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Maxol adds new food franchises to Lucan Road store
Maxol has announced the opening of its first Asian cuisine restaurant Kanoodle, along with the fourth site for healthy fast food franchise Freshly Chopped, at the newly refurbished service station at Lucan Road in Dublin
9 June 2017
Maxol has extended its relationship with Brian Lee and Andy Chen of award-winning franchise Freshly Chopped, who have been appointed licensees by Maxol to operate at Maxol Lucan Road in Dublin.
The refurbishment at the site follows an investment of €560,000 with the creation of 20 new jobs to include retail supervisors, shop sales assistants, and deli sales staff amongst others. Total employment levels at the Maxol service station will rise to 35.
Kanoodle offers fresh Asian dishes including noodles, soups, salads, stir-fries and curries, all made using guaranteed Irish meats and the freshest local produce where possible. Well-known and highly successful healthy food franchise Freshly Chopped provides a range of freshly made-to-order salads, wraps, soups and juices.
Brian Donaldson, Maxol’s Group CEO said the company is looking froward to continuing its partnership with Chopped founders Brian Lee and Andy Chen. “We are delighted to create 20 new jobs at Maxol Lucan,” he said, “after an investment of over half a million euro. Maxol Lucan is our fifth opening in 2017 and showcases our fast-evolving retail strategy to bring our customers a wide range of convenient, healthy food choices in modern and attractive surroundings.”
Brian Lee, co-founder and managing director of Freshly Chopped his company is “incredibly proud of its partnership with Maxol.
“Becoming licensees and taking over the management of an already well established Maxol location will provide us with the chance to learn about a new industry and apply some of the lessons we’ve learned building our own brand. We set up Freshly Chopped in 2012, and the fact that this is our 26th outlet, only five years after opening our first store, is evidence that Ireland’s healthy eating revolution is still going strong.”
More investment is planned at a further 11 locations within the Maxol service station network for the remainder of 2017.


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At the 41-store Earth Fare chain, the food is organic and natural but the intelligence is artificial — at least when it comes to promotion planning. For the past year, the retailer has used an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based solution to help its category managers determine which items to feature in weekly promotions. In addition to saving man-hours in the marketing and merchandising departments, the solution has helped Earth Fare improve basket size and customer trip metrics.
Previously, Earth Fare merchandisers and marketers had to earmark numerous hours each week to manually determine which products to promote. Grocery deflation presented an additional challenge in driving appropriate sales and achieving gross margin balance.
“Without doubt Daisy has driven a meaningful lift in basket size and trips without any additional margin cost,” said Scott Little, CFO of Earth Fare in a statement. The retailer is seeing a solid and substantial year-on-year improvement trend in sales and transactions as utilization of the Daisy solution has increased over time.
“Most of our team is finding they are spending less time trying to find the right data and understand it, and more time addressing the more critical elements of their jobs,” said Little.

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London Articles & Reviews
London’s New Men’s Boutique
T+L gets a sneak peek at London’s latest go-to spot for men’s fashion.
By Katie Bowman
“Shopping in places like Italy and Japan is like going on a treasure hunt,” says Sweden-born Mats Klingberg about his inspiration for Trunk Clothiers, in London. “You discover amazing brands from all corners of the world, and I wanted to bring them together under one roof—with a personal touch.” Klingberg, who had previous stints at Nordiska Kompaniet, Sweden’s iconic department store, and Giorgio Armani, chose the sophisticated Marylebone neighborhood for his cozy (there’s even a log fireplace), Scandi-style men’s store. His highly curated collection—from wintry quilted jackets by Italian label Aspesi to lamb’s-wool cardigans from Beams+, of Tokyo—is lovingly handpicked on his travels around the globe.


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Economists who are paid to watch every twitch and hiccup of the New York City economy are starting to see signs of life. Not dramatic signs -- certainly not enough to justify buying a magnum of Dom Perignon -- but stirrings across a broad-enough spectrum to indicate that the economy's four-year free fall may be ending.
The rate of job losses in the metropolitan area is finally slowing. Wall Street is having its first good run of business in three years. The market for midtown Manhattan office space is showing the first signs of firming up. And stores and hotels are reporting a slight increase in business.
These are just a few of the straws in the wind that are giving economists reason for what they like to call cautious optimism. "We're not vaulting out of recession -- or even jumping out -- but we are taking small steps," said Samuel M. Ehrenhalt, the regional commissioner for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Of course, not everything is rosy. More than 1,000 companies in New York City failed in the first half of 1991, nearly double last year's rate. And there are no clear signs yet that claims for unemployment insurance in the tri-state area are abating. That may be a reason why there is no obvious improvement yet in the public mood.
There are also more job losses coming -- with big layoffs expected at Pan Am, Manufacturers Hanover, the Chemical Bank and the city government -- that will act as a drag on the economy. And it is hard to ignore the risk of the national economy tumbling back into recession, which could dampen New York's prospects for recovery, although the linkage between the two economies is not exact.Continue reading the main story
In the 1981-82 recession, for instance, the New York area did not suffer nearly as badly as the nation. And this time around, the region entered its recession 17 months before the national economy sagged, so it may be further through the wringing-out process and readier for rebound.
Despite all of these caveats, many New York area economists are willing to put their necks out and say there is a change in the air. "There are a few positive signs out there, and we haven't had any at all for four years," said Rosemary Scanlon, chief economist at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Clues in the Job Market
One of the best clues to future economic prospects is the job market. According to Mr. Ehrenhalt, the 23 counties in the metropolitan region that span New York and New Jersey lost 90,400 jobs in the first half of the year. While that is nothing to cheer about, it is a considerable improvement over the 115,500 jobs that were lost in the last six months of last year. And Mr. Ehrenhalt notes that the unemployment rate for New York State and New Jersey has been holding fairly steady for the last two months, after rising sharply earlier this year.
Within the job market, the brightest single spot is Wall Street. The securities industry seems to be near the tail end of a large-scale restructuring, during which it has reduced jobs and overhead back. The results of that reconfiguring are becoming apparent: Profits were stronger in the first half of the year than they have been since 1987. Merrill Lynch & Company and Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Company reported record earnings in the second quarter, and Bear, Stearns & Company recently increased its bonuses by an average of 15 percent over last year. 'A Very Important Floor'
With the return of profits, the number of people on the industry's payroll has started to grow again. Since salaries on Wall Street are the highest in the region, averaging around $78,000 a year, that can quickly translate into more restaurant bills, clothing purchases and co-op sales.
"This puts a very important floor under the recession for the city," Ms. Scanlon said.
Already, there are some signs that New Yorkers are renewing their interest in shopping. Retail sales in the region are still far from robust. But in every month since January, the pace of decline has been slower than in the comparable period a year earlier. In June, sales were actually higher than a year earlier.
In what seemed like a confirmation of this trend, R. H. Macy & Company reported last week that its sales had increased for the first time in four quarters, a development that it termed "a significant reversal."
Macy's would not divulge what portion of that improvement was a result of business in the New York area. But Julian Taub, a senior vice president at Bloomingdale's, said his New York stores were reporting healthy back-to-school sales and double-digit increases in sales of fashion accessories, handbags and men's wear. He attributed the improvement to promotions and the arrival of new merchandise.
"I see slightly improved sales for Bloomingdale's in the metropolitan area," he said, explaining that "slightly" meant less than 5 percent. An Increase in Tourism
Mr. Taub said he could not tell whether the improvement in sales was a result of increased buying by tourists or New York residents. But there are signs that more visitors are coming to the New York area. Since February, airport arrivals have been higher than they were the previous month. And the average occupancy rate in city hotels for June was 74.6 percent, compared with 73.8 percent a year earlier.
Although this is a modest improvement, and only for one month, "it is significant because it's the first year-over-year increase we've had for 18 months," said John A. Fox, a principal at the New York accounting firm of Pannell Kerr Forster, which monitors the hotel industry.
There are other, more general signs that economic life in New York is improving. A spokesman for the Consolidated Edison Company said the number of customers who were late in paying their bills was beginning to decline, albeit modestly. And city officials were pleasantly surprised in May and June to see a $100 million surge in the revenues they collected from the general corporation tax, the unincorporated business tax and the bank tax.
The sense that business is finally beginning to pick up seems to have spurred some companies to make one of the hardest decisions of all -- to commit to leasing office space. James Vanderslice, a managing director at the realty concern Cushman & Wakefield, said many companies had been sitting on the sidelines for months, watching as rents tumbled and landlords offered such incentives as several months of free rent to attract tenants. A Dip in the Vacancy Rate
Now, he said, he detects a change in outlook, in which people are beginning to think that if this is not the bottom of the market, it is exceedingly close. "Companies are starting to make decisions now to go forward on real estate," he said, a change that is reflected in the office vacancy rate.
After several months of stabilizing, the primary vacancy rate for midtown office space actually dipped in June, to 16.2 percent from 17.4 percent, for the first time since October. The downtown rate declined in April and May, and remained at 17 percent in June.
More office space will be coming on the market in the next few years as a result of the merger of the Chemical Bank and the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. Still, Mr. Vanderslice said, he believes that most of the large blocks of office space that are likely to become vacant have already been identified.
The sharp decline in new construction is also likely to shore up the market in the near term, he said. Signs of Stabilization
What all of these indicators suggest is that the New York economy is stabilizing, which as every business owner and employee knows, is far different from growing. Just as many economists have concluded that the national recovery will be tepid, so those who study the local tea leaves are expecting a generally sluggish period until at least early next year.
Although the Federal Reserve Board has recently pushed down interest rates again to help insure that the recovery does not fizzle, that may not be enough. The latest Federal Reserve survey of banks in the New York area found that over the last three months, a majority of them had tightened their credit standards even more.
"There's definitely something there," Mr. Ehrenhalt said, taking note of the many slivers of light. "But the situation is still fragile."Continue reading the main story


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The CTIA Wireless Internet Caucus (WIC) today launched the “WIC Weblog“, the first permanent weblog produced by CTIA, the International Association for the Wireless Industry. The blog provides an ongoing source of news about the WIC and CTIA wireless data activities as well as news and analysis about wireless data products, services and technologies in the United States and abroad.
The WIC Weblog serves as a way to spark online “conversations” among WIC staff, CTIA members, wireless industry participants and the public. “We launched the weblog not just because it’s a great way for us to quickly provide information about wireless data but also because we want to open a two-way communications channel with our wireless data community,” said Mark Desautels, Vice President of Wireless Internet development at CTIA and the head of the WIC.
“We welcome feedback and encourage readers to post comments in the WIC Weblog,” he said. “The Weblog is the latest method we are launching to provide wireless data information and to stay in touch with the community of users. Stay tuned for an announcement about another WIC publication.”
In addition, the WIC Weblog will help to promote WIC members’ contributions to developing and improving wireless data products and services. The Weblog’s sidebars include information about the WIC’s vision, its Action Teams, WIC and CTIA events, WIC wireless data resources and contact information.
Alan A. Reiter, president of the consulting firm of Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing, is editor of the WIC Weblog. Reiter has been analyzing wireless for 26 years. His first wireless data weblog was named one of the top five technology weblogs by “Fortune” magazine in 2003.
Reiter also manages one of the top weblogs for information about wireless imaging, “Reiter’s Camera Phone Report.”


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Starting today, Huawei Mobile Kenya has kicked off a two week’s shopping festival. This will see consumers enjoy discounts on their various devices and accessories.
Huawei Shopping Festival
They have a range of accessories and smartphones on discount. For the accessories on sale, they have the:
- Huawei GT2 at
- KES 19,999 for female smartwatches
- KES 25,999 for male smartwatches
- Freebuds 3 that will be retailing at Kshs 16,499.
As for the smartphones, they are focussing on their Y-Series:
Each of these devices comes with a free bundle gift that could include a variety of accessories.
Speaking at the festival, Jim Zhujie said,
“We are delighted to kick off this festival. This is the first one in the market and is part of our strategy to increase our footprint in the market. In the last couple of months, we have tried as much as we can to ensure that all devices in the market cater to different needs in the market.”
With these new devices, Huawei says they have managed to revolutionize the mid-range segment. They note that it is because the devices are not only affordable but also packed with premium features.
To have that ‘personal touch’ you can visit the Sarit Centre and the Village Market and attend the festival at the Huawei Experience Store.


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The Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) fell below growth neutral for the only the second time this year. According to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy, the RMI for August indicated negative growth for the region.
Overall: The overall index slumped to 46.5 from 50.2 in July. This is the lowest reading for the index since October 2017. The index ranges between 0 and 100 with 50.0 representing growth neutral, and an RMI below the growth neutral threshold. 50.0, indicates negative growth for the month.
"The trade war with China and the lack of passage of the USMCA (NAFTA's replacement) are driving growth lower for areas of the region with close ties to agriculture. Despite a $16 billion federal government support package coming soon, a drop in farm income is negatively affecting the rural mainstreet economy," says Creighton University's Dr. Ernie Goss, who conducts the monthly survey.
Three of four bankers reported the trade war was having a negative impact on their local economy.
As stated by Jeffrey Gerhart, CEO of the Bank of Newman Grove in Newman Grove, Nebraska, "Trade wars have been and will continue to be a drain on our ag economy"
"Despite the negative impact of tariffs and the trade war, only 28.2% of bankers support cutting tariffs on imported goods from China," states Goss.
Rod Cornelius, market president for Pinnacle Bank in Grand Island, Nebraska reports, "I quickly surveyed 12 local producers, a majority indicated (U.S. should) increase tariff pressure - go big or go home. Although the majority again indicated the tariffs are negatively impacting the local economy."
Farming and ranching: The farmland and ranchland-price index for August improved to a still weak 46.3 from July's 45.6. This is the 69th straight month the index has remained below growth neutral 50.0.
The August farm equipment-sales index dropped to 30.3 from July's 37.9. This marks the 72nd straight month the reading has remained below growth neutral 50.0. "The dismal economic outlook for farm income continues to decimate agriculture equipment sales in the region," reports Goss.


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METV to boost tourism
Thailand’s recent update on the six-month Multiple Entry Tourist Visa (METV) has given Indians another reason to visit the country more frequently.
Indian travellers who frequent Thailand on a regular basis can now rejoice, for the muchawaited six-month multiple entry tourist visa (METV) has been implemented by Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs starting November 13, 2015. Runjuan Tongrut, Director, North and East India, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), says, “From January to September, we received over eight lakh Indian visitors and are expecting the numbers to rise to 10 lakh by the end of the year. We are hoping that the METV will give fillip to these figures and more Indian travellers will visit Thailand.” She states that India currently ranks sixth on Thailand’s list of source markets, but with India’s high tourism potential, it would reach to fifth position by the end of next year.
The much-awaited METV comes as a huge boon to trade and frequent travellers. Giving more details about the same, Tongrut elaborates, “The fee for the METV is 5,000 baht, which approximately comes to `
10,000. It is valid for a period of six months and one can enter and leave the country as often as they want, provided they leave the country every 60 days. However, she clarifies, “METV can only be applied for at a Royal Thai Consulate or through agents–it is not available online.”
With the implementation of several new initiatives, such as the recent addition of Dreamliner Boeing 787 on the Bangkok-New Delhi route by Thai Airways, Tongrut is hopeful about next year’s outcome. “Thailand has proven to be a popular choice for Indians, especially for destination weddings and family vacations,” she says. “We continue to promote these aspects and also focus on honeymoon and sports tourism. Thailand is a golfer’s paradise and golf tourism has constantly been on the incline. Moreover, numerous groups have been visiting Thailand to participate in marathons and for the same purpose, special marathon packages are on offer, in association with TUI,” she adds.
As the birthplace of winter tourism and having hosted Winter Olympics twice already, St. Moritz in Switzerland is reaching out to travel agents and tour operators in India this winter.
Ariane Ehrat, CEO of Tourism Organisation Engadin St. Moritz , was in Mumbai recently to meet the trade and find out what Indian travellers are looking for and how St. Moritz could match those demands. “We need to know what their requirements are and what activities they like to do in winter if they don’t like skiing or hiking. We have a host of other products like culinary, wellness, medical, nature, etc. We are targeting two segments—HNIs for leisure and corporate for MICE,” says the World Ski Champion. The destination is also promoting its Christmas markets.
METV can only be applied at a Royal Thai Consulate or through agents– it is not available online
She, however added that the NTO is not offering any deals and incentives to the trade for MICE as of now. “But we have to do that in the
She says, “It is just a matter of time for us before we reach other cities in India. We have seen a rise in Indian arrivals. It is currently at 5,000 overnight stays in St. Moritz. But this is not enough. Our goal is to bring in 10,000 overnights in five years. It is better to grow slowly and steadily.”
Director, North and East India, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)


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The Middleby Corporation and Welbilt, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement under which Middleby will acquire Welbilt in an all-stock transaction, enhancing the Middleby Commercial Foodservice platform with an attractive portfolio of products, brands and technologies. This transaction will bring together two complementary businesses, accelerate the Middleby growth strategy into key markets globally and increase core capabilities in highly attractive segments.
The combined company will have approximately $3.7 billion in combined 2020 sales, 73 percent of which will come from the Commercial Foodservice segment. With a strong balance sheet and robust cash generation, Middleby will be well positioned and capitalized to support significant R&D and future acquisition opportunities. Middleby has a long track record of successfully integrating businesses, having completed over 20 acquisitions since 2018, and has a history of driving efficiencies in acquired companies.
“Today’s announcement represents a milestone event for Middleby, Welbilt and the Commercial Foodservice Equipment industry. The combination of our two great companies creates a leading player with a comprehensive product line, global footprint and advanced technologies and solutions that are well positioned to serve our rapidly changing customer needs and capitalize on emerging industry trends. The acquisition of Welbilt is a transformational opportunity for Middleby and a compelling combination that will benefit all of our stakeholders,” said Middleby CEO Timothy FitzGerald. “We are excited to welcome the Welbilt team and we will benefit from the highly talented group they have assembled.”
William Johnson, CEO of Welbilt, said, “We are pleased to combine with Middleby to offer our customers a broad and innovative portfolio of products and technologies. This transaction will allow Welbilt to accelerate our strategic development and represents an outstanding opportunity for Welbilt shareholders to realize an attractive value and participate in the future value creation of the combined organization. I am pleased to be joining the Middleby Board of Directors upon closing of the transaction to support a successful combination of the businesses.”


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I like video games. I like turntables. I like DJ Shadow, I like the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, the Scratch Perverts. Yet I've thought DJ Hero was a stupid idea from the moment the series was first announced.
Publisher Activision put its Guitar Hero business on ice earlier this year, signaling the end of a genre that was once white hot, but quickly flamed out. Why did Activision just bail on this formerly billion dollar business instead of taking it in a radical new direction?
Publisher Activision is getting out of the Hero business. That means no new DJ Hero and Guitar Hero games (at least for 2011), but it also means no new downloadable songs for the games it has already released.
There will be no skateboarding games, no music games coming from Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero publisher Activision in 2011. That means no DJ Hero 3 to play and no Tony Hawk games to stand on this year. And, oh yeah, no Guitar Hero games.
Publisher Activision has just added a few more games and maybe one more development studio to its kill count. A now partially confirmed report says that the mega-publisher has axed the Guitar Hero franchise, killed its True Crime reboot and fired much of Freestyle Games.
Eric Ruth's 8-Bit version of Activision's DJ Hero is now available to download and play, complete with six chiptune mashups that put DJ Hero 2's soundtrack to shame. Who's up for some Dead or Alive Vs. Siouxsie and the Banshees?
The man responsible for the 8-bit version of zombie shooter Left 4 Dead has turned his "de-make" skills to another recent franchise—Activision's DJ Hero. Pixel Force: DJ Hero, as it's known, is musically true to its 80s roots.


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The new outlet is situated at Sharth City Mall, Hitec City, Kondapur, Hyderabad
Bengaluru: Global clothing and accessories retail chain Gap Inc. opens its third stand-alone outlet in India in Hyderabad, a company official announced in a social media post.
The new Gap store is at Sharth City Mall at Hitec City, Mukesh Sinha, channel head of Gap Inc. announced in a LinkedIn post.
Reliance Retail brought Gap Inc. to India through a long-term franchise agreement with the American fashion brand in July 2022. Gap returned to India for the second time after parting ways with Arvind Fashions in 2020. Currently, Reliance Retail is the official retailer for Gap Inc. in India, mixing exclusive stores and digital commerce platforms.
After its relaunch Reliance retail launched over 50 Gap shop-in-shops across the country in 2022. The retail giant opened its first freestanding store in Mumbai’s Infinity Mall, Malad in February 2023 and its second store at GS Road, Guwahati. Read more about it here. “The expansion of Gap’s India presence will include a series of freestanding store openings across the country in the coming months,” said the company in a LinkedIn post.
Reliance Retail is a subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL), the holding company of all retail brands under the Reliance group. RRVL recorded a turnover of Rs 199,704 crore and a net profit of Rs 7,055 crore for fiscal year (FY) 2022.
Gap was founded in 1969 by Donald Fisher and Doris F. Fisher and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company merchandises apparel, accessories and personal care products for men, women and children through its retail stores, franchised stores, and e-commerce portals. The company operates four primary divisions: Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta.


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On April 8, when the moon completely blocks the face of the sun for a total solar eclipse, it won’t just be the sky putting on a show.
Here on the ground, everyone from eclipse chasers to casual observers are helping to create a surge in demand for flights and accommodations to see the celestial event, giving a boost to the local economies of cities near the path of totality.
Drew Koning and Erica Weinberg, from San Diego, have airfare, hotels and rental cars lined up in both Austin, Texas, and St. Louis for themselves and their three kids — ages 12, 14 and 16 — to see the eclipse. They’re deciding on which reservation they’ll keep depending on which city has better weather.
“It's a chance for us to bond over something truly extraordinary and to instill in our children a sense of wonder and appreciation for the mysteries of space,” Koning tells Yahoo Entertainment. “Taking my family to see the solar eclipse is fostering a love for science and discovery that will inspire them going forward.”
Koning was in France during the 1999 eclipse and in Wyoming for the 2017 eclipse. He learned then that hotels book up quickly, so he booked the family's travel a year in advance this time around.
“It is a life-changing event,” Weinberg tells Yahoo. “It’s a wonderful experience for us as a family, and a great excuse to travel with them and do something completely outside the norm.”
What makes this different from 2017’s eclipse?
According to Joe Westlake, director of NASA's heliophysics division, more Americans will be able to see this eclipse than in 2017. During the previous event, most cities that experienced 100% totality were in "fairly uninhabited" areas at the time.
"This one, however, hits large cities like San Antonio, Dallas, and through Arkansas, Cleveland, Indianapolis and all the way into Vermont," Westlake tells Yahoo Entertainment. The path of totality will be nearly 60% wider this time, and the eclipse itself will last much longer, with nearly four minutes of 100% totality in Dallas and Cleveland.
“There's over 30 million Americans within the path of the eclipse’s totality,” Westlake says of this weekend’s event. “There's another 150-plus million within a 200-mile drive of getting there. I think a lot of people across the U.S. are going to do that, which should have a big impact [on cities].”
Airbnb sees a boost
Cities including Dallas, Cleveland, Burlington, Vt., and Indianapolis saw a significant surge in searches for the weekend of April 8 compared with this time last year, according to a February Airbnb report.
As of April 1, Texas was the most-booked state on the platform, while Indianapolis was the most-booked city, an Airbnb representative tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Roughly 10% of confirmed guests are first-time bookers who’ve never stayed in an Airbnb before. Hosts are seizing the opportunity to host eclipse viewers.
Isida Malko, an Airbnb host with five properties in the Indianapolis area, posted her listings on the platform six months in advance and was fully booked in less than 24 hours. The demand was so high, she tells Yahoo Entertainment, that she received requests from people willing to pay more than the asking price in an effort to outbid the initial booker.
Anastasia Gamino, an Airbnb host for two booked properties in Indianapolis, made gift bags for her guests with a total eclipse survival kit, she tells Yahoo. “They’re equipped with solar eclipse glasses, Sunkist, Starbursts, Milky Ways, Moon Pies and Sun Chips with a handwritten welcome card.”
According to Airbnb, there were still listings available in cities with 100% totality as of April 2. They include accommodations in Richardson and Pflugerville, Texas; Syracuse and Rochester, N.Y.; Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio; Bloomington, Ind. and Hot Springs, Ariz.
How are hotels shaping up?
Research from Amadeus Hospitality shows that hotels in cities in the path of totality were mostly booked as of late February. That includes Erie, Pa., which was 89% booked, Burlington, Vt. (88%) and Buffalo, N.Y. (78%). Those numbers have likely gone up slightly since.
Brandon Schultz, a travel writer from New York City, is flying to Indianapolis with his partner Jeff to witness an eclipse in the path of totality for the first time. Rates were high when they reserved their hotel in January and booked their flights in February.
“We decided to do it while we had the chance,” he tells Yahoo Entertainment. “We’ll be in our 60s when the next one comes. I hope we’re still traveling then, but we wanted to see this one while we were still considerably younger and able to appreciate it as much as possible.”
In Cleveland, where 74% of area hotels are booked, a city spokesperson tells Yahoo Entertainment they’re expecting around 200,000 visitors during the weekend of April 7, which is more than the attendance of a Browns game, Guardians game, Cavaliers game and the St. Patrick's Day parade combined.
Cleveland and surrounding Cuyahoga County have been collaborating for more than two years to make the eclipse a memorable experience.
“We anticipate that all of our hotels will sell out and we hope to see our businesses and restaurants full of people hoping to experience this incredibly unique opportunity,” the city spokesperson says.
Meanwhile, 90% of the 35,000 hotel rooms in Dallas are booked, Jennifer Walker of Visit Dallas told NBC Dallas, and city leaders are preparing for 400,000 out-of-town visitors for the event.
Hotels, including Virgin Hotels Dallas, are throwing eclipse viewing parties. A Virgin Hotels rep tells Yahoo Entertainment that the hotel is preparing for hundreds of attendees, and that a "limited number of tickets and hotel rooms are still available" but going quickly.
In Burlington, Kim Donahue, president of Vermont Lodging Association, tells Yahoo properties are experiencing an 80% increase in occupancy for this weekend.
What’s happening in the air?
There will be 25 flights in the air during the eclipse, with tickets costing over $1,000 each for a one-way journey.
Delta Airlines has two special flights in the eclipse's direct path. Flight 1218, leaving April 8 from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport at 12:15 p.m. and landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport at 4:20 p.m., sold out in 24 hours. Flight 1010, leaving from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport at 12:30 p.m. and landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport at 4:20 p.m., still has seats available as of April 2, according to a Delta spokesperson.
In addition, five regularly scheduled Delta flights are expected to have partial views of the eclipse.
Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, United and Southwest are also offering flights with either full or partial views of the eclipse.
United has 11 flights in the solar eclipse path. Bookings with Cleveland, Little Rock and San Antonio as final destinations for April 8 are up double and triple digits compared with the same time last year, an airline rep tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Alaska Airlines has two flights for eclipse viewing: flight 390, from San Diego International Airport to Boston’s Logan International Airport, and flight 322, from San Diego International Airport to Dulles International Airport.
Alaska Airlines Captain Brian Holm, who piloted a flight during 2017’s eclipse, says it has been a collaborative effort across the company to make these flights special.
“Observing a solar eclipse from the air is a truly remarkable experience,” he tells Yahoo Entertainment. “While the eclipse itself is an incredible event to witness, what I found most amazing is watching the shadow below racing across the earth and clouds at over 1,500 mph along the path of totality. The combined experience is truly unique.”
According to NASA, the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the contiguous U.S. will be on August 23, 2044, with parts of Montana and North Dakota experiencing totality.
The next total solar eclipse to span coast to coast won't be until 2045, reports ABC News.


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Over 140 cleaning industry professionals gathered at the Brewery in London for the final of the CSSA and CHSA Innovation Showcase and saw Bunzl take the top prize for their ‘Wandanext’ product.
Eight companies had been invited to the final after successfully getting through the ‘Dragons Den’ round earlier in the year. All were competing for the chance to win this inaugural industry award and the fabulous 3D glass trophy.
Cheeky Panda were runners up, with Clarity The Soap Company being recognised for the innovative social enterprise of their organisation. The other exhibitors on the day were: DorsaVi, Rubbermaid, ICE, Ucomply, and Unger. After visiting each product stand in turn, attendees were asked to vote on who had the most ‘innovative’ product.
The margin between all eight competing companies was very close but Bunzl’s Wandanext’ got the most votes.
Charlotte Parr, Account Director at Bunzl Cleaning and Hygiene Supplies said: “We are delighted to have won this award and would like to thank the CSSA and CHSA for organising it. We are passionate about driving the cleaning and FM industry forward through Innovation, and Wanda is a very innovative product, so we are really pleased it has been recognised by the industry in this way.”
Camilla Marcus-Dew, Head of Commercial for Clarity, said: “We were so excited when we heard we’d be receiving the special Recognition Award. To be valued by the cleaning and hygiene industry in this way signals that our work as a social enterprise is being acknowledged. The more that business and industry is persuaded to switch soap for social good, the more we can help people into work who really need it.”
CSSA Chief Executive Officer, John Findlater, said: “I’d like to thank everyone who took part, our sponsors CHSA and all the attendees who turned up for the event. The Innovation Showcase gives our members and others in the industry the chance to see the very latest cutting edge products, demonstrated right in front of their eyes. A case of not telling the industry about innovations but bringing the industry to the Innovators! This was a hugely successful event and we hope to repeat it again in 2020.”
Mark Woodhead, a member of the Cleaning and Hygiene Suppliers Association’s Council, said: “We are delighted to have been involved in this great initiative. The CSSA’s Innovation Showcase was a wonderful platform for celebrating some of the brilliant ideas coming forward in our industry. The innovations on display at the showcase were exceptional. It was also great to see so many people at the event, supporting and encouraging innovation in our sector.”
The eight companies taking part in the final at The Brewery in London were:
Bunzl – Wandanext
Cheeky Panda – Bamboo Substitute
DorsaVi – Wearable Sensory Technology
Ice – Smartcall
Rubbermaid – LumeCel Autofoam
The Soap Company – ClarityECO+
Ucomply – Right to Work App
Unger – erGo Floor Product


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The successful unionization effort at Amazon’s Staten Island, New York, JFK8 warehouse – a first at the company in the U.S. despite years of activism – may have been a major victory, but it doesn’t necessarily signal a resurgence of the labor movement, attorney Juan Dominguez told The Food Institute.
Amazon employees voted 2,654 to 2,131 to be represented by Amazon Labor Union, the National Labor Relations Board announced. Only about half the warehouse’s employees participated in the vote, which was conducted March 25-30.
The successful vote stands in stark contrast to last year’s more than 10% drop in union membership across the country. Amazon, which has 1.6 million employees around the world, was unhappy with the outcome, saying in a statement: “We’re disappointed with the outcome of the election in Staten Island because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees.”
The victory came just a year after a similar vote at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama, warehouse defeated the unionization effort.
“I don’t think the union success at Amazon represents a major resurgence of the labor movement. The labor sector has changed profoundly,” Dominguez, a Los Angeles-area attorney, said in an email.
CURRENT UNION CLIMATE
“Union work is even more challenging today than it was in the past because globalization allowed employers … several countermeasures to labor movements,” Dominguez said. “I think part of the success of Amazon had to do with the pandemic and the … Great Resignation, which had employers across industries rethinking their talent attraction and retention policies.”
The Amazon Labor Union had a $100,000 budget, rallying workers on TikTok, at bus stops and during picnics and pizza parties, while the company spent $4.2 million to try to sway workers at both Staten Island and Bessemer, The City reported (April 1).
“We want to thank Jeff Bezos for going up to space, because while he was up there, we were organizing a union,” Chris Smalls, who was fired from JFK8 in March 2020 for his organizing efforts, said in remarks outside the NLRB’s Brooklyn offices. Smalls added:
“We went for the jugular, and we went after the top dog. We’re going to unionize. We’re not going to quit our jobs anymore.”
AN UPSET VICTORY
State Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island called the victory a David-versus-Goliath moment.
“For an independent group of workers to take on the biggest corporation in the free world and do it with nothing more than their ability to communicate with each other about the conditions in their workplace is absolutely amazing,” she told The City.
Andrew Duffy, CEO and co-founder of the incentive management platform SparkPlug, told The Food Institute he thinks workers have reached a breaking point because of deteriorating working conditions and stagnating wages. He said the New York victory will change the organizing playbook, turning away from big national unions in favor of grassroots movements, but it far from signals a rebirth of unions nationally.
“The rebirth of the labor movement will require one hell of an obstetrician — the federal government. Without moral, legislative and judicial support to protect worker groups, particularly fledgling ones like the Amazon Labor Union, corporations will continue to obstruct future formations,” he said.
Duffy added that he expects the next wave of unionization efforts to encompass medium-to-large retailers and restaurants, mostly in blue states.
Meanwhile, a looming union issue involves the 22,000 longshoremen employed at 29 ports along the West Coast where a work stoppage could exacerbate supply chain woes. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union contract expires June 30.


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Online CPG advertising has been growing in importance among marketers due to its ad effectiveness. A new study, conducted over a two-year period, and published in October 2011 by comScore and dunnhumbyUSA, highlights this fact by indicating that exposure to online display ads can lead to improved in-store sales for CPG brands. CPG campaigns register […]
Following the launch of its ad exchange at the beginning of September this year, online media group Hi-Media (Code ISIN FR0000075988 – HIM, HIM.FR), the European leader in monetizing the Internet audience, today announces two new contracts in Spain with Cocina.es and ADSLZone’s mobile application. Hi-Media Advertising has signed an advertising network agreement with Cocina.es […]
L’agence NPA conseil et le cabinet GfK viennent de publier un état des lieux du marché de la VOD en France en 2011. Le marché de la VOD payante (qui n’inclut donc pas la «catch-up TV», les séances de rattrapage pour les chaînes de télévision) affiche une croissance très soutenue alors que le marché de […]
– Group activity positive growth trend – Advertising confirms its upturn momentum – Electronic payment maintains its strong growth pace Online media group Hi-Media (Code ISIN FR0000075988 – HIM, HIM.FR), the European leader in monetizing the Internet audience, today publishes its activity report for the third quarter of 2011. Commenting on the 2011 third quarter […]
According to the fourth annual Global Consumer Shopping Habits survey conducted by ChannelAdvisor, the majority of consumers globally prefer shopping online (59%) over shopping at brick-and-mortar stores (35%). French consumers have the greatest appetite for online shopping when compared to other countries, with more than 68% of them preferring to shop online rather than in-store. […]


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The Lucky Brand ownership group will work with various landlords to maintain key stores across North America. There will also be an emphasis on driving distribution across e-commerce, marketplaces, department stores, specialty and freestanding locations in North America and international territories including Latin America, Europe and Asia.
“We are pleased to welcome this iconic heritage denim brand to ABG,” says Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and chief executive officer, Authentic Brands Group. “This acquisition will boost the value of our portfolio to more than $13 billion in global retail sales annually. Lucky Brand’s DNA resonates strongly with today’s youth, and we see tremendous opportunity to unlock its value in key territories around the world. With ABG’s
SPARC, which is partially owned by ABG, is the dedicated operating company for Aéropostale and Nautica. Through this new acquisition, SPARC will assume the role of core licensee and operating partner for Lucky Brand and will oversee all sourcing, product design and development, wholesale, operations of the brand’s North American retail stores and its growing e-commerce business. ABG will own the Lucky Brand intellectual property and oversee all licensing partnerships, new business and brand development. Brand marketing, which will be heavily focused on digital activations, social media and emerging platforms, will be shared by SPARC and ABG.
“Building on the foundation we’ve created with Aéropostale and Nautica, we are excited to partner with ABG to expand and enhance SPARC through Lucky Brand,” says Marc Miller, chief executive officer, SPARC Group. “This acquisition will diversify our growing brand platform, which includes approximately 750 SPARC-owned and operated locations in the U.S., plus e-commerce and wholesale that collectively drive over $2 billion in retail sales annually.”
Lucky Brand offers a selection of denim in a wide variety of fits, washes and styles, as well as apparel, outerwear, accessories and a home collection for men, women and children. The brand has more than 175 locations and an e-commerce business across North America and is available in select department stores, independent boutiques and on
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Facing a dearth of small-batch bagels in Adelaide, Aaron Caporn decided to make his own, launching sourdough bagel brand Holy Mother of Bagels.
Sibling’s chef is making the Holy Mother of Bagels
There are surprisingly few bagel suppliers in Adelaide.
This was the realisation made by Sibling chef Aaron Caporn, as the café geared up to reopen after a month and a half long COVID shutdown.
Holy Mother of Bagels is available at Sibling 7:30am ’til 3pm Monday to Friday.
96 Gilles Street, Adelaide 5000
The bagel brand also plans to pop up in produce markets soon.
On its return from hibernation, Sibling, which is owned by Caitlin and Nathaniel Morse, planned to welcome customers back with a menu made up of some the café’s most popular dishes – including a bagel.
The bagel was dropped from the menu last year after the café’s bagel wholesaler, The Beigelry, shut up shop. After a short time searching for a suitable replacement, Aaron decided to scrap the bagel from the menu entirely.
“We tried to keep bagels on, but we kept finding suppliers that weren’t up to scratch – not something we were happy to sell,” he says.
Like 98 per cent of Instagram, time off work in isolation led the chef into a wormhole of baking – mostly banana bread and sourdough.
Once Sibling’s reopening date was locked in and the team had decided to bring bagels back onto the menu, Aaron set about fixing the hole in the baked goods market by creating his own – made from sourdough and with a recipe kept as simple as possible.
“We worked on them for a couple of weeks. It didn’t take that long,” Aaron says.
“You actually get a chewy bagel. It doesn’t just taste like air, it tastes like wheat and malt, because that’s what’s in it, and that’s it. Flour, malt, water, and that’s it.”
The result is a “chewy, dense American-style” bagel, which comes in three variations: plain, sesame seed and poppy seed.
The bagels are available at Sibling with fillings; Aaron recommends the kimchi, miso mayonnaise, sesame and avocado option. But they’ve also proven popular enough to be eaten as they are.
“We’ve seen people come in, just as is, not toasted, nothing on it, and just go to town on it straight away,” Aaron laughs.
“It’s pretty funny, but they’re having a good time, so it’s all good.”
Aaron’s bagels have garnered such a positive response, he’s decided to launch a business off the back of them: Holy Mother of Bagels.
“We just made them and we were like, ‘They’re pretty good in their own right.’ So we’ll just sell them out of here, then hopefully move into some markets, like the Willunga markets, or the Adelaide Showgrounds,” he says.
Holy Mother of Bagels is currently making around 20 bagels a day and selling them strictly through the Sibling shopfront, but Aaron says the business is scalable, should there be interest from wholesale clients.
“We need a bit of inquiry first, before we go ahead to scale it,” he says.
“It’s not something that we’re going to go hard on straight away, wholesale. But if people want it, why not?”
For now, you can get your small-batch bagel fix at Sibling 7:30am ‘til 3pm Monday to Friday. And keep an eye out at your local market for Holy Mother of Bagels in the near future.


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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that e-cigarette sales increased by nearly 50% between 2020 and 2022. File Photo by saeedmoin/Pixabay
June 22 (UPI) -- Despite tighter marketing regulations and studies that indicates health concerns, new data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that overall e-cigarette monthly unit sales increased nearly 50% from 2020 to 2022.
Researchers said that youths have been driving the increase in brands, disposable device units sold and flavors. In the past two years going into 2022, e-cigarette unit sales ballooned from 15.5 million units to 22.7 million, a 46.6% jump.
E-cigarette offerings over that period rose to meet demand, rising from 184 brands to 269 brands, according to the CDC. In one bright spot in the study, unit sales decreased over the last six months of 2022 by 12.3%.
Researchers said they believe that new Food and Drug Administration regulations, local and state restrictions and COVID-19 supply chain issues may have all played a role in that drop.
"The dramatic spikes in youth e-cigarette use back in 2017 and 2018, primarily driven by JUUL, showed us how quickly e-cigarette sales and use patterns can change," said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC's Office of Smoking Health.
"Retail sales data are key to providing real-time information on the rapidly changing e-cigarette landscape," she said, adding that watching usage trends "is essential to reducing youth tobacco use."
Researchers said recent lower unit sales may not be as significant as first thought because of the proliferation of large-format, disposable e-cigarettes that may permit higher nicotine consumption per unit.
"The surge in total e-cigarette sales during 2020-2022 was driven by non-tobacco flavored e-cigarette sales, such as menthol, which dominates the prefilled cartridge market, and fruit and candy flavors, which lead the disposable e-cigarette market," said Fatma Romeh Ali, a health economist with the CDC Foundation.
"Data from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey also highlight the popularity of these flavored e-cigarettes among U.S. middle and high school students."
The study also showed that JUUL remained near the top of the best-selling e-cigarette brands along with Vuse, Elf Bar, NJOY and Breeze Smoke. The CDC said the Elf Bar, which has since rebranded as EBDESIGN, has emerged as the top disposable brand.
The agency cited Elf Bar/EBDESIGN for driving the recent uptick of e-cigarette use among those aged 16 to19 in Britain.
"The dramatic spikes in youth e-cigarette use back in 2017 and 2018, primarily driven by JUUL, showed us how quickly e-cigarette sales and use patterns can change," Kittner said.
CDC researchers said one way to reduce the use of tobacco products is to have commercial control strategies reach all population groups equitably, including comprehensive restrictions on the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
They said companies can use strategies like price increases to slow sales, and establishments can create and enforce comprehensive smoke-free policies that prohibit using of e-cigarettes and smoked tobacco products indoors.
In response to the report, American Lung Association National President and CEO Harold Wimmer said, "E-cigarettes continue to hook our kids."
He added: "This new report highlights the need for the FDA to complete its review of e-cigarette marketing applications and deny applications for all flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol-flavored products as soon as possible, but no later than the end of 2023.
"FDA must protect our youth and end the youth vaping epidemic."


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- Tizeti Launches IP Voice Call Service in Nigeria
A Nigeria based startup, Tizeti, just launched an internet voice-calling service for businesses and individuals in Nigeria.
Wificall is a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) subscription service that allows businesses and individuals to make unlimited calls to any phone number, even if the number is not registered on WifiCall’s network.
The service is only available in Nigeria for now, however, Tizeti plans to open it up to phone numbers outside the country by 2020.
The project was influenced by the acceptance of existing voice services such as WhatsApp in Africa and the continent’s improving digital adoption.
Tizeti looks to compete with the likes of WhatsApp, Skype, and major telcos going forward.
Kendal Ananyi, the co-founder and CEO, Tizeti, who spoke with Techcrunch said: “On the low end we’re competing with the mobile providers. WifiCall gives you a real number and it’s cheaper. But we’re also offering enterprise options you would not get with a mobile connection or even WhatsApp.”
“The core of the company’s mission is to bring down the cost of connectivity on the continent by leveraging mobile internet and data networks, WifiCall is a step in that direction” Baddoo told TechCrunch. “Africa is going to leapfrog a lot of the traditional call infrastructure…and WiFi calling…is giving individuals, small-businesses, and large businesses one-stop for much cheaper data-service alongside voice.”


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Conviva QoE for Horizon TV
November 24, 2014
Conviva, an expert in real-time big data, viewer-centric video optimisation, has announced a deal with Liberty Global to provide its global intelligence and real-time audience and quality reporting for Horizon TV.
Liberty Global’s multi-screen product Horizon Go offers its customers the possibility to watch live TV and on demand content on their laptop, tablet and smartphone. By using the Horizon Go app, customers can experience a variety of content inside and outside the home.
Conviva’s real-time big data processing will ensure viewers get the quality experience they expect and deserve. Conviva Insights provides a detailed, granular look at the customer viewing experience-providing publishers the aggregated information they need to control the video delivery for a high quality experience without buffering and at the best quality possible. Insights will also provide aggregated real-time diagnostics and alerts, across all devices, to identify potential issues that may impede the viewing experience as well as opportunities to improve overall quality.
“Horizon Go users have high expectations for the Quality of Experience the platform will provide as they navigate and discover new content,” said Ian Franklyn, General Manager, EMEA for Conviva. “When looking to deliver high quality video to a large audience across several countries and devices, it is critical content providers have real-time visibility and control of the video delivery and viewer experience. Conviva provides the basis to scale a high-quality Internet TV business with up-to-the second visibility into the video delivery chain.”


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It’s been flying high for over five years.
But it seems the best days could be over for Angry Birds.
Rovio, who created the title, are laying off 130 staff after it overestimated the games growth.
The workers who are all based in Finland, will leave their posts in the coming weeks.
Chief executive of the firm, Mikael Hed, said “Sadly, staff will be leaving sooner rather than later,"
"We have been building our team on assumptions of faster growth than have materialised"
Angry Birds has seen a meteoric rise to success becoming the biggest paid for game of all time.
And with toys, drinks and even its own movie in the pipeline, things continued to look good for the game.
But the past year has seen a downturn in business and Rovio's pofits halved in 2013 from the previous year.
The game is now out of the top 20 on Apple's App Store although figures sugget it still has around 200million active users.


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Amazon's Staten Island warehouse workers will vote on forming a union
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Thousands of Amazon workers on Staten Island in New York City begin voting today on whether to form a union. A yes vote could mean the company will have its first unionized warehouse in the U.S. Here's WNYC's Gwynne Hogan.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) I believe that...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Chanting) I believe that we will win.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) I believe that we will win.
MARTIN: At a recent rally at a bus stop on Amazon's Staten Island compound, blue Prime trucks zip by the small crowd gathered, honking in support.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN HONKING)
MARTIN: The organizers behind the Staten Island union drive have been at it for months, talking to workers in break rooms, phone-banking and now their first big test. Eight thousand workers are eligible to cast ballots on whether they want a union.
Derrick Palmer spoke to the crowd.
DERRICK PALMER: Amazon treats these workers like pawns in a chessboard. They treat them like pawns.
GWYNNE HOGAN, BYLINE: They want hour-long lunch breaks rather than the 30 minutes they get now. They want higher base pay. Workers here start at $18.25 an hour.
PALMER: But I guarantee if we win this election, they going to them like kings and queens.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: That's right.
HOGAN: This week's vote is the culmination of two years of organizing. A group of workers worried about COVID walked off the job in March of 2020. Some were fired soon after. One of those fired workers, Chris Smalls, is now the president of the Amazon Labor Union. It's a new group not affiliated with any existing union.
CHRIS SMALLS: Amazon says every day is day one. And it is day one for us 'cause we ain't going nowhere. We here to stay.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Yeah.
HOGAN: Amazon has met their efforts with fierce opposition. Last month, they had three organizers arrested on company property. The company has hung massive vote-no banners inside the warehouse. And employees are regularly pulled into mandatory training sessions where workers are dissuaded from voting yes, like this one.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: We're going to talk about an organization you probably have heard of, the ALU.
PALMER: It was recorded by an employee last November and shared with NPR. The manager is calling the Amazon Labor Union a third party.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: Amazon and third parties. What's our philosophy on third parties? Our philosophy is that we believe that the right relationship between us is preferred.
HOGAN: An Amazon spokesperson says employees have the choice whether or not to join a union. They say employees have access to health care and a 401(k) with a company match. And Amazon denies any violations of federal labor laws, though attorneys for the Amazon Labor Union have filed dozens of charges against the company.
Outside the warehouse on a recent afternoon, workers marched to and from the bus stop across the street.
(SOUNDBITE OF BUS ENGINE)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: Have a good shift. Have a good shift.
HOGAN: Some say they're not sure how they'll vote. But others have made up their mind. David declined to give his full name because he feared professional ramifications. He's voting no.
DAVID: For what? If - everybody should just pack the boxes. You want to get paid like a manager, work to be a manager.
HOGAN: But Shade Clarke disagrees.
SHADE CLARKE: Voting yes, of course. I'm all for the union. They told me to vote no. And I don't trust any corporation telling me what to do anyway.
HOGAN: The election ends next Wednesday. And the vote tally is expected a few days after that. But workers here say this is just the beginning. Next month, a second vote is scheduled for the warehouse right across the street.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: (Laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #8: (Singing) What do we really want? A strong union.
HOGAN: For NPR News, I'm Gwynne Hogan in New York.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #8: (Singing) I said, billionaires - they got to go.
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Singing) Billionaires - they got to go.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.


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There has been a reported spike in cigarette and champagne sales around Lincoln Center, where most of the New York Fashion Week shows take place. According to one bodega near the action, it's had a significant increase in cigarette sales. It makes sense, considering all the stress everyone involved in fashion week must be under.
Restaurants in the area are seeing spikes of their own. Ed's Chowder House is reporting that there's an increased demand for champagne. Smoking and sipping on some bubbly? The fashion life doesn't sound so bad. [Racked]


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Achillea told reporters that visitors have been fewer than estimated in the first six months of operations, but sales volume of low-priced items has been good.
Interestingly, with a headcount of nearly 30,000 at the new campus, Hyderabad will account for nearly half the headcount of Amazon in India, which is currently estimated to be around 60,000 people.
Telangana government claims that the projects have generated 2.7 lakh jobs in the state.
“We will operate large and small format stores as well as introduce a number of digital meeting places. We are building up our online strategy and plan to launch e-commerce in Mumbai during 2019, followed by other cities,” said an Ikea India spokesperson.
IKEA had signed an MoU with the Samajwadi Party government in 2015 to set up a store each in Lucknow, Agra and Noida with an investment of approximately Rs 500 crore in each.
The company opened its first store in Hyderabad in August this year and the Navi Mumbai will be the second store in the country.
The group with $1.3 billion revenue last year has interests in property development, building materials and home furnishings.
Operating in the same space as DailyNinja, WakeupBasket provides early morning delivery of household essentials with milk and groceries being the major products sold.
Keppel-Puravankara Development acquires Metro Cash & Carry India's land for Rs 405 crore in Bengaluru
KPDL is an associate of Bangalore headquartered and Singapore based Keppel Land, one of Asia’s premier property companies.
Ikea said it’s still gauging the impact and wouldn’t be able to comment on whether prices will be raised or not.
The firm`s focus on other business verticals led to a slowdown in the growth of its largest revenue churning vertical - advertising which now forms less than 40% of the overall revenue share.
It is gearing up to open its first overseas outlet in California next month, and is in talks with a few prospective partners in Italy, Dubai, Singapore and Australia for franchise outlets.
Bansal said the startup has so far raised around $160 million and only less than 20% of the funds were utilised so far and the balance funds will be spent over the next few years towards developing fitness devices and technology platform, apart from expanding the footprint.
The Hyderabad office of Pactera Technologies reflects its strategic focus on becoming an industry leading provider of IT services on a global scale, a press release from the company said.
The store recently set foot on Indian grounds, with their first store in Hyderabad.
An estimated 40,000 people visited IKEA’s 400,000 sq ft big box store on Thursday in Hitec City.
Stampede like situation on Ikea's inauguration day as over 40,000 visitors bring Hyderabad to a halt
About 10,000 customers had visited the store by 4 pm but the crowds swelled later as thousands of office goers headed to the shopping place while returning home from offices


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According to a new survey by StrongMail Systems, a widespread ‘land-grab’ for ownership of social media is now taking place within the various facets of marketing, with 29% of respondents stating that responsibility is owned by multiple departments.
However, social media does now appear to be emerging as a direct channel with 36% of survey respondents stating that the direct marketing department owns social media. Only 9% of the respondents report that social media is owned by public relations departments, suggesting that marketing teams value social media more for its demand generation potential than awareness building. Only 5% of those surveyed have a dedicated social media department.
The survey also revealed that social media is a hot initiative with email marketers, with 66% planning to integrate the two channels in 2009, and 48% who have already formulated a strategy for achieving this initiative. Funding is also exceptionally strong for both channels. Of marketers planning to increase budgets in 2009, 83% will increase spend in email marketing, followed by social media at 62%.
However, there is still widespread confusion regarding how a social media strategy for email marketing should be implemented, the survey found. 55% of respondents report that one of their biggest challenges with integrating social media and email marketing is determining metrics by which to measure success. At 48%, establishing business goals for the program is a close second.
Based on these findings, it’s clear that social media has grown to the stage where it needs an owner and a purpose within marketing, says StrongMail, which believes that the intrinsic interconnection between social media and email make it an ideal direct channel. Email continues to drive engagement in social networks by alerting members of new content and updates, and the ability to communicate relevant messages within social networks is critical to a business’s success in the medium.


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After Talk-Talk, 2000 Vodafone customer accounts have been hacked in the UK
Following the recent Talk-Talk cyber hack, nearly 2000 Vodafone customers’ accounts have now been hacked in the UK. This is the second cyberattack on a British telecoms company in October. The mobile giant, Vodafone, said, that 1,827 accounts were accessed, and information that could potentially be seen included customers’ names, mobile numbers, bank sort codes and the last four digits of their bank accounts.
It comes just days after telecoms provider Talk Talk suffered a major hack, in which up to four million customers could have had personal details exposed.
Vodafone on Saturday said: “This incident was driven by criminals using email addresses and passwords acquired from an unknown source external to Vodafone.
“Vodafone’s systems were not compromised or breached in any way.”
Vodafone revealed that attempts to access private details of customers had been made between midnight on Wednesday and midday on Thursday.
The company launched a probe, before calling in the National Crime Agency (NCA), who have a specialist cyber-crime fighting division, as well as Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office all on Friday evening.
The customers’ accounts have been blocked and affected customers are being contacted directly to assist them with changing their account details. Vodafone said it had contacted the banks of affected customers to alert them.


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56% of African-American small business
owners rated their happiness at a nine or 10 (with 10 being the happiest), 6 percent more than the average small business
For The Hartford, a small business
can be anything from a solopreneur just starting a venture to an established employer organization with millions in revenue, according to Lowell.
The winners for the 2019 Salute to Small Business
Ms James, the Small Business
Minister, said: "This Government's Industrial Strategy is building a Britain in which small business
can continue to thrive.
This is the fourth year of the campaign, which last year saw PS623m spent with small businesses
across the UK on Small Business
Saturday, an increase of PS119m or 24 per cent on the previous year.
Owners were also asked in a separate sequence of questions to rate the importance of 15 specific issues to their small business
when the new president -- whoever he or she should be -- takes office.
"Most people in this country either own a small business
, work for a small business
or know somebody who does so we are delighted to have been asked to champion Small Business
Saturday 2016 in North Wales and to do what we can to get people thinking small."
The Small Business
Book Awards celebrate the best business books that appeal to entrepreneurs, small business
owners, CEOs, managers and their employees.
The good news for political leaders is that it is early days with a lot of time left to engage small business
owners with commitments on the issues they care about.
Together, these ought to cement the important role small business
plays not just in the U.S.


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Sony and Microsoft sell games consoles which can access, store and even purchase various forms of media. They want to own the space under your television, and control the digital distribution channel you use to fill that space with content.
Meanwhile, Apple approaches the same problem from a different angle. It already controls the world's most popular digital distribution channel, but the box it sells for the space under your TV plays no games and has only been a moderate success, at best. Instead, Apple has focused on owning a different space - the space in your pocket for a digital music and video player and, latterly, a smartphone.
For the past five years, these companies have been dancing warily around one another - and more recently, the dance has been getting faster and more aggressive. Apple hasn't officially been a part of the games business up until now. In fact, it was seen as the antithesis of gaming for a long time, with its Mac desktops and laptops being utterly inferior to PCs as gaming platforms.
The broader picture, though, is of Apple as the unspoken third competitor in the console race, the dark horse who could steal the digital media crown while Sony and Microsoft squabble among themselves.
The latest shot to be fired in this unusual war came this week, when digital research group comScore revealed its latest figure for mobile phone game consumption. Yes, mobile gaming; the videogames industry's unloved stepchild, launched to so much fanfare and so much subsequent disappointment. The sector has been quietly marshalling its resources and building its revenues for some years now, but it's still never quite had the breakthrough which would make up for all the overstated ambition of its early years.
2009 may be the year when that changes - and the year when Apple finally takes the fight over the future of digital media right into the videogames market, becoming a major player in videogames in its own right.
comScore's figures show that the overall number of people downloading mobile games last year grew 17 per cent, to 8.5 million. In itself, that's respectable growth - but the real news here is that this growth was in spite of a 14 per cent decline in those downloading games on traditional mobile phones.
What that means is that smartphones are in the ascendancy. "Smartphone" is something of a loose definition, but in essence it means a combination of phone and pocket computer - a device capable of accessing a full range of Internet services, running a variety of applications, playing back media and, in many cases, playing games.
Some smartphones are better than others at playing games; Apple's iPhone is really quite a decent gaming device, for one. Almost all of them are better gaming devices than traditional "dumb" phones, though, not least by merit of having bigger, brighter screens and significantly more memory storage.
These devices represent an evolutionary leap forwards which has suddenly made mobile gaming into a palatable pastime for millions of users. Those pundits who looked at the early sales figures for games on the iPhone's App Store, tapped their noses and predicted that this device would have a huge impact on the whole world of gaming on the go have, thus far, been proven correct. It's hardly stunting the growth of the DS yet, but even at this early point, the iPhone is making waves.
The App Store itself is the second part of the puzzle. I covered the mobile games industry for several years, and at almost every conference, interview or conversation, the same topic would arise - the distribution sucks. The systems which carriers used to distribute games were archaic, confusing and discouraging, the equivalent of asking new users to dip their toe in the water but then putting a minefield, trenches and barbed wire on the beach.
Apple's single most important piece of corporate culture and understanding is nothing to do with the sleek designs of its devices or the messianic reverence afforded to founder Steve Jobs. It is, simply, that the distribution has to be tied directly and seamlessly to the device. Apple never talks about iPod; it talks about "iTunes + iPod". It's an end to end solution, from service to software to hardware, which continues to set Apple's devices apart from its competitors.
The App Store is a continuation of that philosophy. Applications, many of them games, are downloaded directly from an interface which allows searching, browsing, reading of user reviews and so on. The price for each application is clearly displayed, and there's no additional cost for data transfers or anything like that. Click "Buy" or "Install" and the icon appears on your menu screen. It seems so simple, yet it's exactly the kind of transaction which mobile gaming has largely failed to offer its would-be consumers in the past.
The upshot? Last November, almost 33 per cent of iPhone owners downloaded a game for their phone. In the short time since the device arrived, it has come to represent 14 per cent of the entire mobile gaming space - and other smartphone devices, following the iPhone's lead in how it distributes its software, are also starting to make their impact felt.
Smartphones, in other words, are on the verge of becoming an important part of the gaming landscape. The time for this kind of revolution is now - the DS and the Wii have created a population of gamers who have no ties of affection to traditional control systems, so the lack of analogue sticks or even buttons is no problem for them. Mobile carriers have accepted (or have been bullied into accepting) the need for flat-rate data tariffs. Mobile devices have become powerful enough to rival handheld game consoles.
Led by Apple, the rise of smartphone gaming looks set to be inexorable in 2009. There are still huge challenges to overcome - a debate has already been kindled over the question of pricing, and we suspect that many failed ventures will be launched before publishers work out the right price point in this new space (my own suspicion is that anything too expensive to be an impulse purchase will ultimately fail). Even some hardware vendors remain ignorant of the potential of this market - it is disappointing to see Palm's hugely promising Pre being rolled out without any worthwhile game-playing abilities.
This is the year of the smartphone. Whatever may happen in the struggle between PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii this year, expect to see mobile gaming in the ascendant at long last - and with Apple at the forefront of that movement, a player in the games space at last, it won't be long before people start wondering how hard it would be to put a decent 3D chipset and App Store support in the next revision of the AppleTV.


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Swedish confectionery firm Cloetta Fazer has said sales of its 12 prioritised brands remained strong in the third quarter, with 5% growth, although overall third-quarter sales fell by 4% to SEK709m (US$88.8m).
In the Nordic market, sales rose by 1% to SEK652m. Non-Nordic sales declined as a result of restructuring measures in Poland. Operating profit excluding restructuring charges was SEK87m, compared to SEK101m a year earlier, with the decrease in earnings mainly attributable to the Swedish market. Finland has shown continued strong development in both sales and profit.
“In the Swedish market, severe price pressure caused a year-over-year drop in profit despite higher sales,” said CEO Karsten Slotte. “The ongoing restructuring of production also contributed to weaker earnings.”
“Innovation is a vital driver for growth in the confectionery business, and we have shaped our strategy accordingly. In 2005 Cloetta Fazer has launched more new products than ever before. This has clearly contributed to growth in the Nordic market and my assessment is that these launches in already popular brand families will help us to boost long-term sales and further strengthen our brands,” Slotte added.
The company said the closure of its Polish subsidiary is proceeding according to plan. A selection of the prioritised brands will continue to be sold in Poland through the new sales organisation that was deployed in September.


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Report: Young Drinkers Down Wine Prices
Good news for those of you who like to drink an occasional glass of wine. Wine prices are on their way down.
According to the State of the Wine Industry 2020 Report (yes, that's a thing), prices of wines produced in the United States could reach their lowest point in the last 20 years. The report says the reason for that is a surplus of wine and grapes. However, the report goes on to say the surplus is not the result of the overplanting of grapes or underconsumption. The reason for that surplus isn't because people aren't drinking wine. Here's what the report says is the reason:
It’s due to the wine industry’s growing miss in not providing consumers what they want. That’s not an adverse statement about the quality of what our industry produces. We’ve never made better wine. But based on the industry’s current results, making great wine isn’t good enough for the consumer today. We are increasingly missing the mark on consumer expectations, and our results show it.
So, what is the problem? The report blames three main factors: Millennial drinkers who are choosing other, sometimes less expensive options, like beer, spirits, and even cannabis. In that same vein, the report claims the industry being "too slow to . . . market to young consumers." The survey also blames what it calls a "neo-prohibition movement" that it says is lobbying state legislatures to enact stronger laws surrounding wine sales and manufacturing.
Click here to read the full report. In the meantime, raise your glass and enjoy the lower prices.


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Where’s it to? Bristol’s high streets, launched on Monday (24 May), aims to rebuild and strengthen the city’s reputation as a visitor, shopping and leisure destination by raising the profile of the independent traders throughout the city’s high streets and centre as they emerge from the national lockdowns.
The opening phase of the 12-week campaign will focus on the city centre and 14 high streets including Old City, Arnside Road (Southmead), East Street (Bedminster), Church Road (St George), Clifton Village, Stockwood, Fishponds, Filton Avenue, Gloucester Road, Mina Road, Two Mile Hill, Shirehampton, Stapleton Road, Brislington Hill and Westbury-on-Trym village.
As well as showcasing different traders and areas of the city, the initiative will also encourage citizens to shop locally, helping to build stronger resilient independent businesses that are supported by their own communities, while promoting COVID-safe behaviours to boost confidence and ensure the public feel safe shopping on their high streets.
Backed by the Reopening High Streets Safely (RHSS) Fund, the awareness project comes following conversations with city stakeholders including the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), trader groups and industry representatives to understand the needs and challenges facing high street businesses.
The campaign, which will feature a dedicated website, campaign video, posters and social media, will be tailored to each high street, promoting key landmarks and reflecting the culture and diversity of the individual areas, while reflecting the unique quality of Bristol’s visitor, shopping and leisure facilities.
It joins a package of support from Bristol City Council which includes a £4.725 million recovery package to help spearhead the regeneration and recovery of the city centre and 47 high streets throughout Bristol and the authority’s partnership with the council the social media consultant Maybe* offering high street businesses access to social media, tools and training to connect with their audience, increase their customer base and drive sales.
Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, said: “Supporting our high streets and city centre is essential if we are to see them recover and bounce back from the challenges of COVID-19. Our local high streets provide a vital service to our communities which many residents rely on, and it’s right to see them given the support they need.
“The Where’s it to? Bristol campaign is just one of a series of initiatives in place to help boost the recovery of Bristol’s high streets and businesses across the city.’’
For further information and advice email: email@example.com


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According to a new study from ID Experts, the customer should always come first when it comes to breach response. By not focusing on the customer, there’s far more to lose than just money- your reputation is on the line.
To date, more than 34 million records have been breached in 2016, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. That’s approximately one in 10 Americans. And behind each one of these records is a person—a customer, patient, employee, or other individual whose identity has been compromised.
If you were one of these breach victims, you would hope that the organization responsible for safeguarding your sensitive information would put your needs first. In our newly released Customers Come First: Data Breach Response Survey, we discovered that companies are doing just that. In fact, based on survey demographics, the strong emphasis on…
To read more about the survey results, click here.


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OT: Sears to Open New Direct Delivery Center in Pendergrass, GA
Just picked this up off Yahoo news. This delivery center is going to be off the hook!
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sears Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: SHLD - News) today announced the grand opening of a new 782,000 sq. ft. direct delivery center in Pendergrass, GA. The facility is an important part of the company's supply chain and will distribute home appliances, tractors, TV's and other large ticket items to over 232 Sears and Kmart stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.
"Sears is excited to be part of the new Jackson 85 Industrial Park in Pendergrass, and proud to continue the strong relationship between Sears and the great State of Georgia. This facility will allow Sears to expand our appliance distribution capabilities and moves us closer to our goal of becoming more effective and efficient," said Bruce Johnson, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain and Operations for Sears Holdings.
"Logistics has long been a strong sector for Georgia, and we're proud that Sears has chosen to locate a new distribution center here," said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. "Our well-trained workforce and unparalleled transportation network allow companies to grow."
The center is expected to employ approximately 120 associates.
Re: OT: Sears to Open New Direct Delivery Center in Pendergrass, GA
Sears 2Q Profit Drops on Lower Sales, Weaker Operating Results at Sears Domestic and Kmart
CHICAGO (AP) -- Sears Holdings Corp. said Thursday that its second-quarter profit dropped 40 percent because of lower overall sales and weaker operating results from Kmart and its domestic Sears operations.
Shares of the big retailer dropped more than 4 percent in morning trading.
The earnings were also being compared with results that included a gain on a large legal settlement a year ago.
"We are disappointed with our second quarter results," said Aylwin Lewis, Sears Holdings' chief executive and president.
Net income for the period ended Aug. 4 fell to $176 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with $294 million, or $1.88 per share, in the previous year.
Quarterly revenue dipped 4 percent to $12.24 billion versus $12.79 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings of $1.13 per share after the company narrowed its earnings projections earlier this month. The analysts' estimates typically exclude one-time items.
"Our gross margins came under pressure from sales declines and increased promotional activity, and as a result, our net income was significantly below last year and our expectations," Lewis said in a statement.
The Hoffman Estates-based company said the lower operating results at Sears Domestic and Kmart were partially offset by improved results at Sears Canada.
Still, same-store sales at Sears' U.S. stores fell 4.3 percent while Kmart's comparable store sales declined 3.8 percent. Same-store sales figures are an important retail industry metric of stores open at least one year.
Sales in Kmart and Sears stores were sluggish in nearly all categories. However, some increases were recorded in both stores' women's apparel lines and Sears' footwear and consumer electronics.
The prior year's results included a gain of $22 million, or 14 cents per share, related to the settlement of Visa/MasterCard antitrust litigation.
Sears said it had $2.6 billion in cash and equivalents on hand at the end of the quarter and had repurchased about $1.5 billion in shares.
Sears stock fell $6.91, or 4.7 percent, to $138.70 in morning trading Thursday.


text: War, economic crisis, swine flu -- who, indeed, would want to capture these moments? Not many it seems, as camera company Eastman Kodak ( EK) tripled its loss in the first quarter and announced new cost-cutting initiatives. The company also said it is suspending its 25-cent semiannual dividend, paring down salaries of top executives and requiring U.S. employees to take a one-week furlough. During the quarter, Kodak deepened its loss to $353 million, or $1.32 a share, compared with a loss of $115 million, or 40 cents, in the year-ago period. Excluding restructuring and other one-time items the company saw a loss of 95 cents a share. Analysts were expecting a loss of 33 cents. Sales plunged 29% to $1.48 billion from $2.09 billion a year ago. Digital sales slumped 29%, to $972 billion, from $1.37 billion last year, while film-based revenue fell 31%, to $503 million, from $724 million. "The demand for the company's consumer products was very weak in the first quarter of 2009 as a result of the drop-off of consumer discretionary spending, consistent with trends that emerged in the fourth quarter of 2008," the company said in a statement. In January the company said it would eliminate 4,500 jobs this year and cut back on investments in new technologies. Kodak said it expects to see about a 12% to 18% decline in sales this year. Through 2012, it expects revenue to rise 4% a year on average, driven by an 8% to 10% increase in digital sales.


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The second wave of the COVID-19 virus is upon us. While it’s just getting started and we are seeing numbers start to rise again, there is no question it will…
The second wave of the COVID-19 virus is upon us. While it’s just getting started and we are seeing numbers start to rise again, there is no question it will have an impact on the economy and sales job market. The real question many sales talents and companies are thinking about is will it lead to a crash?
We all saw the economic impact the first wave of the coronavirus had on the job market. Fortunately, the Canadian economy has been able to recover many of the jobs that were lost in the first round of the shutdown. In total, we lost 3 million jobs, but we’ve also gained back all but 750,000 of these jobs.
“Canada’s economy is bouncing back in recent months following the lifting of pandemic lockdowns. The labour market recovered nearly two-thirds of jobs lost during the height of the pandemic. Sadly, the recovery is losing momentum because of a major disruption, the second wave of COVID-19,” says Christopher Liew, CFA in Will the 2nd COVID Wave Bring a 2nd Market Crash?
He adds, “The Conference Board of Canada forecasts the pace of economic recovery to flatten, if not stall, between now and mid-2021. Aside from the rising cases of COVID-19, the cold weather in winter will aggravate the situation. On the investment front, stocks might be facing another swift and severe market crash.”
So, how will a second wave impact the sales job market? Here are some potential outcomes from Toronto sales recruiters.
With the number of cases of the virus on the rise, it’s clear the numbers are trending in the wrong direction. This is a cause for concern.
“What’s worse, though, is that case numbers are rising as Canada’s economic recovery has lost some of its velocity, and it could lose more still if an increasing number of coronavirus cases keeps wary customers at home and forces the need for more government-imposed restrictions on people and businesses. Further compounding the problem is that winter is drawing near, causing concern for businesses that may have been finding additional revenue by operating outdoors,” says Geoff Zochodne in the Financial Post.
As the economy goes, so will the sales job market. If there is another large shutdown, we can expect sales companies to put hiring on hold. We can also expect layoffs and adjustments to work conditions, such as changes to work schedules. What sales companies, and others, do have going for them is we’ve been through this before. We now know what to expect, we are better positioned to handle the pandemic, and we have the resources to manage it much better than the first time.
“Put it all together and the second wave of the virus could mean a second wave of layoffs for some firms. And although these job losses may not be as breathtaking in scale as in the early days of the pandemic, it would start by hitting industries that have already been hit plenty hard, straining the already-strained,” says Zochodne.
It’s still impossible to predict whether or not there will be a crash in the sales job market, but there are some trends we can expect:
There are still many unknowns in play. Will the second wave of the coronavirus crash the sales job market? It’s not clear. But, whether you are a sales company or job candidate, you need to be prepared for anything.
COVID-19 has affected the sales industry just like many others. Learn more about how to manage your sales team during this crisis, how to survive the tough market conditions, and how to have success during the pandemic. Check out these blogs by our sales recruiters:
SalesForce Search is a Toronto sales recruiting company that specializes in the recruitment and placement of sales professionals. We recruit salespeople in every sector of the economy including, software, manufacturing, financial services, and medical devices. Find the right salesperson for your organization, start your search here.
Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 15+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day and tropical vacations.


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Oceanair, the world’s leading manufacturer of marine blinds, shades and soft furnishings, is proud to announce that Jeff McLaren has joined Oceanair in the USA as West Coast Sales and Superyachts Manager.
Jeff has over 20 years of sales and territory management experience in the yachting and commercial marine industry, with previous roles including Vice President of Sales at Alcom Marine Electronics and National Sales Manager at Seawide Marine Distribution. A keen sailboat racer at a national and international level, Jeff has also been a longtime columnist for major boating magazines in the USA.
Commenting about his new position, Jeff said; “I am very excited to be joining Oceanair. We are clearly the most innovative and technically advanced designer and manufacturer of shading solutions for the finest yachts in the world. I am really looking forward to the challenges of working on projects, whether new builds or refits, to ensure the owner’s expectations are exceeded every time.”
For more information please visit Oceanair Marine


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SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) — LG Display Co., South Korea’s major display panel maker, said Monday it will begin to mass-produce OLED panels soon at its factory in Guangzhou, China, after a one-year delay due to the new coronavirus outbreak.
LG Display said it is currently producing 8.5 generation OLED panels at the factory on a small scale but will begin mass production soon.
The company completed the construction of the factory in August 2019, but its plan to produce the panels was largely held off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Demand for TVs has declined as major TV sales outlets in the United States and Europe closed down amid the virus outbreak. But LG Display needs to increase panel production to meet demand for OLED panel TVs.
Details about the mass production may come out soon as Jeong Ho-young, CEO of LG Display, and other executives are believed to have a plan to visit the Guangzhou factory on Wednesday.
LG Display is currently producing OLED panels at a factory in Paju, just north of Seoul. Its monthly production capacity reaches some 70,000 panels.
The Guangzhou line is capable of producing 60,000 OLED panels per month, and the company plans to increase the capacity to up to 90,000 panels after next year.


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Looking to address some longtime user concerns about its business applications, SAP AG is pushing to make its software faster, easier to use, cheaper to operate and less complex for small and midsize companies.
At its Sapphire ’02 user conference here this week, SAP detailed a series of upcoming products and planned application changes designed to simplify installation, use and management of the software.
For example, SAP CEO Hasso Plattner said during a keynote speech that with input from users, the company plans to prune up to 50 percent of the features from its application suite because they’re now obsolete. That should boost the software’s performance and lower its total cost of ownership, according to Plattner.
He also said that SAP will replace the user interfaces in many of its applications with new ones built around the company’s browser-based and platform-independent Web Dynpro technology. Those changes will come with the next version of SAP’s customer relationship management (CRM) software, which was announced this week and is due in September.
The simplification plan isn’t an entirely new tack for SAP, which has been working for the past four years to make its software easier to use. Nonetheless, several IT managers who are trying to deal with the complexity of the applications said the company’s plans are a step in the right direction.
Gary Coleman, vice president of information systems at the aerospace division of Goodrich Corp. in Charlotte, N.C., said the quality of SAP’s flagship R/3 enterprise resource planning software is high. But he added that SAP needs to make its technology friendlier, especially for users at smaller companies.
The aerospace unit went live with R/3 in January after a relatively smooth 14-month implementation that retired 237 legacy applications, Coleman said. But he said some smaller Goodrich operations are hesitant about R/3. Persuading them to adopt the software “will be more challenging and place more emphasis on managing the total costs of ownership,” he said.
Complexity a Hurdle
Jenny Trautman, director of IT at Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers Inc., said the company is rolling out SAP’s application bundle for media companies on a test basis. The publisher plans to go live with R/3’s human resources module next month, but Trautman said there are two hurdles to selling the project internally: cost and complexity.
Cox is highly decentralized, and Trautman said some of its business units are worried about the potential difficulty of installing the software. “Various parties said, ‘It’s so complicated that we’re afraid to put it in,’ ” she said.
Other users and analysts noted that SAP’s software can be particularly complex for casual users who don’t want to master its nuances or navigate through multiple screens to process transactions.
Tom Ackerman, senior director of business information systems at Symbol Technologies Inc., said the Holtsville, N.Y.-based maker of bar code scanners and other handheld devices spent nine months configuring SAP’s mobile sales module, partly to “dumb down” the software for users.
“We had to keep it simple and mask the complex elements,” Ackerman said.
Otherwise, he added, the company’s sales staff likely wouldn’t use the software.
SAP is online at http://www.sap.com.