They had some pretty decent stores in northern Michigan. Used to visit / shop in them occasionally. But, how does one compete with the likes of Amazon? (on small appliances especially.) And with inflation, it’s likely now that more low-income folks are turning to the Dollar stores.
Good article in the WSJ few days ago. Focused on the two gentlemen co-founders who are retired, 80+, and living in Florida. Apparently the franchise slipped from profit to loss very quickly - within 2 or 3 years. One wonders if “activist” investors may have been involved - just a guess.

I have filed K-1s on TurboTax for several years. It takes extra time and occasionally some fudging ( PTP income requires two separate K-1s for each company) but it can be done without hiring an accountant.
OF course the sums involved in my case are not huge ( under $5,000) so if I screwed up the IRS probably doesn't care.
The biggest problem is some of the companies do not issue K-1s until late, even after April 15th.
If you want to invest in energy MLPs a lot easier to use one of the ETFs or Mutual funds that do so, although it will charge the management fee

You can always put forth a proposal for the annual meeting if you own shares directly.
While that's what many people think, that's not quite the way it works.
Companies don't want Johnny-come-latelies buying a share just before the record date just to introduce a proposal at an annual meeting. Rather, they want you to have some skin in the game before they accept your proposals for a vote. Not much skin, but skin nevertheless.
The law allows a company to require shareholders submitting proposals to have a small but substantial pecuniary interest in the company. In 2020, the SEC "adopted amendments to Exchange Act Rule 14a-8, the shareholder-proposal rule."

[It] amend[ed] Rule 14a-8(b) by:

• replacing the current ownership threshold, which requires holding at least $2,000 or 1% of a company’s securities for at least one year, with three alternative thresholds that will require a shareholder to demonstrate continuous ownership of at least:
  • $2,000 of the company’s securities for at least three years;
    
  • $15,000 of the company’s securities for at least two years; or
    
  • $25,000 of the company’s securities for at least one year.

https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2020-220
For completeness (and to split hairs even more finely), you don't necessarily have to own shares directly (i.e. be shareholder of record) in order to submit shareholder proposals.
What I think you're alluding to are the limited rights that mutual fund owners have with respect to the underlying companies in the portfolio. There, fund owners don't even hold company shares indirectly. Often indirect ownership is sufficient. The most common example likely being street name ownership.
Again looking at Rule 14a-8:

There are two types of security holders in the U.S.: registered owners and beneficial owners [footnote omitted]. Registered owners have a direct relationship with the issuer because their ownership of shares is listed on the records maintained by the issuer or its transfer agent. ...
The vast majority of investors in shares issued by U.S. companies, however, are beneficial owners, which means that they hold their securities in book-entry form through a securities intermediary, such as a broker or a bank. Beneficial owners are sometimes referred to as “street name” holders. Rule 14a-8(b)(2)(i) provides that a beneficial owner can provide proof of ownership to support his or her eligibility to submit a proposal...

https://www.sec.gov/corpfin/staff-legal-bulletin-14f-shareholder-proposals

"Do you look at the posts by category? "
Absolutely. I keep two permanent tabs on my browser...
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/discussions/discussionsplus
https://www.mutualfundobserver.com/discuss/categories/off-topic
... and select whichever I'm interested in. Years ago there was such dissension among MFO posters because of the extreme intrusion of political comments and agendas that the "Off-Topic" section was deliberately "sealed off" from the investment sections so that the posters who come to MFO strictly for financial information are not constantly looking at political controversy.
I believe that my social credentials are not exactly a secret here. Lifelong Democrat, West Coast center-left, totally repulsed by whatever remains of a once legitimate Republican party. And yes, at times I too cross the line in my posting. But I do respect the guidelines set out by David Snowball years ago, and believe that all of us have a responsibility to do that.
To continuously disrespect those guidelines, saying whatever we want, wherever we want, only emulates the behavior of the Trumpian Republicans and leads to the continued destruction of the social fabric.

@WABAC and @sma3: I appreciate your responses. A few years ago, while watching my CELG shares make a huge climb upward, I rationalized that I was offsetting my rapidly increasing out-of-pocket healthcare expenses by investing in the sector. Now I feel a certain amount of guilt that I, as opposed to a retiree on a very limited budget, have enough discretionary capital to be able to profit from the misfortune of others. I also realize that I do not screen my funds or stocks with anything like a social responsibility screen. While I own BIAWX, it's not because its "responsible," but because it's a good growth fund. I invest in healthcare because it's "defensive," yet I may not like the fact that profits are made because sick people will always need treatment. I like the fact that healthcare funds don't decline as much as the rest of the market on down days. A Hobson's choice, I suppose.

@LewisBraham
Thank you for your kind response and discussion.
America's tortured history of race indeed should be discussed in schools at all levels, including discussions about the motivations of slaveholders in the Revolution.
But I am trying to make the point that the approach to subjects like these needs to be done in a very careful, well researched manner that will encourage the people whose minds are perhaps still a little open to participate in the discussion.
By that I mean extreme care should be taken to avoid statements and opinions that either political extreme can pick up and run with, such as "one of the primary reasons ... was because they wanted to protect the institution of slavery".
But I don't think extreme care was taken in the lead 1619 essay. Professor Leslie Harris was asked to fact check the essay before they published it and warned Hannah-Jones and the NYT this statement was inaccurate
"On August 19 of last year I listened in stunned silence as Nikole Hannah-Jones, a reporter for the New York Times, repeated an idea that I had vigorously argued against with her fact-checker: that the patriots fought the American Revolution in large part to preserve slavery in North America."
(The quote comes from the article below which is also a good summary of the rapid increase in the last 30 years in American Historical scholarship on slavery, which Harris applauds and has been part of and claims that Gordon Wood has not)
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/06/1619-project-new-york-times-mistake-122248
The NYT eventually backed down, sorta, " We stand behind the basic point, which is that among the various motivations that drove the patriots toward independence was a concern that the British would seek or were already seeking to disrupt in various ways the entrenched system of American slavery". Not very convincing is it?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/magazine/an-update-to-the-1619-project.html
I do not really know the NYT editors motivation in publishing the original statement, but ideology certainly seems to have payed a part, rather than a rigorous search for the truth.
The right wing has unfortunately used this to ban 1619 books, and now AP courses in African American history ( which does include sections that some parents would find inappropriate for high school), and now a few people and one right wing foundation are attempting to muzzle basic support for diverse viewpoints and LGBT people in any school n Michigan, because state law allows parents to opt their child out of "sex education".
https://popular.info/p/inside-the-audacious-new-scheme-to
You should look at it "Judd at popular information" on Substack, He does an immense amount of work tracking down dark money supporting these legislative movements, and tracks corporations spending on politics very carefully. Most corporations claim they support equal rights for women, LGBT, and election integrity but give lots of money to election deniers, and bigots. Their money has clearly been a major source of the divisive poisonous political atmosphere we find ourselves in.
It is unclear to me why US corporations believe that fostering these political confrontations will be positive in the long run or good for their business. I assume they are too scared not to cough up the cash, after seeing what happened to Disney in Florida.

K-1s normally come in late-March or early-April, so any early filing is out.
They need more forms. Brokerage 1099 reports are not reliable but one has to use some info from 1099 and other from K-1.
I dealt with K-1 for years, so it's a doable mess. But I am now K-1 free and I sleep better.

This will be my first year with a K-1. (ET, Energy Transfer.) So, my brokerage provides a 1099? But somehow, that is incomplete? I am aware, per the TRP website, that the required K-1 must come directly from the company I'm invested in..... But somehow, both forms must be included with the tax return?
What GENIUS is in charge of this crap?
I am considering another: it's an oil royalty trust with TWO (count 'em!) employees, and an official HQ address out of the quaint town of Keene, New Hampshire. But nowhere on their website do they mention a K-1. Nor do they refer to themselves as a Limited Partnership. It's squishy. The website explains that specific information for tax filing will be sent with a year-end report. But no official IRS form number. The info comes in a "letter."
NRT. http://www.neort.com/
.....Fun and games. But the profits MIGHT be worth the trouble? My tax guy is the one who will have to worry about it all, anyhow. And with probably zero tax due, and just a small refund, maybe it's just not a big deal in my situation.

K-1s normally come in late-March or early-April, so any early filing is out.
They need more forms. Brokerage 1099 reports are not reliable but one has to use some info from 1099 and other from K-1.
I dealt with K-1 for years, so it's a doable mess. But I am now K-1 free and I sleep better.

Even better-FXF issues a 1099-not a K1 tax form. Unfortunately, UUP , an etf I was interested in years ago, issues a K1 !

Why are people allergic to the K-1? Is it because they are typically issued late?

Even better-FXF issues a 1099-not a K1 tax form. Unfortunately, UUP , an etf I was interested in years ago, issues a K1 !

Hindenburg specializes in blowing-up companies. TMK there’s usually a factual basis for their claims. But be aware they’re biased against the stocks they short. Did a real number on DKNG about 2 years ago (not that the stock needed any help skidding).

@msf I appreciate your remarks. No argument here. The original reference I made to Vietnamese workers were native Vietnamese, living and working in Vietnam, not Saipan. The way I heard the story, the already-finished product--- the blue jeans--- were shipped from Vietnam to Saipan simply to have the US flag and logo sewn onto them. So, even if the manufacturer could not in good faith claim that the jeans were American-made, the company was certainly communicating that impression.
That does indeed sound plausible to me. For-profit companies everywhere, since forever, are always looking for ways to circumvent regulations. If the particular details I offered are incorrect, then I do indeed stand corrected.
Yes, the CNMI were not subject to the laws and regulations that the States must obey, some several years ago. That's been corrected, for the sake of those foreign workers. That same sort of worker exploitation is just par for the course, a reality taken for granted--- still--- in many countries. Think of Qatar, on the run-up to the FIFA games. Also, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and elsewhere. I personally have cousins (through marriage) who are OFW workers. One fellow who works as an OFW in Macau has not seen his young son for 4 years--- until just recently. Their passports are taken from them!!! And from the other direction: rather than to work to create a more prosperous, legitimate business regime, the gov't of the Philippines just feeds the beast: offering to give orientation meetings and setting up an entire system by which their own people can find such employment overseas--- providing, of course, that they are willing to sign away their rights in order to do so. To say nothing of the fees and graft and built-in corruption which is normalized in that country.

From the show: 2023 is best start to the year for CCC rated debt since 2003. Twenty years. Nevertheless, I think out of a sense of professional prudence, they like IG better. The point was made, however, that the quality of junk bond companies is stronger, better situated than in past years.

+1 I think capitalism in the US became too used to free/low cost labor based on the prevalence of slavery, indentured servants and convict leasing-and thus American capitalism doesn't value labor.

Exploiting Overseas Foreign Workers still goes on today. Perfectly legal in many places. Permitted, acknowledged, expected. But if the economy turns south and there's a cut-back in hours, those workers, under contract, are slaves, tied to that location. Bed and food provided. But when they don't make much money? Well, they simply don't make much money. It was happening under the U.S. flag in Saipan until the GWB years, when the gummint put a stop to it--- in THAT particular place. No cheap labor? Then we'll go elsewhere, said the clothing companies.
****************
A related story: US law permits manufacturers to claim a garment was American made if just one step in the process is done on US soil. So, one famous maker of blue jeans hired Vietnamese workers because they could be paid in peanuts. The jeans were manufactured, finished, ready to wear. Then they were shipped to Saipan, where a flag and logo was sewn onto the back pocket. The slogan said: "Made in the USA." As the French would say: "Merd."

From Barron's:
By Alex Eule Friday, January 27
"The January Effect. Stocks closed out another strong week, with the Nasdaq Composite, in particular, benefiting from the 2023 rebound. The tech-heavy index rose another 1% today, pushing its weekly gain to 4.3%. It's the Nasdaq's fourth-straight week in positive territory.
The S&P 500 rose 0.25% on the day and 2.5% on the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was essentially flat on the day but still up 1.8% this week.
As investors look toward an end to rate hikes, growth-focused tech stocks have been the primary beneficiary. The Nasdaq is closing in on its best January in more than 20 years. With two trading days to go, the index is up 11% on the month, its best January since a 12.2% gain in January 2001.
For a lot of folks, the '01 callback will come with bad memories. At the time, the market was still dealing with the dot-com crash. After the strong January, the Nasdaq went on to fall 30% through the rest of 2001. Ultimately, the Nasdaq didn't find its bottom until October 2002."

>> Yes. "Woke" has just gone way too far. It's to the point where any recognizable standard of behavior or academic touchstone has become the enemy. That's just wrong.
Sorry, is this sarcasm? If not, examples? Not clear what you're talking about.
**************
Not sarcasm. A bit of hyperbole, I suppose. The Woke thing in general has just become a ridiculous free-for-all by which we are just supposed to assent to anything, anywhere, anyway, anyhow. Hairstyle legislation? Gimme a break. Reparations to be paid for what happened hundreds of years ago? C'mon. ... And I'm supposed to address this one person standing in front of me as "they?" Silliness. But a big chunk of our society is buying into it all. We are doomed. Common sense and any sort of recognition for the very need for standards of any sort are gone. The victim-card is just de rigueur now.
De Santis is a jerk. REQUIRING that a thing must NOT be taught? I can't fart loud enough to express how utterly stoopid that is. (In his case, Critical Race Theory. But that doesn't mean I buy-into CRT, lock, stock and barrel. ) Just how guilty and privileged am I supposed to feel? Bushwah.

@Yogibullbear
Their budgets may be axillary, and for a lot of Public Universities, football and basketball pay for all of the other athletic programs combined, but the money still comes from the students for the most part through increased room and board fees , books etc.
The other insanity is the endowments of many top universities would pay all their operating costs for years, but if they can get parents to pay , they limit the withdrawals to only the bare legal minimum.
As the students are aware of how much it costs to go to College now, and pick majors that will ( they think) allow them to make those kind of salaries
30% of the students at the Ivy League U my son attended were majoring in finance, to work on wall street. They knew teaching, social work, etc would never support their kids.

The point about the hot tubs was meant to illustrate one of the sources of rising college tuition that has nothing to do with education. In order to attract higher income students, whose parents will pay the full tuition, colleges ( including public colleges) have spent lavishly on climbing walls, luxurious dorms, saunas, locally sourced all organic expensive food that no middle class family could afford.
Any school that doesn't looses "customers" whose parents can write checks for $50,000 plus a year.
When I went to the University of Texas in the 1970s we ate enchiladas and meatloaf. Now even the kids there get kale, organic sprouts, six desert stations, all you can eat fresh midnight cookies etc.
There was one University I read about a few years ago that decided to lower their tuition to attract more applicants. In fact their applications fell dramatically because applicants thought they might not get all the services other schools were offering.
It is an arms race that has little to do with the quality of the education, but the image and amenities.

@Sma3 An anecdote about Southwest, Connecticut does not a national trend make:
https://bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-9/forty-years-of-falling-manufacturing-employment.htm This long-term loss of manufacturing jobs is only going to get worse with time due to automation.
I also don't think it helps to stereotype the younger generations as wasteful foolish ones that spend all their money on "hot tubs and locally sourced organic food." What's next, a mention of avocado toast? The truth is, Gen Z and Millennials spend more money on some things than Boomers and Xers and less on others. They probably find what we spend on our cars and houses wasteful:
https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/spending/articles/how-millennials-spend-their-money
https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-17/gen-z-has-360-billion-to-spend-trick-is-getting-them-to-buy

Two sectors where prices have grown the fastest for many years are two which IMHO should be accessible to all: education and health care.

From an 1887 letter from the Commissioner of the Department of Education, referencing Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, Query XIV:

Jefferson devised an ingenious plan whereby the boys of best talent, the sons of the people, might be discovered and sent forward, although poor, to preparatory colleges, and finally to the University of Virginia. Such a plan is now in practical operation in the, State of New York, in connection with Cornell University, which accepted the agricultural college land grant upon the condition of free education to talented graduates of local high schools and academies, and also prevails in many other States, where young men receive the benefits of the higher education, without charge for tuition, at the State universities and agricultural land-grant colleges. Natural selection and the survival of the fittest are great needs in American schools, colleges, and universities. Jefferson's ideas, if they should ever be realized throughout the country, will deliver us on the one hand from the over-education of mediocrity, and on the other from the under-education of genius. It is the duty of democracy to evolve from itself the highest talent, not only for government and administration, but for the advancement of science and the arts.

Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia (1888)
Jefferson posited that for the benefit of society, education should be available to everyone up to their ability level or further if willing to pay.
In a recently concluded college course in rhetoric, we were split into groups to debate the merits of free tuition (the topic I suggested for debate). There are valid, and many invalid, arguments on both sides. While I was assigned to the anti-free tuition group, personally I side with TJ.