How Long Would It Take Santa To Deliver Presents To Every Kid On Earth?

Not all that long if Santa knew how to stretch time like a rubber band! 
  
By Abigail Wise- Popsi

About six “Santa months,” according to Larry Silverberg, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. He’s a Santa math specialist (really) whose students took on the problem.

Here's how he got there: Santa has to deliver gifts to around 200 million children spread over 200 million square miles. Because each household has 2.67 children, there are about 75 million homes to visit and the average distance between homes is about 1.63 miles, Santa needs to cover 122 million miles.

To cover that distance in 24 hours on Christmas, Mr. Claus’s sleigh would need to travel at a whopping average speed of 5,083,000 mph. Silverberg argues that the feat is possible because the sleigh would have to travel 130 times more slowly than the speed of light, which is 300 million meters per second, or 669,600,000 mph. Because something already moves that quickly, it would be difficult, but not impossible, for Santa to travel at 5,083,000 mph.

Traveling at 5,083,000 mph seems a bit fast for a plump old man so Silverberg and his students found a more realistic scenario: relativity clouds. Relativity clouds, based on relative physics, allow Santa to stretch time like a rubber band and give him months to deliver gifts, while only a few minutes pass for the rest of us. (Silverberg theorizes that Santa's understanding of relative physics is far greater than our own.)

Silverberg’s theory is plausible, says Danny Maruyama, a doctoral candidate researching systems physics at the University of Michigan. If Santa were to travel at about the speed of light, share the delivery work-load with his elves and makes use of relativity clouds, he would be able to deliver the presents in about five minutes Earth time, Maruyama says. “While I don’t know much about relativity clouds myself, I think it’s very possible that a man who flies in a sleigh, lives with elves, and has flying pet reindeer could have the technology needed to utilize relativity clouds," he says.

And what if Santa deployed multiple sleighs? Silverberg says if Santa and his elves use 750 sleighs to deliver the gifts and, using their knowledge of relativity physics, take roughly six Santa months (to us humans, only 24 hours), each sleigh only needs to travel about 80 mph, a much more realistic scenario. “At 80 miles per hour, you just throw a couple jetpacks on either sides of the sleighs and you’re there,” Silverberg says.

Mobile apps, e-commerce, mobile checkout, omni-channel retailing and social media

Vincent Quan
Associate Professor Fashion Merchandise
Management, Fashion Institute of Technology

Mobile apps, e-commerce, mobile checkout, omni-channel retailing and social media…These are just a few of the big industry buzzwords in wide use going into 2013.  Retailers have started to integrate one or more of these solutions and concepts into their retail strategies for next year and beyond. The ultimate retail challenge is how to use technology to solicit, engage and satisfy consumers. The goal is to deliver increased traffic, conversion and market share with faster inventory turns, higher sell throughs, and healthier gross margins.

However, is technology the ultimate panacea for consumers and retailers alike? The answer is an affirmative “not yet.”

During a visit to one of the newer stand-alone cosmetics and beauty specialty stores in New York City that has pioneered mobile POS, several customers who were in the process of being checked out with mobile devices were getting frustrated. The reason was that the mobile checkout devices were freezing in the middle of their transactions.  Needless to say, the customers weren’t the only ones getting annoyed.

Meanwhile, back at the mall…A visit to the branded denim bar (within a department store) demonstrated some wonderful technology. It had two iPads that allowed consumers to flip through their preferred cut, fit and wash while seated at the “bar.” 

However, why would a time-sensitive consumer exhaust precious minutes to play with an iPad if the product was within sight or displayed at the “bar”? Touching the product beats touching a screen any day. But this is not the end of the story. Two sales associates were observed discussing among themselves that the two mobile checkout devices (iPads equipped with credit card scanners) were not working.

Here is a conversation overheard at an eclectic specialty store between a sales associate and guest. Sales associate: “Hi, would you like to check out via a mobile device?” Guest: “That would be great, but how do I know that you’re not scanning my credit card on your phone?”

In the end, retailers must realize that technology is just an enabler. Technology does not supplant the need for great product, terrific service, a personal connection or security.

SOURCE: Retail Info Systems News

'Return fraud' costs $9B a year

by  Jim Walsh, (Cherry Hill, N.J.) Courier-Post - USAToday.com

9:06PM EST December 11. 2012 - This holiday season, merchants are concerned about thieves who steal without even leaving the store.

A retail group puts a price tag of almost $9 billion a year on "return fraud," a crime where people exchange stolen goods for cash, use counterfeit receipts or bring back items that have already been worn or used.

One category of the crime, the return of clothing and other items purchased for special occasions, even has its own name: "wardrobing."

That issue affects about 65 percent of surveyed firms, according to a new report from the National Retail Federation.

In October, Hamilton County, Ohio, prosecutors charged six men in a 31-count indictment alleging money laundering, theft, identity fraud, telecommunications fraud and receiving stolen property stemming from the return of expensive women's clothing to Nordstrom.

The men would return the expensive evening gowns after wearing the items. Authorities say unknowingly, Nordstrom employees helped them steal more than $150,000 from Hamilton County, Ohio, businesses -- money authorities say was used to support their lifestyles and trips to transvestite balls around the country.

"Nordstrom has the quality of clothes that they like to wear to those balls," said Jeff Cutcher, a defense attorney for Christopher Scott, who pleaded guilty and was sent to prison for six years in the scam.

Among other findings, the retail federation said 45 percent of retailers report being victims of criminals who use counterfeit receipts to make returns.

Return fraud can affect honest consumers, according to the trade group.

Companies seeking to curb criminals often impose "shorter return windows and limitations on the types of products that can be returned," said Rich Mellor, the group's vice president of loss prevention.

Also, almost 75 percent of retailers now require customers to show identification when making returns, particularly if they have no receipt, the retail association said.

In Ohio, the six men were accused of making or obtaining counterfeit checks and cashing them in Cincinnati-area Kroger stores. The group used that money as well as stolen credit card numbers that were re-encoded onto other cards, authorities alleged, to buy gift cards. They then were accused of using gift cards to buy other gift cards to ultimately buy Nordstrom merchandise. That's because they could get cash for returning the items to Nordstrom stores across the country.

"What aided them the most is that Nordstrom had this friendly return policy. If the customer asks for cash, Nordstrom gave them cash," Cutcher said.

Nordstrom confirmed that.

"We do our best to accommodate our customers' requests for how they'd like their return handled. If they ask for cash we'll generally provide that for them," said Nordstrom spokeswoman Tara Darrow.

To get the cash refund, though, Nordstrom required identification. The men gave their actual drivers licenses with their real names.

This month, the National Retail Federation estimated return fraud's annual cost at $8.9 billion, according to a survey of 60 retail firms. Of that amount, $2.9 billion will come during the holiday season.

"Overall, retailers estimate 4.6 percent of holiday returns are fraudulent," the group said.

John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, acknowledged thefts spike during the holiday season but said merchants face a year-round threat from shoplifting rings.

"You have much more volume in stores during the holiday seasons," he said. "Professional criminals can take advantage of that, and there's just greater opportunity for mischief."

Retailers have made it a focus of their operations.

"Our members work very closely with each other," Holub said. "They are competitors, yet we have monthly intelligence-sharing meetings."

The National Retail Federation surveyed loss-prevention executives at discount and department stores, as well as pharmacies, supermarkets and specialty shops.

The federation previously estimated the retail industry last year lost $34.5 billion to all forms of "shrinkage," including employee theft, shoplifting, supplier fraud and paperwork errors.

That represented 1.41 percent of sales, down from 1.49 percent in 2010.

Contributing: Kimball Perry, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Simon Property Group Sells $750 Million Of Senior Notes In Private Offering

INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG) announced today that its majority-owned operating partnership subsidiary, Simon Property Group, L.P. (the "Operating Partnership"), has agreed to sell $750 million principal amount of its 1.50% senior unsecured notes due February 1, 2018 in a private offering to "qualified institutional buyers" pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and to non-U.S. persons outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.  This offering is expected to close on December 17, 2012.

The Operating Partnership currently expects to use the net proceeds from the private offering to repay a portion of the outstanding balance under the U.S. dollar tranche of its $4.0 billion credit facility which it incurred in connection with acquisitions.

The securities to be offered have not been registered under the Securities Act or applicable state or other securities laws and, unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable state and other securities laws.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

SOURCE Simon Property Group, Inc.

Tanger tax break may leave district in bind

By DENISE M. BONILLA - Newsday.com

The Babylon Industrial Development Agency has approved a request from a Deer Park outlet center for a tax abatement extension that local school officials said will financially burden the district in coming years.

The seven-member IDA board, chaired by former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin, unanimously approved the request last week. Deer Park Enterprise Llc, owner of Tanger Outlets at the Arches, had asked the IDA to extend a 15-year tax abatement deal by another eight years.

The original agreement called for an initial 60 percent cut in taxes, with an annual 6 percent increase until full taxation was reached. The extension will slow down the increase to 2 percent per year.
David Blumenfeld of Syosset-based Blumenfeld Development Group Ltd., a partner in Deer Park Enterprise, said the slowdown was needed because the center is only 78 percent full, and 20 of its 100 businesses will soon renegotiate leases. He said the original abatement deal, which is actually an annual increase of the center's assessed value, resulted in the company paying nearly 20 percent in taxes this year.

IDA head Robert Stricoff stressed that the abatement modification is "not an additional tax break" and that "all taxing jurisdictions will not see a decrease" in next year's tax revenue. "This modification will allow for an additional $26 million capital investment into the center and the hiring of some 300 new employees to add to the already 900 full-time employees, many of which are town residents," he said.

The extension also means less money than originally projected for Deer Park's school district -- a total of $482,000 less over the next two years, and more in ensuing years.

In a statement, Superintendent Eva Demyen wrote that she understood the necessity of the modification and is grateful for the "scholarships, contributions toward school improvements and community service" Tanger has provided. However, she wrote, "the timing of reduction . . . is a burden considering the uncertainty of our state aid and the mandated tax levy cap."

Blumenfeld said the reduction shouldn't hurt the district because "their operating budgets are not going to increase at the rate the taxes were increasing."

But Demyen stated the district planned on that money. She wrote, "We have used the original abatement percentages for our financial projections over the next few years and with our budget season upon us, adjustments will need to be made in order to make up for the reduction."

The district has not decided how to do that, Demyen stated.

Stricoff did not respond to a request for comment on the school district.