Products & ideas for the laboratory professional.
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BY CAROL GILHAWLEY OPINIONS IN THE LAB I'VE BEEN following some news in the Irish media about a UK pub giant called JD Wetherspoon embroiled in a dispute about the price of pints with the Dutch brewer, Heineken. Wetherspoon is planning to open 30 pubs in Ireland. But, at its frst location in Dublin, it has been selling Heinek- en beer for €2.95, thereby undercut- ting the independent Irish publicans with pints that are 40% cheaper than their prices. One pub owner commented: "I couldn't sell beer at that price and make a proft and pay my rates, my bank charges, my staff, and everything else." Some Dublin bar owners thought Wetherspoon was getting a preferential price and so contacted Heineken to inquire. Possibly bowing to the pressure, Heineken then refused to sell beer and Murphy's stout to Wetherspoon's newest location. In retaliation, Wetherspoon dropped all Heineken lager and stout products from its 926 pubs in England and Ireland, terminating a contract worth €76 million in sales to Heineken. Interestingly, Heineken is the number-one selling lager in Ireland so it remains to be seen if the public will fock to pubs that don't sell it! I only mention this story because I believe it correlates to the lab industry. Independent labs are similar in many ways to family-run independent pubs. When they're up against the big guys how do they try to outmaneuver them? In this increasingly competitive market- place, they need to become more creative. They have to fnd ways to make more profts whether it's by private labeling their own products or by encouraging their ECP customers to prescribe more AR lens add-ons (see "Maximizing Profts", p. 12). I'd like to wish all of you a prosperous year ahead. Cheers or, as they say in Ireland, Slàinte—to good health! Carol Gilhawley is Editor-in-Chief of Optical Lab Products and can be reached at cg@visioncareproducts.com. SUCCESS DELIVERED DELIVERED SALEM Vision WE ARE 100% EMPLOYEE OWNED AEM-100 is an innovative laser-free engraving system designed to accurately and cost-effectively engrave freeform lenses. In addition to its superior design for safety, operation reliability, excellent performance and fexibility, the AEM-100 is also the most compact and effcient engraving system available. For a detailed video on the AEM-100 please visit : http://www.salemdist.com/vision/spotlight/index.asp Aspire™ 900 is a high performance plastic lens polish that is ideal for both digital and plastic lens polishing applications. It has been precision engineered to provide high removal rates and produce superior surface fnishes on CR-39, High Index and Polycarbonate materials. www.salemdist.com 800.234.1982 Price of Pints and the Publican