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French retailer Casino saw its losses rise tenfold in the first half of the year: a net loss of 2.23 billion euros came on top of falling sales. A decision on whether Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky may take over the group is due later today.
Last year’s net loss of 259 million euros almost increased tenfold to 2.23 billion below zero, mainly due to impairments. The French supermarket chain is gradually being crushed by its huge mountain of debt and readily admits that its future is uncertain. Questions arise once more as sales also continue to fall: – 4.2 % in the past six months to 10.96 billion euros, while high inflation is nevertheless boosting sales at competitors.
Later today, the group’s creditors are expected to greenlight the planned takeover by Daniel Kretinsky and Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière. The duo are looking to inject 1.2 billion in capital and plan a major debt restructuring.
Kretinsky would also like to sell Latin American operations of the group, especially the Brazilian branch that employs three quarters of all Casino employees. On French soil, unions fear the new owners will go on a franchise spree, like Delhaize and Intermarché, and want to spin off a large number of shops. Discounter Lidl has already applied to acquire the stores for which Casino sees no future.


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AI Will 'Accelerate' the Metaverse, Empower Creators: The Sandbox Co-Founder
use of artificial intelligence, or AI, may speed up the pace at which original work is created in the metaverse, said Sebastian Borget, co-founder of The Sandbox and a speaker at Consensus 2023. “What used to take days before, from ideation and conception, can now take just a matter of seconds,” Borget told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” on Thursday. AI will “accelerate and empower even more creators,” he said.
The Sandbox, a culture and entertainment platform, is a user-generated and virtual gaming tool where users can build, own and sell their gaming experiences. The Hong Kong-based platform’s Game Client was installed over 1.3 million times last year, and has a digital presence in countries including Japan, China, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, Borget said. AI has garnered widespread attention. Some of its use cases, including ChatGPT’s text generator, have been met with warm and not so warm reactions. In March, for example, Neal Stephenson, author of “Snow Crash,” a science-fiction classic novel where he coined the term “metaverse,”.

domain: news


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New Anglia LEP Conference: East of England Co-op expands local food range
THE East of England Co-operative Society is continuing to step-up its commitment to locally-sourced food and drink, delegates at the New Anglia LEP conference were told today.
The society, which hosted the event at its Wherstead Park headquarters outside Ipswich, already stocks local products from 118 accredited suppliers, including “own label” lines of locally-made or locally-packaged beer, eggs, chocolate and tea.
Kevin Warden, the society’s local sourcing manager, told delegates at the event that, from yesterday, four of its stores – in Aldeburgh, Leiston, Wickham Market and Framlingham – were now offering local milk, from Marybelle, based at Walpole, near Halesworth, with local preserves and fruit juices due to follow shortly.
Mr Warden said the society began sourcing locally in 2007 through regional food and drink group Tastes of Anglia and in 2011 launched its own “Sourced Locally is miles better” brand.
From turnover of �1million in 2008, local sales has increased to �7.1m in the year to January 2012 and were on course to top �8m this year.
Research among the society’s local suppliers indicated that more than 100 jobs had been created as a result of the local-sourcing initiative, with many more having been safeguarded, he added.
Delegates also heard from Doug Field, the society’s executive officer for finance and technology, who highlighted the Regional Investment Fund unveiled by the society earlier this year.
- 1 Revealed: The most isolated villages in Suffolk
- 2 Double-decker bus bought on eBay becomes new home for evicted Suffolk family
- 3 Emergency services attending incident in Suffolk town
- 4 Ambitious plans to regenerate 'dilapidated' part of Suffolk town revealed
- 5 Protests against soaring fuel prices planned for Monday
- 6 First cases of monkeypox reported in Suffolk
- 7 Mystery surrounds container ships at anchor off Suffolk coast
- 8 One of north Suffolk's 'most productive' arable farms up for sale
- 9 Torquay sign two released Ipswich Town players
- 10 Body of woman found in river in Hadleigh
The first investments in local firms should be announced by Christmas, he revealed.


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Online iPhone marketplace Swappie has launched in Ireland, as part of a European expansion project being financed by a $40m (€36m) Series B funding round.
Headquartered in Helsinki and founded in 2016, Swappie lets users buy and sell used Apple iPhones. The devices are tested and verified before transactions.
Founders Sami Marttinen and Jiri Heinonen (pictured) have found rapid traction for Swappie, with revenue reportedly amounting to c.$35m in 2019.
Currently operating in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Italy, Swappie is now being rolled out in Ireland, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.
The business, which employs 360 people, recently raised its Series B funding in a round that included TESI, Lifeline Ventures and Inventure. In all, the company has raised €40m since being founded.
CEO Sami Marttinen said that Swappie will be available to Irish consumers selling their iPhones from mid-August, though purchases on the site are available now.
“Because we refurbish every device ourselves in our own factory, we control the whole value chain. This means we can deliver the highest quality devices under warranty for much less than the cost of a new phone,” Marttinen added.
Second-hand iPhone 11 128GB models retail for €749 on Swappie compared with Apple's shop price for a new device of €879.


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SHOPPERS can look forward to plenty of sweet and spicy autumn treats at Saltburn Farmers Market tomorrow.
Children and families will be able to decorate some fantastic farm-baked gingerbread biscuits at workshops held by The Gingerbread House, and take their creations home.
Farmers’ Market organiser Lorna Jackson said: “The Gingerbread House is one of our most popular stalls, and this month they’re holding a special workshop for children and families to decorate their farm-baked gingerbread biscuits and gorgeous gingerbread houses.
“All the gingerbread is baked to a traditional recipe adapted by Liz Druce at her farmhouse high up in the moors in Egton near Whitby, and her workshops are always great fun for all the family.
“And we’re really pleased to welcome back our brand new mushroom specialists Autumn Harvest by huge popular demand.
“They joined the market as special guests for the first time last month, and brought an amazing range of 12 varieties of fresh wild mushrooms, mushroom butters and dried mushroom powders that looked and tasted fantastic.”
Saltburn Farmers’ Market features more than 25 stalls and is held just outside Sainsbury’s, near Saltburn Railway Station starting at 9am.
A special Christmas Farmers’ Market also takes place on Saturday, December 8.
THE latest in Stewart Park’s popular series of fortnightly Craft Fairs is held on Sunday.
It will be held from 11am to 3pm in the Bolckow Visitor Centre in the recently refurbished Middlesbrough park.
Stalls will showcase a variety of seasonal and other crafts including cup cakes, handmade cards, nail art, jewellery, home made jams and felt crafts.
A forthcoming highlight of the festive season will be the special Christmas Fair on Sunday, December 16 from 11am to 4pm.
Organisers are keen to hear from outside speciality market traders to sell Christmas and seasonal food/items on the day. Pitches for the Christmas Fair are £30.
To book call Nicky Morgan on 01642 515643 or email nicola_morgan@ middlesbrough.gov.uk
On Sunday, Crathorne Hall Hotel is hosting a Luxury Christmas Fayre.
This will be followed by a second event at The Treebridge Hotel, near Stokesley on Sunday, November 18.
The fairs will treat visitors to an eclectic display of luxuriously tempting Christmas gift ideas from personalised products to high-end brand and home-made treats.
Many of the exhibitors are local suppliers.
Your Main Event, organisers of the Luxury Christmas Fayre have chosen local charity Teesside Hospice as their charity partner for the events.
The Crathorne event takes place from 1-5pm and at the Treebridge, 10am-3pm. Entry is free, details at www.yourmainevent.co.uk.


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Supermarkets are relatively unlikely spots for coronavirus infection, data suggests
Numbers to date suggest relatively little risk — either for shoppers or, more surprisingly, grocery workers.
A staple of the American economy and way of life, grocery stores have in recent weeks become places of significant fear for many Americans wary that the crowded, sometimes close-quarter environments may represent a prime infection vector for coronavirus.
Yet several studies, as well as ongoing data regarding coronavirus outbreaks and worker infection rates, continue to suggest that supermarkets pose relatively little risk both for those who shop in them and, even more surprisingly, for those who work long shifts in them.
Since the arrival of the pandemic in the United States, grocery stores here have responded with significant mitigation and sanitization measures. Many have dialed back their hours to allow for aggressive cleaning procedures. Others have installed plastic protective shields at cash registers and checkouts. Most major food retailers have made it mandatory for workers to wear masks while on the job. Chains like Walmart and Kroger have imposed capacity limits on their buildings.
Many of those measures, however, have only appeared over the last several weeks — well after there were already indicators that grocery shopping posed relatively little risk for infection.
In April, Hendrik Streeck, a virologist at the University of Bonn, determined that it was highly unlikely that shoppers would contract the virus when buying groceries. He told media at the beginning of last month that, through a survey of the disease's spread in Germany, he found "no significant risk of catching the disease when you go shopping."
"Severe outbreaks of the infection were always a result of people being closer together over a longer period of time," he said, remarking that in the outbreaks he studied, "infection didn’t come from supermarkets or butchers or restaurants. It came from long periods together in closed spaces."
Streeck's findings dovetail with those of several scientists out of Hong Kong and China, who said in a study early last month that out of 318 outbreaks they surveyed, just seven, or just above 2%, came from supermarkets or shopping malls. One of the study's authors, Professor Te Miao from the University of Hong Kong, confirmed to Just the News that the researchers identified just two outbreaks associated with supermarkets, or 0.6% of the total.
Infection rates among workers appear low
Of course, shoppers can come and go from a supermarket in just a few minutes. Those who work there, however, have to stick around for hours at a time, interact with dozens of customers, and handle merchandise often picked over extensively by the public. But infection and mortality numbers appear to be relatively low even among grocery workers.
The United Food and Commercial Workers — the largest grocery union in the country — said in a press release last week that since the pandemic reached the United States "68 grocery workers have died and more than 10,000 have been infected or exposed."
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated in 2017 around 3 million grocery workers employed in the United States. If those numbers have largely held steady, then the share of UFCW workers who have contracted the disease is at most one third of one percent of the entire U.S. grocery force, and the number who have died from it is around 0.002%.
Those numbers, which of course represent significant personal hardships and losses, suggest that the danger of contracting COVID-19 at grocery stores is low, even among those at greatest risk of infection. Part of that may be due to the mitigation efforts put in many stores in recent weeks, as well as consumer-led efforts to wear masks and keep distance between each other while shopping.
Another part of the explanation may lie in the mechanics of the virus itself: In the Chinese and Hong Kong study, nearly four out of every five outbreaks surveyed were associated with home spread, suggesting a high likelihood of infection in closed spaces. Supermarkets, which are generally very large and equipped with heavy-duty air circulation and filtration systems, may simply be unlikely to harbor enough of the virus to pose a threat to most consumers or workers.
New data on the virus, of course, is always coming to light, and the risk associated with grocery stores may rise as the pandemic continues. As of now, however, the evidence suggests that people can shop for groceries with relatively little worry about catching the coronavirus — good news for supermarkets, and for the people who shop, work in and depend upon them.
This article was updated on Wednesday at 8:20 am with comments from a University of Hong Kong professor.


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Xiaomi Mipad is the Android tablet by the company, and the first consumer device to ship with Nvidia Tegra K1 SoC, and it has been selling in China for 1499 RMB (~$240) for the 16GB flash version, and 1699 RMB (~$275) for the 64GB version. This morning, I’ve noticed the rest of us can now pre-order the tablet via GeekBuying for $349 (16 GB version), and it’s also available on Aliexpress for $320 for the 16GB version, and $370 for the 64GB, so there’s currently a steep markup around $100 to buy the device outside China that can’t be explained by shipping alone…
Here’s a reminder of the hardware specifications:
- SoC – Nvidia Tegra K1 quad core Cortex A15 processor @ 2.2 GHz with a 192-core Kepler GPU
- System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3
- Storage – 16 or 64GB eMMC, extensible to 128GB via microSD card
- Display – 7.9” IPS display, 2048×1536 326 PPI
- Camera – 8MP rear / 5MP front camera
- Connectivity – 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi
- Battery – 6700 mAh battery
- Dimensions – 202.1 x 135.4 x 8.5 mm
- Weight – 360 grams
The tablet will run MIUI an heavily skinned version of Android. If you are a developer, you are definitely better off going with Jetson TK1 development board because it’s cheaper and support is obviously better, but Xiaomi MiPad could be an option if you want both a consumer product and an app development platform.
If you plan to pre-order you still have some time, as shipping is scheduled for the 10th of August 2014 according to GeekBuying.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.


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Roadrunners welcomes Deny Designs to its portfolio
Roadrunners LLC, a sales agency representing major industry brands within the specialty retail sector, is excited to announce its newest addition to the lineup of brands it represents. Deny Designs, a modern home furnishings company that supports artists worldwide, will now be represented by Roadrunners — significantly growing its market presence and creating new opportunities for the visionary brand.
“We’re thrilled to welcome such an incredible company to Roadrunners, and eager to introduce Deny Designs products to retailers at the upcoming Winter markets,” said Angela Schmook, vice president for Roadrunners. “They have an incredibly-impressive collection of products, and a heartwarming mission that supports the talents of independent artists and creatives worldwide. We’re confident that the addition of Deny Designs to our family will excite retailers and lead to incredible growth for the brand.”
Deny Designs — the B2B arm of made-to-order home décor and accessories brand, Society6 — is known for its artist-designed home goods, wall art and accessories. With more than 75 premium products available, the brand offers a platform to shop unique designs that support independent artists from around the world.
Roadrunners LLC is a sales agency representing industry brands across the giftware, apparel, stationery, books, toys, baby, fashion, fragrance and personal care sectors of the specialty gift industry. With more than 40 sales representatives servings 29 U.S. states, the brands represented by Roadrunners enjoy coast-to-coast exposure to thousands of retailers.
Deny Designs products will be showcased in the Roadrunners showroom during the upcoming Dallas Total Home & Gift Market (Jan. 5-11, 2022), Atlanta Winter Market (Jan. 11-18, 2022), and Las Vegas Winter Market (Jan. 23-27, 2022).
For more information, visit www.denydesigns.com and www.roadrunnersllc.com.


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Google Search and the Google Play store could leave your Android phone soon
Google has found itself in yet another battle with the EU after its antitrust regulators investigated the financial incentives that Google offers manufacturers to install its search and apps on their devices.
The European Commission believes that Google is abusing its position in the smartphone market to shut out rivals such as Microsoft’s Bing, according to Reuters. The 150-page complaint also details the EC’s plan to stop Google from offering discounts or payments to manufacturers who preinstall the Google Play store and Google Search on their devices. The EC believes that this prevents device manufacturers from using competing Android-based operating systems such as CyanogenOS.
This raises a lot of questions about exactly what the EC wants to prevent Google from doing. For one, Google owns and develops Android – the most widely used mobile OS in the world. Instead of paying companies to ensure its apps and services are preinstalled on devices, Google could just as easily build them into Android as standard, preventing manufacturers from removing them. It could also do this to Android variants such as CyanogenOS.
Consumers also expect a certain level of Google software in their Android phones, buying them because they want access to the comprehensive Google Play app store over that of, say, Amazon or Samsung’s own app stores.
It should come as no surprise that the complaint levelled against Google didn’t come from end users but from FairSearch – a group formed from organisations all directly affected by Google’s comprehensive services. FairSearch believes Google’s overwhelming dominance in online search and mobile services will damage their businesses – not too surprising when you realise FairSearch is comprised of Nokia, Oracle, Expedia, TripAdvisor and some other companies I’d wager you’ve never even heard of.
This case is yet another strike in Google’s ongoing battle with the European Commission, which seeks to make an example of Google. According to the case document, the EC plans to set Google’s fine at “a level which will be sufficient to ensure deterrence”.
Naturally, Google has defended itself against such claims, stating: “We look forward to showing the European Commission that we’ve designed the Android model in a way that’s good for both competition and consumers, and supports innovation across the region.”
Another question around these ongoing anticompetitive issues is what will happen in Britain once we leave the EU. Technically Google will be well within its rights in our country to throw whatever the hell it likes into Android as standard. Thankfully, in this instance, that’s not a bad thing, but who knows what other doors this will open for Google and other global companies?
The EC levelled a similar case against Microsoft in 2004, forcing it to pay a €497 million fine and release a version of Windows without Windows Media Player, amid concerns around its dominant position in the marketplace. But as consumers, we all know how irritating it was to buy Windows without a media player as standard – perhaps there are some things the EC shouldn’t try to change.


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Facebook allowed companies to target children under the age of 13 with ads related to smoking, alcohol, and gambling, in exchange for these companies paying the site about $ 3, according to research conducted by Reset Australia and published by the British newspaper, The Guardian.
The organization specialized in criticizing digital systems has set up a Facebook page and an advertising account under the name “Ozzie News Network” to know the advertising options that the site will provide through its Ads Manager system.
Although Facebook will not allow ads for alcohol and other inappropriate material for people under 18, it does not prevent advertisers from targeting children who identify their “personal profile” as being interested in alcohol.
The site allowed ads to be displayed to about 740,000 Australian children between 13 and 17. When the organization “refined the advertisement according to interest,” it found that it could advertise to teenagers just as it is for those over the age of 18 years.
The organization explained that it could advertise to adolescents under 18 years interested in alcohol products, smoking and “vaping,” gambling, weight loss, fast food, and online dating.
The organization referred to advertising costs and said that the advertisement targeting about 52 thousand adolescents interested in alcohol will cost only 3 dollars and that targeting about 14 thousand adolescents interested in gambling will cost 11 dollars, and the advertisement targeting less than 1000 teenagers interested in cigarettes or electronic cigarettes will cost between $ 138, $ 210.
The organization called on the federal government in Australia to develop regulations related to the collection and use of data on young people, saying that there must be explicit consent from children and parents and full transparency about how to use it, with an emphasis on “collecting the necessary data” only.


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The Sosland Publishing Purchasing Seminar was in Kansas City Sunday evening to Tuesday at noon. We had eight people there, along with 800 other sales and purchasing managers; it’s a true must-attend event.
Of course, there’s a full program of education on ingredients and services relevant to our industries. Carl Schwinke was the featured speaker on cash soft wheat markets, and was widely complimented on his presentation.
Takeaways: The U.S. stands a real chance of losing a substantial amount of its export grain markets to countries like Russia (wheat), Brazil (soybeans), and a whole bunch who want to grow corn. Due to more intense regulation, the truck transportation market is now very difficult. It is likely going to continue with significant cost increases and likelihood of service disruptions. The economic expansion that began back in 2009 has another 4-6 years to run. This will make it the longest in our history. On the other hand, it’s also had the slowest growth of all the expansions. Energy prices have been very stable at low levels for natural gas, more volatile for oil products, but over the longer term should be very moderate compared to recent decades: technology plus the desire of oil-producing countries for revenue will combine to keep prices relatively low.
That’s what we heard; now we start finding out if it’s all true!
June 7, 2018


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We have a piece of interesting news to share with Pokemon GO and Fire Emblem Heroes players today.
It seems that there are many fans who love the Nintendo Switch Home Menu so much that they have recreated an almost identical menu on their Android smartphone.
Today the official Pokemon GO Japan Twitter account posted something interesting that’s about to happen in 2019.
Fire Emblem Heroes is about to get a lot darker.
It looks like Nintendo’s Fire Emblem Heroes might be losing a little bit of steam
Today, Nintendo has released a new Animal Crossing Pocket Camp update for mobile devices!
Niantic, the developers of Pokemon GO, were recently interviewed by the German press to find out about their future plans for the successful mobile game.


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The debate continues: when a consumer is informed about the very real ecological and political dangers associated with mined diamonds, will he or she purchase a diamond or choose a diamond alternative?
This recent study shows that slowly but surely, people’s minds are changing:
Paso Robles, Calif.–A new consumer survey conducted by MVI Marketing’s Jewelry Consumer Opinion Council (JCOC) showed that a small but significant percentage of respondents have decided to snub mined diamonds, and an even greater percentage are planning to seek out “created diamond” alternatives.
According to a release from the JCOC, the council conducted a study called “Consumer Perceptions of Created Diamond Alternatives,” which was completed by 1,478 JCOC panel members between the dates of Dec. 26 and Dec. 31, 2009.
The study exposed survey-takers to some brief introductory information about the concerns surrounding diamonds and why those concerns have prompted some consumers to choose created diamond alternatives, including lab-grown diamonds and diamond simulants, instead.
“Mined diamonds are mined from deep in the earth,” a concept introduction provided to survey-takers said. “This has some environmentalists concerned about the destructive nature of mining and the chemicals used. Others are concerned about profits from illicit diamond mining being used to fund the purchase of arms in war-torn countries and contributing towards human suffering. Because of these issues, many people have opted for created diamond alternatives available in fine jewelry instead of mined diamonds.”
The JCOC release said that after learning about issues related to mined diamonds, a majority of respondents have taken actions that indicate they may be buying fewer mined diamonds in the future.
According to the study, 11 percent of those who participated said they have decided not to purchase or request jewelry crafted of mined diamonds.
Eight percent said they won’t give mined diamonds as a gift and 18 percent reported that they have made family or friends aware of the issues.
A total of 16 percent of survey-takers said they seek created diamond alternatives when looking for jewelry.
“Clearly consumers are becoming more aware of the challenges faced in the mining of diamonds,” MVI Chief Executive Officer Mart Hurwitz said in the release. “It is only natural for the consumer to consider man-made alternatives if their concerns about those challenges grow.”
Source: National Jeweler
Moissanite, in our opinion, is a phenomenal product – highly comparable to diamonds – and exceeding in some characteristics. We sell moissanite because we recognize this societal shift and the importance in finding a diamond alternative for people concerned with global issues.
Round Tiffany style solitaire engagement ring with Charles and Colvard created moissanite.


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News about Hershey Company, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.
ARTICLES ABOUT THE HERSHEY COMPANY
First-quarter sales in China were half what they were for the first quarter a year ago, and April and May sales there missed expectations, the company said.
June 20, 2015, Saturday
As a result of a settlement with the Hershey’s Company, Let’s Buy British Imports, or L.B.B., agreed this week to stop importing all Cadbury’s chocolate made overseas.
January 24, 2015, Saturday
While Republicans are holding a high-profile retreat in Pennsylvania, Senate Democrats have quietly hunkered down in Baltimore to lick their wounds.
January 15, 2015, Thursday
Hershey announced on Thursday that it had agreed to buy an 80 percent stake in Shanghai Golden Monkey for about $584 million.
December 19, 2013, Thursday
Are those references to Hershey’s chocolate in “Mad Men” legitimate or a higher form of product placement?
July 1, 2013, Monday
Corrupt heads of state are only part of Africa’s problem. Avarice and exploitation are root causes.
January 30, 2013, Wednesday
A 5-cent bar that’s “more sustaining than meat.”
January 13, 2013, Sunday
The Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut agreed on Wednesday to acquire the cocoa division of Petra Foods of Singapore for $950 million.
December 12, 2012, Wednesday
The Labor Department reached a settlement that recovers back wages for foreign students who worked in allegedly abusive conditions at a factory that packed Hershey’s chocolates.
November 15, 2012, Thursday
Advertisers are wooing consumers with promises to provide solutions that are meant to be simple but not simplistic.
July 27, 2012, Friday
Copyright © 2008. Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the vendor disclosures page.


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Reuters reports that nothing lasts forever, especially high flying Silicon Valley hardware makers.
Silicon Graphics Inc., a struggling maker of high-performance business computers, Monday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a round of restructuring measures failed, sending its shares plunging.
SGI is best known for its high-powered computers that are used in creating Hollywood movie special-effects. The machines are also used for pharmaceutical research, petroleum exploration and in the financial industry.
The company was started by Jim Clark, who went on to found Netscape Communications Corp., the Web-browser developer that’s credited with helping to promote the mainstream use of the Internet. SGI’s old offices now serve as the headquarters of Internet powerhouse Google Inc.
For more on this story, see Om Malik’s take.


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Beer Brand Fights Back On Behalf Of Grassroots Music Venues.
With the help of popular singer-songwriter Frank Turner, Music Venue Trust today announce their Official Beer Partner Fightback Brewing Company will begin selling bottled Fightback Lager, Fightback Cider, Fightback Berries and Fightback IPA online in support of the #saveourvenues campaign.
Fightback Lager, launched in 2018 and stocked in over 60 Grassroots Music Venue bars across the UK, makes a 5p donation to MVT from every pint sold. With gigs remaining on hold, music fans can now raise the new 330ml bottles at home and still contribute to venues’ survival.
Joining Fightback Lager will be new additions Fightback Cider, Fightback Berries and Fightback IPA following a partnership with Trilogy Beverage Brands to expand FIGHTBACK’s reach nationally. A move to grow the fundraising initiative and substantially build the level of donations to Music Venue Trust.
Frank Turner said: “The Save Our Venues campaign has been a great success in showing what all of us can achieve when we come together to fight for our corner of culture. The Music Venue Trust Save Our Venues Campaign and everybody who’s been involved in it has made great strides in raising money and raising awareness during this difficult time.
But the fight is far from over, and there is more that we can do. Of course everybody can go to www.saveourvenues.co.uk and get involved and donate to the campaign there, but Music Venue Trust have also announced new lines of Fightback Lager, Fightback IPA and Fightback Cider and it’s delicious! A donation from the sale of every single pint, bottle and can goes to the Save Our Venues fund.
So; get involved, get yourself a drink, donate to the campaign and let’s save our venues. Together.”


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Year 11 student Sean Harrison has shared the information below about the TCEC's newest initiative - plastic bottle recycling:
Most of us think we’re safe in assuming that the plastic water bottles we put in our recycling bins are being recycled into new water bottles. This could not be further from the truth. Currently there is no plastic reprocessing in WA, and only one plastic reprocessing plant in the whole of Australia.
As an easier and more cost-effective alternative, our plastics are piled up by the tonne and sold to overseas markets, mainly China, where 98-99% of it is burned for fuel, and only 1-2% gets recycled.
As plastic burning produces thirty times more greenhouse gases than coal, this is clearly becoming an enormous problem for the security and preservation of our environment.
In just one minute, Australians throw away 2267 plastic bottles. A large majority of these end up in landfills, rivers and oceans. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
This was the eye-opening message given by Darren and Joe from Greenbatch, a start-up initiative pushing to reverse this imposing environmental issue. Their mission is to build WA's first plastic reprocessing plant, turning the PET plastic bottles we put in our recycling bins into 3D printing filament. This means the plastic is actually being repurposed.
This vision resonated with the TCEC who are now determined to support Greenbatch in making a change. In Term 3, the TCEC began working with Greenbatch to encourage the recycling of PET #1 plastic bottles in and around the school. Special green and purple bins will be placed in a number of locations around the school for students and College families to participate in this initiative. Once the bins are full, the bottles collected will be given to Greenbatch to recycle into 3D printing filament for the College to re-use.
Students are encouraged to recycle plastic bottles purchased from the Canteen in the purple and green bins, and families are welcome to bring their #1 PET plastic bottles to the College for recycling. The more bottles Trinity collects, the less that goes into landfill or oceans. One of the bins will be located at the umbrella drop off point for ease of depositing for families. Please note, the TCEC is encouraging the recycling of bottles that would be getting used anyway, not the purchasing of ‘extra’ bottles and we hope that everyone can get on board.


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Sa Sa Archives - Inside Retail Asia
Sa Sa holiday sales were strong enough to fuel optimism for the beauty products retailer for its full-year performance.
Retail sales in Hong Kong and Macau have shown continuous positive growth for Sa Sa International Holdings.
Sa Sa sales in Hong Kong and Macau surged 14.6 per cent during the first two months of this year.
Hong Kong retail is on track to match or even exceed its record 2013 sales within the next five years, according to a senior PwC consultant.
The Sa Sa Taiwan business is to be closed down by March 31.
Stronger store traffic drove overall sales for Sa Sa International for its third quarter.
Despite typhoons buffeting sales, Sa Sa International Holdings still grew turnover in its second quarter.
Squeezed margins eroded beauty retailer Sasa International profits in the last financial year.
With more mainland tourists, Sa Sa International’s Lunar New Year sales rose 3.5 per cent in Hong Kong and Macau.
Sales performance improved marginally for cosmetics chain Sa Sa International for its third quarter.
A new Tencent Singapore team aims to build brand connections with mainlanders and non-Chinese alike.
New Sa Sa stores are set to open in train stations and near the Mainland China border.


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Earlier this month, Microsoft released a huge post on its official Windows 8 blog with a number of details of the upcoming ARM version of Windows 8. While the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 was released today, it was the x86 port that was made available to the public. In the Windows 8 ARM blog post, Microsoft announced that it would be sending out a small number of Windows 8 ARM-equipped PCs to a limited number of developers and hardware partners for testing purposes in the near future.
Today, Qualcomm announced that it is working with Microsoft to provide those Windows 8 ARM testing PCs to developers. The PCs will be using what Qualcomm is calling "next generation" versions of its Snapdragon S4 processor.
Stefan Kinnestrand, director of business planning for Microsoft's Windows Division, said:
Microsoft’s development tools and the Qualcomm Snapdragon test PCs will enable developers to build and test Metro style apps for Windows on ARM PCs Based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, these systems will equip developers to create Metro style apps and offer a rich set of hardware peripherals that plug in and help enable seamless user experiences on the Windows on ARM platform.
Both Microsoft and Qualcomm have said in their separate announcements that these test PCs running on Windows 8 ARM are not representative of what will be launched when the final Windows 8 ARM PCs are ready to be released to the public. Windows 8 ARM will not be launched as a separate software product; it will only be available as a pre-installed option on Windows 8 ARM device.
Other ARM-based processor makers such as NVIDIA and Texas Instruments have already announced their chips will be able to run Windows 8 ARM when it is released.


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Star Wars Rebels “Bring Her Back” Trailer Streamed
The official Star Wars Youtube channel has updated with an new trailer for Star Wars Rebels. The latest trailer features the Rebels as they set out to rescue Hera. The next episode of Star Wars Rebels titled, “Jedi Night,” will premiere on Disney XD on Monday, February 19 at 9 P.M. ET/P.T.
Official Images: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Toys
The Collider has recently revealed the first look at the upcoming toys based on the Rise ofRead More
Transformers Cyberverse Toys Revealed
Gizmodo has recently revealed the first look at the toys based on upcoming Transformers Cyberverse animated series. ForRead More


text: Cape Town - Most shopping centres have rodent problems, a pest control expert said on Friday, after a rat scurried out of a loaf of bread in the Woolworths at Canal Walk."The biggest reason for rodents at shopping centres is because of the food. Because people don’t clean [properly]; rodents multiply," Mario Pluke of Rentokill told News24 on Friday.There were plenty of places for them to hide, and the gardens around malls also provided perfect shelters. The problem usually got worse over Christmas."What shops do is before December they stock up, which means areas are fully packed, creating ideal environments for rodents to hide."Eileen Slabbert of Eco-Wise pest control said malls were prone to rodent issues."Pests are definitely increasing. People don’t want to clean and because of the dry conditions out there, rats are forced to head toward shopping centres and factories to get food," she said.READ: Rodent alert at Cape mall after rat scurries out of bread in WoolworthsSimilar experiencesNews24 reported on Thursday that a rat ran out of a customer’s loaf of bread at a till in the Canal Walk Woolworths on January 7.A number of readers have recounted similar experiences."Saw several mice running between the groceries on the shelves. I called the staff over, but they were totally uninterested," one reader said about a grocery shop in another mall.A second reader said she had bought bread from a store and realised the packaging had been nibbled at."When I got home, I noticed the plastic packaging has been bitten through by a mouse or rat," she said.Woolworths told News24 on Thursday that the Canal Walk’s management had told them rodents were a problem throughout the mall.Canal Walk marketing manager Vanessa Herbst, however, said the problem was isolated to Woolworths."This is specifically within the Woolworths store. We, from our side, have started to assist Woolworths with dealing with the issues. We have never seen anything like this," she said.


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In previous Supply Chain Matters postings, we have called attention to metals and components supplier Alcoa. In September of 2014 we highlighted the announcement of Alcoa’s long-term strategic agreement with Boeing’s commercial aircraft unit. Our March 2015 commentary further highlighted this supplier’s strategic positioning within commercial aircraft and aerospace supply chains, and our September commentary noted how product innovation efforts have begun to pay off.
This week features the news that Alcoa has signed a $1 billion deal to supply aircraft components such as bolts, rivets and other specialty fasteners with Airbus. Alcoa classifies this deal as its largest deal for aerospace fastening systems with Airbus.
According to published reports, the parts are to be fabricated from titanium, steel and nickel-based alloys utilized in newer Airbus aircraft models such as the A350, the A320 neo, and the A330. The components were designed to withstand extreme operating conditions and be more resistant to wear.
Once again, Alcoa has characterized these new fastener components as having “breakthrough technology for some of the most advanced aircraft in the world.” Of further significance, these specialty parts that Alcoa has developed are normally provided by niche specialty metal suppliers catering to the aerospace sector.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, most of the work related to this new Airbus supply contract would be completed in California and a more than a dozen Alcoa world-wide sites.
I recently came across a report from business network CNBC that had the eye-gripping title; Why US Manufacturers are Nixing the US for China. The premise of this report was that the combination of applied robotics and the devalued yuan are now lowering manufacturing costs for the global manufacturing hub. This was not the only report we have seen that suddenly trumps the new attractiveness for sourcing in China. However, industry sourcing teams need to be cautious and thorough in their positioning and weighting of manufacturing sourcing decisions.
The argument seems compelling. Chinese factories are cutting prices because their costs are going down as a result of devaluation of China’s currency, not to mention that the current downswing impacting China’s economy has motivated many manufacturers to become more aggressive in preserving existing business or seeking additional customers.
The other compelling force noted was the offset of raising direct labor costs by the shift to more automated manufacturing enabled by robotics. However, a recent posting by China Tech provides a different picture or reality, with the headline: The manufacturing boom in Guangdong is over’: Industrial robot makers the latest to get swallowed up by China’s economic slowdown. A senior salesperson of a leading Chinese robotics firm predicts that only 5 percent of current robotics producers will survive in the next two years because manufacturers do not have the available capital to invest in automation. Apparently many Chinese robotic manufacturers set overly aggressive sales targets and did not factor an economic downturn. Declaring that the export-led boom in coastal region Guangdong is over, exports continue to decline every month.
The specific geography of Guangdong is a key since this was the former lower cost direct labor manufacturing region for apparel, footwear, toys and electronics that can benefit from the application of robotics and automation. Instead, manufacturing has shifted to more interior regions of China, seeking lower direct labor costs.
A separate recent article states that the world’s largest contract manufacturer Foxconn, has throttled back its robotics targets to target 30 percent automation in its factories by 2020. Previous reports had cited a 70 percent target. This report indicates that Foxconn’s Chinese factories, including those in Shenzhen, have 50,000 fully functional robots currently operating. Replicating human tasks in high volumes is not as easy as it seems.
While both outlined factors, the devaluation of Chinese currency and the promise of increased automation to offset increasing direct labor costs would appear to be a compelling argument to once again consider China for manufacturing sourcing, we advise caution for manufacturers and retailers.
The primary lesson learned from the initial wave of strategic sourcing decisions that favored China so many years ago was the one-dimensional view that weighted so many industry sourcing decisions. That sole weighting was the attractive cost of direct labor.
Industries have since learned that intellectual property protection, added logistics and transportation costs and the risks inherent within China and across global distribution networks are all added factors. The same holds true for current decisions, but the assumptions have somewhat changed.
More and more manufacturing has moved to the interior regions of China, requiring added logistics and transportation factors. The global transportation industry has its own set of problems. Ocean container carriers are in a race of survival of the fittest, those with the biggest ships, lowest costs and highest revenue potential. Air freight capacity has been dramatically reduced, and existing air service comes with a premium. Last year’s massive disruption involving U.S. West Coast ports provided a lesson in overburdened port infrastructure and increased transportation risks. Supply chain teams must now balance their transportation risks among both U.S. East and West Coast port entries. For Europe based firms, a massive overcapacity of ocean container vessels on the China to Europe segment has yet to shake out as to which multi-carrier network will garner the most leverage in shipping rates.
China’s leaders are desperately trying to move the economy to one of consumption-based vs. the prior export led, and that will drive capital availability. A consumption-based economy places the priority on China’s own manufacturers and service providers to fuel job growth and compete for business within China. The government has identified strategic industries that will fuel China’s economic growth over the next five years and they will have access to advanced research and needed capital. If you happen to compete in these industries, your business risks are magnified, especially if you source within China. Consider the recent challenges of Western brands competing within China, as their supply chains came under attack for poor quality or sub-standard practices.
Technology is a new imperative, particularly in gaining end-to-end and multi-tiered supply chain visibility across global supply networks.
The takeaway of our commentary is to not be swayed by a singular trend or singular factors. Sourcing decisions continue to require a holistic analysis that not only includes the cost of manufacturing, but the various other factors related to landed costs, inventory investment, security of information and added supply chain risks.
A given in today’s increasingly competitive global economy is that change is a constant, and assumptions prevalent today will be different in the not too distant future.
Industry supply chain teams have hopefully learned that strategic sourcing decisions need to stand the test of landed costs, market access, supply chain resiliency and risk mitigation. While China will remain an important and meaningful source of manufacturing and value-chain capability, industry supply chain teams will require a balanced global approach in sourcing, one that spans cost, technology capabilities, IP protection and risk mitigation.
Supply Chain Matters provides a follow-up to our prior commentary: high tech supply chains- increased risks associated with global access. In that commentary, we posed the question of balancing the need of high tech firms for increased market access to China’s market with the added risks of intellectual property protection. Leading up to the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the United States last week, prominent high tech firms elected to seek favor and seek new deals with Chinese partners.
The U.S.-China summit managed to yield some significant deals. On Friday, both countries agreed not to direct or support cyber-attacks that steal corporate information for economic benefit. The countries further agreed to cooperate more closely on the investigation of cybercrimes along with the creation of a high-level working group to combat such attacks. However, beyond the agreement are the actions and will of enforcement. President Obama declared: “We (United States) will be watching carefully as to make an assessment as to whether progress has been made in this area.” President Xi declared that the proper approach was to strengthen cooperation to avoid confrontation and politicization of the issue.
Prior to his summit meeting with President Obama, President Xi Jinping hosted an Internet Industry Forum meeting of prominent corporate high tech executives at the Seattle campus of Microsoft. In its reporting, The Seattle Times features a photo of the prominent high tech CEO’s invited to attend. The optics are stark. The CEO of Alibaba, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Facebook, IBM, Lenovo, among others are shown as participants. U.S. and China based alike. The Times notes: “Based on the attendance for what was essentially a photo-op in Redmond, that tech industry is betting that their future relies on China.”
In conjunction with the Seattle and Washington meetings, Cisco Systems announced a partnership with China based Inspur Group Co. In June, Cisco indicated that it was prepared to invest more than $10 billion in China over the next several years. The irony of the current announcement was that Cisco was the key supplier to help build China’s internal Internet and was later accused of spying on Chinese citizens. Now its CEO declares: “There are certain geopolitical dynamics that we have to navigate.”
As we along with business media has noted, Chinese authorities have informed state-owned companies and agencies to buy more locally owned and produced high tech equipment and that has accelerated the strategic importance of domestic technology. Foreign based high tech companies now have to pick their partners in order to continue to expand revenues in China.
Surely not as a coincidence, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Silicon Valley last week and made time to speak with prominent high tech and consumer electronics executives about investments in the country.
Market and technology access along with job-growth needs are all interwoven in moving parts with implications to global product innovation and value-chain strategies. There are no easy answers and thus are the risks, perils and strategy implications that continue to unwind within today’s globally based and far more competitive supply chains.
This week, Venture Beat, citing knowledgeable sources, indicated that Intel’s new 7360 LTE wireless modem chip will likely be some part of the new Apple iPhones in 2016. The commentary goes on to indicate that Intel’s inclusion as an iPhone supplier: “is as much about “second-sourcing’ as it is about the quality of the 7360 chip.” The report cautions that it remains unclear exactly which iPhone SKUs will contain the Intel sourced chip.
As Supply Chain Matters has previously echoed, Apple has active strategies addressing strategic and tactical supply risk and segmentation needs. This includes areas related to key components such as processor chips, displays, along with contract manufacturing needs. For the supply of modem chips for the iPhone, Qualcomm has far been the dominant supplier.
Intel arrived late to the mobile phone market and has since initiated earnest product development and other efforts directed at gaining traction. Venture Beat notes that Intel’s modem chip is highly regarded for being well-built, power efficient as well as fast. Further noted is that Intel acquired the former Infineon’s communications chip business in 2010 and since turned it into a seat of research and development for Intel’s next generation of LTE chips. Interesting enough and according to Venture Beat, Infineon once produced the 3G modem chips for iPhones at the Munich facility, but Apple quickly stopped sourcing the chips from Infineon after Intel bought the company.
Neither Intel nor Apple chose to comment to Venture Beat on their story.
We have often called attention to the risk, reward and peril aspects for being an Apple supplier. Even a high tech provider the size and stature of an Intel is not immune to procurement influence and supplier criteria factors that Apple can garner.
There is an expression that is often cited in business and military situations: “We are so, so screwed”
That expression likely describes current conversations among the halls and facilities of Volkswagen.
The U.S. Justice Department has begun a wide ranging investigation into alleged use of software installed in nearly a half-million diesel powered cars that make these vehicles appear to have cleaner air emissions than they actually do in operation. The auto producer has now acknowledged that the vehicle software installed in some U.S. diesel powered passenger cars make it appear that the vehicles conform to U.S. emissions standards.
According to various media reports, the German automaker could be subject to fines and penalties amount to $18 billion. That of course, does not include the costs involved in mitigating and correcting the problem of non-conforming vehicles currently being driven by U.S. consumers.’
The Wall Street Journal reports that Volkswagen stock has declined nearly 35 percent since Friday, when word began to spread that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would accuse the company of cheating. The publication is further reporting this evening that CEO Martin Winterkorn is literally fighting for his job. Today, Volkswagen indicated that it would take a $7.2 billion charge to earnings and cut its full-year outlook, with an indication that as much as 11 million vehicles could be affected by this development.
While business media continues to dive into the implications and consequences to Volkswagen, this blog commentary briefly dwells on the implications from our product design and supply chain management lens.
First and foremost, Volkswagen has the risk of losing the trust and loyalty of its U.S. and global customers if this crisis is not proactively managed. Thus far, it seems that Volkswagen senior management has been candid and forthcoming in issuing a public apology for violating consumer trust. That cannot be said about other automakers recently involved in government investigations alleging wrongdoing.
Beyond words, the automaker has to now expediciously develop a set of action plans to address several supply chain challenges. One relates to a growing inventory of unsold diesel cars that now have their U.S. sales suspended. The auto maker has made great strides in overcoming prior U.S. consumer pre-conceived impressions that diesel powered cars were noisy and dirty. About a year ago, this author test drove a new diesel powered Passat and I was impressed. Now, all of that market education effort could be compromised if proactive management of this crisis does not occur.
Another challenge relates to all of the sold vehicles currently in-service, that are probably now deemed as violating air emissions standards. Both a mechanical and software fix, if one can be economically developed, must be engineered and expeditiously deployed.
In past cases involving vehicles that do not meet air emissions standards, U.S. regulators have either ordered them off the roads or imposed stiff daily fines. The clock is now ticking.
It is no secret that Volkswagen has struggled with its vehicle line-up for the U.S. market. As noted, the U.S. designed Passat is an impressive vehicle but has failed to capture wider interest among buyers. Competitive models are laden with more on-board electronics and entertainment features. The automaker has further lacked any competitive mid-sized SUV model which is essential for competing in the U.S. market. In 2014, the automaker committed to produce a competitive 7 passenger SUV model by 2016 along with a $600 million investment in a new vehicle design research center. The design included fuel-efficient diesel powered models.
The coming weeks and months promise to provide Volkswagen with a leadership and response crisis with significant product development, product and service focused supply chain implications. These are significant challenges requiring proactive actions.
Similar to past consumer trust incidents involving Toyota and sudden unintended acceleration, we all get to observe and learn how a global automotive leader responds to brand, product design and consequent supply chain response crisis.
In September of 2014, Supply Chain Matters began calling reader attention to aluminum producer Alcoa and its efforts to collaborate and introduce newer, high-strength and corrosion resistant aluminum alloys for the commercial aerospace industry. At the time, Alcoa struck a multiyear aluminum supply agreement with Boeing’s Commercial Airplane unit to make this producer the sole supplier for wing skins on its metallic structure commercial aircraft along with aluminum plate products used in wing ribs or other structural aircraft components. The supply deal was valued to be more than $1 billion at the time, and the two parties a desire continue to collaborate on developing newer, high-strength and corrosion resistant alloys including aluminum-lithium applications.
In March of this year, we updated our readers with news that Alcoa’s indent to acquire RTI International Metals, described as one of the world’s largest producers of fabricated titanium products in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. RTI’s business focus was centered on long-term supply of titanium fabricated parts that make-up landing gears engines and airframes for both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that that as much as 80 percent of RTI’s 2014 revenues originated from the aerospace and defense sector. This RTI acquisition followed the 2014 acquisition of Germany based titanium and aluminum castings producer Tital, and U.K. jet-engine parts maker Firth-Rixson.
Our March commentary noted that the metals producer was further positioning itself to be a more strategic supplier to the global automotive industry, helping to pave the way for use of lighter metals in automobile product design and functionality.
Last week, the news reverberating across automotive supply chain audiences was that Ford Motor Company had reached an augmented supply agreement with Alcoa for use of aluminum based components. Readers might recall that the Ford F-150 was recently re-designed, making it the first mass market pick-up truck with an aluminum body. As a result of the design of lighter materials, this vehicle’s over weight was lightened by 700 pounds, adding upwards of 29 percent in overall fuel economy. Alcoa worked with Ford on the aluminum component re-design.
According to published reports, this revised supply agreement will allow for the use of more sophisticated alloys for additional use in the F-150 along with production of other exterior metal components such as fenders and door panels for other future Ford models. In its reporting, The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) quotes Ford’s product chief as indicating that collaborating on technology at this scale represents a fairly significant commitment by both companies.
While a reportedly large amount of Alcoa’s business still emanates from raw aluminum, the supplier is clearly on a strategic product innovation thrust to target business and product innovation needs in key industries. The WSJ reported that Alcoa is aiming to grow its automotive-aluminum sheet business alone to upwards of $1.3 billion by 2018, from a level of $229 million in 2013.
By developing new casting technologies for fabricating both aluminum and titanium based component parts, the door is being opened for joint product design collaboration and more strategic longer-term supply agreements to insure adequate supply. In its reporting of the Ford supply agreement, the WSJ spoke with Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld who indicated a focus on growing dozens of niche downstream businesses from aerospace to truck wheels, and in developing supply agreements with eight other auto makers.
Supply Chain Matters brings Alcoa to light as an example of joint supplier and OEM production efforts paying rewards in multiple strategic industries and boosting bottom-line results for both supplier and customer.


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Extreme couponing doesn’t require the organizational skills or time one may think.
Kelly Gibbs, who starred on TLC’s “Extreme Couponing” in 2011, said it only takes 20 to 30 minutes to prepare for a shopping trip that will save hundreds. Gibbs said she’ll share some tricks of the trade to start, and become an expert, in all things coupons at four extreme couponing 90-minute workshops over two days this week.
While the events are free, participants are required to register online at wacotrib.com/coupons as seating is limited.
The Tribune-Herald is sponsoring the workshops and participants must reside within the home- delivery area of the Tribune-Herald to attend.
Derek Ivey, Tribune-Herald circulation sales manager, said more than 1,000 people already have reserved spots. He said organizers planned for 1,400 total, but have made arrangements to accommodate more if needed.
Sessions are at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Bellmead Civic Center, 3900 Parrish St.
The second set is 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Thursday at The Barn, 1900 Spring Valley Road, in Hewitt.
Gibbs will be joined by Veronica Hall, who has taught thousands of people nationwide about savings. Hall spends less than $250 a month on groceries for her family of four, while still purchasing name brand products and household items.
“They really know what they are talking about, and they live this stuff,” Ivey said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to get some more information on how to save money and for free.”
Ivey said most people try to save money where they can and he hopes this event will help with that endeavour.
For Gibbs, it all started five years ago when she read a cousin’s blog post about couponing.
“I thought, ‘I want to do that,’ ” she said. “From there I just hit the Internet hard and did whatever research to see how to do this.”
What started as a sole venture, Gibbs said, has become a weekly session with her mother and sister. Gibbs said she has a system that makes the process simple and she’ll share that at the seminar.
Anyone can dive into couponing, she said, including mothers of young children who work full-time like herself.
“You get your newspapers on Sunday and file it away right away. Even for the most unorganized person they can handle it,” she said.
Starring on “Extreme Couponing” has allowed Gibbs to travel the country sharing her knowledge with others, while she raises her two children, ages 4 and 1.


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There are changes ahead via the FDA on e-cigarettes. These electronic cigarettes are becoming more and more popular in the United States, but now there is an effort to put some regulation in to place on the previously unregulated product.
According to USA Today, new rules from the FDA on e-cigarettes are likely coming in to place soon. The restrictions would include warning labels, federal approval and a ban of electronic cigarette sales to minors. At this time there is no FDA regulation at all on these e-cigarettes.
Use of electronic cigarettes has been escalating while the jury is still out regarding their safety. Many traditional smokers turn to e-cigarettes hoping they are less dangerous than traditional cigarettes, but not all medical professionals agree that is the case. Many states are implementing restrictions on e-cigarettes as more signs point to the dangers within the electronic cigarettes.
Some feel that the proposed rules from FDA on e-cigarettes don't go far enough, and others are frustrated that they have taken so long. Those on the manufacturing side, of course, don't feel that the product should be as restricted as traditional cigarettes. So far that seems to be the approach the FDA is taking, but there may be more in store.
Will the stance taken by the FDA on e-cigarettes make an impact on usage? Many will be curious to keep an eye on the implementation of the new rules to see what happens.


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The retail space will be located on Peter Street in London's Soho district.
The tech startup Nothing, which presented its first smartphone this summer, is preparing to open its first physical store in London. The opening will take place in November and will coincide with the market launch of the new Nothing Ear (stick) device.
The retail space will be located on Peter Street in London's Soho district, close to the flagship Supreme and other fashion brands. The store will not look like other monostores selling tech. Its design will be more reminiscent of a fashion boutique like Olivetti in Italy. This is how the founder of fashion tech startup Carl Pei sees the brand's retail concept.
"Opening our first store in the UK is a huge milestone for Nothing. Following the successful launch of Ear (1) and Phone (1), it's the perfect time to shake things up again and offer our community a space where they can engage with each other and our products. To do this in our home market, in the heart of Soho - the home of innovative design - makes perfect sense," said Nothing GM Ryan Latham.
In the best traditions of fashion brands, Nothing will launch a marketing campaign to celebrate the store's opening. The first hundred Ear (stick) customers will receive free merch - sweaters and T-shirts. All three products of the British brand will be available in the store from the moment of opening.


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We are incredibly excited to announce a new product as part of our BoardClic universe. Say hello to Peer Review.
As we improve the predictiveness of our software and as we infuse our platform with more strategic tools, our technology has to evolve. That’s why it gives me great pleasure to introduce our new tech lead, Johan Tell.
I want to share some exciting news at BoardClic. The past year has been taxing and companies have bent backwards to deliver the very best they can and one thing has been made crystal clear – The right people matter.
We have been working relentlessly on improving our product and updating it while listening to our customers. Here are some highlights from the past year
Watch our recent webinar on board effectiveness in a digital world on demand.


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Today Boohoo.com plc announced that the court has approved its purchase of Nasty Gal, and the transaction is expected to be completed on Feb. 28.
Following Nasty Gal’s bankruptcy, Boohoo.com was the sole suitor to step up, offering a $20 million bid for the company’s intellectual property and customer database.
“We are delighted to have been successful in our bid to acquire Nasty Gal. It represents an exciting opportunity to accelerate our international offering and inspire an ever-growing range of young customers in the US and around the world.” said Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, joint CEOs.
The deal will extend U.K.-based Boohoo’s reach into the U.S., helping the e-commerce company tap into a young, fashionable crowd similar to the 16-to-24 year olds that shop it’s flagship site as well as LittlePrettyThing.com, which it acquired last month with a 66 percent stake in its parent company, Three Clothing Company Ltd.
Gildan Activewear Inc has completed the acquisition of the American Apparel brand and certain assets.
The bankruptcy court gave Gildan the go-ahead to acquire the company on January 10th. The company’s $88 million bid reportedly beat out others, including Amazon and Forever 21. Montreal-based Gildan manufacturers family basics under brands like Gold Toe, Silks and Peds. Gildan owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Central America, the Caribbean Basin, North America and Bangladesh.
This marks the conclusion of a storied past for American Apparel and it’s founder Dov Charney. Known as a go-to for fast, fashionable basics and a lightening rod for its controversial ads, the company was founded in 1989.
Beyond profits and losses, the third quarter retail earnings calls revealed some key strategies related to off-price, holiday and sourcing strategies.Read more
Primark and Sports Direct, are being called out by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Beis) for underpaying their workers.Read more
Edited, a leading data authority, unveiled five groundbreaking trends that may shake up retailers, consumer activity and supply chains in 2018.Read more
In a letter to business partners and suppliers, Blue Farm Textiles announced that it will dissolve Blue Farm Textile Limited after July 1, 2018.Read more
The e-commerce juggernaut is proving to be quite challenging for shippers and suppliers this holiday season, with more than two weeks to go.Read more
Under Armour strengthened its digital division with two new executive appointments, plus MSYG promoted several members of its U.S. manufacturing team.Read more
G-Star Raw, a purveyor in innovative denim design, is minimizing the industry’s carbon footprint with its new sustainable G-Star Elwood RFTPi jean.Read more


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Delfield and Merco presented with Brinker International's 2009 Hospitality Partnership Excellence Award
November 5th, 2009
DALLAS – Recognizing vendors for their partnership, excellent performance and collaboration, Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) recently honored eight companies with its annual Hospitality Award for Partnership Excellence Award. Selected from more than 1,000 supplier partners who provide services to Brinker International and its three restaurant brands: Chili’s® Grill & Bar, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina® and Maggiano’s Little Italy®, these vendor partners exemplified hospitality in an industry that relies on delivering a first-class guest experience.
Brinker International’s 2009 Hospitality Award for Partnership Excellence recipients:
"Our incredible vendor partners continue to exhibit the true meaning of outstanding hospitality and are proud to honor their ongoing commitment and partnership with Brinker International,” said Happy Webberman, executive vice president of brand solutions for Brinker International. "These companies consistently make it possible for us to win together for our guests.”
Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT), is one of the world's leading casual dining restaurant companies, serving more than 1 million guests daily. Founded in 1975 and based in Dallas, Texas, Brinker owns or franchises nearly 1,700 restaurants in 29 countries and two territories, and employs more than 125,000. Brinker restaurant brands include Chili's® Grill & Bar, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina® and Maggiano's Little Italy®. Brinker also holds a minority investment in Romano's Macaroni Grill®. The company was named one of FORTUNE Magazine's Most Admired Food Service Companies in 2009 and was honored by the magazine as one of the Top 50 Employers for Minorities and the Top 50 Employers for Women. For more information, visit www.brinker.com.
Front Row: Happy Webberman, Executive Vice President Brand Solutions, Brinker International
Rick Zuehlke, Area Vice President Manitowoc Foodservice
Clif Geisler, Director of R&D - FF&E, Brinker International
Sharon Gibbs, Senior Manager Materials Purchasing, Brinker International
Gary Dykstra, President Lincoln Foodservice Products
Doug Brooks, President and CEO, Brinker International
Back Row: Chris Karssiens, VP, General Market Sales, USA, Manitowoc Foodservice
Larry Bryce – Executive Vice President, Americas, Manitowoc Foodservice
Terry Stephenson, Vice President of Purchasing, Brinker International


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The City of uMhlathuze has taken the responsibility to educate, engage and encourage consumers on issues of basic services delivery and payment of municipal bills to avoid termination of services.
Consumers with queries on their registered accounts from Rates, Water, Electricity, Refuse Removal and other services are encouraged to visit the municipal stands in different parts of the City to resolve them swiftly. The campaign kick started successfully at eSikhaleni Mall last week where many consumers reported their matters and they were resolved on the spot.
Municipal customers who also wishes to open new accounts are also welcomed to visit our desks and get more information on how to open an account with relevant forms and requirements.
The drive, themed: Siyasizana Help Us Help You, is aimed at assisting consumers on how to settle the municipal bill before it escalates to a level of non-affordability. This non-affordability of municipal bill may lead to illegal connections of water and electricity and the escalation of rates bill which, in most cases results in disconnections, legal actions and many other defects.
Effects of illegal connections causes service delivery supply disturbance such as the overloading of the power grid and major pipe bursts which affects even officially connected consumers.
The City has identified most problematic areas and they are targeted in this first 3 months’ phase of the consumer education campaign.
The campaign, led by the Mayor Cllr Mduduzi Mhlongo and the Speaker Cllr Silondile Mkhize, sees them taking out a team of officials to public areas such as Malls in townships, Suburbs and towns, public meetings, schools, community halls and tribal authorities to engage directly with affected citizens.
Door-to-door visits will also be conducted to those most problematic accounts with an intention to resolve them quickly. Customers are also encouraged to visit municipal offices eMpangeni and Richards Bay between 7h30 and 16h00 to enquire about their queries.
Media is invited to cover the following Consumer Education Campaign to be held as follows:
DATE: 22 November 2018
VENUE: SANLAM CENTRE PARKING: EMPANGENI (next to Cash Crusaders).


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“If you were building a company in 1996 and you didn’t mention the internet, you’d be out of your mind, right? In the same vein, not mentioning AI or utilizing it would be a missed opportunity” in 2024, say longtime VCs Mamoon Hamid and Ilya Fushman with more than six years of industry experience.
The two experts appeared at an interview with TechCrunch where they talked about the potential of AI technology and the rise of related startups. The rise of AI has come to a point where now 80% of pitched ideas for startups are AI-related, said Hamid.
The two seasoned entrepreneurs also answered a series of other interesting questions that shed more light on the evergrowing AI industry.
What about AI wearables?
While talking about AI-powered wearables, Hamid said that, unlike today’s smartwatches with bare minimum AI smarts equipped, the future will be led by devices like the newly launched Rabbit device, the Humane AI pin, and the Apple Vision Pro.
However, adopting new kinds of technology takes time since it is a new form factor and a “new way of doing things.” These are still only first-generation AI devices and we can expect to see much more advanced AI applications in the future.
Hamid said: “There’s exciting stuff happening. But as you know, it’s very difficult to get consumers to adopt a new form factor and a new way of doing things. It takes some incredible design and a low-cost product and beautiful interfaces, and I think we’re excited to see all these things.”
How much will AI change anything?
Mamoon Hamid also discussed the potential of “everything AI” enabling us to do more in less time. He said that there is no better time to be alive than today and invest in startups because “there is going to be a step-function change in how we all get to live and experience life, as well as how we work. It will come in the form of productivity that we will all gain through AI.”
According to him, this trend is evident in the types of businesses being supported, spanning sectors such as legal, healthcare, and software development. AI is significantly enhancing the productivity of the highest-paid employees, enabling them to accomplish more in less time.


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NEW YORK, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The founder of Barnes & Noble, Leonard Riggio, intends to negotiate with its directors to buy the retail end of the company, a regulatory filing said.
Riggio owns 30 percent of the company and expects to negotiate a deal that is primarily a cash transaction, The New York Times reported Monday.
The deal is not expected to include Nook Media, which is the company's digital book business.
With the publishing business in rapid transition due to the Internet and electronic options for reading material and other content, Barnes & Noble is expected to post losses from the fourth quarter.
The Times said Nook Media is also expected to post losses for the quarter.


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July is National Ice Cream Month and, to celebrate, Dairy Queen has launched a new mobile app. Fans who download the app and complete the registration can receive a free Blizzard, including the new Oreo Firework Blizzard, the July Blizzard Treat of the Month.
The app offers weekly exclusive DQ deals and notifications. It also features a store locator and DQ menu.
Dairy Queen is based in Minneapolis and has more than 6,800 locations in the United States, Canada and more than 25 other countries.
For more information, visit DairyQueen.com.
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Photos and details have been posted for the upcoming X-Files – Agent Dana Scully 1/6 Scale Figure coming from ThreeZero. The upcoming figure will be the perfect compliment to their Agent Mulder 1/6 Scale Figure. The new figure will stand at 11″ tall. She includes interchangeable hands, an FBI ID, a pistol with holster, a watch, a flashlight and a cell phone. A Deluxe Edition will be available that includes all of these accesssories, as well as a trench coat.
The standard version will be priced at $168, while the Deluxe Edition is priced at $180. Each figure includes free worldwide shipping. Pre-orders kick off soon. Read on for full details and all of the new images.


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YouTube (s GOOG) is running a test on some of its premium content that gives users the choice to either front-load their ad-watching with a single full-length promoted video or stick to midstream ads at intervals throughout.
For instance, some watchers of a 20-minute-long episode of Lionsgate’s Alf (see screenshot) have the option of watching a 1:23 ad for Target, a 34-second ad for Tampax, or four normal (usually 15- or 30-second) commercial breaks.
Choosing between ads doesn’t just make viewers feel empowered — it’s also good for advertisers. Just figuring out that equation (how to minimize commercial time) probably draws more viewer attention to in-stream ads than they might ever receive. And the test puts a lot more value in promoted videos, which are normally featured around the edges of the viewing experience, such as next to search results. Now promoted video buyers are effectively buying pre-rolls.
The idea isn’t novel, but it’s a good one. Hulu has from early on experimented with user choice about ads, for instance, giving viewers of its films an option to watch movie previews instead of regular mid-roll ads. One day last week, Microsoft (s MSFT) bought out the site with a “Bing-a-thon” promotion for its relaunched search that made the rest of Hulu ad-free for watchers. And Tremor Media earlier this month launched an ad format called V-Choice which allows publishers to give their viewers options about what ads to watch.


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Buick modernizes its latest LaCrosse with new features and technology.
Read This Article
Buick has decided to tease the 2013 Encore before its scheduled unveil at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit next month.
Buick has been undergoing a reinvention of late, trying to distance itself from a reputation of being the favored son of the Bingo-hall-crowd.
Hybrid naysayers constantly say hybrids aren't worth the extra cost because it will take years to recover the premium paid for their high-tech vehicles versus a non-hybrid equivalent.


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Latest Wearable computer Stories
The global market for wearable computing devices is expected to grow to $30.2 billion by 2018, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.4%.
WINTERTHUR, Switzerland, March 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Noser Engineering AG in Association with Sage Switzerland AG will Demonstrate How Augmented Reality and Google Glass(TM)
Wearable Electronics Market research report provides in-depth analysis and categorizes global market on the basis of Technology, Components, Products, Application & Form Factor.
Google will release an Android software development kit (SDK) for wearable-computing devices by the end of the month, the company’s senior vice president, Sundar Pichai, announced...
LynxFit is an intelligent personal coach for wearable computers which motivates you while you workout to a library of fitness content.
SafeLogic CEO Brings Expertise in Security to Wearables DevCon in San Francisco Palo Alto, CA (PRWEB) March 05, 2014 SafeLogic, the new industry leader
Company to demonstrate their award-winning line of commercially available smart glasses ROCHESTER, N.Y., March 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
WELLESLEY, Massachusetts, February 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- BCC Research [http://www.bccresearch.com ] (http://www.bccresearch.com) reveals in its new report, Wearable
Established partnerships bring smart glasses and video eyewear to show floor ROCHESTER, N.Y. and OXFORD, England, Feb.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed some Google Glass competition.
Wearable technology, which includes wearable devices, tech togs, and fashionable electronics, consists of articles of clothing and/or accessories that incorporate computer and advanced electronic technologies. Designs often incorporate practical functions and features, but may also have a purely critical or aesthetic agenda. Today, wearable devices are exploding onto the market, with everything from smart glasses (Google Glass) to smart watches (Samsung Galaxy Gear) on the rise. As for...


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A new project was unveiled by Google at the occasion of it IO 2015 event, beside the amazing announced Project Soli that will eventually bring gesture control to almost every gadget you have, Project Jacquard is another revolutionary idea.
Generally talking, Google wants to weave technology into fabric to create interactive clothing! Through the ATAP laboratory, the company wants to integrate circuitry into normal fabrics in an unnoticed way in order to normal tailoring and customer choice.
Ivan Poupyrev, the project manager said “Don’t think about this as a technology you have to use, think of it as an awesome denim jacket you buy because you want this denim jacket. On top of that, this jacket can have these amazing capabilities.” Well this seems fair enough right!
In order to demonstrate this project, Google gave the interactive fabric to the UK designer Saville Row to create a jacket, after that, Ivan Poupyrev worn it at the Google I/O event, although he did not go into much details, Poupyrev explained that the jacket could allow the wearer to answer phone calls by swiping one of the sleeves. Much more features could be integrated, while keeping the fabric quality and the customer choice the same.
Google went much more deeper by signing a partnership with Levi’s to explore creating interactive clothing,Paul Dillinger, the Levi’s head of global product innovation added: “If there’s a chance to enable the clothing we already love… to give us access to our digital world — while maintaining eye contact with the person you’re having dinner with — then that’s a project worth doing”
Well, feel free to tell us what you think on the comment section!


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The FDA is taking this step after becoming aware that some women were not being adequately informed of Essure’s risks before getting the device implanted
SAN DIEGO, CALLIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, June 21, 2018 /EINPresswire.com/ — Sales of Bayer’s permanent birth control device Essure® are down 70 percent in the United States, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Those sales could continue to drop after the agency announced it would restrict sales of the device in the U.S.
The FDA announced in early April it would begin restricting sales of Essure® in the U.S. because women were still getting the potentially dangerous device without being fully informed of its risks.
“The FDA is aware that some women have received the Essure® device without being adequately informed of Essure’s risks,” reads the FDA’s announcement on its website. The regulatory agency said it would restrict sales of Essure® to only those healthcare providers who agreed to review and sign a patient-doctor checklist before implanting the device.
The FDA required Bayer, the maker of Essure®, to provide a patient-doctor checklist in 2016 after thousands of complaints poured into the FDA’s adverse events database regarding potential risks of the contraceptive device.
Risks of Essure® include severe abdominal pain, migration of the device, device breakage, perforation of organs by the device, and unintended pregnancy, among dozens of others.
On April 9, the FDA said only those healthcare providers who provide and sign the checklist will be able to sell Essure®.
“The FDA is taking this step after becoming aware that some women were not being adequately informed of Essure’s risks before getting the device implanted, despite previous significant efforts to educate patients and doctors about the risks associated with this device,” reads a press release issued by the FDA.
These “significant efforts” included implementing the patient-doctor checklist and adding a Black Box Warning—the FDA’s strongest warning short of a device recall—in 2016. The agency also required Bayer conduct post-market studies on Essure® to ensure the device was indeed as safe and effective as the manufacturer claimed.
According to the FDA, there has been about a 70 percent decline in sales of Essure® in the U.S. since the agency ordered the post-market studies and added the black box warning and patient-doctor checklist more than two years ago.
Will these sales decline even further when a new documentary about the unchecked power of the medical device industry and featuring Essure is available for millions of Americans to view this summer?
Attorney Martin Schmidt filed one of the first Essure® lawsuit in the state of California in 2015, spearheading the fight to get Bayer’s permanent birth control device off the market. Schmidt says filing an Essure® lawsuit is the only way to hold Bayer accountable and to help women exposed to Essure’s risks seek justice.
“The FDA doesn’t provide any remedy whatsoever for the person who was harmed by a drug or medical device that failed. The only person who can really help them is a plaintiff attorney who is experienced in dealing with potentially harmful medical devices and drugs,” says Schmidt.
Call Schmidt National Law Group toll free at 800-631-5656 or visit National Injury Advocates on the web.
About Schmidt National Law Group: In his 30 years as a trial attorney, Martin Schmidt has represented many victims of defective drugs as well as those injured by defective products and personal injury accidents. Martin Schmidt has been recognized as a leading personal injury attorney, having been chosen as one of the "Top 100 Trial Lawyers" for the state. Schmidt National Law Group is a personal injury firm located in San Diego, California, and its attorneys represent victims of all types of injuries.
Schmidt National Law Group
email us here
Source: EIN Presswire


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Shanghai, China, 22 June, 2017 -Kyligence, a company founded by creators of Apache Kylin, graduated from Microsoft Accelerator Shanghai (MASH). Kyligence is now ready to take one step further in becoming a global leader in Big Data Analytics.
Outcompeted thousands of incorporations, Kyligence became one of 14 exceptional start-ups in the MASH program in January 2017. Since then, Kyligence has established a strong long-term relationship with Microsoft.
With ongoing support from Microsoft Accelerator Alumni program, Kyligence would focus on strengthening its core technology and expanding its international market in the near future. Having served GUOTAI JUNAN Securities, Lenovo, OPPO and other customers, Kyligence is now offering its technologies to various industries, such as banking, insurance, securities, telecom, manufactory, retail and so on.Moreover, as one of Kyligence’s core products, an enterprise OLAP on Hadoop — Kyligence Analytics Platform (KAP) is already available in Microsoft Azure Marketplave globally (include China region). HDInsight users can now provision an end-to-end cluster analysis on-cloud within several minutes through HDInsight Application or Kyligence Cloud.
Luke Han, the co-founder and CEO of Kyligence, shared his plan at the MASH graduation ceremony. “We are now working closely with Microsoft. We will integrate our technology more seamlessly with Azure, Power BI and many other products from Microsoft.”


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Caribbean tourism officials urged to target Chinese marketThursday, October 12, 2017
ST GEORGE'S, Grenada (CMC) — Officials in the region's tourism industry have been urged to undertake initiatives that will directly target China's outbound tourism market.
Addressing a session on the “Who are the New Explorers” during the 2017 State of the Tourism Industry Conference in Grenada today, Chris Spring of the US-based China Ni Hao marketing company said that chief among the recommendations is for websites and other marketing activities to be the Chinese language.
“If there is nothing about you on the Internet you will not be known,” said Spring.
He also recommended that all tourism promotional agencies including the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) install Chinese language converters on their websites.
He said presently, the Chinese know little or nothing about the Caribbean.
“There is very little information on the websites in China on the Caribbean,” he said when asked to share his opinion on the reason why more Chinese are not choosing to vacation in the region.”
Spring also suggested that the various sectors within the industry should ensure that they can communicate with Chinese nationals in their own language and at the same conduct business efficiently with the use of technology.
“The important reason for them to visit, the thing that will make their trip attractive is if there is somebody who can show them around and who can do that in Chinese,” he said while confirming that more and more Chinese tourists are booking cruises that take them to the Northern Caribbean and Mexico.
“And more and more of them will want to come back…cruising was the thing that developed United States tourism in the Caribbean and so the same thing is what we going to see happen with the Chinese,” he said.
Spring said a significant number of Chinese students are studying in the United States and that should be the gateway for attracting these young professionals who are seeking vacation outside of the North American country.
Now you can read the Jamaica Observer ePaper anytime, anywhere. The Jamaica Observer ePaper is available to you at home or at work, and is the same edition as the printed copy available at https://bit.ly/epaper-login


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Agco creates brand-specific dealer depots, designed to sell, serve and support better.
Aiming to serve its customers better, Agco has created a new dealership strategy which will see a realignment of its dealer depots to create dedicated brand sales hubs. In addition, dealer sales teams will be reorganised to focus on specific brand responsibilities.
Not affected by the new arrangements will be parts and service support for all Agco products, which will continue to be offered from all depots.
As reported previously, Fendt and Massey Ferguson will offer a full-line of products through their dedicated distributor channels including mowers, tedders, rakes, balers and combines. Valtra will offer tractors and, where beneficial, they will be sold alongside Fendt. Challenger tracked tractors and sprayers will be offered as complementary products across all sales channels where appropriate.
“We recognise that our brands are the main drivers of the business,” says Mark Casement, Agco director distribution management UK and Ireland. “The way Agco supports its dealers and end-users puts the emphasis firmly on boosting the customer experience with our individual brands.”
The programme has already begun in Scotland, which began in late 2016. The first four key Agco distributors in England to implement Phase 1 of the new structure are Chandlers (Farm Equipment), Lister Wilder, Peacock and Binnington, and Thurlow Nunn Standen.


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Orsay opens first store in the Middle East
The German womenswear label at the end of August launched its first store in the Middle East, based in the Sahara Mall in Sharjah, the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates.
The store opening is only Orsay’s first step in its expansion plans for the Middle East, said the company from its international headquarters in Willstätt, Germany.
The Sharjah store, which spreads over 140 square meters, will be followed by the opening of a flagship store in Dubai in December. The clothing brand also plans to launch more locations in the Persian Gulf in 2016.
Orsay, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, operates around 630 branded stores worldwide.
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Chicago, IL (PRWEB) September 9, 2010
Even today’s most savvy brand marketers are facing challenges when it comes to integrating word of mouth and social media into their marketing strategy. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) is hosting Talkable Brands Exchange, a special event focused on issues brand marketers face, Oct. 7 at the American Express Headquarters in New York City.
This half-day educational and networking event will focus on some of the most difficult challenges brand marketers face, including: who owns word of mouth and social media within a company, managing corporate blogging, and how to ethically and effectively use word of mouth and social media to engage your consumers.
The event will be moderated by Paul Rand, WOMMA President, Founder & CEO, Zocalo Group, and Gary Spangler, WOMMA Brands Council Chair, eMarketing, DuPont.
The event will feature presentations by:
- Karen Wickre, Senior Manager Global Communications & Public Affairs at Google discussing issues with corporate blogging – common mistakes, managing, creating good content and how to engage consumers.
- Kelly Graham, Senior Manager, Global Social Media Marketing, Cisco sharing how Cisco built and developed their social media team and strategy.
- Heather Hippsley, Assistant Director of the FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, Division of Enforcement participating in a Legal Rapid Fire panel discussion on marketing to children, corporate blogging and the FTC.
- Tony Diresta, Partner in Advertising, Marketing & Media, Manatt speaking on the Legal Rapid Fire panel with the FTC.
- Jay Walsh, Head of Communications at Wikimedia explaining how a company’s information comes to exist on Wikipedia and how social media has changed the way people and companies communicate.
The Talkable Brands Exchange is open to all brand marketers ($149) and WOMMA member industry partners/agencies with a brand client ($249). This intimate, brand-centered event will lead up to the annual WOMMA Summit 2010 conference in Las Vegas, Nov. 17-19.
More information about the Talkable Brands Exchange can be found on WOMMA’s website: http://womma.org/events/october-7-talkable-brands-exchange/.
WOMMA, http://womma.org, is the leading trade association in the marketing and advertising industries that focuses on word of mouth, consumer-generated and social media platforms -- or marketing techniques that include buzz, viral, community, and influencer marketing, as well as brand blogging. The organization is committed to developing and maintaining appropriate ethical standards for marketers and advertisers engaging in such marketing practices, identifying meaningful measurement standards for such marketing practices, and defining “best practices” for the industry.
Founded in 2005, WOMMA members include marketers and brands that use word-of-mouth marketing to reinforce their core customers and to reach out to new consumers, agencies that deliver word-of-mouth services and technologies, researchers that track the word-of-mouth experience and offline and online practitioners.
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