Numbers Can Paint A Picture

This issue of TWICE has two features of note: our annual Digital Camera Roundtable where senior editor Greg Scoblete led a recent discussion of leading suppliers (see p. 36), and senior editor Alan Wolf and copy editor Lisa Cervini profiled some top dealers in our “Retailers To Watch” feature (see p. 16), which I urge you to read.

Yet you don't have to read this issue too closely to notice that it could be called our annual “First-Half Financials” issue. Usually we contain our financial coverage to Business News and our News section. But due to the volume of reports our financial coverage has spilled all over the issue.

It's no wonder that our business editor Jeff Malester, who ably heads our financial coverage, practically ran out of the office screaming when he left for a well-deserved week of vacation after dealing with this avalanche of reports.

In the words of our founding editor in chief Bob Gerson who always said: “We love numbers.” And TWICE does, whether they are statistics or financials. Anyone seriously interested in tracking the pulse of the industry should be.

In reading this issue and the quarterly reports that we posted on our Web site, www.TWICE.com, in the past two weeks you can tell which manufacturers and retailers are winning and which ones are in jeopardy as the digital revolution moves on.

For the most part you can tell which companies, dealer or supplier, did not adequately prepare five years or so ago for the digital revolution just by reading financials in the past few quarters. And you can tell those that invested and embraced digital because they are reaping the benefits.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but numbers can paint a picture too.

That's what several leading executives have said in recent months, that higher oil prices won't hurt second-half sales. I disagree. It has to affect their costs, the costs of retailers and, mainly, consumers.

One of the reasons why we are so dependent on oil is that the automobile industry worldwide has been so innovative in terms of energy consumption over the past fifty years. If the consumer electronics industry were so innovative over the same period of time, we'd still be watching black-and-white console TVs and listening to music on LPs and 45s. And the only way you'd be able to use a computer would be to go to work and access your company's mainframe. Think about it.

Starting today and continuing until August 31, visit the opening page of www.TWICE.com and nominate those retailers who have succeeded over the past 12 months in this challenging business. We are looking for five nominees in the following categories: Best National Retailer, Best Regional Retailer, Best Independent Retailer, Best Consumer Direct Retail and Best Retailer of the Year. After we get the nominations, voting will be held from Sept. 1 to Sept. 19. Winners will be profiled in our Oct. 10 issue.

Please help TWICE honor the industry's best and visit www.TWICE.com to vote.