text:
This story is part of The Great Mall Overhaul, a joint Modern Retail and Glossy editorial series looking into all the ways the businesses underpinning malls have been upended.
Malls play an important role for high-end cake shop Lady M, but not the food court.
“We purposely try to avoid the food court,” said Ken Romaniszyn, Lady M’s CEO. “Of course, it’s important that the Panda Express and the Subways are there, but we want to give people another [experience] of a sit-down cafe style.”
This has become a major facet of Lady M’s retail strategy. The company has 50 locations around the world, and its $60-$100 cakes can be found on New York’s Madison Avenue and in luxury shopping plazas like Seattle’s Bellevue mall and the Houston Galleria. One of the rare times it diverted from its no-food-court rule was to open a location in the Plaza Hotel’s food hall (now shuttered).
As Romaniszyn described it, in an ideal world Lady M would be the cake shop (or cake boutique, as Lady M prefers) “between Louis Vuitton and Hermès.”
This isn’t an isolated strategy. The food complexes at newer malls are increasingly being rethought — and the days of the humdrum Auntie Anne’s and Panda Express dotted food courts may be waning.
These days, mall owners are now seeing food as a way to draw people in, rather than a mere sustenance necessity. They are adamant that their new dining options aren’t a food court for people to kill time, but rather a trendy destination in and of themselves. That means that malls are furiously recruiting influencer-owned restaurants, celebrity chefs, and luxe food halls to draw crowds. Meanwhile, mall stalwarts like Auntie Anne’s and Manchu Wok are being forced to grow their online sales channels while their number of food court locations dwindle.
As such, the days of the mall food court may soon be over — but food still plays an important role in determining which malls survive.
One recent example gives a sense for the upgraded mall food strategy. American Dream, the new mega-mall based in New Jersey, recently partnered with YouTube star MrBeast to house the first brick-and-mortar location of his burger ghost kitchen venture. The idea was simple: bet on a big name to draw teens to the mall, where they would hopefully spend more time after getting a MrBeast burger. For American Dream, the stunt worked — the mall saw record foot traffic the weekend Mr. Beast came to the mall and showed off his restaurant.
Not every mall is letting YouTube drive their restaurant strategy — but industry-wide, there is a bigger emphasis on attracting celebrity chefs, influencer-led restaurants, and other buzzy dining concepts. The popular food hall Eataly, which got its start in New York opened a location at Santa Clara, Calif. Westfield mall earlier this year. In Connecticut, one mall that has seen big names like Apple, Uniqlo, and Saks Off Fifth depart in recent years is betting on an 80,000 square foot food hall from chef Todd English to fill vacancies and draw crowds again.
This is a phenomenon seen by both mall developers and food brands. According to Sam Wheeler, creative director of experience innovation at the design agency Huge, the more cutting-edge retail projects are rethinking the overall spacial orientations of their spaces and tenant mixes. “There’s been a realization of how important physical interacting and social spaces are,” he said. “There is a repositioning that needs to shift in how [the food court] is presented… this is not just ‘we’re replacing the Panda Express with a Pret a Manger,’ it’s ‘we’re making it something worth checking out.'” In Wheeler’s estimation, developers are rethinking their spaces to make them more of a third place.
This has meant a big change for the brands that hold deep mall connotations. Focus Brands — the owner of mall staples likes Auntie Anne’s, Carvel, Cinnabon, Jamba and Moe’s Southwest Grill — is now doubling down on digital revenue rather than in-person mall sales. The company said its digital sales — meaning orders placed online for both dine-in and delivery — represent 28% of its total restaurants sales, and it wants the online channel to make up 50% of the total by 2027. Focus has recently said that one of its primary business objectives is on building a better e-commerce experience, which includes more navigable websites for digital orders, restaurants apps and online loyalty programs.
Beyond that, Focus has also been seeking out non-mall locations and retail designs. In 2021 it announced plans to boost its drive-thru offerings as a way to provide more convenient options in different retail locations. “Auntie Anne’s has become synonymous with malls and airports, but for some time we’ve been looking for opportunities to grow outside of these traditional locations,” Kristen Hartman, president of Focus Brands’ specialty category, told Restaurant Business at the time.
MTY Group — which owns brands like Manchu Wok, Baja Fresh and Pinkberry — has sought to make a similar shift as more of its food court locales shutter In 2019, the company boasted a network of 7,373 locations — of which 17% were either in malls or office food courts. In 2021, the locations shrunk to 6,719 with 14% being housed in either malls or office food courts.
“The top malls were coming back a little bit earlier,” said CEO Eric Lefebvre at its most recent earnings call. “I think the bad malls will — C malls, if you want to call them, will probably struggle for the longer. But the A and B malls are really coming back as the traffic is there.”
As such, these Class A malls are where many restaurant concepts — from food halls to smoothie stands — are vying to be, if they want to be in the mall at all. But the question is longterm, how long these Class A malls can avoid the old trappings of food courts.
Jennifer Leavitt, vp of marketing at the Bellevue Collection, is confident that “our restaurants have come roaring back.” Bellevue has three luxury retail and mixed-used complexes in the Seattle area.
Bellevue for decades has shunned the well-trod mall food concept. “We have on purpose not had a food court — ever,” she said. “Our strategy has been to spread the food around.” That is, Bellevue strategically places destination restaurants throughout its complexes rather than housing smaller versions of them in one central location.It does, however, have a food hall (that’s currently being renovated) for its mixed-use building to cater to office workers. Leavitt described the restaurants Bellevue tries to work with as “chef-driven.” They include steakhouses like Ascend and Fogo de Chão, a Nordstrom Café but also does include lower-brow options like Starbucks and Panda Express.
Leavitt says she’s noticed this trend start to spread. “There’s been some good food halls [at other malls],” she said. “There’s also been some upscale food offerings where they are a hybrid between a food court and a food hall.” That’s the key, really: “it feels more like dining and feels less like fast food.”
And, of course, tenant mix is important. Bellevue said one of its big evolutions has been to focus on local hip spots rather than larger well-known chains. And that’s extended both to the standalone restaurants and its food hall. “We’re very intentional about what that mix is,” he said. “It’s not just filling space.” She went on, “for us, the food hall becomes a much more important social offering — a third place to go to.”
Lady M’s Romaniszyn has noticed a similar evolution. Malls in general, he said, are looking for new ways to engage shoppers. “It’s not just shopping anymore,” he said. Instead, the smart developer are looking for tenants to are both splashy and increase dwell time. “People are social, they don’t want to be at home anymore,” he said.
And this has led to a few phenomenons. For one, malls are looking for bespoke food options that draw a crowd. And this, in turn, is reorienting the relationship mall food had with its retail store counterparts.
“It used to be that retail supported the dining category,” said Leavitt. “We have really found how dining is helping to bring back the retail category in our market.”


text:
The Asteria Gaming Community, an extraordinary haven for gamers worldwide, proudly announces its one-year milestone with over 300 dedicated members and an unwavering commitment to fostering a vibrant and engaging atmosphere for all gaming enthusiasts. With a focal point on the beloved Team Fortress 2 (TF2), Asteria continues to redefine the online gaming community experience.
Asteria’s journey began over a year ago when a group of passionate gamers embarked on a mission to create a virtual haven for those who shared their love for Team Fortress 2. Today, that dream has flourished into a thriving community that bridges the gap between casual gamers and die-hard TF2 enthusiasts, offering a place for everyone to come together and share their gaming experiences.
At the heart of Asteria’s appeal lies its dedication to community engagement. Members are drawn to the server for its vibrant discussions, friendly camaraderie, and exciting events. Asteria’s event lineup is a testament to its commitment to providing unique and unforgettable experiences. Some of the exciting events Asteria has hosted or currently has underway include:
- MGE Tournament: Compete against fellow gamers in intense, skill-testing matches to prove your TF2 prowess.
- RPS Tournament (Rock, Paper, Scissors): A fun and unique twist on gaming competitions that keeps everyone on their toes.
- LTLVC Competition (Last To Leave Voice Chat): Test your endurance in a friendly contest that keeps the conversations flowing.
- Crates & Cases Event: Unlock the excitement as you crack open virtual crates and cases, discovering treasures within.
- Secret Santa + Giveaways for Participants: Embracing the spirit of giving, Asteria spreads joy with surprise gifts and heartwarming exchanges.
- Leaderboard Competition: Climb to the top and showcase your gaming skills for everyone to see.
- Garry’s Mod Last to Survive Competition: Dive into a different gaming universe and prove your survival instincts.
- Numbers Game Competition: A unique challenge that adds a mathematical twist to the gaming experience.
- Community Presidential Election: Engage in a friendly election and influence the course of Asteria’s future.
One of Asteria’s most celebrated features is its tradition of high-value TF2 item giveaways. The community takes pride in fostering an atmosphere of generosity and camaraderie by sharing TF2 items worth hundreds of dollars. In fact, Asteria has already distributed items valued at over $1000, creating excitement and bringing members even closer together.
“Asteria Gaming Community is more than just a Discord server; it’s a gathering place for passionate gamers to forge friendships, test their skills, and create lasting memories,” said the Founder of Asteria Gaming Community. “We’re humbled by the incredible growth we’ve experienced over the past year and are excited to continue offering a space where everyone can find their place among fellow gamers.”
As Asteria Gaming Community enters its next chapter, its commitment to fostering inclusivity, engagement, and unforgettable gaming experiences remains unwavering. To join the ranks of this thriving community, visit the official Asteria Gaming Community Discord server at https://discord.gg/asteriatf and embark on your own epic gaming adventure.

domain: news


text:
As the European Central Bank prepares to meet for the first time since last week's move to ease the funding strains on Europe's troubled banks, Wall Street is speculating about whether it may do even more.
The world's central banks banded together last week to lower the cost for European lenders to acquire dollars. But analysts said that, while borrowing for banks is now cheaper, it isn't any easier.
Continue reading your article with
a WSJ subscription
Already a subscriber? Sign In
50% off + free delivery on $20 orders with DoorDash promo code
Wayfair Coupon - 20% Off
Nike promo code: Members save up to 50% on select styles
Walmart Spring Coupons, Sales, Deals & Rollbacks - Up to 80% off
Hotel Promo: Up to 40% off + Extra 10% off Barcelo coupon code
30% off using this SHEIN coupon code


text:
Capcom Co., Ltd. (Capcom) is pleased to announce that “Monster Hunter Freedom Unite” and “Monster Hunter Freedom Unite PSP The Best” for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system has shipped over 3.5 million copies combined in Japan.
Since being released in March of 2008, this title has continued to be an exceptionally strong selling PSP title, earning the distinction of being the best selling PSP title of 2008 in Japan. Since going on sale in October of last year, the “Best version” of “Monster Hunter Freedom Unite” has gone on to ship over 1 million copies, further extending the life of this long-running hit, and making “Monster Hunter Freedom Unite” the first PSP game that has shipped over 3.5 million copies.
The “Monster Hunter” franchise is a series of hunting action games that allow players to experience the thrill of hunting huge ferocious monsters in an expansive natural environment. Another characteristic of the series is the distinctive cooperative play that lets friends work together to bring down the games’ huge, fearsome monsters as a team. This groundbreaking gameplay style has enabled brand new kinds of communication in games.
The latest addition in the “Monster Hunter” series, “Monster Hunter 3(tri-)”, will bring the beloved feel and gameplay of the series back to home consoles starting on August 1, 2009 (in Japan). The latest “Monster Hunter” will become the first third-party game to be bundled and sold with the Nintendo Wii in the “Monster Hunter 3(tri-)” special pack. Also, a number of special preview events will be held in July, giving players a chance to experience the game before it is released. In addition, ‘Monster Hunter Festa ’09’, will be held in August and will bring fans of the game together in celebration of all things “Monster Hunter”.
Capcom will continue to advance its multiplatform strategy and aim for the highest profitability possible by bringing high quality gaming experiences to the largest world-wide audience possible.


text:
India’s own card payment network, RuPay, is suffering because of the discriminatory pricing structure by the central government, a study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, has found.
To bring RuPay at the same level as the other card networks, the study has suggested a MDR cap of 0.6 percent for debit card transactions.
The study, Merchant transactions through debit cards – costs and prices, conducted by Professor Ashish Das of the Mathematics department, has found less RuPay debit cards being issued by banks from September 2019 to August 2020.
Only 65 lakh debit cards have been issued in the period, compared to 4.6 crore cards in the corresponding period of the previous year, the study found.
More Jan Dhan accounts, less RuPay cards
Das argues that this happened when 3.6 crore new Jan Dhan accounts were opened this year, compared to 4.2 crore in the previous year.
Jan Dhan accounts are zero-balance accounts opened by government banks for poor citizens. They always come with a RuPay debit card.
Even while more Jan Dhan accounts have been opened, less RuPay cards have been given out, showing that banks could be moving away from RuPay card issuance.
Nil merchant discount rate the hindrance
The study said that this has happened since merchant discount rate or MDR on RuPay debit cards have been made ‘nil’ by the finance ministry in the last Union Budget.
Banks cannot make any money for transactions on RuPay cards, whereas there is 0.4 to 0.9 percent MDR charged on Visa and Mastercard transactions.
MDR is the price merchants pay to their banks for accepting digital payments from their customers.
Mastercard, Visa gaining
Further, the report has also found that RuPay card issuance has fallen sharply, post September 2019, when the mandate kicked in, whereas the overall number of debit cards in the country has gone up. This means other card schemes like Visa and Mastercard might be gaining from the process. Das refers to it as the whiplash of the zero MDR policy.
“The present discriminatory structure has actually impeded our country’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, and inadvertently promoted ‘Made in USA’ products,” he added.
The report also talks about the 1,500 government-to-consumer touchpoints where citizens make digital payments to various government entities, the situation is such that for Visa and Mastercard, the government will pay whereas the home-grown alternative gets paid nothing.
While card payments are expensive, the report talks about QR Code payments which need to be encouraged since they can be adopted by merchants almost free of cost.
Even banks do not need to separately service these merchants, since they can just generate a QR code by themselves and accept UPI payments like inter person transactions.
MDR cap of 0.6 percent suggested
To come out of this conundrum, Das has suggested an MDR cap of 0.6 percent for all ecommerce payments. For offline card payments, merchants with an annual turnover of above Rs 2 crore should also pay an MDR of 0.6 percent.
For smaller merchants, an MDR of 0.25 percent for transactions upto Rs 2,000 should be implemented, and it should be 0.6 percent again for transactions above Rs 2,000. The overall ceiling of all MDR could be set at Rs 150 as an absolute figure.
Further, to encourage digital payments, cash withdrawals beyond a certain number of times can be charged and the pricing can be decided by the central bank for the same, the report said.
Overall, Das has suggested that there is a need for a massive thrust on usage and adoption of BHIM UPI payments and QR-code based payments at merchant outlets.


text:
Free Fire new upcoming Mystery Shop June, 2021 – all you need to know
|Free Fire Upcoming Mystery Shop|
As always, Garena Free Fire fans are eagerly waiting for the upcoming Mystery Shop in June, 2021 Free Fire new update. While the official release date is not known yet, but some screenshot is a leak the update is expected to hit the India servers soon.
Mystery shop reward
Garena Free Fire’s Mystery Shop June, 2021 update is coming soon, and the much-awaited event is all set to come back in this month’s June, 2021 Free Fire-new update. The upcoming Mystery Shop will feature several new exciting bundles and Elite Pass, and more items in the Free Fire game, followed by up to 90% discounts.
The only bundle leak which has surfaced online is the Tiger Bundle. As per reports, players can purchase this pack at a very affordable price and claim up to an 90% discount.
Free Fire Mystery Shop Reward
For those who are new to Garena Free Fire, the Mystery Shop June, 2021 is an exclusive event and it comes with so many rewards like new bundle token box, Elite Pass, rename card, weapon royal voucher, incubator voucher, diamond royal voucher, and gun create, which frequently appears in the game. In this event, items are made available at heavy discounts up to 90%. Moreover, the developers also add various rewards, which are available for purchase only during this event time period.
Mystery shop release date?
This new Mystery shop event release date is end of this month June, 2021.
Finally thanks for visiting our website, And also visit our website for more updates and information about the Garena Free Fire.


text:
A huge new scandal with the nation’s largest retailer at its core shows again why following the law is the only way to do business.
There’s trouble for Wal-Mart brewing in Mexico over a major bribery scandal. While it is illegal in the U.S. for American companies to pay bribes here or abroad, it is routine practice in Mexico. It’s just part of their business culture; if you want to get something done, you need to pay someone.
Now it’s come to light that Wal-Mart paid bribes to everyone from minor to major officials to try to become the dominant retailer in what is their second largest market.
When a whistleblower in the company emerged, Wal-Mart allegedly engaged in a major cover-up at the highest levels, according to what I read in The New York Times. In fact, the company even reportedly promoted the key architect of the bribery plan to an even higher position.
Stockholders saw a collective $12 billion lose in one day when news of this scandal broke. Several board members and key executives are likely to be booted and there may be some perp walks. Nor is it good for the morale of workers. And the people who don’t like Wal-Mart will just pile on with this news. They’ve feed their critics all the ammunition they need.
Following the law is so fundamental when you do business. That’s why a company like Costco Wholesale famously has “Obey the law” at the start of its code of ethics.
As for Wal-Mart, they will suffer a serious body blow and get new leadership who will hopefully put things right. Because there’s no way Sam Walton would have tolerated any underling paying bribes. And they need more of that founding culture back sorely right now.


text:
The addition of Benelux, as the neighboring nations are known, expands the efficacy of the certification worldwide, the organization said. A few island territories have also accepted the label’s use.
POFCAP launched the certification program in Australia on August 19, 2017, which is commemorated as International Orangutan Day by Orangutan Outreach, a nonprofit focused on the endangered animal and its rainforest habitat.
The US and nine European countries, including the UK, have approved the certification in the past two years. Outside the creator’s home country, only Singapore and India have given it the go-ahead elsewhere.
To date, POFCAP has certified more than 1,000 products – from vegetable oils to snacks, skincare products to vitamins – as palm oil free.
The certifier claims 80% of palm oil is sourced ‘unsustainably.’ By clearly marking products made without palm oil, it adds, consumers can easily avoid the ingredient for ethical reasons and for allergen or dietary ones.
POFCAP also says it shares 100% of its profits with ‘partner NGOs’ focused on protecting rainforests.
Palm oil's prevalence
According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), palm oil production nearly doubled between 2003 and 2013 – after jumping from 15m tons in 1995 to 66m in 2017, according to a 2016 study. The ingredient is estimated to be used in half of common packaged foods and other consumer goods.
One of the challenges in pinpointing it, however, lies in its many identifying terms: ingredient decks might list it as vegetable oil, palmate, stearic acid or similar derivatives.
Ironically, as governments continue to ramp up their battle against trans fats from partially hydrogenated oils – Singapore will ban PHOs by 2021 – they risk accelerating the demand for other readily available oils like palm, according to the FAO.
Backlash from palm oil-producing countries
Malaysia announced this summer that it would prohibit the sale of ‘anti-palm oil’ products – or those that boast claims like ‘palm oil free’ or ‘no palm oil.’
Indonesia followed suit last week.
In 2014, the two countries accounted for more than 85% of global palm oil’s production, which annually tops 60m tons. India, China, and the EU are among the largest importers.
The two governments also claim the West has unfairly hampered the industry – most recently with stricter regulations on the oil’s use in biofuels and threatening millions of jobs.
In Indonesia, two million of the country’s 264 million residents work directly in the palm oil industry, according to the UN's Green Commodities Program. Just this month, an internal government audit revealed that a ‘vast majority’ of palm plantations are flouting regulations.
Meanwhile, Peru became the second South American nation to commit to sustainable palm oil production. An element of a Joint Declaration of Intent led by Norway and Germany and signed also by Colombia, the decision aims to drive Peru to deforestation-free techniques by 2021.
"This commitment is a momentous development for the people of Peru and the global effort to confront climate change," said Kiryssa Kasprzyk of the National Wildlife Federation, which worked with the Peruvian palm oil producer association on the plan's development. "It underscores that we can feed the world without hurting biodiversity or clear-cutting tropical forests."


text:
It appears that Pokémon Go's success has not cannibalized other mobile games or apps. Instead, it has expanded the market by engaging users when they typically do not use smartphones. This has also given app developers a blueprint to increase user engagement and open up new revenue opportunities.
2 Aug 2016
21 Jul 2016
My last post on Pokemon Go focused on underlying business model innovation -- specifically, Niantic's location-based APIs and the potential of sponsored locations as a lucrative revenue stream. The scale of Pokemon Go's unprecedented success has already made this a reality as its upcoming launch in Japan will see all 3000+ McDonalds outlets in the country become sponsored in-game "PokeGyms". The significance of this event cannot be overstated -- Niantic is on the verge of becoming the first tech company that closes the online-offline loop, i.e. one that can drive measurable real-world foot traffic at scale.
12 Jul 2016
After months of hype, Pokemon Go finally began rolling out in a few countries this week. At this point, I can safely say, it has turned out to be one of the biggest viral hits in recent years. While the Pokemon IP played a significant role in the game's quick uptake, I believe that Pokemon Go's status as the first accessible augmented reality game at scale will be much more important to its long-term success. There are multiple elements of business model innovation at play here, far deeper than a simple extension of pre-existing IP.
20 Jun 2016
This year, Google I/O and WWDC seemed to lack the excitement seen in years past with most announcements being fairly mundane -- a combination of maintenance/incremental updates and "me-too" products -- inevitable at this point in the maturity cycle. The most interesting part of these developer events was really the contrasting approaches Google and Apple have taken to evolve the app ecosystem. Unsurprisingly, both approaches are diametrically opposed to each other and favor each company's business model. However, the "winning standard" will necessarily be one that better serves the needs of both consumers and developers.
19 May 2016
Continuing our discussion from the last episode, we analyzed Apple’s Q1 2016 earnings and challenged the notion whether Apple’s Asia (India and China) and their rumored car strategy will revitalize growth. Through the lens of the Apple rumored car, we dived deeper into a conversation on artificial intelligence & autonomous vehicles.
16 May 2016
I joined Bernard Leong’s Analyse Asia Podcast in a two-part episode to discuss major themes in the technology space from messaging apps to self driving cars. In part 1, we discussed the recent announcements from Facebook’s F8 conference, including chatbots and video live streaming. From there, we analyzed the implications of Facebook’s announcements and their impact on Asia from video advertising to messaging apps. Finally, we explored business models driving artificial intelligence companies.
13 May 2016
Today, Apple announced a $1 billion investment into China's leading ridesharing service, Didi Chuxing. While this makes Apple a minority investor in Didi (with an ownership stake well below 5%), this investment is notable for a few reasons. For one, it is Apple's largest strategic investment since their $3 billion acquisition of Beats two years ago. It also comes at a time when VC money has been moving away from companies with high burn rates and excessively reliance on subsidies (a fairly accurate description of Didi's business). However, understanding Apple's rationale for this deal is tricky.
14 Apr 2016
This week, Facebook opened up their long awaited bot platform within Messenger following similar moves from LINE, Telegram and Kik. It almost seems as though bots have peaked on the "Hype cycle" in just a few short weeks since they entered mainstream discussion. This isn't a criticism of the concept, but rather of industry discourse. Chatbots certainly have potential, but where that lies is just as important as the eventual scale.
14 Mar 2016
Apple Pay was introduced 18 months ago to rave reviews from the press and technology analysts. It was billed as an example of "mobile payments done right" -- simple, intuitive and painless. And yet, its impact has been muted at best, even in key western markets. According to a recent survey, 80% of iPhone 6 users had never used the service and just 3% used it regularly. Customer satisfaction among Apple Pay users remains high, but word-of-mouth appears to have had no impact on adoption. What is the cause of this divergence?


text:
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s Inc. is suing rival retailer J.C. Penney Co., claiming Penney’s bid to sell products by Martha Stewart Living resulted in the breach of an exclusive contract held by Macy’s and could cost it potentially billions in sales.
Macy’s filed the lawsuit Thursday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
In the complaint, Macy’s claims that J.C. Penney entered into an unlawful contract with Martha Stewart Living to sell some of its home products at its stores starting next February.
Macy’s argues that the pact between Penney and Martha Stewart represents a breach of contract because Macy’s already has a deal in place with options to exclusively sell Martha Stewart goods through 2018.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an order blocking the Penney-Martha Stewart deal.
(© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Also Check Out:


text:
Selena Gomez launched her Rare Beauty products with close to 20 items to choose from.
Selena Gomez has continued to treat her fans with her products. After the success of her new cooking show on HBO Max, alongside her collaboration with BLACKPINK, here now comes her cosmetic line, Rare Beauty.
Earlier in February, the Ice Cream singer revealed her plans to launch a cosmetic company during the summer season. This comes a month after she released her album.
Selena Gomez deemed “rare” a special word
Selena Gomez’s cosmetic line, Rare Beauty, has the same name as her latest album, Rare. The songstress deemed the word “special” as it tells about “self-love” and “embracing imperfections,” according to Entertainment Tonight.
She continued that it is about “eliminating the need for perfection” through her Instagram stories. Gomez also noted that it is more on being “comfortable” and “embracing who you are.”
Later on, the singer said that she hopes everyone to see that “there is so much beauty in imperfection.” Start accepting and stop comparing, she added.
Rare Beauty products
In the first week of September, Selena Gomez announced that Rare Beauty products are already available at the company’s official website and Sephora. The products, which counts close to 20 different varieties, feature a “wide range of colors,” according to Page Six.
The brand offers foundation and concealers that both come in 48 shades. Reports deem the wide range of shades as “impressive,” considering that not all cosmetic brands offer the same number of selections.
Rare Beauty also has liquid eyeliners and blushes that come in eight shades. Four of the shades are dewy, while the other four are matte. In addition to the list, the brand has eight shades of tinted lip balm, eight shades of liquid highlighter, and 12 shades of liquid lipstick. Eight shades of brow pencil and gel duo are also available.
Alongside the make-up goods, Selena Gomez also included several skincare products. Rare Beauty offers a setting mist, blotting papers, and an illuminating primer.
Rare Impact Fund
Five months after the announcement for Rare Beauty, the artist launched the Rare Impact Fund. She pledged to raise AU$137 million for “underserved communities” to provide mental health services, according to a separate report from Page Six.
Selena Gomez stated that one percent of the sales from her cosmetic brand would go to the Rare Impact Fund. Alongside her partners, she aims to hit the $100 million mark in the next ten years.
Featured image courtesy of BAKOUNINE/Shutterstock


text:
Orders for U.S. business equipment climbed more than forecast in November, a sign corporate investment is starting to firm up.
Bookings for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft rose 0.9 percent, the most since August, after a 0.2 percent gain a month earlier, Commerce Department data showed Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for a 0.4 percent increase. Demand for all durables -- items meant to last at least three years -- fell 4.6 percent on a slump in orders for planes.
The survey conflicts with a separate report Thursday on GDP that showed equipment investment declined at a 4.5 percent annualized rate in the third quarter. Outlays last increased in the same period a year ago.
Increased business sentiment about the economy following the presidential election has the potential to boost sales of productivity-enhancing equipment. Leaner inventories, resilient household demand and the longer-term prospects of more infrastructure spending may help boost durable-goods orders even as a soaring dollar risks slowing exports.
“There’s some early evidence that business investment may be stabilizing,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “Investment has been a sore spot for the U.S. economy for a little bit now. Going forward we should see investment pick up.”
Orders for communications equipment jumped 6.7 percent in November, the most since the start of 2015, the government’s data showed. Bookings for machinery increased 1.3 percent, the biggest gain since January, while orders for primary metals were the strongest this year.
Shipments of non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, used in calculating gross domestic product, rose 0.2 percent in November. While a touch stronger than forecast, it followed an October decrease of 0.3 percent, which was weaker than the 0.1 percent decline previously estimated.
The durables report showed bookings for commercial aircraft plunged 73.5 percent after a 94.6 percent surge.
Boeing Co. said it received 13 orders for aircraft in November, down from 85 in October. The Chicago-based aerospace company’s figures explain why economists projected a decline in orders for all big-ticket goods.
The median forecast for total durable goods in the Bloomberg survey called for a 4.8 percent drop. Economists’ estimates ranged from a drop of 7.5 percent to a gain of 0.5 percent. The prior month was revised up to a 4.8 percent increase.
Excluding transportation equipment, which is often volatile from month to month, durable goods orders rose 0.5 percent after a 0.9 percent advance.
Orders for military capital equipment increased 29.1 percent, while demand for non-defense durable goods fell 6.6 percent.
Durable goods inventories rose 0.1 percent, and unfilled orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft increased 0.4 percent.
© Copyright 2023 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.


text:
Sony is rumored to announce a new MFT sensor sometime in 2021, which will have 30+ megapixels and can shoot 8K video. So, the upcoming Panasonic GH6 or a certain camera is expected to be equipped with this 8K video image sensor.
Panasonic GH6 Rumored Specifications:
- Longer battery life.
- New IBIS stabilization system.
- Sensor, Attention !! Of 41 Mpx. Exactly the Sony IMX594CQR.
- Faster new-generation AF system.
- It will record in RAW at 4K, 6K, and Panasonic will incorporate depending on the 8K model.
Currently, nothing is confirmed about the Panasonic GH6 camera, so just take it with a grain of salt.


text:
Today, October 31, 2020, is Bitcoin’s 12th birthday. On Halloween, 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper, explaining how the peer-to-peer digital cash system would work.
We still don’t know who Satoshi really is, or even whether it’s a male, female, or group of people. We just know that it’s probably a pseudonym. And this person was pretty smart, because they launched a technology that has proceeded to make a big mark on the world over these dozen years.
The first Bitcoin wasn’t mined until a couple of months later, in early January, 2009. So, Bitcoin kinda has two birthdays. But this is the one that first caught people’s attention and showed them what was possible.
This moment in time led to the invention and implementation of blockchain technology, Bitcoin and the many Bitcoin hard forks that followed, Ethereum and all the smart contract blockchains, other cryptocurrencies, and more types of virtual currency than we can even count anymore.
It's gotten to the point where mainstream platforms like PayPal are implementing the buying and selling of cryptocurrency. The Economist also gave their stamp of approval by publishing a piece that said, “Even people who are hostile to bitcoin will concede that its technology is fiendishly clever. It is essentially a way of accounting for who has spent what. Instead of a central exchange to keep score, and to verify payments and receipts, it uses an electronic ledger that is distributed across the entire system of bitcoin users.”
And it all started with a few simple words.
“A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network.” -Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin White paper
To celebrate this anniversary, blockchain cybersecurity firm Halborn enlisted a bunch of celebrities to talk about Bitcoin … whether they know anything about it or not.
What kind of celebrities? David Hasselhoff, Charlie Sheen, Gilbert Gottfried, Tiger King’s Carole Baskin, Wu-Tang Clan's RZA, Hassan Johnson, Doug Benson, Soulja Boy and Charlamagne tha God.
These aren’t necessarily the celebrities best known for talking about or owning cryptocurrency. It would have been fun to see Elon Musk, Tony Hawk, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Mike Tyson, William Shatner, or many other crypto-friendly stars.
But it’s a cute video.
Join us in wishing Bitcoin a Happy 12th Birthday.
Disclaimer: The information and views supplied on the Coin Cloud blog are for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors, so please do your research and consult with a trusted financial specialist before investing your money.
Founded in 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada, Coin Cloud is the leading digital currency machine (DCM) operator. With over 4,500 locations nationwide, in 48 states and Brazil, Coin Cloud operates the world’s largest and fastest-growing network of 100% two-way DCMs, a more advanced version of the Bitcoin ATM. Every Coin Cloud DCM empowers you to quickly and easily buy and sell over 40 cryptocurrency options with cash.
When You Buy $150 or More at Any Coin Cloud DCM
Use promo code COINCLOUD at the machine
Enter your email for updates, promos, and more ...


text:
IDC has revealed forecast on the worldwide payment strategies.
In 2018, financial institutions will allocate $6 billion to internal resources to handle transforming their payment systems.
In 2019, P2P transactions worth a total of $6 trillion will be made worldwide using mobile devices.
DLT-based networks will be launched within the next 24 months in 25 percent of global transaction banks — in particular, to facilitate kyc, accelerate supply chain finance, and drive SME lending — but blockchain payment systems will not be a priority area.
In 2018, more than $150 billion will be spent through IoT and connected devices.
By 2021, 75 percent of enterprise point-of-sale vendors will have begun significantly re-architecting their solutions to meet rising expectations for current omni-channel capabilities and customer experience expectations.
Despite the lack of an equivalent regulation to PSD2, by 2021, 90 percent of non-European banks will have moved in a similar direction to European banks in terms of sharing data via APIs, but they will have done so for competitive reasons rather than regulatory ones.
Corporate banks will invest 15–20 percent more in big data/analytics in 2018 than in 2017 — $2.2 billion in total — in their efforts to move from a transactional to a data-as-a-service business model, offering real-time and predictive analytics on fraud, compliance, and scenario modeling.
By 2019, 70 percent of standalone mobile payment players globally will no longer exist in their current form; through natural evolution, mergers, and acquisitions, mobile payment players that are showing promise today will have transformed into full-fledged financial services ecosystems.
By 2021, all major payment service providers will interact with digital identity marketplaces used by consumers and businesses to self-govern private data sharing and use, allowing data to be uploaded for payment companies to access via a subscription model.
In 2020, 25 percent of card-issuing banks will use micro-location for enhanced security through a combination of nfc and beacons to satisfy mutlifactor requirements to secure payments, such as at PoS and P2B.


text:
The word on the street is that Google is readying their social network, Google Plus, for business profiles à la Facebook fan pages. The timing couldn’t be better. Now that Google Plus has been opened to the public, it has an estimated 50 million members, although most are still early adopters.
So, how will business profiles work? Official details are scant, but you can get a taste of it by looking at Ford’s test page. In addition, PR Daily reports that you can expect “highly indexable” content, customized editorial content with Circles and some version of a hashtag. Still, it’s unclear how Google will promote business profiles, whether pages will have customizable URLs or whether Google Ads will be brought into the mix.
If things go according to schedule, we’ll know the answers soon. In the meantime, we can speculate the impact Google Plus business profiles will have on brands.
For this week’s question, we’re asking you: Will you bring your company on board when Google Plus business profiles launch? How do you anticipate it will factor in to your overall marketing strategy?


text:
Brazilian magazine EXAME reports that America's favorite investor is headed to Brazil.
According to the report, Warren Buffett, the world's third richest man, and his famed investment vehicle, Berkshire Hathaway, are interested in buying up land in the Amazon and are negotiating starting an acquisition company in Brazil specifically for this purpose. Apparently Berkshire execs were visiting Brazil about a month ago checking out the area.
If this is true (Buffett's camp has not confirmed with us yet), Buffett is, as he tends to be, on point. Just this week The Economist featured an excellent report on "the miracle of the Cerrado" saying that the rest of the world should take notes on how Brazil is revolutionizing farming.
Says The Economist:
The increase in Brazil’s farm production has been stunning. Between 1996 and 2006 the total value of the country’s crops rose from 23 billion
reais ($23 billion) to 108 billion reais, or 365%. Brazil increased its beef exports tenfold in a decade, overtaking Australia as the world’s largest exporter. It has the world’s largest cattle herd after India’s. It is also the world’s largest exporter of poultry, sugar cane and ethanol (see chart 2). Since 1990 its soyabean output has risen from barely 15m tonnes to over 60m. Brazil accounts for about a third of world soyabean exports, second only to America. In 1994 Brazil’s soyabean exports were one-seventh of America’s; now they are six-sevenths. Moreover, Brazil supplies a quarter of the world’s soyabean trade on just 6% of the country’s arable land.
If Buffett truly is headed to Brazil, domestic businesses would have the most to gain -- and could get the chance of the lifetime: partnering with Buffett. Back in July, the Brazilian government announced it was putting a limit on foreign ownership of land. So unless there's a way around the new rules, Buffett would need a domestic partner to get the wheels in motion.
Stay tuned as we investigate.


text:
As Congress Bickers Over Farm Bill, MariMed Gets Internationally Busy Down Under
By William Sumner, Hemp Business Journal Contributor
The international hemp market is heating up. As the industry impatiently awaits passage of the 2018 Farm Bill and pending removal of hemp from the Controlled Substances Act, companies are quickly moving to position themselves as leading suppliers of hemp-based CBD products, and investors are all too happy to help foot the bill.
Two companies that have been particularly aggressive in their pursuit of the hemp-based CBD market have been Elixinol Global Ltd. (ASX: EXL) and MariMed, Inc. (OTCQB: MRMD).
Elixinol is comprised of three main branches: Elixinol LLC, which distributes hemp-based CBD products; Hemp Foods Australia, which manufactures and distributes hemp-derived food products and skin products; and Elixinol Pty, which focuses on CBD-based medical cannabis exports in Australia.
At the start of the year, Elixinol began trading on the Australian Securities Exchange through an oversubscribed A$20 million (USD $14.52 million) initial public offering (IPO); with the hope that the IPO would grant the company the financial flexibility to leverage its stake in the hemp/CBD market.
Shares for the IPO were sold at $1.00 AUD per share ($0.73 USD), but the stock quickly climbed to $1.82 AUD ($1.32 USD) within the first week of trading. Since opening at the start of the year, Elixinol’s stock has grown by approximately 8.79%, trading at around $1.98 AUD ($1.44 USD) as of November 16.
In September, Elixinol was able to raise an additional $40 million AUD ($29.03 million USD) through an institutional placement. Over the next several months, the company hopes to use these funds to ramp up its hemp-based CBD production capacity, and to increase its sales and marketing efforts — especially in the European market.
MariMed, on the other hand, is a cannabis company that only recently started to pivot towards the hemp-based CBD market. Earlier this month, the company announced that it had formed a strategic partnership and long-term supply agreement with GenCanna Global, Inc.
GenCanna is an agriculture-technology company with a focus on producing hemp for CBD extraction purposes, and was one of the first companies to sign up with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program. In addition to possessing a portfolio of CBD-rich hemp strains, GenCanna also touts company procedures which meet FDA and its Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) standards.
Under the agreement, MariMed will invest $30 million in GenCanna, which the company will use to increase its hemp CBD production capacity. GenCanna will supply MariMed with high-quality CBD, and the companies will work cooperatively to develop hemp-based CBD products and branding.
To keep their hemp and cannabis operations separate, MariMed will create a new business unit that is solely focused on hemp CBD products. Additionally, MariMed will be the distributor for the CBD products, which will not be made available in MariMed dispensaries.
Since MariMed began trading on the OTC Markets, its stock has hovered around $0.10 to $0.20 USD per share. However, over the last year MariMed’s stock has been on an upward trajectory, rising from $0.62 USD per share on November 21, 2017, to around $4.34 as of November 20.
Precipitating its climb in stock price has been MariMed’s solid growth in revenue in the past year. In the third quarter alone, which ended on September 30, 2018, MariMed saw a 98% increase in revenue when compared to the same period last year, rising from $1.7 million to $3.4 million USD. Year-over-year, MariMed’s revenue has increase by 88%, to approximately $8.4 million.
Although neither Elixinol’s $60 million AUD in funding nor MariMed’s $30 million USD investment is anywhere near the size of Charlotte’s Web Holdings’ (CNSX: CWEB) monstrous $100 million IPO, the significance of the deals cannot be understated.
Just like Charlotte’s Web, MariMed is a company that initially started in cannabis, only to begin pivoting toward the hemp CBD market. Similarly, Elixinol continues to post positive revenue growth quarter after quarter, and given enough time could become a fierce competitor with Charlotte’s Web.
Regardless, the developments of both MariMed and Elixinol represent the growing demand for hemp-based CBD, and the significant market potential that could be realized whenever Congress decides to enact the 2018 Farm Bill.
William Sumner is a writer for the hemp and cannabis industry. Hailing from Panama City, Florida, William covers various topics such as hemp legislation, investment, and business. William’s writing has appeared in publications such as Green Market Report, Civilized, and MJINews. You can follow William on Twitter: @W_Sumner.


text:
Joe Ayling: Let’s avoid contact lenses you can eat
Author: Joe Ayling
Growing popularity of daily disposable contact lenses means their sustainability is a topic that can no longer be kicked into the long green grass.
News of so many lenses being flushed down the drain perhaps comes as little surprise but should raise alarm bells for manufacturers and retailers alike.
With no immediate prospect of a biodegradable contact lens coming to market, the idea that optics is contributing to the flow of microplastics into the food chain is a difficult one to digest in a few different ways.
Calls have followed for more responsible packaging, encouraging patients to dispose of contact lenses with other solid waste. This follows a similar trend that led to the introduction of ‘No Water’ stickers a few years ago, following media attention.
While compliance stickers and advice about disposing of items properly should be welcomed, at this rate a box of contact lenses will have more warning messages than a packet of cigarettes.
A more pragmatic approach would be better recycling schemes and research into new materials.
Retail is beginning to play its part and earlier this year Valli Opticians launched a recycling scheme asking patients to drop off their used contact lenses and blister packs at ‘Zero Waste Boxes’ across 14 practices. Recycling company TerraCycle is then able to recycle them into other products such as outdoor furniture.
In the absence of green contact lens materials, manufacturers must also play their part in keeping contact lenses clear of the microplastics pollution scandal.


text:
SHEBOYGAN FALLS, Wis. (AP) - U.S. fur farms are rebounding after struggling through the past 15 years with low prices and competition from overseas.
Retail fur sales in the U.S. remain in a slump with the economy still struggling.
But new wealth in China is creating a surge of demand there for high-quality furs. That has sent pelt prices skyrocketing from an average of $41 in 2008 to a record $94 in 2011, the most recent year for which figures are available.
Federal agriculture officials say U.S. fur farmers sold nearly $260 million in raw mink pelts to South Korean and Chinese buyers last year.
Many pelts are made into coats sold to Chinese consumers. The China Leather Industry Association says Chinese consumers bought more than half of the fur coats sold globally in 2010.
- Holmen man sentenced to life for murder of girlfriend
- Holmen man in custody after armed robbery and 5-hour standoff
- Herberger's to move into former Macy's location at Valley View Mall
- Police: Student critically hurt in Kenosha school stabbing
- Bill banning abortion coverage for state workers up for vote
- Education accountability bill up for committee vote
- Bill would let victims, witnesses block body camera releases
- Man accused of trying to kill girlfriend faces sentencing
- Urban Beekeeping
- New breast cancer detection soon offered at Mayo Clinic in La Crosse


text:
The market for ready meals in China will grow at a CAGR of nearly 14% during 2010-2013, says RNCOS in its research report.
Online PR News – 13-October-2010 – – Our study “Chinese Processed Food Market Analysis” shows that the Chinese consumers have developed a great change in their food habits. As per our research report Chinese consumers have shown remarkable change in their food products demand. Due to this change, ready meals have become one of the highest growing segments of the Chinese processed food market. On the back of rising middle class population, we predict that the market for ready meals in China will grow at a CAGR of nearly 14% during 2010-2013. Our team of research analysts has studied the factors driving this growth. They have also found that today, growing numbers of urban consumers opt for ready meals rather than fresh food due to the various factors discussed in our report.
Our research shows that not only ready meals, other products of the processed food market have also showed positive growth, even in tough economic conditions. There was hardly any impact of financial crisis on the Chinese processed food market. We believe that in future also, the processed food market will remain on its positive growth path. Our team of experts has anticipated that processed food industry will get almost doubled by 2013 in comparison to 2011.
Our research analysts have also anticipated that the availability of processed food products will improve as modern food-retailing formats are looking beyond Tier-1 cities and expanding their operations into other cities to meet the rising demand from more affluent consumers. To exploit opportunities, many local processed food producers have already started focusing on making processed food for domestic sales.
Chinese youth is now more conscious about their health and prefer to eat nutritious food. With this shift towards health consciousness, many Chinese food manufacture companies are focussing on launching health food products into the market. We have also found that international companies are adopting new strategies to expand their market and to keep their profit margins high.
For FREE SAMPLE of this report visit: http://www.rncos.com/Report/IM268.htm
Check DISCOUNTED REPORTS on: http://www.rncos.com/promotion.htm
RNCOS specializes in Industry intelligence and creative solutions for contemporary business segments. Our professionals study and analyze the industry and its various components, with comprehensive study of the changing market behavior. Our accuracy and data precision proves beneficial in terms of pricing and time management that assist the consultants in meeting their objectives in a cost-effective and timely manner.


text:
Rides will be going up by 45 to 55 cents, but if more drivers decide to quit because of rising gas prices, trip costs could surge further.
Uber Technologies Inc said on Friday U.S. customers, excluding New York City, will have to pay a fuel surcharge from March 16 as the ride-hailing firm tries to address concerns of drivers and couriers hit by record high gasoline prices.
Customers will have to pay a surcharge fee of either 45 cents or 55 cents on each Uber trip and 35 cents or 45 cents on each Uber Eats order, depending on their location. The money charged will go directly to the workers, Uber said.
The surcharge will last for at least 60 days after which it will make adjustments based on feedback from workers and customers.
The move comes as many Uber drivers have been protesting on social media over high gas costs that have been eating into their earnings even as the company raised its profitability outlook, with some asking if it was still worth getting behind the wheel. Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a major oil producer, had crippled global oil trade and could further lift gasoline prices.
(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru and Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
Have a confidential tip for Skift? Get in touch
Photo credit: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshashi (right) in discussion with Skift Executive Editor Dennis Schaal at Skift Global Forum, Sept. 22, 2021. Matt Mateiescu / Skift


text:
Nothing could save the shares of New York companies from the broad-based market rout in 2002.
The Crain's/Bloomberg Index of 188 locally-based firms, which outperformed the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq Composite during the first two years of the downturn, dropped a stunning 23% last year. The Dow, meanwhile, plummeted 17%, while the S&P slid 23%, and the Nasdaq lost 32%.
Certainly, technology and telecommunications stocks contributed their share of the damage, but with three companies down for every one that gained, it was hard to pin the blame on any single industry group.
"It reflects the malaise in the entire market," says Marc Goloven, senior regional economist at J.P. Morgan Chase.
It may be hard to remember now, but in 2000 and 2001, big banks and retailers that make up a substantial part of the Crain's index were still doing well, thanks largely to the wealth effect of the late 1990s. By 2002, a painful hangover had taken hold across the board.
Hard knocks hit companies from scandal-tarred ImClone Systems Inc. to old economy standby Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., which both made the Crain's list of the top 10 stock losers.
ImClone, the third-largest decliner on the list, dropped 77.1%. Investigations into possible insider trading by the biotech firm's chief executive and one of its major investors, household doyenne Martha Stewart, are ongoing. Just two years ago, ImClone was one of the 10 best performers in the Crain's index, with 116.4% appreciation.
No company safe
Many companies seemed to be affected mainly by the market's broad negative tilt. For instance, A&P suffered a complete reversal of fortune. Shares in the supermarket chain lost 66.1% of their value during 2002, after gaining 231.3% the year before.
A&P has historically been a very stable business, according to hedge fund manager Timothy Ghriskey of Ghriskey Capital Partners in Greenwich, Conn. But this was a year of "take no prisoners," he says. "The term `blue chip' really went out the door. No company was safe."
Other losers included Internet domain name registrar Register.com Inc., down 60.9%, and Emisphere Technologies Inc., a biotech firm which saw its stock drop 89.1%.
On the considerably shorter list of winners, comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises led the Crain's index with a 136.3% rise. But its increase can mainly be attributed to its stock's depressed level of a year before.
Consumer spending, long considered the lone pillar on which the shaky economy rests, provided one of the few true bright spots. It bolstered retail apparel and luxury goods, two of only 15 industries out of 104 followed by rating agency Standard & Poor's that posted positive returns in 2002, according to Sam Stovall, a senior investment strategist for S&P. Those two industries gained 2% and 4%, respectively.
Consumer spending was strong enough to lift the shares of high-end accessory peddlers Coach Inc., up 68.9% for the year, and Steven Madden Ltd., up 28.4%. Both companies made the Crain's top 10.
One sector that did show real appreciation across the board was made up of small and midsized financial companies. New York-based savings and loans like GreenPoint Financial (up 26.4%), New York Community Bancorp (ahead 26.3%), Carver Bancorp (plus 24.7%) and Staten Island Bancorp (up 23.5%) all benefited from the housing boom fueled by historically low interest rates.
"Companies that specialized in mortgages all performed well," observes Mr. Ghriskey. "They made money."
Overall, though, few New York companies found themselves in pockets of safety. Big banks, securities firms and insurance companies, with their exposure to the stock market and to scandal-ridden corporations such as Enron, Tyco, Adelphia and WorldCom, did their part to push the Crain's index down.
U.S. profits at the brokerages alone were off nearly 25% in 2002 from 2001's $10.41 billion, and dropped almost 63% from the $20.98 billion earned in 2000.
Two other bread-and-butter industries for New York-media and advertising-also stumbled badly in last year's rough economy. Broadcasting and cable television shares were down 34%, while movies and entertainment companies lost 38% of their value. Stocks of advertising firms slid 43%, according to Standard & Poor's. The riptide hit Cablevision Systems Corp., which was the seventh-largest loser in the Crain's index, down 64.7% for the year, and Loews Corp., a cigarette manufacturer and hotel chain, which lost 19.7% of its value.
Market prognosticators, however, are cautiously optimistic about 2003. Company earnings are already on the rise, and advertising is starting to show signs of a comeback. New York stocks, they say, will rise when the rest of the market does.
A fourth year?
A looming war with Iraq provides a note of uncertainty. If concluded quickly and successfully, a war could rally the stock market. But if the country gets bogged down in an effort to oust Saddam Hussein, 2003 could mark a fourth year of market declines, something which hasn't happened since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
"A sustained conflict that may involve chemical weapons is still a possibility. That does become a drag on the market," says Mark Keller, chief investment officer of St. Louis-based A.G. Edwards Asset Management.
"But the bigger issue is if oil supplies are disrupted. A short-term spike in oil prices is the greatest risk to the economy in the coming year."


text:
12 June 2012 Nairobi, Kenya – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the East Africa Community (EAC) today launched a new initiative to boost food production, job and income opportunities for farmers through advancing agriculture value chains in East Africa.
The initiative spearheaded by UNDP’s African Facility for Inclusive Markets (AFIM) and the EAC Secretariat brought together multiple stakeholders representing governments, UN agencies, private sector, farmers, financiers and civil society from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia for an East Africa Project Facilitation Platform (PFP).
The East Africa PFP is discussing partnerships and value addition of the various stakeholders in strategic agri-food value chains, especially sorghum, soy and dairy. Project promoters presenting planned interventions include Africa Harvest, East Africa Dairy Development Project and UNIDO/UNDP.
“A new private sector is emerging in Africa with great potential for creating new jobs, generating higher incomes and delivering products and services for all.
“Agriculture value chains and agri-business are critical to advance food security and economic opportunities,” said Aeneas Chuma, UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator for Kenya, who opened the workshop in Nairobi.
“UNDP’s African Facility for Inclusive Markets is brokering partnerships and building capacity to develop inclusive markets that contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially toward food security and inclusive economic growth. The level of participation for this East Africa platform is very encouraging, and we will launch similar initiatives in Southern and West Africa,” said AFIM Manager Tomas Sales.
“We are highly grateful for UNDP’s support of this important regional initiative to reduce hunger and food imports by strengthening selected value chains, increasing food production and reducing post-harvest losses,” stated the EAC representative Ms. Jennifer Gache.


text:
Ski biz: Bigger problems than weather
I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…
This year, when we listen to the classic Irving Berlin song, the emphasis will be on the verb dreaming rather than on the adjective white. Given the poor weather at the start of this year’s ski season, Vermont’s ski areas will be hard pressed to beat last year’s numbers.
In the 2014-15 season, the industry recorded 4.67 million visitor days. The Vermont Ski Areas Association hailed that as a “record-breaking” year, which it was, sort of, as long as your time horizon doesn’t go back too far. Last year was the best in more than 25 years, but it wasn’t as good as the peak years of the late 1980s.
Skiing took off in the 1960s. At the start of the decade, Vermont ski areas recorded about 1 million visitor days. By the end of that decade the number of ski visits had more than doubled, and by the mid-1980s it had reached more than 4 million. That big growth was caused both by the increased popularity of the sport and by the favorable demographics of that period. But for more than 30 years, the number of skiers on the slopes of the Green Mountains has been essentially flat.
The industry was much more sensitive to the economy in its early days. There were bad recessions in the mid and late 1970s and early 1980s which can be easily seen by the sharp drop in the number of skiers. The major New England recession of 1989-1991, which was as severe for the region as the more recent Great Recession, also shows up pretty clearly. The number of visitors in the early 1990s, the tail end of the recession, was 25 percent below the pre-recession peak numbers of the late 1980s.
In the more recent past, the industry has become a lot less sensitive to economic conditions. You can see the impact of the Great Recession in 2008-2009, but the decline in people coming to Vermont’s slopes was much smaller than in previous recessions. That may partially be due to technological improvements. Snowmaking has greatly improved and although you still can’t make snow in warm weather, the industry is no longer as dependent as it once was on natural snowfall. Visitors are more likely to come and less likely to cancel reservations due to poor snow conditions.
This year may prove to be an exception to that statement. The extremely warm weather and lack of snowfall could combine to make this a very poor year. And that affects not only the ski areas, but also all the other businesses that support the winter economy, including restaurants, bars, ski shops, hotels, retailers, and bed and breakfasts. If people don’t come, there is less spending at all those businesses. Less spending means fewer employees are needed so people’s wages are affected.
That also affects tax revenues, and the state is likely to receive several million dollars less in taxes just from the poor start to this year’s season. The Christmas to New Year’s period is usually one of the busiest weeks for the ski season, so the poor weather will take its toll on the industry, the state, and individual Vermonters.
Now that the weather has changed, we can only hope the rest of the winter will make up for the poor start. If we look beyond the current period of bad weather, there are reasons to be concerned about the industry’s health and contribution to the state economy.
Just as the demographics of the 1960s and 1970s were favorable to the industry, the demographics of the next 20 years will be unfavorable. Last year the number of skier days nationwide was down from the year before and about 10 percent below its peak. There are about the same number of skier visits nationally as there were at the start of the 2000s. Internationally, the same thing is happening — there is no growth in the industry, so Vermont’s experience is not so different from the nation and the world.
The ski industry has successfully used technology to compensate for one aspect of bad weather. As long as it’s cold, they can make snow. Dealing with an aging, albeit wealthier, population that has lots of entertainment and vacation options is just as challenging. Trying to figure out ways to attract more people to the slopes, or at least to keep the number of skiers and snowboarders from falling, will be a big challenge for Vermont’s ski areas.
Art Woolf is associate professor of economics at UVM.


text:
Find out more about the Global Business Forum series here.
UAE leads GCC investments in Sub-Sahara Africa over last 5 years: Dubai Chamber whitepaper
- New whitepaper released in the lead up to the Global Business Forum Africa 2021 identifies fintech, healthcare, agriculture, and e-commerce as high-potential sectors for boosting GCC-Africa business exchange.
- UAE accounts for 88% of GCC’s USD1.2 billion investment in Sub-Saharan Africa between January 2016 and July 2021.
- Buamim: Whitepaper sheds light on vast untapped business potential in Africa, which UAE companies can capitalise on, while it also supports Dubai Chamber’s efforts to identify bilateral business opportunities.
Dubai, UAE – The UAE accounted for 88% of investment from the GCC to Sub-Sahara Africa between January 2016 and July 2021, or $1.2 billion, according to a newly released whitepaper issued by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and commissioned by Dubai Chamber, in the lead up to the 6th Global Business Forum Africa in Dubai.
Key findings from the report will be highlighted during the high-level forum, which takes place October 13-14 at Expo 2020 Dubai and organized by Dubai Chamber and EXPO 2020 Dubai. Based on a survey of200 business leaders in sub-Saharan Africa, representing a wide range of economic sectors, the whitepaper examined several trends reshaping the business landscape in Africa during the pandemic, African markets’ responses to new challenges, and the post-pandemic business outlook, highlighting prospects for boosting trade and investment flows between the GCC and Africa in the near future.
Growth sectors and recommendations
Fintech, healthcare, agriculture, and e-commerce were identified in the report as high-potential sectors where business leaders see revenues expanding in 2022. Around 90% of surveyed executives said they expect fintech to see the most growth in 2022, followed by healthcare (89%) and agriculture and food (87%).
The report highlighted Africa’s need to provide the basics, including legislation, regulations, and infrastructure to promote growth in key sectors. Secondly, the report highlights the digital economy as a leading engine of the continent’s growth, before underlining the role that GCC countries can play to support Africa to bridge the gaps in its infrastructure. The report elaborates on the role that African companies can play in supporting Gulf economies and expanding in the region.
Among the recommendations outlined in the report are: building a new business structure that ensures the economic basics for African markets, adopting legislation to regulate economic sectors and direct the economy towards achieving sustainable strategic goals, and providing the necessary infrastructure for business growth and prosperity.
Key obstacles limiting bilateral business exchange include burdensome regulations and bureaucracy were considered the top impediment to growth, cited by 59% of executives surveyed, as well as a lack in public amenities, inadequate roads that are unable to connect suppliers and manufacturers with retail centres, and a weak digital infrastructure.
UAE-Africa synergies and cooperation
The digital economy sector has been attracting growing and unprecedented investments, especially in financial technology. Indeed, funding for fintech firms in Africa increased to more than $330 million in the first half of 2021, up from $107 million in 2019.
The report revealed that 35% of executives in Africa will use online platforms in their transactions, creating an ideal opportunity for entrepreneurs in Africa to benefit from the UAE’s experience in that regard. The Emirates has achieved impressive results in the digital payments sector, driven by government directives to build an integrated digital economy.
The UAE offers the right level of expertise, investment and resources needed to fill market gaps in Africa and support the continent’s sustainable growth and development. on the UAE companies’ contributions towards developing infrastructure across African markets is perhaps best exemplified by DP World’s projects. Furthermore, the UAE’s Etisalat and Saudi Telecom Company (STC) have both been working to strengthen telecommunications infrastructure in Africa for years.
Expanding trade ties
Trade ties between the two regions reveal untapped potential, with each region relying on the other mainly for its staple products. Oil and petrochemicals are the top GCC exports to Africa, accounting for 24% and 16%, respectively, in the 2016-2020 period. Meanwhile, gold and diamonds dominate the GCC’s imports from Africa, making up 62% of the total in the same period, followed by copper, accounting for 8%.
Commenting on whitepaper, H.E. Hamad Buamim, President & CEO of Dubai Chamber, said the findings shed light on vast untapped business potential in Africa, which UAE companies can capitalise on, and noted that the report supports Dubai Chamber’s efforts to identify new business opportunities and drive bilateral trade.
Dubai Chamber’s President & CEO noted that the whitepaper offered valuable insights on the evolving and expanding trade relationship between the UAE and African markets, while it identified new avenues of economic cooperation and prospects for forging mutually beneficial partnerships.
“Africa is one of our biggest trading partners and is fundamental to our economic growth. Meanwhile, Dubai has long been a favoured destination for African companies and a launchpad for businesses looking to expand out of the continent and into global markets. Providing accurate data and studies about emerging markets is part of our efforts to shed light on investment opportunities for Dubai’s business community,” he added.
The whitepaper, titled Untapped opportunity: Deepening trade and investment between sub-Saharan Africa and the GCC, can be viewed here.
To read this article in Arabic please click here.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Snapshot: Demise of payroll tax break brings cheaper Whopper Jr., smaller toilet paper and diaper packs + Walmart sells out of guns due to demand + Report: Jason Heyward poised to become face of Braves
- Carla Caldwell, Morning Call Editor
*The forecast for Atlanta on Friday calls for heavy rain early in the day. Cloudy skies in the afternoon. Chance of rain: 100 percent. High: 53.
National Weather Item
*Winter Storm Q in photos
*Walmart has had a hard time keeping guns and ammunition in stock since President Obama's reelection in November, reports CNN. Sales picked up even more following the school shooting in Newtown, Conn., in December, the news network says. Sales in Walmart’s sporting goods division, which includes guns and ammunition, was up in the company’s fourth quarter.
*The expiration of payroll tax cuts that knocked 2 percent off consumers' take-home pay is having an impact on a number of big U.S. companies. Companies are lowering profit forecasts, slashing prices, and offering cheaper products, reports the Wall Street Journal. Burger King is cutting the price of its Whopper Jr. sandwich and Walmart is offering smaller packages of diapers, toilet paper and snacks, the paper says.
*HP profit falls 16 percent, but beats low expectations
*The Hawks play Sacramento on Friday at Philips Arena. Game time: 7:30 p.m.
If you are commenting using a Facebook account, your profile information may be displayed with your comment depending on your privacy settings. By leaving the 'Post to Facebook' box selected, your comment will be published to your Facebook profile in addition to the space below.
Interim County Auditor County of Kaua'i | Lihue, HI
Director Real Estate Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) | Atlanta, GA
Trade and Investment Officer: Finance and Professional Services; Security British Consulate-General, Atlanta | Atlanta, GA
PHP/Perl Programmer Antonline.com | Atlanta, GA
Registered Nurse (RN) - BURN - NURSING: BURN Parallon Workforce Solutions | Augusta, GA
- Most popular
- How State Farm will remake ‘outdated’ suburbs
- Most recent Census report not encouraging for Atlanta
- Frontier adds 6 nonstop routes from Atlanta (UPDATE: Routes released)
- Atlanta Falcons pick Equifax as partner of new stadium (SLIDESHOW)
- Atlanta's resurgent condo and townhome market
- Braves confirm The Omni Atlanta Northwest Hotel (SLIDESHOW)
- Warren Buffett entertains Coca-Cola shareholders at annual meeting
- Will a reptile win Georgia the $500M Volvo plant?
- Mercedes-Benz USA taps Gensler as architect for new Atlanta HQ
- Zagat releases list - ‘The 10 Hottest Mexican Restaurants in Atlanta
A look at the day's business stories from media outlets around Atlanta


text:
Nama Kushnir is going to be the new Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings Limited, a public company that owns several popular gambling brands and websites.
The company announced Kushnir, the Senior Vice President (SVP) and Head of Human Resources as the next COO.
Nama Kushnir has been with 888 holdings for 11 years. Before 888, she had been with Herbert Smith Freehills, a global law firm. She worked in Human resources and had started her journey with 888 Holdings in a similar role, 11 years ago.
Second only to 888 Holdings’ CEO, Itai Pazner, Kushnir will have new responsibilities including monitoring the operations to accomplish the company’s growth strategy. The additional responsibilities will be to enhance the companies presence in overseas markets and boost its overall market share by implementing innovative measures.
Expressing herself about the promotion, 888’s new COO Nama Kushnir said: “I am hugely excited to be taking on this new role in 888’s Operational Management team. The group has made some exciting recent acquisitions, including adding a sportsbook to its proprietary technology stack for the first time.”
888 Holdings’ CEO, Itai Pazner said: “Naama is a highly skilled, respected and experienced operator and I have every confidence that – alongside the rest of the Operational Management team – she will continue to drive 888’s growth and promote our company culture, vision, and values in her new role.”
This is the second big announcement by 888 Holdings this year in regards to a change in the top level management. Earlier In January, Itai Pazner was announced the new CEO replacing Freiberger.
The company has also been expanding its global presence to combat the potential negative impacts of Brexit on its business in Europe. 888 strategically acquired a license in Malta which is seen as the company’s preparedness to avoid any negative impact of Brexit which is imminent.
Also, 888 holdings has recently been involved in controversies surrounding its Betbright acquisition. After successfully acquiring Betbright, earlier this year, 888 holdings were unable to onboard all bet bright players which led to chaos and confusion amongst players.


text:
Edmonds, WA 98020 [email protected]
+1 (425) 245-8247
One of the biggest advantages of IoT devices is that they can be updated remotely post-deployment. Of course, those update mechanisms have to be secure.
Secure connections are more imperative forever, even for the simplest Internet-enabled devices.
This week’s product, the wolfSSL embedded SSL/TLS library, is a 20 kB to 100 kB cryptographic library with a runtime memory footprint of just 1 kB to 36 kB. That makes it up to 20x smaller than OpenSSL.
wolfSSL announced the expansion of its most comprehensive set of cryptographic benchmarks.
WolfSSL announced the release of the wolfJSSE Provider, a Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) for security products.
Software & OS
Per the company, the expansion in the OpenSSL Compatibility Layer is to assist in migrating users from OpenSSL to wolfSSL.
The wolfSSL lightweight SSL/TLS library now supports TLS 1.3 (RFC 8446) on both the client and server side!


text:
LIV Organic™ Produce's Anthony Innocenti Discusses a Tight Squash Market
CAPISTRANO BEACH, CA - We may still be making our way through the end of August, but consumers like myself have never been more ready for the fall season. Hard squash is a sure sign that autumn has arrived in my kitchen, and LIV Organic™ Produce is locked and loaded with a full lineup of beloved varieties.
“The market is much, much tighter than in years past for sure, and it will remain that way heading into the fall and holiday season. Pricing seems to be up by more than 20 percent over last year,” relayed Anthony Innocenti, Managing Partner, peeling back the layers of a dynamic squash market.
In light of tighter supplies and higher pricing, I asked Anthony whether demand for hard squash is still on the rise. He noted that as consumers get more creative in the kitchen, demand for the category continues to increase.
“We are just launching our new crop in California,” he added. “Our acreage is up, but we are hearing there will be a much shorter supply this year overall due to labor and water issues.”
LIV Organic is ready for the fall and holiday season with a full lineup of hard squash: Acorn, Butternut, Delicata, Kabocha, Pie Pumpkins, and Spaghetti.
“Our Butternut squash is some of the best in the business; the flavor and internal color of this squash speaks for itself!” Anthony told me on a final note.
Retailers, be sure to make room in the produce department for these mouthwatering varieties. The register rings will speak for themselves!


text:
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), a Detroit show that by tradition kicked off the American car show circuit in January of every year, has had a rough go of it the past three years. In fact it hasn’t taken place in that time. The last Detroit Auto Show, as it’s also known, took place in early 2019.
You’ll likely recall that in a bit of unfortunate timing, organizers announced in July 2018 that the show was moving on the calendar to the month of June as of 2020. Before that could happen the novel coronavirus made its appearance, of course, and that was that. There was no show in 2020, and only a smaller event called Motor Bella in September of 2021.
Now, organizers are aiming for September 2022 for the next edition of the Detroit show. The plan is to move the event to the Huntingdon Place convention center in Detroit, but with both indoor and outdoor displays planned for other locations in the downtown area.
Confirmation of the new dates came yesterday from Rod Alberts, executive director of the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which is the organization behind the NAIAS, on the occasion of the NACTOY organization presenting its annual awards for North American Car, Utility and Truck of the Year. Those awards have traditionally been announced at the Detroit Auto Show.


text:
Displaying items by tag: Atwater Brewing Co
Here is the MiBiz Growth report for May 9, 2022:
While Larry Bell maintains that his patrons won’t see any noticeable changes after the planned sale of his Bell’s Brewery Inc. to the parent company of New Belgium Brewing Co., the two like-minded breweries have several synergies they could leverage to unlock cost savings.
Michigan’s craft beverage industry is facing a challenge with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic that is unlike any other in its history.
This is the growth report for Feb. 2, 2020.
GRAND RAPIDS — Atwater Brewery, a Detroit-based brewery with a satellite taproom in Grand Rapids, has been acquired by Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Co., one of the largest international brewing conglomerates.
GRAND RAPIDS — Kentwood-based Wise Men Distillery LLC is planning a downtown Grand Rapids tasting room.
FROM OUR ADVERTISERS
In the hyper-competitive craft beer industry in which growth has started to level off in recent years, Old Nation Brewing Co. proves the exception to the rule. The Williamston-based brewery has garnered a name for itself with its M-43 brand, a popular New England-style hazy India Pale Ale that carries a suggested retail price of $13.99 per four-pack of 16-ounce cans.
The emergence of life sciences-based higher educational institutions continues to have a discernible impact on ancillary development in urban areas across Michigan.
When Deschutes Brewery founder Gary Fish launched a two-year search to locate the Oregon company’s first satellite production facility, one of his top criteria was determining whether the state and local community wanted his business.


text:
The Neiman Marcus Awards close out PFW with a stylish soirée
Signaling the end of the glamorous Paris Fashion Week Fall Winter ’23 schedule, the Neiman Marcus Group threw a suitably stylish soirée for this year’s installment of the annual Neiman Marcus Awards. The dinner and ceremony, which took place at La Suite Girafe, was hosted by the retail group CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck and honored the achievements of Brunello Cucinelli, Jonathan Anderson, and Amina Muaddi. Since the inception of the awards ceremony, Neiman Marcus Group has honored more than 150 design talents. This time around, Italian luxury titan Brunello Cucinelli received the Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion. Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, creative director of LOEWE, received the Neiman Marcus Award for Creative Impact in the Field of Fashion. And celebrity-adored accessories designer Amina Muaddi was awarded the Neiman Marcus Award for Innovation in the Field of Fashion. Among those who joined Neiman Marcus Group executives and the honorees for the evening were Rick Owens and Michele Lamy, Margherita Missoni, Rosita Missoni, Sabrina Elba, Lori Harvey, Ashley Park and Paul Forman, Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, Tina Kunakey, Carolina Cucinelli, Camilla Cucinelli, Albert Ayal, Francis Kurkdjian, Georgina Brandolini, Gilda Ambrosio, Giorgia Tordini, Sidney Toledano, and many more. Guests were also treated to a surprise performance by Noah Cyrus and music by DJ Didi Han.
Jennifer Lopez is Intimissimi’s new global ambassador
Multi-hyphenate Jennifer Lopez has been announced as the newest face of Italian lingerie and intimates brand, Intimissimi. As part of her fire-emoji new gig, J.Lo is also appearing in the Spring Summer ’23 campaign. Launched worldwide today, the still and video campaign seeks to encourage women to be their strongest, sexiest, most self-aware self—and who better to embody that than Lopez, 53, who takes viewers inside a day in her life for the series. The super star performer revealed that she discovered Intimissimi while on vacanza in Italy last year (ICYMI: Jen and Ben spent their dreamy honeymoon in Lake Como.) Of her newfound obsession, Lopez said: “I love Italy—the people, the fashion, the culture, the food, and the storied history. When I discovered Intimissimi, I was immediately drawn to their precious silks, romantic lace, beautiful cuts, flattering fits, and intricate designs. I’m proud to be an Intimissimi woman and honored that they view me as someone who emulates their own qualities of confident, lively, and strong.” Consider us sold! Discover the new collection here.
Lauren Santo Domingo joins Tiffany & Co. as its first-ever artistic director, home category
High priestess of chic Lauren Santo Domingo has a new role. The Moda Operandi co-founder and chief brand officer has been appointed by Tiffany & Co. to the post of artistic director of the Tiffany Home collection. In her position, LSD will help the historic brand usher in a new era. The first release under her tenure will feature new tabletop collections, including Tiffany Berries, Tiffany T True, Tiffany Wisteria, Tiffany Toile, Tiffany Audubon and Valse Bleue this spring—with a curated selection of product also debuting on modaoperandi.com. Santo Domingo’s inaugural Home presentation will also be celebrated in conjunction with the reopening of the famous Tiffany & Co. flagship on 57th and Fifth. Alexandre Arnault,
executive vice president, product and communications said: “We are excited to see Lauren Santo Domingo infuse our Home collection with her signature style. Lauren is no stranger to luxury and we believe she will bring her impeccable eye and elegance to this important category at Tiffany.”
Victoria’s Secret readies for the return of a revamped fashion show
The all-out entertainment spectacular that is the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is reportedly coming back—albeit with a new guise. According to Page Six, the news was announced during a 2022 earnings call on Friday. The show has been on hiatus for the past four years, amid a total overhaul of the lingerie giant’s marketing, campaigns, and company culture. Victoria’s Secret CFO, Timothy Johnson, is reported as saying: “We’re going to continue to lean into the marketing spend to invest in the business, both at top-of-funnel and also to support the new version of our fashion show, which is to come later this year.” In a statement shared with Page Six Style, a Victoria’s Secret rep said the event will double down on the brand’s “commitment to championing women’s voices and their unique perspectives” as it continues on its journey to re-evaluate its position in the market. The statement continued: “As we’ve previously shared, our new brand projection and mission will continue to be our guiding principle. This will lead us into new spaces like reclaiming one of our best marketing and entertainment properties to date and turning it on its head to reflect who we are today. We’re excited to share more later this year.” Watch this space!
Bob Dylan gets the Celine treatment
Era-defining musician Bob Dylan is the latest name to appear in Celine’s ‘Portrait of a Performer’ series. Captured in Malibu late last year by the luxury brand’s all-round creative force Hedi Slimane, it marks the first time that Dylan, 81, has been shot in a photo series since 2012. The 10-time Grammy Award winner and iconic artist sat for Slimane for the series in December, around the time of Celine’s fashion show takeover at The Wiltern, following in the footsteps of male musicians Julian Casablancas, Paul Banks, and Martin Rev. Who will Slimane turn the camera on next? Answers on a postcard…
Talbots teams up with Dress For Success for the ninth year
The Talbots x Dress For Success partnership is back for the ninth year running. To kick things off, the beloved retailer has launched a ‘butterfly charming cardigan’ to symbolize hope, transformation, and exciting new beginnings—which is exactly the mission of the non-profit. To date, Talbots has raised over $9 million for the life-changing Dress For Success organization, directly helping and empowering over 250,000 get back on their feet and re-enter the workforce. “We have 75 years of history rooted in giving back,” Lizanne Kindler, CEO of Talbots, said. “And more specifically, in supporting women in all aspects of their lives. That is why we are so proud of our long-standing partnership with Dress for Success….This year, we have our beautiful Butterfly Charming Cardigan, which is the perfect metaphor for what DFS stands for – hope, change, positivity, and strength.” The cardigan, as seen below, retails for $89.50/$99.50 and is available from today at Talbots’ 388 retail locations and online with 30% of the net proceeds going to Dress For Success. Furthermore, on March 11, Talbots will host ‘Shop For A Cause Shopping Parties’ at all their locations, with 10% of all net proceeds in store and online going to the organization, while customers will also receive 25% off their full price items as an added incentive to shop for this great cause.


text:
Last week Yahoo, the original Internet portal, announced a search advertising deal with Google’s new parent, Alphabet Inc, building on an existing search partnership with Microsoft. It reported a fourth quarter revenue well below analyst estimates, raising questions on the performance of Marissa Mayer, who was poached from Google as a savior. The previous CEO, Carol Bartz, was unceremoniously fired by a phone call in 2011.
All I could say was: What a sustained fall!
Two decades ago, Yahoo was in a position to buy the fledgling Google as a pioneering Internet giant, leading media content and search. After declining over the next decade, in 2008, Yahoo famously turned down a buyout offer from Microsoft for an attractive $45 billion. Yahoo’s current market value is $29.3 billion. The value was higher two years ago, mainly on account of Yahoo’s 15% stake in China’s Alibaba Group.
A hard analysis shows that the current market value comes not from its core businesses – which seems have no value at all. Its cash chest is at $5.5 billion, its Alibaba stake is estimated at $22.6 billion and separately listed Yahoo Japan accounts for $2.3 billion. They add up to more than the current market capitalization!
Yahoo is mostly in the news for the personality of its struggling CEO, or for innovations that sound like tinkering – such as an announcement that it has launched a password-free method of logging into its mail and other services.
To think that this company lost the search revolution, the e-mail phenomenon (more or less) and then the social media leap! Yahoo could have been Google, Facebook and Twitter put together had it got its act right. The big lesson: “Tweaking does not solve big problems. Big ideas do!”
Mayer is still trying to work some magic with mobile, video and other emerging businesses where some growth is happening but Yahoo said last week that its foray into original video content has not really worked out. Consider the fact that Amazon, officially an online retailer of products, now has a Studios division that makes TV shows and movies!
Yahoo is still the third largest Web platform in the US after Google and Facebook but it badly needs some magic. My view is that Mayer still thinks technology and not audience, for which perhaps you need a media DNA. Memories of Ms. Bartz in her role may just help her decide faster.


text:
Samsung has announced that the DJ30 update for the Sprint Galaxy Tab is now live and being rolled-out OTA for all customers still on the DJ14 firmware. Samsung lists the changes as:
- SMS Short Code text messages
- Microsoft Exchange IT Admin policy compliance
- Text messages sent using Wi-Fi
- Qik video chat
- Sprint Zone as trusted source
- Start up and shut down screens
Hopefully this will address the issues some were having where they were presented with an OTA which ended up failing. Remember, each of the versions of the Tab have slight differences (thanks for that, carriers) so only expect this update if you have a Sprint Tab running version DJ14 of the OS. For details, including a walkthrough of accepting an OTA update for those new to the concept is at the source. [Samsung]
We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.
The Pixel 4a 5G is the sleeper hit Pixel to get this year
The Pixel 4a 5G sits sort of awkwardly between Google's most affordable and most premium offerings, but that predicament might be exactly what makes it the best device in the company's 2020 lineup.
Samsung's Galaxy S21 series phones might be cheaper than expected
As per a new rumor out of South Korea, Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S21 series phones could be a lot cheaper than their predecessors. The Galaxy S21 is tipped to start at $849.
Here’s when your Samsung phone will get the One UI 3.0 (Android 11) update
Samsung will begin rolling out the stable One UI 3.0 update to its latest flagship devices starting later this month. The Galaxy S20 series phones will be the first to receive the update.
The Galaxy S20 FE is fantastic, so grab a case to keep it looking good
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S20 FE and the device is sure to turn plenty of heads for the next few months. With stiff competition in the mid-range market, it's clear that Samsung wants to compete and the S20 FE is fantastic. If you're picking one of these awesome new devices up, make sure you pair it with a case to keep it looking awesome.