text:
MORTON, Ill, August 28, 2019 – In recognition of National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (NTDAW), G&D Integrated will honor the millions of professional truck drivers in the country. Along with American Trucking Associations and the entire trucking industry, G&D recognizes those who work to deliver America’s freight safely and securely every day.
“G&D has been providing transportation since the 1880s and I believe in and support our drivers,” said President and CEO at G&D Integrated, P. Joseph O’Neill. “I drove a truck myself years ago and I love working with our drivers and talking with them every week.” During the week of September 8-14, G&D Integrated will mark the celebration of NTDAW with cookouts, giveaways, and luncheons to personally thank the 400 professional truck drivers at the company.
There are more than 3.5 million professional truck drivers nationwide who deliver everything from food to local grocery stores to books for neighborhood schools. These professional men and women log close to 724 billion miles annually. In 2018, they delivered over 70% of the U.S. freight tonnage which equaled 10.77 billion tons. Eighty percent of U.S. communities depend solely on the trucking industry for their goods and commodities proving that professional truck drivers keep this country moving forward.
G&D Integrated asks you to take this week to recognize the significant contributions of our professional truck drivers. The efficiency and safety that these drivers guarantee allow businesses and American citizens to confidently ship goods across state lines and to every corner of the country.
To learn more about how essential truck drivers are to their communities and the economy, visit https://www.trucking.org/Appreciation_Week.aspx.
About G&D Integrated
G&D Integrated is a specialized provider of transportation and logistics services and has over 100 years of experience advancing innovative supply chain solutions. Headquartered in Morton, IL, the company provides domestic transportation, warehousing, freight brokerage, contract logistics, and supply chain services to a variety of industries with more than 1,000 employees at over 20 facilities across North America. For more information, visit www.gdintegrated.com.
Susan Himes, Marketing Communications


text:
18 February 2016, Shenzhen, China – ZTE Corporation (0763.HK / 000063.SZ), a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for the Mobile Internet, today announced that the company delivered a stellar performance in 3Q15. Only ZTE exhibited meaningful positive change in DSL market share, gaining more than 1.2 points in worldwide market share based on a rolling 4 quarter basis. In addition, ZTE led in Asia Pacific in terms of DSL market share on a rolling 4 quarter basis for the quarter ending 3Q15. Moreover, in the wireline access market, ZTE held the second biggest market share worldwide. The data comes from research firm Ovum’s 3Q15 report on fixed-network -Market Share Report: 3Q15 FTTx, DSL, and CMTS.
In 2015, ZTE unveiled its M-ICT strategy with a focus on capturing new opportunities and creating value with information. Broadband access is an area where ZTE has traditionally excelled. The year saw steady growth in the area for ZTE thanks to innovation in products and solutions, improvement in product competitiveness, and optimization of the global market layout.
Another fact highlighted by the Ovum report is that ZTE ranked No. 1 for EPON (Ethernet passive optical network) revenue market share, at 31 percent on a rolling 4 quarter basis ending 3Q15. Also on the rolling 4 quarter basis ending Q315, ZTE was also the market share leader in Central and South America for GPON (gigabit passive optical network) ONT/ONU (optical network terminal/ optical network unit).
Mr. Cai Jingzhe, Vice President at ZTE, noted that ZTE has always been a leader in optical communications. At the Broadband World Forum (BBWF) in 2014, ZTE introduced the industry's first XG-PON1-based 1G-to-the-user concept and demonstrated a corresponding solution. At the 2015 BBWF event in London, ZTE showcased an FTTdp (Fibre-to-the-distribution point) solution based on NG-PON2+G.fast technology and won the "Best Connected Home Service or Solution" and "Best Broadband Partnership" awards. In addition to maintaining a huge lead in EPON market share. To help customers simplify deployment and cut costs, ZTE recently launched a combination PON solution integrating both GPON and XG-PON1. With the maturation and commercialization of G.fast technology, ZTE expects to offer stronger support for operators' broadband rollout through its integrated solutions.

domain: news


text:
Walmart Black Friday 2022 UK & Cyber Monday Deals – From today through Sunday, you can save up to 50% on electronics at Walmart thanks to price reductions of up to 70%. The $390 Xbox One X and NBA 2K19 bundle (a savings of $110), the $829 MSI GV62 Nvidia GTX 1060 gaming laptop (a savings of $170), the $79 Bose SoundLink Micro speaker (a savings of $20), and the $370 Vizio 55-inch 4K smart TV (a savings of $100) are among our best selections, and they all ship for free.
While on those shopping sprees, if there’s one thing Walmart is known for, it’s televisions. Walmart is the place to go if you want a 65-inch monster or a nice HDR set. You can find an excellent HDTV for quite a fair price thanks to this retail giant’s sale on select 4K TVs at over $1,000 off their retail cost. Reading up on TV shopping tips before actually making a buy is still a good idea.
Rollback pricing of roughly 50% off can be found at Walmart for a wide variety of categories, including everything from fitness wearables and cute athleisure clothes to useful kitchen appliances and basic household necessities. Discounts can be found on a wide variety of products; whether you’re looking for a Fitbit, Instant Pot, memory foam mattress, high-end skin care, or a vacuum cleaner, you’ll have no trouble finding it. The deal is only going on until February 18th, so if you want to get your hands on any of the popular items at a discount, you’d better move quickly.
Now that Black Friday has arrived, it’s time to start thinking about all the great discounts you can get on electronics, furniture, and more from all your favourite stores. If there’s a nice deal you see today, you should probably act quickly because it’s likely that the price will go back up to normal tomorrow.
Our knowledge of Walmart’s Black Friday 2022 preparations has been completed. Beginning on the first Monday of every November, the store will once again host its “Black Friday Deals for Days” sales. Big savings on electronics, home, toys, apparel, and more from well-known brands like Apple, Dyson, and Lego will be featured at each of these. The procedure is as follows.
Walmart Black Friday 2022
When the clock strikes 7 p.m. on November 7, the first round of Black Friday offers at Walmart will be available. They will be accessible all week long, or at least as long as supplies last. On November 14 and again on November 21, a new offering will be live for another week. Then, on Monday, November 28, Walmart will hold its one-day Cyber Monday deal.
Walmart claims it has taken extraordinary measures to guarantee abundant supplies of all Black Friday specials. On the other hand, Walmart Plus members may shop the three Black Friday Deals of Days events early and secure the best deals, including the anticipated limited supplies of PS5 and Xbox Series X restocks. As a result, every Monday from 2:00 PM EST until 7:00 PM EST, subscribers can browse the virtual shelves without having to wait in line with the rest of the customers.
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, join Walmart Plus for for $12.95 a month (opens in new tab). On the other hand, annual memberships can be purchased for $99. You’ll also get free delivery, gas savings, unique perks, discounts, and a free trial of Paramount Plus, in addition to getting first dibs on this year’s Black Friday offers at Walmart.
The specific offers coming in each event will be shared as soon as we receive them, so stay tuned for updates as we come closer to the start of the Walmart Black Friday sale. If you want to make sure you don’t miss out on the finest deals, we’ll highlight the best ones here, too.
What time does Walmart begin their Black Friday sale?
The time that Walmart’s Black Friday deal begins varies slightly from year to year. Three Black Friday Deals for Days sales events and a Cyber Monday sale are planned for 2022 by Walmart. Walmart will have a new Black Friday sale every Monday in November. On November 7 at 7 p.m. ET (12 p.m. for Walmart+ members), the first Black Friday Deals for Days sale will be available online, and on November 9 in stores.
What kind of Black Friday deals can you expect to see at Walmart?
Black Friday deals at Walmart typically apply to a wide variety of merchandise. Discounts can be found on a variety of products, including those made by Apple (such watches, iPads, and AirPods), popular television models made by Samsung, Roku, and others, children’s and family items, small kitchen equipment, and even robot vacuum cleaners. Numerous things are discounted by at least 50%, while the average discount is closer to 25%.
Walmart’s Black Friday sale also provides customers with a chance to purchase the latest and greatest gaming consoles, such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox X series, for as long as supplies last (which isn’t very long).
Can I get early access to Black Friday sales if I’m a Walmart Plus member?
To get early access to Walmart’s Black Friday discounts, you must sign up as a Walmart Plus member. Why? Because if you sign up for Walmart+, you’ll get seven hours of early access to all of Walmart’s Black Friday sales.
Costing $98 year or $12.95 monthly, Walmart Plus memberships are available to customers who shop at Walmart. The first 30 days of Walmart Plus are free, but trial users aren’t always eligible for the best discounts.
What kind of Black Friday deals does Walmart have?
There are Black Friday deals available at Walmart. Black Friday at Walmart is one of the most anticipated holiday shopping events because of the wide variety of products available at deeply discounted prices. In recent years, and again in 2022, Walmart has spread out its Black Friday sale over the whole of November with its Deals for Days savings events.
The Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday Debate at Walmart
Historically, stores have held Black Friday sales with massive discounts on popular electronics, toys, and home goods. Now that it has expanded into cyberspace, Black Friday bargains can be found in stores across the country and around the world.
Cyber Monday, a relatively new shopping holiday, has quickly become more popular than Black Friday. Cyber Monday has been quite successful because there are no lines at stores and shoppers don’t have to get up early to shop. Details about Walmart’s Cyber Monday sale, which will begin on Sunday, November 1, will be released later that day.
There is a discrepancy in the sale dates. The kinds of price reductions available also vary. On Black Friday, retailers often offer their lowest prices of the year on electronics like televisions, video game consoles, and popular toys. While electronics are the most heavily discounted category on Cyber Monday, other major purchases like vacuum cleaners, pressure cookers, and coffee makers also tend to fetch substantial price cuts. There will be incredible doorbuster sales at both of these sales events. The weekly ad scan at Walmart is an excellent place to look for sales on common household appliances like vacuum cleaners, pressure cookers, and coffee makers. In 2022, Walmart Black Friday dates have not yet been announced. In the months running up to Black Friday, the store held three separate deals last year. The most attractive discounts, however, were offered during the week around Black Friday. The finest Walmart Black Friday offers would be available in the week preceding up to Black Friday, and on Black Friday itself, November 26. If you’re looking for the best offers today, Walmart is the place to go.


text:
Nintendo has launched a new EarthBound community for Miiverse which will give users official updates on the revered series. The page, which is dubbed the Onett Times, will be used by Nintendo representatives to post news and information related to EarthBound. It’s not clear if Nintendo’s looking to localise Mother3, but it’s a possibility given the sales of EarthBound on the Wii U Virtual Console.
EarthBound, the long-awaited SNES classic for the Wii U Virtual Console has claimed the number one spot in the Virtual Console charts in various regions including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and Portugal. EarthBound is also selling well in the United States where it’s currently sitting behind Donkey Kong which costs 30 cents compared to EarthBound’s $10 price tag.
Thanks, Gaminglord and Kallum
The legendary RPG title EarthBound hit the Wii U Virtual Console last week but after the initial excitement abated, fans soon wondered why the game featured an unexpected price hike. Most virtual console titles will appear in the eShop with a $4.99 price tag (NES) and $7.99 (SNES) or £3.49 to £5.49 for the UK, however EarthBound is currently sitting pretty at number 2 in the eShop at $9.99 or £6.99. Fortunately, Nintendo has explained the reason for such a price increase and gave the following comment:
“As for EarthBound, Nintendo sets prices in the Nintendo eShop and Virtual Console on a game-by-game basis. Different games will be offered at different prices.”
Nintendo, no doubt, knew how well the game would sell as it had been a fan favourite for many years, and the anticipation and teasing from the company was award-winning, nail-biting stuff. However, the price increase could be due to the release of the online strategy guide, marketing from the new trailer, or toning down the game’s lighting effects so it would be less likely to strain the eyes and cause seizures. But even so, does this warrant a price increase? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
It’s been a long time coming, and Nintendo of America’s tease back in April probably didn’t help control your excitement, but today EarthBound is due to finally land on the Wii U Virtual Console. Spotted by a NeoGAF user on Nintendo’s website, EarthBound comes with a $9.99 price tag but it is yet to go live on the Wii U. According to a NeoGAF post, EarthBound is set to release 4pm PST today, and no doubt we’ll receive confirmation of this through this week’s download selection for North America.
Update: Europeans can also get their hands on EarthBound. You’ll find it on the Wii U eShop at 5pm BST. North American Wii U owners can download the title now.
Amazon UK has put up a listing for Earthbound for Wii U and has priced it up at £44.99. This could be a simple mistake by the popular online retailer, or we could see Nintendo release the entire Mother series on the Wii U. Alternatively, Nintendo could be planning an HD entry in the Earthbound series for Wii U, but this seems fairly unlikely. Do you think there’s a possibility of Nintendo releasing the entire Mother series physically on Wii U?
Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi has told a fan via Twitter that there’s no chance we will see Mother 4. Itoi told the fan on Twitter that it is “impossible”, which clearly means that it’s never going to happen. Thankfully a bunch of Earthbound fans are working on a fan-made Mother 4 project that has been in development for several years. You can check out their progress, right here.
“Mr. Itoi, please think about a way to make Mother 4.” Itoi’s response? “Muri” (無理) or “impossible”
Clyde Mandelin, a professional translator on games including Kingdom Hearts 2, One Piece: Unlimited Adventure and The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King, has offered to give Nintendo the translation of Earthbound sequel Mother 3 to Nintendo for free. Mandelin says he will do whatever it takes to secure an official release of the game here in the West.
“I realize that localizing a game this size can cost a lot, so if it’ll help in even the slightest, I’ll gladly offer to let Nintendo use my text translation files for any use at all, completely for free. I’ll even edit the files to fit whatever new standards are necessary (content, formatting, memory size, etc.), completely for free. I’ll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out.”
“In the end, if localizing Mother 3 should ever come up in a Nintendo business meeting or whatever and someone brings up budget concerns or it costing too much, my hope is that someone will at least mention this offer too, even if it isn’t accepted.”
Shigesato Itoi, the director and producer of EarthBound, has thanked the Super NES game’s fans outside Japan for requesting it to be re-released. Via the Miiverse application on Wii U, Itoi said he’s looking forward to meeting new friends when the game launches on the Wii U Virtual Console. Known as Mother 2 in Japan, this year, EarthBound will see release on Wii U in Europe and North America.
Dear Earthbound/MOTHER2 fans outside of Japan :
Thank you for all the requests. They made me very happy. Now with the re-launch, I am looking forward to meet new friends.
Indie developer Ackkstudios has announced that they’re hard at work developing a 3D RPG inspired by Earthbound and The World Ends With You for the Wii U eShop. The codename for the game is Project Y2K. Not too much is known about the game, but the developer has created a teaser site for the forthcoming RPG. Here’s what the development team have been up to.
Before we begin to show more too much from this project, we feel it’s important that people know that Two Brothers is still our main project.We began Project Y2K before we started Two Brothers and put it on hold to finish Two Brothers, as it was a smaller project.
Everyone who has completed work on Two Brothers is now working on Project Y2K… so that’s about a third of the AckkStudios Team.
Now that Two Brothers is nearing completion, we felt it was time to return to Project Y2K.
Project Y2K currently exists in a few forms… concept art, a finalized script/story line, a completed graphics/gameplay engine.
As for the title Project Y2K, we can tell you that the reason we’ve chosen this project name is because the game will begin January 1st 1999 at 12:02 AM…


text:
On July 26, Apple (AAPL) announced that its earnings and revenues narrowly beat Wall Street’s expectations. Investors, who’d been fretting that the sharp decline in iPhone sales that spooked the markets early this year would accelerate, cheered.
By mid-day on July 27, Apple’s shares had jumped 6.5% to $103, adding $31 billion in market cap, equivalent to nearly three-fourths the value of Monsanto (MON) and a third that of Honeywell (HON).
But here’s the thing: The surge isn’t supported by Apple’s financials; the iPhone seller’s fiscal third quarter numbers (for the 3 months ended June 25); or by its future prospects. Apple’s sales fell 14%, and net earnings declined 27%. CEO Tim Cook’s forecast for revenues of between $45.5 billion and $47.5 billion for the fourth quarter, are a bit better than what Apple had in the past three months, but far below the average of $56 billion a quarter pace for the last nine months, not to mention the $61 billion average over the first three quarters of fiscal 2015.
Bottom line: The most celebrated growth company of all-time is now shrinking. What’s worse, it’s highly uncertain that Apple can achieve the relatively robust growth it will need to reward investors ever again.
In recent years, Apple’s had a tough time finding any business worthy of feeding with its gigantic cash flows. Looking forward, Apple needs to not only find plenty of opportunities it’s not finding now, but exploit them skillfully by generating good returns. That dual challenge has enveloped Apple’s future in a fog of uncertainty.
Over the past four quarters, for instance, Apple has generated $50.1 billion in free cash flow, defined as cash from operations, minus the capital expenditures required to keep its plants and IT facilities in top condition. That’s a drop of 26% from the $69 billion in free cash flow it booked over the previous twelve months. As its cash flow fell, Apple couldn’t find significant investments to reverse the big shrink. Over the 12 months ended June 25, Apple used $49 billion of it free cash flow, or 97%, to pay dividends and repurchase shares. It had some funds left because of new long-term borrowings, but plowed that extra cash into “marketable securities,” i.e. short-term bonds, providing low single-digit returns.
But pocketing those dividends, and watching the share count dwindle, didn’t satisfy investors who pounded Apple’s shares roughly 20% over the past year, even including the new bounce.
So does the selloff make Apple genuinely cheap? You might think so from standard market metrics. It’s selling at 11 times free cash flow, based on its current market cap of around $560 billion. Based on that price, if Apple could simply grow with inflation, and keep returning all of its earnings to shareholders––its posture over the past year––that means it would yielding around 11% a year. That’s fabulous at a time when the market as a whole is up just 6% in 2016, and 10-year Treasury bonds are yielding 1.5%.
But keep in mind that Apple isn’t likely to stop shrinking anytime soon. It clearly sees its future as the great growth enterprise of legend. On the July 26 conference call, Tim Cook lauded Apple’s big expansion in services, stating that the franchise that includes its app store, iCloud, and AppleCare could grow to the size of a “Fortune 100 company” by next year all by itself, and predicted big things for the launch of the iPhone 6 in September.
So how fast must Apple grow to hand investors a decent return, say 8% per year––hardly fabulous given the stock’s volatile history? To make that happen, Apple could tolerate a continued fall in cash flows for awhile. But following that interlude, profits would need to rise at a strong, consistent pace.
Here’s the kind of scenario investors are betting on:
- Over the next year, Apple’s free cash flow falls from $50 billion to $34 billion.
- At that point, it would be selling at around 16.6 times cash flow, at a market cap of $600 billion.
- Apple pays a 2.2% dividend.
- So to generate a total return of 8%, it would need to grow cash flow regularly at 5.8% annually, from that base of $34 billion.
- Hence, by 2021, Apple’s cash flow would need to rise 33% to $45 billion, and keep rising $2.6 to $3 billion in the years that immediately follow.
Keep in mind that $45 billion in total cash flow is 84% more than what the second highest earner on the Fortune 500 list, J.P. Morgan Chase (JPM), made in 2015, and that the $2.5 billion that needs to be added annually is equivalent to the total earnings of Aetna (AET), as well as for Lowe’s (LOW).
Can Apple do it? The bull case is that its cash flow will stabilize without dropping too much more, so growth will begin at a number far higher than $34 billion, and run from there. Indeed, if that happens, Apple at today’s prices would be an excellent buy.
But Cook’s forecast for the next quarter implies free cash flow in the $7 to $8 billion range for the quarter, or around $30 billion annualized. So let’s assume that Apple re-starts its growth from a much reduced base. To turn cash flows around, Apple will need to re-channel most of the money now going to buybacks and securities into high-yielding investments. “Apple keeps talking about their Big Future, but there’s no indication they’re putting their money where their mouth is,” says Jack Ciesielski, author of the Analyst’s Accounting Observer. “Any major investment plans appear to be a family secret.”
Among the possibilities are big acquisitions. So far, Apple has made lots of purchases of small tech companies, but each deal is typically tiny. In the conference call. Cook stated that Apple buys a company every three or four weeks, but gave no signal it would hunt for bigger targets. One Wall Street rumor gone viral is that Apple will get into driverless cars.
The rub is that the big investments need to move a gigantic needle, because even in the low-$30 billions, Apple’s cash flows are already super-gigantic. It would take another iPhone-like hit to do it. And the iPhone successors are more likely to stabilize its smart phone sales than to provide the big boost it will need to enrich investors. Apple is unlikely to repeat its history by always besting competitors with a constant flow of revolutionary products. Huge margins attract big, hungry competitors, the challenge Apple now faces with the likes of Samsung. Hence, it will probably have to buy companies and technologies.
Nobody knows how profitable those purchases will turn out to be. They’re unlikely to be in the original iPhone class. So the best conclusion is that Apple can’t find good stuff to invest in now, and that the chances it will find big enough ones in the future is just too low. So do the smart thing, when it comes to Apple’s shares, stay away.


text:
Heather MacFadyen shuffles sleepily into the kitchen of her home in Dallas. With a spatula in one hand and one of her four boys on her hip, she logs on to her computer, where a link catches her attention.
She clicks and an ad comes onto the screen, showing images of three mothers engaged in the daily tasks of raising children. The ad follows those children on their journeys to become Olympians. The words, "Thank you, mom" flash across the screen and MacFadyen brushes aside an involuntary tear, identifying deeply with the ad. Logos flash across the screen, closing with "P&G, proud sponsor of moms."
A new movement of media-savvy, financially affluent moms is rising, companies believe. Women control $3.3 trillion in consumer spending in the U.S. — a figure that is expected to grow to a staggering $28 trillion in the next several years, according to the AIO Group, a marketing agency. As brands shift their focus and target mothers, their influence provides both opportunities and potential pitfalls.
"We know a lot about moms," P&G External Relations manager Glenn Williams wrote in an email to the Deseret News. "And we think moms often don't get the thanks they deserve. Moms will always be an important target for us."
What are brands doing?
Eighty-four percent of mothers globally find planning family activities to be worthwhile as long as a special moment is involved, Yahoo and Starcom MediaVest Group found in a study presented to leading brand executives — including Kraft, P&G, Coca Cola and Samsung — at the 2012 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France.
"Brands have understood that moments are important to moms for many years," said Adam Kruse, VP, Global Director, SMG. And moms are looking for help in creating such important moments.
Kraft launched a big fork, little fork campaign, which encourages children to become involved in meal preparation. Coca-Cola partnered with programs like Recyclebank, The World Wildlife Fund, HealthyWeight.net and Triple Play to teach children about exercise, nutrition and social techniques they hope will improve behaviors at home.
The biggest campaign in the history of the company's 175-year operation and perhaps the most far-reaching of campaigns during this year's Olympic games, P&G has launched a global Thank You Mom campaign as part of a "long-term repositioning." Since it's release in April, P&G's Best Job ad — a thank you to mothers — has gone viral, with more than 2.5 million views on Youtube and more than 700,000 likes on Facebook.
"When it comes to Olympic athletes, we also think that behind almost every amazing athlete is an equally amazing mom. She deserves to be thanked and recognized. That's what this Olympic campaign is about," said Glenn Williams, press relations manager of the campaign. P&G has committed to raise $5 million through a portion of sales and donations to support local youth sports programs worldwide.
The millennial mother
It wasn't until nearly the turn of the century that companies really started singling out the mom segment, said Terri Thompson, author of "Tuning into Mom," a book examining the purchasing habits of mothers. Companies have gradually come to understand the role of mothers in household decision-making, as well as the financial impact that mothers have on the economy.
Women will control two-thirds of consumer wealth in the U.S. over the next decade, making them the beneficiaries of the largest transference of wealth in the nation's history. Estimates range from $12 trillion to $40 trillion, according to Senior Partner and Director of New Business Development Claire Behar.
There are many factors contributing to this changing model of all that a mother is and does and the ways brands are targeting her, Thompson told the Deseret News. More and more women have played roles in the home and in the workplace, and companies are becoming more savvy about reaching them on both levels.
This generation of marketers is presenting women as powerful, more confident decision-makers who are involved in just as many interesting situations as men are, Thompson said. "Though there is always room for improvement, brands have made long strides."
Amber Koter-Puline, mother of two boys under the age of 6 and facilitator of the only postpartum depression support group in Atlanta, advises mothers to be conscious about the way they interpret branding.
There is so much excitement and anticipation that pregnancy or waiting to adopt provides, Koter-Puline told the Deseret News. There are months and months of time for mothers to build up expectations. Commercialization encourages a cultural tradition that surrounds this buildup, which involves women gifting mothers with products in baby showers and mothers nesting and purchasing items for their babies.
The items themselves aren't the problem, Koter-Puline said. It is the branding of those products — the way that mothers are presented. "It leads to very unrealistic expectations of what new motherhood might be like."
As a survivor of postpartum depression after the birth of her first child, Koter-Puline remembers the feelings of inadequacy, guilt and loneliness associated with motherhood. "Must we exacerbate this cycle by allowing companies to drive the bus when it comes to how we visualize new moms in our society?" Koter-Puline asked on her blog, beyondpostpartumblog.com.
"I very much believe in self-acceptance and appreciation of our own situation and not comparing it to other people, whether they're real or whether they're in commercials or on television," Koter-Puline said.
For MacFadyen, commercials that tug at her heartstrings don't alter her personal purchases. "Moms are brand loyal. Dollars are tight. Time is limited. When we find something that works (or it worked for a trusted friend) we will buy it."
Back in Dallas, MacFadyen, the mother of four boys, said she appreciated the positive imaging of stay-at-home moms in the P&G commercial. "Recognizing the mundane tasks involved in raising moral, ethical, successful adults and giving them value encouraged this weary mom's heart."
In a way, MacFadyen hopes P&G impacts our society as a whole by directing the world's attention to the unsung heroes in the Olympic games: the women behind the champions. "For me it also made me think through my ultimate goal for my kiddos. Is it to be an Olympic champion? Or a spiritual champion?"
Thompson agreed that the relationship between brands and mothers is a mutual one. The better brands know that the better they serve a consumer, the more apt they are to gain loyalty, Thompson said. "They are interested in giving back and understand the notion of all boats rising."
Many brands are spending time researching the needs of mothers, Thompson said. McDonalds has held a dedicated mom panel that reviewed food selections and offered recommendations. In response, an array of menu selections of wholesome food was added to meet the demand.
After watching the P&G commercial, MacFadyen was empowered by a reminder that her role as a mother is a noble one. When asked at a cocktail party what she does, instead of saying, "I'm just a mom," MacFadyen says she can proudly proclaim, "I'm a mom, the greatest job in the world!"


text:
ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – The festive food started blowing up after videos of cocoa bombs started circulating on TikTok.
The concept is simple: Place the chocolate ball, which is filled with hot cocoa mix and marshmallows, in a mug. Then pour hot milk over the sweet confection and watch the two mix together.
STL Cake Pops in St. Charles started making hot cocoa bombs in February.
Owner Rachel Sarino said the idea of a chocolate shell melting when another ingredient is poured on top has been around for a while in fine dining.
Sarino first saw hot cocoa bombs last holiday season, but the sweet treat hadn’t really taken off yet.
This year, thanks to Tik-Tok, STL Cake Pops can’t keep them in stock.
So, can you make them in your own kitchen? Sarino said they aren’t easy but there are a lot of home bakers making cocoa bombs.
There are also a lot of YouTube videos with step by step instructions on how to do it yourself.
The first step is having the tools. Be aware that the molds for the chocolate shells may not be in stock right now. If you already have the molds or extra time and patience you may have more success.
Luckily, there are still many other ways to get your hands on the sweet treat.
Also, a quick search for “hot chocolate bombs” on Facebook will yield hundreds of results with at-home bakers selling them for the holidays.


text:
On this note, we are closing the blog for the day.
A tweet from Donald Trump warning Russia to get ready for US missile strikes against its ally Syria sent the Russian rouble down 2.5% to its lowest level since November 2016.
Surprise falls in UK manufacturing and construction output in February suggest the UK economy slowed in the first quarter of 2018.
European stock markets are still trading lower. Wall Street has also opened lower.
- FTSE 100 index in London broadly flat at 7266
- Germany’s Dax down 0.8%
- France’s CAC down 0.6%
- Spain’s Ibex down 0.2%
- Italy’s FTSE MiB down 0.4%
- Dow Jones down 0.4%
- Nasdaq down 0.5%
- S&P 500 down 0.4%
The rouble, already down, tumbled 2.5%, taking its total losses to almost 12% since Friday when the US government imposed fresh sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs and their businesses.
Rouble tumbles after Donald Trump tweet
The Russian rouble has fallen to its weakest level since November 2016, Turkey’s lira hit another record low and emerging markets stocks slipped, after Donald Trump warned Russia in a tweet to “get ready” for US missile strikes against its ally Syria in response to Saturday’s chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town outside Damascus.
US consumer prices post first drop in 10 months
In the US, consumer prices fell for the first time in 10 months in March due to weak gasoline prices, according to the Labor Department.
The consumer price index slipped 0.1% last month, the first and biggest drop since May 2017. It comes after a 0.2% increase in February. However, the annual inflation rate rose to 2.4% from 2.2%, marking the fastest annual growth in a year.
Here’s some reaction to the news that online retailer Shop Direct will be closing three warehouses in Greater Manchester.
Martin Lane, managing editor of money.co.uk, says:
Another dark day for the retail industry with Shop Direct making nearly 2,000 members of staff redundant, proving even online retailers aren’t immune to current economic pressures.
The pattern of well loved stores filing for administration or cutting jobs over the last few weeks is terrible news for the UK’s retail industry. The location of Shop Direct’s warehouses appears to be the cause of these redundancies being made and with a new site not expected until 2021 there is little hope for staff to be transferred.
It’s undoubtedly distressing news for employees of Shop Direct and their families. Now is the time to check what redundancy rights you have and dig out any income or mortgage protection policies you hold.
The website has a guide explaining redundancy rights.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research has put out its monthly estimate of GDP growth. It reckons that growth slowed to 0.2% in the first quarter of this year, from 0.4% in the fourth quarter.
Amit Kara, head of UK macroeconomic forecasting at NIESR, said
The main reason for the weakness was severe weather in March which is likely to have disrupted activity in all major sectors of the economy. There is a small offset in industrial production growth which recovered in the first quarter after the previous quarter was affected by the Fortis oil pipeline shutdown.
But he also warned that there could be larger than normal revisions to the data at a later stage, if previous severe weather episodes serve as a guide.
Take for example the quarterly GDP growth for the final quarter of 2010 when the UK experienced a prolonged period of extreme cold weather. The economy was initially estimated to have shrunk by 0.5% but subsequent data revisions show that the economy expanded by 0.1% over this period.
Shop Direct to close three sites in Manchester with 2,000 job losses
More bad news in the retail industry.
The online retailer Shop Direct is to close three sites in Greater Manchester, leading to the loss of nearly 2,000 jobs, PA reports.
The move is part of Shop Direct’s plans to open a new warehouse in East Midlands Gateway, which will replace current centres in Shaw, Little Hulton and Raven.
The firm said that the three sites have “limited accessibility, layout and loading restrictions”, and no longer meet the group’s “operational ambitions”.
A total of 1,992 staff are to enter into redundancy consultation, with the number made up of 1,177 permanent Shop Direct jobs and 815 agency roles.
The new site at East Midlands Gateway will be automated, with approximately 500 permanent roles created when operational in 2020.
The number is expected to increase by an additional 200 to 300 agency colleagues during peak periods, Shop Direct said.
“For Shop Direct to continue to meet customer demand, the business now needs a new, purpose-built and automated facility in a central, well-connected location, that can accommodate all one-man fulfilment and returns operations on one site, and that provides room for continued expansion,” the company added.
Returning to today’s triple set of UK data - industrial production, trade and construction – the forecasting group EY Item Club has looked at the impact on GDP and interest rates.
A largely disappointing set of news on the UK economy which fuels suspicion that GDP growth likely slowed to 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter.
While the weakened February data may surprise the Bank of England and provide some food for thought, the odds remain strongly in favour of the monetary policy committee pressing ahead with a 25 basis point interest rate hike to 0.75% at their May meeting. However, expectations of another hike in November may well be diluted.
Investec economist George Brown is also predicting a slowdown to 0.3% GDP growth between January and March, from 0.4% in the final three months of last year.
With the snowfall having spilled over into the first week of March, we could see another soft outturn cap off Q1. Overall, it seems likely that GDP growth will soften from the +0.4% (qoq) recorded in Q4, though the extent of this will largely hinge on how the dominant services sector has fared.
Surveys suggest that the snow has weighed heavily on the sector, with the March services PMI falling to the lowest seen since immediately after the EU referendum in July 2016. Still, with snow affecting only a brief period of the quarter, we expect the impact to be relatively modest and have tentatively pencilled in a 0.1ppt slowing in growth to 0.3% for Q1.
Here is our story
The UK’s sugar tax came into force on Friday, leaving a bitter taste for sugar companies and drinks manufacturers that now have to pay a levy on high-sugar drinks they sell.
In another blow to sugar companies and farmers, sugar prices have fallen to 2 1/2 year lows, due to a glut of sugar on the market caused by high output from India and Thailand.
India recently scrapped a 20% sugar export tax. The Indian Sugar Mills Association has revised its sugar output estimate for this season starting in October up to 29.5m tonnes. This still looks too low, as sugar output was 28.2m tonnes as of 31 March.
World sugar prices have been falling for the last couple of years following a series of bumper crops. This has hit Germany’s Südzucker, Europe’s biggest sugar producer, which issued a profit warning last week.
FastFT quoted Michael McDougall at commodity brokers ED&F Man Capital Markets:
The market is finding it hard to get out from under the cloud of increased sugar production that is effectively the result of good weather and government policies.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said about the manufacturing and trade data:
The modest stimulus to growth from sterling’s 2016 depreciation has begun to fade, while the global trade upswing has lost some momentum too.
Meanwhile Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, tweeted
Returning to the trade data, while the goods trade deficit shrank in February, this reflected a drop in imports rather than an improvement in exports.
And the deficit widened by £100m the three months to February.
The ONS said movements in goods exports were largely offset by imports, therefore there was little change in the goods deficit with EU or non-EU countries, which widened by £200m and narrowed by £100m respectively in the three months to February 2018.
The ONS head of national accounts Darren Morgan said:
Manufacturing continued to grow in the three months to February but at the slowest rate seen since the summer, with increases in machinery, metal products and pharmaceuticals offset by falls in electrical appliances and oil refining. This drop in refining may have contributed to the fall in fuel exports and the large rise in fuel imports also seen in the three months to February.
The trade deficit widened a little in the three months to February, with reduced imports of machinery offsetting the rise in fuel imports.
Construction fell in the three months to February after an erratic couple of months, mainly due to a big decline in repair work. However, this was partially offset by growth in both infrastructure and housebuilding.
Weapons and ammunition industry strong
The detail of the manufacturing data reveals that seven of 13 manufacturing sub-sectors declined in March, led by machinery and equipment, down 3.9%, the first fall since last June.
Of the sub-sectors that upped their factory output in February, the weapons and ammunition industry stood out – output rose 28.6%, its strongest growth since August 2014.
Pharmaceuticals were also up, by 3.3%.
The ONS said there was some anecdotal evidence that heavy snow in late February hurt construction, although the impact was hard to quantify.
Lee Hopley, chief economist at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, was quick to respond to the data.
Manufacturing’s recent run of growth came to a halt in February though the picture across sectors was more varied, with some hefty output falls in some key sub-sectors. Whilst there doesn’t appear to have been an appreciable impact on the sector’s performance from the ‘Beast from the East’ in February, weather-related events may yet have a bearing on the numbers in the coming month however.
Despite this, the data looks more like a temporary wobble than a turn for the worse. Whilst other indicators may have softened since the start of the year, on-going growth in the global economy should continue to spur growth across manufacturing in the coming quarters.
Sterling slipped after the surprise falls in UK manufacturing and construction output in February. The figures will be scrutinised by the Bank of England, which has been widely expected to raise interest rates next month.
Industrial production, which comprises manufacturing, energy and mining, rose 0.1% in February, a sharp slowdown from the 1.3% growth sen in January.


text:
Alarming signs as the global food import bill set to rise to nearly US$2 trillion due to higher prices
11 November 2022, Rome: The world food import bill is estimated to rise to US$1.94 trillion in 2022, higher than previously expected, according to a new report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
The new forecast presented in FAO’s Food Outlook would mark an all-time high and a 10-percent increase over the record level of 2021, although the pace of the increase is expected to slow down in response to higher world food prices and depreciating currencies against the United States dollar. Both weigh on the purchasing power of importing countries and, subsequently, on the volumes of imported food.
The bulk of the increase in the bill is accounted for by high-income countries, due mostly to higher world prices, while volumes are also expected to rise. Economically vulnerable country groups are being more affected by the higher prices. For instance, the aggregate food import bill for the group of low-income countries is expected to remain almost unchanged even though it is predicted to shrink by 10 percent in volume terms, pointing to a growing accessibility issue for these countries.
“These are alarming signs from a food security perspective, indicating importers are finding it difficult to finance rising international costs, potentially heralding an end of their resilience to higher international prices,” the report from FAO’s Markets and Trade Division warns.
The Food Outlook report, which breaks down food trade patterns by food groups, warns that existing differences are likely to become more pronounced, with high-income countries continuing to import across the entire spectrum of food products, while developing regions are increasingly focused on staple foods. In this context, FAO welcomes the approval by the International Monetary Fund of a Food Shock Window – broadly based on FAO’s Food Import Financing Facility proposal – as an important step to ease the burden of soaring food import costs among lower income countries.
The Food Outlook also assesses global expenditures on imported agricultural inputs, including fertilizers. The global input import bill is expected to rise to US$ 424 billion in 2022, up 48 percent from the year before and as much as 112 percent from 2020.
Higher costs for imported energy and fertilizer are behind the foreseen increase. Both are particularly relevant in import bills, posing strains for the current accounts of low-income and lower middle-income countries. As a result, some countries may be forced to reduce input applications, almost inevitably resulting in lower agricultural productivity and lower domestic food availability. “Negative repercussions for global agricultural output and food security” are likely to extend into 2023, according to FAO.
Also Read: Value addition and Value creation need of the hour to make agriculture a profitable venture: Fauja Singh Sarari
(For Latest Agriculture News & Updates, follow Krishak Jagat on Google News)


text:
Get Alerts »
4-year-old boy banned from shop for being "rude"
Icy streets? No problem for these kids in Georgia, who got in a rare game of ice hockey.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided an Orange County warehouse Thursday where they say the owner sold millions of dollars in drug paraphernalia.


text:
The Reserve Bank is expected to release the full list of firms that were granted approvals shortly, the sources added. At least 185 fintech firms — including big names like Cred, Razorpay, and PhonePe — had submitted proposals seeking the licence, ET had reported previously.
Elevate Your Tech Prowess with High-Value Skill Courses
|Northwestern University||Kellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Product Management||Visit|
|Northwestern University||Kellogg Post Graduate Certificate in Digital Marketing||Visit|
|Indian School of Business||ISB Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing||Visit|
|Indian School of Business||ISB Product Management||Visit|
On Friday, fintech startup 1Pay Mobileware said it had also got the RBI nod.
"Companies like Pine Labs and Razorpay are among the leading names that have got the licence, but the broader list is expected to have more names," a person briefed on the matter said.
The firms authorised to operate as payment aggregators will be directly supervised by the RBI. This, industry insiders said, would lead to a more standardised and regulated payments ecosystem.
ET reported on April 23 that the banking regulator was strictly evaluating the entities that had applied for the licence.
Turn: Intense scrutiny
Multiple online payment gateways that were seeking the licence had come under intense scrutiny for know-your-customer (KYC)-related issues, past dealings with cryptocurrency exchanges and gaming apps, as well as for not complying with the minimum net-worth criteria set out by the RBI.
Payment aggregators are expected to have a net worth of Rs 15 crore on the date of their applications or as of March-end 2021, and Rs 25 crore by the end of the ongoing fiscal year (FY23), according to the RBI rules.
The regulator had also quickly informed those companies whose licences had been rejected.
If an application is rejected, merchants have about three months to stop using a payment gateway’s service. However, the RBI also considered extending this time frame to six months, ET had reported.
Earlier this year, the RBI decided to reject the payment aggregator licence of ZaakPay, which runs fintech company MobiKwik, allegedly due to its crypto partnerships and failure to meet the minimum net-worth criteria.
During its presentation with the fintech firms, the RBI had also checked for aspects related to what percentage of the business revenue of the applicants came from unregulated entities such as online betting or crypto exchanges. It also evaluated money-laundering concerns as well as whether these aggregators were compliant with its tokenisation norms.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Learn more about our print editionMore
- ‘eGaming Cos Tax Demand in Line with Legal Stand’
Goods and services tax (GST) tax notices to online gaming companies are in accordance with legal provisions, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said on Thursday, ruling out any immediate review.Abu Dhabi’s IHC Set to Exit Two Adani Cos, Signs Definitive Pact
Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company PJSC (IHC) said on Thursday it is selling its stake in Adani Green Energy and Adani Energy Solutions, less than 18 months after the strategic investment company invested ₹15,400 crore in three Adani group companies.Festive Fever may Light Up Ecomm Sales by 16%
Online sellers, major brands and ecommerce platforms are gearing up for robust sales through the festive season, as the online shopping ecosystem shakes off a relatively muted first half of the year, industry executives said.
ETPrime stories of the day
12 mins read
4 mins read
11 mins read


text: Worldwide shipments of PCs will fall this year by 1.6 per cent to 129.6 million units from last year's figure of 131.7 million units, largely because of sharply lower sales of consumer PCs in the US and Japan, according to a report issued Tuesday by market analyst International Data Corp (IDC). IDC said that poor economic conditions worldwide were the main reason for falling sales, and said it did not expect the release of Microsoft's Windows XP operating system to have a stimulating effect on the market. Instead of the anticipated recovery in the second quarter, consumer PC shipments in the US fell 17 per cent compared to the first quarter. Consumer PC sales in the U.S. this year will reach 14.1 million units, 25 per cent lower than last year's 18.9 million units. Sales of commercial PCs will also fall, by 5.2 per cent to 28 million units from last year's 29.5 million units. This will result in total sales of PCs in the US being 13 per cent lower than last year. IDC said the malaise would continue into next year, with consumer PC shipments falling a further 17.8 per cent in 2002, and commercial PC shipments showing small growth of 2.8 per cent. Overall, IDC expects US PC shipments in 2002 to reach 40.4 million, 17 per cent lower than in 2000. Even in 2003, the overall number of PCs sold in the US will only just be greater than in 1999, IDC said. Outside the U.S., sales of consumer PCs will be flat this year at 30 million, after recording 39 per cent growth from 1999 to 2000. Sales of commercial PCs will rise by 7.8 per cent outside the US this year. Sales growth in the commercial sector is slow as there is a large base of fairly powerful computers installed and a relative lack of processor-hungry applications, so that many businesses are postponing PC upgrades and new purchases, IDC said. The worldwide PC market will rebound next year, thanks to sales in non-US markets, and grow 6.9 per cent to a total of 138.6 million units, IDC said. IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group, the parent company of Digit magazine.


text:
Our label of the month
Cast your vote here!
If you only go out once this month...
No Regular Play's deep, warm and blissy album on Wolf + Lamb
Line-up for WHP 2012 announced
Sound Factory legend talks voguing, Madonna and his European tour
Outlook Festival revs up for another weekend of mind-blowing bass with two new arenas
Above & Beyond are a genuine phenomenon. Arguably the biggest electronic DJing and production collective the UK has ever produced, inspiring almost unimaginable adulation in their fans, they’ve played to nearly a million people in Brazil, sold out the Hollywood Palladium in record time and remixed Madonna.
Now, with a new album in tow, ‘Group Therapy’ — their first under the name since 2006 — these trance giants are about to blow the game apart all over again...
Three Festival Appearance + One Club Show
93 till Infinity rappers team up with Prince Paul for new spring release


text:
The owner of Mosaic Restaurant + Catering is reviving plans to open a restaurant on the site of the former C.W. Westendorff & Son hardware store at the corner of Warren and St. Phillip streets.
The Westendorff, which will anchor a complex including apartments and banquet space, is likely to serve "a healthier take on breakfast all day, lunch and supper" in a diner-style setting. The project shares an architect with Harold's Cabin, another once-beloved downtown retail institution that's in the process of being transformed into a restaurant.
Although a placeholder website references sandwiches and salads, publicist Annie Byrd Hamnett says owner Steven Niketas is just now hiring a chef and conceptualizing the menu.
Niketas four years ago attempted to open a restaurant in the 1916 building, but the ownership group disbanded for personal reasons. This time around, he's partnering with friend Jamie Westendorff, who purchased the property from his parents in 1985. According to the deal worked out last year, Westendorff - who was under pressure from the neighborhood association, City of Charleston and Historic Charleston Foundation to fix up the three-story building -contributed the real estate, while Niketas contributed financing and development. He also agreed to stay on as the restaurant tenant.
Currently, the building is being stabilized: A walk-through proposed to The Post & Courier was postponed for safety reasons. But Hamnett expects The Westendorff to open by early next year.


text:
on 27 Apr 2023
Fitness onboard a superyacht is hot. UK-based Gym Marine wants it to stay that way
A two-week superyacht charter may seem like deprivation for people who are obsessed with their fitness routines. Luckily, stylish, fully kitted out gyms and fitness rooms aboard superyachts are the hot new trend. Gym Marine, founded in 2014 by ex superyacht crew member Edward Thomas, is dedicated to making fitness dreams aboard superyachts a pumped-up reality.
Gym Marine is now coming up on ten years old and a runaway success. Thomas, who says he spent time cleaning and maintaining fitness equipment while working on a Heesen yacht, saw that there was serious demand for fitness aboard yachts.
Gym Marine is now working on 80 projects involving design and installation of gyms or fitness rooms aboard yachts, with 11 of those projects being refitting large superyachts with customised fitness rooms. Some of the yacht projects underway include charter yachts, which may look to Gym Marine for one-off equipment upgrades to match the demands of fitness-obsessed clients.
Perhaps Gym Marine’s most spectacular moment came with the recent launch of Lurssen’s 115m Ahpo, which features a palatial fitness room designed by Gym Marine in tandem with superyacht designers Nuvolari Lenard. Ahpo also has two crew gyms on board.
“Many people who are building a boat, they don’t want to cut and paste basic gym off the shelf. You know they want something which is super, just spoke to them and we are the only company on Earth that can take it to that level and no one else is hand wrapping gym equipment in here,” says Edwards.
One of the biggest indicators of how important the fitness area is becoming to superyacht owners is the place where they are now located. No longer relegated to a lower deck as an afterthought, the fitness area of a superyacht can now be found on the upper decks, enjoying sweeping views. Ahpo’s gym is off the bridge deck, a spot that Edwards says would normally be reserved for a lounge.
“Nowadays, we’ve got these amazing spaces (onboard superyachts),” says Edwards. “Some (owners) realise that you don’t really need endless saloons and TV rooms on these boats, especially if it’s a family-based, private yacht. You want a space to work out with a nice view. You can do a workout, then step outside or jump into the jacuzzi, or have the doors open with the breeze while on the treadmill or doing yoga… that’s really, really increased in popularity.”
While you may be forgiven for thinking that dedicated fitness spaces can only be found onboard megayachts of 60 metres or more, Edwards says he enjoys working on smaller superyachts. He has several clients with yachts in the 40-metre range. Solutions may include foldaway equipment, wall mounted gear, and specialised, multi-purpose equipment.
Gym Marine provides bespoke fitness equipment, including leather bound benches with the yacht’s name and logo stitched into the material. Their services can start at the design stage, when height and spacing decisions are made on the general arrangement, as well as the needs for audio-visual and IT capacity is established. Fitness areas that incorporate indoor and outdoor spaces may require specialty equipment that can be exposed to the elements. Crew also need training on maintenance and care. Edwards says a “white glove” team goes in to do the installation.
Gym Marine has also developed ways to ensure safety aboard a yacht, including a special set of patented fasteners that keep equipment in place on a moving yacht, as well as clever storage and security ideas.
Fitness equipment is normally maintained and serviced by the companies providing the equipment. However, a travelling superyacht may find that it cannot get servicing done because equipment purchased in Italy won’t be covered if the yacht is in France or Fiji. Thomas says Gym Marine has warranty support from deluxe fitness equipment makers to cover the world, in a manner similar to cruise ships.
Fitness equipment has also come a long way from a set of weights and a rowing machine. Thomas says that technology has taken over the fitness industry, with bigger screens on equipment, more applications and more content on demand.
“When I started, cross training was very popular. Now, things are driven by the Peloton revolution,” Thomas says. “I think that the biggest trend now, which is somewhat led by our sector, is with the more luxury take on gym equipment, integrating materials like wood and leather. There’s a wonderful brand that we work, Paragon Studio, which creates bespoke equipment in wood, leather and steel, and it is just absolutely beautiful stuff.”
Meanwhile, Gym Marine continues to expand. The company has 12 people employed at headquarters in the UK, supported by an office in The Netherlands and a new office in Fort Lauderdale, which opened in January 2023. Edwards plans to open another office in Dubai, and he is expanding his service offerings to include design and installation of wellness and spa areas, which are also becoming elements of a superyacht.
The company is also doing fitness areas and training for superyacht crew, who can find themselves at sea for months at a time and could benefit, mentally and physically, from regular exercise. Gym Marine has even been involved with the commercial shipping industry, fitting out tanker ships with fitness spaces for crew.
While it started with Thomas’ desire to push the boundaries of superyacht gyms and fitness areas, most of his projects are now in luxury residential spaces, typically coming from satisfied superyacht clients. With a 10th anniversary party coming up for Gym Marine, the company is looking fit indeed.


text:
Reading for Well-Being
Wellness Collection Opens at UMD Library
Duluth, Minn.- An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but what about a book a day? The folks at the University of Minnesota Duluth’s library think they have the answer.
The library just opened a new Wellness Collection. The aim is to increase awareness of well-being with different health related books.
While the library provides some books, students are able to donate and even recommend books to their peers.
“It’s interesting ’cause people read books and then it has inspired their well-being in some way,” said Rachel Gilbertson, Lifestyle Health Coach at UMD. “Instead of those books sitting on their shelves they get to share those with others, and so it’s really cool to see.”
The books can be checked out for four weeks at a time, and you can find the Wellness Collection on the library’s first floor between the audiobooks and current newspapers.


text:
DragonWave Inc, an Ottawa maker of Ethernet backhaul for wireless carriers, plans to buy the microwave transport business of Nokia Siemens Networks for 10 million euros (about CDN$14 million), plus 5 million euros in DragonWave shares. But if other parts of the deal come to fruition it could mean substantially more for the Canadian comnpany.
The firms said Friday they have signed a deal which would also make DragonWave the preferred supplier to NSN of packet microwave and related products. NSN will continue to market and sell microwave solutions, but DragonWave will now be the manufacturerer and responsible for product development.
As a result, DragonWave becomes closely aligned with a major manufacturer of cellular base stations with access to customers around the world. DragonWave CEO Peter Allen told financial analysts on an conference call the deal could increase the company’s quarterly revenue “four or five fold” to as much as $100 million a quarter.
The deal is subject to regulatory, exchange and third party approvals.
“This relationship is truely transformational for DragonWave,” Allen told analysts. “It strongly positions us as the only independent microwave supplier to have a strategic relationship with a leading 4G base station and global solutions provider.” It gives his company the ability to serve customers who want integrated solutions or best of breed products, he said, and gives it greater global reach.
“Through this strategic relationship, customers would continue to receive high-quality services and sales support from Nokia Siemens Networks, while DragonWave’s best of breed products would ensure they have access to industry leading technology,” Marc Rouanne, head of NSN’s network systems division, said in a release.“Our intention is to capitalize on DragonWave’s proven capabilities for innovative product development and focus on our end-to-end solutions.”
About 360 NSN staffers mainly based in Milan and Shanghai will become DragonWave employees, adding to the 270 employees of the Canadian company.
While DragonWave [TSX: DWI; NASDAQ: DRWI] is paying cash, it is also assuming an equal amount of NSN employee liabilities, and will enter into a capital asset lease arrangement with NSN for 5 million euros. However, there are also hardware and software sales performance based earnouts that could raise the value of the transaction to 80 million euros after four years.
DragonWave said in the release it believes the proposed acquisition and supply agreements will accelerate innovation in backhaul products, supporting world class microwave solutions for mobile operators. The companies aim to complete the planned acquisition and supply agreements in the first quarter of 2012.
Following the proposed acquisition, Nokia Siemens Networks would retain responsibility for its existing solution sales and associated services for microwave transport, while DragonWave would be responsible for the product line, including R&D, product management and operations functions.


text:
In October, Yokohama announced that the company had appointed ex-Pirelli and ex-Prometeon executive Gregorio Borgo as its European president. Roughly nine months later, there are a number of indications that the European business is entering a new chapter, which includes plans to invest in the construction of a factory “in the heart of Europe”.
Michelin remains the world’s leading tyre company by sales turnover, but Bridgestone is close behind in one of three close battles distributed across the table. For the first time, our research ranking market-leading global tyre manufacturers in terms of sales turnover converted into euros, illustrates the impact of recent high-profile acquisitions as well as the ongoing disruption of pandemic on the wider market landscape.
Yokohama Rubber has refreshed its dedicated motorsports website. Both the English and Japanese language versions of the Yokohama Motorsports sites have been given the treatment and now feature full-screen designs. Yokohama says this format “enhances user convenience.”
Although the sales revenue of 185.6 billion yen (£1.2 billion) earned by the Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. in Q1 2022 was the highest figure it ever achieved in the January-to-March quarter and a 28.4 per cent improvement on the result attained a year earlier, the company nonetheless had little cause for celebration by the time rising costs and other complications were factored in. Profit attributable to owners of parent declined 63.5 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2022 to 10.2 billion yen (£64.9 million). Operating profit was, at 13.7 billion yen (£87.1 million), down 62.7 per cent.
Yokohama Rubber and Alps Alpine have jointly developed a technology that automatically detects wear in car tyres. The tyre maker sees potential for this technology in self-driving vehicles and shared mobility fleets.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. has been selected as a constituent stock in the FTSE Blossom Japan Sector Relative Index, an equity index designed to reflect the performance of Japanese companies that demonstrate strong environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.
Yokohama Rubber views motorsport engagement as “crucial” to the development of new tyre technologies for its Advan and Geolandar brands, and this focus is reflected in its motorsports activity plan for 2022. Not only will the company participate in a wide variety of motorsport events in its home market Japan and around the world, from top-level championships to grassroots racing, the tyre maker also intends to begin using its presence in motorsport to further its development of tyres that use renewable and recyclable materials.
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. has decided to promote one of its senior technical executives, Koji Watanabe, and increase his area of responsibility. According to a statement issued by the company on 29 March, the decision took effect from 30 March 2022.
Now Yokohama has confirmed its acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems (TWS), we can talk more definitively about the rationale behind the purchase. There are several drivers behind the acquisition, but they all boil down to Yokohama’s desire to increase global leadership and rebalances its product mix.
Three months after we published the news, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has confirmed that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Swedish-based Trelleborg AB to acquire all outstanding shares of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding AB (TWS). According to Yokohama, TWS’s enterprise value is €2,040 million (about ¥265.2 billion). But the acquisition agreement includes a performance-linked earn-out clause, which could increase the acquisition price by up to €60 million depending on TWS’s 2022 financial results. And therefore Trelleborg refers to the sale as a 2.1 billion euro deal.
Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT) aims to be a top-three player in the global off-highway’ tyre segment and the company hopes that the recent expansion of the Alliance Agri Star II range as well as the performance of its other products will help it reach that goal. Highlighting the 4,000 plus SKUs it already offers, YOHT used the occasion of a virtual briefing to launch the Alliance Agri Star II range in 70, 85, 90 and 95-series fitments. In short, the company launched an additional 12 sizes and shared on-the-ground experiences of farmers as well as the results of recent research.
Japanese tyre manufacturer Yokohama is stopping production at its L.L.C. Yokohama R.P.Z. passenger car tyre factory in Lipetsk, Russia. Yokohama said it will “gradually stop production” in Russia “due to the current problem of raw material procurement”. The company will also donate more than $400,000 to humanitarian relief efforts.


text:
ADA Suit Claims Wal-Mart Checkout Terminals Are Too High for Wheelchair Users
A disability rights group claims in a lawsuit filed on Wednesday that Wal-Mart’s check-out machines are too high for disabled customers using scooters or wheelchairs.
The suit (PDF) filed in San Francisco federal court claims the set-up violates state law and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, report the Recorder, Reuters and the Associated Press. The complaint says disabled customers at some Wal-Mart stores in California can’t complete transactions on the point-of-sale machines unless they give their PIN numbers to cashiers.
The plaintiffs, the Center for Independent Living and two disabled individuals, seek class action status to target all California stores. They are represented by Disability Rights Advocates, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and and the civil rights law firm Lewis Feinberg Lee Renaker & Jackson.
Laurence Paradis, executive director at Disability Rights Advocates, told the Recorder that he’s learning Wal-Mart stores across the country have similar problems, and the ADA claims could eventually be made on a national basis. He hopes the Wal-Mart case will “change the whole industry practice.”
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie said in a statement that the retailer is committed to serving disabled people. “Our goal is that every POS machine be accessible within the regulations and guidelines of the ADA and California law,” she said.


text:
SNOWBIRD, Utah -- The workday at
conference pretty much winds up at 12:30 p.m. -- the better to go skiing (e.g., a jaunt scheduled with Olympic gold medalist Eric Bergoust on Tuesday afternoon) or take a nap until the 6 p.m. cocktail hour.
The only problem with taking full advantage of that rest and recreation is that the nondiligent at the Snowbird ski resort miss fascinating presentations from privately held companies -- ones that look like prime candidates for making big impressions if they turn into IPOs.
Let's start with the story told by
(not to be confused with
). The company wants to be the end-all, be-all directory to legally available digital music on the Web, whether the music's encoded as an MP3 file or in another format.
The company, founded in December 1998, has a few things going for it. It has pedigree financing, starting with an early investment round that included
CEO Halsey Minor, and heavy music-industry backing.
"To our knowledge, we're the first company in history to be backed by all five major record companies," said CEO Rob Reid.
Listen.com's revenue comes from advertising, including record-industry promotion of artists and music on the site. But some day off in the future, it hopes to get big bucks from a cut of the purchase price when Listen.com users end up buying music they found through the site. And, as Reid's tour through the site demonstrated, it's a well-organized, smartly executed guide to online music.
But the most interesting part of Reid's tale was the history lesson he taught about the early days of investing in the commercialized Internet -- and the parallels one could draw to the nascent online music market. Back in 1994 and 1995, he said, Wall Street tried to figure out where the money was on the Net. Was it in software, companies like
? Or was it in content companies such as
No, Reid said, people finally realized that money was to be made in search and directory companies that organized a near-infinite amount of cheap or free content. That meant
back then -- and Listen.com now.
Well, if Yahoo!-izing the music business is such a great idea, what's to stop someone else from taking on Listen.com?
"It's not impossible," Reid said. But he said that, as with Yahoo!, competitors are intimidated by what's required to catch up -- listening to music and adding entries to a database one by one. "There's a high perceptive barrier to entry when human labor is involved," he said.
Lycos Telling Lies?
COO Ted Philip make the "Huh?!" comment of the day Tuesday when he asserted that
didn't have a multibrand strategy until January, when it announced it was buying
and all the others acquired by AOL? Didn't they count for anything?
Philip likely got caught up in the excitement of the moment as he talked about Lycos' success with its own multibrand strategy -- building traffic to its big Lycos,
sites, then funneling traffic to new sites that it adds to the family. In January, for instance, traffic at
, two sites Lycos acquired in December, rose 36% and 40%, respectively, from December.
Meanwhile, Philip couldn't help commenting that Lycos has been able to keep its sales and marketing expenses under control -- for example, exchanging promotional activity, not paying cash, to have model
in a TV ad. "We've been able to do more with less," he said.
On Tuesday, Lycos closed up 2 1/8, or 3.1%, to 67 1/8. The stock was already higher before Philip's presentation began, thanks to a Web software deal that the company announced with
before the market opened.
Figuring Out Online Retailing
If you had any doubts that online retailing is a fiendishly complex business for anyone involved, Tuesday's panel discussion of Internet retailers would have laid that to rest.
talked about what their companies did well, or were about to do well, but the difficulties they faced peeked through.
For online affiliates of off-line retailers, working with the parent company seems to be the hot button. "Like many of our relationships with our parents, it's very mixed and complex," said Dan Nordstrom, president and CEO of
. Well, at least he didn't have to sign the parent-child equivalent of a prenuptial agreement, which is what BlueLight.com, a venture of Kmart and
Softbank Venture Capital
, seemingly had to do. BlueLight.com CEO Mark Goldstein said it took three or four months to create a business model that worked, and BlueLight.com and Kmart ended up writing a 4-inch thick document detailing how BlueLight.com would be operating with Kmart.
The other big challenge for the retailers, they said, was the need to constantly update software to keep the shopping experience on the cutting edge. Amazon.com President Joe Galli referred to his company as a software factory, while Nordstrom said that his firm was half retailer, half software-development company.
But Tony Surtees, general manager of Yahoo!'s commerce group, cautioned against breaking down one's business like that. "Our biggest concern is adding value in a real sense by making ourselves more relevant to users and merchants," he said. "The total customer experience can't be split into pieces ... It's like the weakest link."


text:
Local Jersey Mike's stores donating profits to Northern Illinois Hospice
ROCKFORD (WREX) -
Two Rockford-area Jersey Mike's Subs stores are teaming up on Wednesday, March 27 to give back.
The stores, located at 6284 East State in Rockford and 1513 West Lane Road in Machesney Park, will donate 100 percent of their sales on Wednesday to Northern Illinois Hospice and Grief Center. The goal is to raise between $7,000 and $8,000.
Jersey Mike's stores are open until 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
Persons with disabilities who need assistance with issues relating to the content of this station's public inspection file should contact Administrative Assistant Trista Truesdale at (815) 335-7856. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, at 888-835-5322 (TTY) or at email@example.com.


text:
A.R. Rahman, who celebrated his 43rd birthday on Tuesday launched Nokia’s music phone Nokia 5800 in an amid fanfare. A.R. Rahman has been associated with Nokia for several years now.
A.R. Rahman has composed an entire album ‘Connections’ for Nokia which is preloaded in this phone and three other models in the XpressMusic series.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone was launched worldwide last year and was launched in rest of India a couple of days back. Today, the phone was launched in South India. The highlight of this phone is its touch technology combined with all the features required for a music phone.
Priced at Rs 21,899, the phone is equipped with high resolution 3.2 inch display and stereo speakers with surround sound. It comes with 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash and has 8GB expandable memory.


text:
The hype surrounding mobile coupons and promotional barcodes this year may leave many advertisers worrying that they are way behind in this emerging form of marketing. But a new report finds that while consumers are warming to offers delivered via cell phone, technical hurdles and a limited audience mean that mobile coupons need not be an immediate priority for companies.
Instead of pushing for a widespread rollout in 2010, marketers should be laying the groundwork for a mobile coupon strategy by testing approaches that tie into current loyalty programs and promotions, according to the Forrester Research study titled "Mobile Coupons: Gold Rush or Fool's Gold?"
One factor that is encouraging advertisers to offer mobile coupons is the appeal they hold for consumers. Forrester says more than half of U.S. mobile customers are aware that they can request or use a coupon on their phones. Driving user interest are factors including higher-value promotions (not just 10 cents off a can of soup), exclusive mobile deals, and automated delivery that makes finding mobile coupons much easier than in the past.
Even so, only 3% of mobile consumers to date have asked for a coupon, and only another 3% have actually used one, according to Forrester.
For advertisers, mobile coupons remain attractive because they are cheaper to deliver and process than traditional paper ones, and give them a way to reach younger consumers (ages 18 to 24) who tend to be heavy users of mobile data services, but not necessarily coupons. They also allow companies to target people based on time and location -- like offering a last-minute deal to an in-store shopper.
In addition, many marketers believe that the growing use of more sophisticated phones will inevitably make using mobile coupons a mainstream activity, so they will have to jump in. Toward that end, Target last week announced the launch of scannable mobile coupons that can be redeemed at checkout at its stores across the country. Other major retailers such as JCPenney have also begun rolling out mobile offers.
But Forrester lays out some of the challenges facing marketers that are eager to catch up with companies like Target in coupon technology. In addition to the still-tiny user base, the firm points out that while most phones can download applications, not all can display readable bar codes or access the Web for updated promotions.
Furthermore, coupon apps may work on only a few mobile platforms, and even people who have downloaded these programs may not end up as regular users of the service.
For big-box stores and retailers like Target, McDonald's or CVS, with thousands of physical retail locations, enabling mobile coupons is a costly investment that might require new equipment like optical scanners as well as employee training and expanded advertising. And despite the lure of convenience, there is also the chance that mobile coupons could actually slow the checkout process if reading a bar code requires a cashier and customer to hand a phone back and forth while going through coupons one at time.
To help smooth the transition to mobile coupons, Forrester analyst Julie Ask advises marketers to consider different approaches from simple SMS text delivery to barcodes that mimic print ads to downloadable apps, which are more versatile than other options but lack wide distribution. The report also suggests that companies focus on convenience by linking mobile coupon wallets to existing loyalty cards and POS (point-of-sale) systems for easier storage and redemption.
Capitalizing on the digital nature of mobile coupons is also key. When it comes to expiration dates, for example, "one opportunity for marketers is to leverage the information on coupons to send alerts to 'use them or lose them'," states the report.


text:
January 4, 2008
Forgiveness Project Wine-Tasting Fundraiser Tuesday, January 8
On Tuesday, January 8, from 5-8:30 p.m., Eugene wine retailer WineStyles will host a fundraising event in support of the Forgiveness Project. The event will be held at the WineStyles store at 2846 Willamette Street. The cost is $9.99; 50% of all ticket sales will be donated to The Forgiveness Project.


text:
Dallas-based cataloger/retailer The Neiman Marcus Group (NYSE: NMG.A) on May 2 agreed to be acquired by Texas Pacific Group and c for $100 per share in cash, or $5.1 billion. Texas Pacific and Warburg Pincus will own an equal stake in the company upon the transaction’s close, which is expected to be Nov. 1.
Neiman Marcus, which on March 16 had announced it retained Goldman Sachs to explore strategic alternatives, operates the Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman upscale department stores and Horchow gifts catalog. The company’s direct marketing segment includes the print catalog and online operations of Neiman Marcus and Horchow, and the Bergdorf Goodman Website.
It’s expected that the new owners will keep existing Neiman Marcus management intact and run the business as a stand-alone entity, says Owen Blicksilver, company spokesperson for Fort Worth, TX, and San Francisco based Texas Pacific Group. Neiman’s unique status and its tremendous following were attractive to the equity investor, he says. What’s more, Blicksilver adds, Neiman’s “demographics support future sales growth.”
Neiman Marcus, whose fiscal year ends July 31, reported total company revenue of $3.5 billion for 2004, compared with $3.1 billion the previous year. Neiman Marcus Direct totaled sales of $571 million, compared with $493 million last year. Neiman also has majority stakes in accessories-maker Kate Spade and Gurwitch Products, which manufactures Laura Mercier cosmetics.
Craig Battle, managing director for Princeton, NJ-based investment bank Tucker Alexander, says the transaction goes beyond the catalog world. “It speaks to the consolidation of the major retailers. The private equity guys love Neiman Marcus because its high-end brand with cache,” he says. The deal itself “is more evidence that investing is back in the retail and direct to consumer marketplace,” Battle says.
It’s no surprise that the private equity players are going after the larger public companies,” says Mal Appelbaum, president of New York–based financial consultancy Appletree Advisors. “In the move to raise larger and larger investment funds, the private equity players have to do larger deals. It’s a continuation of an overall market trend.” We’ll continue to see more of these “club deals” where two or more private equity players team up on a deal to acquire a business, says Appelbaum. For instance, a trio of private equity firms acquired gifts and gadgets Nashua, NH-based cataloger/retailer Brookstone on April 15.
Texas Pacific Group, which is perhaps best known for owning New York-based apparel cataloger/retailer J. Crew, manages more than $15 billion in assets across a range of industries, including investments in Petco, Debenhams, Burger King, Ducati, and Continental Airlines.
Warburg Pincus has approximately $13 billion under management and invests in a range of industries including information and communication technologies, financial services, healthcare, leveraged buy outs, and special situations, media and business services, energy, and real estate.


text:
Nashville food producers broke records when quarantine began. Now, they're at a 'standstill.'
Ric Ousley started making salsa in the 1980s because nothing he could buy was hot enough to satisfy his "pepperhead" cravings. Benny Marshall makes cobblers using an "old world" recipe from his great-grandmother. Karen Bess made her first jars of jelly as wedding gifts for friends.
"When people think about foods to eat in Nashville or any other city, the first thing that comes to mind is the restaurants," said Bess, owner of Honey Child Jellies. "There are so many people out here doing some really creative businesses that have to do with food that don't connect to a restaurant or a grocery store."
For many of Nashville's small food businesses, 2020 has been the best sales year ever. With restaurants shuttered thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans have turned to local creators selling everything from spreads to pies to tortillas to break out of their normal routine.
"We just killed it at the farmers' market," said Marshall, owner of Cobbler Creations. "Our worst day this year was like our best day last year."
As regulations for businesses and restaurants have relaxed – and as Americans have eased off from the panic-buying days of the spring – sales have gone back to normal for most food producers. Throw in the financial burdens caused by the March tornadoes and a business world turned upside down by the pandemic, and many of those businesses are now stagnating.
"March and April, my grocery store sales went up about 70%, but since then, it's leveled back down," said Tom Bailey of Prof. Bailey's Pimento Cheese. "Now that it's back to normal, we're treading water at best."
Like many area food producers, Bailey sources his product using cheese, peppers and onions from local farmers. Part of that's practical, as small businesses don't have access to large food suppliers like Sysco or US Foods. Most producers, though, pride themselves on using the freshest ingredients from local farmers.
After tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee in March, many of those farmers ceased production for months.
"The tornado knocked out my two main suppliers, and so, until the end of July, I was having everything I used shipped in from Louisville," Bailey said. "I was basically operating at a loss for all that time."
For Bess, who lives on Holly Street in East Nashville, the tornadoes created a more immediate problem. Her house and her kitchen at East End United Methodist Church were "decimated," meaning she's had to restore both her business and her home simultaneously.
"With the tornado happening, my business was at a standstill," Bess said. "I had to find a new commercial kitchen. We are still dealing with construction companies and insurance trying to get our house back to normal."
Small food businesses got a boost from an unlikely source in March: the COVID-19 pandemic. With practically all restaurants and entertainment venues shuttered, Nashvillians flocked to farmers' markets to find new foods to explore.
"God is so good to me," said Alice Salazar Heffernan of Santo Nino de Atocha Tortilleria. "He doubled my sales."
Bess called the farmer's market bump a stroke of luck at a much-needed time. For producers like Bailey, who wholesale their products to grocery stores, there was an even bigger bump: American grocery sales shot up almost 27% from February to March, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"2020, to us, it's been the greatest year ever," said Ousley, who sells Ousley's Ouch Salsa at Nashville-area Whole Foods stores. "Our sales have gone way up because everybody has to be quarantined, and everybody's cooking at home, so everybody is buying stuff."
Even from a strictly financial perspective, the pandemic has brought new challenges. Bess said that adopting COVID-safe delivery for her supplies has raised production costs by 15 cents per jar of jelly. Bailey estimated that his cheese costs have increased by 60%, and he said he spends more time than ever searching for new suppliers.
And while the quarantined-induced sales bump has carried these producers through a tumultuous summer, it hasn't lasted through the fall. A Nielsen study found that while American retailers saw food and beverage sales grow 31% in March 2020 compared to 2019, that growth fell to 11.5% in August.
"The pandemic, in terms of things going out the door, hasn't been that bad, but the cost of everything has gone up significantly," Bailey said. "We're all scrambling to try and just hold our own."
It's especially frustrating for business owners like Marshall, who originally planned to expand his frozen cobbler business regionally at the start of the year. When the year began, he was in talks with financiers to become the "Colonel Sanders" of frozen cobbler by expanding sales to stores like Publix, Kroger and Whole Foods beyond the Nashville area.
"We were sitting on 'Go' in March, and you know what happened," he said. "Can't win for losing, sometimes."
Bailey had hoped to stop selling at farmers' markets and focus entirely on wholesaling from 2020 on. After such a chaotic year, he's only just now refiling paperwork to expand sales with Whole Foods.
"The main effect is that the business isn't growing," Bailey said. "A couple of people have just up and quit, but not nearly as bad as with restaurants."
Both Bailey and Marshall left stable office jobs to break into the food industry. So what's kept them around during a year of chaos and unpredictability?
"It sounds hokey as crap, but when someone goes, 'Here's my favorite pimento cheese,' that actually is kind of thrilling," Bailey said. "I suppose it's like a grandmother watching their child get a tiara at a beauty contest or something."
For many, the rapidly approaching new year represents the prospect of stability and even growth. Bailey and Marshall want to put their expansion plans back in action. Ousley is perfectly happy keeping his products on shelves in Middle Tennessee.
Bess said her goal is just to make it until 2021, when she hopes there will be progress on a COVID-19 vaccine and more ways for customers to shop safely.
"I am hopeful, because the alternative is kind of not acceptable," Bess said.
Cole Villena covers business at The Tennessean, part of the USA Today Network — Tennessee. Reach Cole at firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow Cole on Twitter at @ColeVillena.


text:
Sony Corp. plans to enter the nonlife insurance business in the latter half of 1999, the firm said Wednesday.
In preparation, Sony established a company for its new business the same day and said it plans to apply for a license early next year. “We hope to utilize the marketing ability we have obtained through sales of our audiovisual products, life insurance and credit cards,” a Sony spokesman said.
The electronics giant already sells life insurance through subsidiary Sony Life Insurance Co., which was set up in 1979. Within the group, another financial firm, Sony Finance International Co., conducts Sony’s lease and credit card businesses.
Having financial companies will assure the group of stable revenues in the long run, the spokesman said. Instead of using insurance agents, Sony plans to directly sell nonlife insurance products such as auto insurance by telephone or the Internet to reduce operational costs.
To make its products competitive, it will also offer discount premium rates for policyholders who have no prior accidents. Sony’s announcement came as Japan’s auto insurance premium rates were liberalized Wednesday.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.


text:
Facebook is well known for stealing every shred of privacy you have as a user, and then turning and selling your data to as many bidders as possible. This is mostly done through Facebook’s advertising offerings where they target you, the Facebook user, relentlessly in the hopes that you purchase the goods their advertisers are shilling.
With this complete lack of privacy (and in many cases, lack of security) in mind you may find it odd that Mark Zuckerberg values his personal privacy very much. How much? Some would consider his efforts to achieve a private life a bit extreme. His recent efforts to secure his own privacy while piercing yours is highlighted in an extravagant move. Mark Zuckerberg decided he wanted more privacy. So what did he do? In an unusual move, he bought his neighbors houses to get this privacy.
The founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg decided to buy the 4 houses neighboring his property in Palo Alto, CA, to get more privacy. The houses he bought ran him over $30 million, including a $14 million home next door.
This unusual move to buy surrounding houses is not unprecedented, as Larry Page did the same a few years ago to expand a mansion. However, Zuckerberg chose to buy the houses for extra privacy.
Reportedly Zuckerberg decided to make the move after learning developers were purchasing homes near Zuckerberg’s and using that fact as a marketing ploy. He began purchasing other houses in December, and he plans to lease the recently purchased homes to their former residents.
Many people want privacy and have trouble getting it, and Zuckerberg is no exception. The difference is Zuckerberg loves to tear your privacy to shreds, and uses a portion of the money he gets thrashing your privacy, to secure his own. We’re willing to bet this isn’t the last extreme move Zuckerberg takes to secure his own personal privacy.
Join our list
Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox.


text:
UK Tourists Increasingly Look to China
There has been a huge rise in travel searches relating to China from the United Kingdom, according to a survey by a leading global travel search engine Skyscanner.
Flight searches for China from UK rose by 136 percent over the year, the largest recorded rise.
China is now the fourth most popular long-haul destination for UK tourists.
According to China National Tourism Administration, the number of British tourists in the first half of 2013 was 304,600.
Bao Yi, Skyscanner's general manager for Greater China, said: "British tourists are more adventurous than before, and are showing more interest in China. China is on its way to becoming the first choice as a long-haul destination for the British."
Recommended China Guide:
About Our Company
China Travel Resources
What Our Customers Say
Thank you so much for organizing the Tour for us - my Boss loved it!!!
All went well - actually much better than I thought it would be.
The tour guide Lucy (Ling Ling) was simply amazing - what a wonderful lovable and knowledgeable person!!!!
She took care of us in the most perfect way.
Read more testimonials...


text:
Free pancakes are coming back to IHOP for the eighth year in a row this week. On the night of Tuesday, Feb. 5 (AKA National Pancake Day to those in the know), the chain will be distributing free plates of IHOP pancakes to all diners between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
IHOP's free pancake giveaway is designed to lure customers into the chain's 1500-plus locations to get them to donate money to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals ("and other unspecified local charities") for the pediatric cancer center's 30th birthday. IHOP hopes that its free pancake-based fundraising will generate a total of at least $3 million for sick kids.
CORRECTION: This post has been revised to reflect the fact that the free pancake offer starts at 7 a.m., not 7 p.m.