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This year, we’re expected to spend more than $50 billion on our pets, which would be a record. According to the American Pet Products Association, pet spending has increased every year since 2001, and only once by less than 5%. Oh, and we’re planning on spending $300 million just to dress them up for Halloween this month.
As the average car on the road has never been older, it’s come as no surprise that all of those old cars need service and repairs—and the auto repair business has never been better. With that in mind, car dealerships are placing a renewed focus on making more money from their service departments, sometimes via questionable tactics, including classic upselling and proactively reaching out to customers about problems they might have but don’t even know about. “The front end of the store is sexy,” says one dealership CEO, “but we make our money in the back.”
When retailers and restaurants offer freebies, the point is to draw attention—not controversy. The only reason to protest 7-Eleven for giving out free Slurpees or Haagen-Dazs for dishing out free ice cream cones might be that the complimentary serving sizes are too small. But what do you expect when you’re paying $0? Now, though, a Texas-based pizza chain is drawing heat over its upcoming giveaway—in which pizza is free only to customers who order in Spanish.
