Retail locates not because of incentives. It locates because there are people there to buy stuff. It's the people that matter.

If you look at the empirical findings, the biggest competition is not between states. It's between cities within states that are close to each other. That's where you'll find most of the action going on, and actually, it's worse, because it's likely to have the most negative impact on the public purse where the competition is so local.

The retailers who get these economic-development incentives seem to be gaining in ways that they should really not be gaining. There is very little justification for a retailer to get incentives except that cities feel that they are competing with each other. That's the reason why they give it.

Our third quarter results reflect return on investments in people and infrastructure made in prior periods.

Certainly seeing more merger and acquisition activity going on encourages people too because it's a signal to them that things are undervalued.

There are a number of people in the city who are eminently qualified. Many might not know there is an opening.