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The morning Walmart announced raise increases for its employees and expanded benefits for full-time workers, several Sam's Club employees around the country found themselves without a job without notice on Thursday. Reports are flooding in of Sam's Club closings across the country, including several stores in the Houston and San Antonio area.
The locations of the Sam's Club closings in the Houston area are, so far, the store on the South Loop that's across from NRG Park and the store on Westheimer at Eldridge Parkway, according to KHOU. The news outlet noticed that a new store in New Caney was taken down from the Sam's Club website, though the outlet has not yet confirmed the closing of that location. Employees notified KHOU with reports that the stores closed without notice and "they only learned of the closure as they arrived for work early Thursday."
Shortly after KHOU's announcement, the San Antonio Express-News revealed that a Sam's Club location on the North Side of San Antonio was also closed on Thursday morning, January 11. The Sam's Club location on San Pedro Avenue will follow suit, closing permanently on January 26. The location at the North Side is temporarily closed today, but will reopen Friday, January 12.
Concerned customers took to Twitter to question the brand, and Sam's Club responded with a tweet of their own, stating, "After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we've decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy. Closing subs is never easy and we're committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition."
After a thorough review of our existing portfolio, we've decided to close a series of clubs and better align our locations with our strategy. Closing clubs is never easy and we're committed to working with impacted members and associates through this transition.
— Sam's Club (@SamsClub) January 11, 2018
Further, Texas is not the only state where the closures occured. Nationwide, local news outlets in Texas, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Georgia, New York, Illinois, Maryland, and Tennessee are reporting immediate closures. It seems that few employees were notified before the closings, as the outcry from social media has begun pouring in.
This Facebook comment from an employee responding to the news seems to tell it all.
Sam's Club stores tend to employee about 150 people. Walmart spokeswoman Anne Hatfield assured news outlets that employees at closed locations will be offered available positions at area Sam's Club and Walmart locations, and will receive compensation for at least 60 days following Thursday's immediate closures.
The Full List of Closures
Business Insider compiled a full list of the stores closing immediately as of Thursday morning.
- 8801 Old Seward Hwy, Anchorage, AK 99515
- 69 Pavilions Dr, Manchester, CT 06042
- 355 FL-436, Fern Park, FL 32730
- 5135 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33611
- 2994 Turner Hill Rd, Lithonia, GA 30038
- 460 S Weber Rd, Romeoville, IL 60446
- 3015 W 86th St, Indianapolis, IN 46268
- 10859 E Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46229
- 4024 Elkhart Rd #1, Goshen, IN 46526
- 9598 Cortana Pl, Baton Rouge, LA 70815
- 9750 Reisterstown Rd, Owings Mills, MD 21117
- 81 International Dr S, Budd Lake, NJ 07828
- 2649 Erie Blvd E, Syracuse, NY 13224
- 720 Fairmount Ave, Jamestown, NY 14701
- 700 Elmridge Center Dr, Rochester, NY 14626
- 1600 Marketplace Dr, Rochester, NY 14623
- 4825 Marburg Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45209
- 9570 Fields Ertel Rd, Loveland, OH 45140
- 1805 Getwell Rd, Memphis, TN 38111
- 1615 S Loop W, Houston, TX 77054
- 13331 Westheimer Rd, Houston, TX 77077
- 901 S Grady Way, Renton, WA 98057
- 1101 Outlet Collection Way, Auburn, WA 98001
- 13550 Aurora Ave N, Seattle, WA 98133
To follow as they update the list, check out their report on the closures.
The Walmart Pay Increase
— Walmart Newsroom (@WalmartNewsroom) January 11, 2018
On January 11, the morning of the closing, Walmart announced it would raise starting wages for U.S. store workers and offer employee bonuses following the tax cuts in Washington, as reported by CBS News. The Bentonville, Arkansas retailer detailed plans to raise the starting wage for employees from $9 to $11 per hour, along with offering some employees bonuses totaling up to $1,000.
Those employees include both full- and part-time hourly associates that have been with the company for 20 years or more. As CBS News reported, the new wages will begin on February 17, 2018 and will apply to hourly associates at U.S. stores, Sam's Clubs, logistics and Home Office. The company is also granting 10 weeks maternity leave, along with six weeks paid parental leave to full-time hourly associates. This also includes leave for parents who adopt. Walmart will also contribute $5,000 to the cost of adoption for eligible employees.
However, this news of pay increases seems to be overshadowed by the outpouring of closure reports for Sam's Clubs locations across the country. While six states are reporting closures so far, we'll continue to keep this story updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published on January 11, 2018.
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HAYWARD — When Renee Rettig first stepped into the The Book Shop in downtown Hayward back in 1995, the San Leandro native was looking for her first full-time job during a summer break from college.
In the nearly 21 years since then, she has become the most visible face of the bookstore on B Street and has greeted almost everyone who has walked through its doors.
“I really thought I was just going to have a moment in time here, and then I saw what it could teach me — to be open to new ideas and every kind of person,” Rettig, now the bookstore’s manager, said Monday at the shop just below the historic Green Shutter Hotel.
“It is the most diverse spectrum of Hayward; it’s my adopted home,” she said.
Plans in the works to possibly relocate the book shop to another part of the building have ignited concerns from longtime customers and residents who fear that Red Bridge Partners SF, the San Francisco-based developer renovating the hotel, will displace the longtime business.
But Red Bridge founding partner Jeff Jurow said that is not the case.
“I have been very clear with the city in both closed-door sessions, so to speak, with the city manager, economic development department and even some council members that it is our desire to see the bookstore remain as a tenant at the Green Shutter,” Jurow said Monday in an interview.
“Now, there are of course no guarantees because they need to be able to pay rent … but we’re not seeking to even ask them to pay more rent. We’re not trying to squeeze them in any way, shape or form, because I would like to preserve them as a tenant,” he said.
But that has not stopped customers and residents from stopping by The Book Shop, or spreading the word on social media and by word of mouth, in the nearly two weeks since Jurow visited the bookstore and asked one of the four owners about potentially relocating the store to the Main Street side of the building.
“It’s wonderful how people are reaching out and really wanting to make a difference, and they have been heard,” Rettig said.
“Every City Council member is being flooded with communications asking, ‘What are you doing?’ So we don’t want this to additionally villainize them (Red Bridge Partners), because they’re in a position to financially be of service, maybe help relocate us outside of the building and ensure that we’re going to have a very positive outcome,” she said.
The city Planning Commission in April approved plans to convert the former residential hotel into 41 studio and one-bedroom apartments. The Green Shutter, built in 1920 in two phases, is on the National Registry of Historic Places but the single-room occupancy hotel gained a reputation in recent years for seedy tenants and structural disrepair.
The relocation proposal is primarily being floated to address “extensive construction, seismic improvement, plumbing, electrical and basically, major building systems work that needs to be done in The Book Shop space, and it is not feasible to keep them operating during that time,” Jurow said.
That proposal would call for Red Bridge Partners to build a new, permanent space for The Book Shop on the Main Street side of the Green Shutter Hotel.
“At this point, it’s still open for discussion. I’m open to them saying, ‘Look, we’d rather be further south on Main Street or closer to the corner (of B Street),’ ” Jurow said.
The Book Shop is operating on a month-to-month lease and paying a “below-market rate” for its retail space, he said.
A closed-door, Nov. 30 meeting was planned with city leaders, Jurow and The Book Shop owners to discuss the proposal, although the outcome was not available by press time.
The new-and-used bookstore itself actually dates back to April 1960, when its original owners, Virginia and Ken MacKenzie, opened The Book Shop shortly after retiring in a small downtown Hayward home at 22554 Main St. that was converted into a shop, Rettig said.
After being in that location for nearly three decades, the MacKenzies relocated The Book Shop to 982 B St. in a ground-floor commercial space now occupied by Megan’s Nail Salon.
They later sold the business in May 1989 to Hank Maschal, who, as the story goes, walked in The Book Shop earlier that year and asked the couple for a book on how to start a used bookstore.
He later moved The Book Shop into its current location, a former Rexall Drugstore, in 1992.
“What I love is where we’re standing, which is where the pharmacy counter used to be,” Rettig said as she stood next to the bookstore’s check-out area.
“We get to dispense the prescriptions now for the soul in the shop,” she said.
When the time came for Maschal to retire, he passed the torch to four longtime customers, Carl and Marilyn Baker-Madsen, and Alison and Sherman Lewis, who took over The Book Shop in July 2009.
“I think it is the intellectual and spiritual heartbeat of our downtown community,” Rettig said.
“It has made me a better person, it has made me who I am, and it makes people feel better, so it is an essential, symbiotic relationship; that’s why the book shop must remain in Hayward,” she said.
Contact Darin Moriki at 510-293-2480 or follow him at Twitter.com/darinmoriki.

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For Immediate Release:October 16, 2018
Average consumer expected spending to be up over last year’s previous record-high, with 175 million Americans expected to participate & $9 billion spent overall; the Sunshine State’s new favorite candy is Snickers, followed by Skittles and Reese’s Cups
TALLAHASSEE, FL –The Florida Retail Federation (FRF), the state’s premier trade association representing retailers for more than 80 years, announced today that consumer spending on Halloween is expected to be near record-highs with the average person spending more than $86, up slightly from last year. Total spending nationally on Halloween is expected to reach $9 billion.
“With Florida’s economy surging and numerous statewide economic indicators remaining positive, we expect another strong year for spending on Halloween candy, costumes, decorations and other themed purchases,” said FRF President and CEO R. Scott Shalley. “This should mean another robust sales opportunity for retailers who market their goods and scare enough consumers into their stores.”
Additionally, the candy favorited most by Floridians changed this year with Snickers beating out last year’s winner Skittles followed by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, according to candystore.com. This year, more than 661,000 pounds of Snickers will be bought in Florida, including 579,000 pounds of Skittles and 214,000 pounds of Reese’s Cups. The top five favorite candies nationally are Skittles, M&Ms, Snickers, Reese’s Cups and Starburst
According to a recent survey done by FRF’s national partners at the National Retail Federation, spending for Halloween is expected to reach $9 billion, the second highest in the survey’s 14-year history. The figure is relatively the same as last year’s previous record of $9.1 billion. Celebrants are planning to spend an average of $86.79, up from last year’s $86.13, with more than 175 million Americans planning to partake in Halloween festivities this year.
According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.2 billion on costumes (purchased by 68 percent of Halloween shoppers), $2.7 billion on decorations (74 percent), $2.6 billion on candy (95 percent) and $400 million on greeting cards (35 percent).
Among Halloween celebrants, 70 percent plan to hand out candy, 50 percent will decorate their home or yard, 48 percent will wear costumes, 45 percent will carve a pumpkin, 32 percent will throw or attend a party, 30 percent will take their children trick-or-treating, 21 percent will visit a haunted house and 18 percent will dress pets in costumes.
Pet costumes continue to gain popularity, with nearly 20 percent of celebrants planning to dress their pets in costumes this year up from last year’s 16 percent.
When looking for inspiration for the perfect costume, 35 percent of consumers will look online, 29 percent will look in stores, 19 percent will ask friends and family, 19 percent will look to Pinterest and 16 percent will look to Facebook; 16 percent will be influenced by pop culture and 15 percent by YouTube.
For buying costumes and other Halloween supplies, 45 percent of shoppers will visit discount stores and 35 percent will go to a specialty Halloween store or costume store. In addition, 25 percent will visit department stores, 24 percent will buy online and 24 percent in grocery/supermarket stores.
Top Costumes for Kids
More than 3.8 million children plan to dress as their favorite princess character, 2.5 million as their favorite superhero, 2.2 million as Batman characters, 1.9 million as their favorite Star Wars characters, and another 1.9 million will dress as a witch.
Most Popular Costumes for Kids
- Princess 7.6%
- Superhero 4.9%
- Batman 4.3%
- Star Wars character 3.7%
- Witch 3.6%
- Spider-Man 3.5%
- Avengers character (except Spider-Man) 3.2%
- Ghost 2.9%
- Pirate 2.0%
- Frozen (Elsa, Anna) 1.7%
Top Costumes for Adults
Halloween continues to be popular for adults as well, with half of celebrants (48 percent) planning to dress in costume this year. More than 7.2 million adults plan to dress as a witch, 2.5 million as a vampire, 2.1 million as a zombie, 1.9 million as a pirate, 1.3 million as their favorite Avengers characters such as Iron Man or Black Panther.
Most Popular Costumes for Adults
- Witch 10.7%
- Vampire 3.7%
- Zombie 3.1%
- Pirate 2.9%
- Avengers character (except Spider-Man) 2.0%
- Batman 2.0%
- Star Wars character 1.9%
- Ghost 1.8%
- Super hero 1.8%
- Clown 1.6%
- Wonder Woman 1.5%
Top Costumes for Pets
Pet lovers will also be dressing up their cat or dog for Halloween. Eleven percent of pet lovers will dress their animal in a pumpkin costume, while 7 percent will dress their cat or dog as a hot dog, 5 percent as a bumble bee and 3 percent as the devil.
Most Popular Costumes for Pets
- Pumpkin 11.2%
- Hot dog 7.4%
- Bumble bee 4.9%
- Devil 3.2%
- Cat 3.1%
- Dog 3.1%
- Lion 2.9%
- Star Wars character 2.8%
- Super hero 2.7%
- Ghost 2.5%
ABOUT THE FLORIDA RETAIL FEDERATION
The Florida Retail Federation is the statewide trade association representing retailers -- the businesses that sell directly to consumers. Florida retailers provide one out of every five jobs in the state, pay more than $49 billion in wages annually, and collect and remit more than $20 billion in sales taxes for Florida’s government each year.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association. Based in Washington, D.C., NRF represents discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries. Retail is the nation’s largest private-sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.6 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.


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Apple's Vice President of Education John Couch on Friday sat down with Turkish President Abdullah GÃ¼l in a meeting covering a possible education initiative worth $4.5 billion, as well as the incorrect layout of the Turkish "F-keyboard."
According to Turkish blog Ima Dergisi, Couch was joined by other Apple executives in his meeting with President GÃ¼l, which reportedly focused on an educational initiative to put up to 15 million iPads in the hands of Turkey's young students.
Worth some $4.5 billion, the tablet program has Apple pushing for a contract, but a deal has yet to be reached as the parties negotiate further. While not the main topic of discussion, the layout of the Turkish "F-keyboard," which has a number of keys set in the wrong position, was also mentioned.


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China: DVD Piracy Not an Olympic Sport15 Jul, 2008 By: Erik Gruenwedel
With less than four weeks remaining until the opening of 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, China is apparently clamping down on the availability of pirated DVD movies throughout the capital city.
Officials say they will institute 24-hour patrols over a 100-day period looking for street vendors, businesses and storefronts hawking bootlegged theatrical releases of such blockbusters as Iron Man and Kung Fu Panda, among others, according to a report in China Press and Publishing Journal.
“Strike hard against all kinds of pirate copies violating rights and against illegal publishing activities,” the report said. “Go all out to create a healthy cultural market environment for the Beijing Olympic Games.”
The Beijing Games run from Aug. 8-27.
Filmed illegally in theaters with a hidden video camera and then burned to a disc, the pirated DVDs sell for as little as $1.50.
China ranks among the worst offenders in protecting intellectual copyrights such a DVD movies, books and music. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) says that U.S. studios lose about $1.2 billion annually to pirated DVDs in the Asia/Pacific region.
Reports say nearly 90% of all packaged media sold in China is pirated.
Last year, that region's MPAA office investigated more than 32,000 cases of piracy and conducted more than 13,000 in cooperation with local officials. The raids netted more than 31 million illegal DVDs, 40 factory disc replication lines and 6,400 DVD disc burners.
An MPAA representative was not immediately available for comment.


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- ISIL creates all-female brigade to terrorize women into following Sharia law
- ISTOOK: Obama wants to be impeached
- Obama to Latin leaders: Help with border
- Military bans troops from Baptist church event honoring ‘God’s Rescue Squad’
- ‘Pocket drones’: U.S. Army developing tiny surveillance tools for the next big war
- Belgian cafe posts sign: Dogs allowed, but Jews stay out
- Gen. Dempsey: Pentagon studying Russian readiness plans not viewed ‘for 20 years’
- John McCain: Botched, two-hour execution of murderer is ‘torture’
- House GOP ready to move border bill
- Bomb squad called after live WWII artillery washes on Cape Cod beach
T-Mobile jumps into music streaming with ‘unRadio’
Question of the Day
SEATTLE (AP) - T-Mobile is jumping into the music streaming game with a price and a package of features that set it apart.
At its “Un-carrier” event Wednesday, the fourth-ranked mobile carrier said customers of its Simple Choice plan will be able to stream music from popular services like Pandora, Spotify, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, iTunes Radio and Slacker without it eating into their high-speed data caps.
It also unveiled a new service called unRadio that features streaming Internet radio without ads. The service provided by Rhapsody lets users skip tracks an unlimited number of times and download 25 songs to the device for playback after marking them as favorites when they come up randomly.
T-Mobile’s highest-tier customers will get unRadio for free. It’s $4 a month for other T-Mobile subscribers and $5 a month otherwise.
“It’s designed to be a better Internet radio,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere told The Associated Press. He said the main problem with Internet radio services like Pandora is that people dislike the ads and are afraid they’ll burn through their data plans by listening to music on the go.
Rhapsody’s chief financial officer, Ethan Rudin, said in an interview that the move should help it add paying subscribers to the 1.7 million it has now by bridging the gap between free Internet radio and on-demand subscription plans that cost $10 a month.
“We felt there was a gap in Internet radio and no one has taken the time to get it right,” he said.
T-Mobile also announced it will allow people to take home the latest iPhone 5S for a seven-day free trial so they can see if they get good reception at their home and office.
The company said customers can sign up for a trial online starting Monday, and they’ll receive a phone in the mail a few days later. After the test period, the phone will become inoperable. Customers that don’t return them to stores will be charged $700.
T-Mobile calls the test a “seven-night stand.”
“We think everybody should cheat on their carrier,” Legere said.
T-Mobile announced the free trial program at the event it dubbed “Un-carrier 5.0” and unveiled the music twist immediately afterward in an announcement Legere called “Un-carrier 6.0.”
A horde of screaming music fans were on hand, mainly because the evening was to be capped off with a performance by Washington state natives Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
T-Mobile unleashed the first phase of “Un-carrier” in March 2013. It replaced two-year service contracts with phone installment plans, giving customers some flexibility. Three months later, the company introduced a plan for frequent phone upgraders that has been copied with some modifications by AT&T; Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
“Un-carrier” has been a spectacular success in terms of customer appeal. In the 12 months that ended in March, T-Mobile added 6.1 million net customers, up from 112,000 in the previous 12-month period, to 49.1 million. But a big part of the appeal of “Un-carrier” is lower prices, which have cut into T-Mobile’s already slim profit margins. That raises questions over whether the strategy is sustainable in the long run, or whether Legere is simply grooming the company for a sale.
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MHI and Reed Exhibitions (RX) announce that MODEX and Supply Chain & Transportation USA will co-locate in 2014. Both exhibitions will be held March 17-20 at Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center. RX is the world's largest exhibition company and currently produces 18 events for the transportation and logistics industry around the globe including SITL Europe in Paris, France and also, Brazil, India and Thailand.
MODEX is sponsored by MHI and is the largest manufacturing and supply chain expo held in North America and South America. Supply Chain & Transportation USA by Reed Exhibitions showcases a complete range of innovative products and services dedicated to transportation, logistics, real estate and the future supply chain. The co-location will include approximately 50,000 square feet of exhibits as well as educational sessions.
The decision to co-locate MODEX and Supply Chain & Transportation USA was made for several reasons," according to George W. Prest, Chief Executive Officer for MHI. "Co-locating the two events will allow manufacturing and supply chain professionals unparalleled education and networking opportunities as well as exposure to the largest equipment and technology display of any show of its kind in North America. In today's world where agile and innovative supply chains are a necessity, the co-location is a win-win for participants and attendees."
"We are very excited to be working with MHI by co-locating Supply Chain and Transportation USA alongside MODEX," said Laurent Noel, VP of Reed Exhibitions. "The combined event creates the first US event that offers a one-stop shopping experience for supply chain executives. The event will also include free educational content designed to meet the needs of vertical industry segments."
The co-located events will be the largest international expo and conference of its kind held in the U.S and South America in 2014. Over 500 exhibitors are expected to showcase their solutions on the 230,000 net square foot show floor. Tens of thousands of supply chain professionals from over 100 countries around the globe will attend.
"In 2012, MHI launched MODEX as part of our strategic vision to provide supply chain solutions both within and beyond the four walls of an industrial facility, says Prest. "The co-location represents the next step in this process as we expand MODEX by offering attendees supply chain solutions beyond material handling and into logistics and transportation.
MHI is an international trade association that has represented the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry since 1945. MHI members include material handling and logistics equipment and systems manufacturers, integrators, consultants, publishers, and third party logistics providers. Member companies come from all areas of material handling and various parts of the world, making MHI a strong national and international representative for the industry. Much of the work of the industry is done within its product-specific Industry Groups. The association sponsors trade events, such as ProMat and MODEX to showcase the products and services of its member companies and to educate manufacturing, distribution and supply chain professionals on the productivity solutions provided through material handling and logistics.
About Reed Exhibitions
Reed Exhibitions is the organizer of Supply Chain & Transportation USA. They organize 500 events in 39 countries, including trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and meetings, ranging across 44 industry sectors
MHI Contact: Carol Miller, MHI VP of Marketing and Communications, 8720 Red Oak Blvd., Suite 201 Charlotte, NC 28217-3992, 704-676-1190
Reed Exhibitions Contact: Marie Browne, Reed Exhibitions Director, Business Development, 383 Main Ave, Norwalk, CT 06851, 203-840-5345
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Outdoor enthusiast retailer BCF has launched the first of its new breed of superstore, with customer experience and a wider range built into its Townsville store’s reopening. The store, which grew from 2700sqm to 5500sqm and holds 29,000 SKUs, offers customers the chance to touch and feel many products prior to purchase, and gives the business’ range specialists the means to show customers how each product will enhance their boating, camping, and fishing experience. BCF managing director Pau
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or Paul Bradshaw explained that, throughout the pandemic, BCF heard from customers that they wanted to be able to touch items and understand them prior to purchase: something that isn’t achieved easily online.
“They want our team members to explain what each item can do for them, and how they can improve whatever outdoor activity they’re doing,” Bradshaw told Inside Retail.
“Yes, we saw online penetration improve over the pandemic, but we’re seeing more of our customers head in-store again, and we want to help them.”
BCF general manager of operations Ben McConnell agreed, adding that the new store layout goes beyond just improving the range, also representing a modernisation of the BCF brand. It was prepared alongside The General Store, the retail agency that also helped Super Retail Group stablemate Rebel launch its RCX stores.
“We’ve taken a different approach to all the fittings and fixtures that we put into the store, and we’re really pleased with how it ended up: it still feels like the BCF you know and love, but just modernised,” McConnell told Inside Retail.
“It has better navigation, categories, signage, and amplification across the store. We’re really proud of it, and our customers seem to be rewarding us so far.”
Since the store relaunched on 12 November, customer NPS has increased “considerably”, Bradshaw said, and the store is bringing in new customers from across the Townsville area. And, while the store is the first of its kind, a second is already under way on the Sunshine Coast, with a third likely to launch before the end of calendar year 2023.
The new direction will evolve alongside the business’ wider expansion target of hitting 200 stores by 2027. BCF is expecting to end calendar 2022 with 151 stores.
Making the outdoors greener
The enhanced approach to physical retail signifies the biggest shakeup in the brand’s 17-year history, and its latest attempt to create a more modern outdoor retail experience.
“We’ve always invested in our stores and their evolution, but if you look back at some of our early designs, they’re quite dated,” McConnell said.
“I’m really glad that we’ve been able to evolve the brand, because I think it’s so important.”
The new store also steps up BCF’s focus on sustainability: featuring solar panels capable of generating 401 kilowatts of clean energy on the roof, as well as a commitment to “low impact cleaning products”.
Additionally, the Townsville store features artwork from local Waanyi artist Stephen Oliver Sailor, which reflects his belief that all people have a role to play in caring for the natural environment.
The artwork depicts the rainbow serpent roaming the land, rivers and oceans.
“We’ve really tried to work alongside and with that community, rather than just being something that ticked a box,” McConnell explained.
“We’ve started working with the local First Nations community to work on recruitment as well, and launched the store with a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony.”
Super Retail soars into FY23
The Townsville store launch, which has been in the works for some time and took around 11 weeks of construction to deliver, comes after the wider Super Retail Group delivered a strong start to FY23.
Last month, the business stated that it had posted a 20 per cent like-for-like increase in sales in the first 16 weeks of the year, and that online sales now represented 10 per cent of these sales.
However, like many players in the retail industry, Super Retail Group CEO Anthony Heraghty said its first-half results would be largely dependent on strong Christmas sales, and that further changes to cost-of-living expenses were likely to impact spending next year.
Heraghty is confident, however, that the business’ focus on outdoor experiences will prove resilient as customers cut back on unnecessary spending.


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EA and Zynga Quietly Resolve Copyright Dispute Out of Court
In federal court today, all lawsuits related to Electronic Arts’ claim that Zynga copied one of its Facebook games were dismissed.
According to a filing in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, the entire case was dismissed with prejudice. Both companies issued identical statements on the subject: “EA and Zynga have resolved their respective claims and have reached a settlement of their litigation in the Northern District of California.”
If you don’t recall, EA filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Zynga in August, charging that Zynga’s social game The Ville was an “unmistakable copy” of EA’s The Sims Social. The complaint was seeking injunctive relief and damages.
The following month, Zynga filed a pair of motions to rebut Electronic Arts’ claims, arguing that The Ville on Facebook is not similar to EA’s The Sims Social. And, in a third filing, it countersued, alleging that EA participated in unlawful actions, including anti-competitive business practices, when it came to recruiting employees.
All of the cases have now been dismissed. The terms of the settlement are confidential, so exactly how the two companies worked out their differences is not known.
But in some respects, the issues EA had surrounding The Ville should no longer be a concern.
In October, Zynga said it was “significantly reducing” its investment in The Ville as part of a restructuring plan that is designed to return the company to profitability. The Ville was just one of more than a dozen games being phased out.


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SolarBridge nails down $42m funding
SolarBridge, which is chasing its larger rival Enphase in the growing US market for micro-inverters, has closed on a $42m round of funding led by a venture-capital arm within US energy giant Exelon.
The biggest contributor to SolarBridge’s latest funding round was Constellation Technology Ventures – part of the Constellation Energy Group, which was acquired in 2012 by Exelon.
The money will be used principally for sales and marketing as SolarBridge “rapidly scales” its customer base in North America and Australia.
The funding round will see Michael Smith, head of Constellation Technology Ventures, join SolarBridge’s board of directors.
Although they require a greater upfront cost, micro-inverters boost the output of each individual module in a PV system – making a significant difference in small systems, such as those on residential rooftops.
Last summer SolarBridge named SunPower veteran Bill Mulligan as its new chief executive, claiming it was entering a “new phase of growth”.
SolarBridge’s announcement comes less than two weeks after Austin’s other big solar hopeful – CIGS start-up HelioVolt – officially threw in the towel, with its South Korean backer, the SK Group, finally giving up on the company.
HelioVolt reportedly soaked up more than $200m in venture capital during its 13-year existence, yet never announced a single order of consequence.


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“I work in video marketing in my day job and I was pretty strategic with it,” said Cayouette, 23, from Salem and a Brandeis University graduate who originally started the account. “I think I’ve cultivated a perfect storm of just the right length videos.”
Video maker and editor for fashion label Aerie, Cayouette has spent a lot of time studying what the modern viewer finds appealing on social media. When she launched her passion project TikTok, she made sure to keep her videos short, engaging, and to the point.
“At first, people think it’s a true story,” she explained. “It obviously attracts them too.”
Cayouette started posting videos daily for @bettysbooklist in April and attracted over 258,000 subscribers. It highlights a wide range of books, from longtime bestsellers like Gillian Flynn’s Winding Satanic Panic Thriller “Dark Places” to recent versions, including Hollywood by Catherine Steadman mystery “The act of disappearance” and The romance of a night in Vegas by Morgan Rogers “Honey Girl”. Most often, the account features work by women and non-binary authors. The stories are often directed by women and fall under the thriller or romance categories.
“I really love reading books with female protagonists and I love reading books that are queer stories and feature interesting people,” Cayouette said. “These are just what I read organically. I created this a bit on the spur of the moment.
The idea for the account arose out of an interest in promoting the book. Cayouette wrote a book during the pandemic and wants a way that she can eventually commercialize it. She was also looking for a way to promote her friend’s book, Local Boston Hanna Halperin’s novel “Something Wild” and started posting ahead of time to make sure she had an audience. Within days, Cayouette’s account gained popularity.
People were immediately intrigued. The first comments praised the bait and the change in believing that Cayouette was confessing to a real problem she had. Commentators said they were “hooked” and “therefore invested” in the stories.
“If the books were explained like this, I would only be reading,” wrote one viewer. “It’s literally the best way to recommend a book,” said another.
Since the creation of the account, Cayouette has started offering additional narrators. Sometimes videos are collaborations; at other times Cayouette passes the baton entirely. She collaborates with friends when stories feature male or colored protagonists, to ensure that she “doesn’t inauthentically portray characters” who are unlike her. She will send out some script ideas for books and ask them to choose what interests them, so that everyone is excited about the project.
Cayouette said she has also started hearing from publishing houses in response to her videos, which excites her because she believes book advertising needs to catch up with modern demands.
“Publishing is a bit of an old-fashioned industry, where TikTok and abbreviated video content is not yet the center of attention, although it is the future,” she said.
Meryl Wilsner, author of queer romance novel “Something to Talk About”, noted the merit of these types of videos last month. Their debut novel follows a Hollywood big shot and his assistant as they navigate their jobs (and growing feelings) after the tabloids falsely claimed they were dating. Cayouette made a video, in which she voiced the assistant, and Wilsner shared it on Twitter with the caption: “I don’t know what counts as viral, but I can confirm that this tiktok literally tripled my sales last week. God bless the people who talk about the books they love.
Cayouette explained that all of the books featured are stories that she really loves, and that many posts are older than 2021, as she goes back to her reading history for inspiration.
“As I move forward, there will be a new [book] sprinkled here and there, ”she said. “But that’s really what I read and liked.”


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Free Port Services Under my presidency – Osofo Kyiri Abosom
The founder and leader of Ghana Union Movement (GUM), Rev. Christian Kwabena Andrews, also known as “Osofo kyereabosom” has said when given the mandate as president port services will be free.
Speaking during the launch of his party’s manifesto, Osofo kyereabosom emphatically stated that, prices of goods and services are high making citizens bear the economic heat.
According to him all these are happening as a result of high cost of import duty charges at the various ports in the country.
He said Ghana is fortunate to be blessed with all kinds of mineral resources as compared to a country other countries.
He added that he will make small scale mining (galamsey) legal for all to engage, but will see to it that our water bodies are well protected from being polluted.
He said he will not allow foreigners to take over our mineral businesses as we have witnessed over the years.
Our core mandate is to create job opportunities to the youth, however certificate will not be a standard for application for employment but only intelligent and brilliants will be regarded. He added.
We have people in the country who can boost of acquiring all the certificates in the world but are not productive enough to help move the country forward.
By Gordon Desmond Sackitey.


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Looking for growth: Pact Group chief executive Brian Cridland. Photo: Josh RobenstoneAustralia’s biggest plastic packaging manufacturer, Pact Group, says it has a “sizeable pipeline” of acquisition opportunities as the company aims to deliver higher returns to shareholders in the next year.
Pact, which is controlled by billionaire Raphael Geminder, posted a 17 per cent jump in full-year net profit to $67 million, while revenue leapt 9.3 per cent to $1.25 billion.
Pact chief executive Brian Cridland attributed the gains to the company’s aggressive acquisition strategy.
That has included snapping up Barry Smorgon’s Jalco, and the Sulo and Cinqplast businesses.
He said without acquisitions, the company’s growth would be at a similar rate to Australia’s economy.
Mr Cridland said Pact had a “strong pipeline” of businesses on its shopping list to help deliver higher returns to shareholders.
“I wouldn’t say we are a machine, but we are a highly energetic acquirer of businesses that’s practised at integrating them and getting more out of them than what they did before,” Mr Cridland said. “Look to the past and that’s what you’ll get in the future.
“The markets that we service are not highly volatile like the mining industry. Our existing business can and does have organic growth but it is at the GDP level.
“We superimpose upon that our initiatives and our actions in mergers and acquisitions and our growth in total will be much higher.”
Despite delivering higher revenue and profit, the company’s shares slumped as much as 5 per cent to $4.17 on Wednesday, albeit on thin volumes, compared with the broader market dipping as much as 1.7 per cent.
Mr Cridland declined to name the deals it was in the process of making, citing confidentially.
The company was set to formally take over Jalco, a fast-moving consumer goods manufacturer it bought for $80 million in June.
“That’s an example of one that was in the pipeline, and there is a sizeable pipeline of opportunities like that, that we are working on.”
Pact Australia’s sales rose 8.2 per cent to $890 million, which Mr Cridland attributed to the contribution of Sulo, a waste and recycling bin maker it bought for $34.8 million in August 2014.
Pact International’s revenue also was higher, rising 12.1 per cent to $359 million.
Mr Cridland said increased sales from Sulo New Zealand and favourable currency swings were partially offset by softer agriculture sales across the Tasman and weaker demand from industrial customers in China.
However, he was unconcerned about Pact’s Chinese customers “pulling back quite savagely” and the uncertainty surrounding the country’s economy.
“Our Chinese business in the scheme of things is very small. I could argue that it’s sort of irrelevant,” he said.
“But if we were to do more in China, it would be in the consumer market. Our industrial customers are pulling back and pulling back quite savagely . . . the consumer in Asia is a different matter.
“We haven’t seen any adverse effect on that to date. Were it to occur in the future, that would be [a] problem.”
Pact generated earnings per share of 23¢, compared with 35¢ in the 2014 financial year.
The company will pay a final dividend of 10¢ a share – a 5.3 per cent increased compared with 2014 – on October 5.


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China's southernmost island province of Hainan should improve its duty-free policies to attract more tourists amid rising rivalry with Southeast Asian nations after borders opened following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to experts.
Hainan should make use of the Hainan Free Trade Port policy to enhance its services of tourism, shopping, and business to give clients more options, Eric Huang, auditing partner at accounting firm Ernst & Young Hua Ming, said to Yicai Global.
Tourism is not fully over Covid yet. The number of tourists that come to Hainan may recover to pre-pandemic levels, according to Pan Mingming, assistant general manager of Zhuhai Duty Free Group.
The island's duty-free market will expand greatly as offshore duty-free and outbound travel policies are adjusted, Pan said, adding that orderly cooperation and competition will facilitate growth.
In the first quarter, Hainan province welcomed 26.8 million tourists, up by 20% from a year ago, based on official data. Tourism revenue surged by 25% to about RMB 53 billion (USD 7.7 billion). In the first two months of this year, including the Spring Festival, offshore duty-free shops’ total sales tallied around RMB 14.8 billion (USD 2.2 billion), up by 15%.
Read original article


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With just over a month to go until the device goes on sale at Apple Retail Stores (and boutiques) around the globe, the Apple Watch has this week received its official approval from the Federal Communications [...]
Apple is set to expand its device “trade-in” program, which originally saw its launch in August 2013 – allowing those with older iOS devices to trade them in for an Apple Store Gift Card, that [...]
For a while now, Apple has been said to be in talks with major channel providers across the U.S – with the ultimate aim to create an iTunes-integrated, web-based streaming alternative to the (some [...]
Apple has a vast selection of bands and straps that it will not only sell with each Apple Watch, but that it will also be offering as separate purchases to those looking to add more bands to ...
In its official press release relating to the upcoming retail and pre-order availability of the wearable, Apple confirmed that it would be opening in-store boutiques to sell Apple Watch at high converting [...]
If you’re still stuck with the decision of which size of Apple Watch case to go for, (and the fact that the larger 42mm model is expected to have typically “longer battery life,” hasn’t [...]
One of the key concerns among potential buyers of Apple’s wearable centers around whether the firm is going to allow for advertisements on the platform, and if so – how they are set ...
That’s according to Mashable’s Karissa Bell – who reports that, as part of this year’s SXSW, a number of biomedical and biometric experts are outlining their own vision for a world [...]
In what we imagine will turn out to be a super limited-time deal, Apple is this weekend offering up thrilling action-adventure Divergent for a fraction of its regular price.
Christy Turlington Burns – the supermodel who was brought on stage by Apple to show-off both the fashion and fitness aspects of the Apple Watch during the company’s media presser, last week, [...]
Did you happen to miss Apple’s “Spring Forward” media event on March 9 – during which the firm announced its exclusive Apple TV partnership with HBO, all-new MacBook featuring the new USB-C [...]
iOS developer Hamza Sood has managed to uncover further details relating to both Apple’s “Activity” and “Apple Watch” apps, (the first of which is regularly hidden for those users ...
Yes, we’re referring to the Apple Watch. You can unstrap those printable versions from your wrist now, because it looks like Apple just made the decision between the two sizes for you. The 42mm Apple [...]
For those that are still torn over whether to go with the 38mm or 42mm model of the Apple Watch, in relation to the size of their own wrist, the folks over at TechnoDynamic have mocked-up these printable [...]
Alongside seeding a new version of iOS 8.3 to developers tonight, Apple’s upcoming update to OS X Yosemite (10.10.3) just got its third beta.
Apple has tonight seeded the third beta of its upcoming iOS 8.3 update to developers – for testing.


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An immigrant worker can be a Dominican sewing machine operator, a Russian constructor worker, or a Bulgarian meat processor. Yet, what these three workers have in common is that as immigrant workers, they
Public transportation has larger implications than most people realize. These effects are across a spectrum of issues, from the world of finance to global warming. One estimate suggested that, “an investment of $10
In recent years, composting has become increasingly popular all over the world. By exploring how composting is done, the benefits of composting, its industrial and home uses, and further related applications, this article will show how composting can contribute positively to sustainability efforts.
Afghanistan is a developing country burdened by limited resources, climate change and political instability. Promoting sustainability initiatives in the region can help maintain low per capita carbon emission levels, while simultaneously growing its economy.
Japan holds one of the world’s strongest economies. However, despite its present strength, the future of Japan’s economic health appears uncertain. Japan faces an unprecedented degree of population aging as more
Introduction According to the CDC, counterfeit medicines are manufactured with incorrect or dangerous ingredients while still packaged and labeled to look like the real medicine. While counterfeit drugs have been widely understood for
Introduction For a few decades, China and other South Asian countries have been building artificial islands in the South China Sea. By building artificial islands, these countries are able to build military bases,
“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” For decades, the NRA and other pro-gun special interest groups have justified their exorbitant lobbying spending – over $250 million total – on this line of logic.
Introduction Many contemporary observers believe that we have entered into a new era of globalization. This can be seen through the rise of a technologically connected world where information can be exchanged faster
In 2018, the WHO proclaimed that true universal health coverage serves “everyone, everywhere.” Despite India’s implementation of a universal healthcare model, healthcare in India remains largely inaccessible. India’s current healthcare system
With a growing movement in support of environmental awareness and sustainability, the incentive for brands to focus their marketing and branding attempts on these domains has never been higher. However, despite the fact
Every fall, the hysteria surrounding Apple’s newest products becomes a global phenomenon, with millions of consumers eagerly purchasing the newest and most advanced technology in the market. 2019 was no different, with
Outbreak Control In any public health emergency dealing with an infectious disease, our ability to control an outbreak is critically tied to our ability to implement significant behavior changes. During the 2014 outbreak


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Xiaomi India, the country’s No.1 smartphone brand, has added a new dimension to its legendary Redmi Note series with the launch of three devices, which redefine smartphone performance across the mid-segment. The latest additions to the smartphone series bring features like the greatest image resolution seen on a smartphone camera in India, new adaptive sync AMOLED displays, 5G connectivity and incredibly fast charging speeds. While the Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G and the Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G, add a pro-level degree of performance to the Note series, the Redmi Note 12 5G combines premium features with amazing affordability.
“The Redmi Note series has always been about democratizing technology, bringing features and functions that are normally associated with premium devices to the mainstream user,” said Mr. Anuj Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, Xiaomi India, at the launch of the Super Note. “The Redmi Note 12 series carries this tradition forward, bringing features like the greatest ever resolution seen on a smartphone camera, top notch display quality, cutting edge connectivity and insanely fast charging speeds, all at the trademark honest price that marks Xiaomi’s product portfolio. What’s more, they deliver all this along with the smooth and reliable performance that has made the Redmi Note the highest selling smartphone series in the country over the years. Which is why we are calling it the SuperNote.”
The Pros get Pro level cameras with no cons!
One of the biggest talking points of the latest Redmi Note devices has been its photography. And with good reason. Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G and Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G come with the best sensors seen in their segment. Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G is the first phone in India to come with the 200 megapixel pro-grade HPX Sensor which delivers the greatest ever resolution seen on a smartphone camera. This combined with Xiaomi’s super optical image stabilization (OIS) ensures that you get images of unmatched quality with staggering detail. The presence of atomic layer deposition (ALD), an Ultra Low Reflection Coating, cuts down on glare and ensures that you get great snaps even in complex lighting situations. Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G comes with the Sony™ IMX 766 50 megapixel main sensor, which is seen mainly on premium flagships, along with optical image stabilization (OIS) for better low light performance and rocksteady videos.
Both the Pro phones come with 8 megapixel ultrawide sensors as well, enabling you to capture wider landscapes with a field of view of 120 degrees, literally broadening your photography horizon, as well as Xiaomi’s iconic Pro Vlog mode and Film Frames to personalize your images as well as videos. All of which result in premium level photography and videography at mid-segment prices.
With Super Notes comes Super fast charging and super fast connectivity
Both the SuperNotes come with large batteries – Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G comes with a 4980mAh battery while the Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G has a 5000mAh one. These batteries will not only keep the phone running for more than a day of normal use comfortably, but also get charged in literally a matter of minutes. Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G packs in a 67W charger that delivers a full day’s charge in just 15 minutes, and Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G comes with a 120W HyperCharge adapter that charges the phone to 100 percent in a mere 19 minutes. A few minutes of charging literally gives you hours of battery time. And both phones come with chargers in the box too.
The Redmi Note series played a prominent role in making 4G accessible to millions of mainstream consumers. And its latest variants are now set to surf the incoming high speed 5G connectivity waves. Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G and Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G come with support for 10 5G bands, enabling users to get on to the fastest network of all as soon as it becomes available in their part of town.


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Hyundai Motor Co. is bending segment definitions again with the Enduro compact crossover concept debuting Thursday in Korea at the Seoul Motor Show.
The pint-sized, three-door urban rambler could preview Hyundai’s move into the growing compact crossover segment with a twist: coupelike hatchback styling.
It gets rugged outdoor rally car looks with copious SUV-style fender cladding.
The Enduro is the “perfect partner for individuals living in the modern city with energetic, athletic lifestyles,” Hyundai said in a release.
The concept tests new ground just months after Hyundai turned heads with its Santa Cruz compact urban pickup concept at the Detroit auto show. That vehicle featured a novel extendable truck bed on the body of a four-door, five-seat crossover.


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A sea of flavored, gourmet and pouch tunas has gotten things jumping in the tuna aisle, where they have opened up quite a few new cross-merchandising opportunities, retailers told SN.
For many consumers, however, traditional 6-ounce cans remain the catch of the day, they said. Strong manufacturer promotional support has allowed retailers to offer the 6-ounce cans for 99 cents or less each.
In one recent example, Foodtown, a 55-store chain based in Carteret, N.J., gave prominent store circular exposure to StarKist canned tuna, offering solid white for 89 cents each, and chunk light, three for $2.
"Promotional activity has remained on the 6-ounce cans, so they continue to do well," said Ray Kuruc, the retailer's grocery category manager.
How much longer canned will dominate the aisle remains to be seen. The many packaging and flavor innovations riding in tandem with the introduction of pouches have not only changed the look of the tuna section, but also attracted new users to the category. Tempting flavors like zesty lemon and hickory-smoked tuna are designed to make tuna enjoyable on its own, or as an ingredient in sandwiches, salads and other recipes.
"[Manufacturers] have definitely become more creative with the category," said Mark Clements, grocery buyer, Clements' Marketplace, Portsmouth, R.I.
The introductions come at a time when canned tuna sales are as flat as a flounder. Dollar sales of the top 20 tuna brands reached $1.1 billion in supermarkets for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 25, a 0.7% increase from the same period the previous year, according to Information Resources Inc., Chicago.
The many new product introductions are designed to change that. Packaging innovations like StarKist Seafoods' Flavor Fresh Pouch have turned tuna into an easy meal solution that doesn't require draining or a can opener. The company's new Tuna Creations line of premium chunk-light marinated tuna is packaged as such. Varieties include Zesty Lemon Pepper, Hickory-Smoked and Sweet & Spicy. Each 5-ounce pouch carries a suggested retail price of $1.99. StarKist Seafood, San Francisco, is a division of the Del Monte Corp.
"The pouch products typically have better-quality tuna and less liquid," Kuruc of Foodtown noted.
Doug's Supermarkets, Warroad, Minn., carries select pouches to give its shoppers product variety, according to Ed Foster, grocery manager. Some consumers prefer the pouches because, unlike canned, they don't require draining.
"People like it because it's drier," Foster said.
Budget-friendly canned tuna, specifically albacore, remains the category leader, and accounts for the bulk of the 4-foot section at Doug's, Foster said.
Indeed, cans are making flavorful additions as well. One new offering from Bumble Bee, San Diego, is "Touch of Lemon," a premium chunk-light tuna with lemon juice. Packaged in a can with bright yellow labeling, it carries a suggested retail of 69 cents to 79 cents per 6-ounce can.
Like other new items, Bumble Bee's "Touch of Lemon" is positioned as a nutritious, high-quality alternative to convenience foods, according to the company.
"Its superior quality and taste mean it can be enjoyed without adding high-calorie mixing ingredients," Christopher Lischewski, Bumble Bee's president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.
Along with pouches and flavors, the category has witnessed an increase in upscale and gourmet tunas, like yellowfin tuna in olive oil and Bumble Bee's Prime Fillet, a hand-selected, solid white albacore product described as the "firmest, best-tasting albacore ever" and the "the new gold standard in canned tuna." The tuna is packaged in a high-gloss, gold-and-black can to differentiate it on supermarket shelves. The SRP is $1.99 per 6-ounce can.
Tuna-based meal kits have also enhanced the category. For instance, StarKist has introduced StarKist Lunch To-Go. The kit comes with 3 ounces of tuna in the StarKist Flavor Fresh Pouch, mayonnaise and relish packets, a mixing spoon, six crackers and a mint.
Some retailers are supporting the new product introductions with secondary displays and additional promotional activities. About once a month, Sherm's Thunderbird-Food 4 Less, Medford, Ore., merchandises select pouch tuna in the deli/bakery department to give shoppers a meal solution, according to Wayne Wiederman, general manager.
Foodtown also cross merchandises some of the new items by placing shippers in areas of the store other than the canned tuna aisle, according to Kuruc. Upscale tunas, particularly Bumble Bee's Prime Fillet, have performed well, he added.
While the new items are moving at Foodtown, Kuruc expected demand to be much greater than it has been, particularly for the pouches.
"Due to the convenience, I thought reception would be better," he said, attributing this response to the higher price points of the new pouch and gourmet products. Clements of Clements' Marketplace agreed, saying the pouches cost about 30% more than canned.
"Nearly every week, one of the cans is on sale, so I guess people feel why should they pay more for a pouch," he said.
Regional tuna consumption trends may also be a factor. Kuruc of Foodtown noted that many of the pouches contain chunk-light tuna, not white or albacore, the big seller in the Foodtown market.
"Manufacturers can come out with whatever flavor they want in chunk light, but it won't sell as well in this market as white tuna," Kuruc said.
Foodtown said it doesn't plan to decrease the number of pouch stockkeeping units anytime soon, but predicted there will be a brand shakeout, leaving only the category leaders alive.
"I think some of the flavors will go away due to decreased acceptance," Kuruc said.
The Mercury Debate
Hunger Mountain Co-Op, a single-unit supermarket in Montpelier, Vt., just put up signs in its fresh fish department warning certain consumers to limit consumption of most large predator species due to potentially unsafe levels of methylmercury. The canned tuna aisle might be next.
"It's something we would consider," Michael Noone, the store's prepared-foods manager, told SN.
Despite the increased scrutiny of canned tuna, consumers haven't significantly altered category shopping habits, said Ray Kuruc, grocery category manager for Foodtown, a 55-unit chain based in Carteret, N.J.
"There may be a lot of talk about these kinds of issues initially, but it doesn't seem to affect sales too much," he said, noting that canned tuna sales in his stores have been consistent.
The talk comes after the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency released a revised consumer advisory on methylmercury -- for species like shark, swordfish, king mackerel, tilefish and certain shellfish -- directed at women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children.
So far, there are no plans to mandate labels on cans, even though tuna is part of the advisory. Here, it recommends that sensitive populations eat no more than 12 ounces -- two average meals -- a week of canned tuna, shrimp, salmon, pollock and catfish.
The advisory also states that sensitive populations should eat no more than 6 ounces of albacore tuna per week because albacore has higher mercury levels than light.
The FDA and EPA are balancing the warning with the statement that fish and shellfish can be important parts of a healthy and balanced diet. Indeed, the U.S. Tuna Foundation, Washington, which represents tuna processing companies, maintains that the health benefits of tuna outweigh the risks. It's testing a television and radio campaign to tout the benefits of tuna. Such benefits are that it's high in protein; contains omega-3 fatty acids, which are said to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease; and is low in fat. Developed by Marriner Marketing, an advertising firm in Columbia, Md., the "Tuna. Smart Catch" campaign features women at home discussing reasons why they're confident about serving tuna to their families.


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California’s Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement has released a list of steps the group and others in the produce industry, as well as regulators, have taken to address E. coli outbreaks linked to romaine lettuce.
As we deal with yet another outbreak involving romaine, calls to do more for food safety are coming from all fronts. No one is more frustrated than the producers of leafy greens that these types of outbreaks continue.
(UPDATED, Dec. 6) The number sickened in outbreak caused by E. coli O157:H7 linked to romaine lettuce from Salinas, Calif. continues to grow, while traceback investigators are focusing on three farms in the region.
In a viewpoint not often considered in recalls and market advisories that send tons of fresh produce to landfills, the U.S. Composting Council is urging the industry to compost romaine linked to an E. coli outbreak.


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A1 investment company president, Alexander Vinokorov, will buy 50% in the major pharmaceutical distributor "SIA International Ltd" from the family of its founder Igor Rudinsky. This is stated in a joint statement of the transaction participants, received by Forbes.
The businessman will acquire 34% of the ordinary shares and 31% of preferred shares of Sintez Plant and 75% of the shares of Biocom Plant. After closing the transaction, Vinokurkov will be the indirect owner of 100% shares of SIA International, 100% shares of Mega Pharm, 51% of ordinary shares and 31% of preferred shares of Sintez and 75% of Biocom. The deal on Sintez and Biocom will be closed after all the necessary regulators approve it.
Elena Rudinsky, commenting on the deal, said that her husband during his lifetime was negotiating with Vinokorov, and sale of the package is a logical decision for her family. Vinokorov, in turn, said that he did what he had promised Rudinsky.
"SIA International Ltd" was founded in 1993 by entrepreneur Igor Rudinsky and is one of the largest Russian pharmaceutical distributors. It operates in all Russian regions.
"SIA International" started to suffer losses during the crisis of 2008; that's when Rudinsky tried to sell 50% of SIA to American TPG fund, but in the end the deal failed. After that, as Forbes wrote, there were several attempts to sell the package.
Rudinskiy died in the autumn of 2014. Company's debts at the time amounted to 7.2 billion rubles. After the death of the spouse, Elena Rudinsky became co-owner and the regional director of the company, and her younger daughter Irina, an assistant to the general director of CIA Alexander Demkin. In an interview with Forbes in May 2016, Ms. Rudinsky said she planned to return the company to the top three.
Vinokorov is among the shareholders of pharmaceutical distributor since December 2015, and in February 2016 he became the controlling shareholder. The press release stressed that his team was able to agree on debt restructuring, and at the end of 2016 the credit portfolio of the pharmaceutical distributor was reduced by more than 1 billion rubles. In December last year, the distributor attracted funding of VTB Bank in the amount of 5.4 billion rubles.


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Capcom has touched on the subject of classic franchises Dino Crisis and Onimusha, revealing that while the Japanese giant hasn’t permanently closed the book on either series there are currently no plans to resurrect them at this point in time.
Speaking during a chinwag with IGN, the company’s vice president of strategic planning & business development, Christian Svensson first addressed samurai outing Onimusha, admitting that one of the main reasons we haven’t seen a new game is due to the fact sales have been lagging ever since the second instalment hit shelves.
"Onimusha is tricky in particular given how Japanese-focused the franchise has been," commented Svensson.
"When you look at the timing and sales trend of how Onimusha has gone each outing – I won’t give you the exact numbers, but let’s just say every outing subsequently has been about 60% of the prior – the brand doesn’t right now have quite the resilience that you might think."
"While Onimusha 1 and Onimusha 2 are among our more successful titles, Onimusha 3 and Onimusha Dawn of Dreams, not so much," he added.
That’s not to say Onimusha has been forgotten about, though, with Svensson revealing that there are still discussions regarding the future of the series continuing at Capcom HQ. And while nothing has been set in stone, it seems we’ll likely see something in the series materialise at some point down the line.
"For the time being I think it’s in percolate mode, that is to say, it’s not forgotten internally, there are discussions that go on, but I don’t think anyone has sort has come up with the ‘that’s it’ idea of how to get the game back up to 3 or 4 million units."
"You may see some things of the brand pop up in the future, I can’t say what, but there are certainly discussions about it."
Moving on to Dino Crisis, Svensson didn’t mince his words in regards to where he felt the series took a stumble, placing the blame firmly at Xbox outing Dino Crisis 3’s doorstep.
"Dino Crisis 3 I think is where it went off the rails if I recall. Dino Crisis’ success really was an out cropping of Resident Evil 1 and 2," he said.
“Though the franchise hasn’t been forgotten, he revealed that the halls of Capcom weren’t exactly buzzing with ideas for a new Dino Crisis, in fact – it doesn’t even have someone to champion its cause.”
However, while there have been on-going talks at the Capcom code house regarding more Dino-blasting antics, it doesn’t appear as though company bigwigs are overly optimistic on the idea of revisiting the series anytime soon – at least, not until someone pipes up with “something incredible,” claims Svensson.
"There are discussions, Dino Crisis comes up from time to time, but there isn’t any burning desire from R&D or the business side to light that franchise back up again."
"Until there’s an internal champion with something incredible, things just sort of sit there,” he explained.


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About Jamaal Brown
I am a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology and Northwestern University. I am a journalist with four years of journalism experience covering the sports business industry. As a business reporter for The EzCo Journal, I am covering the business of sports leisure, travel and tourism.
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San Jose, Calif.-based uSens is showing off its Fingo hand tracking module at CES in Las Vegas this week, which makes it possible to incorporate hand movements and gestures into virtual and augmented reality experiences. On Wednesday, the company announced that Fingo is also compatible with Epson’s new augmented reality glasses.
uSens demonstrated Fingo with a variety of virtual reality headsets at the CES Unveiled event Tuesday evening. The module simply clips onto a headset, and then senses a user’s hands down to the finger level. That made it possible to move individual fingers one by one, with Fingo accurately translating the finger movements for a virtual hand on-screen.
Combined with the right apps that make use of the uSens technology, Fingo can be used to interact with virtual objects without the need for any external controller. The company is primarily targeting developers with Fingo, and hopes to eventually have headset manufacturers integrate the technology into their device.
And while a lot of interest has come from developers of virtual reality experiences, uSens is also looking to get its hand tracking technology integrated into augmented reality headsets. To that end, the company announced Wednesday that Fingo is compatible with Epson’s new Moverio BT-300 AR glasses, which Epson is selling to developers for around $800.
uSens raised a raised a $20 million Series A round of funding in June from investors including Fosun Kinzon Capital, with participation from Maison Capital, Great Capital, Fortune Capital, Oriental Fortune Capital, iResearch Capital, and Chord Capital.
Back then, uSens CTO Yue Fei told Variety that the first generation of virtual reality controllers remind him of the early days of mobile phones. “Before the iPhone, people needed to use a stylus,” he said.


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In what could be an indication of rising cost of living, far fewer Kenyans will travel during this Christmas season compared to the number that did last year.
A poll conducted by research firm Ipsos shows that only 16 per cent of those polled will be travelling this season, as compared to 34 per cent who travelled last year.
“This could be attributed to economic strains and security concerns, “says Victor Rateng, the opinion polls project manager.
Even more indicative of a harsher economic period is that a majority of those travelling will put up with relatives, as opposed to getting rooms in hotels or holiday homes.
“Relatives are expected to provide accommodation to most of those travelling during this festive season (82 per cent), while far fewer will seek accommodation in hotels (12 per cent), or in holiday homes/cottages (3 per cent). Only 4 per cent will make day journeys,” states the report.
Towns within Kenya are the preferred travel destinations for an overwhelming 98 per cent of Kenyans, with only 2 per cent saying that they intend to venture out of the country.
The number of those leaving the country for the holidays has steadily dropped from 4 per cent in 2012, 3 per cent in 2013 and 2 per cent this year.
The most popular holiday destination is Nairobi which will attract two out of ten of respondents, with Mombasa lagging far behind at 12 per cent. Other popular towns are Kisumu, Eldoret and Nakuru. Mombasa could have dropped in popularity due to perceived insecurity.


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The new iPad mini will be the star of today’s Apple event. But beyond the hype, there’s one important announcement you probably missed: iMessage, which allows customers to send free messages over Wi-fi and 3G connections, has been incredibly successful. Since it launched last year, customers have sent 300 billion messages, or at a rate of 28,000 per second.
The move from SMS to free mobile messaging means that mobile carriers have had to reinvent their business model, which used to make big profits by separating data plans from mobile messaging plans. Research firm Ovum estimated that use of internet-based messaging had cost carriers some $13.9 billion in SMS revenue in 2011 alone.
Verizon finally eliminated unlimited data plans, forcing users to pay for a certain volume of data and charge them fees when they exceeded the limit. They call the new plans "Share Everything," but that’s really a fancy way of making you pay more for your data. As my colleague Matt Phillips reports, it’s also allowing Verizon to charge customers new fees—they boasted that the new plan has made money by charging customers activation fees to connect new devices to their data plans.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ymgerman
- Scientists find a link between children’s cancer and Fukushima radiation
- San Francisco has the highest share of homes worth $1 million or more in the US
- This French “feminist” TV commercial backfires spectacularly
- Facebook is supplementing the “like” button with six emoji reactions
This article originally published at Quartz here


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Somewhat Favorable News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Impact Platform Specialty Products (PAH) Stock Price
News stories about Platform Specialty Products (NYSE:PAH) have been trending somewhat positive on Friday, Accern reports. Accern scores the sentiment of media coverage by reviewing more than 20 million blog and news sources. Accern ranks coverage of publicly-traded companies on a scale of negative one to one, with scores nearest to one being the most favorable. Platform Specialty Products earned a coverage optimism score of 0.18 on Accern’s scale. Accern also gave news articles about the specialty chemicals company an impact score of 48.1500632959816 out of 100, meaning that recent media coverage is somewhat unlikely to have an effect on the company’s share price in the near future.
Here are some of the media stories that may have impacted Accern Sentiment Analysis’s analysis:
- Prominent Runners: EXTRACTION OIL & GAS, LLC (NASDAQ:XOG), Platform Specialty Products Corporation (NYSE … – The Oracle Examiner (oracleexaminer.com)
- Notable Trader’s Watch List: Southwestern Energy Company, (NYSE: SWN), Platform Specialty Products Corporation … – Global Export Lines (press release) (globalexportlines.com)
- Platform Specialty Products (PAH) Lifted to Buy at Zacks Investment Research (americanbankingnews.com)
- Analyst’s Review on: Platform Specialty Products Corp (PAH) – Emn News (emnnews.com)
- Platform Specialty Products Corporation (NYSE:PAH) – Early Moves to Watch – Nasdaq Journal (nasdaqjournal.com)
Several research analysts recently weighed in on PAH shares. ValuEngine lowered Platform Specialty Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 1st. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Platform Specialty Products from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Platform Specialty Products presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $14.29.
Platform Specialty Products (NYSE:PAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. Platform Specialty Products had a positive return on equity of 7.69% and a negative net margin of 7.84%. The company had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $978.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. analysts anticipate that Platform Specialty Products will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.
WARNING: “Somewhat Favorable News Coverage Somewhat Unlikely to Impact Platform Specialty Products (PAH) Stock Price” was posted by Watch List News and is the sole property of of Watch List News. If you are accessing this piece on another domain, it was illegally copied and reposted in violation of U.S. & international copyright legislation. The legal version of this piece can be viewed at https://www.watchlistnews.com/somewhat-favorable-news-coverage-somewhat-unlikely-to-impact-platform-specialty-products-pah-stock-price/1958649.html.
About Platform Specialty Products
Platform Specialty Products Corporation produces and sells specialty chemical products in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific, and Europe. It operates through two segments, Performance Solutions and Agricultural Solutions. The Performance Solutions segment offers plating products that are used to plate holes; electroless nickel products, which are applied to various metal and plastic surfaces; electronic assembly materials for use in the electronic market and residential boiler systems; final finishes that are used on printed circuit boards; circuit formation products for surface preparation; oxides, which are used in the fabrication of multilayer circuit boards; semiconductor materials and packaging products; and pre-treatment and cleaning solutions.
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Badger protesters target Sainsbury's on milk sales: Leader of animal rights group threatens 'mayhem' if chain sells milk from areas where culls are planned
- 'Stop the Cull' says it will target Sainsbury's during 'anti-austerity protest
- Leader of group says it will disrupt stores until it stopped selling milk from areas where badget culls are planned
- Caffe Nero has already ordered its suppliers to obtain milk from outside Somerset and Gloucestershire cull zones after threats from the group
- Ministers and farmers insist culling is necessary to tackle TB
Animal rights fanatics are threatening to create 'havoc' in Sainsbury's supermarkets in an attempt to halt the badger cull
Animal rights fanatics are threatening to create 'havoc' in Sainsbury's supermarkets in an attempt to halt the badger cull.
They have already forced the Caffe Nero coffee shop chain to stop using milk from two counties where badgers are being slaughtered to prevent the spread of tuberculosis.
Now protest group Stop The Cull says that it will target Sainsbury's during an 'anti-austerity' protest this month.
Jay Tiernan, the group's spokesman, said it would disrupt stores, create 'mayhem' at the supermarket's AGM, and bombard its chief executive with messages until it stopped selling milk from areas where badger culls are planned.
Caffe Nero ordered its suppliers to obtain milk from outside the Somerset and Gloucestershire cull zones after Stop The Cull threatened to 'storm cafes' and give out leaflets reading: 'Caffe Nero thinks it's OK to buy milk tainted with badger blood, we don't and intend to make sure the rest of the uk (sic) knows about it.'
In a statement, the coffee chain said: 'At Caffe Nero, our people come first so when our team members’ well-being is under threat, we have to act.
'With just 2% of our annual milk supply impacted, we made what we feel was the right choice.
'We have ongoing consultations with the NFU and believe they understand our position.
'We are not intimidated by protestors. At the end of the day, we know that the authorities will support us if needed. However, we made a decision to limit any risk to our people as quickly as possible.'
Celebrating victory, Mr Tiernan, 44, from Bristol, posted a picture of himself sipping from a Caffe Nero cup while wearing a shirt with a red knuckleduster motif and the words 'Animal Liberation'.
Earlier this year he was given a six-month suspended sentence for nine breaches of an injunction banning him from harassing farmers carrying out the badger cull.
He said yesterday: 'We will be with Sainsbury's until they capitulate. We won't be going anywhere until they stop. Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury's all sell milk from the cull zones.'
Protesters have already forced the Caffe Nero coffee shop chain to stop using milk from two counties where badgers are being slaughtered to prevent the spread of tuberculosis
AS FARMERS SAY: BOYCOTT NERO
Farmers say they will boycott Caffe Nero over its plans to stop using milk from areas where badgers are being culled.
Rob Harrison of the National Farmers' Union called the coffee chain's move 'naive and outrageous and ignorant'.
Mr Harrison, a Gloucestershire dairy farmer, told Farmers Guardian it would be difficult to prove whether milk was from in or outside the cull zones.
'Would they rather they were sourcing milk in an area where 40,000 cows were killed because of TB than in an area where they were actually trying to control the disease?' he said.
NFU deputy president Minette Batters said: 'The company appears to have bowed to pressure from those who think nothing of intimidation and threats of disruption to achieve their ends.'
Caffe Nero is owned by a holding company based in Luxembourg and has 600 shops in Britain. Last year it was revealed that it had paid no corporation tax since 2007, despite making £100million in profits in that time. It did not respond to requests for comment on the proposed boycott yesterday.
The protesters will join demonstrations against austerity measures on June 20 in London.
Describing the action activists planned, Mr Tiernan said: 'People will be doing whatever it is they want to do. Whether it is standing outside with a poster or running inside with a black boiler suit and a badger mask causing havoc. We will probably just run in and start throwing fruit and veg at each other.'
The Tories had pledged to roll out the badger culls across the country if they won the election.
The four-year pilot, begun in 2013, aims to cull 70 per cent of the initial population of badgers to test how 'effective, humane and safe' a cull can be.
Badgers are shot by marksmen and around 2,500 have been killed to date.
Ministers and farmers insist culling is necessary to tackle TB, which can be spread from badgers to livestock, with more than 26,000 cattle slaughtered in England last year and multi-million-pound losses.
Sainsbury's has said it would continue to buy milk from inside the cull zones.
A spokesman said: 'Like other retailers, we buy from farmers right across the UK. The Government has not disclosed which farms are involved ... We do not think it fair to penalise farmers who by geographic circumstance are within the official cull area.'
Morrisons and Tesco said they would continue to source milk from the affected areas.
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Communications Systems Posts Second Quarter 2014 Financial Results [Professional Services Close - Up]
(Professional Services Close - Up Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Communications Systems released financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, (Q2 2014), including a discussion of results of operations by segment.
In its release on August 6, the Company noted report details:
CSI's Interim Chief Executive Officer Roger H.D. Lacey commented, "Our results for the second quarter reflect continuing growth at Suttle, which achieved large gains in revenues, gross margin and operating income, and significant progress at Transition Networks and JDL Technologies in repositioning for their future growth. We will continue to implement our previously announced recovery plan over the next several quarters.
"Revenues at Suttle increased on both a year-over-year and sequential quarterly basis due in large part to sales from core high- speed copper connectivity products and from new FTTx (fiber to the home or node) product platforms that we commenced shipping in April to a Tier 1 carrier. Suttle's performance should continue to improve throughout 2014, because of further sales of these and other recently developed products. Suttle also recently introduced MediaMAX, a new brand of products that meet the growing need for wired and wireless high-speed, high-quality triple play connectivity to all areas of the home and small office, while lowering total cost of ownership. Revenues at Transition Networks also increased on both a year-over-year and sequential quarterly basis. Transition Networks remains focused on repositioning its business and the continued refinement of its strategy should be evident in succeeding quarters. Results at JDL Technologies continued to reflect reduced federal and local funding for educational IT investments, particularly as the E- Rate program is undergoing extensive modernization. We are continuing to refine JDL Technologies' business model to reduce its dependence on government funding, pursuing opportunities to provide managed services and other network services."
Lacey concluded, "We ended the quarter in a strong financial position, which will help support our ongoing growth initiatives. CSI's balance sheet at June 30, included cash, cash equivalents, and investments of $31.5 million, working capital of $61.8 million, and stockholders' equity of $103.8 million."
Segment Financial Overview
CSI operates through the following business units:
-Suttle manufactures and markets copper and fiber connectivity systems, enclosure systems, xDSL filters and splitters, and active technologies for voice, data and video communications under the Suttle brand in the United States and internationally;
-Transition Networks manufactures network interface devices (NIDs), media converters, network interface cards (NICs), Ethernet switches, and other connectivity products that offer customers the ability to affordably integrate fiber optics into any data network; and
-JDL Technologies provides technology solutions including virtualization, managed services, wired and wireless network design and implementation, HIPAA-compliant IT solutions, and converged infrastructure configuration and deployment.
Q2 2014 sales rose 37 percent from Q2 2013, due to revenue generated from new FTTx product platforms. Sales to communication service providers rose 50 percent to $16 million from $10.6 million in Q2 2013, and comprised 84 percent of total segment revenues, up from 77 percent in Q2 2013. This increase was due to growth in core high-speed copper connectivity products and success in securing new business in multiple FTTx domains.
Gross margin in Q2 2014 rose 62 percent to $6.3 million, or 33 percent of sales, from $3.9 million, or 28 percent of sales, in Q2 2013. This was the result of the introduction of new FTTx products, focused value engineering and cost optimization efforts, and economies of scale.
Q2 2014 sales rose 11 percent from Q2 2013. Sales in North America increased 12 percent to $8.2 million due to improving conditions at key customers, and Rest of World sales rose 19 percent to $2.2 million primarily due to higher sales in Latin America. These improvements more than offset an 11 percent sales decline in Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA).
Gross margin decreased 5 percent to $5.4 million, or 47 percent of sales, from $5.7 million, or 54 percent of sales, in Q2 2013, due to unfavorable product mix and pricing pressure.
Results at JDL Technologies continue to be affected by the federal government's decision to withhold all priority two E-Rate funding this year, as the E-Rate program undergoes an extensive modernization project that will affect most key elements in the program. The E-Rate program was developed to assist schools and libraries in the United States in obtaining affordable telecommunications and Internet access.
Sales declined 65 percent to $2.6 million in Q2 2014 from $7.6 million in Q2 2013. Reflecting JDL Technologies' ongoing initiative to expand its reach in the South Florida commercial market, sales to small- and medium-sized commercial businesses (SMBs) increased by 36 percent to $0.6 million in Q2 2014 from $0.4 million in Q2 2013.
Q2 2014 gross margin declined 78 percent to $0.4 million, or 16 percent of sales, from $2.0 million, or 26 percent of sales, in Q2 2013, primarily due to a change in revenue mix led by an increase in infrastructure sales to Broward County Public Schools, where margins have tended to be lower.
Communications Systems provides physical connectivity infrastructure and services for global deployments of broadband networks.
((Comments on this story may be sent to email@example.com))
(c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.
[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]


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We're just just over a week away from Microsoft's promised "sneak peek" at the future of Windows Phone and details about the next mobile operating system appear to be leaking out. Nokia Maps will replace Bing Maps in all Windows Phone devices, according to WPCentral — coupled with 3D navigation and hardware acceleration.
We know that Bing Maps will bear the Nokia name, and a unified map design along with recent traffic results updates all point towards a merging of Nokia and Bing Maps. WPCentral also reiterates what we know about Windows Phone 8: Skype integration, an NFC wallet experience, and camera improvements, but the site warns Microsoft still doesn't have a true Siri competitor in Windows Phone 8.
Microsoft originally sent invites to a Windows Phone Developer Summit for June 20th and June 21st, but the company sent an updated invite last week for a one day "Windows Phone Summit" on June 20th, hinting that it will show off Windows Phone 8 rather than focus on its developer message. Windows Phone 8 is expected to include improved hardware support for multi-core processors, four screen resolutions, and NFC radio support with a contact-less "wallet experience." Microsoft is also expected to allow developers to create native code apps thanks to the close relationship with Windows 8's kernel. We should know a lot more about Windows Phone 8 next week, and rest assured we'll be there on June 20th to bring you all the latest information on Microsoft's next mobile operating system.


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Petaling Jaya, 12 April 2010 - Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd ("Honda Malaysia" or the "Company") announces bouyant month as its March sales hit 4,041 units, the highest monthly record in the Company's history. Merely three months into the new year, Honda Malaysia has already hit 25% of the annual target of 40,000 units.
"It is indeed a pleasure for us to be reporting good news to the public. Thanks to our customers, Honda products remain a choice of great value. Such encouraging sales record would surely drive us harder in providing the best for our customers," remarked Mr. Toru Takahashi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia.
He further added, "We would like to assure our customers that we will do everything we can to keep our vibrancy in the market, and to give our best, despite the adverse situation. Honda will continue to excite the market whenever possible."
The catalyst for the good performance was said to be the well received City, which recorded 43% of the total sales, with more than 4,000 units of booking locked in. It has only been a month since its unveiling in March, the newly facelifted CR-V has already made an impression in the market. It has sold 556 units, 59% more than its preliminary sales target of 350 units, while 1,600 of bookings are in the line.
The new CR-V has sold more than 556 units in its first month, approx. 60% beyond its monthly target.
City has been well received ever since for its best-in-class practicality, performance and style.
The ever charming Accord and Civic have also respectively contributed 19% and 18% to the total sales. CBUs models such as Jazz and Stream's sales stood at 6%.
The Company is looking forward to expanding its existing line-up to include the All-New Freed, a new compact premium MPV. Expected to hit the Malaysian shores on 22 April, the new addition would create a brand new segment - premium compact MPV.
Introducing the All-New Freed is Honda Malaysia's effort to provide more options for its customers, while adding greater value to the Malaysian market.
|Model||Sales in March 2010 (unit)|
|Civic Type R||18|
Figure 1: Total sales breakdown by models for the month of March, 2010.
Following the great head start marked in first quarter, the Company is confident that it will achieve its annual sales target of 40,000 units.


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It has been recently reported that Al-Haj Faw Motors (Private) Limited, a collaboration between Faw China and Al-Haj Motors (a commercial importer of heavy vehicles), has started assembling Faw V2, a 1,300cc hatchback, at its assembly plant in Karachi.
Pakistan’s automobile market is currently dominated by three Japanese carmakers and some experts believe that it will be difficult for the company to create demand for Chinese cars in the country.
On the contrary, the company’s decision to initiate its assembly operations in the country is being perceived as a smart move by many analysts, as it will entice other automakers to set-up their assembly operations in the country.
The Chinese carmaker has been importing Completely Built Units (CBU) of V2 for the past two years to analyze the response of Pakistani market. Well, it seems that the company is satisfied with the response as it has decided to assemble the car locally in a bid to compete with the well-established Japanese auto manufacturers.
“We want to become the export base of Faw for export of cars to Southeast Asia and African markets,” Al-Haj Faw Motors Managing Director Bilal Afridi said on Saturday.
The company’s initial plan is to produce 300 units of Faw V2 for a few months and then boost its production level to 500 units by the end of the current fiscal year. As of now, the company has employed approximately 600 workers, and has capacity to manufacture 10,000 units per month, which will be increased to 15,000 units by 2020.
For those who are wondering, Faw V2 is currently available for PKR 1.069 million in Pakistan. According to the company officials, they have increased the price of vehicle by only PKR 20,000 in the past two years in order to present it as an attractive product and to acquire a competitive edge over its Japanese competitors. However, the company has to do much more than offering its car at lower price to compete with its Japanese counterparts.
We believe that this is an amazing initiative as it will likely entice other car manufacturers to set-up their assembly plants in the country. In any case, we’ll continue to track the story to keep our readers updated.


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