* This millennial’s company makes millions buying from Walmart and reselling on Amazon.

Checkout this story from Yahoo Finance (finance.yahoo.com).

Amazing what some people think of…

————

This millennial’s company makes millions buying from Walmart and reselling on Amazon

Zack Guzman
Senior Writer
Yahoo Finance February 1, 2019

Millennial’s company made over $6M reselling clearance items on Amazon

One man’s clearance aisle is another man’s treasure.

So goes the mantra for Ryan Grant, a 30-year-old entrepreneur whose company notched over $6 million in sales last year, in part by buying items at his local Walmart and reselling them on Amazon.

“My initial goal with this was just to replace the income that I was making from my accounting job, which at the time that I quit was $50,000 a year,” he said on Yahoo Finance’s live show YFi PM. “This has definitely exceeded what I thought possible and it has definitely exceeded my initial goals.”

Grant’s experiment as an Amazon reseller started small. In college at Winona State University, he sold used textbooks on the site and got familiar with tracking just how in-demand certain books or products were. Years later, after growing bored with his job in accounting, Grant rekindled the same scheme with products he found on sale at his local Walmart. Scooping and scanning everything in the aisles from toys, to vacuums, to kitchenware helped reveal which items were selling for a higher price online.

“At the very beginning it was just me doing this out of half of a duplex that I was owner-occupying so there was product literally in every room of the house,” he said.

When he started making just as much through his side hustle as he was from his accounting day job, he decided to quit in 2013.

“It’s turned into a lot more than that today,” he said. “We’re still doing the retail arbitrage where we’re buying in retail stores and it’s expanded into buying from manufacturers and distributors of existing brands as well but it really all began with retail arbitrage.”

Grant now employs a staff of about 10 to handle product sourcing so he doesn’t have to. At this point, Grant is taking a salary of $60,000 for about a 15-hour work week.View photos
Grant now employs a staff of about 10 to handle product sourcing so he doesn’t have to.
Selling on eBay and Jet

Now, Grant has moved his flipping operation to a 3,800-square-foot office with a staff of about 10 employees helping ship in bulk to Amazon. Selling through Amazon’s “Fulfilled by Amazon” program means individual orders are processed by Amazon out of their own warehouses, sparing Grant and his team the pain of shipping each individual order. He’s also started to branch out into selling on eBay and Jet, as well as his own e-commerce sites rather than relying solely on Amazon.

“Amazon is making reselling a little bit more complicated than it has been in the past,” Grant said, adding that restrictions implemented by Amazon makes selling certain brands more tricky.

That said, sales continue to grow — from about $3.5 million in 2017 to $6.1 million in 2018. Despite the sales increase, Grant has dialed back his own annual salary to around $60,000 to instead opt to reinvest profits into the business. While that seems low, Grant said he’s only spending about 15 hours a week on the project as his staff handles day-to-day logistics, and is free to travel and work remotely.

Apps like InventoryLab’s Scoutify 2 helped Grant see detailed sales data for a given product on Amazon, which would help guide what purchases he’d make.
“It’s to the point where I can be pretty much anywhere thanks to the team I have in place,” he said via Skype from Thailand.

That, and the prospect of where the business could go as he looks to invest more into selling products directly to customers off Amazon, has Grant increasingly happy about his decision to quit that accounting job six years ago.

This contest started on 1/25/19. This contest has a winner.

* Win A $20 Olive Garden Gift Card.

Jeff Eats got a $20 Olive Garden Gift Card Gift Card to give to one of you guys!

The game- the first 30 “reader-comments” received – will be entered in a “blind hat pick”! You can submit as many comments as you’d like but- Please, only 1- reader comment – per day…play fair!

The $20 Gift Card is good at any Olive Garden location (check olivegarden.com for locations, menu, info).

* The Beach Buoys.

One of America’s best Beach Boys’ tribute bands!

The Skinny:

The Beach Buoys

Thursday, March 21, 2019 7:30pm

Mizner Park Cultural Center
201 Plaza Real
Boca Raton, Florida 33432
Box Office: (844)-672-2849
Tickets: miznerparkculturalcenter.com check goldstar.com (discount tickets)

from miznerparkculturalcenter.com

The Beach Buoys
Don’t miss this authentic tribute to the greatest pop group of all time…The Beach Boys! From the tight vocal arrangements to the striped shirts and the authentic, vintage guitars and amps, The Beach Buoys have done the research to effectively recreate a live Beach Boys performance from the mid 60’s, and have even performed alongside Surf legends, Jan and Dean, The Beach Boys Band, and The Wrecking Crew. Their vintage guitars, amplifiers, and drums are the same as The Beach Boys used on stage.

And equally important, The Beach Buoys’ members aren’t just seasoned musical pros, they’re also fans; fans of the Southern California Surf scene, the Hotrod lifestyle, and the music that set the tone for the rest of the country to jump on board! Driven by their love, respect, and passion for the era, The Beach Buoys have succeeded in replicating the sound, look, and the vibe of the boys from Hawthorne!

* And The Winner is…Trader Joe’s!

Just read the below press-release.

Something- you guys might want to peruse while in the bathroom.

January 09, 2019 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–dunnhumby, the global leader in customer data science, today released the second annual dunnhumby Retailer Preference Index (RPI), a comprehensive, nationwide study that examines the $700 billion U.S. Grocery market. The RPI study surveyed 7,000 U.S. households to determine which of the top 56 largest grocery retailers have the strongest combination of financial performance and consumer emotional sentiment. Trader Joe’s was again the top-rated grocery retailer. The grocery retailers with the highest overall consumer preference index scores are: 1) Trader Joe’s, 2) Costco Wholesale, 3) Amazon, 4) H-E-B, 5) Wegmans Food Markets, 6) Market Basket, 7) Sam’s Club, 8) Sprouts Farmers Markets, 9) WinCo Foods, 10) Walmart, 11) Aldi, 12) Peapod, 13) The Fresh Market.

“While consumer confidence in the U.S. is at a near 18 year high and the U.S. economic growth is outpacing the rest of the world, there are signs of turbulent times ahead and grocery retailers need to be prepared,” said Jose Gomes, President of North America for dunnhumby. “Because of pressures that grocery retailers are facing today, a common reaction is to think only of the short term. But by focusing on the customer preference levers that we have identified in this RPI to inform their strategies, retailers can buy an insurance policy for the future to ensure they can weather the storms ahead.”

The overall RPI ranking evaluates retailer performance on seven pillars: price, quality, digital, operations, convenience, discounts/rewards and speed. The retailers who focus their business on superior value perception – defined by the strongest combination of price and quality – tend to have the most financial success and the strongest emotional bond with consumers.

Key findings from the study:

Understand customer needs and be excellent at what matters most to win their preference. Trader Joe’s is a prime example of a retailer making trade-offs to deliver superior Value, and it has earned them the top spot for two years in a row. With its small format, lack of digital shopping and limited national brand offering, the retailer focuses on speed of in-store shopping and having a rich Private Brand offering. This bricks-and-mortar only, private brand approach minimizes costs and keep prices low, allowing them to reinvest in customer service, product quality and in-store experience. This strategy sacrifices reaching customers through a growing digital channel and breadth of assortment, and therefore losing on one-stop shop-ability and convenience. However, this loss is also their gain since it allows them to deliver what matters most to their customers.
Two needs rise above all others for most food retailers and have the greatest weight in determining RPI ranking, forming the core of value perception: Price and Quality. Retailers that rank in the first quartile overall excel in value perception and, as a result, have sales growth that is 2x greater than retailers in the second quartile and 9x greater than retailers in the bottom two quartiles. The other customer needs, like digital, speed, convenience or discounts/rewards, while still important, have a weaker association with retailer preference.
First quartile retailers are mostly non-traditional grocers, who have developed a highly targeted offering designed to maximize value perception for their specific customer base. More traditional, regional grocery banners with a long history are hurting because of it, having relatively poorer performing financials and/or emotional bonds. The reason: these traditional banners have inferior price perception and/or quality. The RPI’s top three overall retailers excel in these two factors (Amazon in price; Trader Joe’s and Costco on both).
For some traditional, regional grocers, discounts/rewards and promotions are contributing to sales growth, but for many, this is adding to financial difficulty. In the U.S., hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on discounts, rewards and promotions every year, but over two-thirds of promotions don’t break even. To maximize the success of a discounts/rewards program, retailers need to have at least average price perception and a highly relevant assortment, supported by a strong private brand.
Private brand is a common key to driving value perception and improving customer preference for retailers up and down the rankings. Six of the top 10 private brand performers are in the first quartile of the RPI overall. Additionally, many of the most successful traditional, regional grocers occupy the second quartile, and they complement a highly relevant assortment with a strong private brand, allowing them to maintain solid price perception. Lastly, private brand is a key element in driving both price and quality perception and thus overall value perception, where retailers in the bottom two quartiles are struggling the most.
Retailers who tended to see improvements in their digital rank also tended to see slips in their operations (i.e. out of stocks, pricing consistency, clean stores, right product variety). Retailers that ramp up investment in digital must be cautious not to take their eye off the retail basics.
Some retailers have achieved an excellent digital customer experience, but their financial performance has not benefited, while others with a focus on digital manage to thrive. Retailers missing any of the following are not maximizing the impact of digital investment: large scale, great price perception and a category DNA leaning toward center store items and non-grocery products.
The latest dunnhumby RPI is available for download today at: http://bit.ly/2C5LMqq. Retailers included in the RPI that are interested in receiving their individual banner profiles can visit dunnhumby’s booth (#2073) at NRF 2019 or contact us at https://www.dunnhumby.com/unitedstates.

About dunnhumby

dunnhumby is the global leader in Customer Data Science, empowering businesses everywhere to compete and thrive in the modern data-driven economy. We always put the Customer First.

Our mission: to enable businesses to grow and reimagine themselves by becoming advocates and champions for their Customers. With deep heritage and expertise in retail – one of the world’s most competitive markets, with a deluge of multi-dimensional data – dunnhumby today enables businesses all over the world, across industries, to be Customer First.

The dunnhumby Customer Data Science Platform is our unique mix of technology, software and consulting, enabling businesses to increase revenue and profits by delivering exceptional experiences for their Customers – in-store, offline and online. dunnhumby employs over 2,500 experts in offices throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas working for transformative, iconic brands such as Tesco, Coca-Cola, Meijer, Procter & Gamble, L’Oréal.

Contacts
Media Contact for dunnhumby
Theresa Smith
Silicon Valley Story Lab
theresa@siliconvalleystorylab.com
+1-818-681-6456

This contest started on 1/27/19. This contest has a winner.

* Win A $20 Krystal Gift Card.

Real simple story, Jeff Eats got a $20 Krystal Gift Card to give to one of you guys!

The game- the first 20 “reader-comments” received – will be entered in a “blind hat pick”! You can submit as many comments as you’d like but- Please, only 1- reader comment – per day…play fair!

The Krystal Gift Card is good at any Krystal location (Krystal.com for locations, menu, info).

Posted July 29, 2008
***** Krystal, 901 W. Sample Road, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 (954) 524-9994.

Let me make this write-up short and sweet.

There are no White Castles in South Florida. Krystal is as close to being a White Castle as you will find in South Florida. Krystal is a “national” fast-food hamburger chain which has been around since 1932. White Castle has paper-thin- square shaped-burgers called ” SLYDERS” and Krystal has paper-thin- square shaped burgers called “KRYSTALS.” I like “slyders” better than “krystals”…but it’s a close call. Sort of like Coke and Pepsi.

Like I said before, there is one Krystal joint in South Florida– Fort Lauderdale…there is a whole bunch of them in Orlando. Check Krystal’s website www.krystal.com for menu/locations. The joint in Fort Lauderdale is open 7 days a week from 7am-midnight.

If you don’t know what a White Castle is…GOOGLE

This article first appeared on 10/16/18.
Just checked the box-office (fauevents.universitytickets.com) and there are a handful of really good seats left for this show. Just a heads-up, the reunited- The Cyrkle (which disbanded over 50 years) is off the chart dynamite- and is an absolute must see!

Posted on October 16th, 2018.

* Stars Of The Sixties.

Tickets just went on sale…

from poprockdoowopp.com

Stars Of The Sixties
Saturday, February 2, 2019 at 7:30 PM
Carole & Barry Kaye Auditorium at FAU
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, Florida 33431

Box Office: (561) 297-6124

Tickets: poprockdoowopp.com

from poprockdoowopp.com
Stars of the 60s return to FAU with what might be our biggest cavalcade of hit-makers yet! Starring… Chuck Negron, formerly of Three Dog Night (lead singer of “Joy to the World”, “One”, “An Old Fashioned Love Song”, “Easy to be Hard”, “Pieces of April” & many more), the reunion – after 50 years – of The Cyrkle (“Red Rubber Ball”, “Turn Down Day”), Rock & Roll Hall of Famers The Original Vandellas (“Dancin’ in the Streets”, “Heatwave”, “Jimmy Mack”, “Nowhere to Run”), Dennis Tufano, original lead singer of The Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”, “Don’t You Care”, “Susan”, “Hey Baby! They’re Playing Our Song”) and a very special unplugged performance by The Cowsills (“The Rain, the Park and Other Things”, “Hair”, “Indian Lake”). A fun one-night-only reunion of the artists who created the soundtrack of your lives – featuring 9 original members amongst these 5 of the biggest hit-makers of the 60s! Presented by the producers of Pop, Rock & Doo Wopp Live!, Praia Entertainment Group.

This contest started on 1/22/19. This contest has a winner.

* Win A $25 Waffle House Gift Card.

Real simple story, Jeff Eats got a $25 Waffle House Gift Card to give to one of you guys…

The game- the first 25 “reader-comments” received – will be entered in a “blind hat pick”! You can submit as many comments as you’d like but- Please, only 1- reader comment – per day…play fair!

The $25 Gift Card is good at any Waffle House location (wafflehouse.com for locations, menu, info).

***** Doughnut Works, 301 West Atlantic Avenue, Delray Beach, Florida 33444, (561) 808-7122.

Got a real good donut joint for you guys to check-out, Doughnut Works in Delray Beach.

Simple concept at work here…mini bite-size cake doughnuts topped with all kinds of stuff/ breakfast sandwiches, order-pickup at counter, handful of tables, open 7 days a week 7am-3pm.

Yesterday morning, Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats “discovered” Doughnut Works (which opened in July, 2018) and trust me- the joint’s doughnuts are absolutely delicious! Just so everybody here is on the same page, we are talking topped mini bite-size cake doughnuts, with not a yeast or for that matter a full size doughnut anywhere in sight. Minimum order 12 doughnuts at $8.85.

Just a quick observation, over the past 18 months or so- I’ve literally seen mini doughnut joints like Doughnut Works popping-up all over Florida. For sure it’s an interesting concept, but I’m kinda thinking that this concept maybe a FAD in the making! Just a word to the wise, Dunkin’ Donuts recently changed its name to simply Dunkin’- just maybe, doughnuts or donuts (or whatever you want to call them)- alone aren’t enough to successfully carry retail stores! Just take a look at Dunkin’s menu (dunkindonuts.com) and you’ll see what Jeff Eats is talking about!

In any event- Doughnut Works’ doughnuts are delicious and…

You guys can checkout Doughnut Works’ menu/prices/info at doughnutworks.com.

This contest started on 1/23/19. This contest has a winner.

* Win A $20 Wawa Gift Card.

Jeff Eats got a $20 Wawa Gift Card to give to one of you guys!

Best way for Jeff Eats to describe Wawa, gasoline station/convenience store combo on steroids!

The game- the first 25 “reader-comments” received – will be entered in a “blind hat pick”! You can submit as many comments as you’d like but- Please, only 1- reader comment – per day…play fair!

The $20 Gift Card is good at any Wawa location (check wawa.com for locations/info).

This story first appeared on January 3, 2019.
Just checked the Boca Black Box box-office (bocablackbox.com) and goldstar.com (discount tickets) and there are a handful of real good tickets left for tonight’s show. Trust Jeff Eats on this one, if you like Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons- then you will absolutely love A Tribute To The Jersey Boys w/William Cintron. Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats have seen the show twice and I am telling you guys- that it’s absolutely terrific.

Posted on January 3rd, 2019

* A Tribute To The Jersey Boys w/William Cintron.

Jeff Eats and Mrs. Jeff Eats have seen the show twice- trust me when I tell you- absolute dynamite!

Tickets just went on sale…

A Tribute To The Jersey Boys w/William Cintron

Sunday, January 27th, 2019 (7pm)

Boca Black Box
8221 Glades Road Suite #10,
Boca Raton, Florida 33434
Box Office: 483.9036
Tickets: bocablackbox.com check goldstar.com for discount tickets

from bocablackbox.com

Don’t miss a tribute show unlike any other, A TRIBUTE TO THE JERSEY BOYS, starring William Cintron, Carmine DeSana, Walter Hochhauser and Sal Sofia – featuring the hit songs “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “Sherry,” “December, 1963 (Oh What A Night), and many more – live at THE BOX!

William Cintron as Frankie Valli
Don’t miss William Cintron, best known for his superb vocals of Frankie Valli, as he comes to THE BOX for ONE SHOW ONLY!

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, William has performed and shared the same stage with The Platters, The Temptations, The Delfonics, Chubby Tavares of The Tavares, Larry Chance and the Earls, The New Supremes, The Diamonds, The Coasters, The Drifters, The Mystics, J.T. Carter of The Original Crests, Eddie Holman, Peter Lemongello, Jimmy Gallagher of The Passions, and The Main Ingredient featuring Cuba Gooding Sr.

Past performances include: The World Famous Apollo Theatre, The Four Century Villages of South Florida, The Villages of Lady Lake, Savannah Center In The Villages, Disney’s Contemporary Resort and Epcot Center, Universal Studios City Jazz and Motown Cafe, Viva Osceola, Latin Fest in Kissimmee, and many prestigious country clubs throughout Florida.

Walter Hochhauser, Carmine DeSana and Sal Sofia as The Jersey Boys
Walter Hochhauser was born in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Florida in 1961 where he began singing in some of Miami’s most notable hotels. In 1980, he joined REUNION as the lead singer, playing local venues and Rock N’ Roll shows throughout the state and in the Bahamas. In 2004, REUNION recorded the CD “Miracles,” featuring Walter on lead for many of their arrangements. In 1999, Walter had the privilege and pleasure of recording vocal tracks for Dion DiMucci’s “New Master’s” Album, and today, continues to record songs with Dion being seen and shared through social media.

Carmine DeSena was born in Brooklyn, NY, and was one of the original members of the Creations and Riffs and in the 1970’s he sang with the Ribtones. In 1980, he moved to Florida, and teamed up with Joel Bressler to create REUNION, South Florida’s Premier Show Band. Carmine is also called upon by Dion DiMucci as Baritone on his video recordings shared on social media. Carmine has been influential with “keeping the music alive,” and has been a member of many well known Doo-wop and oldies groups, bringing decades of harmony experience, energy, and excitement to every show he performs in.

Sal Sofia hails from the Bronx, NY, where he grew up with a family of singers, musicians, and entertainers. With a deep affection for music and harmony, he became interested in the deeper vocal group sounds of the 50’s and set out to host his own show, the Doo-Wop Groove on AM/FM stations, heard throughout the New York area. Sal has been a collector of the “rare” sounds of the genre and moved to Florida in 2003, where he began singing with several local acapella groups, achieving notoriety with The Dons of Doo Wop, a successful acapella group. Today, he can be seen and heard joining Dion DiMucci with his strong second tenor style on recordings Dion shares across social media to all of his fans.