[sunnykerr]

It would be smart of Canada to rely on its own stores, but the truth is that most of our big chains are now owned by U.S. owners.

So the rest of it is just a matter of chains having or not having the patience to find a market up here.

Target bought up Zellers to replace them with Targets. But then Targets didn't catch on quickly enough, so they pulled out of Canada.

So now we don't have Zellers or Target.

Which leaves us with Walmart, but Walmarts are not as accessible to those of us who don't drive.

[sunnykerr]

[There You'll Be]

I didn't remember that.

That's a shame you lost both of them.

That's a sucky way to do business, for Target.

[sunnykerr]

Well, Target isn't owned by people exactly.

It's owned by a hedge fund.

You know, a company that's there to make money for its investors.

Like, that's the only thing it does (because, obviously, all companies are there to make money).

So the theory is that the hedge fund that owns Target couldn't "afford" to wait the normal amount of time it takes for a company of that size to start making money when it enters a new market.

Because all the Canadian financial analysts were saying Target would start making profits in Canada within five years.

But you have to be willing to wait out those five years.

The hedge fund wasn't willing to do that.

Which is okay, but then you have to realize how many chains of stores and restaurants are owned by hedge funds.

Because that's gonna start affecting the landscape of what's out there sooner rather than later.

[There You'll Be]

Ah, well, that makes more sense.

All they're out for is money for their investors.

I mean I get what you said-that all businesses are out to make money.

I didn't realize how a hedge fund operated. And, I had no idea what a hedge fun was.

It sounds really competitive.

Thanks for explaining that to me.

And, how did you know that?

[sunnykerr]

It's not just money they're after.

It's quick money.

That's the problem.

Because the financial analysts all agree that they would have made money.

Ask Walmart.

I mean, Walmarts didn't make money here at first either.

That's what happens when you come into a new market.

You have to invest money, and probably a lot of it, in order to eventually make money.

And, let's not kid ourselves, there is a lot of competition, so it's not like Target or Walmart or whomever else has a clear space waiting for them.

So you have to be patient. The money will come. But it takes patience.

People have more patience than hedge funds.

I knew about hedge funds because (1) my older brother works for one, but he doesn't talk about his work much so, mostly, (2) my step-father used to work at the stock exchange and he explains these things to me.

[There You'll Be]

That makes sense-that it takes time and investment.

I still think it's a shame Target wasn't willing to do that, just cause they wanted quick money.

I was wondering how you knew so much. About hedge funds that is.

I thought you learned it in school.

[sunnykerr]

I don't really know much about hedge funds, when you think about it.

I just know they're there to make money for their investors and that they want to make that money quickly.

That's all.

I don't know how they work internally, you know?

Presumably, they all work differently anyway.

They're taking over the world, it seems, though.

Like, Olive Garden is owned by a hedge fund.

That's why there was all that noise about a year ago about changing the menus and possibly closing a lot of restaurants.

It's different when a thing isn't owned by one person with a vision of what they want and the perseverance to wait out leaner times.

[sunnykerr]

And now everything should be back where it belongs.

[There You'll Be]

Yeah, I guess they do all work differently for sure.

As far as I can guess.

Well, you knew more than me, because I knew nothing about them.

It's really not right that they're taking over.

The single owner doesn't stand a chance against that.

And now they're not in order again.

[sunnykerr]

Well, I didn't just mean one person owning a company.

For instance, we have one chain of clothing stores up here called Simon's.

Simon's is owned by a family.

So it's not a single person, but it's also a limited group of people.

Hedge funds? See, that's one thing I don't know.

How many people are in charge of a hedge fund? I have no idea.

But, obviously, they have less of an attachment to this company or that company.

They're just looking for what will make them money.

[There You'll Be]

That makes sense-we have family owned places around here too.

And the small shops which dominate our town are generally a partnership, or one person owned.

At least from what I've gathered from the people.

It makes sense that a hedgefund wouldn't be as attatched and more of a priority for money.

[sunnykerr]

My brother works for one, but I'll be honest, I'm not sure I like what hedge funds are doing to the world right now.

Because all businesses carry risks, you know?

And if there's no patience...

My big fear is that we're gonna move towards a world of nothing but Walmarts and Applebees.

Not that I think there's anything wrong with either of those.

Not even a little bit.

But we need variety in the world, right?

We need access to products and we need affordable products.

If we stop taking risks in the business world, the big chains will have a monopoly of the market.

When you don't have any competition, there's no reason not to hike up the prices.

I know you don't fly, but that's something we've already begun to see in that industry.

The airline industry in the U.S. is controlled by two or three big companies and the prices have gone up a lot.

[There You'll Be]

We definitely need variety.

And freedom of choice.

If they take over, it takes away our free will in a sense.

I didn't know that about airlines.

That's not fair, and it's ridiculous.

And it's a shame.

[sunnykerr]

I just saw on the news that Roots, a big Canadian clothing company, has sold a majority of its shares to a hedge fund.

The report did say that this was becoming more and more of a trend.

Roots make our Olympic costumes.

Can they still do that if the majority of it is now owned by a New York hedge fund?



Oh, well. Apparently, this is the way of the world now.