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After 68 years in business under more than half a dozen owners and in two locations, Bunnell’s Chicken Pantry is no more.
The gargantuan red chicken outside the building at 602 E Moody Boulevard, taken off its sockets, has disappeared. The restaurant’s interiors are still furnished. Chairs are stacked. shelves are bare. The display fridge is off and its shelves empty. Different parts of the establishment look as if business stopped mid-sentenced, but it’s all dark, empty and shuttered.
“I saw them moving the chicken the other day–it’s gone, and nobody wants to talk,” Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson said today. “I say, hey, what’s happening? Nobody will say anything.”
Jackson’s office is among the temporary Bunnell city offices that share the same increasingly bedraggled Bunnell Business Center strip mall and the same landlord, along with such organizations as “Circumcision of the Heart Ministries” and “New Beginnings Gospel Church.” Bunnell Business Center LLC sold the 45,000 square foot strip to Hastings-based Trailco Group in 2021 for $1.5 million, according to the property appraiser’s website.
Jackson had been a frequent customer at the Chicken Pantry. “I know that they were struggling, and next I know that I a saw the landlord over there and I guess they weren’t able to come out from it. Nobody has said anything.” Jackson said he’d dropped in several times and was told “they were running low on inventory because things had been so tough financially.”
Flagler Restaurants, the Facebook page, posted an announcement today that the restaurant had closed and that its inventory, including its collection of roosters, would be auctioned off on March 29. AskFlagler’s Chris Gollon reported on the closure this afternoon, including an image of what was described as his last meal there–a characteristically artery-clogging mishmash of cheese-soaked something next to a vaguely yellow sack that may or may not have been a sleeve of eggs.
Proud of its southern fried food for decades, including such standards as okra, Southern fried chicken, black eye peas, its many owners had included Isabelle Portal, who sold it and continued working there, Steven Nieminen and Thom Huynh, who owned it for a few years starting in 2001 (when it was still at its original location at 1105 South State Street, at the southern edge of town (about a mile south of State Road 100), and when appetizers went for $2.25 for onion rings, sandwiches were as low as $2.95, dinners were $5.95 and a New York strip cost $8.95). It is likely that the restaurant contributed at least a little bit to marketing studies that encouraged AdventHealth Palm Coast to open a second hospital.
The restaurant had for decades kept its original look as a 44-seat diner with an eat-at-bar, catering to a very loyal customer base. It was established in 1956, when Eisenhower beat Adlai Stevenson for the second time, when Israel was at war with its neighbors (some things never change), when when Norma Jean Mortenson became Marylin Monroe and a gallon of gas cost 30 cents. Maureen Pavlak bought the restaurant in 2005 and eight years later moved it to its location on East Moody Boulevard, what had previously been a Pizza Hut. She sold it to yet another owners some years ago.
John Rogers, the Bunnell city commissioners, was among the clients who left the Chicken Pantry for Southern Table after Jeanine Volpe, who had managed the place, made the switch, he said. Rogers doesn’t see the demise in dire terms. “It’s an opportunity for someone else to come and open a restaurant and thrive,” said Rogers, himself a business owner. He’s owned John’s Towing for decades. “If somebody was smart they’d open up the Chicken Pantry too and redo it.”
Jackson had heard rumors, he said, that Redneck Rick’s Backyard Cooking, the restaurant across the strip from Flagler Broadcasting’s offices a short distance east on Moody Boulevard, might be interested in occupying the location. Redneck Rick’s was closed today, so the rumor could not be verified.
The Department of Business and Professional Regulations, the state agency that inspects restaurants, among other establishments, ordered the Chicken Pantry closed after a Jan. 29 inspection found three high-priority violations (“those which could contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury and include items such as cooking, reheating, cooling and hand-washing”), three intermediate violations and 12 basic violations.
Among the high-priority violations were a finding that the dishwashing machine was not functioning properly, raw animal food was stored improperly next to ready-to=-eat food in a walk-in cooler, and several live roaches were observed. A follow-up inspection the next day still found numerous roaches, though all other issues had been addressed. A third inspection apparently later that day cleared the restaurant to re-open. The restaurant had been ordered temporarily closed last July and in August 2022 for violations as well.


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The European Commission (EC) has championed the use of digital technology to drive Europe’s future industrial economy.
Andrus Ansip, EC vice president in charge of the Digital Single Market, said in a speech exploring the EU’s prospects that all industries will need to embrace digital transformation if they are to remain a driving force in the European economy.
“In the future, all industrial sectors must make the best use of new technologies. Transport to telecoms equipment, factories to farming, high-tech to low-tech,” he said.
“The EC wants to get industry digital as far as possible. We want to boost innovation in new growth areas: the data economy, the Internet of Things [IoT], high-performance cloud computing.
"We want to boost innovation in traditionally strong European sectors like engineering, health, logistics. We want to promote common technical standards and e-government services.”
Ansip explained that the EU will present a package of Digital Single Market initiatives that underline how the European Union can boost digital innovation and technology use across its economic sectors.
These initiatives are part of the EC’s goal to put Europe’s industry in a position to compete in digital technology and ensure that all aspects of the industrial world can benefit.
Ansip explained that this will include making use of cloud computing and big data, creating a plug-and-play environment for the IoT, ensuring interoperability of business systems across member states, and creating enough digital skills to fill future technology jobs.
These have been prevalent topics over the past few years in the technology world, and technology trends such as cloud and big data are effectively the precursors of digital transformation for companies and organisations.
However, Ansip explained that digital transformation is a way to create an environment where industries can easily make use of digital technology at scale, rather than see individual companies benefit while their peers are left behind.
The starting point in achieving the EC’s goals is to encourage more investment in creating a “digitalised industry” that pools private and public resources.
However, Ansip warned that the EC will need to overcome a jungle of standards and standards-setting bodies that have allowed more access to valuable data but thrown up administration and capacity hurdles that prevent its easy use.
To solve this, the EC will address standardisation in five core areas: 5G communications, cloud computing, IoT, big data and cyber security.
“Standards-setting is vital for industrial and innovation leadership. The starting point will be to map and assess what can be streamlined and simplified,” said Ansip.
"We are building the foundations for our digital future. That is why we have to act, and act now. Industry itself has asked us to do this. Going digital is a complex operation and almost every aspect of our lives is affected. This is only the beginning.”
Digital transformation is becoming an unavoidable necessity for all industries, such as vehicle manufacturing as seen with Toyota’s partnership with Microsoft to use the Azure cloud to power connected car tech and data services.
Users are told that their non-existent 'iPhoneID' is expiring soon
Expansion of SDK intended to expand Amazon Alexa ecosystem
Locky returns from a prolonged rest with two new variants
AMD lambasted over Radeon RX Vega pricing that will add an extra £100 to RX Vega 56 and 64 graphics cards
Company accused of failing to tell anyone that the launch prices were only introductory offers

domain: news


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Like many YouTubers, 23-year-old Shelbi, who goes by Shelbizleee, records herself sitting in front of her computer. A huge, child star-like smile spreads across her face, and silver makeup surrounds her eyes. "I know this makeup is extra as fuck!" she says in the recent video. Arguably, what's really extra is the way in which Shelbi uses YouTube and Facebook Live to teach young girls how to dumpster dive for makeup.
"I don't use any liquid lipsticks, anything that could have been contaminated and couldn't be sanitized," Shelbi tells me over the phone. She advocates for girls to scrounge in trash cans for powder-based makeups, and in the video, she describes how to spray alcohol on powder products and eye shadow, then wipe off any dirt. While hunting, she always wears gloves. "I use GermX on the regular," she says.
Read more: The Makeup Secrets of Fox News
Shelbi is not alone. For the past two years, YouTubers have dumpster dived for makeup in garbage cans and behind makeup stores like Sephora, and the trend has grown, garnering millions of views in the process. Since Facebook Live became a part of some users' daily social media routine, some divers have made livestreaming part of their garbage prowls. "People know there's a lot of waste, but [to see it firsthand has] that wow factor," Shelbi explains.
Dumpster diving, of course, is not a new phenomenon. James Jugan, a New Jersey-based secondhand makeup seller, has resold makeup from garbage bins since 1978. "It's like having a license to print money," he told Racked in 2015. "It's amazing." Shelbi started dumpster diving for similar reasons: As a college student in West Texas in three years ago, she and her girlfriend noticed kids tossing furniture at the end of the school year. They collected the furniture and then resold the pieces online. "We made hundreds of dollars that summer, from couches to beds," she says.
Shelbi loved the part-time job for multiple reasons. For one, it played into her interest in environmentalism. Since she first attended an educational summer camp between her junior and senior year of high school, she has obsessed over the planet's wellbeing. She liked dumpster diving because it decreased waste; it also made sense for her finances.
When Shelbi graduated and started paying all her own bills, she turned to dumpster diving to cut down on her spending. Last summer, she saw a video of Trina, one of the biggest YouTuber makeup dumpster divers. Trina films herself inside dumpsters behind makeup shops, sorting through white trash bags for discarded producers. The video inspired Shelbi to both use second-hand makeup and also to post YouTube videos to educate people. "I could show people [items you] throw out are still useable," Shelbi says.
In one video, Shelbi displays over $2000 worth of makeup she'd collected from dumpsters over the course of a week. "I know I can always go to an ULTA dumpster and always something," she says before unveiling her load: Gucci Bamboo, several Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palettes, and "some pretty frickin' full" Dolce and Gabbana perfume. She makes a point to say she wanted, but did not need, the beauty products, and she stresses her environmental message throughout—before examining her haul, she says, "If you think this is gross, I could not care less… I think this is awesome, I think what I'm doing is good for the planet, and if you have a different opinion, whatever. Just don't watch it."
Her warning doesn't seem to have deterred anyone: The video has been watched over a million times since Shelbi posted it in November of 2016.
ULTA is one of the most popular stores for girls to dumpster dive behind, according to the videos they post. Lacy, one of the girls behind Dumpster Diving Divas, says, "We started dumpster diving after I discovered a video on YouTube that titled 'ULTA dumpster diving,' and we just had to go see if this was real for ourselves." For her, she says, the appeal is "free stuff," but she also comes from a thrifty household.
Shelbi sees a more complicated reason for the videos' success."Coming from someone who is very interested in social issues and economics, I think it's just the state of our economy," she replies when I ask why she has become so popular. "It's becoming harder and harder to afford these things that society makes you think you need."
Unemployment dropped to 4.9 percent in the US in November, but millennials' finances remain troubled. According to a Time article on an Experian study, student loan debt grew 84 percent between 2007 and 2014, and the Atlantic reported that, according to the Young Invincible's 2014 analysis of the US Census Current Population Survey, young people's median incomes have shrunk in every industry besides health care.
"I think a lot of people just don't realize a lot of things in the world in general, like where wages are sitting," Shelbi says.
Dumpster diving for makeup, in other words, appeals to the economic realities of young women in America, and the videos could remain popular for sometime time. "My mom will spend tons of money from what comes from a clearance rack," Shelbi says. "Our generation is willing to go to a thrift shop or buy a better quality item, so we don't have to repurchase things."


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THREE TO FOLLOW
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNTS WITH AN ECO DIFFERENCE
Brisbane blogger Hannah Klose hasn’t bought a new item of clothing since 2014. That’s hard to guess from her fashion-filled feed. Instead her wardrobe is packed with op shop finds in an effort to live more sustainably.
Anita Vandyke is a qualified rocket scientist who runs a popular account about zero-waste living. The Chinese-born blogger lives in Sydney and San Francisco. She’s recently authored a book, A Zero Waste Life: A Thirty Day Guide.
Every day humans use 500 million straws. Ten-year-old Molly Steer, of Cairns, is on a mission to encourage schools and businesses all over the world to give up plastic straws to protect our oceans.


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Global Widget’s Hemp Bombs® Botanical Blend CBD Gummies Named 2021 Convenience Store News Best New Product
– CBD Today
Global Widget™, the next-generation manufacturer and distributor of the iconic CBD brand Hemp Bombs®, announced that the brand’s Botanical Blend Gummies has won the 2021 Convenience Store News Best New Product in the CBD Gummies category. Hemp Bombs launched its Botanical Blend CBD Gummies earlier this year and it’s the company’s first vegan gummy. Each berry-flavored gummy features a blend of premium CBD and beneficial botanicals, including Passiflora, Scutellaria and L-Theanine.
“This is a great honor for our in-house teams who are committed to manufacturing and distributing the best-tasting, premium formulated gummies available,” said Global Widget co-founder Kevin Collins. “Everything we do, we do in-house, from formulation to manufacturing, marketing, sales and compliance, which allows us to consistently craft award-winning gummies.”
Entries for 2021 Convenience Store News Best New Product were rated and awarded points based on taste, value, convenience, healthfulness, ingredients, preparation requirements, appearance and packaging. The taste was considered the most important criterion.
Hemp Bombs CBD Gummies have now earned awards in back-to-back years after being voted a 2020 Retailer Choice Best New Product by more than 1,000 retailers participating in the 17th annual CSP Daily News awards.
Read CBD Today’s full release covering Hemp Bombs award-winning Botanical Blend CBD Gummies here.
August 23, 2021


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Young Consumers are Internet Coupon Clippers
A research study from Platform-A and IRI polled more than 36,000 panelists and found that online coupons hold great interest to Internet users - particularly the younger generations. The study revealed that nearly 4 out of every 10 shoppers would be "very likely" to use coupons accessed online. That number rises to 51% when polling the 18- to 24-year-old segment.
Other findings include that younger couples are the most likely life-stage group to use online coupons, and young couples without children are the most likely, followed by young couples with children.
It's a good time to offer online coupons. As Mark Ellis, senior vice president, AOL/Platform-A explains, "We have an economy that makes coupons much more relevant to the average consumer, a rising generation of families totally at home with the Internet, and an overall decline of the newspaper and its Sunday circular distribution. There's clearly a huge window of opportunity here."
Online coupons have a significant advantage over their paper-bound ancestors in that they can be distributed almost anywhere. Businesses can offer coupons through their websites, e-mail, networking applications like Facebook and Twitter, SMS, even 2D barcodes on posters, signs or magazine ads. Of course, there are also online coupon networks to leverage. Some popular choices for consumers, (therefore, places to list your coupons) are Coupons.com, RetailMeNot.com, Shopzilla.com, CoolSavings.com and CouponCabin.com.
Related Post: Where are Consumers Comparison Shopping?


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However, 4G users are buying larger data plans
4G subscribers consumed dramatically larger amounts of data than 3G subscribers for the 100 plus MNOs [Mobile Network Operators] who have already installed LTE. However, Wi-fi continues to be a primary means of connectivity for smartphone subscribers, both 3G and 4G. Only 32 per cent of data consumed on smartphones is via cellular. These are some of the crucial findings revealed in a White Paper entitled ‘Understanding Today’s Smartphone Users‘, created by Mobidia Technology, a leading provider of mobile usage data, in collaboration with Informa, a leading London-based analyst firm. The research indicates a positive impact for LTE ready MNOs. Despite the growing Wi-fi usage, 4G subscribers are buying larger plans.
The research found that in January 2013, 61 per cent of 4G smartphone users have plans larger than 1GB compared with only 31 per cent of 3G smartphone users.
Whilst the percentage declined slightly by the end of 2013, the data clearly shows 4G users are buying and utilizing larger data plans.
It also showed that 4G subscribers consumed 1.9GB in December 2013 versus the 894 MB consumed by 3G subscribers.
in January 2013, 61 per cent of 4G smartphone users had plans larger than 1GB compared with only 31 per cent of 3G smartphone users.
More 4G subscribers are exceeding data plan limits relative to 3G subscribers.
This trend increased throughout 2013, suggesting users are more likely to upgrade to larger plans – a big benefit to mobile operators.
Nonetheless, Wi-fi continues to be a primary means of connectivity for smartphone subscribers, both 3G and 4G.
Globally, Wi-fi usage represented 78 per cent of all data consumed on smartphones for all data subscribers in the markets studied.
The list includes the USA, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Korea, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the UK.
According to Chris Hill, a senior vp for marketing with Mobidia, “Mobidia’s mega-panel of LTE subscribers offers the most comprehensive global view of LTE usage trends and provides insights that are just not available anywhere else in the industry.”
Read the full Press release here.


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Amazon is among the maximum leading edge firms within the tech sector at this time, checking out out concepts like synthetic intelligence (AI)-powered self-serve grocery stores, autonomous delivery drones, and voice assistants in healthcare.
At its AI Innovation tournament on Would possibly 15 on the ecobee headquarters in Toronto, Amazon Internet Services and products (AWS) spoke about how it’s incorporating mechanical device studying into its services and products, and why shifting on this route is so essential.
“As we see the proliferation of knowledge and extra units being attached to the web, that creates an improbable alternative for mechanical device studying to be implemented to unravel industry issues, to make other choices, to move after actually difficult cases, to deal with the wishes of companies, in addition to shoppers and voters,” Eric Gales, director of AWS Canada, advised CDN. “It’s an enchanting space that Amazon has been making an investment in for twenty years and it’s a large a part of our industry in the case of the way it will get implemented. Whether or not that’s the use of AI robots in warehouses or mechanical device studying to expand higher ideas while you store on-line, we’ve been concerned with taking the ones functions and making a portfolio of services and products to make it a lot more out there to a lot wider vary of packages.”
And whilst the Seattle-based tech large goes all in on mechanical device studying and AI, it acknowledges that a lot of its companions want a spice up. AWS has rolled out a number of machine learning API services to assist them paintings extra successfully through offering them with an clever basis to construct their very own merchandise on. Amazon Lex, for instance, can be utilized to construct a wise chatbot that may interact with consumers, whilst Amazon Rekognition Symbol and Video is helping companions arrange deep learning-based research of pictures and movies. So fairly than companions desiring to construct and deploy the infrastructure had to do symbol popularity, this API device can be utilized through builders as a basis.
“We’re concerned with serving to consumers practice the generation in significant tactics. We needed nowadays to exhibit other examples of the place mechanical device studying can also be implemented in order that consumers can get some familiarity with its utility, whether or not that’s voice popularity, or machine-computer imaginative and prescient throughout other situations. We’re seeing such a lot of packages of mechanical device studying the world over however an enormous quantity of passion right here in Canada. There’s a large number of innovation being pushed through Canadian consumers the use of mechanical device studying,” Gales defined.
Ecobee, for instance, is a Toronto-based good house instrument corporate that has embraced what AWS has to supply. It has began the method of shifting all its information out of its present conventional information centre to the AWS cloud, and all long run merchandise can be cloud-native. The corporate additionally launched a smart light switch – its first non-thermostat product – in March 2018 this is absolutely built-in with Alexa – a primary available on the market.
“We moved from being a unmarried product corporate growing good thermostats to at least one that may now paintings on parallel merchandise which can be AI-enabled, simply scalable, and will deal with tough buyer rather a lot. None of this is able to be conceivable with out a platform like AWS,” Jordan Christensen, vp of generation at ecobee, mentioned.
The British Columbia (BC) Institute of Generation could also be profiting from Amazon Alexa. Invoice Klug, the cloud computing choice head and teacher on the college says that its college of nursing advanced an Alexa ability that may learn out a affected person’s blood check effects and diagnostic stories in order that the nurses and scholars can keep palms loose within the lab with out possibility of contamination.
Unbounce, a BC-based instrument corporate that builds and creates customized touchdown pages, is some other corporate constructed on Amazon. The corporate makes use of AWS mechanical device studying functions to inform its personal consumers whether or not their touchdown pages can be a hit or no longer in keeping with signs such because the complexity of phrases at the web page, how lengthy the replica is, and the way it may be tightened up.
Carl Schmidt, Unbounce’s co-founder and CTO, identified to CDN that internet sites with replica written at a sixth-grade degree, for instance, are much more likely to achieve success, particularly in the true property business, and minimum replica drives good fortune as smartly, with lower than 500 phrases being the candy spot for keeping target audience consideration.
“We’ve been on AWS since we first began in 2009 and having all of our information within the cloud on their servers has been nice as it’s allowed us to stay prices down and scale up briefly. In our case, we use mechanical device studying to supply genuine suggestions to our consumers on how they may be able to support their internet sites. The most important problem we now have at the moment is maintaining with Amazon’s tempo and innovation. There are new gear popping out so briefly it’s laborious for our builders to stay tempo,” Schmidt laughed.
Whilst some companies are worried about mechanical device learning-enabled services and products, Schmidt mentioned the ones emotions stem from a lack of understanding or incorrect information.
“I feel firms which can be gradual to undertake mechanical device studying or AI simply don’t even know what it’s but or don’t perceive what it’s. Everyone seems to be hyping the generation up, announcing it would thieve our jobs or take over the sector just like the Terminator, however it received’t – it’s near to doing issues smarter. Machines will change into our opposite numbers, they received’t change us,” he defined. “In our area – advertising – we now have machines that may perceive replica or acknowledge pictures and movies, after which supply genuine suggestions which can be efficient. We used to have other folks running on that as it was once the one means; now mechanical device studying does the heavy lifting and our other folks make sense of the information it collects.”
AWS Canada director Gales added that he’s seeing Canadian companions get on board briefly, countering the perception that Canada is continuously gradual to undertake new generation.
“We’re seeing a large number of passion from the channel ecosystem and answer suppliers in serving to to translate the AWS mechanical device studying construction blocks into real-life examples of packages that buyers can use to assist their companies,” he concluded.
Game changer emergency notification SaaS enabled by hybrid cloud


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Freight-Swaps Trade Is Highest Since 2008 as China Spurs RatesAlaric Nightingale
Trading in freight swaps rose to the highest since October 2008 as stronger Chinese demand for iron ore and slowing fleet growth spurred bets shipping prices will rally further, Freight Investor Services Ltd. said.
Shipping companies, banks and funds traded the equivalent of 50.3 million metric tons of cargo in the week ended Sept. 6, the largest volume since the five days through Oct. 17, 2008, the London-based derivatives broker said by e-mail today. In annual terms, transactions fell for four straight years after record-high orders for new ships caused rates to collapse.
The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of commodity freight costs, surged 9.3 percent yesterday, the most since 2009, according to the Baltic Exchange, a London-based publisher of costs on more than 50 maritime routes. The increase was led by gains in rents for Capesize ships, the largest iron-ore carriers, which rose almost fivefold to $27,036 a day in the past three months.
“People have seen this sustained rally, and the order book isn’t as bad as it was,” Peter Norfolk, a London-based analyst at FIS, said by phone. “There’s a bit more optimism among some people.”
Volumes rose to the equivalent of a record 2.1 billion tons of cargo in 2008, Norfolk said. They slumped each year since, declining to about 910,000 tons in 2012, according to industry data compiled by FIS. Transactions come to 686,000 tons so far this year, the figures show.
The actual amount of dry-bulk cargo shipped this year will rise 5 percent to about 4.29 billion tons, according to Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker.


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Blacksmith Electric introduced the concept B2 with a replaceable batteryJune 26, 2019
While in India there are disputes about electrification between the government and manufacturers, the startup has been working on this problem since 2006.
Blacksmith Electric (Chennai, India) filed a patent for its battery replacement technology when no one had thought about it. This demonstrates the foresight and readiness to solve the serious problem of the introduction of EV-technologies. But, of course, any concept remains just a concept. So far, we see only the first official images of the B2 Concept electric circuit.
According to Electric Motorcycles News, the company has been testing the first prototype on public roads since 2005, which can be seen on video. Currently, the company says it wants to bring this bike to the Indian market in 2020.
According to Blacksmith Electric, a full B2 charge is possible in just four hours. An electric bike can accelerate to 120 km / h, and the range of a single charge is 120 km. The company is also working on battery replacement stations. Their principle is simple: you simply leave your battery on charge, take a fully charged one and continue on your way. It is also assumed that drivers will be able to charge them when they are at home or are busy with other things.
The company proudly declares that its third-generation bike prototype has already covered 7,000 km on Indian roads. But all this sounds good in theory, so far we have only intentionally shaded conceptual images, on which it is difficult to say anything. So have to wait for next year.
Meanwhile, the government of India has set a deadline to provide a plan for the transition to electrical installations for the motor industry.
- A prototype of the updated 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class captured
- Porsche tests the powerful Cayman GT4 RS coupe
- Bloodhound will not be able to set a new world speed record
- Details of the updated Toyota Prius have become known
- Drone photographed the mysterious Tesla at a factory in the United States


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“Unfortunately, the impact of the global pandemic has meant that we have had to make some incredibly tough decisions to safeguard Pizza Express for the long term.
“Today we have confirmed that 73 of our pizzerias are proposed to close permanently. In most cases, there is another PizzaExpress nearby, either already open or reopening soon, to welcome our customers.
“Our focus is on our people whose jobs are impacted and we will be doing everything we can either to redeploy them or to support them in finding roles elsewhere.
“Hard as this process is, it will protect the jobs of over 9,000 of our colleagues and provide a strong footing for Pizza Express to meet future challenges and opportunities.”
The restaurant chain has 454 branches in the UK with roughly 150 more outlets worldwide.
On August 4, the company announced plans to cut its UK estate and rental costs by using a company voluntary arrangement.
The decision was made as the estate had been declining for the last three years.
The Pizza Express statement explained the company was performing well earlier this year, however it has been impacted by the coronavirus lockdown.
Chief Executive of British Property Federation Melanie Leech added: “These situations are never easy, particularly now for the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses on our high streets at the sharp end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Property owners, however, need to take into consideration the impact on their investors, including the millions of people whose savings and pensions are invested in commercial property, as they vote on any CVA proposal.
“Pizza Express and Deloitte engaged with the BPF before launching this CVA proposal.
“This has provided us an opportunity to improve understanding of property owners’ interests and concerns, but ultimately it will be for individual property owners to decide how they will vote on the CVA.”


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The A7 is closed due to flooding between junction 44 on the M6 / A689 (Carlisle North) and Arthuret Road.
The road is flooded just after the River Lyne.
More top news
The family of a young man killed by an over the limit driver team up with Cumbria Police to launch 2015 Christmas drink-driving crackdown.
Warnings in place for parts of the region as rain heads into cold air....just in time for the start of December and the Tuesday rush hour
With internet sales set to peak today Cumbria Trading Standards is warning of the dangers of buying counterfeit Christmas presents.


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Following a redesign for the 2020 model year, the Ford Explorer received a few changes for 2022, but the crossover soldiers on into the 2023 model year completely unchanged, as Ford Authority reported back in August. However, an all-electric version of the Explorer is expected to launch in 2024, followed by a redesigned ICE model in 2026. In the meantime, Ford Explorer Hybrid sales declined sharply in the first three quarters of 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book’s latest Electrified Light Vehicle Sales Report, which also noted that Ford Escape Hybrid sales increased significantly over that same time span.
In the third-quarter of this year, sales of the Ford Explorer Hybrid – which is currently part of the Limited and Platinum trims and is also standard on the Police Interceptor Utility – actually increased four percent from 2,512 units to 2,620. However, sales of that same model are down a whopping 30.6 percent through three quarters of 2022 as Ford has sold just 5,732 units versus 8,256 over the same period last year. This decrease has also cost the Explorer Hybrid market share, as it now commands 0.84 percent of the segment versus 1.27 percent last year.
What makes this news a bit peculiar is the fact that electrified vehicles in general reached a new sales record in the third quarter of 2022 with over 200,000 sold, and also outpaced the rest of the industry in terms of sales volume and share growth. “Electrified vehicles continue to be the darling of the industry, with the growing marketplace and consumer interest now reflected in record sales numbers,” said Brian Moody, executive editor for Kelley Blue Book. “While EV prices currently align more closely with luxury versus mainstream, the market continues to grow and evolve with more choices hitting the scene all the time. It’s no longer just ‘which Tesla is available,’ but rather an industry-wide boom with more EVs on the horizon from Ford, GM, Hyundai, and other manufacturers.”
While much more significant changes are coming over the next couple of years, as Ford Authority reported in June, 2023 Explorer order banks opened up on August 11th, 2022, while production is slated to begin at the Chicago Assembly plant on November 7th, 2022.


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Japanese beef demands to grow
WITH the full impact of Japan’s recent earthquake and tsunami still unfolding, National Australia Bank is predicting an increase in demand for key agricultural commodities such as beef.
Analysis by NAB Agribusiness reveals Australian exporters are likely to see higher prices for some rural commodities and export opportunities in the medium term as a result of food safety concerns and production shortfalls in Japan.
Khan Horne, NAB Agribusiness General Manager, said Australia had a strong trade relationship with Japan.
“Natural disasters can have a devastating impact on a country’s agricultural industry, and we in Australia are unfortunately well aware of this. However, while natural disasters have a tendency to cause volatility in global commodity markets in the near team, we are confident in the outlook over the medium term.
“The affected region of North Tohoku is Japan’s fourth-largest food bowl, producing around 20 per cent of the country’s rice and a major portion of beef, poultry and pork. It is therefore likely that Japan will need to lift its food imports to supplement the damage to the region’s commodities.
“Japan is already Australia’s largest agricultural export destination for beef, sorghum, cottonseed, cheese and seafood, totalling $3.9 billion in 2009-10. We anticipate any significant shift in demand for agricultural imports will have a positive impact on Australian producers.
“In addition, fears about radiation contamination, either perceived or real, and damage to key food producing regions are likely to result in a lift in Japan’s food import program and create demand for Australian agriculture commodities.”


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Tencent Music Entertainment Group, the music arm of Chinese technology giant Tencent, will delay its initial public offering (IPO) in the United States after global stock markets encountered turbulence in recent weeks, according to reports.
The popular music streaming service provider will postpone the IPO to at least November due to its recent global sell-off, and Tencent wants to wait until the market stabilises, both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters reported last week, citing anonymous sources.
The music arm of Tencent will reportedly raise at least $2 billion, with the company originally planning to kick off the offering as soon as this week, according to Reuters.
Parent company Tencent, which owns 58 percent of the music division, had announced in July in a stock filing that it was seeking to spin off Tencent Music and aim for a listing in the US. Spotify also owns 9 percent of shares in Tencent Music following a share swap last year.
Tencent is leading the Chinese music streaming market as its four music apps, Tencent Music, QQ Music, Kugou Music, and Kuwo Music, hold a combined 76 percent of the Chinese music streaming market.
The music app reported a total of more than 800 million monthly active users in the second quarter of this year. On average, users spent more than 70 minutes on the platform each day, a Chinese report said, citing its prospectus.
Although its number of paid users, sitting at 3.6 percent of its total 23.3 million users, is far behind Spotify's 43 percent, Tencent Music had reported strong growth in the first half of 2018, with its revenue increasing by 92 percent to 8.6 billion yuan while adjusted profit reached 2.1 billion yuan, up 189 percent from the same period in 2017.
But Tencent Music's highly anticipated IPO has been disturbed by the recent sell-off, especially among technology shares. On Wednesday, Wall Street suffered its worst one-day drop in eight months, with the S&P 500 dipping 3.3 percent and dropping a further 2 percent the following day.
In Hong Kong, where shares of Tencent are traded, the Shenzhen-based technology giant, which was once the most valuable company in Asia, fell by 6.8 percent on Thursday. It has lost more than $250 billion in market value since late January after the Thursday slump.
Tencent founder vows to support China's chip development
Pony Ma, founder and CEO of Tencent, said the company will utilize its popular messaging app WeChat to support the development of Chinese chips after ZTE's woes.
Tencent joins forces with Brazilian fintech Nubank
The world's largest fintech outside Asia gets more firepower to develop its local footprint.
Tencent seeks to list its music arm in the US
The three Spotify-like music-streaming platforms controlled by Tencent own about three quarters of the entire market in China.
Tencent sees 2017 profit climb 75 percent on robust ad sales
Chinese tech giant's online advertising revenue grew 49.9 percent for its fiscal 2017, which saw its profit grow to US$11.09 billion on overall revenue hitting US$36.39 billion.
Tencent and SoftBank join $1.1b round for Indian Uber rival Ola
The Bengaluru-based ride-hailing company has locked down $1.1 billion, bringing its total investment amount to around $4 billion.
The 10 most valuable tech companies in the world (TechRepublic)
The US and China dominate the list of the biggest digital companies in 2018, according to Howmuch.net.


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For 2013, the island economy has incurred a trade deficit to the tune of Rs 77,513 million, 4.7% lower than the deficit of Rs 81,338 million for 2012, according to data released by Statistics Mauritius.
This narrowing of trade deficit, the difference between exports and imports, is explained by an increase in exports for the full year at 10.7% with foreign sales valued at Rs 88,148 million over the 2012 figure of Rs 79,658.
This increase is mainly explained by rise in sales of Machinery and transport equipment (+53.7%), Ships stores and bunkers (+31.7%), Cane sugar (+16.6%) and Fish and fish preparations (+14.7%), which was partly offset by a fall in sales of Apparel & clothing accessories (-2.1%).
A quarter-wise analysis shows that total export proceeds for the fourth quarter of 2013 amounted to Rs 23,560 million, an increase of 4.8% and 8.6% compared to the previous quarter and corresponding quarter respectively.
Further, exports of Export Oriented Enterprises (EOE) for the year 2013 amounted to Rs 46,851 million, which represents an increase of 2.7% over 2012.
Besides, comparison of exports figures for 2013 with those of 2012 shows that exports towards the main destinations for the island economy rose for Italy (31.8%) and USA (8.0%) but declined for Spain (13.7%), South Africa (9.8%), United Kingdom (4.2%), Madagascar (2.8%) and France (1.4%).
On the imports front, for the year 2013, purchases amounted to Rs 165,661 million, up 2.9% from Rs 160,996 million in 2012. This increase is mainly due to rise in imports of Fish and fish preparations (+8.2%) and Refined petroleum products (+6.8%).
An analysis of the sources of imports shows that Spain and India increased their share by 19.5% and 7.6% respectively while purchases from China and South Africa declined by 5.9% and 2.9% respectively.
On a quarterly basis, total imports hit Rs 47,200 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, showing an increase of 12.3% over the previous quarter of 2013 and a rise of 5.5% when compared to the corresponding quarter of 2012.
Finally, Statistics Mauritius has forecast that, based on recent past trends and indicative information from various sources, total exports for the year 2014 are likely to touch Rs 91,000 million, against Rs 175,000 million for imports. Consequently, the trade deficit is expected to be around R 84,000 million.
Image (IBL Maritime): Exports for the full year rose 10.7% with foreign sales valued at Rs 88,148 million over the 2012 figure of Rs 79,658.
More business news on AfricaMoney


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ThemeFusion today sold the 500.000th copy of their excellent WordPress theme “Avada”. They have announced it via Twitter.
Celebrate the fantastic Avada 500K milestone SALE with us! Thank you to each every customer for making Avada their own & congratulations to our illustrious team for their relentless dedication. Avada is on SALE for a limited time https://t.co/Jyb529bdUf | https://t.co/0FN7m57BTd pic.twitter.com/ZLzWZxWIeX
— ThemeFusion (@Theme_Fusion) April 2, 2019
Avada is a theme launched in 2012, and it’s the most popular WordPress theme of all time.
Development team ThemeFusion has earned millions with this “strange” theme that is having a truly unique position among WordPress themes.
Envato published a special insight on Avada. Here is the official Envato press release about half of a million copies of this amazing theme:
ThemeFusion, the genius’ behind the storied WordPress theme ‘Avada’, have just passed their most significant milestone to date.
On April 3rd, at approximately 1.05am AEST the 500,000th copy of Avada was sold.
This means that at any given moment, the template that was dubbed “The Swiss Army Knife of WordPress Themes” by Envato CEO Collis Ta’eed could be powering up to half a million websites worldwide.
Since its introduction in 2012, Themefusion’s Avada launched like a rocket to become the single most popular WordPress theme of all time. In less than twelve months following its release, Avada had brought in a million dollars in sales for Themefusion. Barely two years later, that figure had multiplied to over ten million dollars. Today, Avada remains the highest selling WordPress theme on the planet with over twenty-five million dollars in total sales revenue.
With now over half a million customers worldwide, the ThemeFusion team cites customer support and a focus on their team as a guiding principle of their success.
“Our team is like a family, we take care of each other, help each other and have a lot of fun working together… Take risks and build up the people around you, listen to your customers and strive to grow.”
The Avada theme was first conceived by Luke Beck, a Florida-based Designer and Muhammad Haris, a freelance WordPress developer based in Pakistan. Today, ThemeFusion is comprised of a global team of upwards of 20 people, working across a mix of customer support and ongoing theme development to ensure the template remains on the cutting edge.
On behalf of the entire Envato staff and the broader community, we’d like to extend a very hearty congratulations to the entire ThemeFusion team.
To mark the occasion, the team at ThemeFusion have let us know that they will be running a celebratory sale over the course of the next week. At the time of writing, the ThemeFusion team are promoting a massive 35% off their standard price.


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Web search results for detroit auto show
Entering its 21st year as an international event, the NAIAS is among the most prestigious auto shows in the world, providing unparalleled access to the ...
Show photos of cars, trucks, concept cars, and debuts from the past and present North American International Auto Show.
Posts from the Detroit auto show Category at Autoblog.
Get the latest 2010 Detroit Auto Show coverage. Check out international auto show photos, reviews and news on the latest import and concept cars.
Take a virtual tour of the automakers' new and updated models coming to Detroit; Photo gallery: Key models making their Detroit auto show debut ...


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UPDATE, Jan. 13, 2014: Over the weekend, a fire erupted in the “old town” of Shangri La, China, destroying hundreds of wooden shops and homes in a majority Tibetan area. GlobalPost visited this town last year for a series of stories about the ways in which China is trying to make Shangri La (which was given its mythical name in 2001) a sort of Tibetan Disneyland.
At the time, Shangri La’s “old town” was under heavy construction, with wooden hotels and shop-houses going up on every corner. Long-time residents complained that many of the buildings in the traditionally Tibetan quarter — which was filled with bars, backpacker hostels, English-language cafés, and trinket shops selling identical wares — had been hastily constructed in a pseudo-ancient style, to attract tourists, whose numbers were rising.
While some Tibetan entrepreneurs had managed to profit from the boom, most of the businesses belonged to Han Chinese. Below is the first of three Global Post stories — originally published on Feb. 13, 2013 — on this strange, beautiful, conflicted place.
SHANGRI-LA, China — The fabled land of Shangri-La is a “delightfully favored place,” where monks live for hundreds of years, in the shadow of a “dazzling pyramid,” the mountain Karakal. The air has a “dream-like texture.” Every breath yields a “deep anesthetizing tranquility.”
That, at least, is how Shangri-La is described in "Lost Horizon," British author James Hilton’s classic 1933 novel.
“If I were to put it into a very few words, my dear sir, I should say that our prevalent belief is in moderation,” one of Hilton’s beatific monks says. “We inculcate the virtue of avoiding excess of all kinds.”
Hilton’s mythical land is a far cry from this real-life Chinese village of Shangri-La: a dusty, dingy upstart that is flinging moderation to the winds to become a Disneyesque tourist trap.
China’s experiment with manufacturing its very own Shangri-La began in 2001, when the logging town of Zhongdian — a remote, predominately Tibetan village standing on an 11,000-foot plateau in China’s southwestern Yunnan province — decided to change its name.
The move was mostly economic: Beijing had banned logging up-country in Yunnan after a series of massive floods along the Yangtze River. Though other towns competed fiercely for the right to rename themselves — and arguably had better reasons — Zhongdian prevailed.
Hence this once-isolated village became China’s first “official” Shangri-La.
In the decade since, Zhongdian has transformed itself completely. It may not be exactly what Hilton imagined when he penned his classic novel.
Visitors making the four-hour tour-bus ride from Lijiang drive past stray yaks and bucolic Tibetan homesteads, before being greeted incongruously with billboards advertising high-end red wines. A gaudy, 78-foot-tall Buddhist prayer wheel has risen over the square, a stone’s throw from a renovated People’s Liberation Army museum.
Shop after shop peddle tourist trinkets and fake tiger pelts. Where mud houses once stood, cheesy art galleries, restaurants, hostels, and even a cupcake shop now stand in “Old Town.” Signs tout yak burgers and Tibetan clothes for rent. A self-described reggae café has a cannabis leaf painted in the colors of the Jamaican flag.
“Eighty percent of [Old Town] was knocked down and rebuilt to look Tibetan,” said Jason Lees, owner of The Raven, the longest-running business in Old Town. The Raven serves as a watering hole for locals and the small, hard-drinking community of American and British expatriates in town.
An Englishman with matted hair and smoke-cured voice, Lees moved to Shangri-La a decade ago to escape the tourist hordes that had overwhelmed Lijiang, four hours away.
He’s profoundly ambivalent about the change. On the one hand, his business caters to tourists. On the other, as Shangri-La’s tourist sector has grown, wealthy developers and investors have moved in, driving up the rents.
“A culture changes to sell itself once the money comes in,” he said. “This used to be a special place. It used to be more open-minded, multicultural. Once it started to repackage itself as Tibetan, as a simplified version of itself, it changed.”
Even the 300-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside town has been turned into a cash cow. Tickets cost $15 each. In many respects, it feels like a theme park: Inside, groups of 25 to 30 tourists line up to deposit cash in a box in exchange for a blessing from a seated, desultory monk. Guides in Tibetan costumes wearing wireless mics dawdle by the entrance, yawning. At the top of the temple, a stand sells ice cream and moon pies. Behind the main monastery building, a towering crane is constructing a large additional temple.
Such changes depress longtime residents like Kevin Skalsky, who fondly recalls when Zhongdian had a wild-west feel.
He and his wife moved to the city 13 years ago as one of the only non-Chinese couples in the area. Two Americans from Washington state, they raised four children here — but now they’re hoping to leave, and move to a more remote village several miles away. Over a dinner of yak meat, he bemoaned the commoditization of Zhongdian.
“It’s been unrelenting,” said Skalsky, who runs an outdoor adventure company that takes tourists out on motorcycles, Jeeps, skis and kayaks. He has long, gray hair, a powerful handshake, and a West Coast drawl reminiscent of "the Dude" in "The Big Lebowski."
Of course, some residents see it differently: Zhongdian may not have become Shangri-La in reality, but it did become a lot richer. While a number of locals complain that most new businesses are owned by Han Chinese, some Tibetans are also making out very well.
One is local entrepreneur Dakpa Kelden, who welcomes the influx. A Tibetan who studied for years in India, Kelden is sometimes called “the king of Shangri-La” because of his extensive contacts and thriving new businesses. We spoke on the balcony of his new hotel. Sporting a beautifully tailored khaki jacket and a new iPhone, he switched fluently between Tibetan, Mandarin, and Indian-accented English. He said he had “exactly six minutes” to talk.
Founder of the Shangri-La Association of Cultural Preservation, Kelden sees immense opportunities for Tibetans in Shangri-La, though he laments that most tourists come to the village for only one day. Rooms at yet another boutique hotel he is building range from $128 a night to $240 for a suite.
“Tourism for us is a great opportunity,” he said. “Now the problem is we have mass tourism. They come and want to take pictures — they don’t want the experience.”
Across China, many tourist sites are facing the same mass tourism issues, as for the first time millions of Chinese have enough income and time to afford travel around their own country. China as a whole is seeing a surge in pleasure-seekers and day-trippers. In 2010, Chinese took more than 2.1 billion domestic trips and generated more than $200 billion in revenue, according to China’s National Tourism Administration.
In the Chinese popular imagination, Yunnan province, with its soaring mountains and profuse wildlife, is a must-see destination, like Yellowstone or Yosemite for Americans. While rich in biodiversity and in minority cultures, Yunnan has long been one of China’s poorest provinces, with a GDP-per-capita income one-quarter of that in Shanghai.
Now Yunnan’s government is courting tourism as the cure to its economic ills. Given the staggering growth, the tacky Shangri-La of today may soon look quaint.
"I don't know what kind of experience you’ll get when there are three times as many tourists as today," says Ed Grumbine, a professor of botany who has spent the last several years studying in Yunnan. "Lijiang is the classic example. It's grown from 3 million to 10 million [visitors] a year, and there’s no stopping it. Most foreigners would go to Lijiang, and unless they're really into the Walt Disney experience, wouldn't like it. [But] the average Chinese tourist is much more accepting."
Meanwhile, the real-world Shangri-La faces a 21st century existential conundrum: The authentic charm that the village sells as a tourist draw is rapidly changing the traditions that underpin that charm. Even the attitudes of native groups are changing.
“Younger people no longer wear the traditional outfits, now they see the city people and want to dress like them,” says Yang Qiong, 27, a Naxi minority who works as project manager at the Yunnan Mountain Heritage Center, a non-profit devoted to preserving local culture. “Some wear high heels with their traditional outfits.”
She spent several minutes outlining the ways that her organization is creating sustainable, tourist-friendly handicrafts — beekeeping, knitting — but at last admitted that in some ways residents refused to adapt to the change.
“We all still call it Zhongdian,” Yang said. “Shangri-La is too long a name.”
Read part two in this series: Profit quest imperils one of world’s most stunning landscapes
Read part three in this series: China’s Shangri-La for minorities


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Trackhouse Racing has purchased Chip Ganassi Racing's NASCAR operation, a seismic agreement in the world of motorsports that will see longtime racing fixture Chip Ganassi exit the stock car series. Terms were not revealed for the deal, which was announced this afternoon at the NASCAR HOF in Charlotte with Trackhouse Founder Justin Marks and Ganassi. Trackhouse has agreed to purchase all of Ganassi’s equipment, race shop and two charters. Ganassi at the presser indicated that he was not actively trying to sell the team, adding that Marks was the only suitor he has ever talked to and that Marks simply came to him with an offer he couldn’t refuse. The sides indicated that Marks first approached Ganassi with the offer two months ago, but things picked up the last month and the deal was signed last week.
Trackhouse will not officially acquire the assets until the end of the '21 season, which goes through November. Ganassi indicated that he will remain in IndyCar, IMSA and Extreme E, saying, “I’m still dedicated to motorsports and auto racing.” Still, Ganassi does not have businesses outside of racing like Rick Hendrick or Roger Penske, and his exit is sending shockwaves through the industry. While there had been some chatter for years that Ganassi was having to evaluate his NASCAR future amid a shrinking sponsor roster, specific reports of this deal never leaked out until the official announcement today. Trackhouse driver Daniel Suarez will continue with the team next year, and Trackhouse will announce a second driver at a later time.
Trackhouse, led by Marks and team President Ty Norris, had been desperately trying to acquire a charter for more than a year now. The team lost out on several prior bids. Marks had grown increasingly vocal to his opposition to paying around $10M for a charter -- what many in the industry believe is the current going price -- and he ended up pulling off a stunning deal to eventually acquire two of them. Industry sources were only beginning to speculate about the potential price of the sale in the hours after the announcement, and a firm number was not yet clear.
For NASCAR, the move appears to be bittersweet. This solidifies the future of Trackhouse, an increasingly important and rising team with young and celebrity ownership; Musician Pitbull is an investor. However, it now comes at the expense of losing the legendary Ganassi, who has been in NASCAR since buying a majority stake in businessman Felix Sabates’ former team in '01.


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Welcome to the new edition of our 10 most talked-about TV ads on social media: DIOR, Target and Netflix lead the pack but there is a strong Holiday vibe going on…
Check them out! Any other great campaigns you spotted?
#1 – Dior J’Adore Absolu TV Spot, ‘The New Absolu: The Film’
#2 – Target TV Spot, ‘HoliDeals: Last Minute Gifts’
#3 – Netflix TV Spot, ‘The Witcher’
#4 – Nike TV Spot, ‘Beginnings’
#5 – Amazon TV Spot, ‘Happy Holidays’
#6 – XFINITY TV Spot, ‘A Holiday Reunion’
#7 – Toyota TV Spot, ‘Yellow Paper’
#8 – Old Navy TV Spot, ‘Holiday Wrapping!’
#9 – Facebook Groups TV Spot, ‘Pecan Pie’
#10 – Apple iPhone 11 Pro TV Spot, ‘Snowbrawl’
This top 10 is provided by iSpot.tv, the leading real-time measurement tool for TV advertising. iSpot.tv aggregates all online video views, social actions, and search activity, to evaluate ad performance compared with its industry set.
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This is the Audi Allroad Shooting Brake Concept, a big name for a little show car that will appear next week at the Detroit Auto Show. But it's a significant debut in that it foreshadows a lot of shapes we're going to see on some small Audi sports cars and crossovers.
Audi teased the exterior of the concept last month, but hadn't settled on a name yet. Then earlier this week, they showed the "virtual cockpit" insides of the next TT – which looks a lot like the earlier sketches of this concept. You can see now why this is probably going to tell us a lot about what next year's TT will look like.
There's also a good chance it will tell us about what the upcoming Audi Q1 will look like. As a refresh, it's a two-door four-seat crossover-y car with e-tron badges, so it's at least somewhat electric.
We'll see the whole concept car on Monday.


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The Fall 2022 collections are still coming in and Rodarte is the latest fashion brand to debut its latest offerings. On Wednesday, April 20, designer duo Laura and Kate Mulleavy gathered a crew of Hollywood darlings to showcase their new balletcore-inspired looks.
The collection channels the currently-trending aesthetic with pointe shoe-inspired footwear, layered tulle, and soft silhouettes and details, like florals, feathers, and lace in breezy, long dresses.
“We were thinking about things that were a part of Rodarte and in our DNA,” said Laura in an interview with Vogue. “We wanted to play with [ballerina] silhouettes and a soft pastel color palette.” Ballet has inspired the two designers before: In 2010, they helped design a few costumes for the movie Black Swan.
Added Kate, “It was amazing to see how everyone took the inspiration that we had and not only made it their own but took it further.”
The lookbook’s celebrity muses, including Charli XCX, Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Snail Mail, Janicza Bravo, Taylour Paige, and many more, has also been a format that the Mulleavys have experimented with in the past. Alicia Silverstone modeled Rodarte’s Fall 2021 collection, while a bevy of famous faces (Kirsten Dunst, Haim, and Gabrielle Union, to name a few) were featured for its Spring 2020 collection.
See every look from Rodarte’s Fall 2022 collection, below.


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(This story was updated on 6/29/2023.)
The panel, which features leaders from Topo Designs, Lowa Boots, Solo Brands, Camp Chef, and DPS Skis, takes place at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 20, in the Hyatt Regency Salt Lake Ballroom. The Hyatt is connected to the Salt Palace Convention Center and a quick walk from the show floor.
The five panelists are:
- Lesley Christoph, Marketing Director, Lowa Boots
- Thomas Laakso, Vice President of Product and Operations, DPS Skis
- Steve McGrath, Vice President of Marketing, Camp Chef
- Jedd Rose, President, Topo Designs
- Somer Webb, CFO, Solo Brands
While the overall industry saw strong growth during the pandemic, demand has slowed due to macroeconomic factors, including rampant inflation.
At the same time the consumer demand dried up, long-delayed orders finally came in after the supply chain backups cleared. That’s all led to a perfect storm of challenging conditions for the industry in 2023, including an inventory glut, especially for hardgoods.
The panelist will offer their insights into how the industry can move through these unprecedented factors.
Executive Roundtable Topics
This discussion will focus on:
- What these brand leaders experienced during the pandemic and lessons they learned.
- How the companies are navigating the current business climate.
- What the business picture will look like for the industry in the near future.
The panel will be moderated by The Daily’s Bart Schaneman, and we’ll have a full report on what the panelists had to say on The Daily after the show.
Outdoor Retailer Summer takes place June 19-21, 2023, in Salt Lake City, Utah. This year the organizers are offering a new approach to the floor plan and layout of the show to improve the user experience for retailers and buyers. The show is categorized by activity to aid retailers as they shop the show, look for new products, and connect with brands.


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How Activision Blizzard Reaches Out to Its Audience
To increase user engagement, Activision Blizzard (ATVI) released several new updates for its leading gaming franchises during 2Q17. The company’s daily active users (or DAUs) rose to an all-time high in 2Q17. Games such as Uprising were well received by its audience, and the time spent on World of Warcraft rose YoY (year-over-year) as well.
Interested in ATVI? Don't miss the next report.
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Team sales of Overwatch League
Activision Blizzard announced the sale for its Overwatch League teams in July 2017. Several entrepreneurs in the eSports as well as in traditional segments have bought these teams. The team owners include:
- Robert Kraft, CEO of Kraft Foods
- Jeff Wilpon, co-owner of the New York Mets
- Ben Spoont, founder of Team Misfits
- Noah Wilson, CEO of Immortals
- Kevin Chou, co-founder of Kabam
- Andy Miller, co-founder of NRG eSports
As the world’s the first eSports league, Overwatch League is one of Activision’s successful gaming franchises, with over 30 million players. The league has generated more than $1 billion in revenues to date.
Activision’s CEO, Robert Kotick stated, “Overwatch, with more than 30 million players has captured imaginations and driven strong global engagement. We organized our league around major cities, taking a proven model from competition in traditional sports.”
The rise of eSports
The company’s eSports league is expected to start by the end of 2017 and plans to have a city-based playing structure. Activision estimated that ~285 million people watched eSports last year, and this figure is expected to rise over the next few years. Newzoo has estimated direct advertising spending at $325 million in 2016, up from $220 million in 2015.
Activision has reportedly charged $20 million per team in franchise fees from Overwatch League owners, with revenue sharing after 2021. This results in incremental revenues of $140 million for Activision by the end of fiscal 2017.


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Welcome to First Things First, Adweek’s daily resource for marketers. We’ll be publishing the content to First Things First on Adweek.com each morning (like this post), but if you prefer that it come straight to your inbox, you can sign up for the email here.
This Hard Seltzer Brand Created a Mask You Can Drink Through
After hard seltzer brand Crook & Marker jokingly posted a mock-up of a ‘Tastemask’ with a valve in the middle for a straw to fit into, hundreds of Instagram users piled on begging the brand to actually make the masks. People even started calling about the masks. The brand obliged, of course, creating the real deal, but with a flap that snaps into place rather than a valve. The masks sold out within 24 hours, with all proceeds going to the US Bartenders Guild supporting service-industry workers.
This Space Suit-Like Device Takes PPE to the Next Level
How far are you willing to take your fashion choices to stop the spread of the coronavirus? Wearing a mask (which we should all do) is one thing, but what about a giant space helmet? PPE company Vyzr Technologies developed the BioVyzr, which completely seals in the wearer and purifies the interior air of pathogens, allergens and pollutants. The product was funded on Indiegogo almost immediately upon its launch, with interested parties including students, medical workers and those in other high-touch professions.
Netflix Names Ted Sarandos Co-CEO Amid Second Shutdown-Driven Subscriber Spike
After a second consecutive quarter of spiking subscriber numbers, Netflix promoted chief content officer Ted Sarandos to co-CEO and chief product officer Greg Peters to chief operating officer. The streamer anticipates that the spike will wane with time, but it hasn’t entirely hit yet. It also saw far less disruption to its production plans than other streamers like the new Peacock and HBO Max because its 2020 shows have already been completed for the most part. In a letter to shareholders, the streamer released news of its recent big-ticket acquisitions, including Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, along with data about some of its top performers.
Also in TV and streaming: Updates from NBCUniversal
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- Executives at new NBCU streaming service Peacock say programming delays may work in their favor by sustaining interest in the service later into the year leading up to the 2021 Summer Olympics.
Washington’s NFL Franchise Has Problems That Go Beyond Team Name
Early in the day on Thursday, Adweek asked about a supposed “bombshell” report about the culture of the Washington NFL team that was rumored to be coming from The Washington Post. The report, which was released later in the day, detailed multiple allegations of sexual harassment by former Redskins employees. But before the story came out, a spokesperson told Adweek the allegations were “absurd.” The team has also seen recent departures and hired a law firm to review “the team’s culture, policies and allegations of workplace misconduct.”
A problematic history: The team has been hit with allegations of sexual harassment and sex trafficking in the past.
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Circle K customers can now purchase their everyday items more quickly and conveniently using MasterCard PayPass at select stores across the U.S.
“For more than 50 years, Circle K has remained one of North America’s most popular places to shop because we continually look for innovative ways to improve the customer experience in our stores,” said Bryan Ritenour, business manager of Circle K. “Our shoppers, who are regularly ‘on the go,’ will enjoy the speed, convenience and shorter lines that result when they tap to pay with MasterCard PayPass, instead of fumbling for cash and coins at checkout.”
The use of contactless payment cards continues to see exponential growth. The number of MasterCard PayPass cards and devices in market has grown from nearly 13 million as of Q4 2006, to more than 23 million as of Q4 2007, to more than 50 million as of the fourth quarter 2008. According to U.S. consumer research by the Smart Card Alliance, issued in September 2008, nine percent of the U.S. population has a contactless payment card or device, and this figure continues to grow.
About 94% of PayPass-using respondents to a 2008 MasterCard PayPass Benchmark Study were satisfied with their experience, and 77 percent of PayPass consumers said they use PayPass as their primary card for everyday purchases.


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David’s Bridal filed for bankruptcy because they missed a debt payment, the stores days are numbered. Home-builders finally admit there is a problem in the housing market, everything is falling apart because of rising rates. The outlook for the global economy has just turned, three indicators are showing that the central bank economy is in a massive decline. Whistelblower reports that Deutsche bank is involved in a money laundering scheme.
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On 21 March 2018, 44 African Union (AU) member states signed the Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) along with three protocols covering trade in goods, trade in services and dispute settlement. The launch of the AfCFTA is a major milestone in Africa’s integration process and a flagship project under the AU’s Agenda 2063, Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, which sets out the priority areas for Africa’s development over the next fifty years. At a time of integration fatigue in some parts of the world, including the European Union (EU), and protectionist tendencies across the Atlantic, African countries are forging ahead and have launched the world’s largest free trade agreement (FTA) by the number of contracting parties
The AfCFTA follows short on the heels of another major achievement in African integration, the Tripartite FTA (TFTA). The TFTA, launched in June 2015, links 26 countries from Cape Town to Cairo through their membership of three Regional Economic Communities (RECs), namely the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The decision to launch the TFTA, fast-track the AfCFTA and improve connectivity and mobility of African citizens reflect a renewed political consensus among African leaders on the importance of deeper integration to achieve growth, development and poverty reduction. This major agreement is important for several reasons.
First, with African countries increasingly focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the effective implementation of the AfCFTA could potentially place the continent onto a new development trajectory. If implemented by all the AU member states, the AfCFTA will cover a market of 1.2 billion people and a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$2.5 trillion. This sizeable market offers enormous opportunities for growing intra-African trade, which was around 20% of Africa’s total trade with the world in 2016. It is estimated that the AfCFTA could increase intra-African trade by around US$35 billion per year by 2022, particularly if complemented by effective operationalisation of the AU’s Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade and other trade facilitation and infrastructure plans at the regional level.
Second, the AfCFTA will progressively eliminate tariffs and tackle non-tariff barriers on intra-African trade, making it easier for African businesses to trade within the continent. The agreement will be implemented over 10 to 15 years and cover around 90 per cent of total product lines. Reducing trade costs for exporters is important, since businesses currently face higher average tariffs (around 6.1 per cent) on intra-regional trade compared with the rest of the world.
Finally, the AfCFTA could provide an important impetus to Africa’s structural transformation – or industrialisation – objectives. Intra-African trade is already more manufacturing-oriented than Africa’s commodity and mineral exports to the rest of the world. Manufacturing represents 67 per cent of intra-African exports compared to 32 per cent of exports to Europe, 18 per cent to the USA and 14 per cent to China. It also has a higher intensity of services components. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, Africa’s households are projected to spend US$2.1 trillion by 2025, offering promising business opportunities in various consumer-facing industries from housing to healthcare and leisure.
Boosting trade competitiveness in Africa requires greater attention to behind-the-border issues such as investment, competition, standards and regulations and the movement of businesspersons. The second phase of the AfCFTA negotiations will develop protocols on investment, competition and intellectual property. Improving trade competitiveness, especially for SMEs, will be important to take advantage of the new market opportunities provided by the AfCFTA.
However, there are also challenges that must be addressed to ensure the AfCFTA’s success. For example, there are concerns around how to balance the costs and benefits of the AfCFTA. Countries such as South Africa and Kenya with larger manufacturing bases and better road networks, railways and ports are most likely to benefit more from the agreement compared to smaller economies. Despite its leading role in driving the AfCFTA negotiations, Nigeria did not participate in the Kigali Summit nor sign the agreement because of the need for further consultations with domestic stakeholders. Presently, seven African countries account for about 60 per cent of total intra-merchandise exports, while the majority account for the remaining 40 per cent. The AU Member States will need to identify possible policy measures or mechanisms to promote a more balanced distribution of the benefits of regional integration.
International development partners, including the EU and its member states, can support and help drive Africa’s integration agenda through trade, investment and aid, especially more targeted and focused Aid for Trade. The EU is already a major donor supporting Africa’s integration process through facilities like the European Investment Bank, the 11th European Development Fund (2014-2020), the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund and the Economic Partnership Agreement development programmes.
Europe has a vital economic and security interest in a stable and increasingly prosperous Africa. Africa’s population is projected to reach around 2.5 billion people by 2050, presenting promising trade and investment opportunities as the world’s last remaining frontier market, but also raising critical challenges around security and stability. Since the AfCFTA will boost intra-African trade, create jobs and incomes and improve welfare, supporting the implementation of this pan-continental trade deal should be a major priority for the EU and its member states. The EU initially offered capacity support for the AfCFTA negotiations. The focus should now turn to technical support for implementation, including domestic reforms boosting competitiveness and facilitating adjustment, and preparing for the second phase of the AfCFTA negotiations.


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UAE retail sales to reach USD21.6b by year-end
19 Jul 2011
(MENAFN) The Dubai Shopping Malls Group’s board of directors’ member, Eisa Adam Ebrahim, said that by year-end, total retail sales in the country would be forecasted to go up to USD21.6 billion as a result of discounts on goods that reached 70 percent and attracted more shoppers, reported Gulf News.
Ebrahim added that this year, business at malls recorded better performance from 2010, since retailers were still affected by the global financial crisis, adding that due to the Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS) campaign, growth at malls group would be expected to increase notably.
He also said that during the last year, retail sales rose above 10 percent due to the extension of operating hours at 30 malls until midnight, in addition to the DSS campaign.
It is worth noting that due to an expansion in the number of tourists, malls at the country were enjoying stable consumer spending.


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The Triumph Trident 660 has been recently launched in the Indian market. With a starting price of INR 6.95 lakh (ex-showroom), the new middleweight motorcycle is the most affordable offering from the..
Triumph Bonneville T100 has received an update for MY2021. The revised version of the British brand’s modern classic motorcycle has been launched in the Indian market. It is lighter and more powerful..


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TRENDING ON ONEINDIA
- Supreme Court Verdict On Rafale Deal Tomorrow
- Petrol Price Increased For The First Time In Nearly Two Months
- Hockey World Cup 2018 Quarter-Finals: India vs Netherlands — Updates
- Nissan Kicks Review — KICK-starting A New Statement Among Five-Seater SUVs
- Things To Know About The World's Quad Camera Smartphone
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- She Sits In The Lake For The Entire Day — Here's Why!
Earlier, we reported that the new Sony phone codenamed ST21i2 will be dubbed Xperia Tipo Dual. Now, this is official. The brand has unveiled a low end Android ICS smartphone mainly for the first time smartphone users. It is available in two variants – single SIM and dual SIM. They are named Xperia Tipo and Xperia Tipo Dual respectively.
Both the smartphones sport a 3.2 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels. The display is protected by a scratch resistant mineral glass. The handsets are equipped with an 800 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 processor. There is a 3.2 MP camera, 512 MB RAM and a 1,500 mAh battery.
The Tipo Dual is the dual SIM version as the name suggests. Users can switch between the SIM cards by pressing a single button. The phone can be set to switch between the SIM cards automatically.
Sony has not officially confirmed when it will launch these smartphones in India. However, we can expect the brand to launch the Xperia Tipo and Tipo Dual globally in the third quarter of this year. The price in India of these smartphones remains unknown. Check out the videos below to have a close look on them.
Xperia Tipo Dual


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The images of laden cargo ships waiting off the shores of Los Angeles and shipping containers stacked high at the ports last year were frustrating memories for manufacturers in multiple industries dealing with supply shortages.
While the situation has eased a bit, the ports are "still very much in recovery mode," said Noel Hacegaba, Port of Long Beach deputy executive director of administration and operations, during the recent Auto Care Association's 2022 Business Outlook webinar.
He discussed how the ports in Southern California handle the majority of the nation's imports and yet, despite the disruptions brought by the pandemic, the port operations stayed open every day.
"The bright spot in 2021 is, despite the record volumes, despite tight capacity up and down the supply chain, the ports in southern California moved 20 million container units. That's the highest ever," he said.
Hacegaba said 2021 was a record year with an 18-percent increase in volume, which, he said, "speaks to the collaboration in the supply chain to move volume through the system."
He acknowledged that 2021 was a challenging year with people shifting their spending from services to goods, which tested the capability of not just the ports, but the entire supply chain.


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My student loan balance is over $20,000. I don’t own a home, have kids, or go on vacations. I have too much credit card debt and not enough savings. I am 37. I am one of the 44 million Americans struggling with the financial hardships of getting a college degree, delaying and even refraining from participating in the life milestones that keep the economy functioning. Since the year 2000, the economy has gone through two recessions, wages of college grads continually decreased, lowering lifetime earning potential, and college costs steadily increased – the single largest increase in higher education costs is textbook prices.
In the coming weeks, millions of students will be returning to college and university campuses. The air will be full of excitement as existing students settle in for a new year and new students look forward to a new chapter. Dorms will fill up with boxes and suitcases and the quad will fill with tables representing campus activities and student organizations. Campus bookstores will offer extended hours as students search for their books and materials. These students will spend hundreds of dollars, some over a thousand, this semester alone. Increasingly, this spend will not occur inside the bookstore.
Over the past academic year, 16 institutions have chosen the Akademos virtual bookstore solution, lowering textbook prices for students and offering advanced tools for faculty.
16 colleges and universities have selected Akademos as their virtual bookstore services provider for the upcoming academic year. These partnerships highlight the growing trend for colleges and universities to prioritize textbook affordability and student academic success by moving to a virtual model for course materials.
New CEO appointed to accelerate growth of the leading virtual bookstore platform in Higher Education
Today, we announced Raj Kaji as the new Chief Executive Officer. Following the successful rapid growth seen under the departing John Squires, Raj will continue the trajectory of Akademos and support student success by accelerating the expansion of our virtual bookstore platform in colleges and universities across the nation.
Akademos’ low cost course materials and highly personalized service to support student academic success
Midway University has selected Akademos as its new online bookstore provider to help students save on their textbooks. The private, liberal arts university was founded in 1847 and offers career-focused degree programs for undergraduate and graduate students. The University, located in Midway, Kentucky, will launch its Akademos bookstore on July 1 in support of its Fall Term 2018.
Akademos virtual course material store will provide students with lower cost course materials and indiCo will provide an innovative retail environment on campus
Fort Hays State University (FHSU) has announced a partnership with Akademos, to provide a full-service, virtual course materials store and indiCo, to provide the institution with a best-in-class on campus store for all general merchandise such as FHSU clothing and gifts, school supplies, tech accessories and more. The hybrid partnership will dramatically lower textbook prices and provide an innovative and customized retail environment on campus.


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The African Development (AfDB) Fund’s board of directors has approved a $27.9 million grant to Ghana to support the development of agricultural value chains in the Savannah region.
According to AfDB, the grant will increase the climate-resilient production of maize, rice and soybean, as well as support the poultry value chain and generate employment for women and youth. It will also boost farmers’ incomes and support household nutrition.
The capital will also be used to support the production of certified seeds by commercial farmers and work closely with the Savannah Agriculture Research Institute to assist smallholder farmers with equipment to improve planting and crop husbandry.
The Savannah Agriculture Value Chain Development Project will be implemented by Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture from 2023 to 2027. The AfDB predicts that the project will benefit at least 150,000 people indirectly and 50,000 directly, as well as adding to the production of at least 8,000 hectares of new rice, maize and soybean, which will improve feed availability for the poultry industry.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, AfDB’s acting vice president of its regional development, integration and business delivery complex, said: “Building local capacity would help reduce imports and help Ghana to mitigate the negative impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global food systems. It would also alleviate the impact of climate change, in line with the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility.”
Martin Fregene, AfDB’s sector director of agriculture and industry, added: “This builds on [the] bank’s earlier investments in the savannah areas of Ghana, putting 20,000 hectares of maize and soybean under production using conservation agriculture practices and technologies. This project has come at a time that Ghana seeks to enhance domestic production and reduce imports. These are the key objectives of [the] bank’s Feed Africa Strategy.”
Eyerusalem Fasika, Ghana country manager of the African Development Bank, commented: “The approval of this project is a significant addition to the bank’s active agriculture portfolio in the country with immense potential to contribute to sustainable food systems in Ghana. Furthermore, the project’s approval is an opportune time for the bank to support the government in its efforts to produce enough basic commodities to meet food security challenges and support industrialisation.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2023


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The nation’s small businesses have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic and the corresponding economic repercussions. Only a small number of those who received initial PPP funds expect to be able to maintain current payrolls without additional government assistance, according to Thomas Sullivan, vice president, Small Business Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Not surprisingly, the economy is front and center on most small business owners’ minds as they consider casting their ballots this November, according to the latest Small Business Index by MetLife & the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Tonight’s Presidential Debate
What do small business owners want to hear from President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden as they enter the home stretch of the 2020 presidential election campaign?
The U.S. Chamber’s Sullivan spoke with owners in several battleground states to share what they will be listening for during the debates, which issues they hope the candidates will discuss in more detail, and why it all matters to their companies and their employees.
Here are excerpts of what the small business owners said about what they expected to hear tonight. Links at the bottom of each excerpt leads to a more complete response on USChamber.com
Owner and Co-President
Wyoming Machine, Inc.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has identified many issues that need to be addressed. Structural problems in health care, digital infrastructure (especially in rural areas), racial inequity, supply chain weaknesses, etc. I want to know what actions the candidates would take and how they would prioritize the work that needs to be done to make our country and our economy stronger and more resilient.”
Cardew Hay Co.
“If I had to pick one issue that matters most to my business and livelihood, it would be the candidates’ ability to get a second round of COVID-related help done ASAP. While our equity markets and, recently, commodity markets are chugging along, America’s small businesses are hurting. I’m very concerned about a number of our clients who have seen dramatic declines in revenue since March of this year. ”
Nightlight Pediatric Urgent Care
“I would like the candidates to discuss their plan to reform healthcare. Our healthcare system is broken, expensive, and inefficient…As a business owner, healthcare is one of my biggest expenses. Each year the premiums go up and the coverage/benefit goes down. This is not sustainable.”
Founder & COO
“Many small businesses in the U.S. are on life support due to the impact of COVID-19 on their business. Our customer mix went from being made up of 35% privately owned small retailers and spas to 10% almost overnight. Doors were shut and the lights turned off. While Lay-n-Go was able to find other digital channels to sell into, these closed businesses were not. We need to elect a President and Congressional leaders with clearly defined plans designed to bolster the Main Street economy through pro-business legislation and responsible financial support.


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Flash inflation and unemployment figures from Eurozone are due on Friday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.
At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany's retail sales figures. Economists forecast sales to grow 0.2 percent month-on-month, reversing a 0.5 percent fall in March.
At 2.45 am ET, French consumer spending and producer prices are due. Consumer spending is expected to fall 0.6 percent month-on-month in April and producer prices are forecast to drop 0.3 percent.
Hungary's PPI and Turkey's trade reports are due at 3.00 am ET. Economists forecast producer prices to rise 1.2 percent year-on-year in April, after rising 2.2 percent in March.
At 4.00 am ET, unemployment figures are due from Italy and Norway. Italy's jobless rate is seen at 11.6 percent in April, up from 11.5 percent in March.
Half an hour later, the Bank of England is scheduled to release mortgage approvals for April. The mortgage approvals for April is seen at 54,600 compared to 53,504 in March.
At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is slated to release unemployment figures for April and preliminary inflation data for May. Eurozone inflation is seen rising to 1.4 percent in May from 1.2 percent in April.
The jobless rate is expected to rise marginally to 12.2 percent in April from 12.1 percent in March.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: firstname.lastname@example.org
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.


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Report: Tennessee quarterly exports dip $500M year-over-year
MURFREESBORO — Exports in Tennessee dropped by more than $500 million during the third quarter compared to the same period last year, falling to $7.8 billion, according to a report released Monday.
Middle Tennessee State University's Business and Economic Research Center reported that the decline of 6.6% in Tennessee exceeded the 1.7% dip in exports seen nationally.
It's the same story seen during the second quarter in Tennessee, with tepid global growth, slowdown in the automotive industry and effects of trade wars under President Donald Trump's administration, according to the analysis.
Tennessee ranked 37th among states in its export performance last quarter.
The report cited successes within the medical equipment category, with medical and dental instruments up by more than $100 million, or 23%; orthopedics and artificial joint exports up almost $100 million, or 35%; and medicines and pharmaceuticals increased by $76 million, a 43% gain.
But several sectors saw export losses, and they were often deep, according to the report.
Aircraft shipments were down almost $200 million, or 43%. Cars themselves fell 16%, a $100 million loss, and several other automotive-related exports also struggled. Whiskey, a target of retaliatory tariffs, lost $75 million in the quarter compared to the same time in 2018.


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SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – California is moving toward banning those little bottles of shampoo you get in hotel rooms.
“In California alone, hotels use hundreds of millions of single use plastic bottles every year,” said Assemblymember Ash Kalra of San Jose.READ MORE: SF Marina District Residents Fed Up With Brazen Crime Spree Hire Security
Kalra is co-authoring a bill that would ban the tiny plastic bottles at almost 10,000 hotels state wide.
“We can get those bottles out of the waste stream, but also cut the production of them, which is also harmful to the environment,” he said.READ MORE: UPDATE: Alameda Businesses Fight Back Against Serial ADA Lawsuit Filer
Last year Santa Cruz County became the first jurisdiction in California to ban the small bottles.
“This is a significant step forward to make sure that these bottles do not get into the bay,” said Santa Cruz County Supervisor Zack Friend.
Karla’s bill, AB 1162 is working its way through committees in Sacramento. If it passes on the assembly floor later this year, the ban would not take effect for at least three years.MORE NEWS: UPDATE: Mystery Hero Rescues Man Trapped In Burning Building In San Francisco


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If you have an iPhone or Android device, then chances are you’ve heard of Lookout. If not, then you might want to know more about this security app. With 20 million users in 170 countries worldwide, Lookout protects mobile phones from viruses, malware, and spyware. It even locates and locks lost devices.
Based in San Francisco, California, Lookout Mobile Security was founded by John Hering, James Burgess, and Kevin Mahaffrey. The three mobile security researchers met at the University of Southern California and became friends over a common love for technology. After discovering a security flaw in Bluetooth and failing to get the attention of phone manufacturers, the group headed to the Academy Awards, where they identified all the vulnerable celebrity phones on the red carpet. The stunt led them to be featured on the New York Times, officially putting them on the map.
Recently, the three founders of Lookout were named to Inc. Magazine’s 2012 30 Under 30 list.


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Marmalade maker Lynne Allan, who runs Lady Waterford Preserves at the Old Dairy Concept Store in Ford, has won a bronze award in The World’s Original Marmalade Competition.
She went back in history 500 years to create a special Flodden marmalade to commemorate the famous battle, which took place in 1513 and beat competition from accredited marmalade makers throughout the United Kingdom and abroad to win third place in the Any Citrus Marmalade category at Dalemain House in Cumbria.
“Once again we are delighted to take a bronze at this amazing marmalade festival,” said Lynne.
“We entered three years ago and won silver for our Lady Waterford’s Marmalade with Chips and since then the competition has got even stiffer. The artisan section is a hard fought and highly prized section of the competition with the likes of the Ludlow Food Centre taking part and a host of other excellent marmalade makers.”


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European Commission launches investigation of imported Chinese truck and bus tyres
The European Commission (EC) has issued a notice that it will initiate an anti-dumping proceeding related to imported truck and bus tyres from China. The EC’s action is the result of a complaint received on June 30, 2017 by an industry coalition against unfair tyre imports.
The group represents tyre manufacturers who account for more than 45% of all new and re-treaded truck and bus tyre production in the European Union, the EC notice said. The coalition’s complaint alleges that imports of new and re-treaded truck and bus tyres from China are being dumped in European markets and are causing material injury to its new and re-treaded tyre industries.
In response to the complaint, the EC will investigate the existence of dumping and injury between July 1, 2016 and June 30 2017. It will review industry trends from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2017 to assess possible injury. Evidence provided by the industry coalition suggests that prices and volumes of Chinese tyres entering the European Union have negatively impacted the market share held by manufacturers within the European Union, leading to declining job numbers within the EU tyre and re-treading sectors.
Manufacturers exporting truck and bus tyres from China to the European Union are invited to participate in the investigation. Those wishing to do so must provide the EC with the required information by August 26, 2017. The EC’s investigation will be concluded within 15 months from the publication notice date of August 11, 2017.