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Nordstrom, the U.S. luxury department store, has supposedly been scouting locations in Canada for months. Last May, a spokesman confirmed the story, and every once in a while there’s another reference. A recent article on Larry Rosen, now CEO of men’s clothier Harry Rosen, talked about how he was gearing up for their arrival.

Nordstrom. The very thought makes me salivate. During the research for my book The Eatons, published in 1998, I visited two of the more decrepit Eaton’s stores in Brantford and Sarnia. Then I crossed the border into the U.S. to take a look at the Somerset Collection, a mall in Troy, Michigan. At 10 a.m. Nordstrom was just opening and Millicent Leigh Schneider was playing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” on a grand piano on the main floor.

The megamall was like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. By comparison, Canada looked third world. In Troy there were four anchors: Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and a local chain, Hudson’s (it’s now a Macy’s). In addition, there were 181 other stores contained in 1.5 million square feet of vaulted gallerias with skylights, palm trees, a score of restaurants, 6,000 employees, and parking for 7,000 cars.

This how retailing is done in America. I’ve also been to Tysons Corners in Virginia, Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas, the King of Prussia Mall in Pennsylvania, and South Coast Plaza, in California, among many others. I always buy shirts, socks and underwear at Nordstrom. If you were to make a list of things that Americans do well, retailing would be in the top five. That’s why so many U.S. banners have come to Canada. Their panache and product lines are easy to replicate, although I have to say that service here never quite reaches home country standards.

On the Nordstrom website, they list some eighteen locations (mostly for Nordstrom Rack, their discount outlet) where there’s an opening planned this year and next. Nothing is scheduled for Canada. There is only one international expansion, in Puerto Rico, at a date as yet to be determined.

Here’s my suggestion how Nordstrom could make a quick, splashy and all-encompassing grand entrance into Canada: buy the Holt Renfrew chain. It’s upscale and has 11 stores across Canada including four in the Toronto area. Mall stores, like the one-floor Holts at Sherway Gardens, could easily be converted to the two-floor format Nordstrom favors.

So Galen W. and Galen G. Weston, are you interested in selling? I need some of those Nordstrom shirts.

Everybody hates Rogers. Not me. Six weeks ago, I phoned and complained that my cable TV bill was getting too high. The helpful woman in customer service said she could do something about that. If I’d agree to a one-year contract, my rented PVR would be free for twelve months, a savings of $300. Since I had no intention of going anywhere else, it was an easy deal.

Of course, I immediately signed up for The Movie Network at $16.95 a month, but I was still ahead almost $100 a year, plus I had another eight channels of commercial-free movies. What’s wrong with that?

As a result of my recent bonanza, I was sanguine when I received a letter last week announcing a rate increase. I figured, hey, I’m still ahead of the game. What caught my eye was the fact that the form letter from Matthew Ariker, Senior Vice President, Customer Marketing, was dated January 23. I had received it on January 18. I thought, I guess delivery by Canada Post is improving.

In an attempt to mollify those who might be grumpy about higher rates, the letter pointed out, “We have recently added 38 new channels and 36% more content to On Demand, free with your Rogers subscription.” I assumed that the On Demand content was more pay-per-view movies, but what about those 38 new channels? As a guy who likes free, I wondered what they were.

For more details, said the letter, call a 1-800 number. The customer service associate didn’t know but she put me on hold twice – for 2-3 minutes each time – while she gamely consulted with colleagues only to report back that no one seemed to know anything about these 38 new channels.

Undaunted, I emailed Matthew Ariker with my query. On Tuesday I received a phone call from someone at Rogers in the Office of the President. I thought maybe there were several divisional presidents, so I blithely asked, “Which president?” “Nadir Mohammed,” she said, “There’s only one president.” I don’t know who was more surprised, my caller, or me, that this matter had been kicked upstairs all the way to the very top.

She had gathered some information from the programming department and explained to me that the 38 channels included some On Demand channels, some channels now in HD that were previously available, and some new channels. The exact mix and number depends on where you live and what package you have.

All in all, a good explanation. She said she’d email me the list so I could see my possibilities. That was Tuesday; I haven’t seen it yet. Doesn’t she know the deal Rogers has with Canada Post? If she’d given the list to Canada Post this past Tuesday, I would have received it last week.

UPDATE: The emailed list arrived Friday, January 27. I can get 20 of the 38 channels, but half of those 20 require additional payment. Among the half I’m able to view, I received some before; I can now get them in HD. Most of the “all new” channels are of little interest: Bollywood, children, real estate and shopping. The only one of the 38 with any potential is FX Canada, a movie channel.

What the heck was that piece on page one of The Globe and Mail this morning? “Thumbs down for RIM’s shakeup” blared the headline across all five columns above the fold.

It’s not a news story, there are no quotes. It’s not an opinion piece, there is no opinion. It’s not an editorial, there is no prescription. At four paragraphs it’s too long to be a blurb, although there is a separate pointer to stories in the ROB. There’s no byline; the writer is anonymous. I can’t give you a link because I can’t find it online.

Is it a creative orphan or just old-style journalism with a promising headline followed by words that fail to deliver. Maybe the newly appointed Public Editor can look into it and let me know.

Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie did the right thing by resigning their roles yesterday as co-CEOs and co-Chairs of Research In Motion. I had different replacements in mind on December 16 when I urged this course in a blog (Time for them to go), but the succession by former Chief Operating Officer Thorsten Heins makes eminent sense.

Or does it? Everyone went to some lengths yesterday to say how smooth this all was. “What you will see with me is rigor and flawless execution,” new CEO Heins told The Globe and Mail. He will hire a new head of marketing. But selling what you’ve got matters little if your products have fallen as far behind as RIM’s. Heins must also devise new ideas that close an ever-widening gap with competitors.

The role of Prem Watsa, founder and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings, has been crucial in this resuscitation. Interesting that while the media published many a rumor of late, no one caught a whiff of the real story. Share price is bound to jump when markets open this morning. A more relevant long-term development may be the opportunity for some at RIM to leave and start their own companies. Not everyone will fare well under this new boss. Such departures are to be welcomed; there have been far too few such seeds spread in the past.

As for Mike and Jim, they will play a continuing role at RIM, but life will never be the same again. Both are about to turn 51: Jim on February 3, Mike on March 14, leaving them lots of time to save the world in some new way. As a co-founder, Mike will remain involved with innovation. Jim will have a harder time filling his dance card with meaningful roles. The Phoenix Coyotes may be moving to Hamilton yet.

Meanwhile, as Jim said in 2006 when RIM paid $612.5 million to settle a patent dispute, “We took one for the team.”

UPDATE: Share price briefly moved higher in pre-market trading until the market figured out that Mike and Jim were still going to be coming into work. By 11 a.m. RIM shares were down almost 7 per cent. CNBC called the new CEO “no clean break,” a phrase that will likely become the new narrative. If that’s the case, I pity Thorsten Heins. There’s nothing worse than being named boss if the ancien regime is still in charge.

Amanda Clyne, a talented young Toronto artist, has a solo exhibition at PM Gallery, 1518 Dundas St. W. Her work is unique. She begins with a woman’s head and shoulders taken from a fashion magazine and makes a print on special paper that never dries resulting in an image that looks like it’s been done on a blotter. Next, Amanda uses Photoshop to further refine the image, fractures it into vertical strips, then creates large-scale, compelling paintings based on the outcome.

I’m oversimplifying a labor-intensive process; take a look at her website for examples. See how the eyes meet yours; some will disturb, others seem vulnerable.

My daughter Alison and I attended Amanda’s talk at the gallery yesterday. Alison, who is a professor of Art History at McMaster University, listens to a lot of such presentations. She said this was the best she’d ever heard. In addition to explaining her methodology, Amanda told the gathering about the intellectual underpinnings. In doing so, she cited other artists such as Jeff Wall, Gerhard Richter, Francis Bacon and Chuck Close. She also quoted literary giant Northrop Frye and art critic Gary Michael Dault. Few people could rattle off such authorities without sounding pretentious; Amanda made them sound like an integral part of her everyday life.

Half the paintings in the show are already sold but all remain to amaze the eye and touch the heart. You’ll have to hurry. The show closes January 28.

What ever happened to the great nicknames in sports?

Think about baseball players: Dizzy Dean, Pee Wee Reese, Satchel Paige, Charlie Hustle and Babe Ruth. From basketball there was Air Jordan, Wilt the Stilt, Dr. J., Hakeem the Dream, Earl the Pearl and Magic Johnson. Football offers Nobby Wirkowski and Bibbles Bawel. Hockey had The Golden Jet, Rocket Richard, Teeder Kennedy and Turk Broda. In golf, there was The Golden Bear; in boxing, Smokin’ Joe Frazier.

In the modern era, everything comes up short. A-Rod? A non-starter. Joey Bats? An abomination. The Kid? Every neighbourhood has one.

Maybe the problem is that sports has become more of a business than entertainment for the masses. No player stays in one place long enough to be given a nickname by the locals. Who wants to invest in a guy who’s going to be gone next year to a competing team, replaced by someone else who’s already been in three cities.

As Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra may or may not have said: A nickel isn’t worth a dime today.

I’m saddened to read reports from attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week. Announcements from Research In Motion are not causing any buzz. While the updated PlayBook will have fully integrated email, calendar and social media feeds, T. Michael Walkley, an analyst with Canaccord Genuity, wrote in a report yesterday that sales “could continue to struggle versus improving Android and iOS tablet offerings.” As for RIM’s next batch of smartphones, not expected to be available for months, they “will launch into an even more competitive smartphone market” against Android LTE, Windows offerings from Nokia, and a refreshed LTE iPhone 5, said Walkley.

National Bank analyst Kris Thompson is equally pessimistic in a report issued today. “RIM is in deep trouble; we don’t see how the company can compete against all of these fantastic handsets after years of product delays and a declining developer community,” said Thompson.

None of this is going to be cured if all RIM does is strip co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie of their co-Chairman titles. Recent news reports have predicted that Barb Stymiest, a director since 2007, will be appointed non-executive chair. If this is the best the board can come up with after six months of study, that’s slim pickings indeed. Such a move may satisfy corporate governance gurus, but it doesn’t do anything to improve management or shake up the place.

When my book on RIM came out eighteen months ago, the company could do no wrong. Now RIM can do no right. I liked it better the old way and I’m not even a shareholder who has seen value plummet by 75 per cent.

Here are my seven fearless predictions for 2012:

1. The problems in Europe are not over, but they will muddle along. Fear will subside.

2. Mitt Romney will defeat Barack Obama for the presidency.

3. The Bank of Canada will raise interest rates.

4. Kate and Wills will be pregnant.

5. The Canadian dollar will end the year about where it is now, 98 cents U.S.

6. Rob Ford will be charged with an offence.

7. The S&P/TSX Composite index, down 11 per cent in 2011, will rise by at least that amount in 2012.

Thank you for your loyal readership. Season’s Greetings to all and a Happy, Healthy New Year in 2012.