text:
Ford to give buyers 14 days, 1,000 miles to return used vehicles with money-back guarantee
At a time when few car dealers are offering price breaks or incentives on new or used vehicles, Ford Motor Co. is launching a new program that sweetens the deal for used car buyers in the digital marketplace.
Beginning in February, Ford will offer a 14-day/1,000 mile money-back guarantee, which the company touts as the best offer from any major automaker.
"We’re making the buying experience a little bit better," Andrew Ashman, used vehicle manager for Ford, told the Free Press on Thursday.
"If you find the vehicle you love or you like, and you get it home and you find out it’s not the right vehicle, you can bring it back and get your money back," he said. "That just kind of creates that peace of mind, that when you do buy from a Ford dealer you’re not only buying a quality vehicle but you’re making sure it fits your lifestyle."
The automaker tested the guarantee over the summer with 16 dealers in Michigan, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Missouri and Illinois, Ashman said.
"We wanted to understand ... would it help grow our business? Those dealers grew at a much faster rate than other dealers. While customers appreciate opportunity, very few customers felt the need to return the vehicle," he said.
The online site fordblueadvantage.com lists 20,000 to 25,000 certified used vehicles and, of those, about 20% are non-Ford products, Ashman said.
Online consumers can search Ford dealership used car inventory by car brand, model and price as well as ZIP code.
While designed primarily for online shopping, the money-back guarantee also applies to in-person shopping at the 1,600 or so dealerships that participate in what's called the Ford Blue Advantage program — just over half the Ford dealerships nationally.
This program allows potential customers nationally to search for Ford and non-Ford vehicles online, allows for home delivery, an at-home test drive and a video walk-around of the vehicle.
Tight market, few options
Car shoppers have been frantically trying to find anything available in a market not being replenished because of parts shortages and supply chain disruption. Used car prices are climbing as a result.
The automaker is working with Autotrader as a technology partner to run the listing site, and reports a traffic increase for Ford certified used cars of 26% over the past year.
By offering incentives, Ford is hoping to capture online shopping dollars while also building and maintaining relationships with its dealers, Ford said.
In a market where people are snapping up everything, the guarantee offers a bit of comfort to used-car buyers who may worry about the potential for a defective vehicle with an uncertain history.
Helping Ford stand out in crazy market
"Now you go to a car dealership and they're lucky if they have any new cars to offer," said Karl Brauer, executive analyst for the iseecars.com shopping site. "Typically, they have far more used cars that have nothing to do with the sign hanging over the dealership. Now if it's a Ford dealer and you've got a non-Ford used car, you can still get Ford coverage? That will give people more confidence."
People don't like to change brands but this allows buyers to have a relationship with Ford even if they do switch brands.
Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.com said the competitive market requires a program "to have some sort of sizzle." Just pushing a website doesn't really work, especially because online shopping is so easy for everyone.
"It's so tight in terms of pricing and inventory," she said. "Wherever you can find a vehicle, I think, is where you're buying it. But incentives are few and far between now. This stands out in the market. And it keeps your retail market more cohesive."
Now is a time for automakers to explore new avenues of retailing that work to maintain and build relationships as more and more car buyers move to digital shopping, Caldwell said.
How certification works
The Ford Blue Advantage inspection program is expected to cover up to 90% of the used-vehicle inventory, Ford said.
This latest perk expands the consumer safety net.
The feature comes in addition to inspection by trained technicians, an extended warranty after purchase and a clean history report from Carfax.
Ford offers two warranty levels for its vehicles, one that covers Ford only and the other covering Ford and non-Ford vehicles:
- Gold Certified Ford brand vehicles come with a 12-month/12,000-mile (whichever comes first) comprehensive limited warranty and a seven-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty. Dealers can certify these Ford-only vehicles for up to six years and at fewer than 80,000 miles.
- Blue Certified Ford and non-Ford vehicles are 10 years old or newer with 120,000 miles or fewer and come with a 90-day/4,000-mile comprehensive limited warranty coverage. This level allows dealers to certify vehicles up to 10 years and at less than 120,000 miles.
Both levels come with 24/7 roadside assistance.


text:
As Economy Hurts, Analysts Proffer Solutions to Rising Inflation
Kunle Aderinokun and James Emejo
For the fifth consecutive month, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which gauges inflation rose by 0.9 per cent to 11-year high of 16.6 per cent in June compared to 15.58 per cent in May.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), energy prices, imported items and related products are persistent drivers of the core sub-index while the highest price increases were noticed in the electricity, liquid fuel (kerosene), furniture and furnishings, passenger transport by road and fuel and lubricants for personal transport equipment.
The inflation has however defied the prediction of pundits, who were united in their position to forecast a decline in the June inflation.
The economic research analysts were from the Economic Intelligence Group of Access Bank, DLM Asset Management Ltd and Financial Derivatives Company Ltd.
In their analysis, Access Bank forecast a drop in inflation to 15.4 per cent in June from 15.58 per cent while those from DLM and FDC projected a moderation to 15.53 per cent and 15.50 per cent respectively.
Rising inflation has always been a major source of concern especially for an emerging economy such as Nigeria, which relies heavily on oil proceeds as main source of revenue and yet, with little from non-oil exports.
In an economy whereby the real sector bleeds for lack of credit, a rise in inflation will usually dash the prospects for lowering lending rates from commercial banks as it is most unlikely that interest rates would go below inflation rate.
This unending spike in the headline index is particularly worrisome for the ordinary Nigerians who have had to cope with the increase in the prices of basic commodities-leading to untold economic hardship.
The country’s economic woes have been blamed on the delayed passage of the 2016 budget, the falling price of oil and lack of non-oil export products as well as basic infrastructure to moderate the impact of dwindling revenue.
Meanwhile, experts who spoke to THISDAY on the new June inflation figure analysed the latest development and further highlighted the attendant implications of the rise as well as ways to cushion its impact on the economy.
In their assessment, analysts at Time Economics noted that, “the factors driving inflationary pressures in Nigeria are more of structural and cost-shock than demand related.”
According to them, “ Over the last few months, we have seen prolonged fuel scarcity leading to the eventual removal of subsidies on petroleum products, an increase in electricity tariffs by over 40 per cent and a sharp depreciation in the Naira exchange rate across the official/Inter-bank market and the parallel markets.
“These were further compounded by an economic slowdown and the inability of the business community to access foreign exchange, in adequate quantity, for the importation of raw materials and machineries needed for smooth production of goods and services. Thus, current inflationary pressures arose from these structural shocks.”
The analysts, who, however, pointed out that, “cost -driven inflations typically tend to be transitory in nature due to inbuilt adjustments mechanisms in the economy,” posited that, “With the fuel scarcity challenge out of the way, the economy appears to have largely adjusted to the increase in the pump price of PMS, the higher energy costs and the weakened Naira exchange rate.”
They therefore projected that, “in the absence of any new major shock to the system, we expect growth in the headline inflation to moderate at the current levels in the months ahead.”
Nevertheless, economists and former acting Unity Bank Managing Director, Mr. Muhammed Rislanudenn, said, to mitigate the continued rising inflation, the CBN should design additional policies on intervention funds to specifically target agriculture and the manufacturing sectors at single-digit interest rates.
He said: “With inflation at 16.5 per cent far above monetary policy rate of 12 per cent implies disincentive to save and invest. Immediate implication in the fixed income market is re-pricing of rates upwards, which also has its limit. Lending to real sector may be challenged as cost of borrowing will go up further even if MPC decide not to jerk up rates and end up trading off growth.
“Also government may not achieve its 2016 budget objective of single-digit interest rate and may also find it tough dealing with stagflation (inflation plus unemployment) as well as potential recession. In a contractionary economy, it’s difficult for banks to have risk appetite to lend cost effectively. Real sector may either be starved of funds or forced to borrow at high rates with long-term implication of project failure and high NPLs for banks.”
He said: “CBN should rather be encouraged to come up with more policies on intervention funds that will specifically target agriculture and manufacturing sectors at single-digit interest to support reversal of current negative GDP growth of -0.36 per cent as well as reduction in current unemployment rate of 12.1 per cent.”
Also, an Associate Professor of Finance and Head, Banking & Finance, Department, Nasarawa State University, Keffi, Dr. Uche Uwaleke, said the new rise in inflation rate spells doom for the ordinary man and cautioned against alleged moves by government to increase the value added tax (VAT)
He said: “The NBS June inflation rate of 16.5 per cent, up from 15.6 per cent in May implies an increase in the cost of living and a fall in living standards for the ordinary Nigerian. The key factors responsible for the persistent rise in the Consumer Price Index since February 2016, have remained the same supply-side constraints namely high cost of electricity, transport, fuel, food and imported items. There is no gainsaying the fact that the overall effect of the uptick in inflation on the economy is negative.
“The capital market is not spared due to the adverse effect it has on investors’ real returns. If the CBN increases the benchmark rate (MPR) in response to the spike in inflation, the stock market will take the hit as investment managers revise their portfolio. The resultant rise in the cost of capital will also affect the bottom lines of quoted companies and depress their share prices. The way forward is not to leave the fight against inflation to monetary policy alone in view of the cost-push nature of the challenge and the limited monetary policy tools available to deal with it.
According to him, “What is therefore required is a confluence of monetary and fiscal policies to address the inflationary pressure in a period of declining output and rising unemployment. Government capital spending in agriculture and infrastructure will go a long way in moderating the inflationary pressure in the near term. This is not the right time to increase the VAT as is being canvassed in some quarters as doing so will plunge the economy into deeper recession. The panacea for taming inflation in the medium to long term remains diversification of the productive base of the Nigerian economy.”
Furthermore, economist and ex-banker, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, maintained that resuscitating the oil refineries was the right step to forestall further inflationary trends.
According to him, “Increase in Inflation rate is one of the indicators or outcomes of economic downturn. 16.5 per cent inflation rate therefore is not the least rate to expect. We will expect that banks’ lending rates will continue to rise for the fact that liquidity is threatened and the inflation rate is rising also.”
He said: “Firstly, we need to identify the factors influencing this rise. One of the factors is the instability in the foreign exchange market. An importer buys his products at the exchange rate of N320 per dollar and before the goods come in, rates have risen to N340 per dollar. Apart from increasing his price when he is selling, he will panic before he imports again. The second reason for the high inflation is the non-availability of foreign acceptable currencies for international trade and lack of understanding and clarity of new FX policies by the average middle profile importers who constitute about 65 per cent of total importers of the country.
“Thirdly, the continuous use of electricity generators due to incessant power outages will also increase inflation rate as cost of doing business in Nigeria continues to rise due to high cost of diesel. It currently sells for between N190 to N220 per litre. Fourthly, As far as we continue the importation of petroleum products, there will always be pressure on our foreign reserves and resultant pressure on the value of our currency which affects prices of goods and services. Petroleum products constitute the greatest chunk of our FX utilisation.
“The insurgency in the country which is causing the massive importation of military weapons and equipment takes a large toll of our foreign reserves. These equipment cost so much in value. The building of refineries therefore is the right step to forestall further inflationary trends. Every policy that will motivate exportation of goods and services should be encouraged. Local manufacturing should also be given urgent priority. Sometime towards the second quarter of 2017, I expect a reduction in the inflation rate or at least, stability in the rate.”
On his part, Executive Director, Corporate Finance, BGL Capital Limited, Mr. Femi Ademola opined that the way forward was to lower interest rate and provide affordable funding to the real sector to help domestic production to substitute imports.
He said:” The spike in inflation is expected. With the Naira depreciation and the low supply of products compared to demand, inflation will always go up. As an import-dependent nation, the exchange rate situation leads to a general price increase of all imported goods.
“And the fact that we are experiencing this despite credit constraints to the real sector may have further supported the theory that inflation in Nigeria is not liquidity induced hence the high interest rate is counterproductive. We need to put in place the needed infrastructure and fiscal adjustment to support production and hence lower inflation.
The way forward is to lower interest rate or at least channel affordable funding to the real sector to help domestic production to substitute imports.”

domain: news


text:
Campus dining trends: Today's students, tomorrow's customers
What are high school and university students looking for in their dining programs?
- they love to customize
- more of them are choosing vegan food
- many enjoy the ease and flavors of the entire meal in one plate or bowl
Local sourcing also continues to resonate with young people, as does their interest in ethnic foods and flavors, and “simple” ingredients. So much of what was just beginning to trend a few years ago is now expected by Gen Zs and younger diners, your future customers.
“Students arrive at Penn wanting food prepared to their individual preferences,” says Pam Lampitt, who, as director of business services at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, oversees campus dining as part of her responsibilities.
This trend toward ‘finished to-order’ has led to specialized stations in campus serveries. “Today, our dining halls feature Mongolian grills and power bowls stations, where customers choose their ingredients and our chefs finish the cooking.”
“We’re seeing more and more students who have grown up eating vegan food, as opposed to choosing a vegan diet at a certain age,” Lampitt says. “These days, students have come to expect a choice of several vegan dishes, not just one token selection. We’ve also made a point to serve at least one vegetable on the line au natural – perfectly steamed, zero seasonings. Finding dairy alternatives that fit the diet and that students enjoy has been an ongoing challenge.”
In the National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot 2020 Culinary Forecast, healthy bowls ranked 4th out of 133 items rated as hot trends by more than 600 American Culinary Federation chefs. Power bowls are definitely popular with younger diners; many bowl meals also are perceived as healthy.
Updated “blue-plate specials” are popular, too. “Some of our students want something more special than the usual rotisserie chicken or brisket,” Lampitt says. “For them, we opened a cafe that serves a daily dinner entree. It’s a pre-set dish, beautifully plated, with all the food groups.”
Join dietitians and nutrition specialists from large and small restaurant chains at the National Restaurant Association Nutrition Conference, March 4-5, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Recent offerings include hangar steak with horseradish potatoes and greens; and jerk-spice-seasoned mahi-mahi over dirty rice pilaf, plantains and peas, finished with smoked avocado sauce. And yes, a vegan entree plate is featured in the weekly schedule.
Montana State University, an agricultural school in Bozeman, takes “locally sourced” seriously. MSU Culinary Services features food from local growers, processors and distributors — more than 100 vendors total — at all its food outlets as part of its Farm to Campus program. In 2018, this comprised about 25% of food purchases, including pork and beef that comes from the university’s agricultural curriculum.
A new program, rolled out in 2019, involves beekeeping. “The honey we collected last year is being used at our campus coffee shops as sweetener,” says Mike Kosevich, MSU associate director of culinary services.
“Since MSU has its own bakery and commissary, we’re able to offer fewer ingredients in our pre-packaged items, compared with commercially prepared items,” Kosevich says. “Labeling on our to-go foods reflect that as well — each ingredient is an actual food name. Students are looking for that.”
Nutrition info displays are becoming the norm, even at the high-school level. At Alexandria Public Schools, Alexandria, Minn., the goal is to be “nutrition educators,” says Food and Nutrition Services Director Janeen Peterson, RD, SNS. “We put nutritional info at students’ and parents’ fingertips with online apps and digital menu board displays.
And at MSU serveries, “iPads mounted at each station show all the ingredients,” Kosevich adds.
Ethnic continues to be a crowd-pleaser for all ages. “Even in this rural area of Minnesota, where meatloaf, mashed potatoes and hotdish [Minnesotan for casserole] top the charts, our students enjoy trying, and loving, the different flavors we’re offering in our ethnic entrees,” Peterson says.
To expand students’ culinary horizons, Alexandria schools have launched “Try It Tuesdays,” in which once a week, the dining halls “offer a fruit or vegetable that may be new to students or prepared in a way they may find more appealing,” Peterson adds.
At Penn, an increase in students of Muslim faith has led campus dining services to convert one dining hall to specialize in Halal food. “All the chicken we serve is certified Halal, and about half the beef. And none of the recipes use cooking wine,” Lampitt says.


text:
Due to the lockdown and restrictions made during the COVID 19 period, all forms of activities got halted. All these were put in place to see to it that the virus was kept under control.
Restaurants, chop bars, drinking spots and other venues people were found to gather was closed down.
Reggie Rockstone and his wife Dr. Zilla had no option than to close down their night club due to the social distancing restrictions.
However, they came up with a new business which involved food delivery. They prepared “Waakye” Ghana’s local dish made of sorghum leaves, rice and beans. They made deliveries all around the place on this food.
Reggie Rockstone narrated their success in the food delivery business to Mark Wilberforce on “BBC Focus to Africa”. He continued to explain how they prayed and meditated before getting the idea to start the business.
Their success has encouraged them to to start an online show


text:
Asda ramps up programmatic drive with appointment of Triad to digital media account
Asda has brought in Triad Retail Media to lead its digital media sales in the UK, replacing its former media sales partner of more than 10 years, Publicis Blueprint.
Triad has been established in the UK for the last 18 months and already works with Asda on elements of its non-transactional digital content, including its Recipes and Baby Club sites. It will now will focus primarily on digital media sales on Asda’s main groceries site.
The appointment comes after Asda earlier this year began selling unsold ad units programmatically across three of its major websites ahead of of a push on the main grocery site. The moves amount to supermarket's early steps towards launching a private ad exchange.
“The digital media landscape has changed dramatically since we launched our grocery home shopping site 15 years ago,” explained Dom Burch, Asda’s senior director for marketing innovation and revenue.
“Following an agency review last year, we decided we needed to evolve our thinking and provide more dynamic solutions on our websites and digital properties. Triad brings a broad range of skills and experience to the partnership including ad tech, creative design capabilities, content creation, and sales and marketing expertise.”
Nick Bamber, Asda’s senior manager for digital media and innovation, added that with Google, Facebook and Twitter now accounting for around half of all digital advertising spend in the UK, combined with evolving technology, data and advertising formats, there has been a shift in how advertising is bought, sold and reported.
“Notably, advertisers’ media strategies are moving quickly towards programmatic media buying — hence, our aim over time is to follow this trend by enabling better targeting and measurement of ads on our grocery website to ensure a more personalised and relevant experience for our customers,” he continued.
Triad has already worked with Asda parent company Walmart, eBay, Toys “R” Us and Sears in the US, Otto in the Netherlands, Metro Group in Germany and eBay in Australia to help monetise their online propositions.
Jill Orr, executive vice president international at Triad Retail Media, said: “Significantly for us, Walmart was Triad’s very first partner back in 2004 and that partnership is still in place today. The Walmart proposition has developed over time to encompass multiple digital products and demand sources as the market has evolved, including email, video placements, mobile and the Walmart Exchange (WMX) which enriches the onsite customer experience by putting the right ads in front of the right target audience and accurately measures campaign effectiveness.
“As a result, in the last few years digital media revenues have grown exponentially. We look forward to going on the same journey here in the UK with the Asda Media &Partnerships team.”


text:
- Trump’s latest proposed tariffs on Chinese language imports — on maintain for now — embrace the paper used to print Bibles.
- Publishers just lately advised the administration that as much as 75% of what it prices them to make a Bible, with advanced illustrations and ultra-thin pages, is now spent in China after specialised printing moved there a long time in the past from the U.S.
- Center- and low-income readers might be priced out by the proposed 25% tariffs, non secular leaders and publishers mentioned.
Publishers of non secular books are warning that President Donald Trump’s newest proposed tariffs on Chinese language imports may lead to a Bible scarcity within the U.S.
Tens of thousands and thousands of bibles are printed in China annually, with some estimates as excessive as 150 million. Publishers massive and small testified towards the proposed tariff in hearings final month, saying it might make the Bible costlier for shoppers and Christian organizations that give away Bibles as a part of their ministry. The proposed tariffs are at present on maintainfollowing months of parrying by U.S. and China officers.
Bibles are printed on “unusually skinny paper” that requires specialised machines, Mark Schoenwald, president of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, mentioned in testimony to the U. S. Commerce Consultant. As much as 75% of what it prices a writer to make a Bible, with its advanced illustrations and ultra-thin pages that make it transportable, is spent in China and cannot be dealt with elsewhere, in response to Schoenwald.
The 2 largest Bible publishers in america, Zondervan and Thomas Nelson, are owned by HarperCollins. Collectively, they command roughly 38% of the American Bible market.
“We imagine the administration was unaware of the potential destructive impression these proposed tariffs would have on the publishing trade typically, and that it by no means supposed to impose a ‘Bible Tax’ on shoppers and non secular organizations,” Schoenwald testified.
The complete measurement of the united statesBible market is troublesome to gauge. HarperCollins advised the Related Press it estimates roughly 20 million Bibles are offered within the U.S. annually. The NDP group, which incorporates NPD BookScan and PubTrack Digital, captured 5.7 million print Bible gross sales within the U.S. in 2018. However that determine does not seize all gross sales, together with direct gross sales to congregants.
Nonetheless, both of these figures present the Bible is by far the top-selling guide within the U.S. The following best-seller behind it in 2018 was Michelle Obama’s “Changing into,” which BookScan estimates offered 3.5 million copies.
The proposed 25% tariff would apply to all books, however critics say it might disproportionately have an effect on Bibles and youngsters’s books. Each are inclined to have specialised printing necessities that Chinese language printers are set as much as meet whereas many home printers aren’t.
“U.S. printers moved their Bible printing services overseas a long time in the past, leaving no substantial home manufacturing options,” Schoenwald mentioned.
Some publishers warned that mountain climbing the worth of Bibles make them inaccessible to individuals who earn decrease incomes and should even impinge on non secular freedom assured within the U.S. Structure.
“We’re extraordinarily involved that the elevated costs would stop many middle- and low-income Individuals from having the ability to afford Bibles, interfering with the sensible capacity for them to interact with their religion,” G. Paul Hendrickson, normal supervisor of Hendrickson Publishers, a small agency in Peabody, Massachusetts, testified final month.
Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Spiritual Liberty Fee of the Southern Baptist Conference, testified that the proposed tariffs “will impression all Christians’ capacity to train their non secular freedom in america.”
Mr. Trump and Chinese language President Xi Jinping haveon their commerce warfare and agreed to renew discussions that had stalled earlier this 12 months. Meaning U.S. firms and shoppers bracing to pay extra for Bibles — in addition to to clothes — are getting a reprieve on footing the invoice for $300 billion in tariffs on Chinese language items threatened by Mr. Trump. For now.
— The Related Press contributed to this story.


text:
New data analysed by Juniper Research indicates that automation revenues will exceed US$57 million (€50 million) by 2024. This is up from $18 million (€16 million) in 2019, and is driven by smart security solutions.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming lives, cities and workplaces as we speak. From real-time traffic information in connected cars to apps monitoring our blood pressure from our smartphones, Martin Bosshardt, CEO of Open Systems says we’re increasingly reliant on this disruptive tech to support, manage and enhance our everyday lives.
Kerlink, a specialist in solutions dedicated to the Internet of Things (IoT), and Sensoterra, a provider of wireless soil-moisture-sensor solutions, announced a partnership to empower farmers to make data-driven, land-management decisions and reduce their water consumption by up to 30%.
Satellite communication represents an essential role in maintaining the combination of advanced satellite communication into existing communications and observation structures.
According to a new research report from IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, global shipments of NB-IoT devices reached 53 million units in 2018. Annual shipments are expected to almost triple in 2019 reaching 142 million units.
When Jeremy Cowan, IoT Now’s editorial director & publisher, was asked to moderate and open the 7th IoT Forum CE (June 5th, Vienna, Austria) the brief for his presentation was “Industrial IoT: Where are we going?” By the time he’d finished drafting it, it had turned into “Where are we going wrong?” Here is his paper.
With the expected number of smart devices predicted to hit 20 million by 2020, smart technology is now mainstream. Over the last five years, says Oliver Iltisberger, managing director of ABB’s Building Products business line, we have seen a shift from simple functions like thermostats, doorbells and light bulbs to truly intelligent buildings that adapt to meet user needs.
The rising number of devices which are being associated through IoT networks is considered as a vital factor propelling demand for embedded security for IoT.
SigmaDots, a cyber-security start-up and subsidiary of Essence Group, has partnered with Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), to expand IoT security and strengthen business continuity leveraging SigmaDots technology. Essence Group develops LTE-based connected devices and IoT platforms.
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.


text:
After 15 years of business, the friendly neighbourhood local bookstore, BooksActually is closing its physical store in Tiong Bahru. But it's not a goodbye forever – owner Kenny Leck announced on Facebook that the store is moving its business online.
Opened in 2005 by Kenny and then co-owner Karen Wai, BooksActually has had physical locations at Telok Ayer, Ann Siang Hill and finally, Tiong Bahru. Over the last few years, the store fought hard to stay at its Yong Siak Street location. Every successful fundraising effort bought it a little more time to stay open. Two years ago, the store launched a campaign to raise $2 million for a permanent space and sold actual bricks for $50 each. It's well-loved by many looking for local reads, niche magazines, and a curated collection international bestsellers. But the real draw is its three famous store cats – Lemon, Pico and Cake.
When the webstore expanded during the "circuit breaker" period, online sales picked up. Kenny said in his post, "As horrible as the pandemic has been, it has also given BooksActually its 'Online Store Sea Legs'. After nearly half a year of being solely an online store, we are now ready to make it a reality."
Though the business has gone fully online, BooksActually still plans on being a big part of the Singapore literary scene and will continue to organise readings and other literary happenings like the annual #BuySingLit street party, 24-Hour Bookstore and The World's Loneliest Bookstore pop-up.
Kenny will also be live on Facebook and Instagram to answer any questions about the "new" BooksActually and talk about future plans for the brand.
The remaining old-school mosaic playgrounds in Singapore
First look: Apple's new store at Marina Bay Sands
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore won't take place this year


text:
Sonam Kapoor Launches IIJW Delhi
After 3 years in Mumbai, this year marks the 1st Delhi edition of India International Jewellery Week at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The 14-show event will have 17 brands and designers showcasing their collections.
This year’s participants include Gitanjali Gems, Kays Jewels, Birdichand Ghanshyamdas, PC Jewellers, Bholasons, Nazraana by Rio Tinto, RK Jewellers, Hazoorilal, CVM Exports and Charu Jewels. The designer lineup features Rosily Paul, Monica Kapoor, and Pooja Joneja.
Brand ambassador Sonam Kapoor said," I would like to congratulate the council for successfully organizing the first New Delhi edition of the IIJW, a world class jewellery show in itself. I am ecstatic at being a part of this premier show which has showcased many renowned jewellery designers as well as encouraged new talent. I now look forward to the IIJW recreating its magic at the Delhi show which I am sure will also mesmerize the people of the capital city.”
The Conversation (0)
Start a conversation, not a fire. Post with kindness.


text:
Weather Shield Manufacturing Inc., a manufacturer of windows and doors, is expanding its facility in Park Falls, Wisconsin. The $3.6 million project is expected to create 40 jobs over the next three years.
The expansion will support the addition of a new product line of windows and specialty patio doors that targets the luxury custom home and premiere hospitality markets. The company will invest in new equipment and special tooling and will also spend an additional $381,500 in training costs.
“We are excited to expand our operations in Park Falls,” said Mark Schield, president of Weather Shield. “The greater Park Falls community has a tremendously talented workforce who are skilled, experienced and highly capable of supporting Weather Shield’s growing business. We look forward to welcoming new associates to our work family.”
As an incentive, Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is supporting the project by authorizing up to $225,000 in state income tax credits over the next three years. The actual amount of tax credits Weather Shield will receive is contingent upon the number of jobs created and the amount of capital investment during that period.
“This investment by Weather Shield Manufacturing Inc. solidifies the company’s continued commitment to Wisconsin and is a testament to the strength of our manufacturing industry,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “In addition to the jobs created by this project, this expansion allows Weather Shield to take advantage of a growing market and position itself for future growth.”
Weather Shield Manufacturing Inc. currently has 865 full-time employees, with 827 of them located in Wisconsin across their three locations in Medford, Ladysmith and Park Falls. The company offers its comprehensive products and services to more than 600 dealers nationwide, has registered over 33 patents and has designed more than 3,000 products.


text:
By Sandrine Rastello
A Canadian company is trying to corner the corner-store market in the U.S.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., which is based outside of Montreal and better known as the owner of Circle K stores, is poised to expand its footprint to 48 U.S. states with the acquisition of closely held Holiday Stationstores Inc., a deal announced Monday. The transaction, valued by analysts at $1.5 billion to $2 billion, extends a buying spree that crossed the border 16 years ago and has now gone global.
The deal by Couche-Tard, which reported quarterly profit Wednesday that beat analysts’ estimates, furthers the reach of a company that’s little known to Americans even though it has 6,000 locations in the U.S. The purchase of 522 stores, a food commissary and a fuel terminal gives Couche-Tard — French for “Night Owl” — access to the upper Midwest market, including a stronghold in the Minneapolis region, and boosts its expertise in selling prepared food.
Couche-Tard Canadian operations get boost in fourth-quarter from Esso stores
That dank Couche: Alimentation Couche-Tard keen on selling cannabis in convenience stores
It is Couche-Tard’s third major investment in the U.S. since December 2014, after the almost $4 billion acquisition of gas-station chain CST Brands Inc., which closed just weeks ago. The company is now focusing on reducing its debt levels to preserve its investment-grade credit ratings.
“There’s room for deals,” Chief Financial Officer Claude Tessier said in a phone interview, referring to the U.S. market. “For now we’re digesting, integrating the big acquisitions we’ve made.”
Tessier said there are about 154,000 corner stores in the U.S., and 30 to 50 medium-size chains that make for potential targets. Some are operating on the east coast of the U.S., where Couche-Tard doesn’t have a strong presence, he said.
Texas to Alaska
Assuming the Holiday acquisition is approved by regulators, a Canadian company that started with one store in a Montreal suburb in 1980 would have U.S. customers from Texas to Alaska, adding six states to its reach. While the acquisition would move Couche-Tard closer to U.S. market leader 7-Eleven, the industry is highly fragmented, with chains accounting for 37 per cent of total stores, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report from March.
The acquisition “reflects that the industry consolidation theme continues in the U.S. and Canadian convenience and fuel market,” Keith Howlett, an analyst at Desjardins Capital Markets, wrote in a note to investors.
Profit grew to 52 cents a share, excluding some items, in the period ended April 30, Couche-Tard said Wednesday in a statement. Analysts projected 46 cents on average. Sales in Europe and efforts to control costs helped make up for lower gasoline and products margins in the U.S.
With the acquisition, Canadian companies have made 18 deals valued at $1 billion or more to buy U.S. targets so far this year, compared with 21 for all of last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Laval, Quebec-based Couche-Tard said the agreement bars it from disclosing financial terms. It forecast that Holiday would add $180 million to $190 million a year in earnings before interest, income taxes and depreciation and amortization, which last fiscal year amounted to about $2.4 billion.
Alain Bouchard, the co-founder and now executive chairman, has gradually expanded the company, first in its home market, then to the rest of Canada, before entering the U.S. in 2001 and Europe in 2012. The company has a no-frills reputation, with top management known for visiting scores of stores before making acquisitions to spot the weaknesses.
“We’re looking really heavily right now into developing our business in Asia,” Tessier said, adding that the Mexican market is also opening up.
In Holiday, Couche-Tard said it identified a “very well-run company” with similar growth prospects and a strong local brand. Strong points include a successful car-wash subscription program, a food commissary that makes thousands of sandwiches a day, and data analytics used for pricing, Chief Executive Officer Brian Hannash told analysts after the announcement.
Mark Petrie, an analyst with CIBC World Markets, called it an “excellent fit” thanks to limited geographic overlap between the two companies and Holiday’s market share of about 30 per cent in its territory.
Couche-Tard shares rose 3.7 per cent to $62.40 at the close Wednesday. They have climbed 2.5 per cent this year, compared with a 3.4 per cent gain for a sub-index of Canadian consumer-staple sellers.
That underperformance has been unusual for Couche-Tard, “a favorite of investors for the last 15 years,” GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry wrote. He called the price “an appealing entry point into one of the best-managed companies in Canada.”


text:
US: Monster Energy boosts Hansen Natural in Q1
A rise in sales and market share for Monster Energy has driven Hansen Natural to a 44% jump in net profits for the first quarter of 2009.
Net sales rose by 15% to US$244m for the first three months of 2009, compared to $212m during the same period of last year, California-based Hansen Natural said yesterday (7 May).
Net profits increased to $41.6m from $28.8m, while operating profits rose by nearly 54% to $65.8m, said the group, which reported a net loss for its full-year in 2008.
Hansen attributed the majority of the sales rise to a continuing strong performance from its Monster Energy drink, which, the group added, also grew market share during the quarter in an energy drinks category that has seen slower growth in the US recession.
The firm signalled that teething problems remain in establishing its distribution partnership for Monster with Coca-Cola Enterprises.
The deal, which became effective from the first quarter, has progressed "satisfactorily", said Hansen CEO and chairman Rodney Sacks.
Sacks said that the transition to CCE in Canada has been challenging, but "we are optimistic that we will start to see improved results in this market during the current quarter".
In CCE's Western Europe markets, Sacks said: "Distribution performance in the UK in the first quarter was disappointing, although there are signs of improvement with CCE in that country."
As well as CCE, Hansen has also entered distribution agreements for Monster with Schweppes Australia, Neill Cropper & Co for New Zealand, Luigi Biscaldi Import-Export for Italy and Osborne for Spain.
The Coca-Cola Co reported flat earnings on Tuesday (20 October), with lower-than-expected quarterly revenue hurt by the stronger US dollar. Michelle Russell examines the fallout....
Sales of energy drinks have doubled in the last five years, according to recent research....
There's a new impulse buy opportunity for retailers and an energy/nutrition fix for consumers in the form of a niche, but growing category - the shot. Annette Farr considers the category, and takes a ...
Hansen Natural has reported another quarter of rising profits and sales....
Coca-Cola Spain has launched energy drink Burn con Zumo (Burn with Juice) in the country....
Coca-Cola Amatil has said solid trading in the third quarter of its fiscal year means the soft drinks group is on-track to meet profits guidance....
Coca-Cola Enterprises has announced the appointment of a chief diversity officer....
Coca-Cola Enterprises has posted a lift in profits, despite slipping sales, in its third quarter....
- AB InBev, SABMiller - Here's what'll happen next
- Is time right for TWE to move for Diageo's wines?
- Is Brown-Forman at the end of the SoCo road?
- Will a sexed-up SABMiller tempt AB InBev?
- Is Brown-Forman doing a Jack Daniel's in Ireland?
- AB InBev makes formal offer for SABMiller
- Diageo secures Xerox Corp CFO as finance head
- Tesco pulls several Carlsberg SKUs in UK
- Diageo makes US$780.5m beer deal with Heineken
- SABMiller formally rejects AB InBev's offer
- The IWSR Duty Free/Travel Retail Summary Report 2015
- Future growth opportunities for global spirits
- Global gin insights - market data, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Global non-Scotch whiskies insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research
- Global Scotch whisky insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends research


text:
Netflix Guidance: Why It's Even More Shocking Than It Seems
Hope has become way too big a part of the equation in any bullish argument for Netflix stock -- and that's scary.
If you own Netflix (NFLX), then you're in the house of pain this morning.
The revolutionary movie-rental service hit its first stumble in recent memory yesterday after dropping a disappointing second-quarter earnings report, complete with lackluster Q3 guidance.
The stock is getting wrecked, and valuation-obsessed bears are finally smiling after spending the past two years watching Neftlix hit all-time highs just about every day.
However, there's a big story here that the media is completely ignoring: Netflix' bizarrely optimistic fourth-quarter expectations, which indicate that management is both out of touch and overconfident.
Before we get into that mess, let's take a quick look at the headline numbers:
- Netflix smashed Wall Street's earnings expectations by 14%, delivering a profit of $1.26 a share.
- Revenue came in at $789 million, falling just short of consensus estimates calling for $792 million.
- Neftlix expects third-quarter revenue of $780 to $805 million, which is well below Wall Street's $845 million forecast.
Heading into the quarter, Netflix was trading at 62 times expected full-year earnings, so needless to say, it was more or less priced for perfection.
Therefore, the beating that Netflix is receiving today should come as a surprise to no one. That's just the nature of expensive momentum stocks: When they crash, they crash hard.
But what's really shocking is that Netflix is setting itself up to take a second -- and possibly bigger -- hit three months from now when third-quarter earnings are released.
Let's break it down.
On July 12, Netflix announced it was separating its physical DVD-delivery and online-streaming distribution services, effectively raising its prices by as much as 60% for some customers.
I goofed and thought that the price hike wouldn't be that big a deal (see IBM: King of the Old-School Tech Giants).
That was completely and utterly wrong, as indicated by this statement from Netflix:
In Q3 we will see only the negative impact of the pricing change, given that the announcement was early in the quarter and that the increases won't take effect until late in the quarter (September 15 on average).
We expect domestic net additions in Q3 to be lower than the previous year Q3, and because of the timing of the price change, revenues will only grow slightly on a sequential basis.
This makes sense. Netflix is expecting a near-term hit in demand and is appropriately lowering expectations.
But here's where things get bizarre.
Immediately afterward, Netflix said this about the fourth quarter:
In Q4, we expect domestic net additions to return to a pattern of year-over-year growth while revenue will reflect a full quarter's impact of the pricing changes, which could result in Q4 being our first billion dollar global revenue quarter, driven by strong U.S. performance.
Common sense says that Netflix wouldn't mention the possibility of hitting $1 billion in revenue in Q4 unless it had some reasonable expectation of hitting that mark.
So Netflix expects nothing less than business as usual in Q4, despite a serious disruption in momentum during Q3. That smells like overconfidence and a lack of humility to me.
As of 4:00 p.m. on Monday, Wall Street was looking for Netflix to generate just $923 million in revenue for Q4, according to Reuters.
So by bringing up this $1 billion number, Netflix blasted away a whole lot of valuable wiggle room.
It would be much better to ultimately report revenue at $900 or $925 million without having brought up this $1 billion number at all. One quarter from now, any Q4 guidance issued below $1 billion will be viewed as a guidance cut -- and another reason to dump the stock.
I mean, what if growth doesn't just magically bounce back? What if Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) turn up the heat with promo deals on their video-streaming services? What if the movie companies start demanding even bigger bucks for film rights?
Here and now, Netflix is looking a lot more like a short than a long.
Hope has become way too big a part of the equation in any bullish argument for the stock -- and that's scary.
New! The TechStrat Report by Sean Udall. Sean provides in-depth analysis, strategies and trades across the technology sector. Take a FREE 14 day trial.
Copyright 2011 Minyanville Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Daily Recap Newsletter


text:
Cyberattacks against accounting software firm Wolters Kluwer and the City of Baltimore in May showed how the newest wave of malicious hacking can have significant, often...Technologyread more
The European parliamentary election is the second largest democratic exercise in the world.Europe Newsread more
Biden had criticized Kim Jong Un as a "dictator" and a "tyrant" at a recent rally in Philadelphia. North Korean state media responded by calling Biden a "fool of low IQ" among...Politicsread more
Buybacks have gotten a bad rap from both Republicans and Democrats. But stocks would be trading at a massive discount without them.Marketsread more
Fiat Chrysler and France's Renault could soon partner up to take on the sweeping changes to the global auto industry, according to a report in the Financial Times. The...Autosread more
Microsoft shares have gained 133% since November 2015, outperforming a tech "basket of unicorns" over that stretch.Technologyread more
The president's state visit comes amid tensions with carmaker Toyota over potential auto tariffs. Trump has repeatedly threatened Japanese and European carmakers with tariffs.Traderead more
The IRS is about to release a new draft of Form W-4, which will more closely reflect the changes stemming from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. For workers, that means they'll need...Personal Financeread more
The Mega Millions jackpot has spilled over $400 million. It would be the ninth largest winning since the game began in 2002.Personal Financeread more
Trump was speaking at a meeting of Japanese business leaders in Tokyo during his state visit to Japan on Saturday.Marketsread more
The biggest U.S. gasoline price surge in years is running out of steam just in time for the start of the summer driving season.Energyread more
Handbag maker Tapestry cut its full-year profit forecast and reported its first quarterly earnings miss in at least two years, as its millennial-focused Kate Spade brand failed to impress shoppers with a lack of new designs.
Shares of Tapestry, which also blamed falling tourist spending and a slowing global economy for its lackluster performance, were last down 16.4 percent, their worst day in more than six years.
Kate Spade, the brand Tapestry bought over a year ago, did not have a special collection for the holidays and Chief Executive Officer Victor Luis blamed the 11 percent drop in the brand's comparable store sales to a "lack of newness".
"It did worse than we expected and I believe that was due to the whole market moving on and Kate Spade not having moved on as much," Luis told Reuters in an interview.
Kate Spade hired Nicola Glass, a Gucci and Michael Kors alumnus, as its creative director last year. Her first collection was showcased in September, but arrived in stores only this year after the key holiday months.
"That's the main reason. It was just the time required for us to develop newness with the new creative direction," the CEO said.
Like other retailer, Tapestry relies heavily on the holiday season as it makes up almost a third of its annual sales.
"They missed a very important quarter," said Jane Hali, chief executive officer of investment research firm Jane Hali & Associates. "It was promotional and the atmosphere in the stores hadn't changed."
New York-based Tapestry called out "uncertain" macroeconomy and geopolitical tensions for a drop in tourism, especially with Chinese tourists, whose thirst for Coach and Kate Spade handbags had been a reliable revenue driver for the company.
Chinese customers are instead buying Tapestry products at their local stores in China.
The company said on a conference call that it would continue to invest in the world's most populous country at a time when the Chinese government is pushing for higher domestic spending.
Tapestry now expects full-year adjusted earnings in a range of $2.55-$2.60 per share, down from its previous forecast of $2.75-$2.80.
Similarly, Michael Kors handbag maker Capri Holdings gave a disappointing full-year profit forecast, after its holiday collection also failed to impress.
Tapestry earned $1.07 per share in the second quarter, excluding certain one-time items, missing the average estimate of $1.11.
Global same-store sales at Coach stores rose just 1 percent, short of analysts' estimate of 1.7 percent.


text:
Businesses from California, Florida, Texas, New York, and New Jersey represented nearly half of the 75,000 new Amazon sellers in the U.S. over the past twelve months. There was no acceleration in the number of new sellers amid the pandemic, however.
California based sellers represented 17.5% of the new sellers. Florida had 12.1%, Texas 8.2%, New York 7.7%, and New Jersey 4.1%. The rest of the states combine to 50.4%. Adjusted for per capita, Wyoming and Delaware top the list instead.
The top 10 cities with the most sellers were Miami, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Houston, New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Diego, Chicago, and Dallas. Miami is home to the “South Florida FBA - Amazon Sellers,” the country’s largest regular community group with over 4,200 members on Meetup.com.
Compared to the distribution of all U.S.-based Amazon sellers, Florida showed a significantly increased share of the new sellers. Sellers based in the state represent 8.8% of those registered before October 2019, compared to 12.1% since; a 300 basis points increase. Texas, Georgia, and California also accelerated by at least 50 basis points.
Based on the analysis of the sellers’ business addresses. Over 190,000 new sellers joined the Amazon marketplace in the U.S. over the past twelve months; nearly 75,000 of those sellers are U.S.-based. More sellers joined during previous years.
All states in the U.S. each have at least 1,000 sellers, and 30 states each have more than 10,000 sellers. However, most sellers are in one of the top five states, and those states continue to grow in market share. The map showcases Amazon’s economic impact across the nation and how access to shipping ports and existing seller communities created seller hotspots in a half dozen locations.
As some of the nation’s businesses previously refusing to sell online changed their stance after many stores shut, Amazon could have been their outlet online. That didn’t happen. The sellers on Amazon continue to be purpose-built businesses primarily - most of the 75,000 new U.S. based sellers are not known brands or offline retailers.


text:
- Articles tagged "micro four thirds"
Hands-on: The Olympus Pen-F is a new vintage beauty that feels great in the hands (*Updated with price*)
“A masterpiece for creating your own masterpieces” is how Olympus described their new Pen-F camera, and the latest addition to their Micro Four Thirds line of interchangeable lens cameras is very nicely crafted indeed. Here’s what it feels like to use one.
This is a short story about two things. One is a hands-on shooting experience with the new Panasonic Lumix GX8. The second is catching glimpses of Cambodia, in the capital of Phnom Penh, for one brief day.
Along with the launch of the DMC-CM1, Panasonic has also announced the launch of their newest Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (DSLM) camera, the DMC-G7, and we're pleased to bring you our initial impressions.
The Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 ASPH is one of the most exciting lenses to come out for the Micro Four Thirds platform yet. Here's why.
Olympus adds another member to the OM-D family, the EM-10. A smaller and more affordable version of the EM-5, will it be the camera to sway more shutterbugs to the Olympus camp? We give you our first impressions after spending some time with it.
Panasonic has just wrapped the regional launch of their latest camera, the Lumix GM1. This mirrorless system camera marries beauty and brains; it's impossibly small, stylishly good-looking, and carries inside the high-performance 16MP sensor of the GX7. Check out our hands-on with the camera inside.
We go hands-on with Panasonic's latest mirrorless camera, the Lumix GM1, an impossibly compact camera with the same sensor inside as the Lumix GX7. Check out just how small this camera is!
We've gotten our hands on a pre-production model of Olympus' latest flagship, the OM-D E-M1. Click through to find out how it handles and why this is the mirrorless DSLR-killer we've been waiting for.
Panasonic has just announced their latest and greatest mirrorless system camera; the Lumix GX7. And surprise, surprise, we've already had our hands on it for the last two days. Here's our first impressions of the GX7, almost live from Australia. How does it look, feel and perform? Click to find out.
We're here with Panasonic in Shanghai, to talk about mirrorless system cameras. Discover what Panasonic aims to achieve with their mirrorless cameras, why Leica was one of their most severe teachers and how in the world they think Canon entering the mirrorless market is a great thing.
- The new Apple TV app puts all your movies and TV serials in one place
- Apple announces new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro featuring all-new Touch Bar
- Apple to introduce a 5-inch iPhone model next year?
- Nikon KeyMission 360 camera lands on our shores alongside KeyMission 170 and 80
- Nintendo schedules full reveal of Switch console for 12th January 2017 event
- Samsung’s Q3 profits have fallen around a third from last year, thanks to the Note7 fiasco
- All the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti custom cards announced so far (Updated)
- Google announces Jamboard, its 55-inch 4K digital whiteboard that will take on Microsoft's Surface Hub!


text:
With the start of 2016 already here, it’s time to cast the net out in search of the new releases hitting PlayStation platforms over the next four weeks. That’s right, it’s time for our Monthly Releases Spotlight, and on this installment we’ll be shedding light on the first batch of games to hit PS platforms in 2016.
It’s a busier January than years gone by as well, with both The Witness and Amplitude making their long-awaited debuts. Toss in a retail release for Dontnod’s excellent Life is Strange and it would appear that 2016 is primed to hit the ground running.
Keep your peepers peeled for the latest episode of PlayStation LifeStyle’s Monthly Releases Spotlight at the beginning of every month, or the last week of the previous month, giving you the lowdown on all of the new games hitting PlayStation platforms across the next four weeks.
Please bear in mind that these release dates are subject to change, so stay tuned to our dedicated releases page for further updates. If you’ve noticed a hitch don’t hesitate to drop us a line at [email protected]
Tell us, do you plan on picking up any of the aforementioned titles? Let us know using the comments section below.
Finally, why not subscribe to PlayStation LifeStyle’s YouTube channel? There you’ll find a bounty of Monthly Releases Spotlights, not to mention a boatload of original content and all the latest updates from the PlayStation ecosystem.
New Releases Video Games January PS4 Games 2016 Spotlight


text:
TORONTO, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Mood Media Corporation (TSX:MM / LSE AIM:MM), the world's leading in-store media solutions provider, today announced that it has been named one of the Fastest-Growing Companies in Canada by PROFIT Magazine for the second year in a row.
With US$330 million dollars in sales in 2011, representing an impressive 14,318% growth since 2006, Mood Media ranked #2 in the PROFIT 200 list, which profiles the country's most successful growth companies.
Building on momentum from 2010, Mood Media accelerated its transformation of the in-store media marketplace with innovative new products, better and more efficient distribution platforms, expansion in fast-growing emerging markets, and a continued focus on operational excellence.
"We are very proud to be recognized for the second year in a row for our financial performance," says Lorne Abony, CEO and Chairman of Mood Media Corporation. "At Mood Media we have an entrepreneurial culture that encourages our employees to challenge industry norms and be innovative. We are always bringing new solutions to our clients, and our reward has been our tremendous growth."
Ranking Canada's Fastest-Growing Companies by five-year revenue growth, the PROFIT 200 profiles the country's most successful growth companies. Published in the Summer issue of PROFIT and online at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT 200 is Canada's largest annual celebration of entrepreneurial achievement.
"The PROFIT 200 companies are an inspiration to Canadian entrepreneurs and would-be entrepreneurs," says Ian Portsmouth, Editor-in-Chief of PROFIT Magazine. "PROFIT is proud to celebrate the success of these businesspeople, who, despite a challenging economy, have achieved outstanding success in a wide variety of fields."
About Mood Media Corporation
Mood Media Corporation (TSX:MM / LSE AIM:MM), is a leading in-store media specialist that uses a mix of music, visual and scent media to help its clients communicate with consumers with a view to driving incremental sales at the point-of-purchase.
Operating through its principal divisions, Mood Media Corporation works with over 580,000 commercial locations in over 40 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Through its subsidiaries, Mood Media Corporation's products and services reach 100 million people every day in a broad client base including more than 850 U.S. and international brands in diverse market sectors that include: retail, from fashion to financial services; hospitality, from hotels to health spas; and food retail, including restaurants, bars, quick-serve and fast casual dining.
For further information about Mood Media, please visit www.moodmedia.com.
About PROFIT Magazine
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success is Canada's preeminent publication dedicated to the management issues and opportunities facing small and mid-sized businesses. For 30 years, Canadian entrepreneurs and senior managers across a vast array of economic sectors have remained loyal to PROFIT because it's a timely and reliable source of actionable information that helps them achieve business success and get the recognition they deserve for generating positive economic and social change. Visit PROFIT online at PROFITguide.com.
SOURCE Mood Media Corporation


text:
Marriott International expects revenue per available room
(RevPAR) to be down 23% for the first quarter. Roughly 25% of the company’s
7,300-plus hotels remain temporarily closed.
In a business update issued Tuesday, Marriott said it
“anticipates further hotel closures and erosion in RevPAR performance and does
not expect to see a material improvement” until the spread of the Covid-19
coronavirus slows and lockdown restrictions are lifted.
For the month of March, Marriott’s global RevPAR was down
60%, with North America, Asia Pacific and Europe posting RevPAR declines of
57%, 74% and 71%, respectively. In the Caribbean and Latin America, RevPAR
dropped 57% for the month, while the Middle East and Africa region fell 56%
In Greater China, where quarantine and travel restrictions
have eased, Marriott said it has seen “steadily improving RevPAR trends through
March and into April.” The company currently has less than 20 hotels still
shuttered in the region versus more than 90 hotel closures in mid-February.
Marriott reports that occupancy in Greater China rose to approximately 20% in
the first week of April.
In North America and Europe, however, occupancy is hovering
at or below 10%. Marriott has closed more than 870 hotels in North America, approximately
16% of its supply, with more closures expected to follow. About 79% of
Marriott’s European hotels are closed, totaling around 500 properties.
In the Middle East and Africa region, Marriott has roughly
150 hotels temporarily closed — 54% of Marriott’s properties in the region — while
in the Caribbean and Latin America, operations at nearly 200 hotels — 69% of
Marriott’s properties in the market — are suspended.
Source: Read Full Article


text:
BARCELONA, Spain--Telefónica plans to sell ZTE's "Open" Firefox OS phone sometime this summer in Europe and Latin America. The carrier said it will target the phone to younger customers who have not yet purchased their first smartphone.
The touchscreen ZTE Open has a 3.5-inch screen and a 3.2-megapixel camera. Although ZTE and Telefónica declined to say how much the phone will cost, the phone's low-end specifications and target market indicate it likely will be on the very low end of the smartphone pricing curve.
He Shiyou, the head of ZTE's mobile phone business, said the Open will be targeted at "young people who are adventurous and would like to try something new." A Telefónica representative pointed out that only 18 percent of the carrier's customer base owns smartphones, which indicates a potentially significant base of sales for the Open.
Interestingly, Telefónica said it will design a special service for the phone that will allow users to track their mobile service charges in real time.
Telefónica's action is notable because it is pushing to break the stranglehold that Apple and Google enjoy on the smartphone market. Mozilla's Firefox OS is being billed as an "open" platform, built on Web standards, that will give carriers and users more control over their smartphone experience. As for apps, the Firefox OS will run HTML5 apps, including games like Fruit Ninja and others.
The Firefox OS "makes users sovereign over their experience," said Brendan Eich, CTO and co-founder of Mozilla. "What this adds up to is the freedom to blaze your own path."
Telefónica was one of 17 carriers that announced support for Firefox's platform here at the Mobile World Congress trade show. Other carriers include América Móvil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Whampoa's Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint Nextel, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telenor, TMN and VimpelCom. Telstra indicated it is open to the initiative. Mozilla said the "first wave" of Firefox phones will hit Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela, with additional markets after that. Handset vendors building Firefox phones include ZTE, LG, Huawei, TCL's Alcatel and Sony Mobile Communications, which said it hopes to have a Firefox phone in the market next year.
"Firefox OS represents a good opportunity for operators to cost-effectively increase smartphone penetration," said Informa Telecoms & Media analyst Paul Lambert. "To make a success of Firefox OS operators will need to do a lot of work to convince the market about the benefits and capabilities of Firefox-based devices. They will also need to work closely with the manufacturers to make sure the devices are compelling enough - from appearance and usage perspectives - to help increase smartphone penetration among their target markets."
- see this Mozilla release
- see this CNET article
Mozilla's Firefox OS unlikely to reach the U.S. market until 2014
Can Mozilla's Firefox take the fight to Apple and Google?
Mozilla debuts Firefox for Android tablets preview build


text:
In an attempt to “Sinicise” the Muslim population in China, authorities in the capital city Beijing has ordered halal restaurants and food stalls to remove Arabic script and symbols associated with Islam from their signboards, reports Reuters.
Employees of around 11 restaurants and shops in Beijing selling halal products said that Chinese officials have asked them to remove images associated with Islam. Speaking to Reuters, which visited these shops recently, they asserted the officials have told them to remove images including the crescent moon and get rid of the word “halal” written in Arabic from signs.
A Beijing noodle shop was asked by government workers from various offices to cover up the “halal” in Arabic on the shop’s sign. To ensure that instructions were followed, the officials watched him do it. “They said this is foreign culture and you should use more Chinese culture,” manager of the noodle shop told Reuters on conditions of anonymity.
According to the Meituan Dianping food delivery app, Beijing is home to at least 1,000 halal shops and restaurants and is spread across the city’s historic Muslim quarter as well as in other neighbourhoods. However, it is still unclear whether every such restaurant in Beijing has been told to cover Arabic script and Muslim symbols.
Several shops visited by Reuters have replaced their signs with the Chinese term for halal – “qing zhen,” while others opted to cover up the Arabic and Islamic imagery with tape or stickers.
This cultural revolution in China has gained momentum since 2016. The repression is a part of the push to “Sinicise religion” – a policy introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2015 to bring religions in line with Chinese culture and the absolute authority of the Communist party.
As the ruling Communist Party tries to “Sinicise religions”, Islamic decor and Arabic signs are being taken off the streets of China. Along with banning “Arab style” mosques, which have large onion shaped domes, the Chinese government is also converting some of the existing ones to look like Chinese temples.
Earlier, throughout Ningxia, a small autonomous region in north-central China, Islamic decor and Arabic signs have been taken off the streets. Similarly, on the pretext of noise pollution, calls to prayer have also been banned in Yinchuan.
Moreover, books on Islam and copies of the Koran have been removed from various souvenir shops. Some mosques have also been ordered to cancel public Arabic classes. A number of private Arabic schools have been told to shut down, either temporarily for “rectification” or for good.
However, Muslims are not the only ones who have come under the Communist government’s radar. Authorities have shut down many underground Christian churches, and torn down crosses of some churches deemed illegal by the government.
Muslims have, particularly, been hit hard since a riot in 2009 between minority Uighur Muslims and majority Han Chinese in the far western region of Xinjiang, home to Uighurs.
Despite facing intense criticism from Western nations and rights groups over its policies, China says its actions in Xinjiang are necessary to destroy religious extremism. Officials have warned about creeping Islamisation, and have extended tighter controls over other Muslim minorities.
“Arabic is seen as a foreign language and knowledge of it is now seen as something outside of the control of the state,” said Darren Byler, an anthropologist at the University of Washington who studies Xinjiang.
“It is also seen as connected to international forms of piety, or in the eyes of state authorities, religious extremism. They want Islam in China to operate primarily through the Chinese language,” Byler added.
Meanwhile, the Beijing government’s Committee on Ethnicity and Religious affairs declined to comment on this particular order meted out to Halal restaurants and shops, stating the order regarding halal restaurants was a national directive.


text:
Square Enix has released a free update for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix, adding a couple of small new features to the remastered collection. In addition to fixing various bugs, the update adds an additional cutscene for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. There's also a new Theater mode for Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, which allows you to re-watch cutscenes.
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix is out now on PlayStation 4. The title collects six remastered Kingdom Hearts in one package with improved visuals and other additional features.
In other Kingdom Hearts news, Square Enix also released a new trailer for the anticipated Kingdom Hearts III earlier this week. The video showcases some massive new villains and gives fans a better look at some new gameplay elements. Square Enix still hasn't announced a release date for Kingdom Hearts III.
from GameSpot News http://ift.tt/2rs4L7f


text:
The hospitality sector, through the Juntos con la Hostelería platform (made up of FIAB, Hostelería de España and Aecoc), has requested direct aid to the sector worth 8,500 million euros from the autonomous communities and the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto.
The proposed measures, which include direct aid, fiscal, economic and labour measures, fall within the framework of the Hospitality Support Plan announced last week by Minister Reyes Maroto.
From the sector, they calculate that 8,500 million euros would be necessary to avoid the loss of more than a million jobs and the disappearance of a third of the hotel establishments, that is, 100,000 premises.
In addition, the hospitality industry has ensured that with this amount a “very considerable” impact on the public coffers could be prevented in terms of reducing the collection of VAT, personal income tax, special taxes, corporation tax and social security contributions.
The hospitality sector in Spain represents 6.2% of GDP, generates 1.7 million jobs and contributes close to 17,500 million euros to the state’s public coffers, according to 2019 data.
To date, more than 65,000 hospitality businesses have closed, more than 350,000 jobs have disappeared and turnover has decreased by more than 50% compared to the previous year. To all this must be added the consequences in the more than 30,000 companies associated with the hospitality industry, whose joint turnover accounts for about 20% of the national GDP.
The sector has pointed out that hospitality establishments “have been affected for months by total closures and making an effort to apply restrictive health measures without any specific financial support.”
“All this despite the fact that, according to the latest reports from the Ministry of Health, in bars and restaurants less than 3.3% of the infections accumulated in Spain since May of this year”, they have assured.


text:
Skyrim DLC Details And Release Date To Be Revealed This Week?
Wolf's Gaming Blog
Let’s face it, gamers are not a patient bunch. The constant stream of crappy DLC released just weeks or even days after a game’s launch has resulted in the current generation of gamers have less patience than an angry man stuck behind an old woman driving a Skoda. […]


text:
Wayfair Is Laying Off About 5% Of Its Workforce
More layoffs are here, even in the face of the latest super-duper jobs number that we swear doesn’t include people taking on their 2nd or 3rd jobs just to make ends meet and catch up with inflation.
Wayfair has just become the latest in a long line of companies to pare back its workforce, announcing this morning that it was going to cutting its labor by about 5%.
In a Form 8-K filed on Friday morning, the online retailer discussed the layoffs, amidst other cost cutting measures. Wayfair “announced a workforce reduction involving approximately 870 employees in connection with its previously announced plans to manage operating expenses and realign investment priorities.”
The filing continued: “This reduction represents approximately 5% of our global workforce and approximately 10% of our corporate team. Concurrently, the Company is in the process of making substantial reductions in its third party labor costs.
The company said it was going to take “between approximately $30 million and $40 million of costs” in Q3 2022 as a result of the layoffs.
These layoffs come a year after reports that Amazon was planning with a premium service that lets customers opt to have furniture or appliances assembled as soon they arrive at their homes.
Recall, we wrote a piece just days ago helping our readers visualize all of the latest major layoffs at U.S. corporations. We noted that in June 2022, Insight Global found that 78% of American workers fear they will lose their job in the next recession. Additionally, 56% said they aren’t financially prepared, and 54% said they would take a pay cut to avoid being laid off.
In this infographic, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu visualizes major layoffs announced in 2022 by publicly-traded U.S. corporations.
Note: Due to gaps in reporting, as well as the very large number of U.S. corporations, this list may not be comprehensive.
An Emerging Trend
Layoffs have surged considerably since April of this year. See the table below for high-profile instances of mass layoffs.
Layoffs are expected to continue throughout the rest of this year, as metrics like consumer sentiment enter a decline. Rising interest rates, which make it more expensive for businesses to borrow money, are also having a negative impact on growth.
In fact just a few days ago, trading platform Robinhood announced it was letting go 23% of its staff. After accounting for its previous layoffs in April (9% of the workforce), it’s fair to estimate that this latest round will impact nearly 800 people.


text:
As part of Road Trip 2015, CNET looks at how new skyscrapers are defining a new era in the City by the Bay. The winners: tech. The losers: pretty much everyone else.
Silk Labs wants to weave its software and services into all the new networked devices coming to homes of the future. Behind it: a trio fresh from the ambitious Firefox OS smartphone project.
From the Cheapskate: A must-have for cord-cutters, this paper-thin antenna can really pull down the local channels. Plus: a fantastic educational app bundle!
The Chinese company's newest television has the specifications to compete against the best OLED and LED LCD TVs, for a lot less money.
Apple's iPhone event invite came with the mysterious tagline "Hey Siri, give us a hint." But if you actually ask Siri to give you a hint, her answers get a bit snide.
The practice of tripling, quadrupling and quintupling ride fares in times of high demand may face limits from New York City officials. Many drivers might be OK with that.
Get the new school year off on the right foot with apps and services
Rocksteady Studios' latest also takes the top spot on the UK chart.
The heavy demand for Apple's iPhone 6 lineup is surfacing in the resale market with higher relative prices seen in both the US and China, according to analyst Gene Munster.
Sales for the iPhone may shoot as high as 51.1 million units this quarter, says UBS analyst Steven Milunovich, higher than Wall Street is predicting.


text:
Most fluorescent tubes are now banned from sale in the UK & Europe, with the rest due to be phased out soon.
Beginning with the fading glow of the 100W incandescent lightbulb in 2009, the journey towards energy-efficient LED lighting has maintained a steady pace. The latest phase of this transition sees us bid farewell to the trusted fluorescent tubes, with most falling foul of the ban as we’ve navigated 2023 and the rest soon to follow.
Plan for change
Many growth chambers and controlled environment facilities across the UK and Europe still happily bask in the steady glow of fluorescent tubes. "It’s crucial for all organizations to check their light sources and plan the switch to LED, ensuring that research and commercial programs don’t face disruptions due to unscheduled downtime", the team with Vertically Urban says. "LEDs can be up to 80% more efficient than fluorescent tubes and are more readily recycled."


text:
Dubbed RICEWAVE, the material was conceived when Meuble, Biomass Resin Holdings, and Mitsui & Co Plastics Ltd. set out to create a renewable alternative to polyethylene.
“We have been thinking about product development from a new perspective, and have been studying and prototyping products using biomass materials for more than five years,” Michiaki Sakata, CEO of Meuble, tells Design Boom. “While studying various materials, including overseas biomass materials, I encountered rice resin and resonated with the fact that it is made in Japan and that it utilizes waste rice that people cannot eat and must throw away.”
Meuble is currently replacing some of the PE it uses with RICEWAVE, and is working with its chemical partners to replace shift the ratio further in favor of RICEWAVE. It also notes that there is ample land to expand use of the material. “Abandoned cultivated land in Japan is vast, exceeding the size of two Tokyo metropolitan areas,” the company says. “We have started making rice for rice resin in this abandoned land, which will lead to agricultural support and aim to revitalize the region.”


text:
An official at the Ministry of Finance has revealed to the local press in Thailand that crypto-related profits, such as those generated from cryptocurrency trading, will be taxed at a rate of 15%. After significant market growth in the past year, the administration intends to improve monitoring of cryptocurrency trading in 2022.
Thailand urges cryptocurrency traders to report their profits from tax returns
Thailand’s Ministry of Finance is advising investors to indicate their income from cryptocurrency holdings when they file their tax returns this year, the Bangkok Post reported Thursday. Quoting a source from the ministry, the newspaper added that capital gains from cryptocurrency trading will be subject to a 15% tax.
The official explained that the obligation relates to all taxpayers who have made a profit from transactions with cryptocurrencies, including investors and operators of crypto-mining facilities. However, digital asset exchanges will be exempt from the tax.
The report states that earnings from cryptocurrency trading are assessable income under Section 40 of the Royal Decree amending Revenue Law No. 19. In light of the significant expansion of the digital asset market in 2021, the financial authorities are now planning to improve their oversight of currency trading activities in the country.
However, not all aspects of crypto taxation are straightforward, as the industry representative pointed out. Akalarp Yimwilai, co-founder and CEO of crypto exchange Zipmex, notes that many questions remain regarding how to calculate earnings. One is whether a gain from a price increase with a stronger US dollar counts as a profit. He further explained:
Tax methods and calculations should be more concise, clear and easy to understand. Many people I know want to pay taxes, but don’t know how to calculate them.
He added that Zipmex is trying to develop a system that allows its customers to estimate their profits and losses, but the task has proven difficult to solve. He noted that “if the revenue department really had an advanced data analytics system that could accurately calculate the earnings from cryptocurrencies, it would be beneficial to share it with the industry.”
The authorities in Thailand, a major tourist destination, are trying to show a friendly attitude towards the growing number of cryptocurrency users, especially among visitors. In September, the country’s tourism authority announced its desire to boost what it described as a “crypto-tourism climate” and in November its governor stressed that Thailand should become a “positive crypto community.” Last month, Bank of Thailand officials stated that crypto payments are not illegal.
Do you think the authorities in Thailand will clarify the tax rules for cryptocurrency investors? Tell us in the comments section below.
photo credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wikicommons
disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal or accounting advice. Neither the Company nor the author shall be liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.


text:
Apple's newest smart watches can now be sold in the United States after the firm submitted an urgent plea to authorities.
Sales of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches had been suspended in the United States due to a patent dispute.
The US trade agency has prohibited the importation and sale of Apple watches equipped with blood-oxygen-level-reading technology.
Masimo, a device manufacturer, accused Apple of stealing its employees and technology.
It comes after the White House declined to lift a ban on the sale and importation of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches, which went into force this week. Apple has stated that it "strongly disagrees" with the decision.
The iPhone maker filed an emergency plea with the US Court of Appeals, which resulted in the ban being removed.
Apple "pre-emptively" pulled the gadgets from its US website and shops earlier this month. Other sales have not been affected.
The order issued by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) in October was subject to a 60-day review by the president, who has the authority to veto the decision. The review period concluded on Christmas Day when the White House chose to maintain the ban.
After "careful consultations," the office of US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai said on Tuesday that it had chosen not to alter the USITC's judgment.
Apple had requested that the prohibition be lifted until Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could investigate whether the revised versions of its watches, which do not incorporate the disputed technology, infringed on Masimo's patents.
According to an Apple spokesman, CBP was scheduled to make its decision on January 12.
In October, the USITC determined that Apple infringed on two patents owned by the medical device firm Masimo Corporation.
The California-based startup accused Apple of poaching key employees and stealing technology it created to assess oxygen levels in the blood.
Since 2020, most models of Apple's smart watches have had contentious blood oxygen functions. Its lower-priced SE variants do not. The restriction does not apply to already-sold watches.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Apple said: "We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the US as soon as possible.".


text:
Chinese tech company Huawei on Tuesday opened a cybersecurity lab in Brussels, the heart of the European Union, as it tries to win over government leaders and fight back U.S. allegations that its equipment poses a national ...
A US regulator Tuesday announced the launch of an antitrust task force to focus on competition in the tech sector and consider challenging mergers and tie-ups retroactively.
The founder of China's Huawei, the world's biggest supplier of network gear to phone and internet companies, says his company would not share secrets about its customers and their communication networks.
British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has warned of his "very deep concerns" about Chinese technology giant Huawei being involved in the use of 5G on Britain's mobile network, The Times reported Thursday.
Qualcomm said Tuesday that another milestone has been hit in efforts to bring ultra-fast 5G wireless devices to consumers next year when a smartphone using its latest modem chip operated on a 5G network at an event in Hawaii.


text:
News Briefs for June 10, 2011June 10, 2011
• California distributor Wine Warehouse has appointed Greg Akins to the role of president and chief operating officer. Akins first joined Wine Warehouse in 1989 and has since held a variety of leadership roles, including his most recent post as executive vice president and COO of the group’s northern California division. Akins’s appointment is concurrent with former president Jim Myerson’s move to chairman and ceo, as well as co-founder Bob Myerson’s move to chairman emeritus.
• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement agreement with Michael Migliozzi II and Brian William Flatow, the co-founders of an online campaign aiming to solicit investors for a takeover of Pabst Brewing Co. Details of the settlement weren’t disclosed. Launched in 2009, the “BuyaBeerCompany.com” campaign utilized social media platforms Twitter and Facebook to collect investor pledges for the $300 million necessary to purchase Pabst. In April of 2010, however, Migliozzi and Flatow shut down the campaign site after the SEC issued a cease-and-desist order, stating that the Internet campaign violated securities regulations. According to media reports, the pair is estimated to have achieved online pledges for $200 million prior to the campaign’s halt. Private investment firm Metropoulos & Co acquired Pabst Beer Co in June 2010.
• Starbucks is introducing beer and wine to two additional locations in the Northwest: an existing Issaquah, Washington location and a new outpost in Portland, Oregon. The move is part of an ongoing Starbucks test-run with local beer and wine, which began at Seattle-based Starbucks locations late last year. According to Starbucks regional vice president of the Pacific Northwest Kris Engskov, the beer and wine offerings contribute to a “restaurant at night” feel, which the company hopes will drive traffic during off-peak hours. If the test-run locations prove successful, Starbucks said it will expand the effort to around half of its stores globally.
• Washington state-based wine group Precept Wine Brands has changed its name to Precept Wine. According to CEO and founder Andrew Browne, the new name reflects Precept’s recent transition from a marketing- and sales-focused firm to a fully integrated wine producer. Founded in 2008, Precept now owns 3,700 vineyard acres as well as production facilities and tasting rooms. The company has a portfolio of more than 40 wine brands from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Germany and Australia. Labels include Waterbrook and Sagelands from Washington, Battle Creek from Oregon and Red Knot from Australia.Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
Tagged : beer, Pabst, Securities and Exchange Commission, wine
GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2021 DATA AND 2022 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2022 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.


text:
It’s a crisp autumn night and the Garden of Unearthly Delights is abuzz with people of every description.
The masses are roaming around the 6.5ha Kadlitpina Rundle Park site, which is transformed every March into a place where artists perform, food is served and drinks are drunk.
There’s a steady line up building outside Sandwich Panther, the Garden’s newest food pop-up serving fried chicken sandos, tuna melts, tofu rolls and dumplings.
It’s the handiwork of Jason Barber, who scoured second-hand dealers and closing-down restaurants to build their stall and get equipment, and Alex Fahey of Vietnamese Laundry.
The idea is modelled on the delicacies enjoyed at old-fashioned fish and chip shops.
“We’ve noticed more of these nicer sandwich shops opening up around Australia,” Jason, 30, tells InDaily.
“Having experienced ourselves the growing demand for such a thing, we thought it would be a great way to dip our toes into a new business through the Fringe stall.
“Being able to offer a whole bunch of different flavours and a fresh option that’s made daily, I think we really feel it suits the Fringe.”
Up until this week, they have sold more than 2000 sandwiches.
“Last weekend the crowds just hit, and a lot more popular than we’ve anticipated came past and we’ve had some really good feedback from people doing the laps.”
Now in its 20th year, the Garden is proving somethings do get better with age. Among the other stallholders this year are Pan & Vine, Donut Diner and 48 Flavours Ice Cream.
Jacob Baker and brother Josh have been making coffees and espresso martinis at the Garden for five years. This year the brothers teamed up with Pineapple Brothers to open Lickity Spritz, a spritz bar.
Jacob says it’s been “incredible to see the city come to life once again”.
“My family’s been gardening for a long time now and it’s become a bit of a family tradition,” he says.
“We thought it was time for some summertime spritz to be added to the show.”
In between the food, the drinks and the carnival rides and sideshows, are the world-class shows drawing in the crowds.
Audiences are lining up outside Blanc de Blanc Encore, while people eagerly await to get a chance at the Darkfield Experiences.
Cabaret artist Reuben Kaye’s shows, The Butch is Back and The Kaye Hole, also prove popular, boasted as “the hottest late-night ticket in town”.
One of the Garden’s producers, Michelle Buxton, says shows are selling well, with demand for comedians including Stephen K Amos, Nurse Georgie Carroll and Judith Lucy and Denise Scott among the hottest acts.
“Ticket sales have been phenomenally good this year and it is great to see so many people getting out and enjoying live performances,” Michelle says.
“The site looks totally beautiful and our venues are more spread out which has created lots of gorgeous outdoor spaces for people to spread out so they do not feel over-crowded.
“The Garden vibe is great and the excitement is definitely contagious.”
Head to the website for tickets and more information.


text:
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed an agreement with Herbalife Nutrition that designates the supplement brand as an official partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
- Year-long deal will cover the 2023 season of the elite Twenty20 franchise competition
- Partnership will promote Los Angeles-based brand’s nutrition products
Herbalife’s sports partnership portfolio comprises more than 150 athletes, teams and events. These include a personal endorsement deal with Indian cricket star Virat Kohli and the brand’s high-profile main shirt sponsorship with Major League Soccer’s (MLS) LA Galaxy – reportedly worth US$7 million annually.
The 2023 IPL season gets underway on 31st March, with Herbalife set to rollout multi-channel marketing campaigns during the competition featuring Kohli and other Indian sports stars.


text:
Mitie has won two large contracts with retailers Aldi and Matalan. This is to help them keep their businesses moving this winter as temperatures start to drop.
The company will clear snow and grit roads, car parks and other areas close to the retailers’ stores across the UK. This will ensure that employees and customers can come and go safely even when the weather turns icy.
Mitie has agreed winter maintenance work at 164 sites for Aldi across south Wales and the west of England. For Matalan, 61 sites and two distribution centres across the UK.
Mitie uses the latest technology to help customers stay ahead of the weather. A specialised five-day rolling forecast based on data from the Met Office’s weather prediction system gives Mitie an early sign of conditions.
These retailers and Mitie’s other customers can take advantage of the Go-Grit app to manage their winter services from any mobile device 24/7. Go-Grit uses an interactive mapping system of customer sites. This tracks the weather impact and high-risk areas in a real-time format.
The app allows customers to see a schedule of what sites are due gritting, allowing them to cancel or order a service at a moment’s notice.
Richard Hughes, general manager, Mitie Winter Maintenance, said:
“The weather may be mild now, but retailers like Aldi and Matalan are wisely planning ahead for winter. They are making sure that people will be able to visit their stores in safety whatever the weather throws at us. Our forecasting technology and convenience of our Go-Grit app means Mitie can help them stay one step ahead of the ice and snow.
“Recalling the disruption after the ‘Beast from the East’, it is critical to partner with a company with the scale and expertise to keep retail operations moving. Last year, Mitie’s winter maintenance team carried out almost 300,000 gritting visits and used 15,000 tonnes of salt over the winter.”


text:
Monster Beverage Corp (MNST) recently posted their financial results for the fourth quarter of the 2014 fiscal year. The company that is based in Corona, California reported results that were higher than analysts and the market were expecting. They also stated that they would be closing the partnership with The Coca-Cola Company (KO) sometime during the second quarter.
Monster Beverage saw their shares rise by more than 5 percent after the announcement, so that they were trading at a price of $131.49.
The Coca-Cola Company agreed to purchase a 16.7 percent share of Monster Beverage in August, 2014. The former will be paying $2.15 billion in cash to the latter for the stake. Initially, it was expected that the deal in question would be finalized towards the end of 2014 or close to the start of 2015.
Monster Beverage saw their net income rise by 64.7 percent to reach $125.3 million during the most recent quarter, which equates to earnings per share of $0.72. This is compared to the same quarter of the previous year, when the company generated a net income of $76.1 million, which worked out to earnings per share of $0.44 at the time.
The company also saw their sales increase, registering an uptick of 12 percent to reach $605.6 million. This is compared to the same timeframe of a year ago, when the company generated sales of $540.8 million.
Wall Street had expected Monster Beverage to post earnings per share of $0.59 for the fourth quarter, and to generate quarterly sales of $584.46 million.
Rodney Cyril Sacks, the Chief Executive Officer of Monster Beverage, stated that the company was progressing nicely in regards to dealing with transitional problems that might arise as part of the partnership with The Coca-Cola Company that was announced in August, 2014.
Monster Beverage Corp. has been trading between $63 and $143.9 over the past 52 weeks. The company has a market cap of $23.66 billion and a price to earnings ratio of 54.28.