posted 05-13-2008 07:52 PM ET (US)        

------
Release: IMMEDIATE
Contact: Daniel Kubera
Director - Media Relations and Corporate Communications
Phone: 847-735-4617
Email: daniel.kubera@brunswick.com

BRUNSWICK BLUEWATER BRANDS
TO CEASE PRODUCTION AT NEWBERRY, S.C., FACILITY

LAKE FOREST, Ill., May 13, 2008 - Brunswick Corporation (NYSE: BC) announced today that it will cease production of its Bluewater Marine brands -- including Sea Pro, Sea Boss, Palmetto and Laguna -- with the upcoming 2009 model year, which commences July 1. As a result of this action, Brunswick will close its production facility in Newberry, S.C., by the end of June.

"The U.S. marine industry has been in a prolonged slowdown since late 2005, driven by an uncertain economy, high fuel prices, the housing slump and other economic factors that have affected consumers' confidence and eroded their discretionary spending," explained Dustan E. McCoy, Brunswick chairman and chief executive officer.

"As a result, we are assessing the recovery potential for all marine segments in which we participate, their fragmented nature, the costs of our continued presence in certain of them, and the position of our brands. Our work is ongoing and is focused on developing profitable brand positioning in all segments. With this action, we believe we will solidify our presence in the highly fragmented saltwater segment by concentrating our efforts and leveraging our resources on such brands as Boston Whaler, Triton, Trophy, and our sportfishing offerings from Hatteras, Cabo and Albemarle, while sharpening our market focus and providing necessary cost reductions."

Brunswick plans to cease production at the Newberry facility by the end of June 2008. Approximately 175 positions will be affected by this action, and qualifying employees will receive assistance aimed at helping them transition to other employment.

"This market-driven action should not be viewed as a reflection on the performance of our employees," McCoy added. "As always, we will work hard with all affected-employees, dealers, suppliers, communities and consumers-to minimize the disruption that this decision may cause."

As a result of these actions, the company said it will record a pretax charge of approximately $25 million to $30 million in the second quarter of 2008 to cover asset write-downs and other costs associated with the plant closure. Of that total, approximately 75 percent of the charge is non-cash and the remainder is cash. The company estimates that it will realize annualized pretax savings of approximately $9 million stemming from this decision.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release are forward looking as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the execution of the restructuring plan, economic conditions and other risks described in the company's 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 29, 2008.

About Brunswick

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., Brunswick Corporation endeavors to instill "Genuine Ingenuity"(TM) in all its leading consumer brands, including Mercury and Mariner outboard engines; Mercury MerCruiser sterndrives and inboard engines; MotorGuide trolling motors; Teignbridge propellers; MotoTron electronic controls; Albemarle, Arvor, Baja, Bayliner, Bermuda, Boston Whaler, Cabo Yachts, Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris, Hatteras, Kayot, Laguna, Lowe, Lund, Maxum, Meridian, Oernvik, Palmetto, Princecraft, Quicksilver, Rayglass, Savage, Sea Boss, Sea Pro, Sea Ray, Sealine, Triton, Trophy, Uttern and Valiant boats; Attwood marine parts and accessories; Land 'N' Sea, Kellogg Marine, Diversified Marine and Benrock parts and accessories distributors; IDS dealer management systems; Life Fitness, Hammer Strength and ParaBody fitness equipment; Brunswick bowling centers, equipment and consumer products; Brunswick billiards tables; and Dynamo, Tornado and Valley pool tables, Air Hockey and foosball tables. For more information, visit www.brunswick.com.

posted 05-13-2008 11:42 PM ET (US)            

Thats what I would say to any boat builder who folds.

posted 05-14-2008 09:15 AM ET (US)         

They are not the first company to go on an acquisition binge that didn't work out.

I would look for heads to roll. Brunswick stock is just about half of what it was one year ago.

Add to this GE Money, the financing division of General Electric, just announced they will no longer finance motor homes or boats. That won't help.

posted 05-14-2008 01:05 PM ET (US)            

Ain't gas like pushing $4.00/gallon? Did we or did we not lose 400,000 jobs in this state since 2000? Someone told me we're building a Disneyland in the Greenzone somewhere in the Middle East but we are closing schools? and spending more money on prisons that schools where I live? OH right - now go blame our Governor, she's gonna take your guns away too.

How about all those minimum wage jobs right now? Go get a couple or three and perhaps you'll get a loan to buy one of those nice boats at 22% interest. No big deal our president says it's our responsibility to budget and put aside our own money for health care.

News says gas will hit $5.00/gallon sometime in 2008 - probably around July 4th so our esteemed petroleum executives can make triple certain the fourth quarter reports to stock holders, some of us and maybe me too, are happy and fat going into the holidays - oh ya, and the election in November - but we ain't supposed to talk politics that impact our boating, purchases and usage - all those factors stimulate our economy and contribute to happy people when it works.

Projections indicate resort communities N of a horizontal line through the center of the mitten here in Michigan are in big trouble because tourism is going to crash - for middle income people and lower. I have cut my road trip plans 100 miles or more w/ the Classic 13 right now to Zero.

I don't want to bring up bad politics, I prefer good politics, but isn't that sustained project hatched by the current president where they are reportedly sending all that diesel to run desert tan and camo'ed big rigs costing us like $700,000 million/day? every day? And they're building oil desert Disney Land with a Skatepark? Who are the customers? I gotta read up on that project! It took us four years and a war with local government to build a skatepark for our kids where I live!!!

Do you know how many times our group has gone to local and state officials asking them to participate in REAL kids and boating programs for kids and families around here - hundreds and hundreds of hours and we get the door slammed in our faces - not literally but we would prefer that over glad handing and smiley faces. We are not asking just for money with our hands out to waste but partnership.We even discussed a small fleet of Whalers for our local kids administered by our group and we get blown off - but we can build Disney Land in Iraq and rebuild cities and can't even do a fraction without struggle in our hometowns, states and our country. We have to beg for $1000 to put salmon hatchery tanks in our urban schools, I could go on and on.

We would probably have better luck calling Congressman Mike Rogers (R, Michigan) to arrange a military C-17 to fly our urban kids to the Iraq Disneyland/Skate park complex then to get our incredible local projects, using local resources on our amazing water resources funded right here in our children's back yard.

I do not know why a million Americans are not in the street right now stopping this. But the gods have given us computers and blogs so all we have to do is sit down just like I'm doing and dial up one of the millions of blogs and type out our daily complaint/bitch thinking we've accomplished something and all we've done is put ourselves on another data base or watch list.

It makes me sick to read that press release and think of how screwed up things are and how we just express our collective sigh and say "oh well, no impact on me...." Let's hope you don't lose your job or get the handshake and a box six months before your pension.

posted 05-14-2008 01:08 PM ET (US)            

If you think about it folks who start up an independent boat company do it because they have a different idea on what will be popular, and they are almost a niche company. (Boston Whaler, Bertram Yachts, Shamrock, Key West,-ist flats boat, come to mind.) After they sell out the major corps turn these niche boats into generic copies of all boats, same as autos.

posted 05-14-2008 02:07 PM ET (US)            

Back to the topic:

One salvation for Brunswick: the folks that used to own all those boat companies and who got the $51-million for them will be potential customers for a big SEA RAY or HATTERAS yacht. Let's figure about $5-million recovered there.

Even if these brands are lost, Brunswick can say they kept Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, and Bombardier off those transoms for three years. Let's say that's worth at least $1,000 per transom. If Sea Pro, Sea Boss, Palmetto and Laguna were selling 1,000 boats a year for three years, that's $3-million recovered there.

There are probably some tangible assets left in South Carolina, figure that's another $5-million.

So we've recovered about $13-million of the $51-million investment. I guess the rest will be a write off.

posted 05-14-2008 03:06 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

Brunswick expects to incur pretax charges for facility consolidation, asset impairments and write-downs, closure and severance costs in the range of approximately $25 million to $30 million, substantially all of which will be incurred in the second quarter of 2008.

In connection with these actions, Brunswick expects to incur approximately $18 million of non-cash asset write-downs and impairment charges, approximately $3 million of facility closure charges and between $4 million and $9 million of other costs associated with discontinuing production of these brands.

---

posted 05-14-2008 05:19 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

This is funny, various consortiums have been buying transoms for their motors and equipment for two decades now. Brunswick did not run anything into the ground, it was a weak brand compared to their mainliners and in a severe crunch---which the marine industry is in--the branches are being pruned.

---

I am not saying Mercurys are bad motors. I am saying I observed firsthand the fact that Brunswick did run Sea Pro into the ground. 85% of the boats in Charleston have Yamahas, not because they are necessarily the best, but that's just what the dealers here have, whether through being packaged at the factory or otherwise.

The change to Mercs on Sea Pros at dealers that were generally Yamaha dealers caused problems with the dealer networks as well as a lack of new buyers / interest around here, for that reason.

I personally talked to a local dealer about this.

One of my best friends almost took a job with Sea Pro in Newberry when Brunswick came on board. Good for him he didn't do it (that is unless they were gonna transfer him to Florida now) . . .

posted 05-14-2008 05:32 PM ET (US)            

The brothers sell the company in January 2005 for $51 million and less than 4 years later Brunswick has run it in to the ground.

posted 05-14-2008 06:03 PM ET (US)            

It is a sport to them, you win some, you lose some. The bigger the gamble, the bigger the potential payoff in their mind. Problem is, they are playing with other peoples money and lives.

Don't get me wrong, there are still some great leaders of companies out there who will do the right thing for the right reasons, but it is getting harder and harder to find them among the grab it while you can bunch of hooligans that are running many of today's corporations.

posted 05-14-2008 07:28 PM ET (US)            

All this stuff about politics ignore one thing. This country has been on notice since at least 1973 that we have an energy problem with imported oil. I well remember the gas lines when you couldn't even get any, and had to go only on odd or even days. I did ride a bicycle to work at times back then.

And every administration, both Republican and Democrat, has utterly failed in helping to solve the problem.

We have plenty of energy in this country and in our control. We have the largest coal reserves in the world, which can be converted to oil at $40 per barrel. The Germans were doing this effectively in WWII. But the environmentalists prevent this. We could drill for oil in a number of viable areas where it could be done cleanly, but again, the environmentalists prevent it.

There are huge reserves of oil shale in the Rocky Mountains. I understand that it is more than the amount of oil in Saudi Arabia.

Nuclear plants would save huge amounts of oil. They are safer and cleaner than ever. You can guess the answer for this one. Yup. The environmentalists don't want it.

The bottom line is, that all of us are held hostage by policies like these and other stupidities, like the subsidies for ethanol, which cost more energy to produce than it gives us, but some people are making money off of all of us with the huge subsidies to produce it inefficiently. And, it will screw up your fuel system to boot.

Our government is tied up in knots with special interests and lobbyists on both sides. It is a failed system with too much money going to politicians of all stripes.

If we just let the free market work, we could break the monopoly of OPEC. I believe that is the key to changing this situation. And to those of you that blame the oil companies for everything, sure they take their share of the blame. But if we punish those who actually produce a product we need, then that will just further reduce production. I suggest you buy stock in an energy company instead.

The problem is so bad that we can't even get the politicians to agree on a gas tax holiday. Apparently its ok for us to make the sacrifice, but God forbid the government should. I mean, it is so efficient and all.

In the meantime, boats like a MacGregor start to look very attractive. It is a 26 foot cabin sailboat that can go over 20 knots with a 50 hp 4 stroke outboard, due to its special ballast system. And yet it sails pretty well also, using no fuel once you get to the area you want to go. And it it is trailerable. It is that kind of innovative thinking that the boating industry has to think about. If you look at boats in Europe, you see our future. Displacement hulls with small engines, low speeds, and low fuel consumption. But I prefer a small Whaler or MacGregor.

We all need to reduce our fuel consumption, whether it is where or when we go boating, or the type of engine and boat we own, etc. These are market forces at work. That is why Brunswick has done what it has. When you can't sell what you produce, close it. Companies go out of business everyday. But others also start up as they see new opportunities.

I have a friend with a 35 footer cabin boat here in South Florida with a 220 gallon tank. It now costs him $1,000 to fill up that tank. He is one unhappy boater, and can't sell his boat for near what he paid just 2 years ago. But eventually he will have to sell it at a big loss.

The fact is that the day of cheap oil is over, until something comes along to effectively compete with oil as an energy source.

The same thing is happening to general aviation. I fly small aircraft, (Cessnas), and the price of fuel is having the same effect there. Aviation fuel is even higher than boat fuel. You can get a great airplane now for half the price it was a year ago. But new light sport aircraft are coming out that burn half as much fuel as a Cessna and can fly even farther, using advanced construction and technologies. And they are one third the price of a new aircraft from some of the traditional aircraft manufacturers.

We will see similar things in boating.

We are all going to have to adjust. Even though I am glad that I have an efficient Montauk, I will also adjust, with staying closer to home. But I still plan to go out whenever I can. I hope that you all do too.

posted 05-15-2008 02:53 PM ET (US)         

Today, GE is putting their appliance division up for sale? One more piece of Americana probably going foreign.

posted 05-15-2008 03:26 PM ET (US)            

Is it because Brunswick matches Mercury outboards with Brunswick hulls? If so, I'll bet that "you" would never buy a new boat of any make anyway, so what is the real problem?

Brunswick as a company provides jobs to many Americans. Do you Brunswick haters really want to see more unemployed Americans?

I don't get it.

Warren

posted 05-15-2008 04:04 PM ET (US)            

Issue Date: 5/15/2008, Posted On: 5/15/2008

Brunswick Foundation awards 100 scholarships

The Brunswick Foundation awarded $550,000 in scholarships to 100 sons and daughters of Brunswick Corp. employees.

This year, the foundation granted 50 multi-year scholarships, which provide $2,500 per school year until completion of studies ($10,000 maximum), and 50 single-year $2,500 scholarships. The winners span across 39 Brunswick locations worldwide, and represent all business units: Brunswick Boat Group, Brunswick Bowling & Billiards, Life Fitness and Mercury Marine.

“We are proud to assist these individuals in their quest to obtain further education," said Adrian W. Sakowicz, president of the Brunswick Foundation. “Higher education is very important to us and we are deeply committed to this program."

Scholarship recipients are selected by an independent committee comprised of professionals from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.; University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; Notre Dame and Marquette University in Milwaukee.

Scholarships are awarded based on the applicant’s academic record and leadership abilities as demonstrated by extracurricular activities. Financial need is an additional consideration for the single-year awards, and scholarships can only be used toward a baccalaureate degree.

posted 05-15-2008 04:08 PM ET (US)            

If you don't want to buy a Merc or a new BW, don't, either way non players have no effect on the outcome.

posted 05-15-2008 04:57 PM ET (US)         

I'm sending checks in the amount of $50.00 each out to each of you who can provide a quote from this thread that indicates that the poster "hates" Brunswick.

Bigshot's post is excepted because it is a bit ambiguous and could be taken either way but I believe it to be more of an observation of his experience rather then a gleeful proclamation that the wicked witch is dead.

There have been many posts wondering about the strategies of Brunswick. I don't see any that indicate a hate for the company.

Let's keep it real, ok?

posted 05-15-2008 09:06 PM ET (US)            

--Boston Whaler

--Mercury

--Brunswick

posted 05-15-2008 09:31 PM ET (US)            

As to Brunswick, I hate 'em, and I am not asking for the $50.00. I think they have ruined a lot of boats. I have nothing against Mercs. My granddad used to have a Merc 40 on a Basstracker II back in the early 1980s that didn't run worth a dern but I haven't been around one much since then. The new Verados are awesome.

But, if Brunswick buys boats and destroys dealer networks over outboards, they are stupid.

Of the 3 main Sea Pro dealers, one was here in Charleston. They are a Yamaha dealer. Brunswick took the high volume Sea Pro dealer out of the picture and moved Sea Pro to a strange dealership off of an Interstate next to a dry stack. Not exactly a good idea, although it was right next to "Sea Ray of Charleston" which is now the only Whaler dealership since they also got rid of the local Whaler dealer who was a Yamaha dealer.

posted 05-15-2008 10:02 PM ET (US)            

Since we all burn petrol and we all have Whalers - here you go.

Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?
by Antonia Juhasz, New York Times
March 13th, 2007

posted 05-15-2008 10:07 PM ET (US)            

So many here have been bashing new Boston Whalers, Mercury and Brunswick to the point when your bashing them you actually think your being positive. When your children are flipping burgers and cannot even afford an ancient BW because their jobs have been traded to the fourth world, go ahead and be trite then.

posted 05-15-2008 10:31 PM ET (US)            

Maybe Brunswick should get in the burger business. Name has a good ring to it "Brunswick Burgers."

They could sell them only with a specific brand of bun that they also owned and through only burger joints that already sold their other products. Or better yet only at Sea Ray dealers.

Similar to the Bass Pro Shops / Islamorads Fish Co. / buy a Mako at the mall plan ...

posted 05-15-2008 10:44 PM ET (US)            

Pete,
Why are you posting copyrighted articles. Jim may get sued. You post very good original articles on your own. Sorry about your injured self esteem. Your taking me down with you, you know.

Recently the threads on Meta and Gam have been so humorous, and witty, I don`t even bother going to the repairs and performance sections. I hope no one has any problems that need fixing. If they do they can go to the other place.

posted 05-16-2008 02:57 AM ET (US)            

Yours is a site that generally attracts interesting, thinking people from many segments that own or are interested in Boston Whalers. I think anytime interesting, thinking people come together discussion will eventually evolve toward issues. I think it is healthy for Americans to have the opportunity to discuss the impact of the decisions of corporations and elected officials on the things that matter to us. That's because Americans, especially younger Americans tend to be naive or oblivious to the realities of domestic and global politics that impact our recreational time and have put this country into a crisis. We have failed to educate our young people and ourselves.

I bet most of us will reduce our Whaler time this year, the most critical year ever which will determine our future the first couple of weeks in November.

We appreciate what you have done, Yes, we now have a choice. I also appreciate getting to know people I have never met personally and a few I have via your Continuous Wave.

I also appreciate the info and exchange of interesting information regarding Whalers. However, I also respect and appreciate interaction beyond small talk and am energized when I see a group of people, from many walks of life, from around the planet evolve "conversations" to a much more sophisticated level beyond techno and small talk.

I'd let some of it go, like you have in the past. It's healthy for Americans to think and discuss issues.

As regards the copyright issue, I attended the authors outstanding lecture at MSU last year and video taped it. Ellen had dinner with her with other friends who are concerned about the future of our planet and want the truth from our leaders. That copy came off her web site. She encouraged use of her work PLUS it was a NY Times story. She and the source was fully credited.

posted 05-16-2008 08:49 AM ET (US)            

People who think their own political views are so damn interesting and will be such a great read for everyone ought to start their own political blog. See how many readers you can attract. I have worked rather hard for many years to attract readers here with this website's boating content. I do not appreciate that a few have decided to thrust themselves onto this stage with their political views.

Pete--it is grand that you and your wife participate in your community and engage in political actions. However, as a topic that is completely out of the range of interest of this website. I also think that you are a bit confused if you think you are the only person who gives back to their community by volunteering or social activism. I am certain many people do, which is why their communities are so successful.

This virtual community of CONTINUOUSWAVE exists because of volunteerism and participation. But this community is interested in boating, and not interested in local school politics of central Michigan.

posted 05-16-2008 09:20 AM ET (US)         

Nope, no check for you.

Just because an individual's experiences with a specific entity have been negative doesn't mean that there is hate involved.

The man simply related his observations made over the years and even provided specific references to back the statement up.

It seems more and more, on this forum and in society in general that disagreement has become synonymous with "hate".

posted 05-16-2008 09:38 AM ET (US)            

Overlooked so far in all the discussion is the information that Brunswick has decided to concentrate its efforts on the Boston Whaler brand. This is good news for Boston Whaler--although perhaps it will put some pressure on the executive management to increase sales volume. I know for a fact that some Boston Whaler engineering talent and time was being diverted to support Sea Pro, et alia. With those brands out of the picture, Boston Whaler engineering will not be spread so thin. I think you will see more refinement, more terrific engineering, and a new model or two coming from Boston Whaler.

My guess is that Boston Whaler makes money for Brunswick, and Sea Pro et alia were not. These days the corporate ship does not have a lot of reserve buoyancy, so something has to be jettisoned overboard.

As for the general opinion of the Brunswick corporation, you can get a good measure of that from their stock price. It has been trending downward for eight years. From a high of $50 in c.1990 it is down to $16-a-share. Everyone who thinks that Brunswick is a fabulous company and the "haters" are misguided should immediately buy a few thousand shares of BC. When Brunswick returns to its $50 price point, you'll all be able to cash in and buy a 345 CONQUEST with triple Verado motors.

posted 05-16-2008 10:36 AM ET (US)            

In the case of Boston Whaler, I think it is plain to see that there has been a disturbing trend towards homogenization with other Brunswick brands, and a downturn in fit and finish. HighandDry will tell you that I am saying this because I hate new whalers, which is not the case. I happen to own an old one, but my family owns a new one(07), and it is a tremendous boat. Boston Whaler is still building one of the best boats on the market, but they are not as far ahead of the pack as they used to be. For a die-hard whaler dork like myself, I am not going to wait until they are on the same plane with Bayliner before I start complaining, because I don't really want to see them go the way of the Sea Pro's of the world.

Corporations, especially publicly traded corporations, have one primary goal: to make as much money as possible for their shareholders. They are at the opposite end of the spectrum from say, a small boatbuilder who builds the finest product you have ever seen but barely turns a profit his entire life. A guy like that is in it because he loves to build boats, and if he makes enough money to survive and continue to build boats, he is happy as a lark.

I think the ideal situation for most consumers like me is somewhere in between. Whenever a company like Brunswick steps in, you inevitably see the Wal-mart effect, whereby the product starts being built with lower cost components, and quality control lags, because they don't care about the boats. They care about how much they can sell the boats for.
I would much rather buy a boat from an independent company where I can feel certain that the main focus is boatbuilding, and is good enough at that enterprise to turn a good profit.

It's really a circle of life when you think about it: small boatbuilder has dream, starts company. Company is a success, boatbuilder makes money, company grows, company is acquired for millions by lare corp, large corp runs company into ground trying to build the cheapest boat possible, company is sold or dismantled.

posted 05-16-2008 12:12 PM ET (US)            

but, what's a web plug without a url??? the Huron River Net website is located at http://huronriver.pinckneymich.net

But the REAL meat is at the blog at http://pinckneymich.net/blog

And, get REALLY into the blood at the Military Families Speak Out site at http://mfsomichigan.org

(note to jimh...i figured you wouldn't mind the plugs since you were directing folks to my site...thanks!)

Fair warning that the second and third links are not safe for anyone who leans right and has high blood pressure...but, feel free to read it anyway, y'all might find it interesting.

As for Brunswick...they make great bowling pins.

posted 05-16-2008 12:42 PM ET (US)            

"I also think that you are a bit confused if you think you are the only person who gives back to their community by volunteering or social activism."

I'm alot of things Jim but confused ain't one of them. I won't apologize for my stuff but I will apologize if I offended you.

And to your advice to start my own blog or website? I doubt anyone would log on to it - Now if my mother-in-law started one..... that would be a trip. She actually wrote a letter to Kadafi back in the day after F111s blew up his reactor or somethign and he wrote her back!!!

I won't mess things on your site no more, forever....

posted 05-16-2008 01:06 PM ET (US)            

1) I never said I hate Brunswick, I have said I would NEVER buy their stock. Anyone who thinks they have not destroyed a few boat reputations is blind & biased. Again Mako & Robalo are 2 good starts. Some debate Whaler, Cabo, And Hatteras but time will tell. They have on the otherhand done wonders for BayPigs and SeaPigs that were once garbage and now a decent made boat, just not my style.

2) Just FYI but Burger King is a UK company. Also I happen to own MCD or McDonald's corp because I am betting on your kids future and mine. I know your kids are probably smart so I am betting they will help my stock price go up in value with their hard effort and infinite wisdom.

3) For everyone else: Brunswick should have learned from AMF which ruined just about EVRYTHING they put their logo on EXCEPT the sunfish. What happened to the PUFFER for God's sake? Don't even get me started on what a mess they made in the 70's. They also ran Hatteras into the ground, the employees bought it back to later get rich when they sold it to BC...go figure. If it were not for Ronnie Reagan putting an embargo on Japanese cruiser bikes, Harley would be a memory just like Indian and others.

4) Pete...come on down! Len Binkie and I will cheer you up.

5) Do not compare Wally world(Wal-Mart) and Homers(Home Depot with a crap company like BC. Yes they screw and maim the small business owners but I bet you'll be at one of them this weekend trying to save a buck or $.03 off a gallon of gas using "the card". While BC steadily creeps towards single digits, these companies are raking in the cash. This is a democratic society and nobody tells anyone what to charge or where to shop but usually best price and best selection win. If you are a shareholder, what would you want to own? If you are a CD buyer, well how is that 2.75% treating you?