Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 1, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press june 2001 b3 editor Julian Rachey 6977235 Gap stats ignore downturn by Wojtek Dabrowsky Toronto Canadas Economy grew in the first Quarter at a surprisingly Strong annualized rate of per Well ahead of even the most optimistic some analysts warned its much too Early to celebrate a return to buoyant with the United states Economy mired in a they argued the drag on the Canadian Economy will continue to be Felt Over the next few the first Quarter growth in real Gross Domestic product was up from an annualized rate of per cent in the fourth Quarter of but Down from a cent rate a year statistics Canada reported consumer spending increased in the Quarter As canadians made major Pur chases of and combined with a surge in Energy the purchases helped offset weakness in while the Canadian Economy grew at about twice the rate in the Canadas Economy grows by while bad times bog Down one of Canadas largest Banks urged Cau Tion in reacting to yesterdays optimistic that the Canadian Economy continued to hold its own in the first Quarter of the year May be but it is still much too Early to pop the Champagne to Bank said in an economic to economist Marc Levesque said the key to Canadas recovery is the United and things Arent looking very Bright South of the i dont think the Economy is poised to rebound forcefully any time Levesque adding that a slow grind to the end of the economic slump is More yesterdays numbers indicate the Bank of Canada wont be forced to drastically slash interest rates in the next few said Mario a senior financial economist for Standard and poors the Bank of Canada is still fully aware and cognizant of inflationary so i think they dont want to err on the Side of Over stimulating the econ he if the slump continues and the economic climate worsens substantial a whole percentage Point could be shaved off from the trendsetting Angast Niotis finance minister Paul Martin played up yesterdays numbers As a great cause for but added the ministry will remain cautious until the american downturn in the United Many economists predicted that today report on the unemployment rate for May will tick up from aprils per cent stoking recession labour Market conditions Are key to the consumer and it is surprising that Consumers have not reacted More said Karen an economist with brokerage giant Merrill in the Economy lost More than surprising analysts and sending Stock markets the sputtering labour Market concerns economists because american Consumers might Cut spending and tip the country into consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of economic in reviewing Canadas Gap to also said the Strong first Quarter gain largely reflected a january burst in which didst carry Over into february and this leaves spending in the current april Ojune Quarter on a weaker foot the Bank Levesque predicted that whole year economic growth will remain Between two and per pegging whole year growth for 2002 at about three to per Canadian press design firms Pool variety of talents by Geoff Kirbyson two Exchange District design firms have formed a strategic partnership they Hope will Lead to new product designs and expanded officials from plastic Buddha design an Industrial design and Interior architecture and Spac Cadet design a digital inter Active and graphic design said the two firms will soon weve share the same but received a fair continue to of Folint of air the Deal the Inethia includes a share of Smial design s3 Fifel minority owner but out local Jeff de body Winnipeg free press beneath a plastic Buddha designed Boink to stand from space cadets Kevin Karla and Chris Whitfor Pointon with plastic Buddhas Tara Walker and Craig Alun plastic Bud Hast been has Forte is that Strong innovative furniture design Tara ceo while of plastic Buddha Spac Cadet specializes in multimedia and web site Kevin business manager at said the new office mates will begin collaborating on developing a number of soft goods for such As Bath rugs and Pillow other future possibilities include Interior graphic design work for restaurants and including tables and he said the two three Earold firms have known about each other for some time Spac Cadet designed plastic Buddhas Letterhead and award winning web site and have been sharing ideas for several each firm has four in order to provide collaborative it seemed to make a lot of sense to partner under one Hnatiuk said in an interview space cadets North american clients include Beatrice Parma lat Levi Nike and Sony Tara ceo of plastic said she Hopes the new arrangement will increase the company local pro weve received a fair amount of attention from the International design but weve been losing out on opportunities to find local clients because our local representation Hast been that she ugly and porno plastic Buddha is Best known for its two lines of innovative furniture ugly and Walker said the ugly line challenges people to find their own Way of using the for one of its tables has a curve on the table top and a shelving unit wobbles Back and a two legged requiring the users two legs to stabilize is currently in the prototype ugly line encourages mini people tend to really appreciate the minimalist but its difficult to maintain because by human nature we tend to clutter things she the porno line is More consumer Friendly and includes a fun table which works As a shelving display system or As a Coffee Walker added that a recent showing of the two lines in new York has resulted in dozens of Calls from retailers across North none of them in Hnatiuk said plastic Buddha will relocate this summer from its 500 Square foot Albert Street location to share space cadets office on Arthur 3 giant Tiger store set for City Microsoft North West company tests discount Market by Murray Mcneil the North West company plans to open a giant Tiger store this fall near Down town the Winnipeg based company announced in March it had entered into a master franchise agree ment with Otta abased giant Tiger stores one of Eastern Canadas leading discount the agreement gives North West the right to open giant Tiger stores in West Ern Canada and North West officials said they planned to open two test stores this year in Manitoba and see How Well they if they do the company could open up to 50 More in Western Canada Over the next few the first giant Tiger store is scheduled to open june 23 in Thompson and about 200 shareholders attending North wests annual meeting yesterday in Winnipeg were told the second test store will open this october in in a later North West pres ident and chief executive officer Edward Kennedy reveal the exact location of the Winnipeg but its in an older area close to the cites Kennedy said the plan is to open the family discount stores in time for the Christmas shopping giant Tiger stores Are similar to Junior stores in thai they carry a Kennedy told share holders the upward trend in sales and profits which was evident in the last half of last year has carried Over into this year for wide variety of consumer including family hard health and Beauty aides and cleaning North West operates 153 of its own family apparel and general Mer Chandise stores in Northern Canada and in addition to its new Alliance with giant North West also has formed alliances in the last couple of years with a number of other established including tru serv Burger Canada Post and a w restau Kennedy also released the firms first Mike oui Winnipeg 0 free Mew Quarter financial results at yesterdays annual he told shareholders the upward trend in sales and profits which was evident in the last half of last year has carried Over into this revenues climbed by seven per cent to million during the first Quad while net earnings jumped per cent to or 34 cents per North West company Trust units sell on the Toronto Stock yester Day they closed at which was up 45 cents from wednesdays closing launches office up Seattle Microsoft launched the latest version of called holding More than 100 lavish events across the and in Canada to entice people to invest in an upgraded rendition of the company flagship Busi Ness software about 250 million people already use a version of which includes word processing word and spreadsheet Excel Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer but that Doest mean the Market is he said in an we have a lot of and users want to be Able to use get More collaborate with others Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and other executives spent the Day touting new office up features such As which allows employees to share information Over a company internal and task which give users easy Access to recently used documents and at a demonstration event in washing tech professionals and government workers packed into the Sci Center chortled when a demonstration of office ups powerpoint program crashed and the program locked office up is immediately available in is the Basic program will sell for us As an and us for new a full featured upgrade dollars and sense retirement picture needs detail and depth know the facts before you retire weve been doing a lot of intensive work lately helping people make firm decisions about their each experience has reminded me of a number of fundamentals As taught me new the Best thing Ive Learned is a wonderful description of the stages of a couple of my Favourite clients explained it to me this they defined these stages As the four questions that people Are asking you at that particular time of life when Are you going to get married when Are you going to have kids when Are you going to retire this is my clients stage of life and they Felt like they really wanted to set a specific retirement up until they had continually been saying two years from but of that Date kept the fourth stage was the humorous one and the clients explained this is the one you dont want to Hows your health i thought those questions made a wonderfully succinct summary of the four main stages of adult when it comes to i strongly believe that More information is better than less the More precise you Are about your projected expenses and the More Likely you Are to enter retirement with a positive sense of this is the Sermon i preach to my clients when we talk about my Job is to project amounts of sources of income and portfolio Structure that will meet the targets and avoid the client responsibility with help from us wherever we can add value is to paint the picture of their Happy the picture has to have detail and what Are the goals where will it be what will it look like what will it feel like what Are the activities with whom what can make it better this specific description can then be priced out with a surprising degree of the projected income and projected expenses can then be matched up and Many people Are afraid to put Down the it May be because they suspect they wont have enough but they really want to retire they simply feel they will make up the difference or Compromise on the things they want to its usually a uneasy this is As it Means entering retirement with a sense of fear and foreboding when knowing the facts can usually take away that even if the projected expenses exceed the projected once that Demon is it can be minor changes might be made to the lifestyle to make things investments can be slightly More to provide higher Par time work can be which May be a positive Addi Tion to the lifestyle and variety of retire the old saying better the Devil you than the Devil you dont that statement is True for a lot of including the fact that once that Devil is never As bad As your imagination made it out to in speaking Only of not of at a meeting with clients this my theory was when my clients said they wanted to follow the advice they got from a retired woman at their the woman said to them a year before we i wished some one had sat us Down and made us deter mine exactly what our expenses were going to be after we there have been a lot of surprises and a few and this could have been if we just sat Down and thought it As someone said it better than i the preceding article is provided As an introduction to this topic and should not in any Way be construed As a replacement for proper professional David Christianson is principal and senior adviser with Shymko fee Only financial in Winnipeg his column appears you can by mail him at ;