Mad Millennium Money

Grain

• Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods Inc. in Milwaukie, Oregon, experienced a 50 percent increase in sales of bulk bags over the past six months.
• The Grain Store (http://www.grainstore.com) has reaped sales of $500,000 this year--in only its first quarter of business.

Books

• Amazon.com's Millennium Store counts home/safety guides like Making The Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook (Gold Leaf) by James Talmage Stevens among its bestsellers.
• At Lifeway Christian Resources, sales of books on prophecy and Y2K have tripled since last year.

Survival Products

• Brigade Quartermasters reports a 500 percent increase in sales of military MREs (Meals Ready-To-Eat), a 300 percent increase in sales of water purification and storage products, a more than 300 percent increase in self-powered radios and lanterns, and a 50 percent increase in medical and survival kits through its catalog, retail outlet and Web site since October 1998.

Countdown Clocks

• Government offices and corporations like IBM, CBS, General Motors and Pepsico are snapping up millennium desk clocks from Countdown Clocks International Inc. (http://www.countdownclock.com). Another 1.4 million or so consumers have purchased the clock--which counts down the day, hour and so on to 2000. The clock comes in customizable versions for between $6 and $30.

  Litigation

• While retailers are profiting, other Y2K-related entrepreneurs may soon be losing money. Courts nationwide have seen a swelling of Y2K litigation: At press time, 62 Y2K lawsuits had been filed regarding alleged date processing problems, or improper consulting or professional advice about Y2K issues.

This article was originally published in the July 1999 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Mad Millennium Money.