BTW News Briefs

WSJ: Retailer Backlash Brewing Over Interchange Fees

In its April 12 edition, the ll Street Journal reported that merchants are starting to balk over "incurring increasingly higher fees for certain trendy cards that give affluent consumers an array of perks -- from an early chance to score hot concert tickets to snagging reservations at a popular restaurant." The article noted that, as a result of these increases, a "backlash is brewing among small-business owners who say they are hurt by the fee creep more than bigger merchant." One small business even e-mailed its 25,000 customers and asked them to contact their charge-card providers to justify the fee increase, the WSJ reported.

The article also pointed out that these fee increases aren't limited to just these cards, either: "The National Retail Federation estimates that the latest round of interchange fees will raise rates anywhere from 2.7 percent for a basic Visa card transaction to nine percent or more for a transaction made with a corporate card from MasterCard. All types of credit cards are included in the fee increases -- premium cards linked to airlines, for instance. Fees on a few cards will actually drop; Visa recently lowered some debit-card interchange fees."

Wal-Mart Media Blitz Overturns Town's Size Cap

In late January 2005, in an effort to protect Bennington, Vermont's "existing commercial areas" and to keep one retailer from dominating the market, the town's Select Board voted to ban stores bigger than 75,000-square-feet and to require any "retail development projects larger than 30,000-square-feet to pass a community impact review," as reported by The Hometown Advantage [THA].

However, this attempt to maintain Bennington's unique character and to protect local businesses appears to be unsuccessful. After Wal-Mart -- which is looking to abandon its 50,000-square-foot Bennington store and build a store more than twice as big -- and an Ohio developer "spent heavily and attacked opponents as wealthy elites," the zoning law was overturned, an article in the recent issue of THA noted. It also predicted that the Bennington vote to overturn the zoning cap would "likely lead state lawmakers to drop or revise legislation that would have required all Vermont Towns to adopt size limits and community impact standards."

However, THA also stressed that Wal-Mart has to clear a number of hurdles before it can go ahead with the new store, including dealing with local traffic issues and a regional review.

World Book Day, April 23

World Book Day, which was established internationally by UNESCO at its General Conference in 1995, is growing each year and presents a great marketing and communications opportunity for publishers, booksellers, and regional associations.

The tradition of annually celebrating books and reading on April 23 is a long-standing one, according to the South African Centre for the Book. In Spain, the day commemorates the death of Miguel de Cervantes, author of "Don Quixote de la Mancha", deemed to be the finest text in the Spanish language. In the English-speaking world the date has also been associated with William Shakespeare -- April 23, 1616, being the date of his death, and, some scholars believe, the date of his birth 52 years earlier.