While brands like Disney, Bud Light, Ben & Jerry’s, Target TGT
and many more believe they must take a stand on social and political issues, consumers are starting to push back against so-called “woke” corporations.
Regardless of their political leanings, consumers still want companies to provide products and services that meet their needs. They also expect companies to be good corporate citizens and do right by their customers, employees, business partners, communities and the environment.
Companies that go beyond that by pushing divisive political or social agendas are in danger of alienating a large segment of consumers who don’t hold their progressive values.
Those consumers are looking for an alternative and the PublicSq. marketplace gives them that. PublicSq. is on the vanguard of the Freedom Economy, an emerging movement that gives consumers the choice to vote with their dollars for companies that share their values or, at the very least, don’t oppose them.
After only a year since its launch, PublicSq. Holdings went public in July on the New York Stock Exchange to chants of “USA” when founder, chairman and CEO Michael Seifert rang the opening bell.
“We’re going after Amazon AMZN
,” he declared. And don’t forget, Jeff Bezos had many scoffers back in Amazon’s early days.
Introducing The Freedom Economy
“The Freedom Economy is made up of a very large cohort of business and consumers that have felt largely unaddressed, ignored or sometimes downright antagonized in the era of hyper-progressive multinational corporatism,” Seifert shared with me.
“The Freedom Economy is largely known for what it celebrates, like patriotism, excellence, meritocracy, a love for the country, the Constitution and the values protected by the Constitution.”
Regrettably, those words of support for the country and its core values might sound controversial now, whereas they wouldn’t just a few years ago. Budweiser CEO Brendan Whitworth acknowledged as much in his April 14 quasi-apology Message to America– “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” because it’s in American homes, backyards, pubs and ballparks where most Bud Light is consumed.
Likewise, Target is an American-based company with all stores and most of its business stateside, so waving the red-white-blue flag shouldn’t be anathema to it either, especially after comparable sales declined 5.4% in the second quarter, a rate faster than expected. As a result, Target adjusted year-end guidance down to a mid-single-digit decline.
Target suffered a self-inflicted blow in the quarter with its controversial Pride Month displays. It sparked outrage among some who felt the company had gone too far and criticism from others that the company was abandoning support for the LGBQ+ community when displays were moved to less visible spots in some stores.
Through the process, the company learned that customers want to shop in a “happy place for all our guests.” In closing the earnings call, Cornell committed the company to being an “escape” and “refuge” where customers “can recharge and enjoy those shopping experiences.”
In other words, shoppers want a respite from the divisive rhetoric and messaging so pervasive in the current culture. PublicSq.and its businesses partners offer that.
PublicSq. Offers An Alternative
Today PublicSq. is a directory marketplace for consumers to access its 65,000 and counting businesses that share traditional American values. But in time for holiday gift shopping, PublicSq. will evolve to a full e-commerce website where customers can search and buy from one or many of its vendors in a single shopping cart.
This innovation will turn on juice for PublicSq., making it a real competitor to Amazon and others. It’s identified a roughly 100 million total addressable market. To date, it’s reached only about 1.4% of its TAM. Already and without e-commerce, its six-month revenues through June 30 topped $900,000. “We’re just getting started,” Siefert said.
It’s poised to become an alternative to Amazon’s third-party marketplace for small businesses, which Statista reports accounts for nearly 60% of Amazon unit sales. With Amazon taking a growing share of third-party sellers’ sales, PublicSq. provides an attractive alternative. And it does Amazon one better by listing service businesses so consumers can find local providers that share their values.
Most of PublicSq. partners are small businesses that the Small Business Administration declares are the “lifeblood of the U.S. economy.” Small businesses are defined as those with 500 or fewer employees. They account for 44% of U.S. economic activity and create two-thirds of net new jobs.
And an overwhelming majority of Americans (80%) view small businesses as a positive force in society versus only 20% for large corporations, according to a Pew Research Center survey among 5,100 adults.
Voting Values In The Marketplace
Seifert explained that PublicSq. is non-partisan and doesn’t endorse political parties or candidates. Rather than being political, the five core principles to which its business partners agree are what one would call traditional American Judeo-Christian values:
Commitment to freedom and truth
Protect the family unit and celebrate the sanctity of life
Believe small businesses and the communities who support them are the backbone of the economy
Believe in the greatness of the nation and fight to defend it
The Constitution is non-negotiable – “Government isn’t the source of our rights, so it can’t take them away.”
With its values-based approach, PublicSq. can identify new business opportunities that its customers demand, like baby diapers. So it launched a wholly-owned baby-care brand, called EveryLife, its “Amazon Essentials” play.
“Our customers kept telling us they want a pro-family baby products and diaper company because all the other big ones have taken progressive political stances,” he said.
After less than a month of launch in July, EveryLife generated over 4,300 orders and some $300,000 in revenues. And with 60% of orders on a monthly auto-renew subscription, it can look forward to ongoing sales.
The company also donates a portion of EveryLife proceeds to adoption facilities and pregnancy centers. Most recently, it sent a shipment of diapers and wipes to Maui to help survivors of the tragic wildfires.
“We want to help salvage the American economy, and actually restore it to a position of strength for the coming generations. We need an economy that goes back to the basics where people can spend money and support businesses that respect their values,” he concluded.
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
