industry is headed.
> *



Interesting .........................

*Factory Man*
By Beth Macy
Little, Brown, 464 pp., $28
"Factory Man" is about wars, civil and uncivil. Between family members. Between American manufacturers and Chinese entrepreneurs; whites and African-Americans; women and men; labor and capital. Between local interests and federal legislators; between national and global economic forces. Between tradition and innovation; the past and the unsettled present; the present and the seemingly directionless future.
These are all large and seething tensions, the tectonic forces pressed long and hard against each other to create American industries, with all their muscular energy and underlying contradictions. Steel. Automobiles. Plastics. Textiles.

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## Judy Canty

Best quote so far:

" If somebody wants to predatorily kill your industry and take market share, that's fine as long as the consumer can get it a little cheaper? But what happens when they destroy your industry and then raise prices thirty percent once all your factories are gone?"--Wyatt Bassett

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## Chris Ryser

> *Best quote so far:
> " If somebody wants to predatory kill your industry and take market share, that's fine as long as the consumer can get it a little cheaper? But what happens when they destroy your industry and then raise prices thirty percent once all your factories are gone?"--Wyatt Bassett
> *


Judy your quote applies very well to the present situation.

In Europe and North America most manufacturing of consumer goods has left for China. When the Japanese made the cheap stuff in the 50s and 60-s nobody closed factories and moved the equipment  there.

I had a renter who rented a third in my factory building who had a 45 year old huge machine that made and pressed rods of welding flux that nobody could copy or imitate. The owners decided to have it all made in China for cheaper.

So they cancelled the lease by paying a 3 month extra and took the machine apart into 3 sections, loaded it into 3 huge containers and shipped it to Chinw where it was re-assembled by the same guys that took it apart and they continued to sell the same product ever since, ...........but made for a lot cheaper and some of the ingredients still come from here. That was only 10 years ago.

And now that India has opened it borders for easier imports and manufacturing by foreign corporations, plus a much higher expertise for quality than China had originally, the same circle will continue just in another corner of the globe.

So if we do not adjust to the older and new conditions in the optical field, from manufacturing to retail, the strongest ones will dominate and make the decisions on a world wide basis.

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## Judy Canty

Absolutely, Chris. I was thinking in terms of what happens when a small handful of powerful manufacturers control all the optical labs in our industry as well as the frame manufacturing and distribution.

I'm already second-guessing where I purchase furniture and other home goods. I'm even looking at where my fabric is coming from. This book is changing my entire outlook. Martinsville, Bassett, Danville are all in my territory as is Galax. My trip there last week as I was reading this book made me pay closer attention to the abandoned homes, some covered completely with kudzu, and empty store fronts I passed on the way to Wise. The area has the highest unemployment rate in the state as well as the highest use of food stamps and other "entitlements". These aren't "welfare queens" that politicians love to trot out to justify harsh penalties and reductions in benefits. These are Americans who were "globalized" right out of the jobs that supported the area for generations.

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## Johns

> Absolutely, Chris. I was thinking in terms of what happens when a small handful of powerful manufacturers control all the optical labs in our industry as well as the frame manufacturing and distribution.
> 
> I'm already second-guessing where I purchase furniture and other home goods. I'm even looking at where my fabric is coming from. This book is changing my entire outlook. Martinsville, Bassett, Danville are all in my territory as is Galax. My trip there last week as I was reading this book made me pay closer attention to the abandoned homes, some covered completely with kudzu, and empty store fronts I passed on the way to Wise. The area has the highest unemployment rate in the state as well as the highest use of food stamps and other "entitlements". These aren't "welfare queens" that politicians love to trot out to justify harsh penalties and reductions in benefits. These are Americans who were "globalized" right out of the jobs that supported the area for generations.


I own property in Wise, Pound, and Clintwood Va.  These are some of the poorest areas of the region, and they are getting poorer still, due to the number of coal mines that have been shuttered in the last 3 years.  What little economy they had is all but gone.  They have a resource, right in their back yard, and yet they are not allowed to mine it.  No globalization issues there...

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## Bill West

Are you kiddding me,after turning me down was this the best you could do?


> I own property in Wise, Pound, and Clintwood Va.  These are some of the poorest areas of the region, and they are getting poorer still, due to the number of coal mines that have been shuttered in the last 3 years.  What little economy they had is all but gone.  They have a resource, right in their back yard, and yet they are not allowed to mine it.  No globalization issues there...

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## rbaker

Perhaps the greatest impediment to todays economic growth is the onerous State and Federal Regulations which have been forced upon us all by the present administration. Just remember our feckless leader said that he would close down the coal industry in the United States and he means what he says. He is clearly anti energy in all forms with the exception of moonbeams and pixie dust.

Our corporate tax rates are some of the highest in the world. Is it any wonder why businesses move off shore.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Absolutely, Chris. I was thinking in terms of what happens when a small handful of powerful manufacturers control all the optical labs in our industry as well as the frame manufacturing and distribution.*


The small handful of manufacturers you describe already controls the optical  industry to a large part on a world wide basis and is steamrolling ahead like an avalanche in the Himalayas.

It  is just too sad that North Americans are not too interested in what is going on in other countries and act accordingly. Everyone is only concerned with his own environment or maybe even the country or continent. The economy in other areas is not important as long as we can make a decent living.

The most modern country is now China with their high speed trains and totally new infra structure and the huge debt they own from nearly every other country around the globe. 
All this while our own infra structure is over a 100 years old, falling apart and was never built for such a larger size of the population. 

The optical companies you mentioned have already their tentacles well established in the successor to China. as the next industrial super giant for the last 15 years, which is India. They are using North America as their testing ground for bigger things to come.

It is all about world domination of a commercial sector versus the old days, when it was physical domination.

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## Judy Canty

> I own property in Wise, Pound, and Clintwood Va.  These are some of the poorest areas of the region, and they are getting poorer still, due to the number of coal mines that have been shuttered in the last 3 years.  What little economy they had is all but gone.  They have a resource, right in their back yard, and yet they are not allowed to mine it.  No globalization issues there...


No John, they don't want uranium mines in their back yards. Neither would I. Been to Danville lately? Tasted the water? That's from coal ash dumped in the Dan River by Duke Energy, on of those "over-regulated" industries of which Mr. Baker speaks.

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## Steve Machol

No political discussions. Thread closed.

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