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CURRENT NEWS Updated 9/2/2008

BREAKING NEWS: Old Farmers Almanac predicts a tough winter for New England - a good one for Toro snowthrower dealers.

2009 FARMERS ALMANAC

 Here is my summary of the winter forecast (November through March). Read it all in the CURRENT PROGRAMS SECTION.

 NOVEMBER  A mix of warm temperatures and above average precipitation. An open Thanksgiving and little winter weather

 DECEMBER Temperatures plunge early. Occasional flurries with heavier inland snows. Chances good for a white Christmas and the possibility of at least one fairly heavy snowstorm blowing through coastal areas

 JANUARY  Below average temperatures (single digits) but little chance of precipitation until later in the month as temperatures rise

 FEBRUARY  An increase of harsh winter storms and below average temperatures. Stretches of sub zero weather affecting most of the region early in the month

 MARCH Temperatures and precipitation will be close to normal with occasional light rain and snow into mid-month

SNOW BUSINESS NEWS. Two items added to the CURRENT PROGRAMS SECTION.

1. Toro has extended the $100 Power Max rebate through September 30. They have eliminated the October portion of the program. See our note.

2. The Coop Advertising Claim form for Snow mysteriously disappeared off our site. I have replaced it.

NEW PRODUCT NEWS!!!

Rick and the Sales Reps just came back from Toro and from viewing some great new products for 2009. We have some pictures in the CURRENT PROGRAM SECTION and here is some additional information.

1.NEW TORO STAND-ON UNIT. INTRODUCING THE TORO "GRANDSTAND"

Four models: 19/48 and 52; and 23/48 and 52. "Flex Ride" operators Platform which folds up for steep terrain use. Turbo Force decks. Host of other superior features. Big thing is in the performance - nothing else comes close!

2.NEW TORO GENERATION 3 MMZ (G3). 48-60" Decks. Nine Models. All air cooled for 2009. Great hill hugging performance. Low center of gravity.

3.NEW TITAN MODELS. 50,54 AND 60" decks. 22 to 26hp engines. Built tougher for durability and light commercial duty at a great price point.

Early reports of snowthrower retail action continue!! get your share.

ATTENTION SNOW DEALERS!! We just heard that the pricing in the Snowthrower POS Kit is NOT Correct. It is PRE-Price Increase. Be careful using your hangtags. Toro has placed on the dealer Portal new pricing. Go to Consumer. Advertising and Merchandising. Look for "Snow Price Inserts" dated July 29. I did notice that they did not have a 38640 ($1669) option and have made Toro aware of it.

ATTENTION ALL SNOWTHROWER DEALERS. The new snowthrower ad templates are available on the Toro Portal. Go to the Dealer Portal. Click on Consumer. This puts you into Sales and marketing. On the right side you should find the Merchandising Section. Click on 2008 Snow Ad Templates. That opens two areas, one with Snow Specs which is copy; and one titled "Images for Snow Ads". These are 1/8, 1/4, and 1/2 page ads in both B&W and Color.

Some add-on pricing info here: New Prices for Toro Oil Products, and New National Account pricing for Snowthrowers. See these new pages in the CURRENT PROGRAM SECTION. All of these will be effective August 10.

TORO PRICE INCREASES FOR BALANCE OF 2008. Unfortunately Toro has finally succumbed to the same pricing pressures evryone else has and announced increased prices on Consumer and LCE Goods effective August 2. We have mailed out the new snowthrower prices in June (the 26th), and are in the process of sending out Walk Mower, Riding product and LCE pricing this week. Your new pricing pages have been placed in the CURRENT PROGRAMS SECTION as well.

We participated in a webcast with Toro LCE management last week and received an updated status on their new LCE Products for 2009. The new "Stand-on" products looks and sounds really exciting and we think will be a winner in 2009. We are planning several dealer meetings/demo days the last week of September to show these new units as well as some third generation MMZ models. Try to keep the week of Sept 22 open and you will be hearing more in the near future.

SNOW BUSINESS

2009 snowthrowers are beginning to roll in from Toro. We are building up a mix of product to make shipments to dealer who have requested product in July. Orders are just beginning to go over to the warehouse so if you have requested product our CSRs, Ellen and Della will be contacting you.

We will be raising snowthrower prices on August 10 but are trying to ship as much as we receive from Toro at currrent prices before then.

Remember the Power Max Two stage $ off Promo. In August it is $100. Sept $75 and October $50. Use it as a closer for early sales.

Massachusetts did approve their Sales Tax Amnesty Weekend. Scheduled for August 16 and 17. This should give retail a shot in the arm so have some snowthrowers on the floor. Two stage sales should be good with Toro's $100 Rebate plus a $50 to possibly $100 sales tax saving.

Toro promises that new snowthrower advertising template will be on the Dealer portal by August 4th. These are good looking ads and should work well for you.

DEALER WEBSITE LINKS ON TORO DEALER LOCATOR

I have been involved with a couple dealer's request for help with the link on Toro's Dealer Locator which leads a consumer to their own website. As I investigated this I found that Toro is doing an audit of all dealer websites which are linked. They do not want to have a link send a person looking for Toro into a website which may sell/position/present a competitive brand above the Toro brand. I guess I agree with their concerns. What it means to individual dealer websites I do not know, however if Toro is removing a link for these reasons they are communicating that via e-mail to the dealer.

Toro does have a way for a dealer to input details about their store and make it accessible to a consumer using the Dealer locator. I have placed a couple of pages in the CURRENT PROGRAM Section reviewing this process.

Always Check the CURRENT PROGRAMS SECTION for NEW ITEMS.

1.TORO ANNOUNCEMENT ON CHANGE IN POWER MAX REBATE PROGRAM

2. SNOW COOP CLAIM FORM RETURNED TO SITE FOR YOUR USE

3. SEE NEW PRODUCTS PICTURES; NEW STAND-ON; NEW ZTR; NEW TITAN

4. TURF Magazine Article covering the Stand-on Segment

5. NEW PRICING: SEPERATE LISTING FOR CONSUMER ; FOR LCE; AND FOR SNOWTHROWERS

6. ADDED TORO OIL PRICING AND NATIONAL ACCOUNT SNOWTHROWER PRICING

7. OLD FARMERS ALMANAC

PS: I apologize for any random "A" symbols which may appear.