He's Out of Uniform!

THE country's largest home improvement retailer Home Depot is losing market share in the DIY paint segment most likely to Ace Hardware, which reported sales increases earlier this week while Home Depot reported the opposite.

And a trend to buy local may not be all that is to blame, because Home Depot stores have also been targeted by ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency which under US president Trump is becoming the nation's largest law enforcement agency.

Absent ICE attention Home Depot stores serve as ad hoc employment agencies for unskilled laborers who post up by the orange and black doors in the hopes of finding work moving dirt or rolling out walls.

Because not all DIY consumers really do it themselves.

Of course we’ll never know if ICE activities had that effect or cost Home Depot any money at all, though we do know how much this policy is going to cost the rest of us.

Just Say it!

In the coming quarters I expect to report about layoffs at Sherwin-Williams, a prognostication which requires little reading between the lines.

Because on a recent call with the finance bros Sherwin’s chief financial officer Allen Mistysyn shared that his company “got fat” during its recent era of “good volume over a long period.”  Corporate speak portending layoffs, though that was not the only sign. 

On that same call Colin Davie, President of Sherwin’s Global Supply Chain told the bros that his company continues to add robotics to their distribution facilities with one recent installation allowing the replacement of 700 forklift drivers. 

Most of whom will likely be cut at Sherwin’s earliest convenience.

Also foretelling the layoffs was Sherwin’s offer of a voluntary separation which they made earlier this year to most of the employees based in their headquarters in Cleveland. Which allows Sherwin to, “accelerate the transformation of the participating departments by reducing the complexity of the organizational structure and re-thinking responsibilities to deliver superior service to internal and external customers”according to the company 

A run on sentence which finally got to the point.

I hope that those eligible accepted the offer which included a year’s salary plus a $20,000 cash incentive, your bonus paid in full and a year free on the company’s health and dental plan. 

Far less than what former chief executive John Morikis received at his separation but still generous considering the alternative. 

In August of 2021 my fiancéeic and I attended the first round US Open tennis match of the 13^th ranked player in the world at that time Jannik Sinner who like my partner is a native of Italy.

Currently the world’s number one player at that time a lack of notoriety and insufficient ranking kept Sinner from center court, that night reserved for the world’s number one player Novak Djokovic.   

Instead Sinner played his match on court number ten, where seating is limited to a few rows of bleachers which begin at the court’s edge. A seat as exciting as one at court side or behind hockey’s glass; without paying a kidney for the view.

Had Sinner lost our interest there would have been other matches on most of the remaining 15 non-stadium courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, some with a configuration as intimate as court ten with access to each court included in the price of your ticket. 

Which all contributes to making the US Open the most fan-friendly experience in all of sports. 

This year’s Open lacks some of the excitement of year’s past with Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer both retired and Novak Djokovic now 38-years old unlikely to make a deep run.  Still, a day at the Open still brings incomparable thrills, if only due to the proximity to the action which is normally reserved for wealthier sports fans. 

Among the reason's to watch this year's Open are Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, currently ranked sixth and fourth in the world respectively. Together they embody the American dream to win our own national championship, which no American male has done since Andy Roddick won it in 2003.

Standing six feet four inches Shelton brings a body made for football to the courts in Flushing Meadows, his 200 pounds of mass creating shots so powerful it seems the courts cannot contain them until heavy topspin forces them back to earth.

Shelton's first-round match was a mauling of Ignacio Buse which I watched on TV, a medium poorly suited to reflect his proportions.  Attending the Open next day we were disappointed to miss him and again chased the Italians; a game plan for an exciting day of tennis though the parlay did not pay.

But heading towards the exit I was drawn by a crowd gathered on a court with no match in play.  Pushing through I spied Shelton warming up for his next match, his physique more super hero than athletic.

Like someone called Captain America to save US tennis, so he showed up wearing shorts!