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Miconex builds on success of Downtown Gift Card concept in the US Downtown gift card company Miconex is launching new programs in the US, alongside...
Downtown Gift Card program from fintech Miconex expands across Canada
Downtown gift card company Miconex has announced new program launches in Canada, alongside EML Payments Limited (ASX: EML), following the success of existi
Downtown gift card company Miconex has announced new program launches in Canada, alongside EML Payments Limited (ASX: EML), following the success of existing gift card systems for Prince Edward Island and Peterborough. The new Downtown Gift Card systems launched in Downtown Sudbury and Downtown London in summer 2021.
The Canada’s Food Island Gift Card was introduced by the Food Island Partnership in September 2020 to stimulate the economy and lock in spend on Prince Edward Island. The initiative was supported by the P.E.I government, with gift cards sold at 20% discount. Over $3.7 million has now been loaded onto Canada’s Food Island Gift Cards.
The province announced a new staycation incentive in summer 2021, with a $100 gift card given with each consecutive two-night stay at participating P.E.I accommodation, as part of a $66 million support package for the island’s tourism industry.
Kent Thompson, Director of Finance and Food Tourism for Food Island Partnership said the Canada’s Food Island Gift Card project has vastly exceeded their expectations:
“We have 160,000 residents on Prince Edward Island as Canada’s smallest province and had projected that the entire project would raise $100,000 for our local economy. Our initial release of 5000 gift cards sold out in 4.5 days, so we quickly surpassed that goal. 80 merchants had signed up to receive the Canada’s Food Island Gift Card as payment within a week of the project being announced. We now have over 300 merchants.
“The discount we offered really helped us to overcome those initial reservations people might have about trying a new program. It was attractive enough to encourage people to give it a go. Getting people to buy the gift card is just half of the equation, the rest comes in inspiring them to use it. Finally, and fundamentally, the Canada’s Food Island Gift Card powered by Miconex and EML is easy to work with and easy for customers to use.”
Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) launched its Boro Gift Card in December 2020 replacing its paper Downtown Money system. Within its first month, the Boro Gift Card achieved $70,000 in sales- equivalent to around 5 years of sales for their old paper system. Over $120,000 of Downtown Dollars have been sold to date.
Terry Guiel is the Executive Director of the Peterborough DBIA and said the Boro Gift Card provides the community with the opportunity to support local businesses:
“Miconex’s Downtown Gift Card system has been a gamechanger for us. We wanted to move away from the paper money system which was incredibly time consuming as well as a security risk. But more than that, we realized that to compete in the growing gift card market as well as with the likes of Amazon we had to offer an attractive alternative, and one that was local.
“Our new gift card is super easy. It can be used on universal terminals, which was a major selling point for us. Now things are set up and we’re past the holiday rush, on average we spend only a few minutes each day processing the cards. It’s incredibly easy to manage, seamless and our customers love it. We developed the Boro brand and gift card holders, the perfect size to slot into an envelope. With our new Boro Gift Card we’ve been able to transform our whole downtown into a local mall with its own dedicated gift card that can be used in over 120 businesses.
“50% of our gift card sales come from outside the area, 15% of redemptions are new customers to that business and 65% is usually spent over and above the gift card value. It brings new money into the community, gives people choice whilst also lessening their ability to spend outside of the area, and encourages them to be more experimental. It’s a great example of what a downtown can do for its members.”
In September, Downtown London will also replace its Downtown Dollars program with a gift card powered by Miconex and EML. The new gift cards can be loaded with any dollar amount and spent in person at around 60 participating businesses including restaurants, grab & go eateries, entertainment venues, live music, sporting facilities and retail stores, or online on Downtown London’s Online Marketplace.
Sudbury’s new gift card is the latest initiative from Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Association (BIA) to encourage people to visit and shop in the core. Downtown Dollars can be purchased at Miconex’s My Downtown Gift Cards website, and spent with numerous businesses in Sudbury, such as restaurants, retailers, salons and attractions.
Kyle Marcus, the managing director at Downtown Sudbury BIA and owner of cocktail bar The Alibi Room said it’s vital for communities to unite following the pandemic:
“Sudbury has been on a journey of change for some time, from small mining town to urban multicultural city. The pandemic has further changed our community offering new opportunities for growth as we’re experiencing an influx of people wanting to relocate to Sudbury for its mix of urban centre and outdoor recreation. As a small business owner, I can say from first-hand experience how hard it has been for businesses. Community unity is vital for Sudbury’s recovery, the Downtown Dollars Gift Card allows us to support merchants by giving them another revenue stream, and capitalize on the emigration from nearby cities. We’re positioning Sudbury for the future.”
Bloomberg analysis of SafeGraph Inc showed that footfall at clothing stores in Canada was up 44% in June 2021 vs. June 2019. Statistics Canada’s May 2021 retail trade release put overall sales in March 2021 at $55 billion, up 27% on March 2020. Ontario recorded $20 billion in sales in March 2021, up 21% on March 2020. Prince Edward Island recorded $242 million in sales in March 2021, up 45% on March 2020.
In the US, Miconex will introduce new gift card programs in South Dakota, Alabama, Idaho and Massachusetts in 2021, adding to existing systems in Alaska, Montana, Virginia, Arizona, Michigan, Massachusetts and Colorado.
Ailie Kofoid, CEO Americas at EML, said: “Miconex’s rapid Canadian Downtowns expansion means hundreds of thousands more families are enjoying local places and a fintech-friendly summer.”
Andy Monaghan is CEO of Miconex North America and said downtowns are looking for new ways to stimulate the economy:
“In any Canadian province, there are multiple organizations focused on the success of businesses, from DBIAs and local Chambers of Commerce to local government. As well as stimulating the economy, these organizations naturally feel they have a role to play in bringing consumers back. A gift card system is a tangible way that they can support small, local businesses. It also means they can be ready for the holiday period when demand for gift cards will rocket.
“In Canada, the average spend on gift cards is $465 per year, per person. There are millions, even tens of million dollars being spent in each community. This significant amount of money goes to the big national and international chains and internet retailers. Introducing a program means provinces like Ontario and Prince Edward Island can harness that spend, and take their fair share of the gift card market.
“But if places can move a step beyond this, and see their program not as a gift card but a local currency, it paves the way for innovative tourism initiatives like we’ve seen on Prince Edward Island and disbursement of funds to local residents. There is an opportunity to be hugely creative. Our job at Miconex is helping provinces to figure out the challenges they’re facing right now and a plan for success that benefits the whole community.”


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SAN CARLOS, CA --- Electric car maker Tesla Motors, manufacturer of the battery-powered Roadster, said last week that market conditions and the current credit crisis have prompted production delays on its next-generation vehicle, the Los Angeles Times reported.
In addition, Tesla Motors will close two offices and have employee layoffs, the L.A. Times reported.
"At Tesla, we have decided that the wise course of action is to focus on our two revenue-producing business lines -- the Roadster and powertrain sales to other car companies," said Elon Musk, the company's chairman who is also assuming the chief executive post. "In the Roadster, Tesla has a unique product with a large order book that continues to grow, despite softness in the automobile sector. Our powertrain business is profitable today and is also growing rapidly."
Tesla's goal is to have a positive cash flow within six to nine months, Musk said. "To do so, we must continue to ramp up our production rate, improve Roadster contribution margin and reduce operating expenses," he said. "At the same time, we must maintain high production quality and excellent customer service."
The outgoing chief executive, Ze'ev Drori, will stay on as vice chairman.
Before delivering its first production Roadster in February, Tesla raised about $140 million, mostly from venture capital firms, the L.A. Times reported. But the credit crisis is taking a heavy toll on Tesla's plans.
"Tesla and about a million other companies are in the same place," Alexander Cappello, chairman and chief executive of investment bank Cappello Capital Corp., told the L.A. Times. "There's virtually no money available from banks. There's no money for buyouts. There's no money for issuing debt. There's just no money."

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Former NBA journeyman Al Harrington, who played 16 years of professional basketball, is a leading advocate for reforming marijuana laws and has been pushing lawmakers to enact change. The CEO and co-founder of the cannabis company Viola Brands, Harrington told Yahoo News that Black Americans deserve to have an equitable share of a booming marijuana industry that once “destroyed” parts of the Black community.
AL HARRINGTON: We could really benefit from something that ultimately destroyed, literally destroyed our community, for so many years. My name is Al Harrington, a former NBA player of 16 years and now cannabis entrepreneur and CEO and co-founder of Viola.
Our goal is to become a national brand with purpose. Our purpose is really focused on empowering people of color to be able to participate in a industry that was obviously used to destroy our communities. The space is booming. This year in 2021 it's expected to be a know 24 and 1/2 to $25 billion business. So when you think about that, well, obviously there's tremendous opportunity in the space.
We are still being disproportionately affected. Right now, we represent less than 4% of the industry, especially when you talk specifically to Black ownership and participation. We have to figure out a way to stop that and to get more, be more involved in the industry. Right now, they have these different programs of social equity and different things like that. But social equity in theory, it's a good program. But until we can figure out funding, it's something that we're not going to able to take advantage of.
What our people need to realize is that this is generational wealth at risk for our community. There's been so many industries before this one. I speak about all the time, rice, sugar, cotton, the lottery, even liquor. You know what I'm saying? Black people were right there. We were founders. And we were pioneers in thee spaces. And when you look at us today in 2021, we don't have no representation. We have no ownership.
So with cannabis, I feel like being myself and other Black people that have found success in the space, we have to continue to speak on this. We cannot expect that they're just going to do the right thing because they haven't done the right thing historically. So it's really on us to raise this awareness but then also be able to show people and give people a template of, look at how Viola's working with this company. Look how Viola's working with that company. You know what I'm saying? So that we can try to, like I said, be able to create this ecosystem where we support each other and that we can start to grab some market share in this space.
CHUCK SCHUMER: We should decriminalize it. Time has come. And there was a lot of old logic.
AL HARRINGTON: Senator Schumer's team reached out to me to find out would I be interested in having some conversations with him in regards to the legislation language and different things like that. And why I took the opportunity is because I think that my perspective is unique. Right?
So I think that that's why it's really important to be able to have a seat at the table and be able to sit there as they craft some of these laws and these regulations to make sure that they keep us in mind, and also make sure that these opportunities are real true opportunities, not opportunities that we'll have the licenses for a year or two and then we're forced to sell for pennies on the dollar because we weren't able to upkeep or be able to actually keep up.


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On Feb. 17, 2013, paparazzi snapped photos of Rihanna walking out of The Box, a London night club, as she dabbed a bloody knee with a tissue.
The bottle reportedly contained Lucozade, an energy drink sold in the UK and Ireland, according to the beverage’s website.
TMZ notes the bottle did not actually hit Rihanna’s knee, but she allegedly “scraped” her leg “during the commotion when she brushed up against a metal shop grate.”
Hollywood Life reports the attack actually took place outside the club when an irate man began yelling at Rihanna, who was in the UK to debut her new clothing line at London’s Fashion Week.
According to Media Take Out, Rihanna’s bodyguard tried to catch the man who attacked the singer, but hurt his leg as he gave chase and needed medical attention for the injury.


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By Elise-Marie Steenkamp
The deciduous fruit industry is almost totally dependent on a healthy honeybee population and a viable beekeeping industry.
It is therefore important that beekeepers and the industry regularly engage and share future challenges and growth projections. Mariette Kotze, Hortgro’s Group Operations Manager, recently spoke at the Western Cape Beekeepers Association’s annual general meeting sharing the industry’s data and growth projections with beekeepers.
According to Kotze pollination is a critical component of integrated orchard management practices. Obtaining an optimal fruit set requires the correct orchard design (selection and positioning of pollinizers), flower management (pruning and thinning), control of alternative forage, as well as the proper introduction and usage of adequate strength honeybee colonies. “It is important that growers understand how pollination works and why it is important to only use registered beekeepers to ensure good pollination practices.”
Kotze said that the deciduous fruit industry equates to 54 294 hectares of fruit trees of which 69% is pome fruit and 31% is stone fruit. “The important fruit types that require annual pollination are apples, pears, fresh apricots, and plums. Altogether 43 999 hectares (81% of the total pome and stone fruit plantings) require pollination.”
According to Hortgro’s calculations the entire industry currently requires around 91 000 hives for pollination. “That is 1.5 pollinations per hive. Over the next five years we expect an increase in excess of 100 000 hives,” Kotze said.
The cost of pollination for the 2019 season was R141 317 292 million. “If we look at pollination costs as a percentage of direct pre-harvest costs, it is estimated to be around 3%.” The average cost per hive for 2019 was R980. The number of hives per hectare needed for apples was 2.5; for pears 5; apricots (fresh) 2; and for plums 6 hives per hectare. Between 70 – 90% of the deciduous fruit industry is dependent on pollination.
Kotze said that one of the biggest problems beekeepers around the world face is habitat destruction. This, while agriculture intensifies and more and more bees are dependent on smaller and smaller pieces of land for foraging. Due to climate change, agriculture has seen a shift to new cultivars and alternative crops being grown in the Western Cape. As agri-intensification steamrolls ahead, so does the demand for more bees. It is important that the two industries align their needs and expectations, Kotze said.
There are many challenges for both, such as the use of chemical vs biological control of pests; climate change and drought; the removal of eucalyptus trees that are an important food source for bees during the dry months; new production technologies such as the use of nets. And increased demand for contract pollination.
As growers are paying more and more for healthy, vibrant hives, some have even turned to beekeeping themselves. Kotze pointed out that by law, anyone that owns a hive has to be registered as a beekeeper. She also urged producers to formally confirm bookings of pollination units well in advance to avoid disappointment and manage risks.


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IBM announced today that it will provide a modified version of its Watson computer to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the first time it has gifted a university with a Watson system.
Stanford researchers this week completed what's being billed as the most computationally intensive calculation ever on the year-old IBM Sequoia supercomputer.
A BBC infographic points to a vastly different technological future, including predictions of computers with a sense of smell and the possibility of driver-free cars.
While much less prominent than other recent events, last week's Open Compute Summit may end up saying more about the direction of big computers than any individual vendor announcement.
According to a new list of the top patent recipients in 2012, IBM nabbed the largest number of patents, followed by Samsung and Canon.
Topping tech headlines Thursday, Apple's Tim Cook met with China Mobile's chairman to reportedly discuss a future partnership while Phil Schiller dismissed the notion of a cheap iPhone for emerging markets, Google chief Eric Schmidt tried to convince North Korea to loosen its Web restrictions, and Nokia sold 4.4 million Lumia smartphones in a better-than-expected fourth quarter.
Supercomputer Watson has proven itself more than just smart; turns out it's a bit of a smart alec, too.
You can expect to see some smart appliances at CES next week, but I can tell you now that they will all be ridiculous.
Graphic design stars' best work for tech is often in print form.
The most popular typewriter ever, the IBM Selectric, celebrates its 50th.


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January 5, 2011
Parrot Asteroid car radio unveiled runs on Android
A pre-CES tour unveiled the very interesting Parrot Asteroid, a “smart” car radio that can find cheap fuel, free parking, and speed traps while taking music requests and placing phone calls. The Asteroid which runs on Android, like its digital photo frame, includes a 3.2 inch screen on the front uses its own Android UI to mitigate the lack of touch input. The Asteroid also feature a USB ports for MP3 players, GPS devices, slot for SD cards, and the types of 3G network wireless Internet service keys that people use for laptop computers. The Parrot comes with its own SDK and marketplace for applications, given the lack of a traditional touch input. It will also provide map support as well as AM/FM and library support for iDevices and external storage.
A Bluetooth and RDS support will also be present. No word on pricing yet but Parrot plans to launch in major European markets in Q1, and in the US in Q2. A touch-screen, dash-mounted version of Asteroid will be the “next step” but the company would not discuss when it can be expected.


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Fri, 10 February 2017
Still in their infancy within the competitive arena there were two major stories for sports video games and their place as eSports this week. EA Sports had to navigate controversy due to the conduct of the Madden Bowl winner on social media, while 2K Sports announced an unprecedented partnership with the NBA to create what will be known as the NBA 2K eLeague.
Also discussed this week are the gameplay improvements that have been detailed for MLB The Show 17, the return of Mutant League Football and its successful Kickstarter campaign, and the decision made for E3 to start admitting the public instead of just industry professionals and press.
On the show this week:
Bryan Wiedey, Pastapadre/Hit The Pass/Sporting News (@pastapadre)
Direct download: Press_Row_Podcast_Episode_207.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:10pm EDT


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WASHINGTON - Two favorable economic reports released yesterday provide additional signs that the economy's rate of growth will continue to improve modestly through next year, analysts said.
The Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index surged nearly 13 points, to 78.3 in December, its highest reading of the year, following a similar gain in November.
Separately, the National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales advanced 5.8% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.85 million units, the highest level in almost six years.
"The latest jump [in consumer confidence] is a sign that this recovery is here to stay." said David Jones, chief economist of Aubrey G. Lanston & Co. He forecast 3.5% real growth in gross domestic product, fourth quarter to fourth quarter, next year.
Economists said the gain in existing home sales supports the idea that the current level of consumer confidence can be sustained.
"Confidence is one thing, but it's also important to watch what people do. That gain in existing home sales tells me people are confident." said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist of PNC Financial Corp.
Hoffman forecast real growth in the 2.75% to 3.25% range next year, but said it is difficult to predict whether it will be stronger in the first or second half of the year.
The confidence index declined through the final three months of the presidential campaign, August to October, and then rebounded nearly 23 points since the election in early November, according to the Conference Board.
"The bounce [in confidence] was linked to the election," said David Cohen, an economist with MMS International.
As proof, Cohen and other economists pointed out that the component of the confidence index measuring expectations of the future surged 33.8 points to 104.5 in the two months following the election. Meanwhile, the component of the index measuring feelings about current conditions was up a scant 8.5 points, to 39.0.
"The important question is, is this spike [in confidence] for real? And I think it is." Jones said.
For the most part, other economists agreed. Cohen said he is guardedly optimistic that the economy will continue strengthening. "We are seeing confirmation that conditions have improved over the last few months," he said.
Irwin Kellner, chief economist at Chemical Banking Corp., said the confidence index can sustain readings in the high 70s, but cautioned that the recent surge in confidence will not "necessarily lead to a bout of new consumer spending."
Kellner and other economists said significant gains in consumer spending in the coming months require an improving job market. They also say the public needs to continue believing that President-elect Bill Clinton's administration will help rather than hurt the economy.
Kellner predicts 2.5% real growth in the first half of next year and 3.5% growth in the second half. He and other analysts forecast continued yet modest improvements in the housing and labor markets next year, which will foster growth.
"We're not going to be led out of this recession by the housing market like in the past, but it will provide modest stimulus," Jones said.
Also yesterday, the National Association of Realtors reported that the gain in existing home sales in November followed a revised 10.3% advance in October, previously reported as a 9.1% increase.
Through November, existing home sales are up 19.2% compared to the same period last year, the realtors' group reported.
In addition, the group said the average price of existing homes declined 0.5% in November. This resulted primarily from declining real estate values in the West, where the average price for an existing home dropped 3.6% in November.


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Magna International Inc. issued its 2019 forecast for net income attributable to the company at $2.1 billion to $2.3 billion as it expects revenue to be hit by the sale of its global fluid pressure and controls business and a strong U.S. dollar.
The 2019 net income outlook is lower than the auto parts maker's attributable net income outlook range of $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion in 2018. The Ontario, Canadian-based auto-parts maker is scheduled to announce its full-year 2018 results on Feb. 22.
The company forecast total sales of $40.2 billion to $42.4 billion in 2019, slightly above the 2018 sales outlook of $40.3 billion to $41.4 billion issued by Magna in its third-quarter results.
Magna expects EBIT margin of 7.3% to 7.6% and capital spending of about $1.7 billion in 2019.
"We expect to grow sales and earnings over our outlook period while continuing to build long-term value for our shareholders. We are seeing further growth opportunities related to autonomy, electrification, electronic systems and lightweighting across our business," Magna CEO Don Walker said.
Magna further expects its North America business to be negatively impacted by General Motors Co.'s closure of three assembly plants in 2019 as part of a wider reorganization by the Detroit carmaker.
For 2021, the company expects total sales to gradually increase to $42.4 billion to $45.4 billion and EBIT margin to rise to 8.1% to 8.5%. despite its expectation of "relatively level" light vehicle production across key markets of North America and Europe.
Free cash flow is expected to increase to a cumulative total of more than $6.5 billion in the 2019-2021 timeframe as compared to over $6 billion in the 2018-2020 period, reflecting an anticipated increase in earnings and relatively level capital spending.


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April 08, 2021 1:40 pm
In an interview published on the vogue.com website, Armani, 86, said the COVID-19 emergency had "made us open our eyes a bit."
March 28, 2020 4:10 pm
The fashion house added it had increased the donation to Italian hospitals from 1.25 million euros to 2 million euros.
June 29, 2019 6:31 pm
The show was held, for the first time in nearly 20 years, at Armani headquarters in via Borgonuovo, an 18th-century Orsini Palace in the heart of downtown Milan.
March 22, 2016 8:03 pm
Armani’s no-fur promise follows similar commitment by fashion brand Hugo Boss last year.
June 17, 2015 10:07 pm
Reality star Kim Kardashian committed a Twitter faux-pas as she misspelled Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani on the micro-blogging site.
December 19, 2014 11:43 am
Musician Calvin Harris has been roped in as the new face of the Emporio Armani brand for its spring 2015 campaign.
September 19, 2014 12:00 pm
Hollywood superstar George Clooney is all set to wear a Giorgio Armani suit on his wedding.
June 27, 2013 9:39 am
'If you see someone wearing Armani,you know it is the choice of the celebrity.'
July 13, 2012 3:51 am
Does it really matter what team India wears to the opening ceremony?
June 16, 2012 2:12 am
Drive past the dust-heaving,barren,concrete wilderness of Gurgaon,feel the sun bite into your bones,and you wonder what good can come out of this land?


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After a successful pilot, fast-casual salad restaurant chain Saladworks this year aims to grow its presence at ShopRite supermarkets in the Philadelphia area.
Saladworks opened its first-ever location in a grocery store last February inside a remodeled ShopRite, owned by Wakefern Food Corp. member Brown’s Super Stores Inc., on Philadelphia’s Island Avenue. Given the strong customer feedback, two more Saladworks restaurants are now slated to open at Brown’s ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores in the Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia and Wyncote, Pa., respectively, by the end of the first quarter, said Patrick Sugrue, CEO of West Conshohocken, Pa.-based Saladworks.
“The store is doing extremely well. So we are expanding in the next 60 days into two more stores, with plans to grow in this category aggressively,” Sugrue told Supermarket News in an interview.
If the new Saladworks outlets perform as expected, another three or four more could follow at Brown’s supermarkets within the year, he added. Westville, N.J.-based Brown’s owns and operates 11 ShopRite and two Fresh Grocer stores in the Philadelphia area.
“Part of our mission is to put healthy food within the reach of everyday consumers. We want to put fresh, veggie-centric meals in front of as many people as we can,” Sugrue said. “To be able to go to where the people are, we’re opening more locations and expanding our traditional and nontraditional locations, such as airports, schools, colleges, military bases and office buildings. Grocery stores have a tremendous amount of traffic and people who are looking to eat healthy.”
Salad bars are common in U.S. supermarkets nowadays, but Sugrue noted that many consumers consider them unsanitary and not well-maintained.
“What we’re seeing with salad bars is that consumers’ hygiene standards have gone up dramatically, and for good reason. Increasingly, people are concerned about eating out of salad bars because they don’t want others reaching their hands over the food they plan to eat. They also don’t like the concept of someone possibly dropping bacon bits into the red peppers if they’re vegetarian. So we’re finding that salad bars are falling out of favor, they’re not profitable for grocery stores, they have a lot of waste and they take up a lot of space,” he explained.
“In the same space or less than a money-losing salad buffet, we can place a full Saladworks restaurant and deliver our core menu to consumers — made exactly the way they want,” he said. “And they’re able to sit in the dining space of the grocery store or take it home with them. The consumer response has been terrific.”
The Saladworks at the ShopRite on Island Avenue, situated in Philadelphia’s Penrose Plaza, takes up 150 square feet and stands in an island space near the store’s front entrance. Saladworks’ compact footprint makes it a flexible prepared-foods option, according to Sugrue.
“If you have a 15-by-10-foot or a 20-by-8-foot salad bar or buffet line, you can fit a Saladworks restaurant,” he said. “The sales-to-buildout ratio is between 3 and 3.5 to 1, which in any restaurant is good news.”
Besides made-to-order salads — with a choice of about 65 ingredients, including greens, pasta, protein and dressings — customers can get signature salads, sandwiches, paninis, soup, beverages and desserts. That means a wide range of potential meal solutions for supermarket customers.
“When you get into a grocery store at 6:30 at night, rather than take the time to go and get the ingredients to make a salad, the opportunity to have someone make it for you while you’re doing your fill-in shopping has strong appeal,” said Sugrue said. “And it gives us the opportunity to put a fresh meal experience within an arm’s reach for more consumers.”
Saladworks has become a shopper destination in itself at the Island Avenue ShopRite, which also houses Southern Fried, The Wok and Brown’s Beer Garden and The Wine Cellar outlets as part of the grocer’s Chef’s Market concept.
“We went in there thinking we would leverage their traffic, and certainly we are. But what we’re also finding through our marketing and loyalty program, website and social media is that people come into the store to go to the Saladworks,” Sugrue said, adding that these customers also are making other purchases while in the store.
“From talking to people at Brown’s, they believe a very meaningful percentage of these guests are coming in for the Saladworks and they’re able to capture new business and differentiate themselves from other grocery chains,” he said.
Currently, Saladworks has 100 restaurants in 17 states. Earlier this month, the company said it’s on track to open 17 locations this year, including 10 commitments from existing and new franchisees. Besides the new outlets in Brown’s supermarkets, plans call for Saladworks to open locations in Rhode Island, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, California, Minnesota and Arkansas. The new restaurants will feature changes rolled out in 2018, including a smaller footprint, a streamlined equipment package, an enhanced operational model, new technology, and new offerings like warm grain bowls and aguas frescas beverages.
Saladworks already has sites at Philadelphia International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, and it recently opened at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Sugrue said the chain also has a request-for-proposal to open a restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport, a licensing pact with the U.S. Air Force for foodservice sites and, later this year, plans to open at a JPMorgan office complex in Columbus, Ohio.
More supermarket locations also are in the offering, he added. “There are other grocery chains with a desire to compete by offering restaurant-branded food that is good to go, delicious and healthy. We think this will be very relevant for a number of chains around the country.”


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Shanghai Fashion Week 2024 started the Asian fashion calendar off with an electrifying start. Shanghai has been at the forefront of the Asian fashion market
Chanel’s artistic director Virginie Viard unveiled the ground-breaking virtual resort 2021 collection, set to a magical backdrop reminiscent of the South of France or Capri.
Designer Paolo Sebastian turns Australian winter into a living fairytale fantasy with the release of the Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 18/19 collection. Talented Australian Designer, Paul Vasileff, has
The weekend in Paris began with an explosion of fairy dust and flower petals as the Haute Couture Fashion Week takes over the city. Paris,
Seventy years on, French fashion house, Christian Dior has undergone a dramatic and glamorous journey that was elegantly showcased in an exhibition at the Musée des
A darling of the red carpet and a master of glamour — it’s no secret that Elie Saab has the magic touch when it comes
Paris Fashion Week created feelings of joy when simple, wearable clothes were brought to the runway. Dries Van Noten’s collection was subtler than
After more than a decade away, the Yves Saint Laurent is back to reaffirm its spot in haute couture. The iconic French house announced its return
The Haute Couture Fashion Week ended with a bang in Paris last week. Revealing new takes on fashion, the bold styles are sure to become
Thirty-one year old Dutch fashion designer and couturier, Iris Van Herpen, is famous for her trade-off between revolutionary innovation in technique and materials and artistic
Arriving fashionably late to the online party, Anna Wintour is assisting Conde Nast with the move into virtual shopping through a revamp of website style.com.


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Gains in renewable energy
The New Jersey Devils and Prudential Center announced a multi-year partnership with CleanChoice Energy, a climate solutions company, to make a monetary donation to the Arbor Day Foundation to coordinate the distribution of 2,000 trees that will be planted in communities throughout New Jersey. Throughout the remainder of 2023 and in 2024, representatives from CleanChoice Energy will be available on Prudential Center’s main concourse during select New Jersey Devils home games and various Prudential Center events for fans to learn more and sign up for 100% clean, renewable energy.
“We’re proud to partner with the Prudential Center and the New Jersey Devils, and we’re honored to work with the Arbor Day Foundation on this important tree distribution campaign,” said Tom Matzzie, CEO of CleanChoice Energy. “Through both clean, renewable energy and new trees, together we can help bring environmental benefits to the Newark area and New Jersey as a whole.”
An energy technology company powering the sustainable energy transition, Energywell fully subscribed to its first project in Maine within a few short weeks using its proprietary Think+ sales channel, according to the article.
“Energywell’s unique value proposition sets a new market standard that brings real scale to customer acquisition and management for the community solar industry,” said Steve Condon, VP of Community Solar at Energywell. “Our high-efficiency model applies seamlessly in all states where community solar subscriptions are an option for our residential, LMI, and C&I energy customers, and we look forward to continuing our community solar growth in 2023.”
Fintech M&A and product launches
Dash Solutions, previously known as Prepaid Technologies, a payments and engagement technology provider, has recently announced its acquisition of KyckGlobal. Atlanta-based KyckGlobal is a fintech firm specializing in a wide range of both domestic and international digital payment solutions.
The acquisition is another step in Dash Solution’s ambitious growth strategy, fueled by their $96 million investment from Edison Partners in 2021, according to a Fintech Global report. Dash Solutions has consistently been bolstering its tech offerings to provide more solutions for its commercial clientele.
“We’re continuing to make major investments in our core solutions and technology to ensure we’re providing our customers and partners with innovative payment solutions that meet their pressing payments needs and that means continuously delivering cutting-edge features and configurability,” said Stephen Faust, CEO of Dash Solutions.
In other news, Central Payments, architect of the award-winning Open*CP® Fintech API Marketplace and payments solution provider, announced the launch of an innovative payout platform, PayCP. PayCP’s low-cost and quick payouts are two differentiators in helping companies get money to their customers without hassle, according to the announcement.
“PayCP is a white-label, turnkey solution allowing companies to easily give customers a choice of how to receive a payment.” said Nikkee Rhody, Executive Vice President and Chief of Strategy at Central Payments. “In less than 30 days, we create a branded instance to an extensive portal where partners can initiate and track payouts, review historical and analytical insights and their customers get a fully-branded, simple experience to accept the funds in a manner of their choice.”


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Apple launched four iPhone 15 series models today. Although Kaiann Drance, Apple’s vice president of iPhone marketing, said that the iPhone 15 series supports the Qi2 wireless charging standard, but the technical specifications The page still shows that it supports 7.5W wireless charging.
On checking Apple’s official technical specifications page it was found that the four iPhone 15 series models are still limited to 7.5W for Qi wireless charging and 15W for MagSafe charging.
iPhone 15/Plus specs page
iPhone 15 Pro / Pro Max specs page
The Qi2 wireless charging protocol is the latest wireless charging standard launched by WPC. Compared with the current Qi standard, Qi2 uses magnetic power distribution map technology, which is claimed to ensure a perfect match between the device and the charger, thus improving energy efficiency. Qi2 will enable the industry to develop faster wireless charging technology while ensuring that the charging process is always safe and does not shorten battery life or damage the receiver.
Before the press conference, ChargerLAB had speculated that the iPhone 15 series could provide the same 15W fast charging as MagSafe after supporting the Qi2 standard, but current official information still retains 7.5W. However, this information needs to wait for the release of the real machine before further confirmation.


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Vintage year for the wine business
Jan 4, 2013
By Karl Klooster
Of the News-Register
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TAIPEI, Taiwan — The Swedish icon, furniture giant Ikea has unveiled a range of furniture fitted with wireless chargin...
CWT has been devoted in fostering the stack tower of wireless power bank, wireless charger, wireless power bank and wireless power receiver. It is widely circulated that one of its partners is IKEA, CWT supplies the wireless charger modules to IKEA. Therefore, it’s a milestone of the company to penetrate into the consumer market.
As a matter of fact, IKEA has been promoting its wireless charging furniture through advertisement, CWT is the unnamed hero behind the scene.
According to CWT, its wireless charging products began shipment in the late third quarter so that it still occupied less percentage in the company’s year-end revenue.
Meanwhile, the growing Qi standard, which has been adopted by more than 200 companies, including Microsoft, Samsung, LG Electronics, Verizon, Sanyo, Phillips and IKEA that can charge more than 55 million electronic devices wirelessly. Adoption is growing, but some devices such as Apple's iPhone currently don't support the standard yet.
The market for wireless chargers has been growing steadily, with companies shipping 55 million devices that charged wirelessly in 2014, which grew to an expected 160 million this year, or $1.7 billion in sales, according to the market research firm IHS. That market is expected to grow to $8.5 billion in sales by 2018.
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- 1Preparations for Mass Production of E Ink’s ACeP Technology to be Completed this Year
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- 4Epistar to Divide Up Semiconductor Operations: Become Fully Devoted to Micro LED
- 5M31 Receives ISO 26262 Development Process Certification Entering Automotive Electronics Market


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New start-up ISP Be is preparing to launch its 24Mb broadband service in the UK.
The company claims this will be the fastest available service in the UK. The service will be made available in London first, before being rolled out across the UK.
Be co-founder Boris Ivanovic said: "The deregulation of the market makes this a very exciting time for the UK and Be is here to make the most of it, offering customers the full capability of ADSL2+ from launch.
"There is no reason to drag out the increase in speed and launch in steps of 1 meg or 2 meg when the capability is there to offer the maximum speeds available – which is what Be is all about."
New technology drives opportunity
It relies on ADSL2+ technology that doubles the download bandwidth, and the company describes its move as a "revolutionary overhaul of the UK broadband market".
Be promises to provide a higher quality product than anyone else in the UK, explaining the dramatic speed increase of its service is affordable through use if new technologies, such as Alcatel’s latest generation DSLAM (the Alcatel 7302 Intelligent Services Access Manager).
"Alcatel's innovation in research and development and our work with the standardization bodies gives Be access to the most powerful broadband technology," said Michel Rahier, in charge of Alcatel’s fixed communications activities.
"Be has a very exciting proposition for the UK market and has promising plans for their evolution towards a user-centric triple play service offering."


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Taipei, June 27 (CNA) Shares of Panram International Corp., a Taiwanese memory chip module maker, moved sharply higher Wednesday after U.S.-based memory chip vendor Kingston Technology Corp. agreed to take a 20 percent stake in the company, dealers said.
The market was betting on expectations that the tie-up with Kingston will help Panram obtain orders from the U.S. partner and further strengthen its bottom line, they said.
Shares of Panram closed up 7 percent, the maximum daily increase, at NT$17.30 (US$0.58) with 1.95 million shares changing hands, while the index of the local over-the-counter market, where the stock is traded, was up 0.40 percent at 104.14.
Panram shares attracted strong buying shortly after the market opened following the company's announcement of the stake sale a day earlier, market analysts said, adding that the partnership with Kingston is expected to boost Panram's market visibility.
Panram said in a statement that its board of directors had decided to issue 11.80 million shares in a private placement at NT$12.46 each, and Kingston agreed to acquire them all.
After the private placement, Kingston will take a 20.84 percent stake in Panram and become the largest shareholder of the Taiwanese company.
The share sale is expected to boost Panram's paid-in capital (calculated based on the nominal share price of NT$10) to NT$566 million, from the current NT$448 million, after Kingston pays for the stake by the payment deadline of July 10.
Panram said the sale was aimed at setting up a long-term strategic alliance with Kingston, which is expected to strengthen the Taiwanese company's competitiveness.
Analysts said Panram is expected to use the funds raised from the private placement as working capital to expand its production capacity to help meet demand from Kingston for contract manufacturing services.
In 2011, Panram posted net income of NT$30.04 million, or NT$0.69 per share, compared with a net loss of NT$37.16 million, or a loss per share of NT$0.88 the previous year.
In the first quarter of this year, Panram had a profit of NT$19.15 million, or NT$0.43 per share.
(By Jackson Chang and Frances Huang)


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Maybe they’re tired of being stereotyped as drunken louts, or worried about the health effects of slamming back pints. Whatever the reason, the British have been drinking a lot less.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
(BBPA) showed a 6% year-on-year decline in 2009. It was also the fourth annual drop in five years.
“These figures will confound many pundits, as yet again they confirm that as a nation, we are not drinking more. Those who suggest otherwise need to focus on the hard facts,” BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds said in a statement.
British drinkers are now consuming 13 percent less alcohol than in 2004, the association said.
Alcohol consumption in Britain remained below the European Union average, said the association, which relied mainly on statistics from Britain’s taxes and customs agency. But 39% of British men and 31% of women still exceeded the recommended daily amount of booze, it added.
Beer maintains a special place in British hearts, accounting for 60% of all sales in pubs, hotels and restaurants, against wine on 17%, it added.
Simmonds said the survey “also reminds us of just how vital a role beer and pubs play in the UK economy, in terms of turnover, jobs, and tax revenues.”
British authorities have long struggled to contain a binge-drinking culture which makes some town centres no-go zones on Friday and Saturday nights, and to introduce so-called “continental style” moderate drinking habits


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Cambodia is pushing several initiatives to improve the business environment in the country and expand its presence overseas. The Post’s Cheng Sokhorng sat down with Nguon Meng Tech, director-general of the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce (CCC), which boasts over 5,000 members, to discuss the existing business challenges in Cambodia and the chamber’s expansion abroad.
The government has submitted draft legislation to allow the CCC to open representative offices overseas. Have you decided on any of the office locations?
We are still in the process of drafting the new law so we have not yet made any decisions about locations or selection of representatives. We will cooperate with the Ministry of Commerce to determine the criteria for selecting representatives of the CCC abroad and establish their duties.
The new law will give the CCC the ability to select the office locations overseas and the representatives who run them. We will have a meeting on January 30 to further discuss the law and its implementation.
What is the purpose of overseas representation?
Establishing overseas representation of the CCC will provide interested investors in other countries with a good source of information to facilitate potential investments. Our strategy is also to provide opportunities for Cambodian businesses to export to other countries as we have a lot of good products for exports and wealthy Cambodians that would like to invest abroad. The challenges for us right now are guaranteeing the quality of our products for exports and maintaining good quality control, as well as improving our product packaging technology. Improving on these issues would add value to our export products and would hugely benefit the country by increasing national revenue and individual profit.
How do you see the development of online business registration in Cambodia?
The government is reforming the business registration process in order to provide a convenient and faster system for business registration. However, some challenges remain, especially regarding the technical knowledge needed for businesses to register online.
Most business owners don’t know how to fill the forms online and often spend a lot of time filling out the applications, and sometimes needing to hire someone to help them. The CCC has hired technology experts to provide workshops and training sessions on how to file the forms online. These sessions also emphasise the importance of registering a business and maintaining good business records.
What could be done to improve the registration process and access to registry information?
I would recommend that the Ministry of Commerce provide the option to speed up registration by assigning officials to help companies fill out the forms. Issues with business registration don’t only exist in Cambodia – even in the US the country is unable to collect 100 percent of business data.
The World Bank recently said online registration actually decreased the ease of doing business. Do you agree?
My opinion is that the World Bank did not study the issue deeply enough as the development of business registration requires a lot of time to implement and build the infrastructure needed to support it. Right now is not the right time to be critical of the data collection as it is an ongoing process. It shows they did not take enough time to study the issue.
How do the recent tax law amendments impact the business sector?
I have yet to look at the tax law amendments in depth, however, I would like to note that the amendments should be made transparently and the overall tax rate should be lower than that of neighbouring countries given that they are already more developed. The amendments should be made with inputs from the private sector in order to reduce the impact on businesses and the law should be enforced fairly to encourage fair competition in the market. Additionally, I think the law should offer tax exemptions or a tax return policy if, for example, any wealthy businessperson donated large amounts of money to charity.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.


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Alan Adcock, a partner and deputy director of Tilleke & Gibbins intellectual property and regulatory affairs groups, will give a presentation on “Interesting Case Studies Concerning Franchising-Related Regulations in Indochina” at the Asian Food Franchising Forum in the THAIFEX – World of Food Asia 2017, an annual world-class food and beverage industry event.
Also speaking at the forum will be: Albert Kong, CEO of Asiawide Franchise Consultants; Saward Mitaree, president of the Franchise & License Association, Thailand; Suttichai Paninarakul, managing director of The Waffle; and Piyabutr Cholvijarn, vice chairman of the board and president of Kenan Institute Asia.
Alan, one of the region’s foremost intellectual property practitioners, will be sharing his extensive experience in handling complex franchising matters in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. He will also be discussing the IP regulatory regimes unique to countries in the region and implications for clients’ franchising businesses.
The Asian Food Franchising Forum will be held on June 1, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at Jupiter Room 10, IMPACT Challenger Hall, in Nonthaburi province. For more information or to register for the event, please visit the World of Food Asia website.


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According to a Bloomberg report, Holiday 2023 will bring something to the gaming industry not seen since 2004. A holiday season with no mainline Call of Duty game.
Why the unprecedented delay? The report says in part, “after a recent entry in the series failed to meet expectations, leading some executives to believe that they’re introducing new versions too rapidly.” Yeah, Vanguard and Cold War weren’t exactly premiere entries into the franchise.
It’s also hard to ignore how much online gaming has shifted towards Battle Royale. A quick look at Xbox’s most-played chart shows this clearly. We see Modern Warfare (Warzone) at #3, Vanguard at #14, and Cold War at #16.
What does that mean for 2022 and 2023? The next Modern Warfare is still set for a holiday release this year. The Bloomberg report expands a little further:
“Activision is working on other projects to fill the gap next year. A Call of Duty game set to come out this fall will receive a steady stream of additional content, and there will be a new, free-to-play online title next year, said the people. Treyarch, the Activision-owned studio working on the now-delayed game, will also help with the free-to-play title, the people said.”
I like the move. It’s clear the annual release grind combined with the difficulties of developing games during the pandemic was causing the quality of games to suffer. Add in Warzone’s tremendous success, and it’s unnecessary to keep pumping out games each year.
I hope the decision to skip 2023 means Activision is highly confident in this year’s entry. Plus, we can expect to see more content than usual for 2022’s game as development shifts more fully into treating the game as a ‘live service.’
Image: Call of Duty 2 / Activision


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In view of the Corona crisis, Darmstadt’s retailers rely on the “digital showcase”. Photo: Torsten Boor
It’s difficult times for retail in Darmstadt. The shopping streets of the city center are temporarily dead, a similar picture can be seen in the districts. Most stores have to remain closed due to the Corona crisis. Many therefore offer pick-up and delivery services as well as the purchase of vouchers.
Now the state of Hesse has tightened the conditions for the sale again. In a message from the state government, it was no longer permitted to “pick up goods from the customer in the stationary trade”. An exception is the collection of food from restaurants.
A whole range of initiatives are being attempted in Darmstadt to help retailers to cushion the economic consequences. Citizens can find out about the shops’ offers during the crisis on several Internet platforms. For example, city magazines have put lists online that list local delivery services and online shops. Citymarketing has been offering retailers and restaurateurs the opportunity to present their businesses online with the “digital showcase” since last year. As a service, city marketing also lists the addresses of other platforms there.
“With the onset of the Corona crisis, we were able to fall back on a ready-made platform,” says city marketing manager Anke Jansen. More than 100 stores are listed in the “Digital Shop Window” with pictures and information such as opening times and delivery offers, the page is accessed more than 1500 times a day. Citymarket says “a multiple” of usage before the start of the corona crisis. The trade associations in the districts are also involved. An initiative to support local businesses has also been founded in Eberstadt, which now has its own website.
The self-designed online platform by Anna Sebrin and Alexandra Leinhos is still quite new. At esistsoschoenindarmstadt.de, Darmstadt shops and businesses can present themselves with text and images, similar to the “digital showcase”. With their sales and communication agency, the two Darmstadt residents are themselves affected by the restrictions caused by the corona pandemic. In her acquaintance there were helpless and desperate voices, says Leinhos. Many smaller shops would have no way to offer their goods on the Internet. The two women then quickly created their own website.
“Some of them have very precise ideas about the design,” says Leinhos, others get support from the two expert initiators. In any case, the campaign got around quickly, a little more than a week after the launch, the platform already counts around 100 entries. New ones are still being added every day, says Leinhos. Smaller shops, such as those in the city districts, are also supposed to come into their own.
In any case, retailers are happy about the digital advertising option. “It is going well, the phone is not standing still,” says Imke Karrock from the book guild on the market square. Her delivery service would be “very well received,” she says. She describes the platforms on the Internet as a “very great offer”, which, according to Karrock, make an important contribution to the great demand.
Sven Amann has launched another initiative to network the various offers. The computer scientist wants to bundle the various help offers for retailers and apply them even more intensively. For example, flyers that have already been distributed via social media are also to be printed and distributed in the city. “It’s great,” says city manager Anke Jansen: “A lot helps a lot”.
More about the corona virus
You can find our constantly updated overview of the situation in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate here, including current videos and background information from the cities of Wiesbaden, Mainz, Darmstadt, Giessen, Wetzlar, Worms and the entire greater region.
Click here for the live blog of the TEH news agency on development in Germany and around the world.
A collection of constantly updated data, clearly visualized in maps and graphics with the support of our partners, the 23Grad data specialists.
With high-ranking experts from university medicine in Mainz, we broadcast two night lectures in live streams. Here is the record of March 19, and here the record of March 26.
We asked our readers for questions about infection routes and risks, infection routes and the course of the disease. The answers are here in a first part and here in a second part.
And why we don’t offer some of our content for free is explained here by Stefan Schroder.


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Given the Mercedes-Benz S Class was recently refreshed for 2018, it only makes sense the super-luxury Mercedes-Maybach version of the car get some upgrades as well. These updates include a new grille design and paint schemes.
While the changes are minor, the new grille is noteworthy. Mercedes has switched to a new vertical slot grille design on the Mercedes-Maybach S560 and S650. The new design was first seen on the Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6 coupe concept shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2016. A follow up concept at the same event showed off the grille as well.
The new grille design is combining with new paint schemes that include two-tone finishes, an iconic trait for Maybach models. Combined, the Maybach models are going to show off their exclusiveness more thanks to these updates.
Mercedes will formally reveal the revised Maybach models at next month’s Geneva Motor Show. Both the S560 and S650 will be on sale in the U.S. later this year.


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BOSTON – On-line retail big Amazon introduced that it’s going to companion with the Better Boston Meals Financial institution to assist distribute meals to its New Bedford satellite tv for pc location, the meals financial institution introduced Wednesday.
As soon as per week, Amazon will donate the usage of considered one of its tractor trailers and a truck driver to move meals from the meals financial institution’s most important warehouse in Boston to a satellite tv for pc dock in New Bedford.
Dedication to 1 million kilos of meals
The Better Boston Meals Financial institution gives meals to just about 600 meals distribution companions in japanese Massachusetts, together with meals pantries on the South Coast. The meals financial institution’s location in New Bedford allows the group to supply recent and perishable meals to some 45 companions within the surrounding communities. In whole, the New Bedford meals financial institution location distributes greater than 309,000 meals a month.
Amazon has dedicated to transferring a million kilos of meals to New Bedford throughout this partnership.
The pandemic brings the necessity for meals pantries
The pandemic has led to an elevated want for meals pantries and comparable providers. A survey by the meals financial institution indicated that Massachusetts skilled an general enhance in meals insecurity of 55% between 2019 and 2020.
Extra:‘He is only a candy boy’: Somerset household asking for playing cards, fundraiser for teenager with most cancers
“The Better Boston Meals Financial institution wanted assist increasing its invaluable service to folks all through the southern Massachusetts coast. Given our expertise in logistics and distribution, this partnership was a pure match, ”mentioned Andrew Cohen, Amazon’s senior supervisor of group operations in a press launch. “GBFB is working exhausting day-after-day to make sure our neighbors have sufficient to eat, particularly given the hardships brought on by the pandemic. We’re glad we had the chance to assist them. “
You possibly can attain Audrey Cooney at email@example.com. Assist native journalism by buying a print or digital subscription to The Herald Information right now


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Will casting diversity rule the SS20 fashion weeks?
4 Sep 2019
European fashion designers have often been accused of conservative casting practices, favouring young Caucasian models in their campaigns and on their catwalks.
When official figures from the Runway Diversity Report by The Fashion Spot were released in March, New York proved to the most racially diverse of all the main fashion weeks, with nearly half of all models cast, 45.8 percent were of colour.
London, a champion of directional fashion, lacks catwalk diversity
In London, fashion week saw a decrease in racial diversity where non-white models made up 35.7 percent of runways castings. Milan saw an increase of 1.0 percent to 31.8 percent models of colour. Paris fashion week came in second place as the most racially diverse, casting a total of 39 percent models of colour, the largest increase of all fashion weeks of 6.6 percent.
According to the European shows that were examined in the report, only six featured size diversity. For Fall 2019, Paris, which had one non-straight-size model appearance in Spring 2019 and only three the season prior, had the most castings in this category of any European city (nine, an all-time high). Tommy Hilfiger’s show cast featured 7 plus-size models. The London catwalks featured the most plus-size castings (four, a record for the city) than any other European city. Two plus-size models — Daniel Lismore and Emma Breschi — walked at Vivienne Westwood.
In Milan there was not a single plus-size model seen on the official catwalk schedule.
In Spring 2019, casting of models who openly identify as transgender or non-binary reached an all-time high with 91 (1.23 percent) models in either category (83 trans women, eight non-binary models) walking in a total of 52 shows.
By contrast, Fall 2019 marks the first time that the number of trans and non-binary castings has shrunk. Only 56 (0.77 percent) openly transgender women and non-binary models walked in all of fashion month.
In terms of age diversity, London fell to the bottom of the pile with five over-50 castings: three at Vivienne Westwood, two at Simone Rocha — both longtime advocates for older model visibility.
In Milan, which last season had the most over-50 model appearances of any city outside of New York — and the most in its history — only six models age 50 or over walked the runway. That is three less than in Spring 2019, but considerably better than Fall 2018’s two. Donatella Versace and Daniela Gregis continued their practice of hiring over-50 models (Stephanie Seymour and Benedetta Barzini, respectively). Pat Cleveland, the season’s most-booked over-50 model, walked at Laura Biagiotti.
Of the 221 shows surveyed last season, Milan’s Daniela Gregis featured zero models of colour.Image: courtesy of Fashion Scout


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Retailers, banks play blame game over Target's security breach
It started with a letter to congressional leaders from the NRF, which represents 12,000 retailers. The association urged "adoption of meaningful steps to fight cyber theft and credit card fraud," and said that retailers are ready to do their part.
Banks? Maybe not so much, the letter implied.
"For years, banks have continued to issue fraud-prone magnetic stripe cards to U.S. customers, putting sensitive financial information at risk while simultaneously touting the security benefits of next generation “PIN and Chip” card technology for customers in Europe and dozens of other markets," the letter noted.
"It is time for our partners in the card industry to invest in next generation technology to secure sensitive bank card data. Adopting 'PIN and Chip' security measures in the U.S. (as the branded card networks and issuing banks have done to protect European consumers) would be a good start. As long as bank cards continue to be issued with outdated and fraud-prone magnetic stripe (and signature) security, it is clear American card holders will remain largely unprotected."
Don't try to shift the blame for your security lapses on banks, responded the Independent Community Bankers of America, which represents 7,000 community banks around the country.
"Retailers and their processors — not banks — are responsible for the systems in their stores that process payment cards," said ICBA President and CEO Camden Fine. "ICBA hopes that the massive retail security breaches at Target, Neiman Marcus and others will spur retailers to adopt security solutions going forward."
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text: Novelis announced the company's new laminated aluminium surfaces for beverage can ends that will be showcased during 27-29 September at ALUMINIUM 2022 in Düsseldorf. This innovative application improves beverage container appearance, increases production process efficiencies and lowers CO2 emissions for European beverage brands and can makers. As a result, it further advances Novelis' leadership in the growing market for aluminium beverage packaging.Colored aluminium beverage can ends, especially black, are particularly popular for new and innovative beverage products and energy drinks. However, producing lacquered, black ends also poses challenges in terms of color stability and can makers' production processes.High-quality surfaces and color stability are especially important for the premium beverage segments. Novelis' new aluminium sheet comes with a black laminating film. The laminating film is free of Bisphenol A BPA and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances PFAS and meets all food and beverage industry requirements.At Novelis' Göttingen site in Germany, which specializes in rolled aluminium surface finishing, the laminating film is applied by a combination of pressure and heat.For beverage can makers, adoption of the laminated sheet is simple, as the production of laminated ends does not require any can line retooling. In fact, it requires less cleaning, leading to increased productivity.


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Meb Boden of Meb’s Kitchenwares in South Woodstock has seen firsthand the effects that the pandemic has had on her craft business, driving her and her husband to expand online.
“Before COVID, most of my business was at craft shows from early summer into mid-December. Last year, the month of December brought in about 40 percent of my income and I’m expecting the same this year,” she said. “I see the holidays as a great time to support our local and small businesses, especially handmade artisan ventures.”
For many local businesses, holiday sales are a big chunk of their yearly revenue. At Blackkat Leather in Chester and Fascia’s Chocolates in Waterbury, the winter holidays account for over 30 percent of annual business.
“For me, this end of the year revenue helps to get me through the slow winter months to come in January, February and March,” said Drew Archer of Blackkat Leather. “It’s important to support small local businesses as much as possible — year-round if you can — as rent and expenses can cripple us after a few slow months.”
Aside from supporting crafters, locally-made products make for more interesting gifts, business owners say.
“Supporting small businesses gives people the chance to give a gift that is most likely very unique and often handcrafted by local artists, which is becoming a rarity in today’s world,” said Archer.
“Our loyal customers return to us year after year for the quality and traditional products we make with passion,” added Fascia’s Chocolates president Carmen Romeo.


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Microsoft will not be making an appearance at two upcoming major gaming events.
Major Nelson confirmed on his blog that there will be no sign of the Xbox 360 or an upcoming console at gamescom and Tokyo Games Show.
Major Nelson said: “As you saw at E3, we have a solid line-up of games launching this holiday, along with other entertainment experiences. We’ve changed our approach a little, though.
“This year, Xbox will be focusing on smaller, more localized promotions and experiences for press, partners, retailers and customers around the world. Which means that as you might have seen on some of the news sites today, we won’t be taking part ingamescomorTokyo Games Showthis year.”
He added: “Both are still important shows for the industry, and we do wish the organizers well.”


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A Thanksgiving Day paper change for The Enquirer
We are giving readers an early start to The Enquirer’s most-anticipated – not to mention its largest – edition of the year.
To help readers navigate the official kickoff to the holiday shopping season, single-copy sales of The Enquirer will begin appearing at more than 900 retailers around Greater Cincinnati on Wednesday evening, Nov. 25. It means you won’t have to wait until Thanksgiving morning to get a head start on Black Friday shopping.
This is a first for us, and we’re excited about serving our readers in a new, ambitious manner.
Recognizing the strong consumer demand for our Thanksgiving Day edition, we strategized ways to make it easier for our customers to have access to valuable content and the fattest pile of coupons and advertising inserts of the year.
Our solution was simple: Let’s get it to hundreds of single-copy racks starting around 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Eve.
Live updates: Thanksgiving Day papers arrive in stores
That means valuable advertising content from up to about 900 retailers – comprising as many as 1,000 pages of deals – will be showcased in that Thanksgiving Eve edition. (Most home-delivery subscribers will see the same deals that Thursday morning on your doorstep.)
To make it even more exciting, we’re providing a new twist: I will be out Wednesday evening and playing a Thanksgiving Eve version of Santa Claus.
I’ll be heading out to three stores, one each in Butler and Warren counties and in Northern Kentucky, on Wednesday night. I’ll surprise three lucky readers as they purchase the Thanksgiving Day edition of the paper, giving them a $500 gift card to either the new Liberty Center retail complex in Liberty Township, Kenwood Towne Centre or Florence Mall.
Where exactly will I be that night? You’ll have to follow along at Cincinnati.com, on Facebook (www.facebook.com/enquirer) and on Twitter (@Enquirer). Look for the #BIGEnquirer conversation and follow me at @OhioRAG.
Our Newsroom also is getting involved in a significant way to ensure you’ll get much more than essential Black Friday advertising content. You will find:
- Your complete shopping guide – from the weather, store hours, parking and traffic tips.
- Our incredibly popular “Dress the Turkey” contest will kick off that day. Our “turkey template” will publish, ready for your crayons, paints, feathers and creative flair and flourishes. What better time to “dress the turkey” than the extended Thanksgiving break? Winners will be published in our Dec. 20 edition and on Cincinnati.com.
- A keepsake 20-page special section focused on the Cincinnati Reds. This commemorative issue will capture the memories and vibrancy of an All-Star summer with a special look-ahead to the Dec. 4-5 Redsfest event at the Duke Energy Convention Center and the fast-approaching 2016 season. This will be a must-have for Reds’ fans of all ages and you’ll find it only in The Enquirer and at Cincinnati.com.
- A comprehensive holiday Things to Do list, spotlighting movies and Greater Cincinnati holiday attractions and traditions.
- And if you’re a crossword puzzle fan, brace yourself: You’ll find the biggest crossword of the year in our edition that day.
Our Thanksgiving Day paper traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season. This year, our #BIGEnquirer initiative will have more useful content, savings and helpful tips for those wanting to get their holiday season started right and experience a season of savings rather than a season of headaches and hassles.
Dress the Turkey contest to return
Look for single-sale copies at these retailers: UDF, Kroger, Meijer, Walmart, Speedway, Walgreens, Thorntons and Remke.
The Thanksgiving Eve and Thanksgiving Day editions require Herculean efforts by hundreds. Our press run is expected to be more than 200,000 stuffed copies.
And this is just the start of a new holiday push by our Enquirer and Cincinnati.com staffs. Additional promotions, partnerships and content to help shoppers navigate the holiday shopping season will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Enquirer has been a Greater Cincinnati tradition for nearly 175 years. As consumers' expectations and technology changes unfold, we, too, must evolve. I care deeply about ensuring we provide relevant and engaging news and advertising content when, where and how our customers want it – in our print editions and across the digital space.
Our large distribution speaks to how relevant The Enquirer remains to our communities and customers, and our plan to distribute the #BIGEnquirer a day early speaks to how we are constantly evolving to meet the needs of our advertisers and readers.
As always, thanks for reading us and look for me Thanksgiving Eve as our special single-copy edition hits the street.
Here are the numbers to know about #BigEnquirer:
- 900+ racks across the region
- Up to 1,000 pages of deals
- Up to 900 retailers
- 20 pages of a special collector's edition for Reds fans
- 3 chances to win $500


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1. ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence has dropped to its lowest level since mid-July 2023 after the RBA raised interest rates to the highest level in 12 years.
2. Consumer Confidence has spent a record 41 straight weeks below the mark of 85 and is now 6.5 points lower than the same week a year ago.
3. Consumer Confidence was down in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, but slightly up in Western Australia, reversing the previous week’s trend.
4. The decrease in Consumer Confidence is driven by a deterioration in people’s buying intentions after the interest rate rise and growing concerns about the long-term health of the Australian economy.
5. Only 7% of Australians expect “good times” for the Australian economy over the next twelve months, while 40% expect “bad times.” Net sentiment for the long-term economic outlook is at its lowest level since April 2020.
A Deep Dive into the Latest Consumer Confidence Trends in Australia
The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence report presents a concerning picture of Australian consumer sentiment. The index plunged by 3.5 points to 74.3, marking its lowest level since mid-July 2023. This decline follows the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to raise interest rates to a 12-year high of 4.35%, significantly impacting consumer outlook and spending intentions.
Key Findings from the Report
- Historical Low in Consumer Confidence: The current consumer confidence level is now at its lowest since mid-July 2023 and has remained below the 85-point benchmark for a record 41 consecutive weeks. This represents a significant 6.5-point drop from the same week a year ago.
- State-by-State Analysis: The decline in consumer confidence was observed across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia. Interestingly, Western Australia showed a slight increase, going against the overall national trend.
- Financial and Economic Outlook: The report highlights a deterioration in people’s buying intentions following the interest rate rise. Concerns about the long-term health of the Australian economy have grown, with only 7% of Australians expecting good times for the economy over the next twelve months. This sentiment is even more pronounced for the five-year outlook, with only 10% expecting positive economic conditions.
- Impact on Household Finances: About 20% of Australians report that their families are better off financially than last year, while a majority of 54% feel worse off. Looking ahead, under a third expect their family to be better off financially next year, while 38% expect to be worse off.
- Buying Intentions and Retail Outlook: The report indicates a decline in buying intentions, particularly for major household items. Only 18% of Australians believe it is a good time to buy major household items, a concerning trend as the Christmas retailing period approaches.
Implications for the Australian Economy
The findings of the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence report are a clear indicator of the challenges facing the Australian economy. The combination of high interest rates, inflationary pressures, and a cautious outlook on the economy is dampening consumer sentiment. This trend could have significant implications for retail spending, housing market activity, and overall economic growth.
Conclusion: Navigating Economic Uncertainty
As Australia grapples with these economic challenges, understanding consumer sentiment is crucial for businesses, policymakers, and investors. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence report provides valuable insights into the mood of Australian consumers, offering a gauge of the nation’s economic health and future prospects.
For a more detailed analysis and comprehensive understanding of these trends, the full ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence report is available for further exploration.


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Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, it has become apparent globally that prices at some retailers and online platforms for coronavirus-related products, such as hand sanitiser gel and respiratory masks, have increased sharply.
In France, the economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, announced today that the French government suspects that retailers and pharmacists have been taking advantage of consumers stocking up to protect against coronavirus to apply abusive price increases, and it will therefore regulate the price of alcohol-based hand gels.
Le Maire also asked his ministry’s Department of Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) to open an investigation into the sudden surge of prices for alcohol-based hand gels. The DGCCRF can impose fines on businesses of up to 150,000 euros (£103,000) or 5% of a company’s revenue, whichever value is lower.
Yesterday (3 March 2020) the UK government published its “Coronavirus: action plan” outlining what the UK as a whole has done – and plans to do – to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
As yet, the government has given no public indication that they intend to regulate the pricing of coronavirus-related products. However, it is not impossible that it would consider a similar regulation necessary. The Government has talked about the possibility of emergency legislation in some areas, and would be likely to see action to stop what could be seen as profiteering as publicly popular. The Competition and Markets Authority also has the power to investigate suspected pricing abuses.


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The prospect for widespread deployment of autonomous beverage delivery trucks is still very much a futuristic one. But there have been significant developments in the past couple of years that bring that future a little bit closer.
The delivery cost of beverages is indeed a complex and difficult project when attempting guidelines or benchmarks for accurately evaluating any bottler’s or distributor’s supply chain activity in real time terms.
As beverage distributors witness heightened consumer expectations for accuracy, efficiency and delivery speed, cart and hand truck solutions meet the laborious challenges today’s delivery personnel face.
At the end of last year the global autonomous last-mile delivery market was expected to reach a total value of nearly $13 billion. By 2030, that number is expected to increase more than seven-fold to $90.21 billion, according to a report titled “2022 Autonomous Last Mile Delivery Market,” published by Allied Market Research.
For Reyes Beer Division, a business unit of Reyes Holdings, L.L.C., based in Rosemont, Ill., it’s the emphasis on employee engagement that it credits for fostering the “succeed as one” culture that it values so much.


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While one swanky city centre salon’s doors have closed in Manchester, another’s opened this week.
The Diary was sad to see the closure of the Fake Bake Beauty Boutique in the basement of Selfridges, which has been tanning the limbs of us ladies as well as teasing our tresses for the past three years.
But the boutique has now closed by 'mutual agreement' with Selfridges after it appeared both had different aspirations for the site.
In rather fortuitous timing, Selfridges’ rival Harvey Nichols last night held a launch for its glitzy new hair salon, Umberto Giannini.
The Birmingham-based hair brand has taken over the site from Urban Retreat which had closed last year.
They showed off a sleek new black and white interior for the salon, which as well as traditional hairdressing services, is offering a “dry styling bar” where you can pop in and get your hair curled up or straightened for a party for £20.
My hair mole says: “It couldn’t be better timing for Harvey Nichols that Selfridges’ hair salon has just closed.”
The Diary hears that the owners of Fake Bake had been keen to offer a range of cosmetic procedures alongside the salon offering, which Selfridges were none too keen on.
Selfridges are yet to confirm if another salon will take over the site and said in a statement: “We respect the importance of all our brand partners and this was a mutual decision following months of discussion in accordance with the Terms of Business.
“At Selfridges we are constantly reviewing the breadth and diversity of our brands and changes naturally occur to accommodate this. We always look to address the demands of our customers by ensuring that our offer is fresh and exciting at all times.”
Fake Bake’s global beauty consultant Sandra Vaughan said: “We’ll continue our relationship with Selfridges, but it was a mutual decision to close. As a brand, we’re going in a different direction.”
Read the Manchester Evening News on your phone - download the Apple MEN App here , the Android MEN App here and the Kindle app here - and get the paper as an e-edition every morning by subscribing here


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SELLING SPECIALTY STORES
NEW YORK — A wide range of accessories executives gathered recently to talk about the art of selling to specialty stores.
The event, sponsored by the Accessories Council and held at the Doneger Group offices on April 11, featured Jerry Kohl, the owner and president of Brighton Accessories, who spoke about his firm’s experience selling to independent stores and boutiques.
Brighton, a division of Leegin Creative Leather Products, makes a variety of accessories, including belts, handbags, leather goods and jewelry. Based in City of Industry, Calif., the 28-year-old company had sales of about $120 million in 1999.
“People say there are so few stores to sell to today, but that is not true,” Kohl said. “Most people sell to specialty stores as an afterthought. We have found a different way of doing business. Our strategy is simple. We find where the stores are and we go visit them. We don’t have a showroom in New York and we don’t go to market.”
Kohl said his company sells to about 6,000 stores, all of them independent. Brighton does not sell on the Internet and has no plans to do so.
The company has 100 full-time sales people, all of whom visit the stores monthly.
“They go every month, take inventory and figure out what sells,” Kohl said. “Also, we do what big vendors do. We offer promotions and gifts with purchase.”
Among those participating in the discussion about specialty store selling at the well-attended event were executives from Echo Design, Hanover Accessories, Judith Jack, Sasha Handbags, Omega, Roma Industries, Carolee Handbags and Danskin.


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A holding is China Mobile (CHL), a telecom company that serves 700 million customers. "This is a dominant provider that has been able to increase its dividend payout over time," says Harriss.
While the overall China markets have stagnated, e-commerce stocks have soared. That has provided a boost for Oberweis China Opportunities (OBCHX), which focuses on small- and mid-cap growth stocks. During the past year, Oberweis returned an eye-popping 50.8%.
Portfolio manager John Wong says that e-commerce currently accounts for 6% of all retail sales in China. The figure will climb to 10% by the end of next year as more consumers in rural areas come to rely on the Internet. Wong holds Vipshop (VIPS), a discount online retailer that sells apparel and cosmetics brands. "The e-commerce growth rates will continue to be strong for the next couple years," says Wong.
Fidelity China Region seeks modestly priced stocks with above-average growth prospects. Portfolio manager Robert Bao often favors rock-solid businesses. "We emphasize companies with strong balance sheets and superior cash flows," he says.
During the past five years, Fidelity returned 20.1% annually, outdoing its average peer by 3.8 percentage points. In 2013, the fund scored big gains with Tencent (TCEHY), an Internet giant. The company provides messaging services and social networks.
For a broader Asian fund, consider Wells Fargo Advantage Asia Pacific, which has 19% of assets in China. Portfolio manager Anthony Cragg favors growing companies that sell at reasonable prices. He takes stocks of all sizes. During the past five years, the fund returned 15.9%, outdoing its average peer by half a percentage point.
Cragg is willing to take contrarian positions. At the moment he has a stake in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (IDCBY), which has a price-earnings ratio of 5. Investors have fled Chinese banks because they worry about debts in the country's shadow banking system. Cragg argues the fears are overdone. "The Chinese government is coming to grips with the banking problems," he says.
At the time of publication the author had no position in any of the stocks mentioned.
This article represents the opinion of a contributor and not necessarily that of TheStreet or its editorial staff.


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Burger King is now selling a meat-free version of its iconic Whopper burger made with a plant-based patty. The meatless Impossible Whopper is designed to look and taste just like the beef one and it’s being tested at 59 locations in the St. Louis area now, with plans to bring it to all 7,200 BK locations if it’s a hit.
The new Impossible Whopper is actually healthier for you than the meat version, it’s got 15% less fat and 90% less cholesterol than a standard Whopper. But despite those differences, Burger King chief marketing officer Fernando Machado claims customers and employees can’t tell the difference between the beef burger and the meat-free one, and time will reveal if he’s right.
Source: The Verge


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Android 13 is a new version of Google's operating system that was released in May and is currently in Beta, with a stable version due later this year. In a surprise, however, Google Pixel 4 received the Android 13 update early.
A User of Google's Pixel 4 said he accidentally received an update to Android 13 with version TP1A.220603.002.A1, which disabled Google Pay.
Google Pixel 4 series
The user said that he did not participate in the Android 13 Beta, and when the system pushed the update, he did not notice that it was Android 13, but it was too late.
After the update, Google Mobile Pay won't work, even after reinstalling the Google Pay APK package, and restoring the factory Settings won't work either.
Some Internet users pointed out that this version was intended as a beta version for Google employees, but was accidentally pushed to users, which happens every year.
Upgrade to an Android 13 Pixel 4 phone


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Cocoa farmers in Akyem Pramkese demand 80 percent of world cocoa price
Cocoa farmers in Akyem Pramkese in the Eastern Region are appealing to the Government to give Cocoa farmers in the country eighty (80) per cent of the world cocoa price this year, as there has not been any price increment since last year.
Date Created : 9/29/2022 12:00:00 AM : Story Author : KwakuSakyi-Danso/Ghanadistricts.com
In a statement, signed by thechairman of the ‘Boafo Ne Nyame Cocoa farmers’ Cooperative Mr. Nana Oduro Darkwah, the government throughCocoa board paid seventy (70) percent of Free On Board to farmers in 2020.
“We are expecting the government to increase the percentage to 80% this year, or in the worst case, the government should maintain the old percentage of 70% to farmers this year.
Increment of cocoa price should not be a “Weapon” used by the government in Election year to win votes.
Farmers deserve better”, the statement added. According to the chairman, Cocoa smuggling could heighten, if the government fails to pay a fair price to the farmers and the price difference between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire becomes wide.
He added that, the living condition in the country has become unbearable, the price of goods has gone up astronomically, transport fares are high and the cost of labour incurred in maintenance of cocoa farms has tripled.
He continued that cocoa inputs such as insecticide, pesticides and liquid fertilizers have doubled, although the Cocoa Board supports farmers.
He therefore pleaded with COCOBOD to consider the current high Cost of living, high inflation, high cost of maintaining cocoa farm, dangerous threats of illegal mining activities, Cedi Depreciation, Smuggling of cocoa to Cote d’Ivoire and Poor living conditions of Cocoa farmers before fixing new cocoa prices.
“Recently Government of Ghana paid COLA (COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE) of 15% to all government workers. Cocoa farmers were not part of this COLA, because we are not government workers.
However we are all living in Ghana, We go to the same market just like Teachers, Nurses and the rest of government workers, but COLA was paid to only Government workers”.
“However the Cocoa that the government is going to sell abroad to get foreign exchange to support the economy belongs to the cocoa farmers.
Increasing cocoa price is not a favour from the government to the farmers, but is their right, something that is our legitimate right”, he said.
He explained that before the global financial crisis, weeding an acre of cocoa farm was between GHs 100 and Ghs150, now the cost of weeding an acre of cocoa farm is GHc300.
He added that taking a labourer to assist you for a day’s work which is called “By Day” from 8am in the morning to 12pm in the afternoon is Ghs50.00.
He said many of our farmers are now selling their cocoa farms to galamsey gold miners, “because after farming for over 20 years, farmers have nothing to boast off.


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Go To Guitars has become the UK distributor of Lakewood guitars with immediate effect. The deal was secured at this year’s NAMM show, with Tony Owens – GTG’s chief executive – and Martin Seeliger of Lakewood shaking hands on the arrangement that will see Lakewood guitars arriving in the UK, via GTG, in April. Lakewood guitars are built in Germany by a team of 16 luthiers. A full list of retailers can be found on www.gotoguitars.com and www.lakewood-guitars.co.uk.
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Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise, rang the Opening Bell this morning at th
Walgreens And Blue Cross-Owned PBM Launch New Company
Walgreens Boots Alliance has officially launched its new specialty pharmacy and prescription mail services company, AllianceRx Walgreens Prime, with pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics, a PBM owned by 14 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans.
IFPMA – International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers – Associations #core #pharma http://pharma.remmont.com/ifpma-international-federation-of-pharmaceutical-manufacturers-associations-core-pharma/ #pharmaceutical manufacturing companies # FEATURED RESOURCES. Infographics Psoriasis was recognized for the first time as a serious non-communicable disease at the World Health Assembly in 2014. To help bring the public health impact of psoriasis into focus and to help raise awareness…
Walgreens Boots Alliance and Rite Aid Reach Agreement to Sell 865 Rite Aid Stores to Fred’s Pharmacy
Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (WBA.O) said its deal to buy smaller rival Rite Aid Corp (RAD.N) would now take six months longer to close and also reduced its offer price as it expects to divest more stores to gain regulatory approval.
Walgreens Boots Alliance near deal to buy Rite Aid – WSJ


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Ontario Releases Technology and Standards for Digital Identity
12/09/2021 – 10:58
TORONTO — The Ontario government is publicly launching the technology and standards that will build Ontario’s digital identity ecosystem, which will empower simpler, faster and better access to more convenient and secure online services. As one of the first jurisdictions in North America to publish this information, Ontario continues to demonstrate its commitment to digital and data transparency, and is making progress on becoming a world-leading digital jurisdiction.
https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000787/ontario-releases-technology-and-standards-for-digital-identityIoT Council – What the Internet of Things means for societyRead More