Miscellaneous 'Shoe

-- Home Depot dropped by $2 billion the price -- to $8.5 billion -- of its commercial supply business. HD is desperate to sell. Could that be the haircut of the year? More on the failed commercial strategy at this prescient October 2006 post at the Motley Fool: "Nardelli did this at GE as well: Expand the definition of your market, and you can grow. But I have to wonder whether the returns are really going to be there. ... My fear is that Home Depot will start to experience the 'Red Queen Effect,' in which it has to run as fast as it can (i.e., spend capital to achieve limited growth) just to stay in the same place." Good call.

-- Taiwanese firm Acer bought cow-themed Gateway and is now the world's third-biggest computer company with sales of 20 million units per year. "The takeover will mean a big payday for founder Ted Waitt, who owns 20% of the shares. Gateway has struggled, however, to keep up with the industry's two multinational leaders. ... The tie-up is a blow to Lenovo, which is among a crop of Chinese industrial firms keen to break into the global league. It was in talks to buy Packard Bell for $800m but under an agreement negotiated last year, Gateway has first refusal to purchase the European firm." 

-- HBS's Working Knowledge examines how Mattel correctly recalled a toy. The three reasons: The CEO has taken personal charge of the situation, Mattel is effectively getting the word out about the recall, and Mattel's recall Web site is a model of excellence.

-- "To a United Pilot, The Friendly Skies Are a Point of Pride" at the Wall Street Journal. Customer service on an airplane? I haven't seen much of that for a while. "Capt. Denny Flanagan is a rare bird in today's frustration-filled air-travel world -- a pilot who goes out of his way to make flying fun for passengers. ... United, which ranked in the middle of the airline pack in on-time arrivals and mishandled baggage in the first half of this year and next-to-worst in consumer complaints, has supported Capt. Flanagan's efforts. The airline supplies the airplane trading-cards he hands out as passengers board, plus books, wine and discount coupons he has flight attendants give away. He goes through about 700 business cards a month, and the company reimburses him for the food he buys during prolonged delays."

-- Yahoo has added text messenging and instant messaging to its free email. Add a kitchen sink if you want, I'm sticking with Gmail.

-- Live and learn: Roger Ebert and family of the late Gene Siskel own the copyright to the up or down Thumbs™ used in his television show.