The North Pole Never Closes

 

Neither does Toys "R" Us apparently.  Toys ‘R’ Us is the latest retailer to say it will open its doors 24/7 leading up to Christmas.

It plans to be open around-the-clock — 87 straight hours — from 6 a.m. on Dec. 21 to 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

“With only eight shopping days remaining until Christmas, we are offering customers extended, uninterrupted time in stores, providing them the opportunity to shop whenever is most convenient for them — whether early in the morning or late at night,” Troy Rice, executive vice president of stores and services, said.

Marketing Plan for Ohio

Ohio Governor John Kasich on Wednesday said Les Wexner, founder of Columbus-based L Brands Inc., which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, has agreed to help sell Ohio, which the governor said is overlooked.

While California has an ocean, the Buckeye State’s charms often aren’t discovered unless someone moves there and “the cool factor matters,” Kasich said.

“I don’t know whether we’re going to have a Victoria’s Secret-type marketing plan for Ohio, but it isn’t a bad thought, is it?” Kasich said during a year-end review event with legislative and Ohio Chamber of Commerce leaders.

Governor  Kasich wants Limited Brands Chief Executive Les Wexner, whose retail empire includes the lingerie peddler, to lead a marketing campaign for Ohio, as Northeast Ohio Media Group's Jeremy Pelzer notes.

PPG Sells Paints

In his role as director of marketing for PPG Industries' architectural coatings business in North America, Tom Dougherty tries to make sure the company's paints are in the shopping carts of do-it-yourselfers and professional contractors across the U.S. and Canada.

One of his biggest challenges, though, comes when he's socializing in and around Pittsburgh and has to explain that, yes, PPG sells paints in its headquarters' hometown.

Even when he mentions one of its major paints labels, Olympic Paints & Stains, which has wide distribution through the Lowe's home retail chain, many consumers don't connect the brand with PPG. The company's name and logo aren't displayed prominently on the cans. Adding to the confusion, PPG doesn't operate any of its company-owned stores in the Pittsburgh region.
But the issue of identifying PPG's paints and where to buy them may become easier in coming months, as the company works to integrate brands and stores acquired as part of its April purchase of AkzoNobel's North American decorative paints business.

The $1.05 billion deal to buy the Dutch paints maker's North American architectural unit added mega-brand Glidden to PPG's portfolio as well as Liquid Nails, Flood, Devoe, Dulux and Sikkens. The acquisition -- the second-largest in the company's history -- pushed PPG into the number-two market position among North American paint makers, behind Sherwin-Williams.

In addition to Olympic, PPG already had the Lucite, PPG Porter and Pittsburgh Paints brands

Christmas Cheer at Toys R Us

Twas four days before Christmas, when all through the TRU Office
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Sam soon would be there.

Very Simply---Winners!

 

Recently, PPG announced that they would be having a contest on who could decorate their cubicle the most creatively for Christmas. The categories included Best Logistics Theme, Most Creative, etc. Since we have a great working relationship with the PPG team, we were asked to participate.  The judging was to be held on December 6th at 1200 right before the PPG Christmas Party.

 

We brainstormed on some fun logistics themed decorating ideas and started to gather some supplies. Since we had only been told about the contest a week prior, time was not on our side. We decided that we would take the approach from the movie Elf, with Will Ferrell.  All the employees left for the day on Dec 5th, but the JB Hunt team started to decorate. When everyone returned to work on Dec 6th, the WOW factor really set in.

The JB Hunt team decided to decorate the entire quad of cubicles instead of focusing on just one desk.

 

 

After all the glitter finally settled, this is what remained. A Christmas tree with PPG and JB Hunt ornaments, lights, hand made snowflakes, angels, and garland, wrapping paper, presents, tree skirts, candles, and even a fire place, well sort of. Hahah, we used the big screen TV that usually displays "trucks on a map" and turned it

into a fireplace, actually we just put a YOUTUBE video on it of a fire burning.

 

 

So we went on a tour of all the PPG decorated cubicles and to our amazement, we were chosen as the overall winner in the most resourceful category. We were given a trophy and a gift basket full of delicious cheese and crackers.

Hit the Road Cindy, Monica, and Stephen!

Our CDP team hit the road this week in Northern Ohio and Indiana to bring attention to our hiring need at Family Dollar-Ashley, IN. 

 Cindy Nelson and Monica Cato braved -9 weather with snow and wind  to deliver the message to potential drivers about our new driving opportunity in Ashley, IN.  The CDP team tagged over 325+ trucks in Ohio and Indiana in 2 days.

 Stephen Fowler places yard signs strategically at a busy Indiana intersection.

Our team from Arkansas was fascinated by the Amish population in Northern Indiana.

Central Region Promotion Annouoncement

Please join us in congratulating Naomi Eaton on her promotion to Account Manager for the Hebron, KY DCS Toyota site. In this new role, she will act as a customer liaison between Toyota and the JBI/JBT divisions monitoring over 800 loads monthly in addition to managing the 7 Driver DCS Milk Run Fleet.

Naomi joined the J.B. Hunt team in January of 2013 as an Operations Supervisor for the Toyota account in Owensboro, KY. After four months of stellar performance, she accepted the role of Logistics Coordinator where she was regularly received nods from Toyota. In June 2013, Naomi was formally recognized by Toyota as an integral part of the winning JB Hunt DCS Kaizen Challenge team and eventually took over all duties related to this Kaizen. The “Obvious Oversized Oversight” project resulted in lower cost, shorter lead-time, and improved customer service in transporting service frames to Toyota dealerships.

Naomi arrived at J.B. Hunt with 8 years of prior experience in logistics. She began her career in transportation with Watkins Motor Lines taking advantage of their tuition reimbursement program where she performed various duties related to dispatch, OS&D, billing, and contractor payroll. After FedEx purchased Watkins, Naomi then accepted a position with Averitt Express and spent the next five years in various support roles while she completed her Masters degree in Human Resources.

Since being part of the JB Hunt team, Naomi has also completed Toyota Kaizen carrier training and the Leaders 201 program.

Let's all congratulate Naomi on her promotion and wish her continued success.