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“The big mobile phone operators, including O2, are battling for the exclusive rights to Apple’s new iPhone in the UK. Telefónica, O2’s Spanish owner, is understood to have held preliminary talks with Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, about a potential tie-up in Britain and Europe,” Elizabeth Judge reports for The Times.
“Apple, which launched the iPhone on Tuesday, is expected to offer the revolutionary touchscreen mobile phone exclusively to one network operator when it launches in the UK at the end of the year,” Judge reports. “O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile are all contenders for the contract.”
“Apple is understood to be seeking exclusive contracts with mobile operators in order to secure greater control over the product and customer service offering,” Judge reports. “Mobile phone companies might also be prepared to pay a higher price for the rights to have their brand exclusively aligned with the iPhone, which is expected to become a bestseller for Apple.”
Judge reports, “The share prices of rival mobile phone manufacturers slipped yesterday, amid concern that the iPhone launch could damage their sales seriously.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “British Mac Head” for the heads up.]
Rogers to offer Apple iPhone exclusively in Canada – January 25, 2007
Research in Motion downgraded due to Apple iPhone competition – January 23, 2007
RealMoney: Apple just blew up the whole damn mobile-phone supply chain with its new iPhone – January 11, 2007
eWeek: Apple iPhone fallout: ‘They must be crying in Nokia-ville and other telephony towns today’ – January 10, 2007
Jefferies downgrades Motorola on fears of market share loss to Apple iPhone – January 10, 2007
The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
Time: ‘iPhone could crush cell phone market pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority’ – January 09, 2007
Analyst: Apple iPhone should be given its own category – ‘brilliantphone’ – January 09, 2007
Apple debuts iPhone: touchscreen mobile phone + widescreen iPod + Internet communicator – January 09, 2007


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China Mobile International Limited (CMI) yesterday announces the launch of its Middle East office in Dubai, further deepening its investment and collaboration with the Middle East.
Etisalat announced its partnership with Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal (Abu Dhabi Ports) to offer a package that includes a visitor SIM card and a selection of offers to all visitors arriving at Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal.
Etisalat Group announced its consolidated financial statement for the nine months ending 30th September 2018.
As a sign of trust from international financial institutions in the Saudi economy and telecommunications sector in Saudi Arabia, ITC gets 180 million USD financing boost from China's ICBC Bank.
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) announced the company's preliminary financial results for the period ending at 30 September 2018:
Etisalat successfully concluded its participation at GITEX Technology Week 2018 taking visitors on a journey of the future with a showcase of digital innovations and solutions for consumers and businesses across zones focusing on 5G, retail, healthcare, education, smart living, IoT and a unique 3D showcase of the upcoming 'Expo 2020 Dubai'.
Etisalat Digital delivered a keynote on Digital Resilience and hosted a roundtable discussion on digital risk protection during Gartner's Security and Risk Management Summit in Dubai that took place on October 22nd and 23rd.
du, from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC), will help drive the Dubai Future Foundation's (DFF) virtual innovations after announcing a new partnership today.
Alfa CEO and Chairman Marwan Hayek, received at the company's headquarters in Parallel Towers, Dekwaneh, Lebanon a delegation from Al-Riyadi Basketball Club headed by the President of the Club Mazen Tabbara with Secretary Tammam Jaroudi in addition to the technical staff and men's team players. Al-Riyadi offered the Alfa Cup to Hayek, as a tribute to Alfa for its continuous support for the team.
Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and ConsenSys, a leader in blockchain technology, today announced the launch of blockchain on STC Cloud, a move set to accelerate blockchain adoption in the Kingdom. It will provide enterprises and governments with a path to enable mass adoption of the technology through dramatically lowering the costs of prototyping and experimentation with blockchain.

domain: news


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On December 8, “Coppa Italia” - Italian Armwrestling Cup will be held.
The preparations to this important event began several months ago. The organizers, the Armwrestling Federation of Italy, in the best Italian traditions, think through every detail to ensure that the event is held at the highest level.
So, among other things, Katia Crucitti, the Head referee of the Armwrestling Federation of Italy, came up with the idea of producing a line of T-shirts under the “Forza e Onore” brand (Power and Honor) dedicated to the upcoming event. Here is what she says about this:
“About two months ago I designed a collection of T-shirts. “Forza e Onore” is my first brand, and, in the light of the tragedy that recently occurred in our world of armwrestling, I want to dedicate it to helping Oleg Zhokh in his struggle for life and health. The first edition of the exclusive “Forza e Onore” T-shirts from this collection will be sold next Saturday, December 8, at the Italian Cup tournament. All proceeds will be sent to Oleg’s mother’s account.
Anyone can order a t-shirt online as well by writing me an e-mail to address: email@example.com .”
The Italian Cup tournament will take place at:
Corso Zanardelli, 153
25083 Gardone Riviera (Brescia)


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Mobile Use of Twitter and Facebook Rises Dramatically
Mobile use of social networks has risen dramatically, according to a new research by comScore.
30.8% of smartphone users accessed social networks via their mobile browser in January 2010 – up 8.3 points from 22.5% one year ago. Access to Facebook via mobile grew 112% in the past year, while Twitter experienced a 347% jump.
In January 2010, 25.1 million mobile users accessed Facebook via their mobile browser, up 112% from the previous year. MySpace attracted 11.4 million users.
It’s not surprising that social networks are popular among mobile users: Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile, explains: “Social media is a natural sweet spot for mobile since mobile devices are at the center of how people communicate with their circle of friends, whether by phone, text, email, or, increasingly, accessing social networking sites via a mobile browser.”


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Militants threaten Peshawar barbers, shops selling CDs to shut down
Peshawar, June 21 : Islamic extremist organization Lashkar-i-Islam is learnt to have threatened barbers and shopkeepers selling CDs in Peshawar that if they didn't stop their activities, they would soon face dire consequences.
Activists of the Bara-based militant organisation visited video centres and barber shops in the provincial metropolis asking the people to avoid selling music CDs and shaving off beards.
They visited some CD shops at Choti Lal Kurti in the cantonment area on Thursday night and delivered them messages from their leader Mangal Bagh to give up the business, or face the consequences, reported the Dawn.
They also visited a shrine known as Khan Baba in the same locality and warned people to avoid visiting the shrine, otherwise action would be taken against them.
Shopkeepers said the militants had warned to take away the fence from the shrine when they would next visit the area. A cobbler quoted the militants as saying that people took hashish and indulged in gambling in the areas close to the shrine and they must be punished.
Local people said that as the shopkeepers received the messages they closed their shops, fearing action.
CD shops owners in Saddar and Nauthia also complained about visits of the militants to the area and their threats to give up the business. They demanded that the government should take action against the militant group and ensure protection to the business community.
The militants belonging to Mangal Bagh-led have destroyed many shrines in the Khyber Agency and some settled areas like Shaikhan and Sarband.


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Though apparel has made greater strides of late toward advancing supply chain sustainability, footwear has been a step behind, and Change Your Shoes is working to point out the sector's flaws and suggest better practices for a more ethical industry.
Luxury footwear label Salvatore Ferragamo announced a new investment to clean up its production process, plus The RockPort Group may be exploring a sale.Read more
Crocs' shares surged 17 percent on Friday after Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jim Duffy increased the stock from a hold to a buy.Read more
Allbirds, a direct-to-consumer startup, filed its first trade dress infringement lawsuit in the Northern District of California against Steve Madden.Read more
Reebok’s new ZPrint Work collection is made using 3-D foot-mapped technology, plus a new Nike sneaker could help elite runners boost their performance.Read more
Birkenstock will no longer have a business relationship with Amazon Europe, as the footwear tycoon addresses product counterfeit concerns.Read more
Under Armour is collaborating with EOS to elevate its 3D footwear offering, plus Fall '18 footwear plays up current trends.Read more


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By Gavin Evans
July 29 (BusinessDesk) - The $3.4 billion Sky-Vodafone New Zealand transaction the Commerce Commission rejected in 2017 was the most difficult of the vertical mergers former chair Mark Berry had to consider.
Vertical mergers – where a firm moves into another part of its industry supply chain – are more challenging than decisions when firms buy or merge with direct competitors, he said. The latter cases have “predictable threads of evidence” on things like how close products and services are as substitutes, the capacity of the local competitors and the level of imports.
“I found vertical mergers the most challenging of all the decisions we were faced with, particularly Sky-Vodafone,” Berry told delegates at the Competition Matters conference in Auckland on Friday.
“The particular difficulty in Sky-Vodafone is that you are speculating about the interactions of different functional levels of markets. You are a making predictions about products - when you don’t actually know what they look like yet - and you’re then having to predict how consumers are going to respond to those products.
“And that all makes for very difficult and speculative decision-making.
“We had contesting views of the applicants and the opponents, and ultimately it was up to the commission to bring forward its vision of the future.”
Berry was speaking on a panel looking at whether regulatory bodies need to be taking a tougher line with vertical mergers than in the past.
Howard Shelanski, professor of law at Washington DC’s Georgetown University, said the loss of competition in horizontal mergers meant there was a presumption of harm, greater scrutiny and a requirement for other efficiencies to warrant clearance.
Vertical mergers were considered relatively benign. Regulators had tended to assume there would be benefits for consumers from reduced margins in the supply chain and better leveraging of investment and research and development; harms were harder to see.
Shelanski said the US is seeing increasing integration in many markets, with some dominated by a handful of fully vertically integrated players instead of having multiple players at many levels.
That structure tends to raise the risk of coordinated effects and collusion that can lead prices to “float up” over time.
“Whereas with horizontal mergers there was a presumption of harm and scepticism about efficiencies, with vertical mergers there was a presumption about efficiency and scepticism of harm.
“People have started to become increasingly concerned about those presumptions in vertical mergers.”
Vodafone rival Spark New Zealand earlier this year started its own sport streaming service and outbid Sky for the rights to the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Vodafone NZ is in the process of being acquired by Infratil and Brookfield Asset Management.
When the Sky-Vodafone merger was proposed, Sky held the “Crown jewels” of live premium rugby, rugby league, cricket and netball content in “sports-mad” New Zealand, Berry noted. No-one then believed Sky’s strong sport position would change.
The broadband roll-out then underway was also an important factor as was having 5G on the horizon.
“The internal documents of the merger parties did clearly recognise this ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’,” Berry said.
The challenge for the commission, he said, was that neither it, nor the applicants knew what the new product bundles would look like, and thus how many customers might shift from other providers.
The evidence of switching from overseas markets varied widely, none of the examples had the same quality of sports content and nor did they have the unique timing issue.
But Berry said the commission knew that the firms would be able to straight away target Sky Sport users who weren’t already Vodafone mobile or broadband customers.
That was a lot of people and the commission had to assume there would be some “fairly aggressive marketing going on here, with the creation of new, very attractive bundles.”
There would clearly be short-term gains for consumers with much better bundles on offer, he said.
“Would there be short-term sacrifice of margin, for long-term gain, was the critical consideration we had to consider.”
Berry said the commission “struggled hard” using various methods to calculate the switching risks and concluded major rivals in both mobile and broadband could go into a “loss situation.” That was particularly a concern in the three-player mobile market.
“There was particularly a concern about what the future of that market would look like if we let this merger go ahead, and if that kind of effect happened – with customers being taken away from 2 Degrees such that it would no longer have the incentive or the ability to invest and compete.”
Bell Gully partner Torrin Crowther said the case showed how challenging the New Zealand regime – which requires applicants to prove there will be no harm from a merger – can be in fast-moving industries like technology.
The absence of behavioural undertakings – where applicants pledge certain actions or agree to certain prohibitions - also makes the New Zealand regime an outlier internationally, he said.
While those undertakings are only rarely accepted overseas, Crowther said they could be a useful option in this country’s regulatory “toolkit”, particularly for more challenging vertical mergers.
Berry observed that behavioural undertakings had been “on the table” in this case as Spark had indicated it would drop its opposition if undertakings on wholesale access had been available.
“That may well be a good case study to take that debate forward, as to what would that have looked like,” he said. “That would be a rich line of inquiry to inform the policy debate going forward.”


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Please check us out of FACEBOOK!!!
December 10, 2014
“SEE YOU AT SATOW’S” . . . is a popular line uttered by many community members over the past 77 years. Owner and pharmacist Ken Boesnecker, picture above, is selling the business and building to CVS Health (CVS Pharmacy). Die Kaffee Stube will close December 24, Satow Drugs will close January 8 and CVS will reopen and operate the firm beginning January 12. (News photo)
Community landmark, Satow Drugs, set to close
Store to reopen January 12 as CVS Pharmacy
Change in a community as tight knit as Frankenmuth is never easy. Residents get comfortable with their surroundings, schools, ways of governing and of course, their hometown businesses.
Frankenmuth will lose one of its time-honored firms when Satow Drug Store closes Thursday evening, January 8. When 308 South Main Street reopens on Monday, January 12, it will be owned by CVS Health as CVS Pharmacy.
Ken Boesnecker said he has entertained the thought of selling for about two years. He sought another business partner and looked at other options. In the end, he had to do what was best for him and his family.
“Pharmacy is one of the most regulated businesses in the United States. Back in June, medical costs shot up dramatically and my margin was shrinking . . . it was tough to pay the bills,” Boesnecker said of the changing landscape of insurance companies. “I wanted to take on a partner who was the right fit for Frankenmuth but it just did not work out.”
Boesnecker tried to persuade CVS officials to keep the very popular Die Kaffee Stube, which was part of the drug store’s major remodel project back in the mid-1990s. He met with the fountain staff last Friday afternoon and alerted them to the fact it would be closing on Christmas Eve, Wednesday, December 24.
Satow Drugs employs about 32 persons, including Die Kaffee Stube. Manager Sandy Dietrich is one of the long-time Stube employees. She would have marked her 30th year next April. Some of the existing staff will be retained and Boesnecker will also remain behind the pharmacy counter. Pharmacist Geoff Gale will also stay on.
“We will still be filling your scrips and giving you our best service,” Boesnecker said. “Some things won’t change.”
Ken’s brother, Keith, will play Christmas songs on his piano all day on December 24 in Die Kaffee Stube.
“The decision to sell was not an easy one,” Boesnecker said. “Satow’s has been a mainstay of Frankenmuth and its residents for 77 years. Unique to Satow’s has been Die Kaffee Stube, soda fountain, coffee shop and restaurant. It has been a community favorite since it opened its doors.”
To thank the community for their patronage over the past 20 years, Die Kaffee Stube is featuring old-fashioned soda fountain specials until it closes December 24.
Satow Drugs was established in 1937 by Carl Satow at 435 South Main Street, just south of its current location. Pharmacist and Ken’s father, Harry L. Boesnecker, became a partner with Carl in 1962. In February 1995, Harry sold his interest to Ken, Tom Meyer and Tim Keinath. Harry and Tom are now deceased.
“Satow’s has always had a soda fountain. Dad started as a soda jerk at age 13 and went on to be a pharmacist and owner . . . it was a part of his childhood, his life,” Ken stated.
Ken joined Satow Drugs as a pharmacist in 1977.
Within the last 6-12 months, CVS showed interest. Ken said low margins and increased regulations led him to do more for less.
CVS has been onsite, preparing for the take over. They will remodel the interior to fit their business model over 3-4 days. They will operate at 308 South Main Street until its new CVS pharmacy is complete on the corner of North Main and East Genesee streets (111 North Main Street), scheduled to open in 2016.
The former bank building was purchased by the Frankenmuth Credit Union earlier this year. The FCU is using the building for its teller services while a major remodel and addition project is taking place at its main branch, 580 North Main Street.
Work began in spring and is expected to continue through late summer. When completed, the credit union had no future plans for the building. The FCU recently struck a deal with CVS for the building. CVS will also expand to the east, purchasing the home next door.
What will happen to the Satow building in 2016 and beyond is unknown. There was a rumor that CVS wanted to purchase the Main Street Tavern and Willi’s Sausage Company, both located immediately south of Satow Drugs, with the intent of razing all three and building the pharmacy on that site. That has remained a rumor.
Boesnecker is concerned about the five-panel mural, which is located on the north side of the drug store. The murals depict the history of pharmacy. Harry commissioned Frankenmuth native Stephen Hargash to design and paint the murals, about 20 years ago. It was Hargash’s first official work in town.
Still. Boesnecker is hopeful they will be saved.
Ken recalled talking to his father about the state of the independent pharmacy before he passed away. Harry was urging him to consider selling and getting out. Ken would show Harry what the profit margins were and, coupled with the federal government’s regulations, suggested the days of the independent, small-town pharmacy are nearly gone.
“Harry went through the golden age of pharmacy. I have talked to business associates recently. They told me this opportunity (to sell) may not come along again in a few years. They said do what is best for me,” Ken said.
Boesnecker also owned Birch Run Drugs, 8501 Main Street, Birch Run. Harry and Meyer purchased the assets in December 1986 and last month, Ken sold it to Murali Ginjupolli. He believes it will remain an independent drug store under the Good Neighbor Pharmacy umbrella.


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Huawei Android Go Smartphone !!
Earlier this year, Huawei has confirmed that it is working on a new Andriod Go smartphone which is expected to debut in the first half of 2018. Now, an official at Huawei has confirmed that the smartphone will be a part of the Huawei’s Y-series of smartphones, which is a lineup of low mid-range devices.
Zhao Likun, General Manager for Huawei South Africa’s Consumer Business Group said,
“Our first Android Go smartphone (is) named Y-series 2018. This is the first (Huawei) product equipped with Android Go.”
He also added that the phone will be announced in May in South Africa.Talking about specifications of the smartphone as Zhao Likun revealed that the phone could come with 1GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. The company’s desire is to provide eminent performance while keeping the price of the smartphone low and the phone should be good for use for at least two years.
If the previous leaks and reports to be considered then the first Android Go smartphone from Huawei will be the Huawei Y5 Lite (2018). It is expected to be powered by MediaTek MT6737m processor and feature a screen with a resolution of 854×480 pixels.
If you are not aware what is Android Go?, then Android Go is Google’s lightweight Android mobile platform, which is developed to target entry-level devices with 512MB to 1GB of RAM and as little as 8GB of storage. Along with the OS, certain stock apps are also redesigned as Go apps including Google Go, Google Assistant Go, Maps Go, YouTube Go, etc. as well as data-saving functionality enabled by default.


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Innolith to take I-State battery platform to market
Swiss battery cell developer Innolith announced plans to commercialise its I-State platform for use in electric vehicles. As reported in 2019, Innolith relies on a non-flammable inorganic electrolyte for its cells.
According to the new announcement, this enables higher voltages (up to 5 volts) than conventional Li-ion battery cells (maximum 4.2 volts) and an improved temperature range of -40 °C to +60 °C. In combination with a graphite anode and an NMC811 cathode, Innolith says the now commercialised cell achieves a gravimetric energy density of 300 Wh/kg and a volumetric energy density of 825 Wh/L.
The I-State batteries are to be produced within the framework of licensing partnerships with automotive, industrial and battery companies. Innolith plans to announce more details on this at a later date. To support its ongoing licensing negotiations, the company has signed letters of intent with five customers for a production requirement of 100 MWh per year. In the automotive sector, Innolith says it is “working closely with three of the top ten automotive manufacturers and has recently signed a letter of intent with one of the leading electric vehicle manufacturers”.
“The world needs better batteries to drive the transition to a greener economy for environmental, energy security and economic efficiency reasons,” stated Konstantin Solodovnikov, CEO of Innolith, adding: “Conventional Li-ion has served us well for 40 years but has well known limitations for the future. I-State goes further, costs less and is environmentally more sustainable. This new technology will provide the EV battery for the next step in the world’s transition to renewable energy. With future innovations in technology in our labs, we will be delivering even higher levels of energy density and other improved performance parameters in the near future.”


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SEATTLE — Students at Seattle’s Bailey Gatzert Elementary School have a little pep in their step today, thanks to a visit from Seattle Storm members and a team of community partners who delivered brand new shoes to the entire student body.
Nordstrom and a nonprofit organization called “Shoes That Fit” rolled on to campus with a school bus packed with new Nike shoes.
The Seattle Storm showed up with mascot Doppler and point guard Jordin Canada to help the kids find the perfect fitting sneaker.
“As a kid, it’s always about the little things. It’s not doing something so big…it’s just something as simple as giving shoes to kids that means everything to them and something that they will always remember,” Canada said. The two-time WNBA champion is also a Jordan Brand athlete and brought boxes of her own select sneakers to surprise the kids.
Shoes are often one of the most expensive items that families need to purchase for school and that’s especially true for one of Seattle’s most diverse schools, with one of the most economically disadvantaged populations in Seattle.
Some students are even facing homelessness or in transitional housing. More than 20 languages are spoken by students’ families. But today's event featured the universal language of giving.
Ronnie Bell, the Principal at Bailey Gatzert, said, "New shoes, new attitude. And we want kids to feel comfortable and confident as we welcome them back to school.”
This is something Shoes That Fit echoes with their partnership with Nordstrom. Shoes That Fit doesn’t receive any government funding and has given out over 200,000 pairs of shoes in the 11 years working with Nordstrom.
Nekeda Newell-Hall is the Chief Strategy Officer with Shoes That Fit and said, “It’s about the kids. It’s not about the shoes at all. The shoes are a means to express how much we love the children, how much we are investing in them and how much we really want to have this basic need met so that they can learn, play and thrive.”


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The National Nutrition week is celebrated every year during the 1st week of September. On 3rd September, Inaugural of the week was held at the college. Chairman Dr. Prasad Hegde presided over the lamp lighting ceremony. The invocation was rendered by Ms. Ayesha and Ms. Rosemin Shaji. Ms. Rosemin Shaji was the master of ceremony.
Ms.Chhaya K , HOD B.Sc. FND delivered the welcome address and gave some statistical figures of current rankings of India in obesity, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases. Also some useful tips for current generation on how to get down the ever rising rate of such diseases were given. The chairman in his very inspiring speech gave some useful insights into the causes and prevention of non-communicable diseases.
The Principal inspired us with his words on current faulty nutritional practices. The students of B.Sc. FND had done a week long survey on food consumption frequency of Pana scholars. Certain foods like fruits, green leafy vegetables, animal foods, bakery goods, junk food and alcohol were considered for the survey. The results were graphically represented and explained on the inaugural day by Ms Mahima Ann Liji and Neha B of IInd FND.A skit titled ‘Food for Thought’ was performed by the students of IInd FND.Ms. Aysha Sanam rendered the vote of thanks. A refreshing carrot oats drink made by the students of IInd B.Sc. FND was served to the attendees.
On 4th of September, ‘Protein rich snack’- cooking without fire competition for scholars and on 5th of Semptember ‘Blind faith’- food identification competition for the Mentors was conducted as part of the Nutrition week and Teacher’s day.


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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - B.A. Wolfe Powersports celebrated a grand re-opening this week at a new location.
The dealer celebrated with drawings for 100 prizes, including a drawing for a $500 shopping spree for the event's first 100 guests.
The event also included a pin-up contest, a bike contest, free food and a live remote with a local radio station.
Posted by Holly Wagner


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One of the programs that launched Disney+ was a Lady and the Tramp reboot, and The Walt Disney Studio original movies have been a key element of the streaming platform’ original programming strategy.
Now Disney is building a similar pipeline between its other two movie studios, 20th Century and Searchlight, and adult-focused streamer Hulu.
During the Disney Investor Day, Hulu President Kelly Campbell announced that “in the U.S., will launch exclusive original films produced by 20th Century Studios and Searchlight.”
She highlighted the platform’s recent success with acquired movies such as Palm Springs.
Already part of a Disney streaming bundle, Hulu and ESPN+ are now getting further integrated.
“Starting early next year, ESPN+ and all of its programming will become available for viewing directly within the Hulu interface,” Campbell said. “Users can sign up or enjoy existing ESPN+ subscriptions without ever having to leave the Hulu app.”
Campbell also spoke of the growing interest in news content among Hulu subscribers, noting that 4 million of them engaged with ABC News election content the streamer carried this fall. Hulu is now expanding its relationship with ABC News to include exclusive content that will only exist on the streaming platform.
During her presentation, Campbell also underlined Hulu’s AVOD commitment. She unveiled that the viewership of ad-supported Hulu content has reached 92 million, doubling over the past two years.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.


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A fashion designer known for his "fantasy" evening gowns and cocktail dresses is starting to make a starkly different accessory: face masks.
Former "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano is among the designers and clothing makers across the U.S. who are pivoting from producing haute couture and other clothing to making personal protective equipment. He is ramping up production amid nationwide shortages of masks and other medical supplies asbegin to swamp America's hospital systems.
Siriano — who is based in New York City, now facing the pleaded for local businesses to help churn out more surgical masks, gowns and gloves.in the U.S. — on Friday tweeted that he would redeploy his sewing staff to produce masks after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo
The designer said his team is fine-tuning its manufacturing process and will seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration before he starts manufacturing masks in earnest. Siriano declined to be interviewed by CBS MoneyWatch in order to "focus on the task at hand," a company spokesperson said.
Other local designers are also looking to lend a hand. Pamela Barsky, who makes quirky canvas bags and pouches, said on Twitter that her small factory in Manhattan's trendy East Village neighborhood can make about 500 masks per day.
In California, American Apparel founder and former CEO Dov Charney said his new company, called Los Angeles Apparel, has been making face masks for its workers for more than a month.
"Our staff use masks not just for coronavirus but for other applications, so five to six weeks ago, when we couldn't get a hold of surgical masks, we started making our own," Charney told CBS MoneyWatch.
The company is now producing hundreds of thousands of masks per week and is selling 3-packs of washable cotton face masks with straps for $30 online. He said he also has donated more than 10,000 masks to hospitals in California, Nevada, New Mexico, New York and Washington.
"The mask is made of a thick cotton French terry — like a thick sweatshirt but unbrushed," he said. "I'm wearing one as we speak," he said of the mask, adding that Los Angeles Apparel is also designing a surgical gown.
Luxury fashion houses Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent will also start manufacturing surgical masks for their own staffs pending regulatory approval, parent company Kering said in a statement on its website.
Surgical masks are loose-fitting and typically disposable devices that protect the wearer from large-particle droplets or splashes that can contain viruses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They do not, however, block or filter the tiny particles that can be transmitted through coughs or sneezes.
So-called N95 respirators, which are recommended for health care workers, block at least 95% of small particles and provide more filtration than face masks. Designers are not making N95 equivalents or masks that provide medical-grade protection.
Still, masks, gowns and other personal protective equipment is in such short supply that federal officials have advised hospital workers to use surgical masks when treating patients who might have the coronavirus in the absence of N95 masks. The FDA also issued a letter to health care providers earlier this month urging them to conserve supplies by re-using masks and using them past their expiration dates in non-surgical settings.
for more features.


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Paradise Café Owner Ali Koushan fears returning customers will avoid Dedham Square because of the new parking fees.
“They don’t like it and I feel like they will not come to the square as often,” Koushan said.
Koushan believes customers who come to his café three times a week, may only start coming once a week because of the new fees.
“If you come to my facility, I don’t want you to have to worry about the fees,” he said.
To help customers adjust to the new changes, Koushan said he will deduct customer’s parking fees from their bill. Customers will just need to bring their parking receipt into the café and they will get that amount deducted from their purchase.
“Bring and show us your parking stub and we will gladly take it off your check,” Koushan said. “I feel like it’s a very nice way to say, 'don’t worry about it.'”
Koushar is not the only business owner who fears customers will stop coming to Dedham Square.
Peter Reynolds, owner of the Blue Bunny book store has offered to pay for anyone’s Dedham Square parking until the end of the year. Customers just have to enter the store with their parking receipt, and the shop will not only pay for it, but they will also double it.
Starting on Oct. 1, computerized meters were placed on High Street for their 1 hour parking spots. Parking cost 25 cents for 30 minutes, 50 cents for 45 minutes and 75 cents for a whole hour. Parking under an hour can only be paid with coins, while an hour parking can be paid with a debit or credit card.
New meters were also placed in the large municipal lot in between Route 1 and High Street, where customers can park for up to three hours at a rate of 50 cents an hour.
Parkers do not have to place the receipts in their vehicles. They just have to punch their stall number into the computerized kiosk.


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Donald Trump chew toys sold out at Wags to Whiskers annarborobserver…
by Tony McReynolds
From the December, 2008 issue
In early November owners Tricia and Hans Masing, who started the original Tree Town Toys in Traver Village in 2006, opened a second location in Briarwood's Sears wing.
What's happening in local stores and eateries, and restaurant reviews.


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Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez released the agency’s 2014 Annual Highlights today, emphasizing the agency’s work to protect consumers and promote competition during the past calendar year.
“With over 150 law enforcement actions taken and $640 million in consumer redress ordered, we marked the FTC’s centennial year with vigorous efforts to protect consumers and promote competition in a dynamic and continuously evolving marketplace,” Ramirez said. “Our enforcement, policy work, and business and consumer education demonstrate that the FTC is well positioned to serve the American public for another 100 years.
The agency’s Enforcement Highlights address a range of law enforcement actions in industries including health care, mobile technology, and consumer products and services. Promoting competition among health care providers remains a top priority for the Commission. A significant victory this past year for the agency in keeping health care costs low for consumers was the Ninth Circuit’s decision upholding a lower court ruling that the St. Luke’s Hospital/Saltzer Group merger would be anticompetitive.
In the technology sector, the FTC took several actions to preserve competition, such as authorizing staff to block Verisk Analytics proposed $650 million acquisition of Eagle View Technology in the growing market for rooftop aerial services. The parties then abandoned the proposed merger. The Commission also continued its efforts to protect consumers’ use of mobile platforms, including actions against companies that misrepresented the security features of their mobile apps and those that failed to disclose hidden in-app charges. In addition, the agency continued its fight against cramming by focusing on mobile carriers. AT&T and T-Mobile USA agreed to pay $80 million and $90 million in refunds respectively for billing customers for unwanted third-party subscriptions.
As noted in Policy Highlights, the FTC filed eight amicus briefs on topics such as debt collection and children’s online privacy. Staff hosted 16 workshops and conferences that explored issues such as developments in the health care industry, competition issues involving biologic medicines, and technology-related issues including big data and mobile device tracking. The FTC also continues to lead efforts to develop strong mutual enforcement cooperation and sound policy with its international partners.
Finally, the FTC’s Education and Outreach Highlights recognize the agency’s work to alert businesses to compliance standards and to alert consumers to the tell-tale signs of fraud and deceptive business practices. Among the agency’s many educational products produced in 2014, the FTC launched its first Tax ID Theft Awareness Week; launched the bilingual Pass it On campaign geared toward older consumers; published three fotonovelas for Spanish speaking consumers; and launched its Every Community Initiative to expand efforts to combat fraud in all communities.
The Federal Trade Commission promotes competition and protects consumers through law enforcement, policy and research initiatives, and consumer and business education. File a consumer complaint online or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). To inform the Bureau of Competition about questionable business practices, write to [email protected] or call 202-326-3300. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.


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Tag: food establishments
‘Are we going to have a cotton candy stand next?’ . . . The community doesn’t want it.”
There are others that you should be aware of and incorporate in to your business as much as possible.
“I’m furious about the food truck rally in the park,” said Irene LoRe, owner of Aunt Suzie’s Restaurant
Off the Grid’s first food-truck event on the Peninsula is going gangbusters after only a month.
The foods that will be at "Lunch Truck It" include Italian food, gourmet burgers, vegetarian cuisine, homemade candy and more.
Food trucks belong in areas which do not have food establishments, not primarily residential neighborhoods.
It only took about 18 months but the Chronicle’s junior arts columnist Lisa Gray finally got around to mentioning the problems with the City of Houston regulations for mobile food vendors.
San Bernardino County may try to get a bite of the increasingly popular gourmet food truck business.
It seems that tailored food safety regulations are closely following behind what has become a nationwide phenomenon: food trucks. Santa Monica is the latest municipality to adopt health standards specific to the trendy food establishments-on-wheels.
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Love detective fiction? Lose yourself in fantasy novels? Capitol Hill Books will curate mystery bags of books based on your reading interests.
For those of us in quarantine, the need for reading material has never been more important, especially if our TBR list needs a refresh. This is why independent bookstore Capitol Hill Books is offering a sweet surprise for booklovers in D.C. and beyond: mystery book bundles!
After receiving a customer request to assemble $100 worth of assorted books, the book store is extending this request as a storewide offer. For a flat rate of $25, $50, or $100, readers can receive a grab-bag of books tailored to their tastes. All you have to do is email them your literary preferences and name your price. Staff members will hand-pick your bundle and send you a Paypal invoice to complete the transaction.
Since its founding in 1991, Capitol Hill Books has become a popular destination for bibliophiles. Known for its sprawling inventory of used books and rare first-editions, D.C. residents have found sanctuary within the multi-floored shop for almost 30 years.
While the news is constantly buzzing with information on coronavirus-related shortages, thankfully it seems there's no shortage of books! Bookstores around D.C. have been adapting to the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 outbreak with safe and convenient ways to get books in the hands of people. Politics and Prose is offering free shipping through the end of the month, as well as curbside pickup, while Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe is delivering books through Postmates.
As recently as last week, the bookstore was taking reservations for customers to browse the shop (complete with gloves and hand sanitizer) for hour-long sessions as a way of enforcing social distancing measures. But with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's March 24 announcement ordering all non-essential businesses closed, it appears the store will be closed for the foreseeable future.
For now, the bookstore is taking online orders and will be offering free media mail shipping across the United States indefinitely. Whether you want to immerse yourself in dystopian universes or escape the world for just a little bit, Capitol Hill Books will have something for every reader. Interested in a grab bag? Email email@example.com.
**All photos courtesy of Capitol Hill Books' Facebook page
Are you going to purchase a mystery book bag? What kind of books would you want to receive? Share with us in the comments!


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Tackling the climate crisis is morally the right thing for all businesses to do, speakers at the day’s sustainability session pointed out. It also makes commercial sense. Three quarters (72%) of consumers now think about sustainability credentials when choosing where to eat, but with only a fifth (20%) believe pubs, bars and restaurants do enough to tell people about their sustainability.
Andy Hornby, CEO at The Restaurant Group, Judy Joo, Founder & CEO of Seoul Bird, and Hamish Stoddart, Founder of Peach Pub Company joined the panel session with host Peter Martin. The session emphasised the multiple projects and initiatives, including Zero Carbon Forum, Race to Net Zero and City Harvest London, set up to support hospitality businesses to lead the way of change on sustainability. The Zero Carbon Forum has identified that 90% of hospitality’s emissions come from the supply chain, stating that there is much more work to be done alongside producers, wholesalers, distributors, procurement partners and others.
Changes come with cost implications, which means that consumers may have to get used to paying more for sustainable food. Two in five (40%) consumers claiming they are prepared to pay more for sustainably sourced food. The figure rises to three in five (59%) of 18 to 34 year-olds, which suggests pressure on this issue is only going to grow.
Peach 20/20 founder Peter Martin wrapped up the sustainability session, observing:
“There’s a mood change among consumers and the industry on sustainability. It’s clear that this is just the start of the conversation.”
click here To access the extended round-up of the sustainability panel session and for more information on sustainability projects.


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Myntra launched a second offline store for its private brand-- Roadster as the e-tailer strengthens its offline presence. Called Roadster Go-- the outlet which opened in Bengaluru Thursday uses functional technology to create a seamless experience for customers, said Ananth Narayanan, CEO, Myntra. A casual clothing brand, Roadster claims a gross merchandise value or GMV of $100 million making it the strongest among the company's private label portfolio.
Overall Myntra plans to open 50 of the Roadster Go physical outlets and 100 stores altogether for all its private brands, in the next two years. Private brands now account for 27% of Myntra's GMV, which is estimated at $1.2 billion.
“Shoppers will be able to pick up products without any assistance, discover their real time online price, as well as do a self-checkout in 30 seconds with technologies like 100% RFID (radio-frequency identification),” Narayanan said.
Omni-channel will contribute 5% of our overall revenues in the next five years, he told TOI. Myntra’s parent Flipkart, sold a 77% stake to American brick and mortar retailer, Walmart last month, valuing the e-commerce group at $21 billion. Myntra along with Jabong, is the largest fashion and lifestyle online etailer in the country.
What are the biggest woes of CFOs? Is it inflation or demand? Joydeb Chatterjee, CFO at SRF Polymers, Anand Agarwal, CFO at V-mart, and Hemant Ruia, CFO at DP World, along with Yuvika Singhal, Economist, at QuantEco Research weigh in.


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Paperboat to launch online- only products
Author - Damini Chandankar
Beverage producers were among the most affected during the Coronavirus lockdown. Hector Beverages Pvt. Ltd, which sells the Paper Boat brand of traditional beverages, is growing its distribution network and dealing with more online-only launches.
The company lost sales across modern trade channels and institutional deals to airports and airlines which was a major chunk of their business. Paperboat's share of online sales is up from 6% pre-Coronavirus to 14-15%. Therefore, it is reviewing its plan to bring back its seasonal launches on e-commerce sites.
In the last fiscal year, Hector had to write off inventory worth ₹35 crores as its rollout for summer beverages coincided with the world's strictest lockdown. The company expects to significantly narrow losses by end of the current fiscal year and turn profitable in FY22.
What do you think, Will Hector Beverages be able to survive with online-only Products?


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Washington nonprofit Clean Beauty for Black Girls works to educate Black women about clean beauty. The organization was established to prevent women from consuming toxic hair and skin products.
The nonprofit’s website states its dedication to “raising awareness about harmful ingredients, advocating for clean beauty practices, and fostering a community that values health and self-confidence.” According to the organization, the mission is necessary for Black women’s health, which provides education and mentorship to influence consumers to “prioritize clean, safe, and inclusive choices.”
Hannah McCall, executive director for Clean Beauty for Black Girls, discussed how the organization upholds its mission with NBC Washington. “Specifically, it’s about the fact that Black women and girls are the last ones considered when it comes to anything in the health, wellness, and medical space.” The lack of inclusion has targeted Black women consumers with products that contain harmful chemicals at a higher percentage than others.
The idea behind the organization stemmed from what McCall described as “sister circles” or safe spaces to come and engage in candid conversations surrounding the beauty standards that have encouraged Black women to rely on products discovered to be harmful. “It is documented that our products, like 75% of our hair products in particular, contain harmful chemicals compared to white women’s 30% to 40%.”
The Clean Beauty team is committed to introducing clean beauty products free of harmful effects. In collaboration with a campaign for safe cosmetics, a database was created offering over 800 products. The database features over 80 Black-owned brands that have produced clean products.
“We’re hoping that list continues to grow,” McCall said.
McCall said that focusing on the most marginalized group benefits everyone else. A new law, The Oregon Toxic Free Cosmetics Act, was recently passed in the state, banning several harmful chemicals in cosmetics. According to the Oregon State Legislature, the law “requires Oregon Health Authority to adopt and maintain [a] list of designated high-priority chemicals of concern used in cosmetic products and to periodically review and revise [the] list.”
Additionally, the law requires the authority to post specific information on its website and manufacturers to specify the use of certain chemicals in products starting in 2025.
Source link : www.blackenterprise.com


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Factories offer foundation for growth in massive market
Chinese smartphone makers have been increasing their investments in India as they race to establish factories in a huge and growing market where they have enjoyed sales success in recent years.
Oppo Electronics Corp has become the latest Chinese smartphone maker to invest in manufacturing operations in India, joining Vivo Electronics Corp, Huawei Technologies Co and Xiaomi Inc in efforts that experts said are aimed at expanding business in India and beyond.
Oppo received approval to set up a manufacturing unit in the Greater Noida area in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported on Sunday.
The project, which is estimated to cost 22 billion rupees (1.4 million), was granted environmental clearance from India's Union Environment Ministry with certain conditions that Oppo must follow, PTI said, citing a government official.
It was not immediately clear when construction would start, but Oppo had previously told officials in Noida that it would start production in December 2017, Indian news outlet Economic Times reported on March 5.
The state government in Uttar Pradesh waived stamp duty of 97 million rupees for the Oppo project, the Economic Times said.
Wang Yanhui, head of the Shanghai-based Mobile China Alliance, said that more Chinese companies have been investing heavily in India due to policy support and tax breaks offered by the Indian government.
"The Indian government has really made the country quite attractive to foreign manufacturing companies such as Oppo because the government is offering many favorable policies for foreign investment under its 'Make in India' initiative," Wang told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Vivo inaugurated its first manufacturing unit in Noida in December 2015, Huawei opened a factory in Chennai in October 2016 and Xiaomi set up two manufacturing facilities in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, according to media reports.
These investments have been prompted by Indian government support as well as the companies' cost-cutting strategies, noted Liu Dingding, a Beijing-based independent technology analyst.
"Because of rising costs in the Chinese market, it has become a core strategy for Chinese manufacturing companies to move their production overseas," Liu told the Global Times on Wednesday, adding that policy support from the Indian government was the key factor in the companies' decisions.
Experts also noted that these Chinese smartphone manufacturers really had no choice but to set up factories in India because otherwise, they would be subject to 35 percent to 40 percent value-added taxes on imported devices.
"Chinese brands have been very successful in the Indian market, so it makes a lot of sense for them to have their production facilities close to their customers," Wang said, adding that these moves would give them a solid base to make gains in a market that offers huge growth potential given its massive population.
Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo have been increasing their shares in the Indian market in the past couple of years. In the third quarter of 2017, Xiaomi caught up with South Korea's Samsung to become the top smartphone brand in India, with the two tied at 23.5 percent market shares, according to a report from market research firm IDC on November 14.
China's Lenovo, Vivo and Oppo had 9 percent, 8.5 percent and 7.9 percent, respectively, the report showed.
Experts said that having factories in India would give the Chinese phone manufacturers a way to expand in India itself as well as other foreign markets.
"India has become a key market for Chinese companies to invest in for their larger global ambitions. With the huge size of the Indian market, and its complex business environment yet supportive system ... Chinese firms could gain experience and move on to larger markets overseas," Wang said.


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YouTube, the Google-owned video website, reportedly plans to experiment with paid subscriptions on some professionally produced channels as it moves towards being an overall media platform.
Earlier in the week, Advertising Age reported that paid channels on YouTube could be introduced as early as April, and the site has already reached out to its channel partners.
YouTube has not commented on the report, but its director of content strategy Jamie Byrne told a television conference this week that "it's a good time to start experimenting", according to The New York Times.
YouTube typically makes money via online advertising and that is likely to remain the same.
But the site has recently been expanding its offering beyond just user-generated short videos to professionally-produced channels.
Many content creators would like to be able to charge a small monthly fee for access to their content. This would potentially allow YouTube to take a cut of sales.
Following the success of Netflix, Hulu and LoveFilm, people are now comfortable with the concept of paying a subscription for video content online.
YouTube has massive reach as a social network and could offer media firms a new and powerful way to monetise their video content.
Advertising Age's sources said that there could be around 25 channels taking part in the YouTube subscription option pilot at first, with users being charged between $1 and $5 per month.
The report also said that YouTube may consider charging for access to its content libraries and live events, potentially on a pay-per-view basis.
A spokesman for Google declined to comment on the speculation, but did say that the firm has "long maintained that different content requires different types of payment models".
"The important thing is that, regardless of the model, our creators succeed on the platform," he said.
"There are a lot of our content creators that think they would benefit from subscriptions, so we're looking at that."
YouTube certainly has long-term goals to become more of an overall media platform. Last autumn, its parent company Google announced plans to invest $200 million to market the new channels on YouTube.
Many services have already launched in the US and internationally, and Byrne said that the scheme is "going great".
Speaking at the TV conference, Byrne said that there were two ways for YouTube to potentially charge for content.
It could either allow content creators to have standalone paid channels, and be responsible for all the content.
Alternatively, the site could bundle several related subscription channels together and charge a single price for them, similar to the method used by traditional cable and satellite TV providers.


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Frykman Recognized in Woman of the Year Award Category
Sally Frykman, Chief Marketing Officer at Velodyne Lidar, has been named a finalist for the Woman of the Year award from Sensors Converge and Fierce Electronics. (Photo: Velodyne Lidar)
Velodyne Lidar, Inc. (Nasdaq: VLDR, VLDRW) today announced its Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Sally Frykman has been named a finalist for the Woman of the Year award from Sensors Converge and Fierce Electronics. The Best of Sensors Awards shines a spotlight on the best and most innovative products, technologies, teams and people in the sensors industry.
As CMO at Velodyne Lidar, Frykman oversees the strategic development and execution of global marketing and communications programs that advance the company’s innovative vision and goals. Her multifaceted role encompasses a wide array of responsibilities, including promotion of the Velodyne brand, thought leadership development and robust sales lead generation fueled by highly engaging digital marketing. Additionally, Frykman leads Velodyne’s comprehensive public and media relations efforts. She also regularly engages with local and federal public policy and regulatory leaders.
The Sensors Converge conference, which takes place in San Jose, covers sensors and electronics technologies and applications that are driving industry innovation. Award winners, selected by a panel of industry experts, will be announced on June 28 at a conference event honoring the best in sensor technologies and the sensor ecosystem, people and companies.
Charlene Soucy, Senior Director, Sensors & Electronics at Questex, organizers of Sensors Converge, said, “Again this year the innovation in the sensors industry did not disappoint with new, innovative ground-breaking technologies and individuals doing spectacular work. The Best of Sensors Awards was created to recognize the industries best innovations. We congratulate Sally Frykman on being named a finalist.”
“It is an honor to be named a finalist for the Woman of the Year Award by Sensors Converge and Fierce Electronics,” said Frykman. “It’s a privilege to be among the women leaders who are playing a role in shaping the sensors industry as our solutions advance safety, sustainability, efficiency and equity on a global scale.”


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Interested in learning what's next for the gaming industry? Join gaming executives to discuss emerging parts of the industry this October at GamesBeat Summit Next. Register today.
When Google bought Nest for $3.2 billion, it didn’t just give Nest’s founders a hefty paycheck. It also put one of the world’s most innovative hardware startups in the hands of one of the world’s biggest companies. It’s a powerful combination.
But is that bad news for other hardware startups looking to make it big? Not exactly, says Birdi CEO Mark Belinsky. His company makes an air-quality sensor that also works as a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector.
While the Google acquisition puts Nest in a good spot to dominate the connected-home market one day, it also gave the fledgling industry a major stamp of approval. After all, there must be something to the connected home if Google’s making a billion-dollar investment in it.
And by buying Nest, Google also may have made life a little bit easier for smaller companies like Birdi to get attention and find customers.
“My assumption was that we were going to be battling against big players like Apple, Google, and Nest. Now, things are consolidating a bit,” Belinsky said.
Consolidation is good news because it’s usually a sign that an industry is growing into something larger and more mature. While some companies die and others like Nest get bought out, the industry as a whole will be in a better spot. (The Nest acquisition feels a lot like MakerBots’s buy from last June, though Google’s involvement makes it tough to make a direct comparison. )
So what does this mean for the likes of Birdi? For one, it means that whatever money Google spends marketing Nest and the concept of the connected home will also help educate consumers about other such products — including Birdi’s.
One day, anyway. For now Birdi is focused on closing its IndieGoGo campaign (it’s raised over $40,000 so far) and getting the devices out to backers by October.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn more about membership.


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Europe doesn't Rock Band and roll
While Rock Band has enjoyed celebrity status in the US, it hasn't been nearly as popular in Europe where sales of the most recent instalment have come in well under expectations.
Developer Harmonix tells MCV that Rock Band: The Beatles has underperformed in Europe, selling far fewer copies than anticipated.
"We were expecting higher sales," admits executive VP Scott Guthrie. "It was a tough economy; there was a lot of competitive products out there, and I think Beatles probably had softer sales than it would have if some of those things werent in play."
What Guthrie hesitates to admit, though, is the fact that music gaming has been in decline over the last 12 months. Continued saturation of the market with new Rock Band and Guitar Hero titles are sure to contribute to a growing attitude of ambivalence among music gamers.
- New Overwatch videos show off Hanzo and McCree
- Tychus loses his cigar for his appearance in Heroes Of The Storm
- Capcom details the Ultra Street Fighter IV PS4 upgrades
- Codemasters releases a teaser for F1 2015
- Total War: Arena gameplay unveiled
- Warner Bros bringing Batman's cowl and cape from Batman: Arkham Knight to MCM Comic-Con this weekend
- Red Thread gives an update on Dreamfall Chapters Book Three
- Sony releases a pretty 1080p gameplay video of God Of War III on PS4
- Techland shelves Hellraid to focus on Dying Light


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SILENTWORLD – the foreign-owned shipping logistics and fuel re-sales outfit in Honiara with strong links to the Australian government – is negotiating the purchase of the former Solomon Taiyo factory site at Tulagi.
Solomon Islands National Provident (SINPF), which owns the prime seafront site confirmed yesterday it and Silentworld are negotiating the sale and purchase. Both companies jointly own the nearby Sasape International Shipyard, also on Tulagi, Central Islands Province.
“We can respond that discussions with Silentworld are progressing well and hopefully subject to finance, a transaction will be made soon. The details of a sale will then be disclosed by parties to the agreement once the transaction is made,” SINPF Chief Executive Officer, Mike Wate, said in response to written questions from Solomon Star yesterday.
According to the company’s website, Silentworld is “Solomon Islands’ pre-eminent shipping and logistics company.”
“We have been servicing the shipping needs of the Pacific since 2000. This experience enables us to offer reliable, secure and on time service.
“From scheduled and charter shipping services to the outer provincial regions of the Solomon Islands, to bulk fuel re-sales and supply, Silentworld is the only choice for professional shipping and logistics services,” it said on its website.
Scheduled services to the West and Eastern Provinces, dedicated shipping bases and consolidation / storage areas in Honiara and Noro.
SHIPPING & FREIGHT FORWARDING
The Company has locations in Melbourne, Brisbane, Singapore and Honiara, the company said.
Amongst the services it provides are shipping agency, ship’s husbandry, international freight forwarders, container consolidation and procurement.
Silentworld’s fuel re-sales depot at Ranadi, east Honiara
It specializes in provincial fuel re-sales and distribution of high-quality diesel and Unleaded petrol, with re-sale sites being established throughout provincial centres, the Company’s website said.
According to an article published by this newspaper to mark the Company’s 10th anniversary in April 2015, Silentworld Shipping and Logistics “directly contributed over SBD$500 million into the country’s economy over the past ten years.”
Speaking at the time, Chief Executive Officer, Meyric Slimming said the company started from a humble beginning when it departed Vanuatu in April 2005 on MV Silent One.
He said the Company came to Solomon Islands initially to provide support for the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands’ (RAMSI’s) Law and Justice Program.
The programmes included court circuits from Duffs and Utupua to Shortland and Choiseul, witness transfers from the Weathercoast, HF medical radio installation from Tikopia to Mono, distribution of medical supplies, distribution of Education books and visits, transfers of prisoners and distribution of ballot boxes.
From 2005-2008 the Company continued to grow by providing domestic shipping services for businesses to the provinces and expanded with the arrival of Santo Star in 2007, Western Star in 2008, Torress Star and Jackpot in 2009, Mr. Slimming said.
In 2010-2013 the Silentworld Shipping Logistics took delivery of a passenger vessel Discovery 360 that provided transport services between Honiara and Auki. That service has discontinued and the Discovery 360 is moored just outside the land at Tulagi it is negotiating to buy.
From 2013, Silentworld entered into a joint venture with the Solomon Islands National Provident Fund to operate the Sasape International Shipyard, provide shipping agency and freight forwarding, provide fuel sales and distribution, fuel resellers and Solomon Islands Dive Expeditions, according to the Solomon Star article.
“In our ten years of business, we directly contributed over $500 million to the economy and we have paid our taxes-every last drop.
“We have in tandem with the National Provident Fund, assisted a new macro economy in Tulagi, greatly increased province’s business with our regular shipping schedules, employ over 200 staff of which 98 per cent are local and have had influence in almost every Island from Tikopia, Duffs, Reefs, Dai Island, Sikaiana, Ontong Java, Mono, Rennell and Bellona along with the major and more well-known Islands,” he said.
Mr. Slimming said the Company would continue do business in Solomon Islands and work in partnership with business partners, business houses, individuals, provincial government and the national government.
It is understood Silentworld’s interest in buying the former Solomon Taiyo factory site in Tulagi is prompted by unconfirmed reports last year that a Chinese fishing company was interested in buying the area to develop a shore base for fishing boats to repair their fishing nets.
Solomon Star also understands that Silentworld had been receiving secret funding of up to three hundred thousand dollars a month in funding support from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT).
This could not however be independently verified.
According to sources, the reported DFAT funding support was intended to accelerate the sale-purchase process as Australia does not want any Chinese company to develop the area into a shore base facility. Canberra feared the facility could be turned into a naval base – a claim the Chinese government has rejected outright.
By Alfred Sasako


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For a limited time only, London Blockchain Conference's Early Bird tickets will cost £100 ($120) for one-day tickets and £200 ($242) for three-day tickets. VIP tickets will cost £750 ($907) each.
Day two of the Philippine Blockchain Week saw personalities like Oscar Tan-Abing Jr., as well as enthusiasts and celebrities, such as KC Montero and Jared Dillinger, on stage.
Thought leaders, key business players, and enthusiasts gather at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Pasay City for the inaugural Philippine Blockchain Week to shape the country’s digital landscape.
Held at the Manila House in BGC, Taguig, the Blockchain Social Manila was attended by global thought leaders, industry players, government officials, and digital currency enthusiasts.
On Day 1 of the INDX Summit 2022, thought leaders in the fintech and banking world gather to discuss the digital transformation of the Philippines—along with its issues, impacts, and innovations.
The Philippine Web3 Festival was the first and largest event of its kind and came at a time when the Southeast Asian country emerged as the global leader in Web 3.0.
Bitskwela holds the Philippines' first Web3 debate in Taguig, in an effort to educate the youth on blockchain and the digital asset space.
The festival brought together many of the leading Filipino Web3 firms, banks, and regulators, and they all believe the country can become the global leader.
The Blockchain in Business event in Australia showcased the scalability and power of the BSV blockchain in transforming businesses and creating a positive impact on the economy and the environment.
November 9, 2022 marked the launch of the CoinGeek Bitcade in London, a concept that was kicked off in Miami, followed by a stop-off in Warsaw and now making its mark in one of the main hubs for the BSV blockchain ecosystem.
The stage is set for the inaugural Philippine Blockchain Week, which will take place from November 28 to December 4, featuring global experts in blockchain, NFTs, Web3, and more.


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Believe it or not, the upcoming Barcelona outdoor conference – organised by trade body the Outdoor Advertising Association – has a lot more riding on it than a chance for the industry to get together for an upper-class version of a package holiday.
Although some outdoor players are bound to see it as such, and treat it accordingly, the outdoor industry is facing issues that the conference desperately needs to address.
Possibly the most creative and accountable sector of this thing we call media, the outdoor sector is nonetheless rife with infighting, one-upmanship, and downright malice, and any client or agency representative attending the conference in September – of which there are record numbers – may find the big outdoor players treat them to a smoke-and-mirrors public relations exercise worthy of the great Harry Houdini himself.
The truth is, the big players in the UK – JC Decaux, Clear Channel, Viacom Outdoor and Maiden Outdoor – are not exactly on the best of terms, and this is forcing an industry that could be great, to weigh in as good with the potential to be great.
It’s not that outdoor as a medium has not been punching above its weight; it has, with a 10.4% growth until the end of 2003. The sector achieved a 9% share of all display advertising spend – with a little more co-operation between the major players, it’s probably fair to say that it could have broken the “magic” 10% margin.
There’s the Jerry Maguire moment – mention what shouldn’t be mentioned in the hope that wrongs will become right.
But asking an advertiser to show the outdoor industry “the money” is going to take more than presentations and slide shows; it’s going to take harmony and cross-owner co-operation, and as many will tell you, the time when the various competitors across the outdoor industry reach that stage is far from near.
If we simply talk from a UK perspective, this year is set to see the dirtiest street fight between the big four over the London street furniture contract. There’s an elephant in the room, everyone knows it’s there, but everyone will be talking about it in hushed tones over the sangria and paella, and certainly with nothing less than expectant victorious noises in front of the assembled advertisers.
Steve Cox, head of agency sales at Viacom Outdoor, thinks that Barcelona will be about a collaborative effort to push the outdoor advertising sector forward, even if the main players will eventually try and cut a larger section of any enlarged ad spend by clients for themselves.
Even though the image may be that outdoor players are at each other’s throats, he says that when it comes to pushing the wider medium, the major owners are extremely focused.
“We are very competitive with each other in terms of trying to attract new sales revenue and trying to attract new contracts, but we won’t get to 10% by squabbling over our slice of the current outdoor cake. We’ll do it by actively trying to persuade advertisers and media agencies that they should be investing some of the money they’re currently investing in other media with us,” Cox says.
“I think we have a more grown-up view of that than we used to, although it may not sometimes come across that way.”
Alex Thompson, chief executive of outdoor advertising specialist Portland Outdoor, believes the collaboration process has moved on and will only become stronger during and after the event.
“There’s a need for collaboration, but I think it’s working out already,” Thompson says.
“The media owners now tend to be part of multimedia, multinational concerns and the senior managers often come from a broader background than was perhaps the case in the past. I think the media owners are pulling very hard on the same oars. I think that everybody chasing the same fish around the same pond is not the future.”
Acting as referee in this unlicenced bout is the Outdoor Advertising Association, the official trade body for the industry.
Although it may not have the resources of the Radio Advertising Bureau, it is just as passionate about promoting its ascension on clients’ media schedules.
Alan James, chief executive of the OAA, says: “Our members know that by working together they can certainly increase volume and share. The scope, scale and level of innovation of what the medium can offer advertisers and agencies is now quite amazing.”
Cox says: “The only way the OAA can achieve anything is for them to act as a facilitator, and get us all around the table, and that’s what happens.
This is probably why the conference doesn’t sit under the banner “The year of in-fighting”, but rather the more advertiserfriendly mantle “Outdoor taking the lead”.
Thompson thinks that although old rivalries do occasionally present themselves, the success of the industry has forged some harmony: “We’ve all moved on in leaps and bounds in terms of the way that we speak to each other and are rather more broad minded about sharing issues rather than keeping our own cards close to our chests.”
In the UK alone, not even broaching the subject of continental Europe, where Decaux, Clear Channel and Viacom Outdoor battle for supremacy, Stevie Spring, chief executive at Clear Channel, still thinks the actual shop-floor activity conducted by outdoor media owners is hugely competitive – and always will be.
However, she says the industry is slowly but surely collaborating on issues that do not involve price-sensitive information.
“At the trading level, we are fiercely competitive,” Spring says.
“I will sit here thinking that every pound that goes on a Viacom bus should be either on my taxis, or on my six-sheets.”
So far this year we have seen the battle for the 10-year West Midlands bus shelter contract, worth a reputed £100m, a coveted prize taken by Clear Channel specialist Adshel after a protracted battle with Decaux, Viacom and Scottish Media Group’s Primesight.
The resulting win was met by whispered snipes from the – no doubt sore – losers that the maintenance of the sites would surely severely cut profit margins, an accusation that Clear Channel resolutely denies.
As if this were not enough, the body blows will be delivered later this autumn when the London bus shelter contract, tendered by headline-grabbing Transport for London, reaches maturity.
The current holder of the tender is the aforementioned Adshel, which aside from bidding for TfL’s street furniture contract, will still control the 40+% of London’s six-sheet panels that it owns.
Still, rather than hold back, Viacom Outdoor, current holder of the London Underground contract and the contract for London bus sidings, and Decaux have been engaging in a bottle-throwing exercise that would put an average pub in London after an England versus France fixture to shame.
This is even before TfL decided that it may dispense with the separate London Underground contract when the tender for the business next presents itself.
It is touting a possible amalgamation of the tube, bus and bus shelter contracts that could lead to an individual winner controlling a virtual monopoly on outdoor advertising across the central London heartland, a deal that would damage a competitive process, doing clients and their agencies no favours.
Most will tell you that this is bluster at best, but even bluster can lead deals to derail, and clients to question the place of outdoor on their schedules.
If outdoor is proud of its record of taking spend from television in the London area, then it may not be for much longer because of TfL’s abrasive action.
Despite the competition for contracts, Spring thinks the amount of collaboration that goes on in the sector is underestimated.
“I think you would be surprised at the huge areas where we are fiercely collaborative.
“I don’t just mean in marketing outdoor over other media – if you sit round a council table of the OAA, everyone recognises that it’s our joint job to grow the outdoor sector compared to other mainstream media. We will fight for a slice of an enlarged cake, but we have to enlarge the cake first.”
Viacom’s Cox is hopeful that the focus in Barcelona will be on moving forward and hopes there will be a concerted effort to push the sector, so clients walk away feeling that outdoor delivers.
“I think that one of the things that will come out of Barcelona is absolute proof that if you do advertise in outdoor it will benefit your business,” Cox says.
The benefits of outdoor is what owners and agency representatives have to push to advertisers from the moment they hit Barcelona.
Let’s hope that the gloves don’t go back on until they are safely back in London and it’s business as usual


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MAC has just announced a new Collection honoring the late Latina singer, Selena Quintanilla. The multi product Collection will be launching in later 2016, so perhaps that means a later Summer, Fall or Holiday date…?
“Selena’s talent and beauty, inside and out have, have left a colourful, meaningful impact in the world, that has continued to grow over the last two decades,” says MAC Senior Vice President/Group Creative Director James Gager.
“We have heard the passion and enthusiasm from her fans and wholeheartedly agree that her legacy embodies M·A·C’s philosophy. We are so excited to announce a Selena inspired M·A·C collection debuting in the latter part of 2016.”
It sounds like a fun and exciting new addition…though isn’t MAC ALWAYS fun and exciting?! Happy to hear they have chosen to celebrate this young lady and her contributions. 🙂
I will post more photos as I see them crop up!


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With a registered customer base of more than 450 million users, WalMart-owned Flipkart has entered the loan business.
Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bangalore and owned by Walmart, has entered a strategic partnership with Axis Bank to provide loans.
The loans offer flexible repayment cycles ranging from six to 36 months on credit of up to 500,000 Indian rupees ($6,100). The loans require no document submission and can be approved in 30 seconds.
Strategic collaborations with banking institutions have enabled Flipkart to offer affordable payment options including buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), equated monthly installments and co-branded credit cards.
“Our focus is to enable credit and enhance purchasing power by granting access to liquidity precisely when needed,” explains Dheeraj Aneja, senior vice president of Fintech and Payments Group at Flipkart. “These financial solutions cater to the evolving demands of consumers, offering greater flexibility and convenience throughout their purchasing journeys. Our commitment lies in reshaping the online shopping landscape, ensuring accessibility and inclusivity for all.”
With a registered customer base of more than 450 million users, Flipkart can access vast transaction data to develop robust underwriting models. India’s digital lending market is likely to reach $515 billion by 2030, according to a recent report by investment fund IIFL FinTech—but it’s competitive. Buoyed by regulatory initiatives and demographics, rivals include Navi, Paytm, Lendingkart, InCred, Mobikwik and Aye Finance.
Although former subsidiary PhonePe, also owned by Walmart, from acquiring ZestMoney for its lending license, Flipkart will be competing directly with PhonePe, following the latter’s April launch of its e-commerce app.
Flipkart hopes its expansion into lending will boost sales and customer loyalty. The increased competition should be good for customers and continue the rapid digitization of the country.
The Indian government has invested in and encouraged partnerships between traditional financial institutions and fintechs to help aid economic development and financial inclusion in the country. For example, India Stack—a digital public infrastructure established through a public/private partnership and the introduction of Account Aggregator, makes it easier for small businesses and individuals with limited financial backgrounds to access credit.


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OEMs should work on model mix at dealerships: FADA President
With customer cancellations rising at automotive dealerships, it's time OEMs did a rain check on their future projections, suggests Manish Raj Singhania, FADA President.
At the second banking and insurance summit held in Mumbai last month, the President of the Federation of the Automobile Dealers Associations of India (FADA) said that the rising higher interest cost from ballooning inventories due to demand slowdown and a poor model mix from OEMs is weighing down dealerships' profitability and ability to invest in scaling up their business.
Singhania highlighted that rising interest costs, stock inventories moving beyond 25 days at the entry level for passenger cars amid high discounts, and reduced insurance margins were making life for auto retailers complicated. On sharing the roadmap ahead with the banking and insurance fraternity gathered at the seminar he said, “OEMs and dealers both have to be cognisant about the changing consumer landscape, and the increased pendency of non-selling models which has doubled from 15-30 days to 45-60 days.
Singhania said that the biggest challenge for dealers is that OEMs can immediately help dealerships by reducing their interest cost from rising inventories, addressing the pending booking numbers, and delivering higher skew of in-demand models.
As a broad example, he indicated, that of the 100 vehicles that an OEM sends to its dealers, 30 to 40 are getting accumulated at the dealership. "My question to OEMs is, why do you want to produce more when you know the demand is tapering off? Instead of dispatching 30-40 percent low-selling models, it makes more sense to improve the model mix and send what's selling,” he stated.
There was a period when OEMs were building on capacity as demand was strong, but with the demand slowing down, "the industry doesn’t need the additional capacity as the market is back to low single-digit growth, and we are back to a supply-side market," Singhania added, discussing the market dynamics facing auto retailers.
A wide range of auto retailers at the insurance summit held in Mumbai last month said that with demand weakening, the community was facing severe challenges from all fronts. “OEMs should let go of their ‘fascination for numbers’ and instead ‘improve model mix at dealerships as it has a direct impact on channel profitability,” said a passenger car dealer from Delhi.
The FADA President added that dealers are seeing cancellations double to 30 to 40 percent even in premium models. "This has not impacted our sales, as we hand the booking to the next person waiting in line. But with cancellations rising, it's time OEMs did a rain check on their future projections,” he added.
As a way out for auto dealers, the FADA President stated that domestic auto retailers will have to diversify their operations to maintain their market position. He further stressed the importance of auto dealers looking at innovative strategies such as cross-selling.
Sharing his insights, he stressed the role of mergers and acquisitions in shaping the industry’s future needs, which could provide opportunities for consolidation, cost savings, and synergies, to build a more resilient industry.
Ramesh Iyer, Vice Chairman, and MD of Mahindra Finance suggested the industry 'needs to collaborate and not compete, to increase its consumer base.'
Iyer said that the working capital interest has to be super efficiently managed with inventory, and financers can act as co-lenders and provide guarantees for dealers to reduce their cost of borrowing, but such deals can only be made when dealers work transparently and maintain fiscal discipline.
Given this situation, should the auto industry aim for sub-5 percent growth? Singhania said the industry is guiding for a single-digit growth up to the onset of the festive season. "With a good monsoon, we can expect 8 to 9 percent growth and a poor monsoon could lead us to sub-5 percent growth."
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Entertainment Ad Spending is Going Up, Up, Up
Those who predicted that the internet would kill TV were probably the same people that said TV would put movie theaters out of business. A look at entertainment and media ad spending so far this year proves otherwise.
Earlier this month, all of the big five TV networks showed gains in ad sales during the Upfronts in New York. CBS pulled in a projected $2.5 billion to $2.55 billion in TV ad sales compared to the $2.4 billion they made last year. NBC took in $1.7 billion compared to $1.6 billion last year.
Today, the New York Times is reporting on new stats from PricewaterhouseCoopers which shows that entertainment and media ad spending in 2010 grew by 5.4% compared with 2009.
In 2009, the company said, American ad spending fell 14.4 percent from 2008. The shift from minus 14.4 to plus 5.4 represents the largest year-over-year swing in the annual reports.
Here’s an even nicer set of numbers:
The total for entertainment and media spending in this country is to grow to $555 billion in 2015, from $443 billion in 2010, according to the report, for a compounded annual growth rate of 4.6 percent.
The report predicts that TV advertising will benefit most from the gains, so the internet hasn’t won that war just yet. As expected, magazine and newspaper revenue is expected to drop, but paid digital content is rising and might offset the difference in another few years.
Healthy increases in ad spending is good news for everyone. If advertisers are spending, that means consumers are spending and spending is good. It’s important, even, and that’s why I’m going to go out to the store this afternoon and buy a bunch of the things I saw advertised on TV last night. I encourage you to do the same.


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If you wanted, well, pretty much anything, there are about a zillion companies that would happily bring it to you right this minute. It’d probably be delivered by a series of transportation methods, by plane, train, or truck, and when it arrives, it would almost definitely come in a big box full of plastic or Styrofoam.
To many, these companies are a revelation. But as Amazon and the thousands of other businesses built around bringing you stuff have exploded in growth, they’ve been met with the same chorus of complaints: They create way, way too much trash. And one of the loudest voices has come from the zero-waste movement, a consumer-led, grassroots group of individuals and businesses coming for the convenience economy.
The goal: Create as little garbage as possible. Recycling isn’t enough — only 9 percent of all plastic waste on Earth has been recycled. Among all the adherents of the zero- and low-waste lifestyle I spoke to, the first and foremost tenet is preventing waste from existing in the first place.
Although its current iteration may have begun out of individual interest, over the past few years a growing number of zero-waste stores have sprouted up around across the country and around the world, helping both businesses and customers prevent garbage from ending up in landfills. Now, even major brands and cities are joining in, and it’s not all that difficult to understand why.
It’s no coincidence that the popularity of zero-waste lifestyles happens to coincide with mounting evidence that climate change will be the defining event of this century. We’ve also only just begun to seriously research the effect of the staggering amount of plastic in our oceans — the first comprehensive count of it by Science just three years ago reported anywhere between 4.7 and 12.8 million metric tons of ocean plastic. Plastic, in modern life, is nearly inescapable — simply washing our clothing, about 60 percent of which is now made of synthetic plastic fibers — releases hundreds of thousands of fibers into the water supply. Waste on dry land isn’t any better: The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 23 percent of landfill waste comes from packaging and containers.
In response to these bleak realities, we’re often told that it’s all our fault. Because you didn’t bring your reusable tote bag to Trader Joe’s, that polar bear is now dead. This is a lie, of course — the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a damning report that revealed just 100 companies are responsible for 71 percent of global climate emissions, most of them oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, and BP. But it would also be a lie to claim that online shopping isn’t terrible for the environment — in 2016, transportation overtook power plants as the top producer of carbon dioxide emissions in the US, with a quarter of that coming from medium- and heavy-duty delivery trucks.
Why you’ve been seeing a lot of garbage in Mason jars
So what’s an environmentally conscious consumer to do? Well, if you’re on the more extreme end of the spectrum, a natural response might be to try and fit all your garbage for an entire year in a single jar. This, at least, was the strategy used by Bea Johnson after her family of four downsized to a small apartment in downtown San Francisco in 2006. Once she realized that they hardly missed 80 percent of the items that were put in storage, Johnson started a blog in 2009 that ultimately got her a profile in the New York Times (headline: “A Visit From the Priestess of Waste-Free Living”).
“The comments in that article were absolutely nasty,” she says, laughing, “which is understandable, because people did not know what a zero-waste lifestyle was. I must say myself, if I had heard about a zero-waste family 15 years ago, I would have thought, ‘these people are hippies.’”
Yet today, Johnson has a book, a couple of TED Talks, and a nearly 200,000-strong Instagram following; plus, she says she and her family are healthier and save around 40 percent of their overall budget thanks to their frugal shopping habits. As for what’s in those jars at the end of the year, exactly? Stickers on produce, caulking from the back of the sink, a piece of duct tape that got stuck on somebody’s shoe, and a filter from the gutters that flew off in the wind. “Really, things that you don’t have a name for,” she says.
The visual of a year’s worth of garbage in a jar is a clever gimmick, which is likely why it spread to others across the country. There’s Lauren Singer, who managed to fit four years’ of trash in a single 16-ounce jar and opened Package Free Shop in Brooklyn, and Auri Jackson, who in 2016 produced and starred in a viral BuzzFeed video in which she went waste-free for 30 days.
Two years later, Jackson is still striving to adhere to the lifestyle, even though she understands it isn’t realistic for everyone to fit their garbage into a tiny Mason jar. “It’s difficult, because you’re a human being, and trash is just around. It happens. It’s this interesting intersection of like, ‘Oh damn, the world is ending and there’s so much plastic everywhere,’ but at the same time we’re just trying to be people in bodies living our lives.”
Jackson also knows that individual consumers didn’t cause climate change, but there’s still hope. “We vote with our dollars, and corporations respond when people stop purchasing things. I feel like people want to do the right thing, and the more they know, they’re gonna want to reduce. Even if it’s just people who are interested but it feels daunting, just try to not use single-use disposables. Don’t worry about shopping in jars and all that, just think, ‘Hey, how do I not get takeout?’ The problem is overconsumption, and that’s a bigger problem in general in our culture and the culture of convenience.”
The rise of zero-waste businesses
If an individual can’t prevent climate change, businesses, at least, can help large groups of them make more environmentally conscious choices. Zero-waste stores in Germany (Original Unverpakt), Austria (Lunzers), Spain (Granel), Italy (Effecorta), the UK (The Zero Waste Shop) have succeeded, but have only recently found a home in the US. One of the first, In.gredients in Austin, Texas, opened in 2012, but closed in April 2018 as a result of low sales.
But despite the financial risks, similar businesses have appeared across the country. Zero Market, which opened in Denver in 2017, and the Refill Shoppe in Ventura, California, which opened in 2010, sell mostly home cleaning and body care products in bulk. “At that time, most of the search results I could find for refilling were for printer ink cartridge places,” says Michelle Stevens of the Refill Shoppe. Now, however, that’s not likely to be the case: “We receive emails daily from people trying to open zero waste stores all over the world asking for advice,” says Lyndsey Manderson from Zero Market.
For most zero-waste shops, the pitch is simple: Customers arrive with their own packaging materials — jars, tote bags, whatever, or buy one of the jars on sale at the store, weigh them, and then subtract the weight of the receptacle from the weight of the goods added to get the final price. That way, nothing ends up in a landfill, at least on the customer’s end.
For the business itself, however, things are more complicated. Owners, who are responsible for the shipment of all products, are tasked with finding ways to reduce the carbon footprint and waste of the complicated process of shipping goods, and some goods are more high-maintenance than others.
“Herbs are difficult because they need to be sealed in a plastic bag to keep them fresh,” says Lyndsey. “Liquids are almost always shipped in plastic containers which we find ways of reusing those plastic containers after they’ve been emptied.” They’ve been able to find local suppliers that allow them to come in with their own glass containers with liquids, “but we still have a long way to go,” she says.
At Precycle, a zero-waste store in Bushwick, Brooklyn, owner Katerina Bogatireva echoed many of the same stories and sentiments as other local store owners. Like many of them, she had her own revelatory moment while living in New York after growing up in Latvia during the Soviet Union, where food — and plastic bags — were often scarce. Soon after moving the US, she says, she began to take the abundances of convenient living for granted, however, and realized she wanted to make a change.
After three years of planning, Precycle opened in November 2018 and carries bath and home cleaning products, dry goods, and fresh produce, most of which comes from local farmers markets (with the exception of the kale, a customer demand that needs to be brought in from California in winter). She’d like to expand into dairy, which comes with its own challenges, namely that cheese needs to be wrapped in something immediately after it’s made.
“I literally torture my supplier about dry goods,” she laughs. “Every time I’m going to order something new, I go, ‘Where was it made? How does it come?’” But she’s also transparent with her customers about the limits of “zero waste.” Zero waste is for the customer. It’s not zero waste for me,” she says. “Although I had a bittersweet moment where, a week ago, I took my first trash bag out. That’s after a month and a half. That’s not too bad!”
For those customers that can’t make the journey to the few zero-waste shops available, some businesses are entering the zero-waste delivery space. The Wally Shop, for instance, which is also based in Brooklyn, delivers farmers market-fresh produce in reusable packaging; Fillgood.co does the same for cleaning products in the Bay Area.
It’s easy to point out that most of these businesses exist in liberal enclaves in coastal cities, but even some of the world’s largest companies are now taking steps to reduce single-use plastics. In fact, it’s a certifiable trend, with Starbucks, Disney, and even the European Union taking part. Unilever, Nestlé, and PepsiCo all recently announced plans to roll out reusable packaging for certain products in an attempt to reduce single-use disposables. America’s largest grocery store chain, Kroger, has said that it will divert 90 percent of its food waste from landfills by 2020, and eliminate plastic bags by 2025.
Ultimately, however, governments and major corporations need to be held responsible, as our individual consumer choices are just a drop in the bucket of their waste creation. In many places, they’re trying, at least. San Diego and Washington, DC, have banned styrofoam and plastic straws, respectively, likely thanks to research into ocean plastics that’s finally revealing the extent of the problem. However small they are, businesses like Precycle are on the forefront of the movement.
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