Stanley K. Tanger, founder of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, died Saturday, October 23. The former shirt seller turned what now seems like a simple idea into a multi-million dollar business venture. Today the company has 33 outlet centers in 22 states, with the 33rd scheduled to open in Mebane next week.

Tanger was the featured speaker at the spring 2000 Boyles CEO Lecture Series, an event held each semester on the Appalachian State campus. His speech was entitled “Rags to Riches.” He told students of the obstacles involved when a 58-year-old man with a business plan finds no one who believes in him. Sometimes success comes down to both determination and luck.

Each of the bankers asked me how old I was. That was a tough question because I was 58 years old. That’s pretty old. Each one of the bankers said, “Hey, why don’t you go and retire? This is not the kind of business for you to get into. You’ll never make it because nobody will come to Burlington, North Carolina.” Yet I still had this idea that I could bring wonderful, national tenants to North Carolina.

One day (and this is a true story) I had used up all my ideas with the banks and I stopped at a gas station next to a little bank, called CCB. I walked in and the lady asked if she could help me. I told her that I wanted to borrow some money and she said that was what they did there and she asked how much I needed. I said, “Well, about $10 million.” That stopped her right away. She took me to meet the bank manager and we went through the whole story. I told him exactly what I was going to do; I was going to bring national Fortune 500 tenants to Burlington, North Carolina. That was quite a feat in those days.

Instead of turning me down (and this was a very creative banker and that’s another thing I want to see in people — creativity) he said if I would bring the leases for those Fortune 500 tenants, he would loan me 70 percent of the value of the lease. Now that was a great idea, but I had no real leases yet, only the idea.

Tanger offered not just reflections on his own success, but some of the lessons he learned (“My advice is to not ever retire. If you retire, retire to something”). He also mentioned some of the people he met, including one well known investor.

I had a call about six months ago. I’ve got a secretary who is kind of like a drill sergeant; she protects me, or thinks she does, from crazy calls. One day she said there was a man on the phone that I ought to talk to. He said his name was Warren Buffet. I answered the phone and this man introduced himself as Warren Buffet. He said he loved my company and that he had purchased a lot of the company’s stock. In fact, he said he had bought quite a bit of stock and that he was filing a form 13G with the SEC letting the world know that he is a passive investor. He said the next time I was in Omaha, to come on out and have lunch.

I thought this guy was joking about the next time I was in Omaha (I don’t get to Omaha very often). A few months later I called him, told him who I was and said that I wanted to come out and visit with him. He suggested the next day and I agreed. I made the trip to Omaha and had lunch and spent the day with a very delightful man. He drives his own old Lincoln Town Car.

In making conversation I asked him if he had a computer. I said I had heard he doesn’t believe in tech stocks and things like that. He asked me if I knew Bill Gates. I said I didn’t think so. He told me Bill Gates had shipped him a computer. I asked him what kind he had. He said he didn’t know. Of course, my next question was what do you do with it if you don’t know what it is. He said that he played bridge on it. He said it cost him $9 a month to play bridge and there’s a bridge program called OK Bridge where everybody uses a code name, so if you play bridge with someone by the name of T-bone, that’s Warren Buffet.

You can read Tanger’s entire speech online.

Last spring Krispy Kreme Doughnuts president and CEO James H. "Jim" Morgan headlined the semester's CEO Lecture Series. At roughly the same time as his appearance, there were media reports predicting the inevitable bankruptcy of his company. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported -

Krispy Kreme stock, which sold for more than $44 a share in July 2003, opened at $1.26 Monday and lost 7 cents by the close of the stock market.

Moody's Investors Services predicts the Winston-Salem-based doughnut maker is one of 15 businesses - including Rite Aid, Blockbuster and Chrysler - that will go bankrupt this year.

That was in March 2009. Since then, the company's stock rose steadily - it hit a 52-week peak of $5.15earlier this month - before dropping to $4 a share. The company is also reporting sales on the rise while debt drops.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is finally beginning to see some payoff from its 2008 turnaround strategy, James Morgan, the company's chairman, president and CEO told investors in the company's fourth quarter earnings call. For the year, debt fell 42 percent, with payments of $31.4 million, to meet one of its strategic objectives. The company also is seeing results from improving franchisee relations and operations. ...

Krispy Kreme reported company same-sales for the quarter ended Jan. 31 were up 1.1 percent, the fifth consecutive quarterly increase. The rate was slower than in the three preceding quarters, which the company attributed to adverse weather conditions. Domestic franchisee same-store sales were down slightly at 0.4 percent for the quarter.

For the year, company-owned same-store sales were up 3.5 percent, with domestic franchisee same-store sales up 0.9 percent.

It would appear Morgan is seeing the fruition of his 4th Key to Living - "Approach any unexpected or undesired ending as an opportunity for a new and exciting beginning."

Charlotte public radio station WFAE spoke this week with John Silvia, chief economist with Wells Fargo and member of the Walker College Business Advisory Council. Silvia says he sees the economy improving soon, but the tide will not lift all boats.

But the people who may need a recovery the most, could be the last to feel it.

"The more educated you are on average, the higher you're income growth over time. It is those computer-literate, college-educated folks that will benefit immediately," explained Silvia.

He said it will be these people who will be in demand over the next 2 to 5 years in the Charlotte region, while times may continue to be difficult for many blue-collar workers.

"The old manufacturing, the old Pillowtex jobs that we're all familiar are pretty much gone by the board," said Silvia. "You can see it within our state, the huge disparity in unemployment for example in the Hickory region which is really a pretty hard-hit furniture region compared to some of the service sector."

USA Today reports today on the status of the federal stimulus package. According to the paper, "From Indiana rental units to a Colorado energy company and workers' paychecks everywhere, the stimulus is just beginning to make itself felt." Among the many sources quoted in the article is John Silvia, member of the Walker College Business Advisory Board.

"You definitely need to be patient. There's no way you can expect results as fast as some people expect. It's not like a fast-food breakfast," says John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia Bank.

Silvia also recently released a series of charts on the federal deficit. Headlined "Federal Deficit Crossed the $1 Trillion Mark in Style," he notes that "Both spending and tax receipts put in double-digit performances to produce our ten digit deficit. Spending came in at +20 percent over a year ago and receipts down 18 percent. No doubt where this train is going."

Spending: Entitlement Spending Leads the Way

• Medicare, Social Security and Income Security all recorded double digit gains in spending compared to a year ago. Such percentage increases are large even for a recession where these categories represent automatic stabilizers
  
• Total outlays have soared as a percent of nominal GDP. The government's command of economic resources is at a new high.

Revenues: Weakness Reflects Recession Pattern

• Both individual and corporate income tax revenues have fallen at double digit rates compared to a year ago.
  
• The Federal deficit is now at a post-WWII high and is likely to continue to rise in the near term as deficits rise and the economy remains weak. These deficits will influence the allocation of global savings for the foreseeable future.

UPDATE - On July 13, it was announced that John Silvia has been named Wells Fargo & Company's chief economist.