Tony Brewer

My brother Rick was telling me that the company that makes Timberland Boots is one of the large companies that tries to lower their impact on the environment, and to treat all of their employees with dignity and respect.  They have 290 factories in 35 countries.  They have a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility.  I’m always surprised when I hear good things about large companies because there is always so much publicity about corporate greed, and very little publicity about companies that are doing good things! Rick also told me that the copshoes.com website is now selling Timberland Boots, and they are offering a 10% discount on everything through July 6th - just use the promotion coupon code July-4-09 at checkout!

A couple of days ago I opened a brand new box of my favorite snack crackers and started eating them. I’ve been eating this kind of snack cracker for several months - in fact I eat about half a box of them every day! They come in three different flavors; original, honey wheat, and whole grain. My favorite is honey wheat, I’ll buy the original if the store is sold out of the honey wheat. Forget about the whole grain - YUCK! Anyway, I noticed that they tasted different than usual and double checked the package. They tasted like the original, not the honey wheat! I double checked the package, yup the package said they are honey wheat!

So I called the company and told them about the situation and they are sending me a coupon for a free replacement box. They advised me not to eat anymore of those crackers and are sending me an envelope to mail the box back to them so they can figure out how it happened that the crackers got packaged in the wrong box. I wonder how many other people are going to find that THEY got the wrong crackers, too!

In our attempt to make our homes better, insulation is key to getting the job done right.  And in this day and age of paying for estimates and having to put down non-refundable deposits, it’s rare to find a company like Northern Scotland Joinery. They make and install extremely high quality doors, windows and conservatories for their customers. They offer FREE quotes, and do not demand deposits! In addition, they have a ten year insurance backed guarantee on their products. They use Pilkington glass in their windows which provides up to 90% energy loss reduction! That is amazing to have a glass window that is that well insulated!

One of the markets I anticipate seeing increase over the next several years is the home improvement market. As more people are staying at home instead of traveling on their vacations, (they are having “staycations” instead) I expect that people will be paying more attention to how their house looks and performs. They environmentally conscious among us will be looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint by trying to replace energy inefficient appliances, doors, and windows with those that will help to reduce energy consumption. One thing that cause extra stress for the consumer in the hunt for making these types of improvements is the cost of figuring out how they are going to accomplish these things!