The point I was trying (poorly, perhaps) to make was not to jump to conclusions about China destroying another iconic American brand (two, if you include Samsonite). That's it.I did have to check the map (because I'm clearly a very thick individual)...but you're correct, Luxembourg isn't in China! You know where else it isn't...the feckin' USA!
Both were American companies/brands, now they aren't. The point wasn't so much the damn Chinese.
Piss & Moan Table
- Thread starter Farmergreg
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To be clear, I don't blame the Chinese for any of this. It's business, it's money. Hell, they're acing the state flavor of the capitalism game, making us look like amateurs. More power to 'em, industrious folks, they are.
I do, however, place blame on the allegedly elected cocksuckers (aka "leaders") in this country who sold everything out from under the very people they were supposed to be representing over the past many decades, effectively castrating the country they claim to love for the sake of greed and power.
Man, this luggage conversation is getting rough. That's it. I'm packing my bags, and I'm outta here...
Well..... technically the company was based there until 2006 but..... (information overload time)
Samsonite's history during the 1910–2006 Denver era:
- 1910–1973 (Denver Based & US Owned): During this time, the physical location and the ownership matched. It was a Denver-based company owned entirely by the Denver-based Shwayder family.
- 1973–2006 (Denver Based but Outside Ownership): After the family sold the company in 1973, Samsonite remained physically located in Denver, but its owners changed constantly. It was owned by a revolving door of outside corporate parent companies, New York private equity firms (like KKR), and Wall Street public shareholders. None of these owners were based in Denver.
The Original Denver Operations (1910–2001)
The company began on March 10, 1910, when 28-year-old Jesse Shwayder, a former luggage salesman, used his life savings of $3,500 to open the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company in Denver, Colorado.
The "Standing on a Trunk" Marketing Coup
- The Publicity Stunt (1916): To prove the extreme durability of their heavy wooden trunks, Jesse Shwayder, his father, and his three brothers stood on a plank balanced on top of a single Shwayder suitcase.
- The Impact: The five men weighed over 1,000 pounds combined. The resulting photograph became a famous marketing gimmick, establishing the brand’s lifelong association with "strength".
The Move to South Broadway and Montbello
As the company grew, it moved from its original small workshop to a massive facility on Denver's South Broadway (sharing the industrial neighborhood with the historic Gates Rubber Company). By the mid-20th century, operations expanded to a giant 100-acre corporate campus in Denver's Montbello neighborhood.
At its absolute peak, the Denver manufacturing operations employed over 4,000 people, making Samsonite one of the most prominent blue-collar employers in Colorado history. The domestic manufacturing era ended when the Montbello plant finally closed in May 2001, resulting in the layoff of its final 340 factory workers and shifting production completely overseas
Samsonite was a wholly owned, independent US company from its founding in 1910 until 1973.
During this 63-year period, it operated entirely as an American family business and domestic corporation. Here is how that era looked and when it officially ended:
The Era as a Wholly Owned US Company (1910–1973)
- The Beginning (1910): Founded in Denver, Colorado, by Jesse Shwayder as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company. It was funded entirely by family capital with zero foreign investment.
- The Domestic Rebrand (1965): The company officially changed its name to the Samsonite Corporation, remaining a major US employer with thousands of workers at its primary manufacturing plant in Denver.
The End of US Ownership (1973)
The era of Samsonite being a traditionally owned US family company ended in 1973, when the Shwayder family sold the business to Beatrice Foods Co. for roughly $100 million.
The Transition to Global Corporate Ownership (1980s–Present)
Following the 1973 sale, Samsonite entered a volatile multi-decade cycle of corporate buyouts that slowly stripped away its identity as a strictly US-owned business:
- The Private Equity Era (1986–2005): It was bought and sold by various Wall Street private equity firms and conglomerates, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Astrum International.
- The Final Factory Closure (2001): Samsonite officially shut down its historic Denver, Colorado manufacturing plant, moving the last of its domestic luggage production overseas.
- European Move (2007–2011): British private equity firm CVC Capital Partners purchased Samsonite in 2007. They legally restructured it into a Luxembourg-registered group and ultimately took it public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2011, finalizing its transformation into a fully global entity.
That's it. I'm packing my bags, and I'm outta here...
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwCCHjWJ5yE
You can apparently put 10.25Kgo on an egg without it breaking but I bet if you drop it from the height of that stack it will break.
I went to Costco in Tampa for a tire rotation on my Highlander. Costco tire tech called me a few minutes after I walked out of the tire center area. He asked me if I knew that my car had winter tires (they are studless Bridgestone Blizzaks that came from Costco in Oregon). I said yes I was aware, and he said we can't rotate them. I asked why, and he said we don't do that in Florida, and I should get new tires. I asked him if he was joking, he said no. I requested he ask someone else, and then he came back to the phone and said they would rotate them.
Woke up to the neighbors tree breaking in half, taking out my electric, ripping the pole and meter pan off the side of the house. Hear a hissing sound and an old tube TV behind me starts sizzling and pouring out smoke. Unplug it and toss it out on the porch. I am in the basement by the panel and hear arcing, shut the main off...basement smells "electrical". Call the FD to clear the house of any possible fires. Power company has to come out and cut the tree off the still energized lines on my lawn. Of course, they did not come and can't even give me a day/time of when. They need to clear the tree off the lines, disconnect the house from the street pole, then I can try and get an electrician (on my dime) to put up a new pole and meter pan. Then call the power company back to energize the house.....will be lucky if I am back on line Tuesday.
I do have a generator but it is stuck in the garage with no way to get it out. Normally my lift is in the up position but it is down on the ground blocking it.
I do have a generator but it is stuck in the garage with no way to get it out. Normally my lift is in the up position but it is down on the ground blocking it.
speeding_infraction
TJ Addict
not sure I will even hit the $5-10K deductible, depends on if any appliances or other electrical damages found. Power co. might also cover some damage. The tree and meter pole/pan is on me...probably $2500???
If it’s the neighbors tree then the neighbor’s insurance should cover it. What have your neighbors said? Hopefully they don’t pull the Act of God crap.
Fire season is in full swing here on the southwest coast of BC and our local municipal firefighters have already put out over half a dozen fires.. The shocking part about this is that these fires were all manmade... Our community has been plagued by way too many left wing council members as well as constituents and along with provincial funding have set up these homeless shelters and what they like to call "overdose prevention centres" where crackheads can freely do whatever drugs they want whenever they want. This has also let to other larger communities sending their own vagrants our way because of all the free housing and support they get from us taxpayers. Our local police and ambulance service are also constantly responding to issues and drama caused by this particular group, whether it's the fourth overdose of the week, a domestic dispute at the housing facility, or dealing with the endless flow of stolen property. All of that takes first responders away from being available for actual emergencies.
But what about the fires dusty?
The damn fires.... The housing space to crackhead ratio is way off which means we've got multiple spots where they've set up camp in the limited forested areas in and around our community. And what has man done for thousands of years to prepare food to eat? FIRE.... Last summer alone the fire dept responded to and extinguished over 40 fires. It's currently the end of May and we've had 7 fires so far.
It's only a matter of time before one of these fires gets out of control and either causes loss of life or property.
And the sad reality of this situation is nobody, including our useless council members, will do anything to try and solve this matter until someones house burns to the ground.
There's my rant for the day
But what about the fires dusty?
The damn fires.... The housing space to crackhead ratio is way off which means we've got multiple spots where they've set up camp in the limited forested areas in and around our community. And what has man done for thousands of years to prepare food to eat? FIRE.... Last summer alone the fire dept responded to and extinguished over 40 fires. It's currently the end of May and we've had 7 fires so far.
It's only a matter of time before one of these fires gets out of control and either causes loss of life or property.
And the sad reality of this situation is nobody, including our useless council members, will do anything to try and solve this matter until someones house burns to the ground.
There's my rant for the day
speeding_infraction
TJ Addict
Fify
Also it's ironic cause all the lefties over there were so obsessed with saving the trees, but now the crackheads make them more money and are even more of a PITA for regular people.
@tnjeepguy
Was in Nashville tn specifically the Brentwood area and stopped at Popeyes Louisiana chicken joint for lunch. Brentwood is a well to do area and the chick waiting on us couldn’t speak a lick of English. We couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand us. She asked the wife a question and were like ??????? WTF?????
The cashier finally held up a paper cup to clarify that she was asking what drink did we want with the meal.
Was in Nashville tn specifically the Brentwood area and stopped at Popeyes Louisiana chicken joint for lunch. Brentwood is a well to do area and the chick waiting on us couldn’t speak a lick of English. We couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand us. She asked the wife a question and were like ??????? WTF?????
The cashier finally held up a paper cup to clarify that she was asking what drink did we want with the meal.
@tnjeepguy
Was in Nashville tn specifically the Brentwood area and stopped at Popeyes Louisiana chicken joint for lunch. Brentwood is a well to do area and the chick waiting on us couldn’t speak a lick of English. We couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand us. She asked the wife a question and were like ??????? WTF?????
The cashier finally held up a paper cup to clarify that she was asking what drink did we want with the meal.
Wow, I like approximately 16 miles north of the border in South East Arizona. We don't have that problem here.
I think Nashville is becoming the next New York City or Los Angeles
