Published on: November 12, 2018
On Friday, we referenced an
Advertising Age story about how Levi Strauss has “moved beyond its single-product roots into a more diversified mix of apparel offerings, including a robust global T-shirt business nearing $1 billion in sales. At 165 years old, Levi's is a lifestyle brand for the masses,” extraordinarily relevant for a brand of its age.
And I commented:
I’m utterly devoted to 541’s … wear them almost every day, and it feels good to be patronizing a company that is an American icon.MNB reader Gary Loehr wrote:
Are your 541 Jeans actually made in America? I thought I read a few years ago that the last pair of Levi’s made in the US had been shipped. If that is the case, they are no longer an “American” icon.MNB reader Joe Gilman agreed:
An ‘American Icon” that makes most if not all of their products somewhere but in the United States! Sorry, not for me.MNB reader Mark P. O’Brien wrote:
It seems to me that Levi is just copying Lucky. Try Lucky jeans and shirts. I’m retired and live in Lucky, Under Armor & Nike wear.From another reader:
I’m not surprised Levi’s has nearly $1 billion in t-shirt sales. While vacationing this summer France, the plain white t-shirt with iconic Levi’s logo was being worn by teens and twenty-somethings in every town I visited - enough for me to comment on it to the people I was traveling with. Levi’s has managed to continue its “classic American” image to the world, while engaging young consumers and innovating to stay relevant (I too have come back to the brand since discovering 541s!).I also continue to get email about my stick shift metaphor.
One MNB reader wrote:
Having driven stick shifts most of my life (British sports cars and Audis) I have often lamented the demise of the manual, but have found the dual clutch tranny with paddle shifters to be the next best thing. Sure, the computer will take over if you wait to flick the paddle in time, but you can still get a feeling (albeit somewhat superficial) as you row up or down through the gears.MNB reader Brian Blank wrote:
Weighing in on the stick-shift story from the other day. I guess I’m a lapsed stick driver. In my youth, I had assorted Rabbit and Datsun manuals, and my first new car was a Golf 5-speed. But, like the reader from Minneapolis, eventually the reality of sitting in stop-and-stop traffic on a daily basis put the kibosh on 3-pedal driving. So until I find that winning lotto ticket and can afford a stick shift Giulia just for a weekend toy….
As a minor point to your original tale at the hotel in Boston, I would suggest that the actual number in that situation is much much MUCH lower than 2% for the simple reason that the vast majority of their clientele who park a car there during their stay are probably driving a rental, which in the US is guaranteed to be an automatic. I guess my point is…when you take your Mustang to a valet, keep a nice big bill handy to reward the one person on duty who can fetch it for you. (Or in movie terms, ‘stop trying to make fetch happen’.)I mentioned having made a spicy but blackened salmon the other night, though noted that “I cheat in how I make it, because cooking it in a pan full of butter strikes me as the wrong way to go when it comes to heart health.”
One MNB reader responded:
Please share the recipe. Love blackened fish, but they can be a mess as well as unhealthy!It is really simple. I get a nice piece of salmon, with the skin trimmed off, and put it in a pyrex pan. I drizzle a little olive oil on it, then layer it with a nice cajun rub. It then goes in the oven - I broil it on high for eight minutes, and then flip it for another 7-8 minutes. During the last eight minutes, I often will put some green beans or asparagus under the broiler … also with just a bit of olive oil and some rub. That’s it.
On Friday, I did a
piece about a bad experience in my local Ahold Delhaize-owned Stop & Shop, which I’ve found is a good example of a retailer that does not bring its A-game when it comes to competition; I’d done a similar piece about a year earlier, and in this case, found out-of-date light cream in the dairy case two weeks in a row. (In fact, it appeared that they returned the expired cream back to the case even after I pulled it and brought it to the customer service desk.)
Interestingly, a number of people pointed to a similar problem … in
my behavior.
MNB reader Peter Talbott wrote:
"'The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over, and then expecting different results,' Einstein famously proclaimed.Another MNB reader wrote:
Why do you keep going back to a place? Find a store that is bringing their A game. Stores don’t bring their A game if they don’t need to. Fair point. The thing is, Stop & Shop is the only local store that carries the Land O’Lakes brand of light cream my wife likes.
But I wouldn’t blame Land O’Lakes if it decided to pull out of Stop & Shop. I know other brands that have done it.
Finally, from MNB reader Jeremy E. Couture, about a movie recommendation I made last week (after my daughter, a special ed paraprofessional, made it to me):
I just wanted to drop you a quick note thanking you for the recommendation of Life, Animated. I’ve seen parts of it, but haven’t sat down for the whole thing. I have twin sons (13 years old) on the autism spectrum, so this hits home for me. We’re very fortunate in that both of my boys are on the higher functioning end of the spectrum, but there still are challenges. One of my sons is a movie buff, as well, owning well over 300 DVD’s (he wants to be a film director).
Mainly, I wanted to write to say that I think there is a special place in heaven for people like your daughter. Our boys would not have made the huge gains they have without the paras they’ve been fortunate enough to work with. Please pass on my thanks to her for her service.I did. And I agree with you.