WHAT'S SO BLACK ABOUT BLACK FRIDAY?

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Modest gains in traditional retail sales for Arizona merchants may be enough to push them into the black. Modest means the 2-5 percent range, compared with a 5.2 percent gain in 2010.

Meanwhile, some sources are predicting double-digit percentage gains for online retailers. The Economist magazine reports in its current edition that online sales may make up as much as one-third of the country's retail purchases this holiday season.

That bodes ill for brick-and-mortar operations such as shopping malls and stand-alone small businesses. But many of them, big and small, are adapting, offering improved services, strategic discounts and, yes, even online shopping.

It's all to survive and thrive in a splintered merchandising world, says the head of the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona.

Retailing center Director Martha Van Gelder says consumers are saying,. "I want it when I want it, where I want it, and I want it fast. So the retailers have had to invest a lot of money and a lot of marketing strategy in terms of how to address that."

See and hear more of Van Gelder's interview and conversations with five others with interests in the holiday shopping season on Friday's Arizona Week. The program will air at 8:30 p.m. MST on the PBS World channel.

I FOUND ELVIS @ A CONFERENCE

posted to Inside TV by Susie Hernandez

Every November, pub TV programmers attend the American Public Television (APT) Fall Marketplace. It is at this conference that Desert Speaks, Globetrekker and Bill Moyers present their new season, amongst many other great shows. Programmers watch and later vote on what they would like offered nationally.

So, what where my goals for this trip, besides voting?

Find Elvis! Goal #1 accomplished!

Find new programs for Ready TV and Ch. 6 schedules. Two down, 2 more to go! My favorite ongoing shows were here. I saw clips from the new season of Globetrekker, Rick Steves, Vine Talk, Nick Stellino, and P. Allen Smith from Garden to Table. They are all coming to Southern Arizona in 2012.

By the way, P. Allen Smith and I had a long chat about a coming to Tucson and focusing on farming practices and gardening techniques in the Southwest. If anyone has leads on who we should talk to about getting him to town, let me know.

The World Channel showed us some of their new original documentaries coming this Winter and Spring and they looked powerful. I also found out that unfortunately, our free ride is over. The World Channel will now cost money to air!

A great new documentary was offered with an interesting title—World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements. The film is about a remarkable teacher named John Hunter and his World Peace Game. John is an award-winning teacher, a 2011 TED Conference speaker and educational consultant. He was our keynote speaker on our last day, and I must admit that I got very emotional from his speech. When an educator talks passionately about students and actions they took to help a student, I can't help but think of the few but monumental teachers I have had in my life. I know that the impact may or may not have been noted by that student at that time, but they will later. My mother was an educator and teachers hold a special place in my heart. Check out the trailer here.

Goal #3: Have a chat with Bill Moyers. DONE! I got a lot of emails and calls from angry viewers who thought I took Bill Moyers off the air over a year ago. I hope you all know that Mr. Moyers retired. This summer I started to get numerous calls and emails demanding I put him back on ASAP. They wondered why I wasn’t airing his new show! Was he back? How did my viewers know and I didn’t? I guess more than a few folks follow his blog (smile) and read that he was working on producing a new show. He’s back? He’s back! Until I spoke to Bill Moyers about his new series and his return, I wasn’t sure where and when Moyers & Company was coming to air in Southern Arizona. He presented his new series at the conference that is set to launch in January. To see his trailer, check out Bill’s website. Broadcast information will be available on azpm.org and AZPM’s Facebook page once it is final.

Bill was the keynote speaker for our first day at the meeting. AZPM's priority is public affairs and news, giving our community the tools needed to make informed decisions about how they want things run. I would love to have Bill in town, as I think our community, and UA Journalism students would find great value in what he sees ahead. "There is a deepening crisis of hope in America...real news keeps our freedoms."

Goal #4 was to watch for one last time, our new and final season of Desert Speaks get offered nationally. Congratulations to the AZPM production team, especially Tom Kleespie who has been the Sr. Producer on the series for several years, as it was well received! Tom has moved on to his next AZPM production, a project we hope we can get funding to make a full series and have for many years.

I returned from Memphis in hopes that my budget was going to be increased. No such luck! Friends, I hate shopping except when it comes to TV programs! Between the stellar BBC Conference in October and APT in November, I test the boundaries of my budget.

For those of you who are members, I thank you for allowing AZPM the chance to offer Desert Speaks one last time at the APT marketplace. Your member dollars helped us produce that show for all these years. I am also appreciative that I can bring home programs like the Hollywood at Home series, This Old House, Rick Steves, and many of the great cooking shows APT offers. I hope you donate like a fan, and watch as a donor because there’s so much to be proud of!

John Hunter, teacher and subject of World Peace and other 4th Grade Achievements documentary.

Stay tuned,

Susie the TV Programmer

REDISTRICTING BACK TO COURT

posted to Political Buzz by Christopher Conover

Governor Brewer and Senate President Russell Pearce are asking the Arizona Supreme Court to stay the reinstatement of Colleen Mathis as the Chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission.

In paperwork filed with the state Supreme Court, attorneys for the Governor and Senate President argue that since the Court only issued an order and did not explain its reasoning nobody knows how the decision was flawed. Brewer and Pearce say that infringes on their constitutionally granted ability to remove a member of the IRC.

When the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated Mathis, the Vice Chief Justice wrote that an opinion explaining the ruling would come in “due time.” He did not, however, indicate an exact timetable.

HOLIDAY SHOPPING FORECAST THIS WEEK

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Lucy Valencia

Black Friday, the manic shopping day after Thanksgiving, is just around the corner. This frenzied day marks the kick-off for the holiday shopping season and a one-day peak in sales for retail stores.

Tucson is expecting a mass of international shoppers from Mexico to help boost sales. According to the Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, visitors from Mexico spend about $940 million in Pima County.

Nationwide, shoppers spend nearly half of a trillion dollars during this time—an estimated 19 percent of annual retail sales, according to the National Retail Federation. That helps explain why it's called Black Friday; it's when many retail businesses see their operations go into the black for the year.

In the recent recession, the one-day specials of Black Friday were followed by lousy sales throughout the rest of the holiday season.

In Arizona, improvement has been seen in sales over the last two years. The number of people who shopped the weekend after Thanksgiving increased from 195 million in 2009 to 212 million in 2010.

What are Tucson retailers and national chains expecting this holiday season? Tune in this Friday, to find out more when Arizona Week's host Michael Chihak interviews retail and economic experts to discuss what they expect the forecast to be for 2011’s holiday season.

We’ll speak with Felipe Garcia, MTCVB’s vice president of Mexico marketing and community affairs, about the economic boost Mexican shoppers provide.

We’ll also interview international marketing expert Martha Van Gelder about the retailing shopping season. A former growth developer for companies such as Walt Disney, Gelder now serves as the new director of the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona.

SCHAPIRA: ANOTHER CONGRESSIONAL EXPLORER

posted to Political Buzz by Michael Chihak

Arizona Senate Minority Leader David Schapira of Tempe announced on his Website today that he is exploring a run for Congress.

Schapira made the announcement in a three-minute video in which he outlines what he considers to be the top issues -- children hurt by educational cuts, struggling middle class, "Congress completely out of touch".

"What I've learned is Arizonans don't want elected officials who focus on an extreme agenda," Schapira says in the video "We need jobs, not partisan bickering. Arizonans want leaders who represent the values of our community and have a vision for the future."

Because the state's congressional districts haven't been finalized for the next decade, it is uncertain exactly where Schapira would run. But like other potential candidates, his exploration is based on a hunch that there will be a Democratic-leaning or at the least a competitive district drawn where he lives.

REDISTRICTING COMMISSION TO RESUME WORK

posted to Political Buzz by Andrea Kelly

Arizona's Independent Redistricting Commission is scheduled to resume its work next week, for the first time since the commission's chairwoman was removed from her position.

Last week the Arizona Superior Court overturned Colleen Mathis' removal as chair of the commission. The court said Gov. Jan Brewer's decision earlier this month to remove Mathis, with the Arizona Senate's approval, was inappropriate. The court sided with commission attorneys, who argued Brewer did not have cause to remove Mathis.

Since the ruling, Brewer has said she will consider her other options, which could include attempting again to remove Mathis, after first writing a more detailed justification letter.

In a statement, Mathis said this weekend she looks forward to continuing the commission work.

"I am hopeful that we can complete our mission before Christmas so that there is sufficient opportunity for the Department of Justice to approve the maps in time for state and county officials to complete their duties before the 2012 primary and general elections," Mathis said in the statement.

The commission will resume its work reviewing public comments gathered during a month of meetings on the draft Congressional and Legislative maps. After that, it may make changes to the draft maps, or not, before finalizing and submitting them to the Justice Department for review.

The four partisan members of the commission were not precluded from working while the courts took up the challenge to Mathis' removal. However, the rest of the commission is made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, meaning the politically-independent chairperson generally serves as a tie-breaking vote.