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Keurig On Oprah Did you know... Oprah's production company saves $41,000 per year by not using disposable coffee cups! Watch the video below to see how they did it. That's the Keurig B3000 single cup brewer in the offices at Harpo Productions. Qualified customers can get one FREE from Costless Express for their own offices. Just call us at 604-444-4467!
November 5, 2009 For the second time
in recent months XPLANE has partnered with The Economist to create a
compelling video on a topic of global importance. After working together on
"Did
You Know? 4.0", The Economist enlisted XPLANE's
visual communication expertise to develop "The
Carbon Economy" about the growing importance of
climate change and green technologies and solutions.
Cheers,
Just how green is Wal-mart? Wal-Mart now sees energy and fuel efficiency as significant bottom-line drivers: so carbon emissions equal potentially wasted profits. Wal-Mart has realized that it's far easier to cut wasteful operating expenses than to grow top line sales. http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2109069
October 13, 2009
I am fascinated with the website www.howstuffworks.com - here is some more info on Walmart: http://money.howstuffworks.com/wal-mart.htm Amazing how a company can shape technology, like the introduction of bar codes or the lowering of the cost on a 4 pack of light bulbs nationally. It has been an astounding story with Wal-Mart over the past few decades, as huge manufacturers like GE bow to a retailer. Its a case now where the tail wags the dog. Is Wal-Mart getting TOO BIG? Here is a great movie (a few years old but still fascinating) if you can find a download copy or it is on TV every now and then. Here is a great PBS documentary also; watch it online. Oh, and for us capitalists: Here's the stock performance since Wal-Mart went public in 1970, issuing a paltry 300,000 shares. In 1971 if you invested just $5,000 dollars in Wal-Mart stock, you would have over $10,000,000 (yeah, ten million) in your jeans today. I guess not everyone hates Wal-Mart! Cheers
COSTLESS EXPRESS Announces the Acquisition of FROGFILE Office Essentials; Creating Canada’s Most Environmentally Friendly Office Supply Company. Dear Costless Express Customers, Now more than ever "It's Easy Being GREEN!"™ I am pleased to announce some very exciting news - As of October 5th, 2009 Costless Express has acquired FROGFILE Office Essentials, creating Canada's most environmentally friendly office supply company. This business combination allows us to increase our market position, add new environmental and sustainable products and leverage our existing infrastructure. We have high praise for the Frogfile management team and are pleased that they have agreed to join us during the transition period. “Frogfile and Costless Express share the same philosophy when it comes to the environment and providing customers with innovative and sustainable solutions that add value to their business goals,” said Gil Yaron, Founder and CEO of Frogfile Office Essentials. “Costless Express has the breath and depth of warehousing and distribution, as well as the promotional programs, purchasing power, and financial clout necessary to empower our sales people to better meet customer requirements in a positive growing capacity. This acquisition accelerates Costless Express’s growth, enhances our competitive position and extends our industry leading line of products and services. In particular Frogfile’s strength in environmentally friendly office products and knowledge will continue to broaden Costless Express’s presence in this important growth category and key vertical markets. What does this mean for Costless Express customers? “We’re More Than Just Office Supplies”™ It allows our customers to outsource their total office procurement needs. Customers can look forward to an expanded environmentally friendly selection of products at even lower prices. Costless Express will expand the total item selection to offer over 30,000 business products and associated services to help our customers run their operations more smoothly, focus on their core business and drive down hard and soft procurement costs. In addition, Costless Express will now be able to offer guidance to customers who wish more information on creating an environmentally sustainable company and how to take the steps to get there themselves. We are excited at Costless Express to add over one thousand new Frogfile customers. As an existing Costless Express customer I can assure you our service levels will be at the best ever due to the addition of several new outside sales staff (a first for Costless Express). I hope you get a chance to meet one of our Senior Account Managers soon as they'll have many exciting new programs and products to offer. Over the past three years Costless Express has focused on being the most environmentally friendly office supply company in Canada. During that time we’ve had many successes such as becoming Canada’s First Carbon Neutral Office Supply Company, eliminating cardboard boxes for plastic delivery totes, paperless invoicing, "Save-a-stamp" payment, fleet optimization investments and many more. On October 5th I feel we have something very special to be proud of at Costless Express - the addition of Frogfile to our corporate family. About Frogfile Office Essentials “It’s Easy Being Green” ™ Frogfile Office Essentials was born of a simple idea in 2004: Anyone can make a difference through his or her work. Frogfile believes that the ordinary "nuts and bolts" of the nine to five world -- paper, pencils, and pens -- are, in fact, part of the solution. Teaching environmental stewardship to office workers and offering environmentally friendly products will have lasting effects for the planet and customers. Frogfile sources and distributes thousands of pro-planet office alternatives for a wide range of companies. Whether a customer is a growing non-profit or an established Fortune 100 firm, Frogfile takes the guesswork out of responsible procurement. Frogfile saves customers time and money by pre-selecting only the most sustainable solutions available and educating customers on practicing environmental sustainability inside and outside the office. Gil Yaron, Frogfile's founder and CEO, brings to Costless Express over four years of triple digit sales growth, more than a decade of experience in product sourcing, environmental standards, and best practices. With every order, Yaron has proven that smarter office selections needn't come with premiums of cost, quality, or convenience. Frogfile.com’s website, phone and fax will remain operational during a 60-day transition period in which all Frogfile customer account information will be transferred to Costless Express. Regards,
Here is a great BLOG entry from our new cardboard binder supplier (as I wrote about on September 25th)
Cheers,
Sustainable and Green Office Products Our purchasing department is always on the lookout for new and exciting items to bring to our clients. One such item and company we have been in discussions with for almost a year is a fantastic supplier of cardboard office supplies. In particular they have a line of cardboard binders that we have wanted to carry. Recently we became a distributor of the product line and are now able to offer our customers prices similar to or lower than a regular plastic binder. Looks for a full line of cardboard office supplies and more info coming soon. Here is a sneak peek!
The ReBinder is the world's only FSC Certified Binder. By choosing a ReBinder over the 3 ring vinyl binder, you lower your carbon footprint, save money and deliver an awesome message about your commitment ReBinder provides an ecological solution for office products that no other can claim. Our corrugated cardboard binders are 70% Recycled (at least 40% Post Consumer Recycled) and are the best alternative to toxic vinyl binders. ReBinder recycled binders are very durable and more resistant to spine-tearing than the traditional vinyl binders. ReBinder is truly recyclable and reusable because it is a corrugated cardboard binder. Vinyl binders are neither recyclable nor reusable. Unlike other binders that use rivets to attach their ring metals, ReBinder's ring metals are affixed using two screws and t-nuts that can be easily unassembled and "reused" without any waste. We believe it's unlikely you'll ever need to replace your ReBinder cover, but if you do, it can be recycled back into the system and kept out of the landfill. Replacement covers are available for purchase for less than purchasing a new binder. Available in 1", 2" and 3" sizes. Why ReBinder?
Cheers,
September 14 , 2009 What we do for the H1N1 Flu:
It is interesting to see reports of the epidemic on the news and the way people are preparing. I can't say that I feel the urge to to wear a face mask in public, but I have been reaching for the hand sanitizer a bit more often that usual. I dont know a lot of details about who is actually getting H1N1. It seems like a healthy diet and a healthy body is just as important as using hand sanitizer and washing our hands properly. It is much easier to catch all that junk if we dont have healthy immune systems to begin with. Those opinions aside, in the healthcare and government sectors, keeping your hands germ free is crucial. At work, we all have these little Purell Pals on our desk: (You can get your own Pals here.) Here are some other great products from Purell that are great ways to keep your hands clean and avoid germs.
Cheers,
September 9 , 2009
For our management team - there was a meeting about 3 years back when we came up with the idea to introduce totes instead of cardboard boxes for every delivery. Costless Express was committed to becoming carbon neutral, and many of our meetings revolved around reduction of waste materials in our logistics and distribution system. We went ahead and researched and tested the concept, then implemented tens of thousands of dollars worth of plastic reusable totes into our system. Today we use our very handy RED TOTES for all deliveries on our trucks. We are in negotiations currently with our suppliers to encourage them to accept our red totes from us, so they too can ship product into our building with minimal or no extra packaging. This would truly be an exciting step by involving our supply partners in our reduction and environmental plan. Costless will save 200,000 cardboard boxes from the landfill. Although we are actually ELIMINATING the use of cardboard in our distribution - here are some interesting facts about recycling cardboard. Here's a few reasons why recycled cardboard and paper products can make a real difference for the environment:
Cheers
September 5, 2009 Save 8% at G&T — "Just don't log in"
We logged in and did an in-depth analysis and found some perplexing yet exciting discoveries. When we met again with the prospective customer, I said "I can save you 8% on your whole G&T budget in three words - DON'T LOG IN" What we found was, if the customer DID NOT use the User Name and Password when he went to the G&T website, the prices were actually cheaper over all. Have you had any experiences like this dealing with a big box company like G&T or CORPORATE EXPRESS? I would love to know. Cheers,
If you Google about them, you'll find many stories recently about different US state agencies and corporations suing or investigating them for incorrect pricing. Even Ahhnold in California is investigating them. What's happened is that with new web crawling technology (like our Price Spider) and powerful computer analytics, the big box office supply companies are getting caught with their proverbial pricing hand in the cookie jar. In the past, customers and small competitors never had the technology to data mine the confusing contracts and look for compliance, or review if they were getting a better price than the regular public. Former account manager in Office Depot's Business Solutions Division, David Sherwin, a protected whistle-blower in Florida where the company is headquartered, has been credited with the launching of the investigations. Have a look at this news story from Television Station CBS Atlanta. Cheers,
SHIFT HAPPENS Here is another incredible and thought provoking video from my friend Parker Lee at XPLANE. I have blogged about a few these videos, and after seeing them, I just sit in awe and think - WOW, where will the world be in 5-10-50 years. Watch it for yourself. Did You Know? originally started out as a PowerPoint presentation for a faculty meeting in August 2006 at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, United States. The presentation "went viral" on the Web in February 2007 and, as of June 2007, had been seen by at least 30 million online viewers. Today the old and new versions of the online presentation have been seen by at least 50 million people, not including the countless others who have seen it at conferences, workshops, training institutes, and other venues. http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/versions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILQrUrEWe8 Cheers,
August 17 , 2009
The Dow has dropped 3,000 points and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost. We Canadians are now a ragtag bunch of scruffy underdogs, down by three touchdowns at halftime, with a whole horde of orcs waiting for us right outside those locker room doors. Inspiration has become something we need. Ya, that's right, pick up that chin, we got a lot of fight still in us! C'mon - who's with me!!! What I'm trying to say is, if you show this montage at your next staff meeting you may just single-handedly save your company (and possibly get that raise): 40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes Cheers,
August 9 , 2009
One great spot we visit on a regular basis while here is a tiny town called Coombs. Here's a link to a great story in the Victoria Times. In particular there is The Old Country Market, famous for Goats on their Roof! Yup, goats. It's a Scandinavian tradition to to let them "mow"
the grass on your roof. Yup, grass… anyway, you get the idea
that this is a special place. One trick they have up their sleeve is that there is no zoning regulations on their property, so they have been able to create what I can only describe as a mini main street (a la Disney) where each storefront seems to be a different business, yet they are actually all run as a group, with family running different stores. There is the main market with exotic foods, the very popular ice cream stand (one scoop is HUGE!!), a deli, cafeteria, fruit and veg stand, a garden center with lots of statues and bamboo items, a massive building filled with replica Far East inspired furniture (Sandy's favourite!) and a very cool surf shop Wabi Sabi (my favourite). All this and more on one property, and the crowds just keep coming back time and again. No matter what day of the week, the place is packed. (Tip: park way at the back of the property, not on the road or in the first few crowded lots.) If you have kids, then you must stop to pick up some of the coolest toys found anywhere. The prices are cheap and granted the products can be kind of cheap too, but the kids don't seem to mind (most toys are destroyed before the trip is over, at least my kids', when they are on holidays with up to 6-7 cousins - all under 7yrs). This year I felt like a bad parent, since we bought our two boys wooden swords and shields at the market. It was not something I thought we would ever buy, but when the other cousins' parents (thanks Grace and Richard) bought swords and shields, I had to arm my kids out of defense. Any parent would have done the same, don't you think? Anyway, all the swords spent most of the time confiscated and hidden on the top shelf of the coat closet, but when all the kids "played nice," it was a treat to watch them role play, and we took some great pictures. Check out Coombs if you haven't been already. Cheers,
August
5 , 2009
We have now done an analysis on over 15,300 office supply items we sell using the software. We entered several factors such as - Strength of the Canadian dollar, lower negotiated office supply pricing from our suppliers, items we purchase in bulk, how much space and cash flow the items take in our warehouse and — most importantly — what Staples, Office Depot, Grand & Toy and others are selling the items for. Of the 15,300 items we ran through Price Spider, there were almost 5000 matches apples-to-apples against the competition. These items we guarantee are lower than the competition. On the remaining 9500 items, we decided to lower our prices! (800 items we kept the same price.) What this means to you the customer is that most items in our 2009 Big Book catalogue are now lower than the published price you see on the pages! Our customers couldn't believe it today as our sales people started telling them that thousands of items have just DROPPED IN PRICE! Ask your other suppliers that you buy office supplies from if they are lowering their prices. The strong dollar and aggressive pricing from the wholesalers have reduced costs, and they should pass on the savings I think. On the flip side though, when oil prices go up, the dollar goes down or the economy starts ramping up (or all three) - inflation will kick in, and prices will start going up and so will the need for us to raise prices. But for now - THANKS PRICE SPIDER! Cheers,
I am proud to announce the introduction of some exciting and exclusive technology from Costless Express. JumpCart will revolutionize the way you order your business supplies. With just the click of a button, you can now scan any product bar codes we sell and have your order automatically upload to our website shopping cart. The next time your toner is running low, just scan the bar code sticker we placed on your machine — done! No more hunting for item numbers or what supplier you ordered from last time. It works great in the lunch room too. Open a cupboard and scan shelf labels of all your favorite supplies like coffee, sugar, napkins and cream. You can even scan the actual bar code on the box if you like. The scanner is the size of a car alarm remote, and after you have scanned your order while walking around your office, you just plug in the scanner for three seconds and your order is automatically dropped into our web shopping cart under your exclusive user name and password. Once the order is loaded on the web, you can add, delete or change the order, and even put the order on hold for future submission. Costless Express is the only company in Canada offering this time saving ordering technology. Click here it see a brochure on our exclusive JumpCart Technology. For an in-person DEMO by yours truly, please ask your sales rep. Cheers,
July 24 , 2009
Still short staffed, I went today to install 30 paper towel dispensers at a customer's location. I had planned on attending the customer's location during the installation regardless, but I was expecting to have an assistant with me to do the actual drilling and installations. Since the warehouse was still short staffed, and one full trailer of Coke and another of Pepsi was arriving this morrning (our big pop sale this week cleaned us out) it was going to be just me. Our customer RCABC in Langley has a gorgeous new facility and we sell them just about everything under the sun for their entire business, including now, all their washroom supplies like paper towels, toilet paper and soap. All with FREE DISPENSERS courtesy of Costless Express. The new dispensers are from our TORK line and will save the customer 25% or more on consumption, and the paper is EcoLogo Certified 100% Recycled. I did pretty well I thought, installing about half the dispensers today. Their building is kind of a maze underground, and finding all the washrooms had me back-tracking a bit. One instructor would just smile every time I did "laps" past his office. The remainder will need to be installed next week, but the good news is the customer is also interested in Purell wall dispensers (also free) after I offered to demo this vital part of their health and wellness program. If you need to upgrade your washroom dispensers, or need Purell for office, please give us a ring. Cheers,
July 23 , 2009
How is your summer? How about your holidays? How about when your co-workers take holidays? How does your company deal with short staff? Especially in this economy, there usually is not much overlap in staffing. Ok, so what happens when people are on holidays and someone gets sick… and someone gets injured… AND someone has a family emergency, all on the same day? (We usually have 5 order pickers on shift, and 3 could not come.) You call in everyone to help! So here I am today, picking orders from 4pm till 9pm, twenty feet up in the warehouse on one of our order picker machines. Oh, did I say it's 33 degrees in the warehouse? Thanks to Sandy for also basically saving the day by coordinating labor and motivating other staff to jump in. Everyone in our company really pitched in to get the job done. We even had a young fella help out that was walking door to door looking for work and dropping off his resume. Can you imagine - "Hey, I'm in the neighborhood looking for work, do you have any?" YEAH, START RIGHT NOW! His name is Paul, and he did such a great job, we will keep him for a few more days and see if we can hire him on. Also, sorry to my day warehouse manager for dropping a case of Coke Zero cans from 20 feet up. It was an accident. I know that 24 cans of exploded pop makes a real sticky mess :-) Cheers,
July 23 , 2009 Here is another awesome, thought provoking video from Parker Lee at one of my favorite companies, XPLANE.
Cheers
Check out Helijet's new website. Thanks Jay from Helijet for the plug!
My new Business Development Manager, Kristi, is incredible at getting to the decision maker when she calls prospects. She is working on a list right now of "Fortune 500" companies in Vancouver and promoting our Office Coffee Service. She is a real pro and doesn't give up 'til she gets me an appointment. Well, recently she came accross a company who foiled her attempts at every angle. She just could not get past the gate keeper or phone system. Nobody would give her the contact name of the purchaser for their breakroom supplies. But… in her many attempts calling, she did find out the company was in the midst of reviewing their current supplier, so she knew time was of the essence and this called for something special.
I personally took down the cake, and the receptionist was blown away, saying nobody has ever done something like that, and she hopes we win the account because we were just so original and determined. I can say we did make contact with the Executive Assistant to the President. Seems all the right people had some cake today! Having fun, one customer at a time!
July 13 , 2009
I'm most excited about using the equipment for our own marketing material, like post cards, door hangers and booklets. We are working on some new TOP SECRET technology (coming soon!) that requires us to make custom mini catalogues for individual customers so this equipment will be perfect for the job. If you would like a quote on your printing, please contact us. Darren, our print sales rep, has over 25 years experience and will offer you not only a great price, but ideas on how to save money and make your print job the best it can be. Cheers,
July 10, 2009
Jeff took some great video and pics and wrote a piece. Click and see his July 8th entry. Thanks Jay from Helijet for taking care of the happy couple! Calvin
July 5, 2009
Today Sandy and I attended a lovely afternoon wedding at the Tea House in Stanley Park for our good friends Jen and Jeff. Jeff you may know from Virgin Radio, a.k.a. Buzz Bishop. His blog is quite entertaining, so add it to your favorites for some good local perspective on pop and tech culture. Look for his July 5th entry. If you read the blog entry on his wedding day you'll see where he calls it a "Twedding". You see, Jen was stuck in a Limo that took a wrong turn, and she was 45 minutes behind schedule while guests and groom stood on the grass outside overlooking English Bay. What is a radio personallity groom to do while waiting? Tweet on his Blackberry of course! Congratulations Jen and Jeff!
I'm super excited about my new TOY. Can you guess? Not a boat… Not a motor cycle… Not a camera, video game, laptop or giant BBQ. No, my new toy is SOFTWARE. SMART SCRAPER I call it. And what it does is take an Excel file of item numbers from products we sell and tells me what my competitors price is and item number off their web site. Very cool!! I have worked with the company, who developed software & technology for about 10 years on other reporting tools they have custom made for me. When I saw this technology being used by another of their customers, I knew I wanted it for Costless. Today, I ran a report of the top 4000 Office Supply items we sold last quarter, and loaded it into our new SMART SCRAPER. Then, I pointed the software at Staples.ca website to see who had the best pricing on each item. The results were amazing! We had the lowest prices on about 82% of the items, some were significantly lower. On the remaining 18%, we were now able to adjust our sell price to beat Staples. The SMART SCRAPER will also monitor when Staples changes a price and give me a list of the changes, with date and new price. Also, the SMART SCRAPER will make more matches over time, as we clean the data on items that did not have a match: items where the pack size was different, or there was no direct item number match. With ongoing data management, we plan to have 8,000 matches to Staples (about the number of items they sell), and then work on Office Depot and Grand and Toy. Imagine, in your business, if you could push a button and see how your prices compare to your competition? Cheers
Once we decided to expand our service for 2009, we had three areas to focus on and decided to expand in this order.
The first two are under way, and we plan over the next year to really grow sales and win new customers with our unique product offering, fantastic service and low prices. I must say that our management team is really doing a great job with all the extra research and projects. It's quite an undertaking when you step outside your current operations. We are dealing with multi locations, unique suppliers and inventory challenges, tax codes, shipping rates, freight carriers, warehousing, website and (whew) many other issues. I'm sure many of you have been involved in big projects as you read this and can agree, "Just when you think you solved every possible issue, more pop up." The best news is we are having fun and evolving the business. Cheers,
June 23 , 2009
One area we are experts in is Office Coffee Service. Our supplier KEURIG (the coffee machine supplier) was telling me he needed better representation on the Island and the market was wide open with only a water cooler company offering the Keurig system. So with our extensive coffee and office supply inventory, I think Costless can really win over some new Island customers. I'll keep you posted! Cheers,
June 22 , 2009
Harbor Air has been a customer for many years, but we had yet to fly with them. The weather was a perfect sunny day and it was an amazing flight at only about 800 feet off the water. The scenery of the North Shore, Stanley Park and across to the Island was truly spectacular. We were in the air for only 20 minutes or so, and it felt more like a tourist sightseeing flight than transportation from point A to B. The plane we flew held about 16 people and was full to capacity. A bit of a tight squeeze, but it's only for a short flight, and if you sit on the left, it's a single window seat with a bit more leg room. CALVIN'S CORNER TIP: The sea planes only have a pilot and not a co-pilot, so as you are boarding you can ask to sit next to the pilot. Cheers,
June 17 , 2009 Writing from New Orleans! A city I always wanted to visit. Darren and I are here for a conference with one of our wholesalers. Last year was San Diego and next year is Miami Beach. The city still has many signs of destruction from Katrina, but the French Quarter where we are was not flooded. Bourbon Street is everything you would expect. We went out last night for a quick stroll about 11pm after we flew in and the street was packed on a week night. Imagine Robson Street, no cars, packed full of people all jumping from bar to jazz club to resturant. You don't really stay in one spot too long, since you take your drink with you. I have traveled a fair amount, and there is nothing like it I have ever seen. The culture, history and archatecture make for a memorable visit, and the locals are all very excited to see the conventions come back to town.
The art shop owner also told me about how his house was 7 houses from one of the levee breaks. The house was one block OVER and the houses directly in front of the break were washed away clear to the foundation. His house was under 15 feet of water at the height of the flood, and when he finally came back home, his red pickup truck was on top of his neighbor's roof. He said he looks at life now as just a gift every day. Here is a cool original painting I bought in his shop.
Cheers,
Costless Express Beats Staples Prices by 45%! I find that customers compare prices before choosing a supplier, this makes sense. But with over 25,000 office supplies, what items do you compare, and what is the item number from each competitor so you can make an "apples to apples" comparison. Oh, and what if one supplier sells in a different pack size? Arrgggh, it can drive a customer crazy comparing prices! Well, good news from Costless Express. Did you know we do all that work for you? Send us a stack of invoices, and we will match up our items and send you the prices. Best of all, we have a cost comparison of the 100 most commonly used office supply items as compared to STAPLES. We beat Staples' prices by 45%! The reason we choose Staples is we find them to be the lowest cost of our competitors - with Grand and Toy being the highest. (If you buy from Grand and Toy, the lowest discount we have seen from their catalogue prices is 45%, and the highest 69% - most are at 56%.) Please ask your sales rep for a copy of our current Staples Cost Comparison or download a copy once you login to our website. It is a great reference tool to find the top 100 common items. You can also see the list's items online in your Favorites drop-down menu, under the GLOBAL LIST area, on the left side tool bar. Cheers,
June 9 , 2009
We serve over 3200 customers, and almost every day I hear stories from our sales staff. Customers we have had for years just close up shop and are out of business. We had a large customer let 800 staff go in one day. Or another had just expanded a year earlier to 3 floors in an office tower, but now only occupy less than one floor. The rent may actually put them under, since there are no sub-lease tenants wanting that much space. If our customers are hurting, they are not buying, and we feel it. One positive the downturn in an economy brings to business is a chance to really examine your operations and get up close and personal with how it operates. We hired a business consultant in January and she has helped us really streamline operations. I have personally taken a very active role in sales and marketing, and the hands on experience in invaluable. So much so that I hired a Business Development Manager, and together we analyze new opportunities and underdeveloped customer segments. She gets me the appointments, and I close. Prospects and customers seem to like that the owner is meeting them. I like it also, since I can move very quickly making offers, prices and decisions. Being on the front lines making presentations and visiting customers has been invaluable in directing the company through these turbulent times. As a team, we have opened 82 new accounts and some are Fortune 500 size. Sure, we have lost a few customers due to the recession, but won back just as many new ones. Am I feelin' it? Yeah I am, and having more fun selling than ever. Cheers
June 6 , 2009
Cheers,
June 3 , 2009 Summer Time! It is hot out, but I'm loving it. Does your office have good air conditioning? We are in warehouse style offices, so the air conditioning (and heat) are quite suspect. So we started pulling out the fans, and I wanted to possibly order a few more so I went online. We sell fans but I wanted a particular one my friend had told me about. I found it, plus a ton of other unique fans. Have a look - they're all very COOL!!
Use these little guys in addition to your normal fan. And if you are absolutely dying of heat or need to walk away from your desk, stick one in your pocket or maybe to the back of your neck. Yeah, I'm not sure how well these would keep you cool, but maybe if you held it close to your face long enough it would dry the sweat dripping on your forehead during that boring, long meeting. Also important is the portability option and very cheery colors.
What is it about Hello Kitty that makes her an inspiration for every gadget? You really could have an entire Hello Kitty life if you wanted to. Either way, she'll keep you nice and cool and be your friend on your desk.
Now this is a winner. Great design, great colors, and it's BIG! Did I mention it plugs into your USB? or runs on batteries? And you can hang it on a wall?
This is for when you get bored and you decide, "Hey, I actually don't care what my boss thinks of me at all." Remove the top and start cooling down.
Okay, so the lights aren't super cool, but for a USB fan it is smart. Cool down + get four extra USB slots! (or get the version with the 7 in 1 card reader) I'm always up for plugging more things into my computer at once.
It cools you down and allows you to spray yourself in the face for 8 bucks. Gizmodo called it a crappy fan and I semi-agree... except for that water feature.
Yeah it's expensive, and I don't know if it works any differently, but a cageless fan? That just sounds cool. Now this looks nice. Sleek design, cloth blades, it packs a lot of punch for a small fan. Plus it's endorsed by Treehugger..for all you green loving people.
This one wins best design for me. It has some sort of retro feel to it that I love. It's pretty expensive, but if you're in a trendy office it's an easy addition.
It reminds me of something creepy off of Minority Report or War of the Worlds are something. (Anyone know what I'm talking about?) Anyways, it's a double whamo. Get both the gadgets you need on one stand, taking up one USB port. Just don't go to your computer at night and get scared by it's creepy eye. Logisys Ergonomic Cool Fan Mouse
Yeah, this one is manual, but we all need some exercise. Plus, could life get any nerdier? You need this fan. Cheers,
Support BC Children's Hospital Miracle Weekend! I have been involved with the BC Children's Hospital for three years now. Coming up fast is the Miracle Weekend June 6 and 7 on Global BC. The 22nd Annual BC Children's Hospital Miracle Weekend is the chance for everyone across BC to be a Superhero. This two-day celebration showcases the best of Children's Hospital: patients, their families, caregivers and our supporters that come from every corner of BC. Please visit my personal page and help support the kids. Cheers,
May 11 , 2009 This weekend Sandy and I took our eldest boy to Science World for his birthday party. They do a great job entertaining the kids with lots of experiments and cool challenges. After the party, all the guests are free to use the Science World facilities for the remainder of the day. The cost of admission was not much less than the cost per head for the party, so that was great value! A couple of neat things at Science World were the whole section dedicated to recycling and renewable energy. The kids loved the interactive displays. But the thing that caught my eye the most was actually not part of any exhibit. It was the hand dryer in the bathroom. This new dryer by Dyson (same company as the vacuum on the ball) really works! I hate the old hand dryers with the noisy motor and big blasting nozzle. It just isn't effective. Check out this new hand dryer, I hope we see more installed around town soon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-8sNl1Iqkw http://www.dyson.com/airblade/caen/how.asp Cheers,
May 5 , 2009 Waste-To-Energy
Click here for our info sheet to read about how we'll dispose of your used cups and filterpacks in an environmentally sound manner! Cheers,
Did you purchase a button so you can wear your jeans to work? Since it's a Playoff Canucks game, some people embellished a bit and included a jersey with the jeans like me. (Go Canucks!) Costless Express has been a sponsor of the big Jeans Day BBQ held each year downtown. This year, we were also an official retail supplier for buttons. Thanks to our customers, we raised $1320 in button sales!
Thanks customers and staff for another successful event! Cheers,
April 22, 2009 Happy Earth Day! Over the past year we did add a few new feathers to our cap, such as in-house shredding, less cardboard and packaging from our suppliers, consolidated supplier deliveries (one supplier was delivering from Seattle daily and we cut that to once a week!), and internal paper reduction campaigns. For the first time, we did not mail catalogues to our 3,200 customers, but instead asked that they add on to their next order. It worked great, and saved all the extra delivery trips and over $17,088 in postage on our giant 1000 page catalogue. On the paper reduction campaign side, we actually had two very successful campaigns you may see very soon. SAVE A STAMP was one campaign where we are striving towards zero incoming mail. After some Eco Brain Storming Sessions, we saw data that Costless received over 50,000 pieces of mail per year. If we could get our customers to pay by credit card or direct deposit, then it could be possible to eliminate incoming mail. We also contacted suppliers and asked that they not send unsolicited price books and sample binders, as this added up too. EMAIL INVOICES was the other campaign just rolling out. By eliminating almost all outgoing invoices and statements we were able to reduce our paper consumption by eliminating two pieces of paper from each order we process in our system. Also, we switched all remaining paper we needed to print to 100% recycled Harbor 100 copy paper. This effort netted us a savings of 4420 pounds of greenhouse gases, 2240 pounds of solid waste, 28 million BTUs of energy and 20,104 gallons of water! Cheers,
April 21, 2009
We have 30 of these very cool "picker upper thingies" that we are giving away tomorrow. We have been having a blast around the office with them. They are the best tool for picking up trash, so a bunch of staff ran around outside cleaning up. It was amazing what is littered! It really is disgusting that people just open their window and toss bags of empty fast food and old newspapers - ash trays of cigarette butts were the worst! Cheers,
April 15, 2009 That article was a few months ago, and today you can find all types of companies, universities, news organizations, and yes, even celebrities using Twitter. I feel the technology is leaning more to a communication tool of relevant info in the corporate world than to personal. The California wild fires over the past few days were updated on Twitter by the fire chiefs on their iPhones right from the front lines. I think that is so amazing. For our company, we try to post relevant information a few times a day. Things customers may want to know about here at Costless, like new products, charity work, holiday hours and also our Twitter Deals. We will be posting Twitter only coupons and specials, so please follow us closely. Ok, to wrap things up here - WHAT THE HECK IS TWITTER? If you asked that - check this out: http://www.commoncraft.com/twitter Cheers,
April 6, 2009
Need to buy or sell something? Craigslist probably has it posted. For example, I wanted to buy a Xerox Docucolor 12 printer for our marketing and print shop this week. A good printing friend said these were the best for our needs, but Xerox stopped making them a few years ago and "most people will never part with them, they are THAT good." So I searched Craigslist, and voilà.
I see Buysell.com has now changed its web site advertising rates. You can now post an ad for FREE. Amazing, dynamic times we are living in. I remember the old paper Buy and Sell at the news stand, do they still print that? Recently, there are several stories of newspapers going out of business, some over a century old! Just south of us, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver closed in February. The Seattle P-I is the second newspaper to shut down in 2009, next could be the Boston Globe? I guess on a positive eco note, there would be less paper waste. Cheers
April 1, 2009 Today was no April Fools joke! I and 5 other brave souls did battle at a charity Dodgeball tournament. Hey, this was serious business, so no snickering! The Power of the Dodgeball - Together We Raised $4,811.08! OK, one of our great customers invited us to enter their first annual charity Dodgeball event, with proceeds going to to the construction of the Atsemba Community School in Africa. 100% of the contributions will go directly to this project, which will provide quality primary education to up to 400 children every year. We arrived early to the UBC Student Union building to set up some food and drinks we donated for the 100+ players in the tournament. After that, our team of 6 walked over for a pre-game meal consisting of Subway sandwiches and pizza. (Baddd idea before strenuous exercise, we found out!) When we came back to the gym, there before us were some serious, organized, semi-pro dodgeball teams. We let out nervous laughs, and then got very quiet. You see, we had never played dodgeball, never touched a ball, and most definitely never practiced.
Round One: We played against some pro team in matching black tank tops and before you know it, we had won game #1 and tied game #2. This leaves us at game #3 - SUDDEN DEATH. Loser is out and winner advances to the Semi Finals. The whistle blows and balls are flying. Then, in a moment of brilliance, Wendy from our team hands me two balls, I double fire and get out a fellow on the other team. Wendy decided to just retrieve balls and "reload" the other people on our team. This allowed us the throw more, and in under two minutes we had won the game! Round Two: Now I know why some teams had 10-15 people (we had the bare minimum of 6). We all were gasping for air and chugging water (remember the Subway and Pizza?) and my arm felt like it was about to fall off as Round Two began (best of three). We had moments of brilliance, like 6 players on the other side trying to knock out our last player, Jim in one game and Wendy in another game, but it took a few minutes and dozens of balls. It was hilarious to see our player doing a version of the "funky chicken" and not getting hit! But overall, we were slaughtered three games to zero..
Great times at dodgeball, and we are starting to train already for next year. If the staff can dodge my stapler already, then I think we are in good shape. Cheers,
G&T has done a good job of spinning the fee under the cloak of some environmental initiate. Order more, less often… hmm, where have I heard that before? G&T is right though, less orders delivered equals less trucks on the road. Something I have been preaching for years, and why our customers value our single source service (with NO MINIMUM order, I might add).
Cheers
March 16 , 2009
Follow the lead of the Project Runway Show designers, and fashion your next frock out of Post-It notes! We sell every size and color you can think of. May I suggest the Super Sticky as a safe bet! Actually, all kidding aside, 6 talented designers created fashion masterpieces out of Post-it Notes and the dresses are being auctioned off to support Breast Cancer. Here is the lowdown off their website -
March 12 , 2009 Here are a few more memorable customer service and business (non) brilliance from our SOCAL trip so far. Cheers!
March 9, 2009
Don't take the toiletries from your hotel. Those are mainly plastics that will go to the landfill. Instead, fill small bottles with your own shampoo from home. For some reason, we packed our full size bottles from the shower at home and put them in Ziploc bags. (Ahhh, that's why our one bag weighed 85lb and we were given heck at the airport!) Anyway, I'm proud to say we didn't touch the hotel toiletries. Perhaps we can all encourage hotels when we stay to source eco-friendly toiletries that use recyclable or biodegradable packaging instead. I also noticed widespread use of Styrofoam in restaurants down here. Our hotel had a continental breakfast included each morning, but everything is disposable Styrofoam! Plates, bowls, cups — all Styro. The staff was emptying the trash bins every 20 minutes. Why not use that labour to wash proper dishes?? It was sad to see the massive amounts of landfill each day out of just that one restaurant. Actually, I felt quite guilty about our own trash consumption while on the trip. Each time we made a day trip in the car and I cleaned out everything once we returned to the hotel, it was shocking. There was so much trash from drive thru fast food, it was mind boggling. Bags, wrappings and cups for everything. What do you do? "Ya just pass me my BigMac and hold the box?" Maybe I can save my styro plate from breakfast and reuse at lunch?? ;-) Calvin
March 8, 2009 Not to drag on Electric Vehicles, but you just have to see what the French are up to!!! From a Google Search -
Cheers,
March 8, 2009
Here is a one of the famous Electric Vehicle Charging Station signs that were posted all over California as part of the pending Electric Car boom. It is eerie and strangely odd why the California Government keeps the signs posted. The last electric car was crushed in 1996. Optimism? Nostalgia? Naaaah, probably just that no politician wants to have anything to do with Electric Vehicles or lowering emissions. Who would be stupid enough to open that Pandora's box? Just let the signs rust off the posts! Of note, there is a new resurgence of Electric Vehicles on the horizon. Let's see if we can keep them out of the crusher this time. Cheers,
March 7, 2009
Funny enough, I brought a movie with me so I could watch it (5th time) on the computer after the kids go to bed on our holidays here in SOCAL. Read my handy cut and paste job about the movie below. It is an incredible documentary actually. Read away...................
Make sure you rent or buy a copy of Who Killed the Electric Car to watch for yourself. Here is more on the car from another site - http://peswiki.com/index.php/Review:Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F You just can't make this stuff up. Amazing! Cheers,
March 5, 2009
Although I am excited to spend some quality family time, I'm also excited about getting some quality customer service and stories for my blog. I wonder it the travel industry is taking their game to new levels with the economy in the toilet. Especially repeat destinations like SOCAL. I expect Disney to be incredible as usual (I'll keep my eye out to see if there is any garbage on the ground :-) ) Right off the bat, when we landed at LAX, we picked up our rental car from Budget. I had pre-booked a midsize vehicle online and was given a "FastPass" membership. At the time I had no idea what the FastPass was. Well, I need to give high marks to Budget - when they mean fast... they mean it! We were directed over to a group of about 50 cars and SUV's, and told to just pick any one in area "6" and drive away, the keys are inside. We had such a choice of vehicles that we were the only ones not being too fast. We actually picked a vehicle and then when all our luggage didn't fit (double stroller too) we unloaded and picked a larger SUV. After loading up, we drove to the end of the parking lot - to a gate where a Budget staff member took a card off our rear view mirror, proceeded to scan it with a bar code reader and said "Have a safe trip, do you need directions?". That was it, we were driving off, without filling out any paperwork or any line ups. I quickly jotted down my experience and observations about Budget in my handy notebook. (Sandy rolled her eyes with a smirk) Next we hit Burger King a block away... back to reality... ahhhh, fast food service. Cheers,
"THE NEW PHONE BOOK'S HERE, THE NEW PHONE BOOK'S HERE!!!! That's how we felt today when we FINALLY received our 2009 catalogues from the printers. We delayed printing the catalogue in December, because of all the price changes suppliers had waiting for January 2009. I decided it was best to hold production and have a more accurately priced catalogue. I can easily say our 2009 catalogue is the best yet. Some quick highlights are:
You will automatically get a new Costless Express 2009 catalogue for free on your next order. We also have our drivers delivering them as fast as possible. If you just can't wait, like Steve Martin, then give us a shout, and we will hand deliver one to you ASAP. Cheers, Calvin
February 24, 2009
I'm feeling a bit sad lately about what I think the economy has driven some competitors to reduce themselves to. Yesterday I wrote about a new company selling office supplies in Vancouver, called E. Madill from Nanaimo BC. Recently they sent out a price sheet to random businesses in downtown Vancouver boasting they were "The Cheapest!" and guaranteeing "We beat all competitors prices" on their catalogue cover. Then last week I had a complaint from a good customer about them. Now I have been in business for 20 years, and have seen many competitors, including Staples, Corporate Express and Office Depot, come to Vancouver, so I'm OK with competition. I support small business, and believe there's room for everyone in the marketplace, especially when it comes to other local independent stationers like Mills Basics (good job on beating out the big guys and being the official office supplier to the Olympics BTW). So when a small office supply company resorts to big statements like E. Madill has, it sets a bad tone for what a local office supplier should act like. My good customer of 12 years called to let me know she had a sales person from E. Madill drop off a catalogue. She said she kindly told them she was not interested and had a great relationship with Costless Express. Since that day E. Madill had called her repeatedly, to the point she say is almost harassment. She said they keep telling her they will under cut anyone's prices by 10% and sent a HOT SHEET showcasing their low low prices on the top selling items. This sheet was faxed over to me by her, and we used it in our recent cost comparison. What I found is the prices on their top selling items were not as competitive as Costless Express, and in most cases not even as low as Staples (ask for the comparison if you would like to see). Second was that many other popular items not on their HOT SHEET but on their website were priced exceptionally high in comparison to the average market price (we priced out 700 items). I can only assume that they plan to win customers by marketing they are the cheapest, undercut a few items to appease unsuspecting customers, and then make it all back and then some on the other items when the customer isn't looking. I have known the owner of E. Madill (Ehren Madill) for a few years now. I see him a few times each year at industry trade shows, and he is about my age - 40, with a young family. So I gave him a ring. What I tried to mentioned to him was how his sales people used tactics that left a negative impression on customers. Also, I explained, independent stationers usually support each other. Hey, all is fair in yadda yadda... but if Costless were to go into battle over a customer, it would be against Staples or G&T, not trash-talking an independent like Mills. Why fight against another local business, when it's Staples selling a billion dollars each year in Canada? While Ehren and I chatted, he said he lets his sales people win business however they see fit. No prisoners. They were on commission, and as long as they brought in the sales, he was fine with how they did it. Like I said, I'm feeling a bit sad that this is the service a local independent office products supplier has been reduced to. Good luck, Ehren. Calvin February 23, 2009 Who has the best prices on all office supplies in Vancouver? Is it Costless Express, the big American giants like Staples or Grand & Toy, or other local independent stationers? (Drum roll)... None of the above! Let me explain. Each quarter at Costless Express, we research each competitor and look at their sell prices on the top few hundred items (sometimes up to 500 items). That's all most offices ever buy; the top few hundred items, like file folders, sticky notes, pens, staples, copy paper and the like. These are the items where a customer wants to know their office supply company is saving them money. After the top items are out of the way, a customer wants to know pricing is competitive on the remaining 24,800ish items and if they happen to find it at a lower price somewhere else - that their supplier will beat the price. Costless Express and most other competitors offer a "we will beat anyone's price" policy, but the customer may need to do a bit of leg work first to find the lower "delivered" price. Possibly they saw it on special somewhere else. So I bet you want to know how we stacked up to the mighty STAPLES on price. How about 42.9% cheaper on the top 130 items! How about against a small company from Vancouver Island called E. Madill Office Supply? 39.7% cheaper on the top 130 items! If you would like to see the side by side comparison in an excel file, please call your Fantastic Account Manager and they will email you a copy. When I met with him, I said I could save him 10% in three words. DON'T LOG IN! If he were to just use the street prices online from G&T, he would have been farther ahead than with his discount. Don't ask me why G&T did this, but I want to offer a big THANKS to them for a nice new customer. To wrap this up, I guess what I'm saying is I try to offer our customers a sharp price on the items that matter most and fair prices on everything else. No games or bait and switch like some other competitors seem to try. Costless Express customers save the most and get the best prices everyday. Cheers, Calvin
February 18, 2009
Each year at about this time, it's "out with the old and in with the new" when it comes to our inventory. We need to make room for all the new and exciting products that were added to the 2009 catalogue, so we deeply discount the remaining stock that didn't make it. I know it sounds like some cheesy line from a furniture commercial: "Everything Must Go, Blah Blah Blah!" But it's true, we only have so much space so... Ahhhh, everything must GO! Some items just changed in pack size or flavour, while others just didn't make the cut due to slow sales. Whatever the case, the customer gets a great chance to pick up some hot deals. We update the Blow-out Sheet daily with what's sold out and what new items have been added. The info is always as fresh as we can make it. We also added a new section at the top of the sheet, and I wanted to get some feedback from you on if you like it. We added items where the "Best By" date is close or at expiry. Think of it as our scratch and dent sale, in a way. These items like Starbucks coffee have very short dates (too short, in my opinion) and sometimes we have to pull the items off our shelves, since we promise customers a reasonable amount of time on any Best By date. The products are absolutely fine to consume - it really is just the manufacturer setting short dates to help boost sales volume, in my humble opinion. Here's the question: Would you take a deep discount on an item, if the date was close or at expiry? To be clear, I'm talking about items in tin cans or foil pouches, not week's old nasty bread or chips. Items are JUST near or at expiry, and NOT months over date. Seems part of my question has been answered, because the items are selling like hot cakes. Starbucks Coffee regular $54.99 - clearance $29.99 (Expires February and March 2009), now there's a deal! Cheers, Calvin
February 11, 2009 Heart-y foods
Inspirational heart-shaped food photos are here from Threadbanger. Ladies will like the last picture on the site as you scroll down. Awwwwwww. Eat your heart out. And speaking of heart-y foods, since it's American Heart Health Month (not sure if there is a Canadian one, I guess I'll Google later) here are 25 foods that are good for your ticker , whether it's pulsing with love for a certain valentine or not. Cheers, Calvin
February 5, 2009 Stop Using Staples!
Introducing the stapler that does not use staples. This invention has been around a quite some time, but not a lot of people understand the magic behind this. There a few models of stapleless staplers out in the market nowadays, but this model in particular punches a whole onto your stack of paper, it then folds and unlike most models out there, nicely tucks the flap into the paper itself. Smart, huh? Although the trick is pretty nifty, it works only on a stack of 5 to 7 pieces of paper, but again, if you have a stack of uncountable amount of paper that you want to bind together, you might as well use a 3-ring binder or use a hot glue gun to make a book out of it, right? Cheers, Calvin
When you're first introduced to Google Earth, as my mom recently was, it can become an obsession to find your home, the home you grew up in, your best friend's place and the Beijing Olympic Stadium among other hot spots. The Using Google Earth blog has a myriad of ways to trick out your Google Earth experience for die-hards. Find planets, track your flight paths, view historical maps, geotag your iPhone photos. With plain old Google Maps, you can do some fancy things too, like making a collaborative map for your cycling, hiking, driving or jogging buddies to share. Keep up with Google Earth tips on the blog and with GE's own user guide. To be in perennially in the know about all things Google, download its Tip of the Day gadget. And just for fun, there's always "The Googling" webisodes to watch. What did we do BG? (Before Google)? Cheers,
January 19 , 2009 Congratulations to our great friends over at Ethical Bean Coffee in Burnaby! Here is an email from Jeff, the marketing Master. I'll let him explain.
Well Jeff, you just thanked all our customers. All of us here at Costless Express are glad we could help in any way. To see more about what Ethical Bean is doing, go here. To buy Ethical Bean Coffee at great prices - shop our site online or call into our sales center for pricing. Cheers,
January 9, 2009
She is responsible for the 2009 catalogue, and here she is celebrating the completion of another job well done. There was a new popular culture saying added to our office vocabulary during the project. Hovering - as in "Calvin, STOP hovering and I won't stick this pen in your neck!" Seems I had a habit of looking over Erin's shoulder while she worked on the catalogue and since she works best listening to her iPod, I just stood there watching.... ehhhem HOVERING they say. Hey, we were under deadline and I just thought I could "proof" over her shoulder. I just hope the staff don't call me the HOVERER. In my defense, there is a management style I was taught by a successful entrepreneur - MBWA. Manage By Walking Around - that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Great work Erin! Cheers,
January 12 , 2009 You know when you see something and you love it because it describes your life soo perfectly? Well, I found my life in graphs today. Thank you GraphJam.com. There are tons that are just plain funny.
Cheers,
January 5, 2009 Here is a great question below from our friends at Kettle Brand
Chips.
Have a peek at this environmentally friendly Costless Express supplier! Cheers,
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3
Ring Binders
Purell
NXT Space Saver Hand Sanitizer 
Purell
Instant Hand Sanitizer with Aloe
Have
you ever had a great idea in a meeting, and it actually got off
the ground and turned into something great?
I
had a similar circumstance to the 
Ahhh,
Good Old Office Depot. Busted Again.
How
to motivate and inspire your staff in 2 minutes!
Back
again on Vancouver Island. Starting to feel like my home away from
home as we ramp up our expansion. One of the favourite places for
our family is Parksville, and we rent a beach house every year for
at least a week or more. We have been coming to the Island for many
years and although this year was going to be a mix of work and family
for me, it was a great home base for me to take care of business
in Nanaimo and Victoria.
Well,
it's been over a month since we started using it, and it was time
to think up a bit better name. Smart Scraper and the putty knife
graphic seemed OK at the time, but as we continued to say the name,
it just sounded more and more like something from a late night infomercial.
So after much deliberation, voting and heated debate, we officially
changed the name to PRICE SPIDER!
Announcing
JumpCart!
Last
night I was order picking, and today you can call me Calvin the
TOOL MAN Johnson. 
"The
Show Must Go On!"
Here is her solution to get the attention of the mystery person
in charge of making the decisions: A cake with the inscription "You
can have your cake and eat it too! Let Costless Express save you
dough!"
Did
you know Costless Express does PRINTING? Well, if your answer is
no, you may be hearing more about our service soon, since we purchased
equipment to print some of our jobs in-house. Today we can offer
just about any printing under the sun, but relied on large commercial
print shops, like most of our competitors. Now with our new purchase
we can cut costs and speed up delivery times on the hot commodity
printing items like flyers, cards and envelopes.
I
was anxiously awaiting for the wedding photos and blog update from
Jen and Jeff's wedding on the weekend. I knew they were flying out
to Victoria after the reception on Helijet. For those of you that
follow my blog, you have seen me post about Helijet a few times.
If
you Twitter at a wedding, you're at a Twedding!
Boys
and their toys! 
Expansion
to the Island is not the only region for Costless Express. While
Sandy and I are in Nanaimo, we got word of our very first Calgary
customer!
Now
that we've landed in Nanaimo via Harbour Air, there's work to be
done. Over the next few days, Sandy and I are meeting existing customers
and visiting suppliers as we plan out our expansion to the Island.
We have shipped to the Island for years, but I now feel there is
a much larger opportunity to expand market share, since there is
very little competition. I have watched a few competitors on the
Island closely, and learned what makes the Island market different
from the Mainland. On the mainland the competition is something
fierce. Our Vancouver customers tell us they are inundated with
sales people, faxes, emails, junk mail and the like constantly,
while our Island business "focus groups" tell us they
wish there were more choices.
Today
Sandy and I flew over to Nanaimo on 
Service
at Harbor Air was fantastic with very helpful staff. They booked
a rental car for us and it was waiting just steps from the Nanaimo
dock for us to pick up. Well done crew!
I
spoke to an owner of an art shop, and he told me that this was the
first year the conventions have started to come back, even though
Katrina was in 2005. Seems the planners of big conventions book
up to 5 years in advance, so for a few years New Orleans was off
the booking circuit, so to speak, and it took several years before
planners could slot the city back into rotation. 
Our
industry trade show was the main reason for the visit, and this
year was again full of new and interesting products. The number
one most interesting and progressive office supply item as voted
by industry insiders and trade magazines was, in fact, not your
traditional office supply item. In the number one spot was the 
June
12 , 2009
How
are sales? How's business? Are ya feelin' it? Seems the last few
months everyone is asking me the same questions. 
This
weekend was the BC Children's Miracle weekend. I have been part
of the Retail and Wholesale Commitee for three years now. Our group
includes such heavyweights as Costco and Overwaitea, and donations
throughout the year came from both grass roots campaigns like BBQs
and the recognizable ones like the popular Buy a Balloon you see
at Costco.
Last year, we raised $3.2 million, and due to the downturn in the
economy we set a stretch target this year of $3.2M. Basically, if
we could match last year, we felt it was a win. Tonight at 7:30pm,
a group of us from the council met outside the Hospital front entrance
to start the Miracle Weekend broadcast on Global TV. Only the chair
of our council knew the amount, so when we did the cheque flip and
the number was announced, someone next to me said "Hey, why
so glum?" I said, "We missed the target, only $2.9 million."
They said "No silly, it is $3.9 MILLION!!!!!!" Amazing.
Thanks BC for your generosity.
Later,
I donned my mask and hat and, dressed as Zorro, I sat on the Miracle
Maker Panel in studio to raise money. Our Committee decided to embrace
the SUPER HERO theme and dress up for our turn on the panel. The
idea is to call all your friends, family and business associates
and ask them to pledge money. We actually started several months
prior with our own fundraising web pages. Overall, the Miracle Weekend
was a huge success, with a record breaking $15,607,607 raised!
Made
for musicians rocking out too hard, you can use it too! Stick it
on that pipe next to your desk or maybe some other cylindrical object.
It may even be powerful enough to blow your hair hard enough and
make you feel like a rockstar at your desk.
They
are cheap, but a fan that ventilates your hand does sound nice.
I'm not sure of the comfort level of the mouse in general but I
sure don't enjoy a sweaty mouse.
Concerned about the ecological impact of the Flavia filterpacks
and Keurig K-cups used by the single cup beverage systems we sell?
So are we... and we're doing something about it! 
Today
is 
Today
at the BBQ, we once again had "Nearly Neil" belting out
the Neil Diamond songs. Most notably, of course, was Forever in
Blue Jeans. The sun was shining this year (it rained the past two)
so the crowds were amazing. We had a line-up 180 people long at
one point waiting to purchase a HOT DOG, DRINK and CHIPS for $3.00
when you wore your Jeans Day Button. In just an hour and a half,
we sold over 2000 customers!
This
year, as in the past, we had suppliers donate the drinks and chips.
But due to the economic times, we had our two main suppliers back
out at the last minute due to budget reasons. I need to give big
thanks to Sandy in our Purchasing department and the long list of
other suppliers who stepped up fill in the gap. It was a total mix
of drinks and snacks we had this year, and I was concerned how customers
might perceive the ramshackle selection. Well, they seemed to love
choice! Instead of just one can of pop and one flavour of chip,
we had it all. 
How
time flies! It was a year ago today that Costless Express became
Canada's first Carbon Neutral Office Supply Company.
We continue to monitor and lower our CO2 emissions, but
I must say all the "low hanging fruit" efficiencies were
dealt with last year. It becomes harder to find ways to keep pushing
the environmental boundaries in business after going great guns
last year.
Tomorrow
is EARTH DAY! Go hug a tree or something.
Also
there is promise that the world may be left in better hands than
our generation. My 5 year old is so excited about EARTH DAY tomorrow.
His school has many special things happening, and he is so well
versed on environmental issues. If this is the start they get in
Kindergarten then I hope the moral consciousness will stick as they
grow up. He says he wants an electric car one day, and keeps asking
when our delivery trucks will be electric. I'm sure it's a lot closer
than we all think. Breaking dependence on OIL will change the world
in so many ways.
The
power of 
This
is even more amazing. I posted a new warehouse position on Craigslist
Friday the 3rd, and as of today, I have received 175 resumes! Seems
we may be one of the few companies adding staff! What does that
do to other sites, like Monster? I used to spend $400 for an ad,
and now I can post on Craigslist free and get incredible results.
Thanks, Craig!
Round
Three: see the pictures of us at the PUB! Yup, there's
our team on Round Three! (except our driver).
You
heard it here first! On top of their $1.00 fuel charge, Grand and
Toy is adding a minimum order fee! Any orders under $50.00 will
be charged a $5.00 handling fee. This charge adds them to the ranks
of Staples and Office Depot, who have always had a minimum order
fee. 
Universal
Studios: For those of you who have taken the famous tram
tour, do you remember the Subway Earthquake inside the sound stage?
The effect that has all the water pour down the stairs and the tanker
truck falls thru the roof? Well, as we left the sound stage after
the effect, back out into the sunshine, someone pulled the emergency
rope and the tram screeched to a halt. The driver proceeded all
the way back to the end of the 10 car tram and a few rows from us
a lady had lost her sunglasses inside the sound stage. The driver
said he couldn't go back inside, due to safety reasons, but he would
"call someone". Yeah, lady, that was the end of your sunglasses,
I thought. But wait! Not more than 2 minutes later, as we drove
up the hot set of Desperate Housewives (Hot Set = filming was actually
in progress), a pick-up truck pulled next to our tram and a gentleman
raced out, holding a pair of sunglasses! Other riders Ohhhed and
Awwwed at the incredible customer service. It was actually quite
amazing how the driver could radio about the lost glasses, have
someone go into the sound stage and locate the glasses, and then
catch up to us in such a short time - all with a smile. Very memorable.
San
Diego Zoo: We had our stroller parked at the entrance to
a wild animal show at an outdoor auditorium that held about 300
people. The designated "Stroller Parking" area was jammed,
and I was as much to blame, since everyone just parks any which
way and heads in. The show was great, but when we came out to get
our stroller, every single one was organized in parallel fashion
and turned to face towards the exit. Spectacular! Oh, and to my
buddy Scott who owns Baby's World: You are in the right business,
my friend.
Captain
Kidd's Buffet: It is amazing what viral information can
do to a business. We stayed in a hotel directly outside the gates
of Disneyland and there is an IHOP right next door. Also, there
is a restaurant called Captain Kidd's Buffet. Before we ever left
Vancouver, we had 3 people tell us "Don't eat there!"
for all sorts of reasons I won't go into. My point is, a business's
reputation is so far-reaching in this world of Twitter, FaceBook
and other social sites that, along with old fashioned "word
of mouth," it can make or break your success. Sure enough,
when we saw both restaurants, Captain Kidd's was sparsely filled,
and IHOP had a line up. We ate at IHOP, but also tried The Captain
for a breakfast one morning, just to be fair. Mmmmmm… I love
IHOP! Check out 
Here
is my ECO TIP for the day:
OK,
now that I told you yesterday's story, I can share today's picture.
I
need to tell you this story so I can tell you the next one.
The
family and I are off to Southern California for Spring Break over
the next two weeks. Our boys go to a school that is all year round,
so the break is a bit earlier than public school. I hope we beat
most of the Spring Break rush at the major attractions. We'll see.
One
of my all time favourite movies - Steve Martin in The Jerk.
A
welcome letter from me - Page A6 (My kids' eyes almost popped
out seeing me in the catalogue: "You're famous, Daddy!")
Just
My Opinion
There
are over 25,000 items in our catalogue, and I would be hard pressed
to tell you Costless Express has the best price on every single
item every single day. The same is true for all our competition.
No one company has the best price on EVERYTHING all the time (although
some competitors' marketing would seem to differ). How do I know?
We check.
On a side note about Grand and Toy - I recently won a nice sized
account away from them by doing a cost analysis of their purchases
and comparing the prices to our own. What I found was this customer
received a 58% discount on the catalogue items not marked NET (if
it is a NET item, the G&T discount does not apply). The customer
had given me his web user name and password so I could collect the
data in real time.
If
you want points for being a cook and creative with your sweetheart
or coworkers, simply make them a meal or a snack for Valentine's
Day. And then carve it into a heart. It's as easy as heart-shaped
eggs, pizza, pasta or a PB&J. (Or as complicated as the amazing
ventricled cupcakes pictured.)
You
place a 
I
just thought I would drop you a line to let you know that we were
outstandingly successful with our December fundraiser! We have
donated $1 from the sale of every bag of coffee toward sending
kids to school, and building a children's village in Guatemala.
In total, we donated $21,949, some of which was thanks to the
purchases of your customers.
Well,
we finally snapped a picture of the elusive marketing genius Erin!
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