ONLINE SHOPPING

My wife does most of the shopping and buying for Christmas and over the last three (3) years most of that has been online.  As you all probably know, Amazon Prime has free shipping.  Of course, I suspect they factor that into their sales and marketing plan in some fashion but it really sounds great.  The strip centers and malls in our metro area of approximately one hundred thousand (100,000) are inundated with shoppers from “black Friday” through 25 December.  You drive around trying to find a parking space forever.  Last year with COVID, it was almost mandatory you shop online.  With that being said, what does 2021 look like?

Adobe released its online shopping forecast for the holiday season, which estimates that US consumers will spend about two hundred and nine billion ($209 billion) online this year. Globally, online shoppers will spend nearly one billion USD ($1 billion).

The Adobe Digital Economy Index is based on insights gleaned from more than one trillion visits to US retail sites and over one hundred (100) million SKUs in eighteen (18) product categories. The global figures are based on transactions in more than one hundred (100) countries. Adobe also conducted a survey of one thousand and twelve (1,012) US consumers in the month of October as an addendum to the index. 

Adobe expects US consumers to set a new holiday record this year in online spending between November 1 and December 31. The estimated two hundred and nine billion ($209 billion) that could be spent would mean a ten percent (10%) increase compared to the spending seen in 2020. The nine hundred and ten billion ($910 billion) expected globally would be an eleven percent (11%) growth year-over-year.  For all of 2021, Adobe estimates that more than four trillion ($4 trillion) will be spent worldwide online.  I think this is incredible and definitely represents the wave of the future.  As a matter of fact, I suspect the future is here.

Surprisingly, US consumers are actually showing less interest in buying online on specific days, most notably Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other typical shopping hot spots. Adobe expects shoppers to spend thirty-six billion ($36 billion) through e-commerce during Cyber Week — from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday — which represents just seventeen percent (17%) of the total shopping done during the holiday season.

That represents just a five percent (5%) growth compared to last year, and the growth expected for shopping on Cyber Monday specifically is even lower at four percent (4%). Adobe predicts that eleven-point three billion ($11.3 billion) will be spent on Cyber Monday and nine-point five billion ($9.5 billion) spent on Black Friday. Thanksgiving will see about five-point four billion ($5.4 billion) spent online, according to Adobe’s estimates.

The index does note that retailers will face significant problems this holiday season as supply chains continue to struggle due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Adobe explained that retailers are facing crowded ports, cargo delays, and disruptions in overseas manufacturing.  “We are entering a second holiday season where the pandemic will dictate the terms,” said Patrick Brown, vice president of growth marketing and insights at Adobe. “Limited product availability, higher prices, and concerns about shipping delays will drive another surge towards e-commerce, as it provides more flexibility in how and when consumers choose to shop.” Global supply chains are especially prevalent in producing durable goods (such as cars and appliances), tech products (such as cellphones and computers), clothing, footwear, textiles, furniture and plastic goods. And although most U.S. imports come from China, Mexico and Canada are also important links in the supply chain here, as are a number of Asian and European countries.  The first blow came when many of the Chinese plants that build parts or assemble goods for global manufacturers were shut down by coronavirus outbreaks. Similar disruptions soon spread across the globe, affecting both manufacturers and the logistics companies that ship, store and deliver their goods.  After a brief COVID-related recession, however, demand for goods grew quickly, as people shifted to online buying and took up new habits (a surge in home-improvement projects, for example, boosted demand for appliances and construction materials).

 The graph below will show the effects of the slowdown.

You can see from this next graph those segments affected by supply chain problems.

Most shipping from the Pacific Rim comes into West Coast ports, and they were barely keeping up with the growth in freight before the pandemic and had no ability to absorb disruption, said Ayman Omar, an associate professor at American University’s Kogod School of Business. The pandemic has only worsened the situation, including a shortage of trucks to haul cargo containers to their destinations.  There were sixty-four (64) ships in a holding pattern near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach this past Thursday.

If that were not enough, some trucking industry executives blame higher federal unemployment benefits, which ended in September, for the driver shortage. Omar said that the benefits might have contributed to the problem in the early months of the pandemic, but the issue now is competition coming from transportation start-ups hungry for market share. Drivers come and go at trucking companies at an alarmingly high rate — turnover was more than ninety percent (90%) at large firms in the last quarter of 2020.

Without enough trucks to carry them off, containers piled up on docks, and more kept coming — each new ship brings in ten thousand to twenty-one thousand (10,000 to 21,000) containers. And with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach unable to handle the growing number of ships, vessels were spending about as much time waiting to anchor and unload — about two weeks — as it would take a ship to cross the Pacific, said Robert Khachatryan, chief executive of Freight Right Global Logistics of La Crescenta.

I suppose the bottom line is, even if you purchase online, you still may have delays in getting the products you request due to supply chain problems.   We are told these issues will work themselves out over the 2022 year.  You all must admit 2020 was a real bust and confounded just about everything.

AT & T DISCOVERY DISTRICT IN DALLAS

While in Dallas this past week we visited the AT & T Discovery District which is a great place to start your sightseeing of downtown Dallas.  The most prominent structure is the multi-story digital display seen below.  This thing is HUGE with a capital “H”.  Can’t miss this one.  The picture changes every few seconds presenting another advertisement.  You can also notice in the foreground area a “green patch” of grass.  To the left of the patch is a small stream of water flowing.  The overall layout is given in the second picture.

Obviously, they already have their tree up and decorated. 

If we go inside, we see a collage filled with digital pictures of TV and movie scenes involving Clint Eastwood.  These change quickly and rotate through a sequence.  Please note the man and child in the picture.  The child is four (4) years old.  From this you can see the relative size of the digital wall.

In one area of the building, there is a museum that houses a rotating display.  This display, as you can see, details some of the work that Clint Eastwood has done over his acting and directing career.  I can definitely recommend this one to you. 

The picture below shows Eastwood checking camera placement for the movie “The Unforgiven”.  Eastwood starred and directed this award-winning picture.  Unforgiven is a 1992 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Mr. Eastwood and written by David Webb Peoples. The film portrays William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, years after he had turned to farming.

Unforgiven grossed over $159 million on a budget of $14.4 million and received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for the acting (particularly from Eastwood and Hackman), directing, editing, themes and cinematography. The film won four Academy Awards: Best Picture and Best Director for Clint Eastwood, Best Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman, and Best Film Editing for editor Joel Cox. Eastwood was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, but he lost to Al Pacino for Scent of a Woman. The film was the third Western to win Best Picture,  following Cimarron (1931) and Dances with Wolves (1990). Eastwood dedicated the film to directors and mentors Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.

In 2004, Unforgiven was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.^[4] The film was remade into the 2013 film also titled Unforgiven, starring Ken Watanabe and changing the setting to the early Meiji era.

Eastwood had long asserted that the film would be his last Western, concerned he would simply be rehashing previous plotlines or imitating someone else’s work.

One of my favorite Eastwood movies is “Grant Torino”.  The car used in that movie is shown below.  The car in the movie is the Gran Torino Sport from 1972, one of the 92,033 built for that year. Coke-bottle styling, and in dark-metallic green, this was the top-of-the-line model with Ford’s “hot motor”, also known as the 5.7-liter Cobra-Jet V8 with a four-barrel carburetor.

Beautiful car.

I hope, if you get the opportunity, you visit this area of downtown Dallas.  One mention, the food court inside is absolutely wonderful.  Many many selections with great variety and several Dallas favorites.  My family ate a late breakfast there and the sections were absolute fabulous.  It is clean as a pin with staff ready to help with clean up as soon as you are finished.  Actually, while you are eating you are invited to give us any unused plates still remained.  I really thing you should check this out when you are in Dallas. 

DESERT RACER

The city of Dallas hosts some of the most unique retail establishments in our country.  My wife and I recently visited our family in Dallas and while there we always enjoy going to their favorite “watering holes” and eating places.    There is a fairly new restaurant called the Desert Racer they just love. This is our four-year old’s favorite restaurant so it was a must-see.   It’s Tex-Mex but you can find traditional American entrees on the menu.  There is also a great kid’s menu available.    It’s noisy, great food, excellent service: you get the drill.  I say noisy because our son and daughter-in-law have, in addition to the four-year old, a one and one-half year old.  Noise is not always a bad thing, particularly if everyone’s noisy.   Let me now introduce you to the DESERT RACER.   

You enter the establishment through an outdoor courtyard.  As you can see from the digital above, plenty of seating with an open-air environment. I’m told by our son that rain is not really a factor due to barriers and wind shields designed into the courtyard layout.  The weather was beautiful although somewhat cool, yet tolerable.  We ate in a “community” room which was outdoors. Open seating. Just choose a table.

A huge sign shown in the digital below is placed over counter space used for seating.  You cannot miss the name. Notice also the open ceiling where piping, insulation, lighting and other articles are hung.

This view below was taken right under the Desert Racer sign and pointing outward to open-family-style seating.  We were seated towards the left in this picture.   The four globes shown provide great lighting for one area of the restaurant.

Every successful restaurant MUST have a well-stocked bar and the Desert Racer did not disappoint.  I’m not really a drinking man but I would say this bar had just about everything you could imagine with any ingredient needed for any mixture desired.  The digital below really does NOT do justice to size and layout of the bar but it’s a fairly good representation.  You will notice the four (4) TV sets facing the bar. Great for viewing your favorite team.  (I’m sure that would be the Dallas Cowboys.) 

The van you see below is towards the right end of the open-seating area.  Once again, you can’t miss the three TVs hung above the van.  As you can imagine, on game day, take a number.  Behind the van are huge speakers for evening hours and after the games. 

Our two grandkids love to roam around and look at the cycles and other vehicles such as the VW in the second picture below.  All had been beautifully restored and were in top shape.  The bike is a Ducati and is detailed to the max.

The VW was adorned with “DO NOT TOUTCH” signs prominently displayed. 

The Desert Racer is located at 1520 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75206 and is well worth the visit.  The next time you are in “big D” you really need to check this out.  You will love it.   I had their nachos and they were out-of-sight delicious.  Topped with brisket, cheese, jalapenos, avocados, etc. Check it out.