The original Jeep first appeared around World War II as a prototype vehicle. Story goes, “Jeep” is shorthand for “GP,” aka “Government Purpose” or “General Purpose.” Others claim it to be named after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the old Popeye cartoons. Regardless, the Jeep was the first SUV and (as their tagline goes) wrote the book on 4-wheel drive. I learned to drive in my Dad’s orange Jeep Wagoneer similar to the one pictured here. And though I took a brief hiatus with the Oldsmobile corporation, I’ve driven a Jeep ever since. I’m not sure what drives Jeep owners to be “Jeep people” — bumper stickers claim “It’s a Jeep thing: you wouldn’t understand.” I wouldn’t go that far, but there’s something about a Jeep that’s just fun. Certainly the company that invented 4×4 technology should be trusted. Compared to other SUV’s, Jeep’s have similar creature comforts but often aren’t as large. They guzzle gas with the best (I get about 18 mpg in my ’05) but for city driving, the turning radius is amazing and they’re surprisingly roomy on the inside. I see this is fast becoming an ad for Jeeps rather than a “why do people like Jeeps?” post. I wonder why people are Jeep people and not necessarily Toyota people.  I’m sure there are Toyota people — maybe they’re kind enough not to flaunt bumper stickers claiming that “It’s a Toyota thing.”  I can tell you that Jeeps are a ton of fun, they’re the perfect all around vehicle for just about anything, and in a city like Chicago it’s nice to know that when flash floods hit Andersonville or 12″ of snow hits Clark street, we can still roll over to Jewel.  Customer loyalty, more than anything, is probably a family thing — I’m just now realizing that my dad, uncle and brother all drive Jeeps.  There’s your answer.

I remember the Price Pfister ads from back in the day mostly from their clever textual tagline: The Pfancy Pfaucet with the Pfunny Name. Price Pfister probably owes some tad of it’s success to Kohler, which (as you’ve guessed by now) has a town named after it in Wisconsin. Not only does the Kohler company have a small village about 2,000 residents strong (just 2.5 hours north of Chicago), but it was originally designed as a planned community for Kohler workers. I spent the weekend in Kohler it has a few very nice hotels (with requisite showcase bathrooms featuring, like, the best showers and sinks in town), a strip mall full of Shops that Moms would Adore, and a couple of golf courses and a nice little lake.   Apologies if you live in Kohler and I’ve left-out the all-important Whatever. Point is, the town was built around this company (which is still family owned over 125 years later). I wonder how it’d affect Town XYZ in today’s economy if a company were to, literally, move their headquarters next door and basically sponsor the dang thing. Jobs would be created and unity might be established by fighting a common battle not against the competition. NASA basically sponsored areas in Houston and Florida in the 1960′s. Maybe Apple’s sponsorship of Chicago’s North & Clybourn el station is the first step in civic sponsorship (taking things a beyond the transition from Comiskey to U.S. Cellular). Maybe Hollywood is an early economic indicator…”Semi Pro” was filmed in Flint, Michigan.

The other night I was picking-up the dry cleaning and a guy in front of me had a problem with a scarf that wasn’t cleaned properly. Long to story short, the conversation devolved into the guy telling Jay, the owner, that he didn’t want it re-cleaned. He wanted the full purchase price refunded to him in the form of a credit towards future dry cleaning bills. Jay said sure, okay, and he wrote the guy a credit for $33.50. After the guy left, Jay told me that the guy’s been in a number of times complaining about bad dry cleaning and wanting dry cleaning credits. Now you could say that Jay should tell this guy now way and risk him telling 100 people never to use the dry cleaners (always two sides to every story) but it’s interesting that people are now looking for ways to save money through returning clothes, Nordstrom style, to companies that don’t even have a return policy. One of my favorite companies REI has a lifetime no-questions-asked return policy, and I’ve returned a few things over the years, but come on. Would it ever occur to you to ask for the purchase price of a piece of clothing at the cleaners? Now that we’re on the subject I bet REI and LL Bean and Land’s End are having a run with people looking for a little extra cash by returning those old ski boots. It’s a slippery slope, returning goods to stores. Instead, take the boots to Play it Again Sports on Irving and Ashland and get your 10 bucks and move on with your life. Part of restoring transparency and trust in this economy applies to the consumer and not taking your ski boots back to REI.