Are we close to herd immunity?
Retailer of the Year
News and notes from the State Capitol
News and notes from around the state
- Hope all are safe and sound this Friday as tropical storm Elsa barrels thru the state. CRMA is here if you need any assistance during this time. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you think we can be of any help.
- It has been a little while since we led a FF with a story about COVID-19 but a front page story in this morning’s Hartford Courant grabs our attention.
- The challenge that we all faced during COVID-19 was tremendous. For those of you who lost family and friends during this time, our thoughts and prayers go out to you. And we know the challenges that the virus placed on your business. We know that many of you have not recovered fully, and that all of you had to change on the fly how you delivered services to your customers.
- As a state, we also responded overwhelming in a positive way to those challenges and now we are among just a handful of states that are on the verge of something we all could not imagine just 6 months ago – something called herd immunity.
- The Courant story, which you can read by going here, outlines just how close we are to that milestone and what means for us to do that. And the impact of vaccinations is highlighted here.
- For retailers, we can’t help but think that this will mean greater confidence that consumers will have to participate in the economy – in other words, go SHOPPING!
- We are already hearing from many of our members that customers are coming back and that sales are bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels. We know there is along way to go, but this update perhaps gives us some good news as we move closer to the holiday season.
CRMA 2021 Retailer of the Year
- As we mentioned above, we know that all of you had to change the way you dealt with your customers during these unprecedented times.
- At CRMA, we want to showcase those retailers who have done some extraordinary things this year at our Annual Awards Luncheon that will take place Oct. 13th at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford.
- Look at this special notice we put together and if you think your store, or another great retailer, is deserving of recognition this year, please send us that information, to tim@ctretailnetwork.com
- We look forward to receiving your nomination!
News and notes from the State Capitol
- On Wednesday of this week, legislative leaders meet to discuss the possibility of going back into session to deal with juvenile justice issues in the wake of the increase in car thefts and the tragic death of a pedestrian in New Britain following a police chase of a stolen car. Chris Keating of The Courant has that story.
- The Legislature’s Office of Legislative Research has an interesting report posted on Executive Orders issued by Governor Lamont. You can go here to see that.
- The Capitol complex is now re-opened to the general public after 17 months of being closed. CT NewsJunkie and NBC Connecticut report that story here.
Other news and notes around the state
- Democrats in the 36th Senate District have nominated first-time candidate Alexis Gevanter as the party seeks to hold onto the seat in the August 17 special election. Republicans will select their candidate this weekend. There may also be an independent candidate in the race. Greenwich Time has the story here.
- Connecticut has joined a coalition of 37 states suing tech giant Google for allegedly using its app store to shut down competition in the Android app market. Hartford Business Journal has the details here.
- Walmart has begun use of thicker plastic bags, after Connecticut’s ban on single-use plastic bags took effect earlier this month. The Hartford Courant has the story here.
- Coinstar’s big green machines at Connecticut supermarkets, where people convert buckets of change into paper bills now offer a new option: buying cryptocurrency. The Hartford Courant story can be seen here.