:) Most definitely not. I would have lost my job because I would have told them to come here a long time ago and would have annoyed the heck out of them.

Good point. I think it will be less than 5 years until more than one of them will be gone.

Yes of course they are owned by Aldi. But their prices and quality are outstanding and their competitors aren't exactly small bucket shops any longer either. Whole Foods is a very smart organization but this will be a super-tough battle for them to fight (I don't know to well how resourceful the Sprout's, Sunflower Markets and Vitamin Cottages of this world are). Trader Joe's will have as much impact to the grocers as IKEA has in the furniture business.

Another store that might be hurting to some extend could be Costco's. I'll move some of my shopping from there to TJ's as well. TJ's will be an valid alternative for some of their products (bread, fruit, cereal, cheese...).

What are we going to do with all the Californian's that will move to Colorado now??? I know at least 5 million have been sitting on the fence for years :)

Sounds like someone has to do the hard work and figure out the best approach, find a consensus and then actually get someone in Washington to support it (without getting bribed for that).
I hope today served as a wakeup call that the issue won’t go away by itself. It will be resolved by politicians and lobbyists unless we take matters in our own hands.
I conclude in "pirating" your last words: Interesting times... (I hope I won’t get sued for that :)

100 most engaging brands? And the 16 at the bottom of the list all have zero posts? That's obviously false data. These brand don't belong on that list. Nowhere in the post is it explained why these brands are on there. This makes me doubt the validity of the entire list.

The Wave Car Care Center is an established business. Everyone in Westminster and around knows about them. I think a "new acquisition" promo makes much more sense for businesses that are a little younger than them. I'd imagine that a lot of their existing customers took the deal and there is not much gained for the business by that.

I actually purchased another car wash deal a few months ago. That was from a new business and they won me as a regular customer. They are super fast and that's what matters to me. In and out in 3 minutes. Faster and cheaper than at a gas station.

I have purchased at least 30 groupon deals and this was the first one that actually influence my future buying behavior. Go figure...

Overall I'd tell SMBs to be really really cautious with these deals. I feel a lot of business owners lack the savviness and are being lured in by Groupon's sales force.

I am testing the StainTalk site. Please disregard .http://www.flickr.com/photos/klausholzapfel/3871942391/

I am testing the StainTalk site. Please disregard. http://www.conceptbakery.com/index.php

Get out of the rec center: I can house up to 5 people and up to 2 dogs. Call Klaus at 303 500 3130 if you need a place to stay. I am located in Westminster - just off the 36. You can stay until the fire is over and you can safely return to your home. If your home is gone we'll figure something out as well - let's just hope it doesn't come down to that. As for the food: I'll trade my recipes for yours ;)

Hi Scott,
I also feel that the project we portayed goes back to the roots of your company. Ford has a tradition to make affordable cars for the masses (let's maybe leave the GT40 aside). The project you picked highlights a problem that is unfortunately rising these days and affects all of us in some way. At the end we need solidarity to solve the issues we are facing. This wasn't anything expensive but it looked really genuine. Well done.

A lot of companies are hopping on the cause marketing band wagon right now. Having a nearly 100 year old history in trying to make a difference clearly sets you apart.

Please let us know if you ever want to spin some cause marketing ideas around. We are pretty passionate about this and started our own non-profit to be more actively involved.

We are actually "partners in (fighting) crime": The Ford Foundation sponsored an organization in South Africa that we are also supporting (Sonke Gender Justice / Grassroots Soccer). Following your lead made it easy for us to find a great partner organization since we could rely on your due diligence.