Author Archives: Rex

Uniqlo X Canon

Uniqlo rocks. I went there to return some stuff and ended up buying a graphic T while browsing. They have T-shirt collaborations with brands (such as MGS) that constantly cycle.

Naruto statue

While I enjoyed Naruto several years ago, I’m too old to be wearing Konoha merch.

EOS DSLR Body T-Shirt

They currently have a Corporate Collaboration theme for T-shirts. This includes brands like Canon, IBM, and Meiji.

EOS DSLR Parts T-Shirt

Not the sharpest shot, but this shows DSLR parts.

I didn’t end up buying either Canon shirt, even though Canon rocks. Maybe they could come out with a T-Shirt that has the DSLR (with a 70-200 please) & lens strap superimposed on it. Sort of like those tie shirts that are kind of cool, but not really.

Monster Hunter T-Shirt

As I mentioned, I picked up a T-shirt. I got this because it looks badass and I’d wear it in public. Plus, the games sell a metric ton in Japan, which is a plus.

 

Economics of a Dollar Slice

This post could be a trendy infographic, but I’ll spare you the pain of Yet Another Infographic.

via flickr @jasonlam

7

 

The # of current locations each for the kings of NYC dollar slices.

In the past year, the 99-cent Fresh Pizza and 2 Bros. have doubled their operations. 99-cent Fresh Pizza has seven stores in Manhattan and is in negotiations to open an eighth, said owner Mohammad Abdul Hai, a Bangladeshi immigrant and former news stand operator.

Eli Halali, who owns 2 Bros. Pizza with his brother, said the operation has seven Manhattan shops, with an eighth expected to open in Brooklyn next month.

40

 

The estimated % cost of ingredients per dollar slice.

According to Tom Miner, a consulting principal at Technomic, a Chicago-based food services industry consulting firm, the wholesale food cost of a dollar slice of pizza is roughly 40 to 45 cents. That’s high. The average food cost for the pizza industry is more like 25% to 30% of the selling price, he said. Mr. Miner estimated that the cost of making a slice include about a nickel for the sauce and 10 to 12 cents for the dough. Cheese is the wild card—depending on the type and amount used—and is currently averaging 25 to 30 cents per slice.

5

 

The $ cost per slice of plain pizza at Di Fara, one of NY’s most acclaimed NYC pizza destinations. Contrast the $5 per slice to the $2.75 for two slices and a can of soda at dollar pizza stores.

The price of a slice increased to $5 on July 1, up from $4, the cost for the past year and a half. Just about everything else went up as well: Plain round pies are $25 and specialty square pies are $35.

450

 

The # of pizzas made in a day at a dollar pizza store.

He said that he made roughly 15 cents to 20 cents profit per slice and that it was not unusual for one 99¢ Fresh location to produce up to 450 pies a day. His pizza is so cheap some customers treat him like a wholesaler, ordering dozens of pies in the morning and selling the slices elsewhere — for $2 each.

Foodspotting 1Q11

Some food photos, mostly downtown Manhattan.

Pho & Taro PMT @ Vicky's Vietnamese

Go Go Curry

Taiwanese Pork Chops @ Bian Dian (Food Court 32)

Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Butter @ Clinton St Baking Co

Grilled Corn Mexican Style @ Café Habana

Roast Pork with Noodles @ Big Wing Wong

Burger with Onion Rings @ Wall Street Burger Shoppe

Chihuahua & Tater Tots @ Crif Dogs

Shack Stack @ Shake Shack UWS

Pre-Set Menu @ Ayurveda Cafe

Cheeseburger & Cheese Fries @ Steak 'n Shake

Team EF Lens Mount

via flickr @kevinv033

Bloomberg:

In the market for cameras with interchangeable lens, or single lens reflex cameras, Canon controlled 44.5 percent of the market, followed by Nikon with 29.8 percent and Sony with 11.9 percent, according to the data.

The good news is that Canon is #winning, even if Apple is really winning?

The bad news is that prices are going up:

There’s lots of reports of price increases across the globe. This was bound to happen as retailers were and are still unsure what stock levels are going to be like.

Retail Clutter and Web Design

NYTimes:

… it turns out that lots and lots of stuff piled onto shelves or stacked in the middle of store aisles can coax a shopper to buy more.

After the recessionary years of shedding inventory and clearing store lanes for a cleaner, appealing look, retailers are reversing course and redesigning their spaces to add clutter.

This finding surprises me. Before this article, I assumed less clutter + more organization = always better for sales. Apparently, a cleaner look signals higher prices.

Retailers are putting their money where their mouths are by “adding items — and a little bit of mess — back to shelves.”

Does this retail insight hold for web design? Which site would you assume has higher prices based on the design/look?

Furniture Site A screenshot, logo redacted

Furniture Site B screenshot, logo redacted

The two websites shown above were picked for their state of web design (and not for the brand/company).

Looking past the world of retail furniture, does a website with clean design signal higher prices to you?

eBay homepage screenshot

eBay has a relatively modern design (whether it is clutter-free is up for debate). Does the homepage signal high or low prices to you?

GoDaddy homepage screenshot

Media Temple homepage screenshot

GoDaddy’s design is arguably more cluttered, and their prices are much lower for hosting than mt.

In a physical retail environment, clutter signals lower prices to consumers. On the internet, this may or may not hold true. Perhaps websites with cheaper prices skimp on the design bill? A website can offer affordable/cheap service and have great, clutter free design.

As a person interested in great user experiences, I’d like to believe that great design is a competitive advantage and not a trait that subconsciously signals higher prices.

Foursquare Check-in Places Default Sort

Foursquare is a great service to keep track of places I’ve been.

In the screenshot below, the closest location (521 ft) should be the first result. As I scroll down, I’d expect to find places further away.

Check-in Places Search Results

The concept of the service is to check-in to the place you are currently at. The search results should default to show closest locations at the top.

In the above screenshot, this isn’t an issue with only four Whole Foods to choose from. Imagine trying to find the right Chipotle location among dozens when the list is not sorted by closest geographical match.

Doing Business 101

Excellent, lengthy presentation from Mike_FTW about doing business as a freelancer designer (via Zeldman). This applies to any field, especially startups. I am not a lawyer, nothing here is legal advice.

2011/03 Mike Monteiro | F*ck You. Pay Me. from SanFrancisco/CreativeMornings on Vimeo.

TL;DR:

Get a contract in place before you perform any work that is reviewed by your own lawyer. Contracts are in place to benefit both parties and remove uncertainty.

Management Philosophy

A couple pieces on business management (via HN).

Matthew Stewart, founder of a consulting firm that eventually grew to 600 employees, cuts to the heart of management theory:

Between them, Taylor and Mayo carved up the world of management theory. According to my scientific sampling, you can save yourself from reading about 99 percent of all the management literature once you master this dialectic between rationalists and humanists. The Taylorite rationalist says: Be efficient! The Mayo-ist humanist replies: Hey, these are people we’re talking about!

For any given management theory, the support is from numbers (where Stewart mentions, “[pacifying] recalcitrant data with entirely confected numbers“) or emotions (where Stewart says, “And who would want to take a stand against creativity, freedom, empowerment, and—yes, let’s call it by its name—love?“).

Ben Horowitz, CEO of Opsware (acquired by HP in 2007), describes the difference between peace and wartime CEOs:

Peacetime in business means those times when a company has a large advantage vs. the competition in its core market, and its market is growing. In times of peace, the company can focus on expanding the market and reinforcing the company’s strengths.

In wartime, a company is fending off an imminent existential threat. Such a threat can come from a wide range of sources including competition, dramatic macro economic change, market change, supply chain change, and so forth.

The piece goes over the top in describing the difference in thinking of peace VS war CEOs. That said, it does a great job of explaining that different CEO roles are needed when a company is looking for the right product/market fit (aka a viable business plan) VS growing their market share.

Updated Free Kindle Forecast

The Kindle is now available for $114 with Special Offers (aka advertising).

Based on prior charts, I created an updated forecast:

The idea of the free Kindle explained by Kevin Kelly:

Since then I’ve mentioned this forecast to all kinds of folks. In August, 2010 I had the chance to point it out to Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. He merely smiled and said, “Oh, you noticed that!” And then smiled again.

It is interesting that the forecasted free Kindle date is slipping. (Forecasted to be free after June 2011, then forecasted for after November 2011.)