Senate won't debate estate tax repeal
Estate tax repeal won't be on senators' agendas anytime soon. On June 8, a procedural cloture vote failed to get the necessary 60 votes to pass, preventing further consideration of a House bill, the Death Tax Repeal Permanency Act of 2005. The bill would allow the estate tax to continue to be phased out until repeal is complete in 2010, and then make repeal permanent. Steve Pfister, Nat.'l Retail Federation senior v.p. for government relations, said the estate tax is devastating to family-owned businesses. "Families are often forced to liquidate a business upon the death of a family member in order to pay this extraordinarily high tax," he said.

Rice Creek Gardens closing this fall
Rice Creek Gardens, a haven for rare alpine plants and a stop on last year's ANLA Retail Roadshow, will close this fall, according to a report in Pioneer Press. The 16-acre park and nursery is in Blaine, Minn., a fast-growing city north of Minneapolis. Owner Betty Ann Addison said high taxes and a $200,000 assessment for road improvements prompted her to sell. She intends to continue growing plants at her home. Co-owner Harvey Buchite will move many plants to a new 55-acre nursery in Spring Grove in southeastern Minnesota.

Retail sales up, but hiring down
Michael Mandel, chief economist for BusinessWeek, addressed the disparity between retail sales and retail hiring in a recent column. Numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show retailers have fewer workers than they did a year ago. At the same time, retail sales are up 8%. Mandel believes booming e-commerce and stagnant wages could be contributing to lagging retail job numbers.

Deadline nears for Kay Berry contest
Retailers can submit videos showing how they display Kay Berry products for a chance to win $1,000 in merchandise. Contest deadline is July 31. Videos should be 30 seconds or longer and clips may be featured in showrooms, print ads and other promotional materials. Mail tapes to Kay Berry Videos, 6301 N. Noah Drive, Saxonburg, PA 19056.

Consumers feel crunch at the pump
A new survey from Nat.'l. Retail Federation shows that 76% of consumers believe fluctuating gas prices have impacted their spending habits. This is up from 67.2% in 2005 and 56.8% in 2004. Most consumers (44.8%) said they will cope with higher prices by driving less. Other saving strategies include decreasing vacation or travel (37.2%), less eating out (36.2%) and delaying major purchases (22.2%). Also, 8% of respondents said they will carpool, almost double the amount from the previous year (4.5%).

X-Factor contest winner selected
Congratulations to Michelle Coughran of Castle Rock Nursery in Castle Rock, Wash., who won the May X-Factor contest and received $450 worth of clematis from Hines Horticulture. Enter this month's X-Factor contest here.

Worth a visit
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