Saks 5th Avenue Opens in Toronto – HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!

Go out all day looking fabulous and I see no one I know. Go out for 5 minutes looking like crap and it’s all of a sudden a damn reunion.

Unknown

I’d been looking forward to Thursday, February 18^th with great excitement – the opening of Saks 5^th Avenue in the Bay on Queen. I’m a big fan of Saks and rarely have I been in a Saks store without making a donation. There’s always something wonderful to buy. I arranged to meet my friend Diane after work for what was to be a wonderful shopping experience. And, in anticipation of some terrific grand opening specials, my Bay card was prepared for a work out!

As soon as I walked into the Bay I was immediately confused. There is virtually no separation between the Bay and Saks. The first, second and third floors are divided in half and shared by both stores. There are no doors or separators, just staff who say either Welcome to the Bay or Welcome to Saks. I wonder if they're going to have staff permanently stationed at the crossover points.

When the Bay said that they were bringing Saks to Toronto, I expected an authentic Saks store. Instead what they did was bring Saks Haute Couture to Toronto. If you want a great selection of Haute Couture, then this version of Saks will no doubt delight you. But, if you’re in the market for real people clothes at real people prices, then don’t even waste your time looking. The shoe department is the same – haute couture exclusively; although I did find a pair of plastic flip flops (like the ones at Joe Fresh for $5.99) in the $200 dollar range. I passed on the flip flops.

My disappointment was palpable! In addition to providing me with 3 half floors or merchandise that I wouldn’t even purchase at 90% off, I’ve now lost 3 half floors of Bay Store space with merchandise that I could afford. In short, I’m mega-pissed off! The only funny part of the excursion was when we asked where the washrooms were, they sent us back to the Bay part of the store. Apparently people who buy Haute Couture don’t pee.

I could give up shopping but I’m not a quitter.

Unknown

Make someone smile today.

Geri

Why Do Convicted Drunk Drivers Get Away With Murder?

If you drink, don't drive. Don't even putt.

Dean Martin

Drunk drivers in Canada literally get away with murder and in all likelihood Marco Muzzo will receive a lenient sentence for the murders of 4 people. On September 27, Marco Muzzo, heir to a $1.8 billion dollar family fortune, got off the family’s corporate jet after his bachelor party trip in Miami. He got into his Jeep in the airport parking lot and headed off. Not long after, Marco Muzzo, who was speeding, drove through a stop sign on Kipling Avenue and struck the minivan carrying the Neville-Lake family. The three Neville-Lake children – 9 year old Daniel, 5 year old Harrison and 2 year old Milly - and their grandfather, Gary Neville, 65, died after the van they were in was struck by Muzzo’s vehicle. The children’s grandmother and great-grandmother were injured in the crash.

An officer who responded to the crash scene observed that Muzzo was unsteady on his feet, that Muzzo urinated on himself and was having a difficult time understanding direction. Muzzo was arrested, and provided two breath samples after speaking with his lawyer. The samples showed he had a blood alcohol level of more than double the legal limit. Marco Muzzo recently pled guilty to four counts of impaired driving causing death and two charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. The Crown saw fit to grant Muzzo $1 million bail, with conditions. Why a multiple murderer is granted bail in any amount boggles the mind!

Our justice system makes no sense. Drunk drivers who kill and criminals who kills by other means are not treated equally under the law. As a society we seem to believe that a drunk driver who kills isn’t really a murderer. I’ve watched enough Criminal Minds episodes to know that 3 murders or more makes one a serial killer. Well, in my book, Marco Muzzo is a serial killer who should never see the light of day. None of his victims will. Why is what Muzzo did any different than if he would have stood on a street corner and randomly gunned down 4 people? Dead is dead; and he killed 4 people and wiped out a family. Where is the justice for them?

“When are we going to stop treating alcohol like milk?” asks Robert Solomon, a law professor at Western University and a legal consultant for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. When it comes to impaired driving causing death, Solomon says judges interpret the Criminal Code heavily in favour of the accused. “It’s ‘boys will be boys, and there, but for the grace of God, go I,’ ” he says. The most recent Statistics Canada data on impaired driving, from 2010-11, shows that, among the 48,000 impaired driving cases in Canada, only 8% of those convicted were sentenced to jail time. For the ones who caused death, the mean jail time was 2½ years.

The reality is that Marco Muzzo murdered 4 people and injured 2 others. And, in a few short years he’ll be back on the street, still heir to a $1.8 billion fortune and I’m sure driving a brand new Ferrari in celebration of his release. The only ones serving life sentences are the Neville-Lake family. Where’s the justice in the justice system? How can a civilized society reward drunk driving murderers? When will we start calling drunk drivers who kill, MURDERERS, and subject them to the full weight of the law instead of treating them like frat boys who played an innocent prank? There were 4 funerals and that’s no joke.

You can hand over your keys or your life. Make the right choice.

Unknown

Geri

Why Aren’t Women Up in Arms Over the Pink Tax?

Shopping is my cardio.

Carrie Bradshaw

I love shopping, but I’m a bargain hunter. I’m sure it’s in my DNA, inherited from the Supreme Being of Bargain Hunters, my late father Joe. If an item isn’t at least 50% I won’t even waste my time looking at it because I’m sure that Joe’s circling around overhead, ever watchful of my purchases at the check-out. And, I surely wouldn’t want to disappoint him.

Joe, in his own very politically incorrect way, always told me that women were all dumb broads when it came to shopping. He’d rant on ad infinitum about how women always paid more for the same item than a man would because they were stupid consumers. In spite of the fact that I would always feign disgust when he’d say that women pay more for the packaging and advertising than the product, I knew he was right. In fact studies have shown that indeed women are seduced by packaging and advertising and as a result we willingly pay more for products than men do.

This gender pricing has become known as the Pink Tax. CBC’s Marketplace, a consumer rights watchdog television show, has also examined gender gouging, revealing that while some U.S. states prohibit so-called gender pricing, no such law exists in Canada. Even so, in 2015 the Department of Consumer Affairs in New York City did a study of gender pricing in New York City. On average, DCA found that women’s products cost 7% more than similar products for men. The largest disparity was found in hair care: shampoo, conditioner and styling products. Women paid 48% more.

In a 2015 New York Times article, Tony Sosnick, told a reporter, “If we could charge $60 for our Glycolic Facial Cleanser, we would do it, but we can’t. We charge half that because the market isn’t at a point yet where men spend what women spend on products.” Gentry Ford, vice-president of marketing for Slate Cosmetics NYC and an account executive for ReiCura, an ad agency in Toronto, says the difference boils down to necessity versus desire. “Men are very much about need,” she says. “So when it comes to the packaging of beauty products, you’ll notice that men’s products are about practical appeal. What exactly is this product going to achieve for you? Women, however, expect a product to give them an experience and will pay extra for it”.

Women could save money by shopping in the men’s aisles and buying essentially an identical product in plain packaging; but, we don’t. Instead we walk like lambs to slaughter, wandering up and down the well lit aisles where beauty in a jar calls to us. And, we answer the call.

Crying is for plain women. Pretty women go shopping.

Oscar Wilde

Make someone smile today.

Geri