Another one bites the dust on Aussie shelves

By Rabid Reseller on Feb 7, 2008 12:02 PM
Filed under Sales & Marketing

Times are tough here – there’s a drought and floods, and Rabid is witnessing the demise of CDMA and a Japanese consumer brand.

Well there’s a surprise. Well-known Japanese consumer brand disappears from Aussie shelves. Not that Rabid’s sales are affected – we never sell any well-known Japanese consumer brands. Unfortunately we did buy some well-known Japanese consumer-branded products. Lots of them apparently. Well there were all these Christmas specials. Yeah, yeah, but who can resist a bargain?

We reckon it’s the whaling that’s done in the Aussie market for the well-known Japanese consumer brands. They know we don’t like them eating Willie. So they won’t sell us any of their toys. Oh alright. One brand doesn’t really prove a conspiracy but it has to start someplace. You just watch. Or don’t watch as your favourite brand of TV vanishes before your eyes. Probably right in the middle of the Australian Open tennis final broadcast.

And how about that French guy eh? Where did he come from? Never heard of him one minute and the next minute he’s running all over the place making headlines like crazy. No, not the tennis guy. That French futures trader bloke. He makes Nick Leeson look like an amateur day trader. Maybe he’s secretly on the payroll of the US Real Estate Insitute. After all, he seems to have single-handedly engineered a massive interest rate cut for US mortgagees.

No such rate cuts here alas, and this is particularly bad when you’re using Uncle Tony’s ‘must-have’ loan rates to finance the whole business. And the house. And car. And school fees. And GST liability. And tax office upfront payments. You know how it goes. We just wish it would rain hard enough to get some flood relief in the shop. Is it too late to open a branch in Emerald or Charleville?

We’ve already tried to get drought relief but a lack of customers apparently isn’t what they meant by ‘drought’. And besides, all those bales of hay might have been free but exactly what are you supposed to do with them? They make lousy seats – too itchy. They make lousy display tables – too much chaff. And they smell like grandpa’s socks. Worse, really. Pheew! OK, the nephew’s right. Maybe not.

Got a reprieve on the old CDMA mobile phone again. The network was about to close and in stepped the minister in shining armour to delay the shutdown. Curses. Of course Rabid doesn’t use the CDMA network. We’ve stockpiled a huge swag of old CDMA phones, waiting for the free NextG replacements to be handed out, which we plan to offer our customers at a substantial saving. But now there’s another delay and the promised freebies are looking like only being a discount on a new phone.

Another seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time opportunity brought to our attention by the nephew. We really are going to have to send him to Uncle Tony’s finishing school if he doesn’t lift his game. And we don’t think he’ll be learning to speak like people from Finland while he’s there.

Koristeltu jotta sisu! Asiakas aari odotus!
 
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
 
 
This article appeared in the 4 February 2008 issue of CRN.

 
 
 
 
Top Stories
In pictures: HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S4
Two Android titans battle it out.
 
Dell's fiscal silver lining
Remaking itself into an enterprise company.
 
In pictures: Google I/O 2013
Evolution not revolution.
 
Sign up to receive CRN email bulletins
   FOLLOW US...
Latest Comments
Polls
Is your business doing as well now as it was at this time last year?


   |   View results
Yes
  31%
 
No
  53%
 
The same
  15%
TOTAL VOTES: 346

Vote now
CRN Magazine

Issue: 315 | May 2013

CRN Magazine looks in-depth at the emerging issues and developments for the channel, and provides insight, analysis and strategic information to help resellers better run their businesses.