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Accessories Amazon Asda Christmas Expansion & Franchise Fashion HR News High Street John Lewis London Marks & Spencer Media News Results Retail Retail and Consumer Industry Retail news Sainsbury's Store Tesco UK brand china consumer deal deals and rumours department department stores e-commerce electricals expansion fashion news food grocer group launch luxury morrisons my online online retail people profit property retail property retailer sale sales supermarket waitrose
Victoria’s Secret opens doors to much awaited London flagship Wednesday, 29th August 2012
Rumours of grumbling neighbours, scheduling setbacks and even a summer downpour couldn’t keep shoppers away from the much awaited launch of Victoria’s Secret’s London flagship. The US lingerie giant on Wednesday unveiled four floors of Victoria’s Secret heaven for the label’s devoted UK fans.
Westfield profit up 31% as 5.5m visit Stratford City Wednesday, 15th August 2012
The London 2012 Games gave Westfield “unprecedented exposure to a global audience” with 5.5 million people visiting the group’s Stratford City centre during the Olympics. The Australian property giant has suggested it is one of the biggest retail winners of the event, with strong footfall figures over the last two weeks meaning the group will now be on target to attract 60 million shoppers in total to its London centres this year who are forecast to spend £1.8 billion.
Westfield Stratford City to close to public as Olympic Park braces for thousands of visitors Thursday, 2nd August 2012
Westfield’s Stratford City has announced new restrictions on its opening times and access for the general public, as the Olympic Park prepares for an influx of London Games visitors. Over 200,000 spectators and workers are expected to arrive at the Olympic Park tomorrow.
Westfield to spend £3bn on British expansion Monday, 30th July 2012
The Australian retail property giant has reiterated its confidence in the UK, as it looks to spend an extra £3 billion upgrading and expanding its British portfolio. Westfield co-chief executive Steven Lowy told The Australian newspaper the investment was set to be directed towards upgrading the Broadway centre in Bradford and expanding its Westfield London centre in Shepherds Bush.
John Lewis to roll out Olympic stores Wednesday, 11th April 2012
As the official retailer of the London 2012, John Lewis will open 29 dedicated Olympic shops in its department stores, as well as dedicated selling space for merchandise in its smaller shops. John Lewis opened its first London 2012 store overlooking the Olympic site at Stratford, East London, six months ago.
Justin Bieber to switch on Westfield Christmas lights Monday, 24th October 2011
The 7 November will see Justin Bieber switch-on the Christmas lights for both Westfield London in Shepherd’s Bush and Westfield Stratford City. Bieber will begin in the west, where his fans can count down to the switch-on at the Shepherd’s Bush shopping centre, before performing four of his hit singles.
Ikea to build entire London neighbourhood Friday, 21st October 2011
Anyone with a fear of flatpack should look away now. Ikea, the Swedish home specialist is set to construct a 26-acre canal-side site just outside of the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London. Strand East will eventually resemble a “mini Venice” according to an Ikea report released yesterday, with 1,2000 houses as well as shops, cafes and a 350-room hotel making up Ikea’s first neighbourhood in Britain.
C&W sees upturn in development on horizon Thursday, 6th October 2011
A new report from Cushman & Wakefield suggests an upturn in shopping centre development in Europe will take place in the next few years. Although development in many countries has been subdued for the past few years, improving retailer demand and concerns over potential shortages of prime space have contributed to expectations that a rise in development activity will take place in many European countries.
Better late than never: H&M opens at Westfield Stratford City Thursday, 6th October 2011
Swedish retailer H&M has finally opened its second largest store in the UK at Westfield Stratford City. Spanning 35,000 sq ft, the store will trade over three floors and is the second of H&M’s UK stores to features its home collection.
My-Retail Media takes on Westfield Stratford City Wednesday, 14th September 2011
The My-Retail Media news team ventured to Stratford yesterday in order to have a look around the brand new Westfield Stratford City shopping mall. Needless to say, we were impressed. The mall was gargantuan and packed full of our favourite shops (and about a million people). Our only gripe is that we only got to see a third of it due to the unrelenting crowds. Have a look below if you don't believe us:
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
Once the team had come to terms with the hordes of shoppers, we had a good look around the shops. We simply could not have neglected to visit the nation's old friend John Lewis. Even from the outside the department store looked impressive, almost intimidating, as it looked down on the rest of the vast mall.
Upon entering the store, we were treated to the sight of scores of wooden hands showing off the John Lewis branded glassware and accessories. The visual merchandising was interesting; clean and efficient yet playful and impressive.
Time was of the essence and, thanks to our numerous fellow shoppers, getting around the mall was taking a biblically long time. With this in mind, we quickly ventured over to John Lewis's little sister - Waitrose. This particular Waitrose store is special in that it's the grocer's greenest store to date. Every aspect of the building was created and assembled to the highest possible energy specification and, impressively, all unusable food is to be sent to an anaerobic digestion plant where it will be converted into renewable energy which will then go straight back into the national grid.
The store was packed to the rafters and customers were taking the opportunity to tread the previously unspoiled retail ground with enthusiasm.
All in all, we enjoyed our time at Stratford City and will doubtlessly return. Every possible pocket was catered to, from Primark to Prada, and many visitors were perfectly content to just be there to see one of the most impressive shopping malls ever built in action. At a time when many retailers have had their backs against the wall as a result of the harsh economic climate, seeing Stratford City so busy was definitely encouraging and we wish all retailers involved luck as they settle into their new home.


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Microsoft responds to plagiarism of App Get; WeChat denies listening to users and pushing ads; iPhone global sales fall 8% - Lei Feng Morning Post
Huawei is in talks with 2D and Ziguang to buy more chips
BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Huawei plans to buy more mobile phone chips from rival MediaTek and mainland mobile chip maker Ziguang Zhanrui, foreign media reported late On June 1. Huawei is in talks with MediaTek, the world's second-largest mobile chip developer, and Unisoc, China's second-largest mobile chip design company, to buy more chips to ensure the normal operation of its consumer electronics business, the report said. Developing its own cutting-edge chips has been a key strategy for Huawei, which has helped it stand out in the global market for mobile phones and other devices. (Sina Technology)
NetEase disclosed the prospecto: The highest capital raising on June 11 was HK$24.49 billion
On the morning of June 2, NetEase filed a prospecto on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website. NetEase will issue more than 171 million new common shares in the offering, with a maximum public offering price of HK$126 per share, according to the prospecto. NetEase common stock will be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the name "9999.HK" and is expected to comm day trading at 9 a.m. on June 11, 2020. COKIN, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan Chase serve as co-sponsors, co-global focal points and contact book managers.
It has been disclosed that, based on the indicative offering price of HK$126 per share for the Hong Kong public offering and the international offering, after deducting the projected underwriting fee and the projected offering expenses payable by us, the net amount raised from the global offering is estimated to be approximately HK$21.28 billion, and after deducting the projected underwriting fee and the projected offering expenses payable, it is estimated that the net amount raised from the global offering is approximately HK$21.28 billion; NetEase's net global offering will be used in three parts: 45% for globalization strategies and opportunities, 45% for driving the company's ongoing pursuit of innovation, and 10% for general corporate use. (Sina Technology)
WeChat denies monitoring users' chat history
Recently, there was a short video claiming that "WeChat is listening to your chat history" and teaching the so-called "one-minute off" trick in the video.
In response, WeChat officially said: "Tencent's advertising label is aimed at the user group, not individual users, and all advertising is encrypted, and WeChat ads are based on the user's legitimate authorization and Tencent's data technology support was born, can protect the security of user privacy." Listening, monitoring user chats, and pushing ads, WeChat would never do that. In general, advertisers choose to target their ads to a wide audience, so it's easy to see a coincidence that users receive ads that "just happen" to be similar to their daily chats/browsing content. This is not a 'listening, monitoring' user chat, but a normal probability event.
The Beep Mile Video Satellite is scheduled to launch in June and will be used for Station B Science
On June 1st Station B plans to launch a remote sensing satellite called the Beep Mile Video Satellite in late June this year, and the remote sensing video and image data from the satellite will be used for Station B science. The satellite is a special gift to all curious people on Children's Day, encouraging people to stay childish, remain curious and explore the larger world.
SMIC returns to A-shares! It plans to raise $20 billion for three major projects
One year after de-listing from the NYSE, SMIC is one step closer to A-shares.On June 1, according to the SSE website, SSE has accepted the application for listing of SMIC Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. SMIC plans to raise Rmb20bn, with the co-sponsors (main underwriters) Haitong Securities and COFKIN, and the co-underwriters guotai Junan, CITIC Construction Investment, Guoding Securities and Morgan Stanley Huaxin Securities.
According to the prospectose, on June 1, SMIC's special general meeting of shareholders deliberated and adopted the Resolution on the Issue and Special Authorization of RMB Shares and the Resolution on the Use of Funds raised by RMB Share Issue, and the Company intends to issue no more than 168 shares to the public. 5.62 million shares of RMB common stock (before exercising the option of over-allopening), the net amount of funds raised after deducting the issuance fee is 20 billion yuan, and the following projects are planned to be invested: 12-inch chip SN1 project (8 billion yuan), Reserve funds for advanced and mature technology research and development projects (4 billion yuan) to supplement working capital (8 billion yuan).
The total number of shares issued after the issue does not exceed 6,742 million shares, of which no more than 1,686 million are A shares and about 5,057 million hong Kong shares (before the exercise of the over-allopending option). The sponsor will arrange for Haitong Securities and COG to participate in the strategic allocation of the offering. (Daily Economic News)
Dada Update prospecto: Pricing range of $15-17 raised about $300 million
Yesterday, Dada Group filed an updated prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which showed an IPO price range of $15-17 per American Deposited Stock (ADS) and an expected 16.5 million ADS, representing four common shares per ADS.
The valuation is estimated to be $3.5-4 billion. Based on the median price range, the Duda Group raised about $303 million if the "green shoe mechanism" was fully exercised, and the updated prospectos revealed that existing shares in Tokyo East and Wal-Mart are interested in becoming cornerstone investors, with subscriptions of $60 million and $30 million, respectively. Dada Group Founder and CEO 蒯 will continue to serve as Chairman and CEO of the Board of Directors after the listing, and the company's business will remain independent. (Sina Technology)
Five billion! Dong Mingzhu with 30,000 dealers live with a new high, to transform the new retail
On June 1st, Dong Mingzhu, chairman of Gree Electric, brought the goods live again, unlike on previous occasions, this time with 30,000 offline stores. Later that day, Gree Electric disclosed the day's online sales performance, from the early hours of June 1 to the evening of 22:03, Gree's own e-commerce channels plus dealers channel turnover of a total of 5 billion yuan.
Obviously, whether it is the number of people involved in the live belt, or the statistical method of sales, Dong Mingzhu's joint broadcast with the general entrepreneurs and the network red anchor belt, is not a concept. It is understood that the day a total of 30,000 dealers involved, the dealer product promotion efforts consistent, unified prices. According to Dong Mingzhu, through the day's large-scale live broadcast, Gree Electric officially opened a new retail era. (Ting)
U.S.-listed first quarterly loss intensifies Audio first lychee faces "internal and external worries"
On January 17 this year, Lychee landed on NASDAQ, becoming china's first online audio stock. Now, four months later, on May 22nd the company released its first-quarter 2020 results, its first financial debut since Lychee went public. From this report card, Lychee in the revenue hit a new high at the same time, but also faced with continued loss of profits, a single profit model problems. In addition, the old rival Himalayan, short video head platform shaking sound are intended to enter the audio broadcast this segment of the track share. "Ear economy" imagination is gradually excavated at the time, as the first wave of online audio lychee is facing internal and external difficulties.
In terms of financial data, Lychee's revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 was RMB370.3 million (RMB, same as 19 per cent), up 42 per cent from a year earlier, and gross margin was 20 per cent, ending a continuing decline in 2019, with 30 per cent, 29 per cent, 20 per cent and 18 per cent in the first quarter to the fourth quarter of last year, respectively. (Thinking Finance)
Shaken Sunflower Program Upgrade: Invite 100 expert celebrities to create youth protection classes
On Children's Day on June 1st, JiYin announced a new upgrade to its Sunflower Program, which focuses on the healthy growth of young people: 100 expert celebrities will be invited to create youth protection courses, produce animations of the safe growth of young people, set up the Sunflower Program "Child Protection Expert Group", and launch the function of youth guardian.
In July 2018, Jiyin launched the Sunflower Program, which introduced 10 measures to protect young people at multiple levels, including auditing, products and content, and pioneered the introduction of the youth model in the industry. It is understood that the sunflower program "child protection expert group" will also focus on the safety education of minors of different ages, psychological growth and other aspects, design easy to accept the curriculum, through free lectures, online courses and other ways, with parents, children, schools to systematically explore how to help minors grow up healthy. (Interface)
Pulse: The net inflow of returning students into the top ten cities, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen ranked in the top three
According to the workplace social platform pulse statistics, from November 2019 to April 2020, the number of new registered users with overseas study experience increased by 213 percent, and from January to April 2020 the growth rate was 72 percent. May 1, 2019 - April 30, 2020, the net inflow of returning students into the top 10 cities, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen ranked in the top three, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Dongguan, become the first-tier cities outside the choice of returning students. (36 x)
China Insurance and Alibaba Cloud signed a 700 million single to build a new generation of core systems to accelerate the de-IOE
On June 1, China Financial Insurance and Alibaba Cloud signed a 700 million yuan financial cloud single, using all-distributed, Central Taiwan and other technologies to build a new generation of core business systems, gradually replace the traditional IOE architecture, accelerate the process of digital transformation. It is reported that this is the first time in the history of the insurance industry based on the hybrid cloud model to build a core system, the amount of cooperation of nearly 700 million yuan, but also become the domestic financial cloud field to date the first single. (Rai Feng.com)
BYD has reached a battery supply agreement with Ford Motor Co
ON the evening of June 1, a document on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's website showed that BYD would supply electric vehicle batteries to Ford Motor Co., the U.S. automaker. The Chinese joint venture between Ford Motor Co. and Changan Motor Co. is seeking government approval to produce a plug-in hybrid with BYD batteries, the documents show. It marks the first time BYD has reached a battery supply agreement with the world's major carmakers. (Interface)
Pepsi's company has officially acquired Pershing, which operates independently as an independent brand
Leisure zero food brand bai grass taste yesterday issued an internal letter, confirmed that Pepsi's acquisition of grass taste deal was approved, hundred grass taste officially hand Pepsi, and become Pepsi's Asia-Pacific and Pepsi Foods, Pepsi Beverages and other side-by-side business units, to maintain independent brand, independent operation, hundred grass taste of the original executive team and operating model unchanged. As early as February 23, Pepsi Co., Ltd. announced that it had reached a final agreement with Good Health Foods Co., Ltd. to acquire its Hangzhou Yums Food Co., Ltd. for $705 million. (NetEase Technologies)
TSMC may invest T$300 billion to build a new plant and enter high-end sealing services
TSMC plans to build a new high-end IC packaging and testing plant in Miaoli County, Taiwan, in the zhunan district of the Hsinchu Science Park, which will be completed in May 2021 and will begin operations in a few months, the Taipei Times reported.
On May 12, TSMC held a meeting of the company's board of directors, at which it approved an expenditure plan worth T$168.2 billion (about RMB40 billion) as part of its investment in the plant. However, TSMC will invest T$303.2 billion (about 72.1 billion yuan) to build the plant, taiwan's largest ever single investment, Xu Yaochang, the county commissioner, wrote on Facebook. TSMC declined to say how much it would invest. (Rai Feng.com)
Microsoft responds to plagiarism app Get: affirming the original author's contribution
Last week, AppGet creator Keivan Beigi wrote a blog post calling Microsoft -- saying that Windows Package Manager had almost plagiarized his stuff, foreign media reported. According to him, as a talent acquisition, Microsoft contacted him and gave him a full day's interview, then remained silent for six months.Apparently, in that day's interview, he was discussed about what was feasible and what was not feasible in AppGet's plan.
Microsoft responded by praising Beegi for many windows Package Manager features, such as no scripts during installation, rich inventory definitions in GitHub, support for all types of Windows app installers, and seamless updates to applications. However, this does not appear to be a clear apology, but an admission that he "didn't do it on Keivan and AppGet."
Andrew Clinick, the author of the reply, also admitted that he did meet Beigi last summer and heard his views on what Windows package managers should look like. (cnBeta)
Global iPhone sales down 8% in the first quarter of 2020 Smartphones as a whole down 20%
Apple's iPhone sales fell 8.2 percent in the first quarter of 2020 from a year earlier, with the company selling 40.92 million iPhones in the quarter, down 3.7 million from 44.57 million in the first quarter of 2019, according to data researcher Gartner today.
The smartphone market as a whole was also sluggish, with sales down 20.2 per cent year-on-year. Sales at other smartphone makers fell even more sharply than Apple's. Samsung's sales, for example, fell 22.7 per cent year-on-year, while Huawei's fell 27.3 per cent. Xiaomi is the only smartphone maker with a slight increase in sales. (Sina Digital)
Companies such as Sony Google have announced they are postponing the launch because of mass protests in the United States
BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Sony has announced it will postpone a virtual press conference for the PlayStation 5 console, making it one of the most watched corporate events postponed because of protests against police brutality in the United States, foreign media reported.
EA also canceled the Madden NFL 21 launch scheduled for Monday. Airbnb said its CEO, Brian Chesky, was also not prepared to discuss the holiday rental site's vision for the future of the travel market via video message. Alphabet-owned Google also postponed the launch of its Android 11 mobile operating system, scheduled for June 3.
Facebook employees went on a virtual strike to protest Trump's violent comments
BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Facebook employees staged a "virtual strike" on Monday to protest the company's policy toward a recent post by U.S. President Donald Trump, foreign media reported.
Dozens of Facebook employees publicly announced their participation in the protest on Twitter, expressing disappointment and shame at Facebook executives' decision not to delete a post Trump posted on Thursday in which he wrote: "Shoot if you dare to rob." The employees said they believed such posts violated Facebook's platform standards, and the company's policy states that Facebook "removes language that incites or promotes serious violence." Mr. Trump's comments, both on Facebook and Twitter, caused a great controversy.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter tagged Mr. Trump's tweets, warning users of his violent comments and prohibiting them from liked or retweeted. (Sina Technology)
Uber and Lyft suspended operations in some U.S. cities during curfews
BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Uber, Lyft and takeaway company DoorDash have suspended operations in some U.S. cities in order to comply with curfew orders. Anti-racism protests over the deaths of African-American men by white police officers continue to spread across the United States. Over the weekend, violence and looting broke out in several U.S. cities as protester groups clashed with law enforcement officials, leading to curfews for residents in several U.S. cities. Uber said it had suspended services in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and parts of Minneapolis. (Sina U.S. Stock)
Analysts say Apple is on track to achieve a market capitalization of $2 trillion over the next four years
Analysts at Vercore ISI believe Apple is on track to achieve a market capitalisation of $2 trillion over the next four years, helped by earnings growth and a boost from its services and wearables businesses. Evercore ISI analyst Amet Daryanani expects Apple's share price to reach $550 in "optimistic circumstances" driven by the expansion in gross margins. Apple's market capitalisation is now $1.38 trillion. (Bloomberg)
Zuckerberg donated $10 million to help tackle racial discrimination
BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged $10 million in a post Sunday local time to address racial discrimination. "What happened last week reflects how much more our country needs to do to make life a dignified life for everyone," Zuckerberg wrote in the post. It reminds us once again that what is happening to black Americans today is the result of a long history of racism and social injustice. Zuckerberg noted that $10 million is not a huge sum to address racial discrimination, but he said he and his wife spend $40 million a year on eliminating racial discrimination through their foundation. (Phoenix Technology)
I'm scared! SoftBank will stop co-investing with Vision Funds
SoftBank plans to stop investing in companies with Vision Fund to clarify its performance goals and responsibilities, foreign media reported. Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank's chief financial officer, told investors on a conference call that softbank would consider separating its investment business from the Vision Fund, the report said. SoftBank's move comes at a time when The Vision Fund's investment failure has cost the company billions of dollars.
SoftBank posted a record Y1.4 trillion ($13 billion) operating loss in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, largely because of a collapse in valuations of several technology companies invested in Vision Funds. SoftBank reportedly accounted for about $10 billion in losses on investments in shared office giants WeWork and Net-a-Commerce alone. Today, the overall value of the Vision-based portfolio is shrinking, with the fund investing a total of $75bn in 88 start-ups, compared with $69.6bn at the end of March. (Sina Technology)
Apple plans to invest $330 million to build a plant in Taiwan
According to foreign media, Apple (AAPL. O) plans to invest $330 million to build a plant in Taiwan, China, the development of MicroLED displays will be a "top priority", the new Taiwan plant for the future of iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other equipment to produce LED and MicroLED displays. Apple's partner is expected to be LED maker Crystal Photoelectrectr and LCD panel maker ADA Photoelectrectrectrarial, according to China's Taiwan Purchasing Services (CENS). (DoNews)
Pfizer shares down nearly 8% as breast cancer treatment plan suffers setback
Pfizer Inc. Shares fell nearly 8 percent on Monday after an independent data monitoring committee determined that the drugmaker's breast cancer treatment plan was unlikely to meet the main targets of late-stage research. Pfizer shares fell 7.7 percent to $35.25 in early trading. The company said Friday that a treatment called Ibrace is being tested with standards of care for early breast cancer in both men and women, rather than individually. JPMorgan analysts said in a report that the study was widely seen as having a high chance of success, but the early failure was a major setback for Pfizer, which cut its target price by $1 to $37. (Interface)
Zynga, the social gaming company, has agreed to pay $1.8 billion for Peak, the mobile gaming company
Zynga, the social gaming company, has agreed to buy Peak, a Turkish mobile game developer, for $1.8bn, according to foreign media reports, the largest acquisition since the company's inception. The San Francisco-based company said in a statement Monday that the deal includes $900 million in cash and $900 million in Zynga stock. It plans to complete the deal in the third quarter. The statement confirmed an earlier media report. The acquisition of Peak will bring Zynga a range of popular puzzle games, including Toon Blast and Toy Blast. Video game companies and video and audio streaming service providers are booming as the new coronavirus pandemic drives people to find pastimes. (Tencent Technology)
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For the ninth straight year, Americans continued to reach for high-end spirits more often, with beer losing market share, per data from an industry association. Super premium rum posted a sales gain of 26.8% by volume, while American whiskey grew by 16.9%.
Spirits, especially premium ones, continue to gain sales
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Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, Galaxy Note5 and new mobile payment system unveiled
Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note5 will be available in Canada on Aug. 21
Samsung unveiled its newest smart products this morning in New York City — the Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note5 smartphones — as well as the company's new mobile payment system, Samsung Pay.
- Offer 14.8-cm, HD screens and are thinner and lighter than their respective predecessors.
- Have four gigabytes of RAM, the most ever included in Samsung mobile products.
- Come with the ability to shoot video in 4K.
- Run on the Android 5.1 operating system.
The Note5 has a flat screen for writing with the accompanying digital pen and a curved glass back, intended to make it easier to handle in one hand.
It also has a host of new features, including the ability to take notes with the pen even when the screen is off and improved screen capture technology, allowing users to take images of lengthy lists in a single snap rather than with multiple photos.
Justin Denison, Samsung's vice-president and head of mobile products, also demonstrated a new keyboard attachment available for the Note5, which gives the option of "precision typing" on a physical keyboard while using the high definition screen at the same time.
Denison was among a series of Samsung executives who unveiled the new products at an event at Lincoln Center on Thursday morning. The presentations ended with the announcement that the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch would be unveiled in Berlin on Sept. 9.
The Galaxy S6 Edge+ is a larger and upgrade version of the curved-screen Galaxy S6 Edge that Samsung released in March, which ditched plastic for the sleeker metal and glass look commonly associated with Apple products.
Both the S6 Edge+ and Note5 have wireless charging capabilities at the fastest speeds ever supported. The devices can reportedly go from empty to full charge in two hours, 30 per cent faster than previous wireless charging speeds.
"We're betting on a cord-free future," said Denison, adding that a number of massive companies like Starbucks and Ikea are experimenting with wireless charging technology in their brick and mortar stores.
Both devices will be available in Canada and the U.S. on Aug. 21, while U.S. preorders begin today at 3 p.m. ET.
New mobile payment system
The tech giant's new mobile payment system, Samsung Pay, will be accepted almost anywhere.
"If retailers can swipe a card, most likely they will accept Samsung Pay," said vice-president Injong Rhee, who unveiled the new product.
Protected by the hardware-based security system Samsung Knox, Pay will also support store-branded credit cards, membership and gift cards.
According to Rhee, Pay is safer than alternative mobile payment systems because it does not store or transmit credit card or private information during transactions.
Samsung Pay is set to go live in Korea on Aug. 20, and will be available in the U.S. on Sept. 28, followed by China, Spain and the U.K., Rhee said.


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John Chisam, Caney Fork Electric director of member services, wants local residents to be aware of a possible scam in which an individual is calling customers and telling them their electricity is due to be cut off for non-payment. The caller then says a payment can be made over the phone using a credit or debit card.
“Caney Fork does not solicit payments over the phone,” said Chisam. “We want to let people know to not give any type of personal information over the phone. If someone calls, we advise members to ask for the caller’s name, hang up and call the office to make sure someone from the Caney Fork office did indeed place the call and to ensure the call is legitimate. If we do call, we will ask the member to come to the office to pay, utilize our website to pay, or call our toll-free number to make a payment. We are trying to let people know this is happening.”
Utility customers can be convenient targets for phone scammers because, unlike retail business customers, most everyone is a customer of an energy company and pays monthly utility bills.
Caney Fork can only take credit and debit information on its website, www.caneyforkec.com or by phone by dialing 1-866-585-7843.


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LastPass Launches Its Own Two-Factor Authentication App
Popular password manager and vault LastPass has launched a free two-factor authentication (2FA) app that compliments its password manager and vault, bringing added security to users. The application is also designed to be used with “hundreds” of popular applications and websites, including Amazon, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook and more.
With its launch today, the LastPass Authenticator App is now available for mobile devices across the three prominent platforms – iTunes App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft App Store.
The app will bring the “second” factor of multi-factor authentication via a six-digit real-time code that can be used to gain access to the LastPass vault as well as many other prominent web services and websites who have two-factor authentication enabled as an added security feature for users. In other words, if you’re using Google Authenticator, consider LastPass Authenticator to be similar.
In a statement, general manager and vice president of LastPass, Joe Siegrist stated:
Today, multifactor authentication is far too often limited to security sensitive early adopters and people that have to use it because IT forced them to do so.
That’s the driving goal behind the LastPass Authetnicator: Bring the security benefits of two-factor authentication to the masses, by taking the pain and friction out of the equation [and] creating something that people want to use.
Existing LastPass users can enable and begin using LastPass Authenticator by checking their account settings to enable the authenticator app under “Multifactor Options”. A quick barcode scan later, the application is paired with the user’s account.
From there on in, the app will generate a 6-digit, 60-second code as the “second” factor in a two-factor authentication protocol. Alternatively, users can also approve the automated push notification on their app. The one-time code can also be sent to a user’s smartphone via SMS.
The app is designed to work with all leading consumer and enterprise authentication systems because it is compliant with Time-based One Time Password (TOTP), a cornerstone of the Initiative for Open Authentication (OATH).
LastPass also upgraded and improved on its interface and features with a massive new update at the beginning of 2016, when users saw the service upgraded to LastPass 4.0
Images from LastPass and Shutterstock.


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It was 1961 and Fred Moore’s family had just moved from Camden to a development called Cherry Hill Estates. Moore, then a high school junior, needed a job, so he ambled across Route 38, where the new Cherry Hill Shopping Center was being built.
“It was only a few weeks from opening, and it was an amazing place,” says Moore, now 66. The center would soon be known as the Cherry Hill Mall. “The floor tiles were still not in place, and I had to walk on boards over the dirt base,” he says. “What turned out was marvelous in the end, though.”
The Cherry Hill Mall, which turns 50 on October 11, was the first enclosed, air-conditioned shopping center in the Northeast. At about 1 million square feet, it was the largest of its kind in the world when it opened. Now in the midst of a multiyear renovation, it remains a viable retail center. But when it opened, it was a space-age phenomenon.
“I was in a business-education assembly at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden that day, and the speaker said, ‘Something is happening down the road today that is history making’,” recalls Dan Cirucci, who became the public relations manager for Cherry Hill Township in the 1970s. “I’m thinking, A bunch of shops? But he was right.”
The place had two wings—Penn Mall and Delaware Mall—stretching in an L out of Center Court, which had fountains, staircases and a covered-bridge walkway over a manmade pond in front of the main anchor tenant, the first New Jersey outpost of Philadelphia’s Strawbridge & Clothier department store. In the middle of Penn Mall was a cage of tropical birds from Australia and South America. The place even had a landscape consultant, Lydia Pascault, who tended to 14,000 mostly tropical plants, from 6-foot-tall pygmy date trees to 20-foot Solomon Island ivyarums.
Alan Wechsler thought he was lucky to have a small photo studio in the entry corridor between Strawbridge’s and Merrill Jewelers. “I had moved to the Knollwood development, so I could actually walk there, instead of commuting to Philadelphia,” Wechsler says. “The Mall was successful immediately. Buses would come in from New York and Boston just so people could see it.”
A month after the center opened, the developer, James Rouse, asked Wechsler if he would like to have the Santa Claus photo concession. Strawbridge’s was doing so well that it didn’t want to take away space. Wechsler took it on. “We put it in the Center Court, and we put in our best lighting and a good backdrop.” Wechsler did such good business that first Christmas that Rouse, who opened numerous additional malls, gave him the concessions at his other developments. Wechsler’s Cherry Hill Photo eventually dropped everything but the Santa Claus and Easter Bunny photo concessions, expanding to 350 malls before he sold the business in 2003.
As for Fred Moore, he landed a job in the new mall handling suit-alteration pick-ups for Adams Clothing. He worked there and at Baker Shoes and Chandler Shoes at the mall through high school and college.
In the spring of 1962, when the mall was not yet a year old, Moore went to his Cherry Hill High School junior prom in Center Court of the new shopping center.
“Rhapsody in Blue was the theme of it, and all the guys wore white tux jackets with black pants,” Moore says. “We thought we were the greatest. The mall for a prom. There was nothing better.”
Moore, who recently retired after a career in sales and lives in nearby Mount Laurel, will always have a soft spot for the mall. “It’s still a nice place now, with the new Nordstrom, but in the beginning, wow! It was really special.”


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Building a Billion-Dollar Brand
NEW YORK -- With a mission to become a $1 billion brand over four years, the recipe in meeting a lofty goal like that is, in Kevin Klock’s eyes, astoundingly simple: Place a bottle of Sparkling ICE in the hands of every consumer.
Klock, CEO of Preston, Wash.-based TalkingRain Beverage Co. hopes to accomplish that through brand awareness, product innovation and tactical direct-store delivery (DSD) partnering—all with an emphasis on what’s been to this point an slippery exercise: c-store channel expansion to suit their needs.
Klock expounded on a host of insights about the company’s flagship Sparkling ICE brand on Thursday during Wells Fargo’s “Beverage Buzz” conference call series. The webinar was moderated by Bonnie Herzog, managing director for beverage & tobacco for Wells Fargo Securities, New York.
Sparkling ICE, a zero-calorie beverage combining naturally flavored mountain spring water, fruit juice, vitamins and antioxidants, expanded its portfolio to 11 flavors with the recent rollout of Cherry Limeade and Strawberry Watermelon flavors. Sparkling ICE Lemonades, launched last year, are available in six flavors. Most all single-serve bottles within the brand retail from $1.19 to $1.29.
“Our brand positioning for Sparkling ICE is simple: It’s refreshing,” said Klock. In sizing up its future fortunes, the company had mulled the prospects of expanding into functional beverages and protein drinks, but at the end of the day Klock believed what U.S. consumers “were really missing was the ‘refreshing’ part of beverages. People are looking for flavor—not necessarily zero-calorie. High-calorie lemonades, energy drinks and higher-calorie teas have all grown, so the emphasis is on refreshing.”
Founded in Seattle in 1987, TalkingRain shifted gears in 2010 from its brand roots when several key executives departed. Klock said one core brand, Active Water, “had run its course,” so the decision was made to ride Sparkling ICE, and to do so within a national distribution framework.
Klock said measured sales in 2010 of the brand were less than $1 million, but the brand hit its stride in 2011; by the end of 2013, measured annual sales had amassed $300 million—plus another $50 million in what he called unmeasured business.
During the webinar, Klock addressed key themes that can put the Sparkling ICE brand on a path to achieving an auspicious $1 billion in sales by 2018.
On DSD distribution: Last year, the company saw 20% of its U.S. distribution coming in the form of DSD. “We pretty much went out and scratched and clawed” to get a viable DSD network in place, and it continues to grow. “We found a way to scale that business. C-store space had once proved expensive. [Sparkling ICE’s c-store sales were reported to be about $13 million.] I think we have the ability to expand into large and small c-stores, and in large and small cities. We’re getting into that space now, and the solution is DSD. If we can get our c-store presence in place, we are well on our way to $1 billion sales [by 2018].”
On the c-store challenge: “The biggest challenge is that 70% of people know what they want when they get to a store. So brand awareness for us is big. We’ll rely on marketing campaigns directed at c-stores, because you have to become top of mind with consumers. We need to educate consumers we are [in c-stores].”
On what beverage segments Sparkling ICE is taking share: Klock cited diet-soda sales declines as one opportunity, but said the lion’s share of growth is coming at the expense of enhanced water, which he said is “taking a beating.” Klock said Sparkling ICE’s shelf space has grown a minimum of 50% with its present retailer networks, and “every indication is for continued growth in shelf space.”
On competitor innovation within the sparking-water segment: Klock said that TalkingRain does not fear innovation from competitors, but rather embraces it. He cited fruit water as one example of innovation that’s bubbled up, but Klock did not believe there was much competitive innovation occurring within the sparkling-water space. “From our standpoint, we would like to see some new strong innovative launches, because competition is healthy” and brings awareness to the segment.
On the core consumer of Sparkling ICE: “We spent a lot of money last year determining who our consumers are.” The 24- to 45-year-old female is proving to be the brand’s top consumer; however, in testing, the company found that “we have a very broad demographic,” he said.
On marketing strategies: Not elaborating on specific dollar contribution, he said marketing spend will be a “blend of outdoor, TV, events and street teams. What you won’t see is stadium ads or endorsement fueled by celebrities.”


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CANADIAN FOOD MANUFACTURING An Overview in 2010, 2020 and Forecast to 2030
Mississauga, Ontario (May 6, 2021) - Analyzing 24 economic factors, Dalhousie University today released research finding that waning investment, aging facilities, large grocers’ fees, and lack of government support are among the top constraints on domestic food and beverage manufacturing and present risks for resilience and security in Canada’s food supply.
The study released today (Thursday) uses publicly-available data to construct snapshots of the sector’s health in 2010 and 2020 and to model outcomes in 2030 should current trends continue.
The study finds that weak investment conditions and labour shortages contributed to anemic growth in domestic manufacturing from 2010-2020, when Canada saw just 20 new manufacturing facilities in the sector compared to more than 4000 in the United States during the same period. Limited federal support also impacts the sector, though the pandemic has increased government awareness and interest in the food supply chain.
FHCP President and CEO Michael Graydon commented:
“Despite making essential food and other goods Canadians rely on every single day and despite supporting more jobs than any other manufacturing sector in Canada, the food and consumer goods sector has typically received little attention or support.
As the pandemic made abundantly clear, Canada cannot afford to continue ignoring the serious constraints on our domestic food supply. The government must urgently improve Canada’s investment environment and legislate to protect suppliers against unfair grocery fees.”
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois commented:
“Food and beverage manufacturing plays a key role in supporting farmers, and the rest of the supply chain. It needs to be broadly recognized through better, and more supportive policy.
Canada has the potential to be a global force in innovation and food processing. As we have seen through the pandemic, domestic manufacturing is critical to Canadian security – food security included.”
Despite the challenges identified in the study, food and beverage manufacturing is Canada’s second largest manufacturing sector and top manufacturing employer. The sector’s GDP contribution in 2020 was $26.5 billion, about 13.5% of Canada’s overall GDP with only marginal growth from 13.18% in 2010.
Other key findings include:
● About 70% of all processed food and beverage products sold in Canada come from domestic manufacturers. More than half of imported products are made in the United States.
● Canada continues to be a strong net-exporter of food products and is a global leader in food and beverage product exports, but manufacturing relocation away from Canada would have implications for this position.
● Trade and technological innovation present opportunities for strengthening the food and beverage manufacturing sector, while environmental challenges must be addressed.
For media inquiries, contact email@example.com or Anthony Fuchs, +1 (416) 648-8808
About Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada
Food, Health and Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) is the voice of Canada’s largest manufacturing employer. The food, health, and consumer products sector employs more than 350,000 Canadians across businesses of all sizes that manufacture and distribute the safe, high-quality products that are at the heart of healthy homes, healthy communities, and a healthy Canada. Visit OnEveryShelf.ca to learn more.
Download the report:


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German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz has launched two new cars in the Indian markets – the sporty Mercedes-Benz SL 350 and the GL 500 SUV marking the celebration of its 125th anniversary. Both will cost about Rs 98.5 lakh and Rs 80.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) respectively.
The cars were launched in Delhi with Mercedes MD & CEO Peter Honegg there to help celebrate.
The GL 500 SUV is counted among the strongest and most powerful SUV’s in the world. It runs on a 5.4 litre V6 engine and has many luxury features including likes of electrical folding mirrors, sliding sunroof, automatic climate control, tyre pressure warning system, and a fire extinguisher. The SL 350 is powered by a 3.5 litre V6 engine.
Mercedes-Benz India Managing Director and CEO Peter Honegg said “the company had started assembling the engines and transmissions of C and E Class luxury sedans at its Chakan facility in Maharashtra to escape the higher 30 per cent customs duty following the new norms on completely knocked down (CKD) units in the 2011-12 budget, complying with the 10 per cent customs duty norm” reported Hindu.


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Update: Diabetic Worker Fired for “Grazing” on Chips Receives Settlement
A long-term employee of a South San Francisco Walgreens recently received a $180,000 settlement to resolve a disability discrimination claim brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). HRWatchdog previously reported on this lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit’s allegations, the employee, Josephina Hernandez, was fired when she grabbed a $1.39 bag of potato chips from a store shopping cart while returning items to various shelves and ate some of the chips to stabilize her low-blood sugar during a hypoglycemic attack. Hernandez, an 18-year employee, did not have a prior disciplinary record, and the company knew of her diabetes. She attempted to pay for the chips but no one was at the register so she put the half-eaten bag under the counter and returned to work.
The assistant manager found the bag and reported Hernandez. Yet, the company did not seek clarification from Hernandez when she provided a statement regarding the incident and wrote “my sugar low, not have time.”
She was terminated for violating Walgreens’ strict policy against employee theft in the form of “grazing” – eating food merchandise without paying for it.
Walgreens sought to have the case dismissed before trial, but, in April, a U.S. District judge noted that “Walgreens has failed to allege any misconduct that is unrelated to her disability.” The judge held that a jury should decide whether Walgreens should have accommodated Hernandez’s actions.
Instead of heading to trial, this case has now settled. According to EEOC Regional Attorney William Tamayo, “People may think this case revolves around theft, but the real issue is how a company responded to a valued 18-year employee, whom it knew for 13 years to be diabetic, and who attempted to pay for the chips after she recovered from her hypoglycemic attack.”
In addition to paying Hernandez $180,000, Walgreens agreed to:
- Post its revised policy regarding accommodation of disabled employees on its employee intranet site;
- Provide anti-discrimination training;
- Make periodic reports to the EEOC; and
- Post a notice regarding the settlement consent decree for three years.
This case highlights the need for a case-by-case analysis when dealing with a reasonable accommodation issue. Consult legal counsel whenever you have disciplinary questions that may involve an employee’s known disability.
HRCalifornia’s HR Library offers information on examples of accommodations and the interactive process in the Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities section. Not a CalChamber member? Learn more about what HRCalifornia can do for you.


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The ensuing lockdown and tough competition from online sales during the pandemic had no damaging impact on the Indian offline smartphone MBOs (multi-brand outlets), revealed a report by analytics firm PredictiVu.
Acting as influencers and guiding smartphone buying sentiments of consumers, offline retail emerged as the biggest sales channel in India contributing more than half of all smartphone sales despite the unprecedented pandemic-triggered online boom, said the study titled, MBO Smartphone India Overview Report 2021.
The report based on an analysis of data collected from around 5k MBO retailers from top 50 cities in India integrated into their AI-powered visualization tool – DMO, reflects interesting insights and trends of the growing offline retail MBO segment for smartphone brands.
It says that strong consumer trust and constructive steps taken by the 3 key pillars of the industry – Retailers, Smartphone Brands and the Government – will continue to fortify the intrinsic strength of MBOs in the upcoming quarters.
Regardless of the pandemic crisis, lockdowns, and increasing competition from e-com giants, MBOs including the small and regional players, will continue to flourish, as per the report.
Kunal Sarkar, Vice President, PredictiVu, said, “Offline retail MBOs will significantly drive smartphone growth prospects in the coming quarters. It’s interesting to note under PredictiVu’s analysis that within the top 50 Indian cities that accounted for 60% of smartphone sales, MBOs claimed 45% of the total sales. The pandemic-led challenges have not mellowed down MBOs prominence in the consumer mind but instead have driven growth due to the unique nature of benefits they have offered. This influencer community is a key component in the marketing strategy and brand war of top smartphone brands that plan to expand brand reach and penetrate deeper into cities and towns now.”
Rajesh Kurup, who is on the strategic advisory board of PredictiVu, said, “Deriving near real-time analytics for a dynamic market like the offline smartphone MBO segment that holds immense potential for a brand’s success needed firstly holistic understanding and secondly, appropriate integration of diverse inputs right from consumers, ad-spends, retail and social listening. This report prepared with the insight from PredictiVu’s dashboard, that excellently embodies all of the above, will definitely allow smartphone brand marketers to monitor and manage marketing interventions better both at an enterprise and specific segment level.”


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Rumors about the long-anticipated Apple (News - Alert) Tablet release ramped up today, as several sources reported that Apple Inc. plans to release the new multimedia device later this month. However, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Apple doesn’t plan on shipping the product until this spring.
As TMCnet reported, former Google China President Kai-Fu Lee reportedly announced in a blog post that Apple’s Steve Jobs (News - Alert) is planning to unveil a new tablet device next month.
Lee also said that the Apple tablet will feature 3D graphics capability and will be available at a price of less than $1,000. Lee worked for Apple some time back and left Google (News - Alert) recently.
“Most surprising: Apple predicts production of nearly 10 million units in the first year,” said Lee in a post made by him on a Chinese microblog service. This post is based on news received by him from a knowledgeable source.
One of the people briefed added that Apple was working on two different material finishes for the tablet, though it was unclear whether the Cupertino, Calif.-based company was testing them or planning to come out with multiple versions of the device at different price points, the Journal reported. Industry analysts have predicted the gadget will cost anywhere between $500 and $1,000.
The new tablet device will resemble a large iPhone and will come with a 10.1-inch multi-touch touchscreen, a virtual keyboard and will offer support for videoconferencing and e-books, according to Lee’s post.
The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reported that Google Inc. has been working on its own version of a tablet computing device. Erin Harrison is a senior editor with TMCnet, primarily covering telecom expense management, politics and technology and Web 2.0. She serves as senior editor for TMC's print publications, including "Internet Telephony (News - Alert)", "Customer Interaction Solutions", "Unified Communications" and "NGN" magazines. Erin also oversees production of TMCnet's weekly iPhone e-Newsletter. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Erin Harrison


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Durban is to introduce a contactless electronic wallet for use on its public transport network which can also be used to pay for purchases in shops. The Muvo card rollout will begin with a six week pilot on the South African city’s buses from February 2012. The system has been developed by South Africa’s National Department of Transport (NDoT), Almex and Standard Bank’s Beyond Payments unit.
- Maybank teams up with GrabPay for mobile payments in Malaysia
- Starbucks continues to lead the US mobile payments market
- Translink adds mobile payments for transit users in Vancouver
- EMVCo releases QR Payment Mark
- Bank of America adds AI assistant to mobile banking app


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Fosun to spiff up NY office plaza
Updated: 2015-03-13 13:00
By Jack Freifelder in New York(China Daily USA)
A rendering of an aerial view of the new plaza at 28 Liberty. Provided to China Daily
It's modern, it's new, and it's part of the China-based Fosun Group's plans to help revitalize New York City's Financial District.
It's the proposed redesign for 28 Liberty, the former One Chase Manhattan Plaza that Fosun renamed and acquired for $725 million in 2013. The company is planning to spend between $100 and $200 million to redesign and renovate more than 2 million square feet of space shared between the building and adjacent plaza.
Fosun has given its renovation plan to New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission, and was scheduled to give the public a look at the redesign at a local community board meeting on Thursday evening
The redesign has been in the works for some time, according to Erik Horvat, managing director of Fosun Property Holdings.
"When Fosun first began exploring the purchase of One Chase Manhattan Plaza, it recognized the extraordinary opportunity the building offered, both in the potential retail development and the reactivation of the plaza," Horvat wrote in an e-mail to China Daily.
Efforts to restore the plaza "will revitalize the building in numerous different ways", positioning it as a central destination and amenity for the neighborhood," Horvat said.
Renovations call for the addition of nearly 200,000 square feet of retail space below the plaza and a revamp of the open air space, which includes more seating and the restoration of the Noguchi Sunken Garden, a subterranean water garden located in the center of the plaza.
Glass windowpanes and new street-level storefronts will replace the black granite that lines the walls below the plaza along Liberty, Nassau, Pine and William streets. Fosun also plans to reclaim more than 100,000 square feet for shops on floors below ground level.
"Additional retail offerings are greatly desired in Lower Manhattan, which has evolved in the past decades into a thriving commercial and residential district," Horvat wrote. "The new design for retail opens up the street level space to pedestrian traffic and to the neighborhood."
Bo Wei, Fosun International's chief US representative, said in a statement: "The retail plan will provide a much-needed amenity to Lower Manhattan, offering 200,000 square feet of retail space to accommodate a residential community that has expanded dramatically since 28 Liberty was constructed."
The building was constructed in the early 1960s by design firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the same firm that is set to handle the redesign project.
Horvat said in an interview this week with the Wall Street Journal that when the building was constructed, Lower Manhattan was home to "only 5,000 residents".
Lower Manhattan has changed," Horvat told the newspaper. "It's a different place."
The residential population in the area has surged to more than 60,000, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York, a business advocacy group for the area.
Fosun Group, founded in 1992, is an industrial conglomerate with investments in insurance, industrial operations, pharmaceuticals and asset management.
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Apple's cheaper iPhone said to have larger screen, new design
Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is rumored to be rolling out a cheaper version of the iPhone in 2013, targeting markets such as China where it faces threats from lower-priced Android phones.
In a report published this afternoon, DigiTimes touched off a flurry of reports from news organizations including Forbes and the Wall Street Journal, covering the putative iPhone 6. DigiTimes cited supply-chain sources saying Apple's new, cheaper iPhone will have a larger screen and a new design.
According to DigiTimes, Apple may plan to work with China Mobile on a TD version of the iPhone.
A cheaper iPhone has been a perennial topic of speculation in the rumor mill surrounding Apple's secretive new product development and release schedule. DigiTimes reports the cheaper iPhone is now possible due to Qualcomm's (Nasdaq: QCOM) recent launch of a new family of Snapdragon chipsets, including the dual-core MSM8960 and the quad-core APQ8064, designed for entry-level to mid-range smartphones.
The Wall Street Journal reports Apple may lower manufacturing costs in a cheaper iPhone by replacing the iPhone 5's aluminum housing with a shell made of polycarbonate plastic.
According to the Journal, there is a sea change underway at Apple, which under Steve Jobs emphasized profit margins over market share. Under CEO Tim Cook, the company is shifting its strategy, according to the Journal, which pointed to the release of the iPad Mini.
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The Daily Telegraph
Aveva takeover leaves FTSE 100 with just one tech firm
ONE of the FTSE 100’s last remaining technology companies has been snapped up by French giant Schneider Electric in a £9.4bn deal.
Aveva, the Cambridge industrial software company, has agreed to a £31 per share takeover from Schneider, which was already its biggest shareholder.
The €66bn (£58bn) French industrial conglomerate already owned 60pc of Aveva shares after a deal in 2016, but had agreed to buy out remaining investors. The buyout is at a 40pc premium to Aveva’s share price before news of Schneider’s interest emerged in August.
The deal removes one of Britain’s biggest technology companies from public markets. The takeover of Aveva, a FTSE 100 constituent, leaves the Blue Chip index with just one pure technology company, according to listing criteria: accountancy software company Sage.
Avast, the FTSE 100 cyber security company, was taken over by US rival Norton last year. Microfocus, a FTSE 250 IT company, confirmed this week it had agreed to a takeover by Canadian company Opentext.
Schneider said Aveva would maintain a level of corporate autonomy and its main headquarters in Cambridge. Jean-pascal Tricoire, Schneider’s chief executive, said the company would continue to invest in R&D in Cambridge.
Mr Tricoire said the takeover would allow Aveva to grow faster, in particular in signing up customers to subscriptions for its software.
Schneider, founded in 1836 as a steelmaker, has grown into a energy management and software giant for homes, data centres and industrial clients.
Aveva was originally founded in the 1960s as the government-funded Computer Aided Design Centre. It was listed on the stock market in 1996 and focuses on providing software and data tools to energy and oil and gas companies.
Schneider plans to grow Aveva’s business, rather than make cuts or cost-savings. “It is a growth plan,” Mr Tricoire said, adding that since Schneider first invested in the company, “the headcount of Aveva grew spectacularly”.


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Google’s bold, possibly rash move to support Aereo
Earlier this month, Aereo—the company behind the controversial DVR-over-the-air antenna technology that has broadcasters up in arms—finally arrived on Google’s Chromecast device and in the Google Play store.
A partnership announcement between tech companies rarely merits a headline, but this one is different. Aereo, which has the backing of Barry Diller’s InterActiveCorp (IACI), is still in the middle of a U.S. Supreme Court showdown over the legality of its technology, which captures over-the-air television and rebroadcasts it without license. A decision is expected sometime this month, making the partnership rather bold.
Aereo’s presence on the Chromecast, a $35 Chromecast “dongle” that streams content from a PC or mobile device to a TV, is only the latest in a series of high-profile partnerships for the service, which has support on Apple (AAPL) OS X and iOS devices as well as Apple TV, Roku set-top boxes, Microsoft (MSFT) Windows PCs, and Linux PCs.
“We said from the beginning that that we hoped to expand Aereo to a growing number of devices,” said Virginia Lam, Aereo’s senior vice president for communications and government relations. “When it launched it was useable on iOS devices and over time we added compatibility for PC for a number of browsers. Chromecast is the latest in our expanding universe of devices.”
But the deal services as a barometer of confidence in the young company, which has drawn the ire of broadcasters who believe Aereo is in violation of federal copyright law because it intercepts local broadcast content and then charges $8 to $12 per month for its delivery to Aereo subscribers—far less than the cost of conventional cable service.
Aereo maintains that it is providing an alternative service to those who couldn’t otherwise obtain over-the-air TV. “We continue to see instances where people are in high rise buildings in cities, valleys in the country or just other geographic areas where they can’t use an antenna on a rooftop,” Lam said. “Aereo allows those people to get that content without being forced behind an artificial paywall.”
A Supreme Court decision, which could seal Aereo’s fate, isn’t expected for a few more weeks. But the company continues to expand its presence to make itself more attractive to so-called cord cutters.
“Chromecast is in the same bucket as Apple TV and Roku in the cord cutting space for providing a stream to those services,” said Craig Elimeliah, senior vice president, director of creative technology at customer experience agency RAPP. “However, by totally cutting the cord you’d lose your local channels. With the addition of Aereo to these services it provides an experience that is a little closer to the cable type of offering. This more closely mimics the cable experience, and in this way could be the next step towards how those devices tied with these services could decouple what cable now offers.”
If Aereo should prevail in the courts, Google could find itself in an advantageous position to take advantage of growing adoption of streaming media services—or at the very least, no further behind than some of its tech industry peers.
“This is important for Google to have experience in this arena,” said Martin C. Lafferty, CEO of the Distributed Computing Industry Association. “The fact is that they are not alone as Apple already has it and Roku has it. To have Aereo in advance of the Supreme Court ruling also certainly outweighs the issues of needing to remove it, should it even come to that. Aereo is on other devices so a number of players might have to deal with disabling it.”
Chromecast support of Aereo arrived a week later than the company originally anticipated. Lafferty said that it’s possible that Aereo needed the extra week to makes tweaks because Google wanted to ensure it could be taken down should the ruling go against the streaming service. “Whatever the delay, it is clear that Google wanted to be ahead of the game if the Supreme Court ends up ruling for Aereo,” Lafferty said. “Google could have waited, but that is not typical Google. They tend not to kowtow to such concerns as they tend to be very aggressive. So it is in character for Google to be proactive.”
It also sends a signal that the technology industry supports this type of service, even if the broadcasting industry does not.
“This shows a realization that Aereo or similar models will eventually be inevitable and better to find ways to coexist and mutually benefit from these technology leaps and new business models,” Orly Lobel, professor of labor and employment law at the University of San Diego School of Law said.
RAPP’S Elimeliah was far more succinct: “It is the poster child for innovation.”


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TIMES NETWORK, a part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group, launched the fourth edition of its ‘Times Network Digital India Summit and Awards 4.0’ today. Attended by some of the most valued dignitaries in India, the summit aimed at deliberating on key challenges and laid out key imperatives and framework for turning the vision of ‘Digital India’ into a reality, through a series of panel discussions and deliberations.
The summit kicked off with the keynote address by the Chief Guest, Honorable Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad. The participants at the first session of the panel discussion themed "Digital India- Where Do Things Stand? A Real Time Assessment” were Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, DoT; Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President Designate, Nasscom; Mr. Rajkiran Rai, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India; Mr. Sri Rajan, Chairman, Bain & Co India and Mr. Karan Bajwa, MD IBM India.
Talking extensively about the growth, opportunities and possibilities of the digital connectivity in India, Honorable Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad stated, "Digital India which is a flagship initiative the government is designed to empower and to help the poor and the underprivileged. We are focusing on providing the affordable and inclusive digital media to the masses. Today we have well over 1 billion mobile phones in the country with 350 million being smartphones which defines the digital identity of the nation. Low cost technology for inclusive growth is crucial." The Honorable Minister also touched upon the benefits of digital India in the wake of enrolling Aadhaar. He added, "With enrollment of 1.18 billion Aadhaar cards, we were able to save 49,000 crore of the exchequer which was previously looted by the middlemen in the public distribution system." Further talking about the inclusion of the digital resources, he highlighted that "India has digital aspiration, appetite and customer. We are heading towards a revolution of digital media in this country."
Commenting on Times Network Digital India Summit 4.0, Mr. MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network said, "Over the last 3 years, Digital India Summit & Awards, has enjoyed tremendous response from both delegates and participants alike. With an unwavering focus on building a digitally empowered India, the 4th edition of Digital India Summit is another step towards bridging the 'digital divide' and finding solutions and opportunities to create a robust security architecture."
Rajkiran Rai, MD and CEO, Union Bank of India said, “Digital India is one of the biggest government programs in the world to bring about sustainable and inclusive societal transformation using digital technologies. The process of making India into a trillion-dollar digital economy has begun and Digital India is making this dream a reality. We at Union Bank are committed to help India achieve its digital vision. We are proud to partner Times Network for the last 3 years in this impact initiative.”
In the intriguing session on ‘Digital India- Where Do Things Stand? A Real Time Assessment’, Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, DoT, said, "Digital India is an aspiration. We are focused to enable digital opportunities to reach to the masses and leverage them.” She additionally highlighted the issue of data protection in the discussion as she stated, "We are planning a robust data protection framework to empower the digital mandate. Data protection is beyond Aadhaar; issue of privacy is a global threat."
The summit had discussions on the relevance of 5G in India, how Fintech has helped in the growth of Digital India and discussed the importance of data security in India.
The session extensively talked about the opportunities and challenges in the digital world when the country is looking for economic independence.
Hina Jafri, TIMES NETWORK, ,+91-9004669598 , Hina.email@example.com
|Image Caption : Union Minister for Law & Justice and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad speaking at Digital India Summit and Awards 4.0||Click for Real Image|
|Image Caption : Supriya Srinate, Executive Editor News, ET NOW; Mr. Karan Bajwa, MD, IBM India; Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, DoT; Mr Sri Rajan, Chairman, Bain & Co India, Ms. Debjani Ghosh, President Designate, Nasscom and Mr. Rajkiran Rai, MD & CEO, Union Bank of India participating in a panel discussion at Digital India Summit and Awards 4.0||Click for Real Image|


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Kate Spade & Co. is suffering short-term growing pains — and Wall Street isn’t happy about it.
The company saw its shares fall 18.2 percent Wednesday to close at $16.47 on the New York Stock Exchange after it sharply lowered guidance for the year and its second-quarter earnings missed Wall Street’s earnings per share estimates. The punishment didn’t stop at Kate Spade, either, with shares of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd. down 2.6 percent to $49.02 on the Big Board, while Vera Bradley slipped 0.8 percent to $13.74 in Nasdaq trading.
In contrast, Coach Inc. inched up 0.2 percent to $41.75, suggesting that some investors believe it might be taking market share from Kate Spade. In after-market trading, investor sentiment shifted slightly for Kate Spade and Coach: shares of Kate inched up 0.2 percent to $16.50, while shares of Coach slipped 0.6 percent to $41.52. Shares of Kors and Vera remained unchanged.
Despite the Street’s reaction, Kate Spade chief executive officer Craig Leavitt indicated the company remains focused on its long-term strategy to grow annual volume to $4 billion at retail.
Hurt by a confluence of macroeconomic factors, and a miss on its June novelty product offerings, the company on Wednesday posted second-quarter results that missed Wall Street’s EPS estimate by 3 cents and had the firm lowering 2016 guidance. Investors weren’t happy about the reduced guidance, and sent shares of Kate Spade down 18.2 percent to close at $16.47 in trading on the exchange.
The strategy entails a focus on the full-price customer, and data from the second quarter indicate the company is on the right track, he said. “Our focus is on the quality-of-sale effort, and we are winning with our full-price customer even [against the backdrop] of the challenging quarter,” Leavitt told WWD, adding that it was a “very important quarter” in measuring how well the initiatives have resonated with that consumer.
“We are agnostic about where she is shopping. When we tell our brand story in all key international markets, we want to capture her around the globe wherever she is shopping. We have a holistic view focused on engaging her with the brand and driving her desire to buy at full price,” the ceo said.
For the three months ended July 2, net income was up more than threefold to $26.8 million, or 21 cents a diluted share, from net income of $8.5 million, or 7 cents a year ago. On an adjusted basis, diluted EPS from continuing operations was 11 cents. Net sales rose 13.7 percent to $319.7 million from $281.1 million.
Wall Street’s consensus estimate was EPS of 14 cents on revenues of $318.6 million.
For the six months, the company swung back to the black, with net income at $38.4 million, or 30 cents a diluted share, against a net loss of $46.7 million, or 37 cents, a year ago. Net sales rose 10.8 percent to $594.1 million from $536.4 million.
By segment, net sales for Kate Spade North America rose 15.1 percent to $271 million, or 17.1 percent on an adjusted basis, which excludes sales for wind-down operations. Net sales for Kate Spade International were up 6.6 percent to $43 million, while the Adelington Design Group saw an increase of 4.8 percent in net sales to $5 million. By geography, North American sales rose 15.1 percent, while international sales rose 6.6 percent.
For 2016, the company expects diluted EPS in the range of 63 cents to 70 cents, on a net sales range of $1.37 billion to $1.4 billion. Prior guidance in May when the company posted first-quarter results forecast diluted EPS of 70 cents to 80 cents on revenue expectations of $1.39 billion to $1.41 billion.
One data point in the quarter that likely concerned investors was the direct-to-consumer comparable-sales growth. Wall Street was expecting a comps gain of 13 percent, but they rose by less than a quarter of that amount — 4 percent — and dropped to only 1 percent when e-commerce sales are excluded.
Leavitt said the quarter was hurt primarily by the “continuing headwinds of the foreign tourist, both in terms of traffic and average transaction spend.” In particular, the firm’s outlet stores are located in A-plus and A-rated centers, and those are “overindexed with foreign tourists,” making the brand reliant on the conducted tours the centers push to get traffic to the site, he said.
Further, he said while the brand is gaining in its efforts to get the full-price consumer to buy more, the challenge was the sale-oriented customer, who is driven to spend primarily by price. He said that in a heavily promoted environment, the competition was particularly “intense,” which made capturing “her dollars more challenging.”
The ceo also said the company didn’t expect its new Cameron Street handbag assortment to resonate as quickly with consumers, and therefore didn’t have enough in inventory to meet demand. The company is transitioning to this handbag group for the third and fourth quarters. Further, the brand’s splurge customer is responding positively to the $350-plus price point, and the company is growing its assortment in the higher average price points for the back half of the year.
In moving to increase the nimbleness of the organization, Kate Spade is using its stores as laboratory sites to test product, with select store clusters testing different products as needed. The firm is also shortening the turnaround time to bring new products to market as well as meet replenishment demand, and it is doing that by buying select raw materials in bulk to have on hand so — after learnings from tests and checking on consumer demand and feedback — it can put products into production and speed the process by “more than two-thirds faster than the normal cycle of development. That’s a significant reduction [in time],” Leavitt said.
Another issue in the quarter was that novelty assortments in June didn’t do as well as they did a year ago. “It’s a very important part of our brand, storytelling that is critical to our brand success. It drives traffic to our stores and to our site. We’ve had win after win after win in our novelty, but June was the first time our set of novelty products didn’t resonate as well with our customers. That impacted our business, particularly on our conversion rate on our e-commerce site,” Leavitt said.
Gabriella Santaniello, founder of independent research firm A-Line Partners, said she wasn’t surprised by the issue with the novelty assortment. “Novelty brings customers coming in to buy because they have to have it. Novelty can be such a whimsical statement. A handbag with a bunch of bananas is an identifiable handbag. There was skittishness from customers because they’re not necessarily going to commit dollars to that. But last year’s little coin purses with mouse ears and cat ears were really cute and did very well. To be able to comp [those sales] is very hard to repeat,” she said.
Leavitt said the July trends are better, with strong results so “we are confident with the product in our novelty delivery.” Now, to trend better in a difficult retail environment, Kate Spade aims to bring back some of the “tried-and-true themes” that did well in novelty, Leavitt said.
The company brings in new novelty items each month. A quick check on its web site shows that the cats are back, with 31 items ranging from feline images on handbags replete with whiskers and pink ears to cat-themed jewelry, charms, a cat pouf key chain and a variety of cat-imaged iPhone cases.


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SPATA has announced that wet leisure specialists can continue to stay updated on British and European Standards thanks to an extension decision that will allow members to gain access to a discounted official service.
Twelve months ago SPATA publicised the valuable service that its members were able to benefit from by being able to have access to 25 standards as part of British Standards Online (BSOL). Following positive feedback from members, the SPATA National Council has extended the BSOL service for a second year and is highlighting the availability of a member’s only deal on the annual package price for the standards.
“Due to the size and strength of the trade association, thanks to its members, SPATA can offer these European standards as an online package at a fabulous price of £75 plus VAT per year,” said SPATA PR Manager Sallie Leslie-Golding.
“Considering that most of the twenty-five standards that have been made available cost at least £100 each to buy, in paper or pdf format, this is a fantastic offer.”
Sallie also reported that members can still take advantage of the facility to purchase a discounted paper copy of most British and European standards, with a 20 per cent discount, via the SPATA office, if members would still find it useful to have a particular copy for office use.
“For companies that are not currently SPATA members, the SPATA office can provide a full list of the 25 standards available and details of how to become a member to take advantage of these great offers,” explained Sallie.


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After months of negotiating, the five members of the worker cooperative that runs the Mandela Foods Cooperative in West Oakland have a document they've been long been dreaming of: a lease for the space next door.
It's a 20,000-square-foot corner spot that the natural-food store, which opened in 2009, originally hoped to occupy. But Bridge Housing, which operates the Mandela Gateway transit village across the street from the West Oakland BART, gave the lease to 99 Cents Only store, and Mandela Foods moved into the 8,000-square-foot retail space next to it.


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For 5th Time, VW Jetta Receives Most Appealing Compact Car Award from J.D. Powers
For the fifth time, a Volkswagen product – the restyled 2018 Jetta – has been named the most appealing Compact Car by J.D. Power in its 2018 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) survey. Eighteen vehicles were competing in this hotly contested category.
Volkswagen Products Also Honored For Improvements
Also, Volkswagen products received honors in their respective categories. In the Compact Car category, the study ranked the Golf second in this category. And, the Tiguan received honors for its second-place in the Compact SUV category. Atlas, the Chattanooga-built Midsized SUV improved its ranking three positions to 18th in the study. VW’s products outpaced the industry average, outpacing the industry year-over-year in improvements.
Referring to the Jetta’s singular honors, Werner Eichhorn, the automaker’s sales chief and marketing officer, North American Region, said “This award further validates the Jetta as an exceptionally competitive offering in the compact sedan segment. The all-new 2019 Jetta recently joined the lineup and we hope it will be as successful as the previous generation.”
How The Power Survey Works
Powers’ APEAL Study looks at how rewarding a new vehicle is to own and drive, based on owners evaluations of 77 vehicle attributes in 10 categories. The 2018 APEAL looks at the on February to May responses of more than 67,000 purchasers and lessees of the new 2018 model-year cars and trucks. The study looked solely at the 90-day responses of the 67,000 owners. For more information, at the Powers Study: J.D. Powers APEAL Study Makes Its Findings


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|Pink shirt day: Anti-bullying|
Posted 20 Feb 2011 11:07
Wednesday, February 23rd is Pink shirt day. Pink shirt day is also known as Anti-bullying day, it is always held on the last wednesday of February.
Pink shirt day started in a High school in Nova Scotia. A freshman[grade 9] boy came to school on the first day and was wearing a pink shirt, he was harassed, teased and threatened to be beat up by some other students.
Two Seniors[12th grade], David Shepherd, and Travis Price heard about this and decided to take action. They went to a nearby discount store and bought 50 pink t-shirts and tank tops for the next day. They then went home and e-mailed classmates and told them about the idea.
The next day at school there were dozens of students wearing pink, some wearing the discount shirts, some wearing their own pink clothes. When the bullied freshman walked in that day, Travis and David said he immediately lit up, it looked like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. The bullies haven't caused any trouble since.
Travis & David
I'm not sure if they celebrate this in the USA or other countries, but we celebrate it in Canada, maybe you can help bring it to your area.
By wearing pink and showing your support on wednesday, you can show that you are not going to tolerate bullying in the workplace, schools or anywhere else.
|Featured: Yes (GleeoK)|


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By Tony Winterburn • 02 February 2021 • 21:33
Amazon Fresh Online Delivery Service Launches To Challenge Spain's Supermarket Chains. image: Amazon
Amazon Fresh Online Delivery Service Launches To Challenge Spain’s Supermarket Chains.
AMAZON FRESH is a same-day home delivery service for groceries and other products and will compete directly with the country’s traditional supermarket chains such as Mercadona, El Corte Inglés, Aldi or Carrefour among others.
Amazon today announced the launch in Madrid of its fast delivery service for fresh products from it’s Amazon Fresh supermarket. At the moment, it is available only to Prime customers and joins the Dia store, launched at the beginning of the year. The objective of the American company is to offer a large online supermarket to consumers so that they can make purchases through its website.
Amazon Prime customers can now choose from more than 10,000 items directly from the company’s website or through their application via mobile phone- very handy! Products available include fresh and frozen, meat, fish, fruits and vegetables, dairy, snacks, and essentials- customers can also buy beauty and personal care products, toys and stationery.
With this new service, available seven days a week, the company said it undertakes to deliver the order on the same day, in two-hour time frames and without delivery charges, as long as the total cost of the order exceeds 50 euros. Prime customers can also make a purchase in the Dia store, which already stocks more than 7,000 items from Amazon, as well as local products and major brands.
“We are very pleased to expand our fast delivery service for food, beauty and personal care products, as well as other categories, with the launch of Amazon Fresh,” said Camille Bur, head of Amazon Fresh in Spain, France and Italy. “We are always looking for ways to improve the online shopping experience, ” he added.
The company is taking advantage of the pandemic and the need (or convenience) to make online purchases and is expanding the service to other countries, this time to Spain.
Amazon has plans to expand all over Spain and no doubt the service will prove popular. Even after the crisis is over, the trend of house delivery for the daily or weekly shop is bound to continue and flourish- after all, in this day and age, who wants to waste time travelling to the supermarket!
Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Amazon Fresh Online Delivery Service Launches To Challenge Spain’s Supermarket Chains ”. For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.
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Defender Taylor Graham recently visited "The Price Is Right" to help give away a Sounders FC package to one lucky contestant.
Single match tickets for the 2015 season will be available in February.Request Info
S2 kicks off in USL PRO action in 2015 at Starfire Sports.Read More
Nominating yourself, or someone you know, for Alliance Council.Read More
Gear up for next season by visiting The Pro Shop.Shop Now


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Two rapidly growing companies, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (NASDAQ:GMCR) and Soda Stream (NASDAQ:SODA), have traded in tandem for the better part of a year, until most recently when Green Mountain Coffee Roasters reported a quarterly miss on revenue. GMCR fell nearly 50% on May 2, 2012, after it released its quarterly earnings results. Since then, it has continued its steep decline while Soda Stream has found some solid footing and is trading above its 200-day moving average. Soda Stream's most recently reported quarter, which was on May 9, 2012, showed both record earnings and revenue for the Israeli-based company. SODA also announced on its conference call that it had reached a retail distribution deal with Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT).
So let's see if we can parse out the differences between SODA and GMCR once and for all, keeping it simple of course. Firstly, if an investor were to take a broad look at the balance sheets for both companies the difference would be glaringly obvious. While GMCR has an abundant amount of debt on the books, SODA is debt free. Of course it is true that when companies are growing as fast as these two companies have over the last several years, debt accumulation is acceptable, yet SODA has none. Why you might ask? The answer is really quite simple as I promised I would keep it: Soda Stream makes money on its consumables line and its soda machine product line. This enables Soda Stream to achieve higher operating income and higher margins than Green Mountain. SODA has held quarterly margins above 50% for more than a year while GMCR's margins are in the 30s and have been for quite some time. Unfortunately, GMCR only makes money on its consumables and breaks even on its brewer machines and this is one of the contributing factors for the lack of free cash flow at GMCR. Just to belabor the point, GMCR has accumulated over $1.5 billion in negative cash flow over the last five years. No wonder it needs to dip into that credit facility every quarter. SODA has a credit facility also; let's be fair, most corporations do. Having said that, Soda Stream hasn't had to use its credit facility since the company went public in 2010. All of Soda Stream's expansion and innovation efforts are funded organically. Are we starting to see the differences?
Moreover, Green Mountain is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a production build-out that will benefit the company's future profitability. As an investor in GMCR, my worry would be that as sales growth slows, as channel checks currently assume, and competition comes to the forefront, will its newer facility warrant the production capacity that the company is assuming it will need in the future. Soda Stream is also currently building its own new factory in Israel to facilitate the needs of this rapidly growing company. In sharp contrast to GMCR, quarter-over-quarter sales for SODA are accelerating. Let's be honest with ourselves for a moment here investors. The fact that many have chosen to ignore is that as an investor in either of these two companies, the earnings strength that you would hope to see reflected in a higher stock price isn't reflected because of the lack of cash on the balance sheets, hence the lower than average p/e ratio for such rapidly growing companies. Expansion and build-outs have to be funded folks and until the cash flow turns positive for either of these companies, you may not see dramatic gains in the price per share. Here comes the difference between SODA and GMCR. Soda Stream has stated, as of its last earnings release, that the company will be cash flow positive for Q2 and for the balance of 2012. GMCR has said that it will not be cash flow positive in 2012.
Let's talk competition now and see where the differences lie between these two growth stocks. GMCR's fiercest competition may have been created by GMCR. Its recent licensing deals with Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX), Folgers and Dunkin Brands may be a root problem for the company's profitability going forward; at least this notion has been suggested by David Einhorn. Unfortunately, the latest channel checks may be proving Einhorn's theory of cannibalization as the Keurig branded k-cups are not growing as fast as the Keurig licensed k-cups from Starbucks. Just three short quarters ago, Starbucks k-cups were selling at a 1:10 ratio versus Keurig k-cups of similar flavors according to various channel checks. Now Starbucks k-cups are selling at a 1:8 ratio versus Keurig k-cups of similar flavors. Keurig also faces competition from a litany of other upstart single-serve coffee providers. Kroger has decided that the company will start producing its own single-serve pods that will work with Keurig and other single-serve brewing machines. Starbucks will launch its very own single-serve brewing machine called the Verismo this year. The Coffee Bean &Tea Leaf Company has begun its retail expansion in the U.S. earlier this year by entering stores like Target (NYSE:TGT), Bed Bath &Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY), Macy's (NYSE:M) and Dillard's (NYSE:DDS). Unlike any Keurig machines on the market to-date, the CBTL machine offers a unique machine that can serve teas, coffees, and espresso drinks. Investors of GMCR have to wonder if this was the best time for the company to expand its manufacturing base when the threat of competition was more prevalent than ever before.
Soda Stream, well, by the company's own admission has no real threat of competition as of yet. Sure there is Primo Water Co. (NASDAQ:PRMW), but it is nearing bankruptcy and has only entered a few retail establishments with limited results. In Europe, Viking Soda, which is a competitor to SODA, recently lost a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Soda Stream last year. Viking was ordered to pay SEK 1.09 million to Soda Stream and ordered to remove all Soda Stream trademark from the Viking Soda CO2 cylinders. Viking Soda was ordered to pay compensation for using Soda Stream's trademark as well as all Soda Stream International legal fees incurred. For SODA, it looks like it has created sound barriers for entry into this new market segment by way of patent protection that rolls through 2023 and being the first to market with quality products and strong leadership with a Harvard MBA graduate at the helm.
Next, these two corporations have differing distribution models. GMCR has, thus far, kept its distribution in North America while SODA distributes its products in 43 countries around the world. SODA is also looking forward to entering India and Greece in the early part of 2013 and should be able to advance in markets in Central and South America during 2013. GMCR has to get the ball rolling and expand beyond North America should it hope to continue its growth and sustainability long term. Given the overwhelming dominance and adoption of the Keurig single-serve system in North America, the company could easily expand its business model overseas. GMCR has to show investors that it recognizes the ceiling for market penetration in North America is ever closer and that the company is willing to expand its distribution on a more global scale.
Having global distribution and a lower tax rate may seem like a favorable characteristic for SODA, but having manufacturing and headquarters in Israel could prove to be too high risk for many investors. Israel is consistently under the threat of possible conflict with Iran and other countries in the region. GMCR is headquartered in the United States, and as such, this helps to garner more interest in the company and is just one of the main reasons GMCR has far more retail investor support than SODA.
We have looked at some of the considerable differences between these two companies, but there is still more such as tax rates, input costs and most importantly, operational execution. A lot has been made about GMCR's expiring patents. Certainly this has played a role in the decline of the share price, but if management had brought more innovative products to the market that met the demands of the market, and had done so in a timely fashion, this would be a mute point. It had taken GMCR nearly 3 years to come out with the Vue brewer, which comes with a hefty price tag and does little to separate itself from older models. SODA is barely into its second full year of market expansion in the U.S. and it will already be launching a series of new machines and flavored pods this year. The new machines and flavored pods will serve to advance the existing technology and address the needs of the market place. Management teams have to be innovative and execute in a rapidly changing environment.
If all this wasn't enough to prove that these two companies are very different, let's take one last look. SODA is a company that is deeply rooted in saving the earth from plastic bottles. The Soda Stream system also allows consumers to save money on carbonated drinks over time. GMCR has some roots in green conservation, but its Keurig system is one of the most expensive coffee systems in North America.
Considering that a 6 oz. K-cup serving costs .65cents ($1.30 for 12 oz., therefore), on average, they're nearly as expensive as buying coffee at the local coffee shop. Ok investors, you decide. Which is the stock for you?


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Live event planned for Disney Infinity 2.0 on April 30th
Posted on 8 years ago by Jarop(@gamrah) in 3DS, News, Wii, Wii U | 0 comments
Today it was announced that there will be a launch event for Disney Infinity 2.0. The event will take place at 10am PST on April 30th and is to be held at Pacific Theater’s Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles. Alongside the event will be a live stream for the folks at home so you check out all the action. We’ve embedded the stream below, so you can catch it when it goes live!