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Five shops a day were lost from Britain’s high streets in 2016, but there was a post-Brexit vote revival in the fourth quarter.
According to the London Data Company’s 2016 annual report, the final quarter of the year saw more shops opening than closing, with the positive trend continuing into 2017.
The number of retail and leisure closures remained relatively stable at around 47,500 each year since 2012. Openings varied more, but in the past year averaged 125 a day and amounted to 45,700 in the year.
The mid-year slump, around the time of the Brexit vote, saw openings drop significantly lower than closures. However, autumn saw a bounce back in both openings and closures, with the former overtaking the latter.
England saw the lowest national vacancy rate at 11 per cent, followed by Scotland (11.9 per cent) and Wales (15.2 per cent).
The North-West was the English region with the highest vacancy rate at 15.3 per cent, while London had the lowest at 7.4 per cent.
The North-West also has the highest proportion of shops that have been empty for five or more years, known as persistent vacancy, at 3.5 per cent, while Greater London sat at just one per cent.
Retail parks gained the most occupied units (314) than any other type of location. Shopping centres continued to improve most in vacancy, down from 14.8 per cent to 13.2 per cent, followed by retail parks (6.6 per cent to 5.7 per cent) and town centres (11.7 per cent to 11.2 per cent).
Chingford and Upminster showed significant reductions in vacancy rates, down 8.6 per cent and four per cent respectively.
However, Wigan, Dewsbury, Newport (Monmouthshire) and Burslem all had one-in-four shops sitting empty, with vacancy rates of more than 25 per cent.
LDC analysis of the new business rates valuations per square metre show that twice as many small shops were revalued from below to above the threshold. Shops under 3,000sq ft were also valued on average 30 per cent more per square foot or metre than larger stores.
Greater London, the South-East and the East Midlands all saw valuations rise. However, on a town-by-town basis, Southwold found its way in the top 30 list for increases, with London not even making an appearance. Southwold saw a 170 per cent increase, while Market Harborough in the East Midlands had increases in retail value of more than 50 per cent in 199 retail premises matched to the LDC database.
London was the only region to have seen a decrease in the number of independent shops and a gain in numbers of chain stores over the past half-decade.
Comparison goods stores, which includes electrical retailers, continued to fall in numbers, and in the five years since 2012 had dropped in number by 9,490 units.
Matthew Hopkinson, director of LDC, said: “It was clear at the halfway stage in 2016 that both openings and closures had slowed sharply by the date of the EU referendum vote. Openings had dropped off even more rapidly and that key measure, the gap between the two, had generated a net loss of nearly 2,000 retail operations in the six months to the summer.
“In a year of surprises, what followed was a bump after the slump. Both openings and closures rose back to early-year levels in the autumn, but this time openings had the upper hand and began to correct the net losses of the mid-year trough. It was not enough to fill the gap, but by Christmas it had begun to repair the damage.”
On vacancy rates, he added: “The gradual inching-down of the headline LDC vacancy rate, which began in 2012, came to a halt in the middle of the year. This eventually began to show improvement as 2016 ended and that downward trend has been re-established in the early months of 2017.
“The relationships between the structural shifts between online and offline non-food shops have been taken as straightforward, but maybe they are not. Both have risen since 2008 and online sales continue to take a larger market share, but vacancy has been heading down, albeit gently, since 2012. The rate of growth of online can also be overestimated – at its current growth that segment of the market would not represent half of the retail market until 2030.”
Mr Hopkinson concluded: “The rent rises that have driven revalued rateable values has a lot to do with the changing mix of our retail locations as reflected in LDC’s analysis. The arrival of a chain coffee shop in a shopping street can have a dramatic knock-on effect on businesses around it. Leisure operators, one of the growing groups of retail classes, often pay higher rents than their established neighbours and eventually that affects the rateable valuations of those shops as well.”


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Vote no on Arlington's
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Tell the Arlington County Board to reject any bid or proposal that would give any taxpayer-funded subsidies or tax incentives, such as tax breaks, credits, or abatements, to Amazon's HQ2, whether they are being provided by the county or the state.
Arlington County, Virginia is currently part of the Northern Virginia bid for Amazon's HQ2. (UPDATE 11/10, Arlington will likely become one of two sites for HQ2).
While we cannot stop Amazon from coming to Arlington should they chose to, we do not have to provide them incentives funded by taxpayers to relocate.
The reasons for opposing the bid are plentiful:
- Amazon paid ZERO dollars in federal taxes in 2017, will receive a $789 MILLION tax break due to the new tax law, and since 2000 has received over $1 BILLION dollars in corporate welfare as tax subsidies. They do not need nor should they receive taxpayer subsidies, especially at the expense of schools and public services.
- Amazon is ruthless in avoiding taxes. When Seattle proposed a new tax on big businesses to alleviate the homelessness crisis caused by businesses like Amazon, Amazon held the city hostage by immediately halting construction of a new building – putting 7,000 new jobs on the line. Even after a watered-down version of the bill passed, Amazon continued to make veiled threats to the city. After Amazon, along with Starbucks and other corporations, waged a massive misinformation campaign that resulted in the city council repealing the tax. Before voting to repeal, Councilwoman Lisa Herbold stated that the groups opposing the tax (i.e. Amazon, Starbucks, etc) has "unlimited resources" to fight actions like this.
- Amazon's HQ1’s explosive growth has had severe consequences for Seattle, causing home and rent costs to skyrocket (an 85% increase in home prices in the last six years and a 39.8% increase in rent in five years) and leading to mass displacement of low to middle-income residents, closure of small businesses, and the mushrooming of tent cities.
- There is no guarantee that Amazon's promises of 50,000 high-wage office jobs and $5 billion in investment will materialize. Just look at the example of Boeing in Seattle or GE in Boston. (UPDATE 11/10: With the new plan, Amazon is promising 25,000 jobs. In selecting DC and NYC as the two most likely homes of HQ2 and HQ3, there are serious questions about whether the entire bidding process was a sham; the bids from the 238 other cities have essentially become free, tax-payer funded research that Amazon can put to use in further expanding their operations. In such a light, we should not continue to reward and abet Amazon as they hoodwink local officials to expand tax-payer resources for their corporate empire.)
- A Kauffman Foundation study showed that businesses that receive incentives do not tend to generate more jobs than those that don’t.
- Amazon is a multibillion-dollar corporation with a near monopoly position in the retail market. Moreover, its CEO Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world with a net worth of $140 billion (per Forbes real-time rankings at 5pm June 12th); with all this money the only thing he can think to spend it on is space travel.
While Arlington/NoVA/Virginia has not released the tax incentives, the offers from other cities make it clear that they will be receiving billions in tax incentives. Maryland is promising up to $8.5 billion in tax incentives from the state; Newark and New Jersey up to $7 billion; Atlanta and Chicago between $1 and $2 billion.
Sign the petition to demand that the Arlington County Board reject any bid or proposal that would give any taxpayer-funded subsidies or tax incentives, such as tax breaks, credits, or abatements, to Amazon's HQ2, whether they are being provided by the county or the state.
Complete your signature
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We’ve seen the shopping feeds popping up in the past in Google Search Results and in the AdWords program ever since 2007 and Barry recently did a write up on Search Engine Roundtable about the Google Adwords “Show Products” Plusbox no longer being a test and becoming an integrated part of the Google Advertising experience.
It looks like now Google has taken the “Show Products” AdWords Shopping Feeds one step further, and is now running them on contextually targeted AdSense ads within YouTube. YouTube is the only site I have seen these run on, and in the video example you’ll see that the AdSense ads are for a shopping site which is extremely relevant to the video; Thomas the Tank Engine products being served for a Thomas the Tank Engine YouTube video. Take a look :
Here’s a statement Google made about the AdWords Products Plusbox (from Barry’s post about AdWords).
As part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and helping users find the information they’re looking for online, we are testing a feature called the AdWords Product PlusBox, intended to help make information about specific products more easily accessible. For ads associated with products in Google Base, a plusbox can be expanded to display relevant products from that advertiser. The plusbox provides users with more information about an advertiser’s offering even before clicking on the ad, and offers advertisers a new way to engage potential customers. This feature is currently in a limited beta with a small number of advertisers.
However, like I said, this is the first time I’ve seen a similar system used in Google contextual advertising.


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In 2017, new car sales in the UK saw their first drop in six years. This may be attributed in part to recent scrutiny which implicates diesel cars as a cause of air pollution, due to their emissions. This has led to government imposing increases in tax and negative public opinion.
With diesel cars depreciating in value every day, have you considered scrapping yours for a cleaner and cheaper alternative?
We’ve put a few arguments together for why it might be a good idea!
Environmental and Health Issues
Diesel cars cause four times more pollution than petrol cars. They emit far more nitric oxide into the air than petrol alternatives which can lead to increased risk of respiratory health problems; including asthma, or in more extreme cases cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
The “Toxin Tax” will make ownership of diesel cars ever more expensive. To combat air pollution, the Government is ready to introduce a number of steps to ensure that fewer diesel cars are on UK roads. The scheme is set to launch in 2019; diesel vehicles will be liable for a daily charge of around £12.50 when driving in city centres.
Declining value of Diesel cars
With negative publicity, increasing health concerns and Government-backed schemes against diesel vehicles, it’s no surprise the value of diesel cars is dropping.
In 2017 alone, the value of some used diesel cars dropped by up to 26.3%!
For diesel car owners looking to sell, not only is there less demand from potential buyers but there is an even smaller return on price.
With that in mind, wouldn’t it be easier to scrap your car with us?


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Saturday’s front page Wall Street Journal article (see How Dirty Money Disappears into the Black Hole of Cryptocurrency ) indirectly points to the emerging need for fraud detection for cryptocurrency and other blockchain transactions.
Despite the hype, and for the time being, criminal use of startup cryptocurrency exchanges for money laundering appears to be relatively small when compared to larger volumes of money laundering that already transpires across banks . According to the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (see https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/money-laundering/ the estimated amount of money laundered globally in one year is 2 – 5% of global GDP, or $800 billion – $2 trillion in current US dollars.
At the same time, the percentage of transactions at startup cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift AG (investigated by the WSJ article) that represented money laundering was just .2% of the exchange’s overall volume over the time period examined, according to the exchange’s CEO Erik Voorhees. (see Eric Voorhees Tweet) Still, as more assets move into cryptocurrency, so too will the relative volumes of suspect, criminal and fraudulent transactions.
The good news is that there are plenty of fraud detection services that can weed these transactions out in the future. Despite the continuing lack of clarity in regulations for cryptocurrency transactions, some exchanges are starting to successfully adopt these fraud detection services.
We pointed out the need for fraud detection and risk assurance services as one of the 8 scalability hurdles that must be overcome for blockchain platforms to reach their potential. See The Shortsightedness of Blockchain Disillusionment .
Here’s what we wrote in our scalability research:
- …. Independent technology companies are starting to emerge that will score the risk of each transaction. This type of risk assessment service is maturing more quickly in cryptocurrency payment applications, where exchanges like Coinbase and Binance or vendors like Chainalysis, Neutrino and DeepCyber are performing or offering fraud and money laundering scoring services either for themselves (i.e., in the case of exchanges) or for third parties, which for now are primarily banks (in the case of vendors).
- We expect more than 100 companies to offer fraud and money laundering scoring services on cryptocurrency transactions by 2021, as many of those serving fiat currency payment fraud transaction migrate their capabilities into the growing cryptocurrency space….
- As in the fraud and security analytics markets, the companies who produce these risk scores will not be legally liable for any losses if their detection scores, which are voluntarily used, are off the mark.
Nothing New Under the Sun
As was aptly stated in the Book of Ecclesiastes “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”
So is the case with criminal activities and fraud detection, whether it is used for dollar or cryptocurrency transactions. The most effective fraud detection uses a five layer architecture we defined back in 2011. (See The Five Layers of Fraud Prevention and Using Them to Beat Malware)
While much has changed in financial services since that architecture was articulated, including the advent of cryptocurrency, the fundamental methods used by the criminals have not.
Organizations simply need to invest in these fraud detection services if they are serious about fighting crime, whether or not they are being regulated. Unlike KYC processes used for anti-money laundering — which are a different matter and are dictated by regulators — fraud detection services need not need rob individuals of their anonymity. They are often based on non-PII data and instead use digital fingerprints and behavior analysis. Implementing fraud detection should not compromise anyone’s trust in exchanges, unless of course said individuals are intentionally ripping others off.


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“With the surge in high profile data breaches recently, are user names and passwords the best way to ensure the people logging into corporate networks are who they say they are? ImageWare Systems is betting that businesses want better authentication — particularly for remote access from smartphones, tablets and laptops.” — Mike Freeman, The San Diego Union-Tribune
This recent article in the San Diego Union-Tribune by Mike Freeman explores our newest product and features highlights by our CEO and chairman, Jim Miller.
“The hackers have found a way to impersonate you and me,” said Jim Miller, chief executive of ImageWare. “If I hack your password, and I am remotely accessing your company’s network, as far as they know, I am you with the way security is conducted today.”
Citing research from IBM, Miller said 77 percent of businesses reported a data breach last year. Their average cost was $3.8 million.
Some of the headline grabbing cyberattacks, such as the Target breach, led to top executives getting fired.
“The enterprise is getting absolutely trashed,” said Miller. “People are trying to hack into these companies daily. So there is a pressing need, and when your C-suite starts to lose jobs, you tend to give a little more attention to the issue.”


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Karachi-headquartered denim fabric and garments manufacturer Artistic Milliners has acquired a denim factory in Commerce, California, with plans to invest in the facility to grow it into a state-of-the-art design and production hub based on Supply Chain 4.0 principles. The new factory expands the company’s global footprint and accelerates its speed-to-market capabilities.
Under the new name Star Fades International (SFI), the business continues to provide wash and finishing services.
SFI founder and Artistic Milliners executive director Murtaza Ahmed told a Pakistani newspaper the acquisition gave the company a strategic foothold in the United States, in a region with significant geographic and demographic advantages.
“California has historically been an important cornerstone for the international denim industry. In 2021, we anticipate increased demand from international retailers and brands for near-shoring capacity, digital design services and sustainable solutions. Our investment in this factory gives us a launch platform to meet that demand as we build the factory of the future,” he was quoted as saying.
The facility currently offers a range of wet and dry processing capabilities, as well as sustainable finishing technologies, including lasers, e-flow and ozone machines, to create authentic and innovative finishes while reducing the amount of water and chemicals used in a typical denim laundry.
SFI is backed by the robust vertical offerings of its parent company.
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Niantic, the developer of the ultra-popular Pokémon Go mobile game, as well as Warner Bros., have announced a new augmented reality mobile game set in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter universe called Harry Potter Wizards Unite.
Little is known about the game so far beyond the fact that it sounds like it will play similarly to Pokémon Go. It does, however, look like Harry Potter Wizards Unite will feature some sort of real-world component in the same vein as Niantic’s first AR title, Ingress.
— Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) November 8, 2017
By exploring real-world neighbourhoods and cities across the globe, players will go on adventures, learn and cast spells, discover mysterious artifacts, and encounter legendary beasts and iconic characters,” reads the title’s press release.
Given how vibrant (and lucrative) the Harry Potter series is, there are tremendous opportunities for a mobile title set in the universe. For example, players could be sent on quests to hunt down virtual Horcruxes or rare spells — some sort of wizard vs. wizard multiplayer spell casting battle system would also be interesting. Also, the mechanics featured in Niantic’s lesser-known AR title Ingress would fit perfectly in the Harry Potter universe.
“At Niantic, our goal is to leverage technology to create real world experiences that help people to discover the wonderful, and often magical parts of the world around them,” said John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic in a statement.
— Portkey Games (@PortkeyGames) November 8, 2017
The game’s press release states that additional details about Harry Potter Wizards Unite will be released in 2018.
“With this game, we are allowing the passionate, worldwide fan base to experience J.K. Rowling’s deeply powerful and imaginative universe in a new, truly immersive way,” said David Haddad, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, in a statement sent to MobileSyrup.
Harry Potter Wizards Unite is set to be published under Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Portkey Games, a new Harry Potter-focused subsidiary label of the video game publisher. It’s unclear if Harry Potter Wizards Unite will launch on both iOS and Android, though given Niantic dropped Pokémon Go on Android and iOS close to simultaneously, the game will likely land on both platforms.
Warner Bros went on to state that Portkey will bring back “familiar characters at different points in their lives,” as well as new characters and locations in the Harry Potter universe, on both console and mobile video game platforms.


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Petersburg companies in the running for regional business award
Two Petersburg businesses are semi-finalists in a contest amongst Southeast Alaska entrepreneurs competing for $40,000 in consulting funds to grow and expand their business.
Path to Prosperity (P2P), a partnership between the Haa Aani Community Development and The Nature Conservatory, was developed to support entrepreneurs and increase economic development and sustainability in Southeast communities.
Local businesses Tonka Seafoods and Petersburg Indian Association’s SeaLife Compost were selected as semi-finalists from 27 applicants. Ten other Southeast businesses including Wrangell's Eden Marine Services were also selected as semi-finalists.
SeaLife Compost sells compost teabags that can be soaked in water which is then used to provide nutrients to plants.
Tonka is exploring the option of reopening a shrimp fishery in Petersburg.
Tonka owner Seth Scrimsher said the fishery is still active. but the high cost of infrastructure is a difficult barrier to entry for smaller companies.
Winning the contest, Scrimsher said, could help his company receive a financing package.
“It’d be a perfect product for a smaller company to pick up,” Scrimsher said. “Winning the contest would be a step in the right direction.”
“Last year the competition was brand new and not everyone knew what to expect, but it turned out to be quite a success,” said Alana Peterson, Economic Development Coordinator for Haa Aaní, LLC. “This year applicants had more time to work on their submissions and understood the goals of the competition. As a result we received many quality applications.”
Semi-finalists will receive private consulting and mentorships from business professionals and participate in a business boot camp weekend, the press release states.
“The Path to Prosperity contest for entrepreneurs has shown that sustainable business ideas abound in Southeast Alaska,” said Norman Cohen, director of the Southeast Alaska program for The Nature Conservancy. “We live in a region of abundant resources and the sustainable use of these local resources can fuel the rejuvenation communities are seeking to create.”
Semi-finalists have until December 1 to create business plans and present them. Afterwards a panel of five judges will select two winners.


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By Stefanno Sulaiman and Gayatri Suroyo
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s inflation rate eased more than expected in August, official data showed on Thursday, but economists said the rate is set to accelerate and more interest rate increases are likely amid expectation of a fuel price hike.
President Joko Widodo has been considering raising subsidised fuel prices to curb ballooning energy subsidies amid high global oil prices and a depreciating rupiah.
A drop in some food prices saw Indonesia’s inflation ease to 4.69% in August from 4.94% a month prior, data by Statistics Indonesia showed. A Reuters poll had expected a rate of 4.90% in August.
But the annual core inflation rate, which excludes government-controlled prices and volatile food prices, accelerated to 3.04% in August, the highest since Nov. 2019, from 2.86% in July.
The August rate was roughly in line with the 3% forecast in the poll.
Bank Indonesia (BI) is targeting inflation at between 2% to 4% for 2022 and 2023, a range Governor Perry Warjiyo has said was likely to be exceeded this and next year.
BI raised its benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) last month for the first time since 2018, in a move some economists believe was taken in anticipation of a fuel price hike.
Statistics Indonesia head, Margo Yuwono, said a fuel price hike could substantially increase price pressure as it would affect prices of other goods and services too.
Bank Mandiri’s Faisal Rachman said inflation could be heading to 6% this year assuming a 30% increase in the price of subsidised gasoline, compared with a forecast of 4.60% without a price hike.
“We see that BI still has space to hike (the benchmark rate) by up to 50 bps in the rest of 2022,” he said.
Bank Danamon economist Irman Faiz said producers were also under pressure to raise prices at consumer level due to rising costs. He expects a total of 75 bps rate hike by BI in the remainder of 2022.
BI’s next policy meeting is on Sept. 21 and 22.
Authorities have not given a time frame for when a fuel price hike would happen. The president on Thursday told media the government was still carefully calculating the impact of any price hike.
Lawmakers told Reuters last week the government was considering a 30% to 40% increase in subsidised fuel prices.
(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman, Gayatri Suroyo and Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Martin Petty)


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After Months of Protests, Tampons Will No Longer Be a ‘Luxury Good’ in France
When French lawmakers voted down an amendment in October that would have slashed a tax on tampons and other women’s hygiene items, activists took to the streets of Paris to protest what they saw as an unfair charge on products that are essential to half the country’s population. Now the government seems to have had a change of heart—and feminist groups are claiming victory.
Following months of outrage, France’s National Assembly on Friday ruled in favor of reducing the country’s tax on tampons and sanitary pads from 20 percent to 5.5 percent, Agence France-Presse reported. Despite opposition from lawmakers who argued the country would lose millions of dollars a year without the tax, Prime Minister Manuel Valls supported the decision, calling it a “step in the right direction.” While the tax wasn’t cut entirely, the lowered rate is equivalent to the French national consumption tax levied on non-luxury items including food, water, nonalcoholic beverages, and even books.
Taxes on women’s hygiene products have increasingly spurred protests around the world this year. Many activists reason that the tax financially punishes women, who on average earn about a quarter less than their male counterparts globally, according to a United Nations report released in April. Last month, a group of students in the United Kingdom publicly opposed the country’s 5 percent tax on tampons and other women’s sanitary products by “free bleeding”—forgoing tampons or pads—on the steps of Parliament.
Just weeks after the protests in England, George Osborne, a member of Parliament, drew criticism when he defended the tax by announcing that the revenue from it would be donated to women’s charities. While that may seem like a noble effort, some critics argued the government should already be financing women’s programs rather than leaving it to taxpayers to do so. Petitions to scrap the tax have also been launched in Australia, the United States, and Canada, which in May voted to halt the tax on feminine hygiene products.
The ruling in France comes less than a year after the women’s rights group Georgette Sand launched a campaign aimed at overturning the tax—which it called an injustice—and an accompanying online petition that garnered more than 27,000 signatures. In a surprisingly catchy music video for a disco song called “Laissez-moi saigner,” which translates to “Let Me Bleed,” the group said women are losing money because of the government’s unnecessary tax on menstruation-related products. “You create taxes which don’t concern you,” the group sang. “You forget that I’m paid lower than you.”


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Cannabis in Colorado: The state of legalization
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According to Modern Canna Science, a Florida-based lab that tests cannabis, “Colorado is a trailblazer among states when it comes to legalized marijuana.” In 2013, Colorado legalized cannabis for any use, but lots of rules apply. The state’s government regulates the entire cannabis industry — from growing and distributing it to testing and use and more — and that applies to products for medicinal and recreational purposes.
To get an expert’s view on Colorado’s cannabis regulation, I spoke with Lauren Davis, a Denver-based attorney. The governor appointed Davis to the Law Enforcement Subcommittee of the Amendment 64 Task Force, which examined the regulation of cannabis in Colorado. She has also tried some of the cutting-edge marijuana cases in Colorado, and she is on the Executive Board of Colorado NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). In short, Lauren Davis is really up on the topic of cannabis regulation in Colorado.
When I ask her how she rates Colorado for state-level cannabis regulation, she says, “In terms of intent and the philosophy underpinning our system, we should be getting an A+.” Then, she adds, “In terms of how the government is actually regulating it in practice, I think it would be a C-.”
Overrun with regulations
At the start, Colorado regulators intended to treat cannabis like alcohol. “It is treated like alcohol to some extent,” Davis says, “but it’s very, very different for lots of intents and purposes.”
One of the key differences is the number of regulations applied to cannabis. Take the required labeling as an example. “There are not as many labeling requirements on plutonium and pesticides,” Davis exclaims. When I laugh and ask if that is really accurate, she says, “It’s a tad of an exaggeration, but there’s some truth to it.” As she quickly points out, “There are so many warning labels on marijuana that it’s almost amusing.” For instance, sellers must put more warning labels on marijuana than cigarettes.
Testing and interpretation
For the cannabis industry in general, testing remains a challenge. This arises largely from a lack of standardized and verified methods. In Colorado, Davis explains, “The testing labs are one place where the state gets a C-, because they are not reporting consistent results that can be replicated.”
In addition, Davis points out that even regulators cannot agree on what the existing laws mean. As she says, “My inbox is littered with emails from state regulators giving different answers to the same question.” That makes it difficult for any company in the cannabis industry to comply with regulations.
For people outside of Colorado, many know it as the place where cannabis is legal. “It is only legal under very specific and narrow rules,” Davis explains. “Outside those rules, it’s illegal.”
Ultimately, time might help Colorado’s cannabis regulatory environment move to an A+ all around. As with other challenges in the industry, legalization across states and countries should smooth the path to regulations that more people agree on and understand. Colorado is off to a good start, but more needs to be done.


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6. “Advertised prices may have no bearing in reality.”
Since July, at least three major third-party sites—Orbitz, Travelocity and TripAdvisor—have been fined by the Department of Transportation for advertising airfare lower than the actual prices consumers would have to pay. In August, the DOT charged that Orbitz early this year hadn’t displayed baggage fees in an obvious manner on its site. This came after the DOT fined the company last year for misleading advertisements that excluded taxes and fees and in some cases promoted airfare that was not available. Also, the DOT recently charged that Travelocity was omitting fuel surcharges on its “flexible dates” tool and that TripAdvisor was displaying base fares, which exclude taxes and fees, in a more prominent spot than the actual total fares.
The companies say they’ve made the changes requested by the DOT and are compliant with regulations. Chris Chiames, an Orbitz spokesman, says the site always displayed baggage fees, and the fine was “the result of a technical interpretation of where on the first page DOT expected [them] to be displayed.” He says the company isn’t aware of any “consumer confusion, complaints or deception over this issue.” Brooke Ferencsik, a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor, says the site has always been clear in how it displays fares, including taxes and fees, and that it was surprised by the DOT’s ruling. Travelocity spokesman Joel Frey says the company disagrees with the DOT’s actions and findings, which centered on just one tool. He says the company never received consumer complaints but disabled this tool in December.
Since 2011, most of the charges against third-party travel-booking sites have involved violations of the price advertising rule, says Bill Mosley, a spokesman for the DOT, which for consumers translates into whether travel prices are advertised and displayed in a fair and accurate way. The DOT has been rolling out new rules since last year requiring that ads reflect the full cost, including taxes and fees that were previously often excluded from sites’ ads and homepages, he says. Another new requirement: Baggage fees must appear in a prominent space on the site rather than, say, in the fine print at the bottom of the page.
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Reintroduces FCL option as a result of new rail services being launched in China
A softening of buying rates post Chinese New Year has enabled Davies Turner to reduce the rates for its Express China rail freight service, which is the only direct weekly fixed-day intermodal service between China and UK.
Furthermore, as a result of new rail services being launched in China, the Company is also recommencing its FCL service, which has proven popular in the past.
The Company’s weekly LCL volumes on the overland rail freight service have increased from just two High Cube 40-foot consol containers per week when the service started in 2018, to six or seven, 40-foot HC consols per week now.
The new rate of US$300.00 per 500 kg / 1 CBM will become applicable from mid-March and delivers a reduction of US$70 per 500 kg / 1 CBM on LCL shipments compared to the current rate.
On departure from Wuhan, China, the rail service heads direct to Duisburg in Germany. Containers are then trucked under bond to the nearby port of Rotterdam for transport by ferry to Purfleet, then on-carried by truck (still secure in the same container) to Davies Turner’s regional distribution centres across the UK, where they are discharged, customs cleared and delivered to final destination.
With a transit time of around 24 days from China to the UK, the direct weekly Express China Rail service for consol and FCL traffic continues to offer a reliable and much faster service versus the all-ocean alternative from ports on China’s North Eastern and Eastern coasts.


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Gasoline at the pump in California is typically about 40 to 50 cents more expensive than it is anywhere else in the country. The state's gas taxes are significantly higher than the national average and many of its retailers have to sell a higher-quality blend of gasoline in order to reduce smog and other pollutants. That all raises prices.
But over the past week, things have really gotten out of whack. California's gas prices have leaped an additional 50 cents to near-record highs, causing mass grumbling, a political headache for Governor Jerry Brown — and even inspiring car thieves to start siphoning off gas from cars and trucks in rental lots. Here's the chart o' doom:
So what happened? Why the chaos? As James Hamilton details over at Econbrowser, a handful of disruptions at key California refineries and a pipeline shutdown happened:
The Chevron refinery in Richmond (across the bay from San Francisco) has a normal capacity of 243,000 barrels per day, or 8.5% of the total petroleum products supplied to Petroleum Administration for Defense District 5, of which California is a part. But a fire at the Richmond refinery in August has significantly reduced its production.
The Kettleman-Los Medanos pipeline, which carries 85,000 barrels per day of crude oil to the San Francisco Bay Area, has been closed since mid-September due to organic chloride contamination. And on Monday, a power outage shut down ExxonMobil's 149,000-barrel-per-day Torrance refinery in L.A.
Two factors allow the price in California to spike much higher than the rest of the country. First, a different blend is required to meet California air quality standards. Second, there is little pipeline capacity to bring in refined product from elsewhere.
Severin Borenstein, an energy expert at UC Berkeley, adds that it's also possible some state refiners are taking advantage of the shortfall by withholding some of their gasoline in order to jolt prices even higher. The supply of special reformulated gasoline that California uses is produced by just a handful of companies, with Chevron alone controlling more than 20 percent of the market. In certain circumstances, price-gouging might be quite profitable. "It’s not a crazy notion," Borenstein notes, "it’s just extremely difficult to prove and, even then, not a violation of any law."
So is there anything California can do? One option, as Hamilton notes, is simply to wait out the crunch and try to adapt — these sorts of disruptions, while causing a fair bit of havoc, tend to be fleeting. Another possibility is that California could suspend some of its laws on air pollution. For instance, California's retailers are supposed to keep selling pricier summer-blend gasoline until Oct. 31. Winter-blend gasoline is cheaper and more readily available, but it also emits more polluting vapors. Brown has asked the California Air Resources Board to move up the date of the changeover to winter blends and allow more out-of-state gas imports.
Borenstein, however, offers up a more subtle policy idea. He notes that California's stricter standards for gasoline have been quite successful at reducing ozone pollution in a state that has historically had a horrific smog problem. The health benefits appear to have been substantial (pdf). So repealing the pollution rules altogether isn't necessarily a wise idea.
Instead, he proposes, California could slap a 25-cent tax on the lower-quality gasoline that other states use. In normal times, it wouldn't be worth it for California's retailers to sell the stuff — that's more than the additional production cost of the state's reformulated gasoline. But during a shortage, retailers could temporarily switch over to the cheaper, more-polluting gasoline, limiting the severity of the price spike. If the disruption is brief, this policy wouldn't have a big effect on air pollution — and California could use the extra revenue to take other measures to offset the increased pollution.
In any case, this is another reminder that the gasoline market can often behave quite unexpectedly at times. Broadly speaking, gas prices across the United States tend to rise and drop in tandem with oil prices. But when you toss in the quirks of refineries, state-level policies, and the placement of pipelines, prices can vary quite dramatically from state to state.


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Despite this year’s see-sawing economic climate, entrepreneurs in central Canada are confident and ready to expand. But they should only do so carefully, Meridian Credit Union says.
These trends emerge from a recent survey of 300 Ontario business owners by Toronto-based Meridian, which is one of Canada’s 10 largest credit unions. According to the survey, 86 per cent of business owners anticipate market growth in 2016. As a result, 43 per cent of them expect to hire more employees next year, and 18 per cent plan to expand their premises.
Commenting on the survey, Wade Stayzer, Meridian’s vice-president for small business, noted that the results seem to “fly in the face” of recent economic concerns in Canada, particularly the first half’s apparent technical recession. But Stayzer said this ambiguity is having an impact, noting that 56 per cent of survey respondents identify “economic uncertainty” as their greatest obstacle to growth.
While uncertainty is the most serious problem they foresee, Ontario entrepreneurs are also worrying about more tangible issues, such as rising employee wages (40 per cent), the Ontario government’s proposed introduction of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (35 per cent), and the lack of talent available for hiring (32 per cent).
Given all these potential problems, Stayzer suggests business owners take a cautious approach to growth. For instance, they should refocus on cost discipline — because growth spurts and the confidence they inspire often lead to higher costs and freer spending.
Stayzer notes that the employer’s contribution toward the proposed Ontario Retirement Pension Plan (ORPP) is a new expense that will come directly off the business’s bottom line — another good reason to reduce costs now to minimize the impact of the ORPP, which is scheduled to be phased in starting in 2017.
But Stayzer offers another tactic for entrepreneurs who are feeling hopeful but wary: Dust off your business plan. “Most companies have a plan before they start, then just put it on the shelf and never look at it again,” he says. Reviewing your plan might show you untapped opportunities or tip you to places where the business has gone off track. Meanwhile, re-analyzing the growth trends in your market and changing client needs may help you detect new opportunities that go overlooked in the day-to-day bustle.
As part of that review, Stayzer adds, make sure you are monitoring the top three to four metrics most important to the future of your business. No. 1 on his list would be to review whatever metric you use to track customer satisfaction/loyalty, to make sure you continue to meet their expectations. If that’s not an area you’re tracking currently, he suggests you make it your next project.
Other key metrics to watch include new customer acquisitions, revenue growth, and costs. If that sounds like a lot of work, Stayzer reminds you you’re not in this alone. You can delegate this work to your management team, or look into the business tools and financial templates provided by most financial institutions.
Asked what resources Meridian offers in this vein, Stayzer cites BizSmarts.ca, a site that collects useful business tools, articles and checklists from a variety of sources, including Futurpreneur, BDC and MaRS Discovery District. BizSmarts includes fundraising advice for startups, inventory-management tips for established companies, and more sophisticated advice on mergers and acquisitions, entering new markets, and international taxation for growth-oriented firms.
Whether the economy goes up or down, Stayzer advises businesses to set aside cash every year to fund future opportunities. If the market is hot, you can buy your way into new markets; if the economy slows, you can use your rainy-day fund to acquire market share at a discount price, whether through acquisition or new hires.
Whatever you do, Stayzer says, “be careful you don’t over-extend yourself.” And always get a second opinion on the merits of your next initiative, whether from an employee, a fellow entrepreneur, or a professional adviser. As sole decision-makers, says Stayzer, lone-wolf entrepreneurs are always at risk of seeing only what they want to see.


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A 3200×1800, 14-inch IZGO touchscreen panel? Inconceivable!
Due to Nvidia’s new 800M series GPUs becoming officially official today, several laptop manufacturers are taking the wraps off of new models. Earlier we brought you some MSI news, and now Razer has announced a refresh of its Blade line of gaming laptops.
The new 14-inch Blade is getting a serious spec bump, starting with the display. Razer says the new IZGO-IPS touchscreen display is “the world’s highest resolution 14-inch laptop display,” and we can’t think of any other 14-inch models that boast the same kind of pixel density. To compare, the 15-inch MacBook Pro’s display has a 2880×1800 resolution.
The Blade 14 also gets a new 800M series GPU — a GTX 870M, to be specific. The 870M is about 30 percent faster than the 770M on average, according to Nvidia. The CPU (Intel Core i7-4702HQ) remains from the previous Blade, and the only other meaningful change on the inside is the inclusion of an Intel-made 802.11ac WiFi chip.
The exterior is still the same compact, Ultrabook-ish form factor Razer has been rocking for the last few generations. At 0.7 inches thick and 4.47 pounds, it’s the lightest gaming-specific machine on the market.
The new Blade starts at $2,199.99, and will start shipping in early April.


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NATICK – A Boston woman and an unknown accomplice worked together on Wednesday to steal nearly $3,000 worth of clothing from the Neiman Marcus at the Natick Mall.
Although her accomplice outran store security, Tamira Anne Dyette, 19, was not as quick, and security caught her as she tried to flee the mall at 7:29 p.m. with $2,950 worth of stolen goods, police spokeswoman Lt. Cara Rossi said on Thursday.
Store security saw Dyette and the other woman enter the store and head to the Burberry section. The pair appeared to take turns filling empty Crate & Barrel bags with clothing while the other woman kept watch. After they both filled their bags, they left the store.
“Store security tried to stop them,” said Rossi. “The co-conspirator dropped her bag and took off and they couldn’t catch her.”
Police searched the two bags, and discovered numerous clothing items, including a Burberry jacket valued at more than $700, several Burberry shirts, pants and skirts and a Canada Goose jacket valued at $550, Rossi said.
Police arrested Dyette, of 320 Delta St., and charged her with shoplifting (second offense) and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Dyette had been placed on probation in Peabody District Court in September for her first offense, the lieutenant said.
At Dyette’s Natick District Court arraignment on Thursday, Judge Martine Carroll placed Dyette on pretrial probation for six months. If Dyette doesn’t get into trouble during that time, the charges will be dismissed.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or email@example.com. For up-to-date crime news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.


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NEW YORK (AP) — Bogart Estate: Actress Lauren Bacall dies at 89 in New York City.
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(AP Photo/Zacharie Scheurer)
Justin Bieber scuffles with photographers in Paris
Selena Gomez’s boyfriend also under fire for dining Kendall Jenner during whirlwind trip to Paris Fashion Week.


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GST officers to be soon armed with real-time data on vehicles moving without e-way bills
With effect from Janaury 1, 2021, the government has integrated RFID/FasTag with the e-way bill system and a transporter is required to have a RFID tag in his vehicle and details of the eway bill generated for goods being carried by the vehicle is uploaded into the RFID.
View: From a small elite to the Next Half Billion — the evolution of the Indian entrepreneur
Looking back at these early trendsetters, one co...
Payment startups big winners of e-commerce boom
Online shopping, contactless card readers and mobile payments are nothing new, but lockdowns ...
Electric cars likely to do less damage to environment. But that won't be easy
The lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones and other gadgets can be an environmental and safety hazard. (Fires at recycling centers are a problem.) Electric cars have really big lithium-ion batteries. It sounds like a potential disaster.
ETtech Bytes on 22 Jan. 2021: Top 5 Tech News Today, in 10 Minutes
From India’s rethink on its proposed e-commerce policy to ‘Tandav’ and ‘Mirzapur’ controversy “hurting” India’s creative dream, here’s a look at the top tech news today.
How to get 'free' e-PAN using Aadhaar
An individual can apply for the e-PAN facility from the income tax department's e-filing website: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. The facility is a paperless, free-of-cost facility where you will get an e-PAN in near real-time.
Amazon India festive sale: 600 merchants clocked sales of over Rs 1 crore
Smartphones, large appliances, fashion, consumer electronics, and home and kitchen were among the best performing categories for Amazon during the sale.
Western Digital announces winners of Data Innovation Bazaar 2020 for startups
Startups are gaining momentum and entrepreneurs are increasingly looking to collaborate with partners, get more exposure and expand their business.
On Ruskin Bond's 86th birthday, new book to take readers on an adventure with the author
In 'Hop On: My Adventures on Boats, Trains and Planes', Bond narrates some of his memorable travel adventures.
Airtel gives free access to e-book platform during lockdown
"As India stays at home to support the government's efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, readers can now access thousands of top books and novels on Juggernaut Books (formerly known as Airtel Books) for free by simply downloading the app (Android/iOS) on their smartphones," Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
Coronavirus turns Lena Dunham into an author, actress uses self-isolation to write romance novel
The 'Girls' creator promised that readers will get a chapter from Monday to Friday.
Games2win CEO Alok Kejriwal reserves round-the-clock flights for reading, talking to co-passengers
Kejriwal had publicly committed to reviewing a book every week.
10th Gen Kindle Gets Built-in Light For Anytime Reading
Anti-glare, stress-free front light tech makes it way to Kindle. It's a popular featu...
Unboxing the all-new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
The new Kindle Paperwhite is claimed by Amazon to be of a thinner and lighter design with sleek...
Millennials dispel stereotype, prefer physical books over digital versions
Young people still prefer curling up with a physical copy over e-book more so than their older counterparts.


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Samsung Galaxy S3 Sales Hit 20 Million in 3 Months
Samsung reports having sold 20 million units of its hugely popular Galaxy S III smartphone, AP reports. That’s a record figure in just three months since the South Koran company launched its flagship smartphone. Launched three months ahead of mobile phone announcements by rivals Apple, Nokia and Motorola, the S III is helping Samsung retain its dominance in the mobile market today.
Samsung is engaged in legal disputes with Apple worldwide on whether it copied patented designs and concepts from the iPhone. In the past weeks, Apple won its landmark patent lawsuit in California, in which Samsung had been ordered to pay a bit over US$ 1 billion in damages. While not originally part of the lawsuit, the Galaxy S III is now part of Apple’s “copycat” list submitted with the U.S. court, which involves products that may be part of a sales ban in the country.
It’s still not clear at this point whether the courts will grant Apple’s request for injunction, although the court win and the potential product bans have
- Adobe’s Achilles heel: How InDesign became a hacker tool and what other options are out there
- Unprecedented data breaches of the last ten years – and their aftermath
- Adobe products continuously targeted for phishing attacks
- Singapore’s AI strategy 2.0 explained
- Can AMD disrupt Nvidia’s AI reign with its latest MI300 chips?


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Amazon.com says it will give in to publishing giant Macmillan and sell electronic books for the Kindle at higher prices. Beginning in March, Macmillan titles will be priced as high as $14.99 when first released, with prices changing over time. Amazon charges $9.99 now for bestselling e-books. But publishers such as Macmillan say that's too low and could hurt sales of hardcovers.
President Obama Answers Questions on YouTube
Many credit the Internet for the election of President Obama. He's going back online to answer your questions today. As a follow up to his State of the Union address, the president will answer questions live on YouTube this afternoon. All the questions were submitted and voted on by YouTube users. The live interview begins at 1:45 p.m. ET.
Facebook Doppelganger Week
It's Doppelganger Week on Facebook, the latest fad started by users. All you have to do to participate is switch your profile picture with the picture of a famous person you've been told you resemble. If you don't know who your look-a-like is, an application called "Face Double" is one of several that can help you find yours.
iPad Grammy Appearance
Comedian Stephen Colbert presented the first award at the Grammy's last night with the help of the new Apple iPad. The device won't hit stores for a couple of months but Colbert got special permission to use it. He even sewed a special pocket into his tuxedo to hide it. Colbert joked that it made him cooler than rapper Jay-Z. But he's not that cool, he had to give the iPad back after presenting the award.
More From TechBytes:
Watch TV on the Go


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- Digital signature, trade information portal and several key functions to be effective from next year, Single Window blueprint ready for July 2018
- On track to achieve Govt. revenue target of Rs. 1 trillion
- Customs DG keen on enhancing efficiency with technology, people-less offices
In a major boost to streamline trade, Sri Lanka Customs will allow custom clearances to go paperless from next year, with the implementation of a digital signature, single window and trade information portal, a top official revealed yesterday.
Sri Lanka Customs Additional Director General S. Rajendran insisted that the department has embarked on several major trade reforms to fast-track trading in the country.
Speaking at the inaugural workshop of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), he pointed that of the 36 measures 11 have been already implemented and will be in effect from next year onwards.
As part of the EU-Sri Lanka Trade-Related Assistance – Increasing SMEs’ Trade Competitiveness in Regional and EU Market, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in close collaboration with ITC, embarked on its first workshop on private sector trade facilitation training in Sri Lanka through a train-the-trainer methodology.
Noting that Sri Lanka Customs has already implemented online payments, he said they have now started working on legal amendments to accommodate TFA commitments to the Customs Ordinance in order to execute pre-arrival processing clearance, which will greatly benefit the importers.
“The Attorney General has already given his consent for the digital signature for Customs documents. We are now in discussion with Lanka Clear and by January we will be in a position to make it effective,” he told the Daily FT.
He added that the trade information portal and the single window blueprint will be ready by July. “The blueprint of the Single Window will be ready by July, but the implementation will take two to four years.”
Rajendran also expressed confidence that they were on track to achieve the Rs. 1 trillion revenue target given by the Government for this year.
Sri Lanka Customs Director General P.S.M Charles emphasised that they were not only keen on paperless offices, but also on people-less offices in the future.
Outlining the importance of trade facilitation programs, she stated that the use of effective technology and enhancing systems to perform trade was crucial to bolster economic growth.
Acknowledging that 60% of the income was generated by SMEs in other countries, Charles claimed that Sri Lanka was lacking in this sector.
“The three-decade war dragged the economy backwards and now we have to walk fast and catch up with the rest of the world,” she added.
Delegation of the EU to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Cooperation Head Libuse Soukupova stressed that TFA was an important tool for economies to improve the business environment and competitiveness in attracting investment.
She expressed optimism over the Government’s recently announced Vision 2025 and the reforms taking place in the economy.
Although Sri Lanka has many educated women, Soukupova pointed out it was of concern that only 30% represented the workforce.
She said the trade facilitation project would continue till 2020.
Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Dhara Wijayatilake underscored the program highlights and said the chamber was involved in a variety of capacity building programs.
It was pointed out that the SME sector accounts for 75%-80% of the total business profile in Sri Lanka. Therefore, she said bridging regional gaps and reducing poverty were key factors for inclusive trade-led growth.
Speaking extensively on the history and implementation of the TFA EU-Sri Lanka Trade Related Assistance, National Project Coordinator Dr. Dayaratna Silva said SMEs were the victims of red tape and trade assistance programs of this nature assist them to overcome these barriers to tap into the global market.
The objective of this two-day workshop was to assist businesses to understand the terms, potential benefits and practical use of each of the technical measures of the new agreement and to equip them to successfully contribute to the design, implementation and monitoring of the trade facilitation potential implementation choices.
There will be two similar workshops in Colombo early next year and three regional workshops in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Ampara and Hambantota in the future.


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0 items @ £0.00
Published on 29/11/11
De Beers, supplier of about a third of the world’s rough diamonds, said prices of the gems may “stick” at current levels after demand from India and China spurred a rally of more than 35 percent this year.
Rising wealth in the two countries is enabling consumers to buy more diamond jewelry, compensating for slower growth in the U.S., the biggest retail-gem market. Demand from East Asia has caused a supply shortage, which pushed up prices this year, Chief Executive Officer Philippe Mellier said in an interview.
Did you know you can upgrade your diamond ring?
for example upgrade a half carat diamond solitaire for a one carat diamond solitaire.


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ABA ENGLISH WINS THE LINKEDIN BEST EMPLOYER BRAND AWARD 2017
Barcelona, 29 september 2017 – ABA English, the online language school with millions of students worldwide, has been distinguished by LinkedIn’s Best Employer Brand SMB Award 2017.
The award recognizes the company with under 250 employees that best communicated as an employer brand during 2017, and was won by ABA English this year competing with relevant finalists such as Kimia, OCU and Soltec.
The 3rd edition of these awards, held in Madrid on 26th September, granted a total of eleven awards acknowledging the achievements of leading companies such as Vodafone and Deloitte, among others.
This is an important new corporate award for ABA English. The online school has also been distinguished as Google’s Best of 2016, as the Best Educational App 2015 by Reimagine Education (the Oscars of education) or one of the 2017 Top Startups in Spain by the financial media Actualidad Económica. In addition, ABA is the first online language school authorized to issue Cambridge English exams and certificates.
“We are delighted to receive this award from LinkedIn,” said Javier Figarola, CEO of ABA English. “This motivates us to keep on working on our brand and our App, with the mission of democratizing the learning of English.”


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We have had online mobile retailers in India. But however, we were looking for various Gadget Retailers and in our study we have found that their are three companies in the business with similar brand identities.
Another online retailer surfaced from Mumbai – GadgetsGuru.in They are aggressively advertising online and have no eBay or other presence. They claim that they are the first online Technology Mall in India, but that claim doesn’t sound to be True.
Just a while ago, we learnt about another Gadget Retailer going online. This company is based out of Gurgaon and have very similar brand – CafeGadgets.in. Why do Indians always like to copy and can’t build an individual identity and a world class brand ?


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Sweden based Volvo Cars, the
premium car maker, has received almost 80,000 orders for the new award-winning
XC40 small SUV and is expanding production in Europe and China in order to meet
Production will be expanded at
its Ghent (Belgium) manufacturing plant and Volvo Cars will add XC40 production
capacity at its Luqiao plant in China in the first half of next year,
underlining the popularity of this year’s European Car of the Year.
In addition, the company has
also announced that it will capitalise on the popularity of its new smaller
models with the introduction of new models on its Compact Modular Architecture
(CMA), replacing the current V40.
“The XC40’s success has
surpassed even our highest expectations,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and
CEO of Volvo Cars. “The small SUV segment is the fastest-growing segment in the
industry now, and with these additional CMA-based models we expect to benefit
further from that growth, ” he added
The coming new models based on
CMA will include fully electric vehicles and will be sold globally in all major
regions. More product details will be disclosed at a later stage.
The XC40 was launched in late
2017 to global acclaim and was the first ever Volvo to win European Car of the
Year in March of this year. The new XC40 is the first model on Volvo Cars’ new
CMA vehicle architecture. Co-developed with Geely Holding, CMA provides Volvo
Cars with the necessary economies of scale for this segment.
In March, Volvo Cars announced
it will produce cars for its new sister brand Lynk & Co at the Ghent plant.
Like the XC40, the first Lynk & Co model is based on CMA.
Volvo Cars has been under the
ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It
formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought
by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely
In 2017, Volvo Cars employed
on average approximately 38,000 (30,400) full-time employees. Volvo Cars head
office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly
located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in
Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg
(Sweden), Ghent (Belgium), Chengdu and Daqing (China), while engines are
manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China) and body components in
Source: Volvo Cars
BorgWarner has clinched an agreement with a major North American OEM to supply its bi-directional 800V Onboard Charger (OBC) for the automaker’s premium passenger vehicle battery electric vehicle (BEV...
Uno Minda, a leading tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has unveiled an innovative range of side stand sensors and switches that use advanc...
As the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to grow, Honeywell has created innovative solutions to address safety concerns across the spectrum of EV manufacturing and use.


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Mrs Hinch's favourite disinfectant, Zoflora has been proven to kill Covid-19, scientist say.
Manufacturers of Zoflora say they have proof through lab testing which confirms that the deadly bug can be killed off in the home using the fragranced spray.
Zoflora makers have released official findings confirming efficacy against SARS-CoV-2, the strain of coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 illness.
Dr Nigel Cooper, Director of Development at Thornton & Ross, parent company of Zoflora said, “Given the efficacy of Zoflora against other coronaviruses, we were quite certain that Zoflora would have virucidal activity against the COVID-19 virus.
"On receipt of the official data, we can confirm that Zoflora does kill the SARS-CoV-2 strain of the virus that has significantly impacted the world we live in today.
"As recommended by worldwide health organisations, the best way to protect against coronavirus is through regular hand washing, social distancing, and disinfection.
How to keep up to date with our Parenting news
Whoever said parenting was easy was obviously lying. It can be such hard work! Luckily we now have a Facebook group for Scottish mums and dads to share their woes, worries and winning advice.
Whether you're a new parent looking for answers or simply want to let off steam about the price of school uniforms today, our Scottish Mums and Dads Facebook group is just the place. You can join here.
We also have a weekly Record Parenting newsletter filled with the latest news affecting mums and dads across Scotland as well as helpful tips. You can sign up here.
"Using a proven disinfectant such as Zoflora on regularly touched surfaces at home, in places of education and in the workplace, is one way to help protect yourself and those you care about.”
Zoflora say wiping down desks, keyboards, light switches and surfaces, as well as doors, handles and kitchen and bathroom surfaces will reduce the breeding of bacteria and viruses in areas which come into contact with various people throughout the day.
The disinfectant has been on supermarket shelves for decades but has enjoyed a new lease of life thanks to social media influencer Sophie Hinchcliffe who became a cleaning phenomenon almost over night after posting pictures to her Instagram page of her spotless home.
The housewife and mother's millions of loyal followers - who call themselves the 'Hinch Army' - began buying the same products that she used.
Mrs Hinch revealed that the secret to a clean and fresh home was her most loved product Zoflora.
Makers Thornton and Ross LTD had to double production levels of Zoflora following her endorsement.
While Mrs Hinch and her followers had long suspected their beloved spray was effective against the deadly virus, they most recent lab tests finally offer them the proof.
Zoflora is also effective against other common household bacteria including E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and viruses such as Influenza –Type A (H1N1), Human Herpes Virus, Rotavirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).


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EXETER, Penn. (October 2, 2017)—Pride Mobility Products is pleased to support HME/DME providers with a 10 percent price reduction on power lift recliners in the fourth quarter of 2017, to address competition from non-industry channels.
HME/DME providers face increasing competition from outside industry channels—and Pride is striving to help. As the baby boomer population ages, 76 million strong, every retail channel seeks to remain relevant to this affluent consumer segment, offering products that appeal to their changing preferences and needs. One example of the impact of this movement is the significant increased interest in the Power Lift & Recline category. From e-commerce to mass-merchants to discount stores to furniture stores, everyone wants to leverage a piece of this ever-important opportunity. Never has the Power Lift & Recline chair category been more competitive than it is today, making it increasingly difficult for our HME/DME retailers to compete.
In understanding the importance of the fourth quarter to the provider community—the height of seasonal PLR sales—Pride is taking unprecedented action to support providers. For the entire fourth quarter—October 1, 2017, through December 31, 2017—we’re extending a 10 percent cost reduction on all Pride branded, Quick-Ship Power Lift Recliners. (Special order/builder option upcharges remain unchanged.)
“Our provider community has been supporting Pride and our family of products since our beginnings in PLRs in 1986,” says Micah Swick, national sales director. “It’s always been a partnership. This is one more way we can support our providers.”
Visit pridemobility.com for more information.


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Production of the Chiron at the brand’s headquarters in Molsheim started in the autumn of 2016. The first vehicles were delivered in March this year, while the first American Chiron landed at Pebble Beach in August. Being Bugatti's second most important market after Europe, America gets VW's best for $2.998 million including shipping, duties, taxes and charges.
The first US Chiron features a two-tone yellow and black color scheme inside and out, rolling on Bugatti's "Claissique" wheels.[image id='fee82b23-3dd6-42f9-8cc7-c75928dbef01' mediaId='34932f15-65a9-4f08-9d34-d1762f269518' align='center' size='medium' share='' caption='' expand='' crop=''][/image][image id='8f7382a0-fa95-448d-b2f2-7cd859c2c640' mediaId='5e1402cb-1e9d-418f-ab2f-8972d3f4a473' align='center' size='medium' share='' caption='' expand='' crop=''][/image]
Currently, the brand has more than 300 orders, 43 percent of which came from Europe, 26 percent from North America (USA and Canada) and 23 percent from the Middle East. The Asia-Pacific region accounts for the remaining eight percent.
The Chiron is limited to 500 units, and while the first seventy were finished under Wolfgang Dürheimer's supervision, the rest will be Stephan Winkelmann's responsibility. The former Lamborghini and Audi Sport boss starts at Molsheim in January.[image id='31e84ff9-39b9-4029-b1e6-e37065de48db' mediaId='d8fced48-49fc-4f3d-aa36-1e0e17492d19' align='center' size='medium' share='true' caption='' expand='' crop='original'][/image]


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This past fall, mildew has been one of a number of downgrading factors affecting the Prairie wheat harvest to a greater extent than last year, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all bad news for finding markets for milling quality wheat.
Each fall Cigi (Canadian International Grains Institute) receives samples of the different wheat classes from grain companies which are then made into composite samples and evaluated for quality characteristics in end-use products, with the results then presented to industry and customers around the world.
As well, the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) prepares standard samples representing the typical condition of each wheat class for grading by CGC grain inspectors. The samples represent grading factors (including mildew, frost/heat stress, and green or immature wheat) that are influenced by environmental growing conditions and are assessed visually (for more information visit grainscanada.gc.ca).
Across the Prairies in 2014, the higher incidence of mildew, caused by the fungus Cladosporium, is attributed to wet conditions at harvest, says Elaine Sopiwnyk, director of science and innovation at Cigi.
“Parts of Alberta received snow that resulted in some lodging of the grain where stalks fall over and get compacted by moisture that promotes spore growth,” Sopiwnyk reports. “As of early October, mildew accounted for almost 65 per cent of the downgrading of CWRS to No. 3, with even more in Manitoba but less in Saskatchewan. Other downgrading factors that seem high this year are frost/heat stress, sprout damage, and fusarium which is especially high in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.”
Mildew is non-toxic and causes a discolouration of wheat flour, Sopiwnyk says. The greyish colour can be undesirable in some end-products that require a high level of brightness or whiteness, such as for white pan breads or for some Asian products like steamed breads. “Some of these markets are really discriminating, and the brightness and whiteness of their product is very critical. CWRS, for example, is exported to so many markets with different end-product applications and quality requirements.”
In addition, Sopiwnyk points out that sometimes the wet conditions causing mildew may also cause additional degrading factors due to weathering that can affect flour and end-product quality. “Generally, mildew is an indication of the weathering that occurred. If you have grain that is wet at harvest, then there is also a possibility of sprout damage as well.”
Ashok Sarkar, Cigi senior adviser for technology, agrees that more than one degrading issue can be associated with a wet harvest. And while mildew dulls the colour of flour, the inclusion of some blackened parts of the wheat kernel in lower grades of durum wheat during milling can also add undesirable dark specks to durum semolina which could affect the appearance of pasta.
However, Sarkar says some markets that are more sensitive to price than quality are open to using wheat affected by mildew for blending with other flour for baked goods. “Even domestically there are baked products where mildew does not have an impact on quality,” Sarkar says. “But in places like Asia where noodles and steamed bread require a bright and white colour, wheat with high levels of mildew may not be acceptable.”
Sarkar says that a bleaching agent can be used during milling to whiten dull flour, but with only limited effect. “It’s all relative,” he says. “Mildew strictly affects colour while, on the other hand, I’d say something like frost damage is one of the more difficult grading factors to deal with from a milling and end-product quality standpoint.”
This year initial reports have indicated that mildew is not having too detrimental an effect on flour or crumb colour, Sarkar adds.
Cigi began presenting its harvest assessment to customers mid-fall and, together with the CGC and Cereals Canada, it will hold new crop seminars in Asia, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and North Africa.


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Abia creative, entertainment summit holds tomorrow
In the Nigeria’s creative industry, Abia State boasts of a large numbers of stakeholders, who are active players in the sector. It is against this backdrop that a group of notable personalities has come up with idea to hold the first edition of Abia Creative Economy and Tourism Development Summit. The summit is part of activities to mark the State’s 27th Anniversary.
Holding tomorrow at the Virgin Rose Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, starting from 11am, the Chairman of the project team and veteran Nollywood star Mr. Ejike Asiegbu said the summit was created for the unity and partnership of all creative industry personalities of Abia State towards creating a forum for the development of the state’s creative economy and tourism promotion.
“The vision is to lay a solid foundation for the support and welfare of all Abia Creative/Entertainment Personalities across the world,” he said.
Dr. Chima D. Anyaso, MD/CEO of Ceeson Energy Oil & Gas Limited and Chairman Le Paris Continental Hotel, Lagos, will chair the event, while the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Victor Ikpeazu is Special Guest of Honour. Meanwhile the Commissioners for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Hon. Ogbonna Obioma, as well as Information, according to Asiegbu are being expected at the Summit.
The theme of this year’s event, Asiegbu revealed, is Strengthening the Global Partnership for Abia Creative Industry and Tourism Development.
“Like I said earlier on, the summit is designed to create a platform for creative and intellectual interaction amongst Abia intellectuals, Captains of Industries, Creative Industry Personalities, the International Community and Representatives of Multinational Companies in Nigeria on the “The Role of the Creative Industry and Tourism Promotion Towards Abia Development’. The event focuses on discovering a narrative that all constituencies can share, as we embark on the Abia creative industry business and tourism developmental objectives of taking Abia to the world stage,” the Nollywood star said.
Asiegbu listed some of the corporate objectives of the summit as connecting with target partners for global acceptance for the Abia creative industry, investment opportunities and tourism potentials; communicating key messages to potential local and foreign investors, using the faces of Abia creative industry personalities, even as he gave an insight on what the day will look like.
The event will also feature topics by reputable Keynote Speakers, the unveiling of Ada Abia Universe Beauty Pageant and a mini documentary of the works of Abia creative industry personalities, investment opportunities and untapped tourism potentials in Abia State.
“The Project Team is committed with the responsibility to producing an action plan of recommendations and synergy for partnership with major stakeholders, brands, groups and well meaning personalities for the establishment of modern day structures for Abia Creative Industry and Tourism Development.”
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This country isn’t big enough for the both of us.
Volkswagen (VLKAF) and Tesla (TSLA) – Get Tesla Inc Report will be squaring off in Germany as both companies recently unveiled plans to operate electric vehicle manufacturing plants 140 miles away from each other.
Volkswagen just said it would spend some $2.2 billion to build a new manufacturing facility for its Trinity electric vehicle that will be built near its main plant in Wolfsburg.
Construction is to begin as early as spring of 2023, Volkswagen said, with the net carbon-neutral Trinity model rolling off the assembly line from 2026.
The company said it is aiming for a production time of 10 hours per vehicle by employing such strategies as fewer components, more automation, and leaner production lines.
The company’s Accelerate strategy includes such features as a much shorter charging time and a range of over 700 kilometers (435 miles).
“We are setting benchmarks in the automotive industry with Trinity and the new factory and turning Wolfsburg into the global lighthouse for cutting-edge and efficient vehicle production,” CEO Ralf Brandstätter said in a statement.
Volkswagen said it is “seeking to attract new groups of customers and tap additional sources of income” while making autonomous driving available to many people by 2030.
While Volkswagen was making its announcement, Tesla was taking the battle to Volkswagen’s home turf by launching a recruitment campaign for its Gigafactory in Berlin, just two days after obtaining the permit.
The company, led by CEO Elon Musk, wants to significantly boost production to increase its market share in the EV market that the company currently dominates.
‘A Major Beachhead for Tesla’
On its website, the car manufacturer has posted various job advertisements and above all displays a message that could not be clearer: “Giga Berlin is allowed to open,” Tesla posted on Twitter in German.
Wedbush analysts Daniel Ives and John Katsingris, who have an outperform rating on Tesla, said in a note to investors that the approval from German authorities “removes a major overhang on the stock over the past few months.”
“The Berlin factory establishes a major beachhead for Tesla in Europe with potential to expand this factory to production of ~500k vehicles annually with Model Y front and center over the coming 12 to 18 months,” Ives said in a research note.
The analysts said that “with the race for electrification in Europe hitting another gear and competition for EVs increasing from every angle with VW among others doubling down on its EV ambitions, we view Giga Berlin as a major competitive advantage for Tesla to further build out its supply footprint in this key region.”
“The red tape and headaches seen around the delays/disputes opening up this flagship European factory has been frustrating for investors to watch unfold as many on the Street were doubting if Giga Berlin ever actually would open for Musk & Co.,” the note said.
The analysts added that “we cannot stress the production importance of Giga Berlin to the overall success of Tesla’s footprint in Europe and globally, as the current Rubik’s Cube logistics of producing cars in China at Giga Shanghai and delivering to customers throughout Europe was not a sustainable trend.”


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Arriving at dealerships in North America this summer, Honda has officially commenced production of the all-new, 2022 Honda Civic Sedan at Honda of Canada Mfg. (HCM) in Alliston, Ontario.
Celebrating Pride by supporting organizations in our community that make a difference with their inclusive and important programs and services. 🏳🌈 @gilbertcentre @SimcoePride @HondaInclusion
#FlashBackFriday Building products close to our customers is a commitment that began in 1984, when Honda announced it would build a manufacturing facility Alliston. Honda was the first Japanese automaker to manufacture vehicles in Canada.


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Rehberg sponsors American Alternative Fuels Act
Montana's Rep. Denny Rehberg is working to promote the use of alternative fuels with his sponsorship of the American Alternative Fuels Act.
"No one knows for sure where we'll be getting our energy a century from now, " Rehberg said in a press release Tuesday. "While some politicians want the federal government picking winners and losers, a better approach is to let consumers pick from as many options as we can reasonably provide. That's a big part of the all-of-the-above energy plan I've been working on. "
Rehberg signed on as an original sponsor of the bill.
In his press release, Rehber...


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On August 25th, 2017, Hurricane Harvey torn through Rockport, TX leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. This was the strongest hurricane in the US since 2015. Towns were destroyed, homes were in shambles, and communities broken. In times like these, it is more important than ever for a community to come together and support one another, and Ace Hardware was there to do just that.
When disaster strikes, it does so unexpectedly, halting life at a standstill counting on the community to come together and pick up the pieces. Phil and Barbara of Salemi’s Ace Hardware knew that to help rebuild their town, their store was going to be a vital tool in providing the support and necessities needed. They recognized that in situations like these Ace Hardware becomes more than a hardware store and switches to an essential business. Therefore, even with their own set of losses and damages, Phil and Barbra We should double check the spelling of Barbara knew they had to push through and keep their store open to help the community. Bob, one of the store managers, comments on the importance of their customers being able to lean on Ace saying, “It was kind of a place or a community place where everybody knew they could come here and they could get a hug or a handshake or just someone to talk to.” When life is disrupted as suddenly as it was during Hurricane Harvey, people need hope and a way to restore the damage. Ace has always been a place of hope for communities in the past and will continue to be so forever. Richard, a long-time customer at Ace Hardware, shared his appreciation of being able to depend on Ace in such an unpredictable time saying, “Ace to me was just a saving grace to help not only myself, but the community.” Opening your own Ace Hardware franchise means more than just being a store, it means being a pillar in your community even in the darkest times. Phil and Barbra We should double check the spelling of Barbara making the decision to keep their Ace open and be a sense of normalcy and security in all the chaos represents at its core what Ace is all about, being the helpful place with the helpful hardware folks.


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Whole Foods Market continues to feel the pressure from competitors like The Fresh Market and Sprouts Farmers Market. After its stock soared 1,200%, not including dividends, from the beginning of 2009 to the end of 2013, Whole Foods Market's stock has tumbled nearly 30% year-to-date.
Is what is happening within the organic and all-natural retail industry just increased competition? Or are other variables in play? Is the recent success of newer entrants like The Fresh Market and Sprouts Farmers Market the rare case where the remake is better than the original?
Perhaps the biggest question of all is whether Whole Foods Market, in an effort to make changes, is about to have an identity crisis.
Should Whole Foods Market's earnings continue to influence its competitors?
In its most recent quarter , Whole Foods Market delivered record revenue that rose 10% to $3.3 billion. However, net income remained unchanged compared to the same quarter a year ago at $142 million. The worst news from the quarter came when the company reported comp-sales growth of 4.5%, a big drop from the 6.9% growth seen last year and far less than the 8%+ growth the company has delivered quarterly for years.
Net income has taken a hit recently from not just the decline in comp sales, but also as a result of squeezed margins as competitors enter the market segment.
The Fresh Market saw its revenue surge 17.6% to $431.0 million in its most recent quarter . Net income fell 24.9% to $16.6 million, though, as the company has had some temporary struggles in its new markets of Houston, Texas and Sacramento, California. Nevertheless, the company saw its comp sales up 2.5% due to both an increase in the number of transactions and the average transaction size.
Sprouts Farmers Market had by far the best quarter among the three . Revenue shot up 26% to $722.6 million as net income soared 86% to $33.7 million. Comp sales were up 12.8%, marking 28 straight quarters of positive same-store sales growth for Sprouts Farmers Market.
Even though both The Fresh Market and Sprouts Farmers Market largely beat expectations, both companies' stocks saw double-digit declines following Whole Foods Market's disappointing quarter.
Will Whole Foods Market have an identity crisis soon?
Whole Foods Market is in unfamiliar territory. Instead of setting the standard, it is in a situation where it is now making changes to answer its competition. Market trends within the organic and all-natural retail industry have left Whole Foods Market scrambling to decide which issue to address first.
First, competition is coming in from all directions. Mainstream supermarkets have increased their own organic and natural food selections while big-box retailers have started to enter the space.
A recent study by Planet Retail predicts that the average store size across grocery formats is set to shrink to less than 24,000 square feet by 2018. Whole Foods Market has already shifted away from its standard 50,000-70,000 square feet stores toward much smaller designs in the past couple of years. The company began to test stores under 40,000 square feet for the first time in 2008 . Its most recently opened stores in Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; and London, England earlier this year have been 35,000, 26,000, and 22,000 square feet, respectively.
The big problem with smaller stores is that they go against Whole Foods Market's business model of providing the largest selection of natural and organic food among retailers. With smaller and smaller stores, how can it still maintain this huge selection?
Lastly, price wars may be the most challenging issue for Whole Foods Market over the long term. Even though The Fresh Market doesn't see itself as an organic, all-natural retailer and Sprouts Farmers Market aims to appeal to a much broader demographic than Whole Foods Market, both companies are seen as reasons for Whole Foods Market's recent struggles.
The Fresh Market focuses on frequent promotions which rotate around different sections of its stores to drive customer traffic.
Sprouts Farmers Market has gained attention recently for undercutting mainstream supermarkets by as much as 25% while doing the same to Whole Foods Market by nearly 13% . The company's most recent presentation highlighted the slogan "healthy living for less".
As a result, Whole Foods has already lowered its prices, albeit quietly to avoid any perceived decline in quality . When you add cannibalization and smaller stores into the mix, is Whole Foods Market the same company it was just a few years ago?
Can the U.S. handle over 3,000 organic and all-natural retailers?
Whole Foods Market is expected to cross 400 stores by the end of 2014 and 500 stores by the end of 2017. Based on its most recent conference call, the company plans to hit 1,200 U.S. stores over the long term.
Sprouts Farmers Market believes 1,200 stores is a possibility in the next 15 years, while 1,500 stores aren't out of the question.
Even though The Farmers Market hasn't stated its long-term U.S. store count goals, the company should be past 200 stores by the end of next year given that its store count of 157 is supposed to expand by another 23 to 24 stores this year.
When you add it all up, are there enough organic and all-natural customers to make all three companies successful? More importantly, given the recent struggles of Whole Foods Market, how can it handle the inevitable expansion of this market in the future?
A new report from the consulting firm PwC argues that grocers can't rely on providing a one-size-fits-all consumer experience. Perhaps Whole Foods Market's best play right now is to be itself.
Changing too much too fast may wind up alienating customers. Even worse is that changing too many things at once may make it nearly impossible to see what works and what doesn't work. Are lower prices driving traffic or are the smaller stores pushing customers away due to their cramped aisles?
The biggest stat of all may be that the natural and organic U.S. industry, which has multiplied its sales by eight times from 1998 to 2012 with growth to $48 billion, has become a lot more fragmented and specialty retailers like Whole Foods Market have seen their slice of the pie on a percentage basis cut in half -- literally.
John Mackey, co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Michael Carter has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends The Fresh Market and Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool owns shares of Whole Foods Market. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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HKL Baumaschinen turns 50
By Thomas Allen03 July 2020
German construction equipment rental company HKL Baumaschinen, with operations also in Austria and Poland, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
The family-owned company has been serving the construction industry since 1970, when its first operations opened in the cities of Hamburg, Kiel and Lübeck.
In 2019, HKL generated revenues of €380 million, putting it in 34th position in this year’s IRN100 ranking of the world largest rental companies, published in the June issue of International Rental News.
HKL now employs more than 1,400 people across 150 depots, including a number of centres specialising in work platforms and telescopic booms.
It has in excess of 80,000 products in its rental range, from construction equipment to accessories and consumables.
The company also has a large inventory of used and new equipment for sale, supplemented by a range of services such as consultation, maintenance and repair.
Aside from the equipment itself, good service has always been important to HKL, which strives to remain close to its customers. The company’s motto is “An hour’s drive – no branch is further away from you”.
In line with this philosophy, HKL has stated its intention to continue investing in the expansion of its depot network, with five new depots opening during its anniversary year – in Berlin, Dresden, Forchheim, Fulda and Hamm.


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MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens have announced plans to open two restaurants through a partnership with Cara Operations Ltd. — the first next to the Bell Centre and the second at Place Bell in Laval, Que.
The Bell Centre location is set to open in time for the NHL team’s 2017-18 home opener (Oct. 10), with the Place Bell location slated to launch later this fall.
The concept, dubbed 1909 Taverne Moderne, is designed by the New York-based Rockwell Group. The first location will be a 25,714 sq. ft. space featuring three levels and seating for more than 1,000 guests — making it the largest restaurant of its kind in the country.
“We know that Montrealers are as discerning about their restaurants as they are about their sports. With 1909 Taverne Moderne, our goal is to give fans a space where they won’t have to choose between having a great meal and watching their favourite event in an electric atmosphere,” says Geoff Molson, owner, president and CEO of the Montreal Canadiens. “We’ve been working with our partners at Cara Operations to ensure that every detail is considered.”
The menu, designed by executive chef Jean-Sébastien Giguère, will feature locally sourced international cuisine. The restaurant will also offer 40 beers on tap, an extensive wine list and an innovative cocktail menu.
The Bell Centre location will include the latest technology in laser projections, a 4K-quality 46′ X 20′ main screen — the first of its kind in Canada — and more than 65 HD TVs, fed by the most comprehensive sports-broadcast package available. The restaurant will also feature a host DJ seven days a week.


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You now have an easier online way to manage your Home Delivery subscription for The Oklahoman. Go to our secure server to update account information, make a payment, set up vacation no-delivery times, change your delivery address, or report delivery concerns.
Dark big-box retail space lightens up in Oklahoma City area
The market for available leasable big-box retail space in the Oklahoma City area inched down 2 percent in the second half of 2011, with five store spaces absorbed and three vacated, according to brokers with CB Richard Ellis-Oklahoma.
BY RICHARD MIZE •
Published: February 11, 2012
The big boxes gave, and the big boxes took away.
They took away a little more space than they gave back to the market for retail space here in the last half of last year, according to brokers for CB Richard Ellis-Oklahoma.
Five new leases for...
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Published on Thu, Nov 30 2017 22:30 IST
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US President Joe Biden chooses top tech critic Jonathan Kanter for Key Justice Post
U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday appointed attorney and Google critic Jonathan Kanter as the Justice Department’s chief antitrust officer in the latest sign that the White House is determined to get the world’s biggest companies under control, especially the ones. Big Tech.
Progressives who advocate stricter antitrust enforcement have lobbied for the appointment of Kanter, who recently launched his own law firm, Kanter Law Group LLP, which bills itself as an “antitrust advocacy shop.” .
The White House called Kanter “a leading advocate and expert in efforts to promote strong and meaningful antitrust and competition policy.”
He spent years representing Google’s rivals Alphabet, which the Justice Department sued last year, alleging he violated antitrust law by seeking to hobble his rivals.
The Biden administration had previously chosen two antitrust progressives with technological expertise, Tim Wu for the National Economic Council and Lina Khan to be commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission.
Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, said Kanter “made many of the most successful legal arguments behind major antitrust investigations into Big Tech.”
Kanter declined to comment on the appointment.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kanter, who previously worked for Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and two other major law firms, will take the reins of the Justice Department’s antitrust division amid appeals. tighter enforcement overall, with particular criticism aimed at Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple.
The tech giants have been under investigation for about two years, and a US House of Representatives panel released a report in October that they used “murderous acquisitions” to fend off rivals , charged exorbitant fees and forced small businesses into “oppressive” contracts in the name of profit.
The companies have vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
The Kanter Justice Department’s Antitrust Division will play a key role in implementing the Biden Executive Order to promote competition in the U.S. economy. In addition to suing Google, the Justice Department is also investigating Apple.
The Federal Trade Commission shares antitrust enforcement work with the Department of Justice.
Â© Thomson Reuters 2021