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MEXICAN fast food chainBarburrito
today announced plans for seven more outlets across the country in an ambitious £2.5m expansion drive.
The growth will include shops in Manchester city centre, on Deansgate and Oxford Road, and openings in Leeds and Birmingham before February next year.
More will follow in the next 18 months as the chain looks to double turnover and sales.
Founded in Piccadilly, Manchester, by Morgan Davies and Paul Kilpatrick, Barburrito was the first burrito outlet in the UK and operates from three sites - Piccadilly, the Trafford Centre and Liverpool One, with a staff of 60.
Twelve months ago it received a £1m-plus cash injection when the Haydock-basedRapid Realisation Fund
took a significant stake and businessman Richard O'Sullivan bought a five per cent share.
Mr O'Sullivan, former boss ofMillie's Cookies
and chairman ofBaa Bar
, has taken on the role of chairman at Barburrito.
He said today: "The concept has got as much sizzle as juice bars and noodle bars, and they have a terrific offering.
"It is fast food, but also fresh and healthy, and affordable."
Barburrito's turnover to March was £1.7m, but expansion could see that double that within 12 months.
Mr O'Sullivan said: "It is a well financed business, and it will run as far and as fast as it can, but we do not set turnover targets."
The expansion is being backed with new branding that has Derek The Donkey as its icon.
Mr Davies said: "I think everyone will really take to Derek because, while he is not the best-looking chap he is very family-friendly - a key target market for us as a business.
"People said we don't often shout about our food, and in the new brand we wanted to communicate that, prove our brand personality and add a dash of humour."


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An analyst with Finvista Advisors says that it’s likely that sometime in mid-2013, Android tablets will outsell iPads. Android has been enjoying rapid growth thanks to popular devices like the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the Nexus 7. Android’s shipping volume has exceeded iPads for 6 of the last 8 quarters. The announcement of the iPad Mini disappointed many due to its lack of a Retina display and $329 price tag, which is $130 more than the Nexus 7 tablet. Their surprise announcement of the iPad 4 angered many users who had just gotten the iPad 3 7 months ago.
Finvista’s Sameer Singh says a big reason for the projection is price. Android devices come in variety of attractive price points while iPads remain quite pricey for most. This isn’t to say Apple is in trouble, only that they may have to finally grapple with the fact they finally have some real competition. Needless to say it probably won’t do much to help the contempt they already have for Google!

domain: news


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If you have heard people saying things like, “Hot dang those Yakuza games sure are good! Thanks for making ’em, Mr. Sega!” over the past few months or years but have held off on diving into the series until now, well, here’s your chance to dive right in.
For those who own an Xbox One and are subscribed to Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft has announced today that the first three entries chronologically in the series will be free to play from now until the end of this coming weekend. Yes, from October 1 through the 4th, Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, and Yakuza Kiwami 2 will be part of Xbox’s Free Play Days, meaning that you can download them all and begin playing without being charged a dime. While each title has been available on Xbox Game Pass for awhile now, it’s nice to see Sega and Microsoft try to make this awesome series even more accessible.
Of course, if this is the first time you’re looking to play the Yakuza games now, you might be wondering where you should start. Fortunately, our own Kris Cornelisse has written up a fantastic article just for you that explains how the franchise breaks down and what the best jumping-on point is. And personally, as someone who played Yakuza Kiwami earlier this year for the first time, I think it’s absolutely worth giving a shot.
As for the next entry in the series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon is set to release alongside the Xbox Series X next month on November 10 and will also be coming to PS4 and PC on the same date. Those holding out for a PS5 release, however, will have to wait until next March.
The post Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2 Will be Free to Play for Xbox Gold Members Through this Weekend by Logan Moore appeared first on DualShockers.


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Using the iPad to display sheet music isn’t new. Tonara, however, adds some much-needed functionality to these scores which its competitors just can’t mach: it listens to you while you play and automatically flips pages. I think Tonara will set the benchmark for 21st century sheet music apps for those of us who play piano, violin, flute or other polyphonic and monophonic instruments (indeed, its flexibility is what makes it so great).
When it comes to tablets, the iPad is still synonymous with the whole tablet category for most users. This doesn’t come as a surprise, though, given that it took Google’s partners quite a while to launch competitive hardware and Google’s first efforts to launch a tablet version of Android were not up to par with Apple’s iOS. For the most part, though, the forthcoming Android 3.1 and 4.0 releases will take care of most of these software issues, however, and with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Android tablet hardware is now also getting to the point where it’s competitive with Apple’s iPad line.What is missing, however, is the wide variety of apps that makes Apple’s ecosystem so vibrant.
During a press event in San Francisco this morning, Apple CEO Steve Jobs – still officially on medical leave – unexpectedly took the stage himself to announce the fully redesigned iPad 2. Dual-Core Processor, Faster Graphics – But Same Memory Sizes and Screen The new iPad will sport a dual-core processor (dubbed the A5), feature…
Apple released the first beta of iOS 4.3 to developers yesterday and today the Internet is swirling with rumors about not just what’s in iOS 4.3 but also about what this means for the next generation of iPads.
Here is a brief summary of all the rumors we have encountered so far.


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Porsche can actually be satisfied with its electric debut. The Taycan is increasingly becoming a bestseller for the sports car manufacturer. However, the number of customers who need to be improved is now all the greater. A recall due to safety defects affects thousands of electric cars.
E-car recall: Porsche has to improve the Taycan
Porsche has to improve the Taycan: become global 40,421 electric cars recalled, because they can have safety-endangering defects. They can only be remedied during a workshop visit, because the problems do not come from the software or can be remedied via it. The belt tensioners of the seat belts and the airbags can fail on affected Taycans.
The reason for the problems is apparently the wiring harnesses installed under the front seats. The wiring harnesses can be damaged when the seats are adjusted lengthways, which in turn can cause problems with the safety-related functions (source: Kfz-betrieb). If the functions fail in an emergency, there is an increased risk for the driver and front passenger.
However, the emergency notification for a functional failure should work as usual. Affected Cars inform via warning lights when a malfunction is detected.
The corresponding malfunction already led to a recall campaign in the USA in April, which has now been expanded internationally. According to the specialist website Kfz-Betrieb, the model years 2020 to 2022 that were built before May 18, 2021 are affected. The variants Taycan Sport and the Taycan Cross Turismo can also be included. In the USA, the manufacturer is contacting affected customers directly.
Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo: the latest version of the successful electric car:
German Porsche customers: Official information is still missing
It is still unclear how many electric cars in Germany are affected by the recall. The Federal Motor Transport Authority for the current campaign is not yet in the official recall database. But there should be a few copies. The Taycan has long been a success as the first electric car from Stuttgart. In 2021, sales exceeded those of the classic Porsche 911 for the first time.
According to media reports, Porsche is taking care of checking the wiring harnesses as part of the recall and securing them against renewed damage. If damage is already detected, the affected parts should be replaced.


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Toyota Gave Fans a Small Preview of the All-New 2022 Tundra
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An image released of the 2022 Toyota Tundra reveals it’s much different than its outdated predecessor.
The Toyota Tundra really did need an upgrade, and the 2022 version is the first Tundra full redesign since the 2007 model year.
While we don’t know exactly what’s under the hood just yet (except that Toyota has promised a new engine), we can see some features of the 2022 Toyota Tundra based on the photo that was released.
The 2022 Toyota Tundra | Toyota Media
What are the new features on the 2022 Toyota Tundra?
Until now, the Toyota Tundra has basically remained unchanged since its debut in 2007. The vehicle was refreshed for the 2014 model year, but it still struggled against rivals such as the Ford F-150, the Ram 1500 and the Chevy Silverado 1500.
While the new Toyota Tundra probably still won’t outsell any of those competitors, the 2022 version does have many improvements that should make it more attractive than before.
The photo released of the 2022 Toyota Tundra shows a white truck with black accents. There’s also a large grille with a big Toyota badge, and multiple LED light bars.
The three amber running lights integrated into the grille are legally required on vehicles that are more than 80-inches wide, according to Car and Driver.
Toward the bottom, there’s a hidden embossed Tundra stamp and sensors for what are most likely to be a host of collision-avoidance features, according to Autotrader.
Based on the image, the new Toyota Tundra could be available with a hybrid powertrain.
More exterior and interior features of the 2022 Toyota Tundra
The photo also indicates that the 2022 Toyota Tundra’s side profile has a black-finished A-pillar, giving the passenger compartment a helmet style.
The fenders have LED headlights and big flares that repeat the shredded carbon fiber-style texture.
In addition, there are rock rails underneath the crew cab doors to protect the sheet metal for off-roading.
Car and Driver noted that an interior image of the new Toyota Tundra shows a large center mounted touchscreen, which will help it compete against the Ford F-150 and the Ram 1500. The larger center-mounted touchscreen has Apple CarPlay.
More to come
**MORE: [Truck vs Car: Which to Choose For Cheap Car Insurance](https://getjerry.com/advice/truck-vs-car-which-to-choose-for-cheap-car-insurance-by-elan-mcafee)**
As we mentioned, we don’t know what’s under the hood yet, but since Toyota has promised a new engine, it may be a version of the 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 in the new Land Cruiser SUV, a vehicle that won’t be sold in the U.S.
The photo also doesn’t show the truck’s rear, but there are fender flares, and according to Autotrader, the tailgate will most likely have embossed logos that may be trim level specific.
It’s also not yet known how much the 2022 Toyota Tundra will cost, but it will most likely be more expensive than the outgoing model, which started at $35,620.
Another feature likely to change from the vehicle’s predecessor is the rear suspension, which previously utilized a leaf-spring setup, according to Car and Driver. The new generation of the vehicle could ride on more refined coil springs, air springs or maybe an independent rear suspension.
Toyota says that more details on the 2022 Tundra are coming soon.


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Summer is a great time to make refreshing smoothies and juices, which is one reason why parents might be interested to learn more about a new recall on frozen berries due to a possible norovirus contamination. Any recall can be concerning, especially when a virus involved, but the upside is there are simple steps you can take to ensure your family's safety.
Frozen berries have been in the news lately, with two major retailers recalling their products due to potential contaminations. On June 7, Kroger pulled its 16 and 48 oz. Private Selection Frozen Triple Berry Medley and 16 oz. Private Selection Frozen Blackberries due to a possible Hepatitis A contamination, according to Kroger's press release. And on June 11, Costco recalled its 4-pound bags of Kirkland Signature Three Berry Blend — sold in stores in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Hawaii — for the same reason, according to CBS News.
Unfortunately, the frozen berries market took another hit on June 20, when food supplier Alma Pak, which serves stores like Walmart and Save-A-Lot, voluntarily recalled some of its 16 oz. bags of Great Value Frozen Blackberries and 12 oz. bags of Tipton Grove Frozen Mixed Berries due to a potential Norovirus contamination, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). "FDA testing of frozen blackberries was reported to have tested positive for Norovirus," the recall notice reads.
Alma Pak did not immediately respond to Romper’s request for further comment regarding the recall. Romper also reached out to Walmart and Save-A-Lot, but did not immediately hear back.
In case you didn't already know, the Norovirus is an infection "that cause the sudden onset of severe vomiting and diarrhea," the Mayo Clinic's website explains. "The virus is highly contagious and commonly spread through food or water that is contaminated during preparation or contaminated surfaces. You can also be infected through close contact with an infected person."
To avoid potentially coming in contact with the Norovirus, check to see if you have the recalled products in your freezer. According to the FDA, you should look for Walmart-distributed 16 oz. Great Value Frozen Blackberries with a 078742-431017 UPC code and the expiration dates of 1/25/2021, 3/07/2021, and 4/08/2021. According to the FDA, the possibly contaminated bags were sold in the following states:
- North Carolina
- South Caroline
- West Virginia
Additionally, parents should look out for 12 oz. Tipton Grove Frozen Mixed Berries sold by Save-A-Lot with a CPU code of 051933-34784-7 with expiration dates of 04/22/2021, 4/23/2021, and 4/24/2021. According to the Miami Herald, the possibly contaminated bags were sold in the following U.S. states:
- North Carolina
- New York
It's important to note that "no illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this recall" and "impacted retailers have removed these products from store shelves," according to Food Safety News.
Additionally, according to the FDA's recall statement, "consumers who have purchased the products are urged to destroy or urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact Alma Pak at 1-866-965-3896, Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. EST."
If you ate the affected products, WebMd states you should watch out for the following potential symptoms of Norovirus:
- stomach pain
- body aches
If you're still concerned about this recall, don't hesitate to reach out to a trusted medical professional for further guidance.


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Nvidia Drive PX Pegasus supercomputer AI to deliver automotive autonomy.
Nvidia has announced its audacious new ‘Drive PX Pegasus’ supercomputer, claiming it to be the first artificial intelligence (AI) computer system designed to drive fully autonomous self-driving ‘robotaxis’.
The Nvidia Pegasus is apparently capable of ‘Level 5’ autonomy. For self-driving evangelists, ‘Level 5’ is the holy grail of self-driving cars: no pedals, no steering wheel, and no need whatsoever for anyone to ever take control.
It is said to process over 320 trillion operations per second – an amount some 10 times more powerful than its own Nvidia built predecessor.
Good things; small packages
Crucially, compared to the majority of other AI based autonomous hardware and software, the Pegasus chip is only around the size of a vehicle license plate, and looks set to decrease in size even further by this time next year. The software use by Pegasus is no less advanced, utilizing advanced AI algorithms and high definition 3D maps operating in real time through a cloud based system.
Supply and demand
Pegasus is already in demand from manufacturers, several of whom already have deals with Nvidia. Nvidia however, also intend to market Pegasus to the hundreds of other car companies competing to develop and release autonomous cars during the second half of 2018.
CEO Jensen Huang has been diversifying Nvidia’s hardware and software focus beyond gaming in recent years. “Creating a fully self-driving car is one of society’s most important endeavours – and one of the most challenging to deliver,” Huang said on Tuesday at the GPU Technology Conference in Munich, Germany.
Big name partnerships
Nvidia currently has partnerships with some well-known brands, including Toyota, Audi, Tesla, Volvo, and even Chinese search engine giant, Baidu.
Nvidia only entered into the self-driving car market in 2015 with the Drive PX super computer. A more powerful variant, called Drive PX2 followed in 2016. In the same year, Nvidia released Xavier, a full AI brain for autonomous vehicles. Pegasus is the next extension of that system.


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McDonald’s joins fast-food chains like Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell in removing restaurant seating and moving to drive-thru only.
Some gyms across the nation are closing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t workout. Planet Fitness, one of the nation’s largest chain gyms, is offering free online classes starting today, because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The at-home workouts began streaming on the company’s Facebook page March 16. These classes are open to anyone, including non-members.
“Our daily routines have changed in unexpected ways, and we know that people may not be able to get to the gym. That’s why we’re offering a free, daily virtual fitness class for everyone on Planet Fitness’ Facebook page from Monday through Friday,” said Jeremy Tucker, chief marketing officer of Planet Fitness, in a statement to USA TODAY.
Planet Fitness (Photo: Planet Fitness.)
The workouts will be live-streamed at 7 p.m. ET each day for


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Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A New York hotel announced the return of one of its most famous limited-time menu items -- a gold-topped bagel with a $1,000 price tag.
The Westin New York hotel in Times Square announced the $1,000 bagel, which had a limited run in 2007, is making a return to the hotel after multiple requests.
The pricey bagel's toppings include goji berry infused Riesling jelly, gold leaves and Alba white truffle cream cheese.
"Pound for pound, the white truffle is the second most expensive food in the world, next to caviar," the hotel said.
The hefty price tag includes tax and gratuity, the hotel said. All proceeds from sales of the bagels will be donated to the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen.
The bagels will only be available from Nov. 1 until Dec. 15, and interested guests are being instructed to order their decadent breakfast foods 24 hours in advance.


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Feds clear Apple's MacBook Pro batteriesThe United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has examined substandard batteries for Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro notebooks and determined they don't pose a safety risk.
Apple last month voluntarily launched an exchange program for batteries sold as part of its 15-inch notebook line, explaining on its Web site that some of batteries did not meet its "high standards for battery performance."
The program was believed to be in response to reports of 15-inch MacBook Pro batteries that had swollen or become deformed due an excessive amount of heat.
Apple said the affected batteries may have been included in 15-inch MacBook Pro systems that were sold from February 2006 through May 2006. The affected batteries have model number A1175 and a 12-digit serial number that ends with U7SA, U7SB or U7SC.
A CPSC's spokesman declined to say whether Sony was involved in the manufacturing of the MacBook Pro batteries in question.
Earlier this month, Dell said it was recalling 4.1 million of its own laptop batteries — which include cells manufactured by Sony — because they could potentially overheat and spark a fire. The Dell recall was the largest consumer electronics recall ever.
On Topic: General
- Apple hires former Google inventor with background in electric vehicle charging
- New Immersion lawsuit adds Apple's iPhone 6s, MacBook to patent infringement row
- Tim Cook charity auction raises $515K for human rights
- Cupertino mayor accuses Apple, responsible for nearly 20% of the city's tax revenue, of not paying enough [u]
- Microsoft stays true to its word, will end free Windows 10 upgrades on July 29


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“Even if the mobile phone number is registered to an adult, downloading a child’s game may highly likely indicate that the child is the one who actually using the mobile phone. It is very doubtful that parents would want the above data about the phone to be transferred not only to unknown foreign servers, but to anyone else in general.”
Once installed, the apps prompted the victims for permission to make and manage phone calls, using the access to harvest their phone numbers along with other device information such as geolocation, mobile network parameters, and system metadata. “At first glance, a mobile phone number leak may seem like an insignificant problem. Yet in reality, it can seriously harm users, especially given the fact that children are the games’ main target audience,” Doctor Web researchers said.
While the malware-laced apps have since been purged from the app stores, users who have installed the apps on their devices will have to manually remove them to prevent further exploitation. Found this article interesting? Follow THN on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to read more exclusive content we post.


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(Pocket-lint) - Apple may not have been the first company to introduce a virtually bezel-less display on the iPhone X, but it was the first to introduce the notch design which houses the facial recognition camera and depth sensors. Since then, Android phone manufacturers have begun to adopt a similar approach; Asus is one such manufacturer and we've seen leaked images to suggest OnePlus will do the same.
Oppo will be another such manufacturer that will use a notch design, following a teaser image posted to its Chinese Weibo page for the upcoming R15 smartphone, showing a phone within a phone. The larger image focuses on the notch at the top, which doesn't take up too much of the screen. While Oppo hasn't confirmed, it would be logical to assume that the R15 will integrate facial recognition technology and 3D depth sensors into the R15.
This combination of cameras and sensors will likely be used for security and, given the recent trend for being able to turn yourself into animated animals and avatars of yourself, we wouldn't be surprised if Oppo adopted a similar feature.
- Oppo R11s: Super screen, except for one flaw
- Best smartphones available to buy today
- Upcoming phones: The future smartphones coming soon
The second, smaller image shows the whole phone from the front, confirming it has incredibly slim bezels all the way round, in a similar vein to the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.
Oppo hasn't revealed any specs or features of the R15, or even a launch date, but with this official image appearing online, it may not be long until we find out.


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The coronavirus pandemic dampened growth in US mobile ad spending. This year, we expect US mobile ad spending will rise by 22.2% to $117.35 billion, which falls below our pre-pandemic estimate ($123.59 billion).
Out-of-home ad spending was the hardest-hit ad sector during 2020, according to our estimates. Lingering concerns about crowded public spaces will potentially drag on the sector for years.
Amid the pandemic, US adults spent 1 hour more per day on digital activities (across all devices) than they did in 2019, according to eMarketer’s latest time spent forecast from Insider Intelligence. Total digital time is now on track to surpass 8 hours by the end of 2022.
eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver and Sara M. Watson, along with junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch, discuss the true power of the social media giants, how Gen Z viewers like to consume sports, Twitter leaning into audio, news use on social platforms, how the pandemic has reshaped children's screen time, why people get "red eye" in photos, and more.
*Social networks will boost US mobile video ad spending this year.* In-app video advertising on platforms like Instagram and Snapchat was the main driver of growth, with new YouTube and Roku ad inventory helping, too.
Automotive digital ad spending will grow by 21.4% in 2021 to $13.29 billion, slightly below its pre-pandemic peak.
Advertiser demand for video impressions has always outstripped supply, but supply has gotten a big boost as consumers started adopting streaming video viewing in larger numbers—especially on CTV devices—and more of those impressions have been made available programmatically.
eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Nicole Perrin discusses some big questions heading into 2021: What kind of traditional media rebound do we expect, will there be a tidal wave of pent-up demand, and how has the customer journey changed forever? She then talks about the implications of IAC spinning off Vimeo, whether we have already given up on privacy, and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) opening a public beta.
Experimenting with advertising channels can yield up to 3% better advertising performance, research shows.
eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Yoram Wurmser discusses what he's paying attention to in 2021 and why: how the coronavirus changed mobile, the importance of iOS 14, and regulation's impact on location data.
Never in the past two decades of social media history have the features, ad formats, and other business initiatives of the four major social platforms looked as similar as they do today.
The iPhone 12 Pro became the first phone to have a back-facing Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) camera, which enables more sophisticated augmented reality (AR). (Top-end Android phones use a similar Time-of-Flight, or ToF sensor.) Lidar can near-instantaneously detect depth and size, allowing for rapid and very detailed mixed reality functions for apps, such as furniture placement or full-body Snapchat Lenses. This should supercharge mobile AR spending and make such ads more feasible.
During the pandemic, consumers made fewer local searches, and local search advertising dropped dramatically.
eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver, Sara M. Watson, and Nicole Perrin, along with junior analyst at Insider Intelligence Blake Droesch, discuss the latest government lawsuits against Google, Twitter's new "Spaces" audio feature, 2021 Super Bowl commercials, the reception to Apple's new privacy labels, The Walt Disney Co. throwing its weight behind streaming, what all "Friends" episodes have in common, and more.
For the first time this year, we broke out CTV ad revenues for YouTube, Roku, and Hulu.
eMarketer principal analyst Nicole Perrin and forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence Eric Haggstrom discuss what they're paying attention to in 2021 and why: digital ad measurement, connected TV, and ecommerce channel advertising.
eMarketer principal analysts Mark Dolliver, Sara M. Watson, and Debra Aho Williamson, junior analyst Blake Droesch, and vice president of content studio at Insider Intelligence Paul Verna discuss whether the FTC will break up Facebook, a new Discovery+ streaming service, whether Facebook ads are reaching saturation, how customer service changed in 2020, the FTC wanting Big Tech to explain what they do with data, what most people dream about, and more.
US mobile ad spending will reach $96.07 billion this year, lower than our pre-pandemic estimate of $105.34 billion. eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Yoram Wurmser joins host Nicole Perrin to discuss why despite this year's blip, mobile ad monetization is on a better trajectory than before, how advertisers will deal with the SKAdNetwork, and what the future holds for contextual in-app advertising.
Thanks to new identity-based solutions, savvy publishers are able to value their inventory for what it’s really worth and unlock new ways to monetize their audience data.
Insider Intelligence and its eMarketer team generate roughly 1,500 forecasts on digital transformation topics every year. These estimates are mainly produced on an annual basis, with several of the highest-profile metrics reassessed one additional time during the year.


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Will there be a Victoria Secret Fashion Show 2020?
Victoria Secret’s parent company, L Brands, confirmed on Thursday that it will not air its fashion show this year “to evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret”.
Who performed at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2015?
The show featured musical performances by Ellie Goulding, Selena Gomez, and The Weeknd. Rihanna was scheduled to perform at the show but canceled her performance to focus on the recording of her 8th studio album, Anti. Ellie Goulding, Selena Gomez, and The Weeknd.
Why no VS show this year?
The 28-year-old added that she doesn’t think it’s a permanent decision (so there may well be a VS fashion show 2020), and that the cancellation of this year’s event was likely due to the organisers “trying to work on branding and new ways to do the show, because it’s the best show in the world”.
What was the best Victoria Secret Fashion Show?
21 of the best Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show debuts
- 14/21. Jessica Hart, 2012.
- 15/21. Gigi Hadid,, 2015.
- 16/21. Lais Ribeiro, 2010.
- 17/21. Kendall Jenner, 2015.
- 18/21. Lily Aldridge, 2010.
- 19/21. Barbara Palvin, 2012.
- 20/21. Karlie Kloss, 2011.
- 21/21. Cindy Bruna, 2013.
Is Kendall Jenner a VS angel?
Eleven of the 17 women on Forbes’ list for The Highest Paid Models 2016 have been Victoria’s Secret Angels. … We also can’t ignore the exceptions, such as Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner who are not Angels (though they have modeled for the brand), but have also made the Forbes Highest Paid Models 2016 list.10 мая 2019 г.
Why did the Victoria’s Secret show get Cancelled?
The Victoria’s Secret fashion show is no more. L Brands, the lingerie retailer’s parent company, announced on a quarterly earnings call on Thursday that it would cancel the 2019 show in an effort to evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret.
Who performed at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2017?
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2017DatesLocationsPerformersNovember 20, 2017 (recorded); November 28, 2017Shanghai, ChinaHarry Styles, Miguel, Leslie Odom Jr., Li Yundi, and Jane Zhang
Who performed at Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2016?
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2016DatesLocationsPerformersNovember 30, 2016 (recorded); December 5, 2016Paris, FranceLady Gaga, The Weeknd, and Bruno Mars.
Is Victoria Secret going out of business?
Victoria’s Secret will permanently close 250 stores in the US and Canada as the pandemic cripples its business. Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, L Brands, announced Wednesday that it would permanently close 250 stores in the US and Canada in 2020.20 мая 2020 г.
Is the Victoria Secret fashion show canceled forever?
Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is officially canceled for 2019. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show has been a world-famous annual event, showcasing famous models as they grace the runway in extravagant lingerie. But after more than two decades, the prime-time fashion show has been canceled.
Is Victoria Secret show Cancelled forever?
Victoria’s Secret is officially canceling its annual fashion show, the brand’s parent company said Thursday. The show has aired annually around the holidays since 1995.
Who did Adam Levine kiss at VS fashion show?
Adam Levine Kisses Anne V
During his performance, Anne walked the runway and he surprised her by giving her a kiss on the cheek as she struck a pose.
Is Cara Delevingne Victoria Secret?
Victoria’s Secret Just Invited Cara Delevingne to Walk in Paris Without Casting. Delevingne taking on the VS runway in 2013. Cara Delevingne hasn’t walked a Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show since 2013, but that could soon change.


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American Vogue has released its best dressed list of 2019.
According to the fashion magazine, the list offers an overview of 2019’s top trends as well as the looks all the stars—and their stylists—were interested in. The publication also adds that the list was compiled from more than 700 different red carpet looks from the past year.
The list features Somali-American fashion model Halima Aden noted for being the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant.
Also featured are African actresses Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira.
Click here for more in Vogue.
Photo credit: Getty Images
Follow Glam Africa on social media: @GLAMAFRICAMAG


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Follow these tips for safer online holiday shopping: PAPD
Port Arthur Police stress that holiday shopping during a pandemic leads many people to shopping online rather than going in-person to local stores.
“This practice can be challenging for those unaccustomed to online shopping,” the PAPD warns through a recent alert to the community. “Unfortunately, we often see a rise in phone and online scams during this time of year.”
Here are a few tips for staying safe while shopping online.
- Look for the “S” in HTTPS in the web address. This indicates they are incrypted.
- Look for contact information.
To be safe, if you are unsure of the security of any site, do not purchase from that site or share any personal information, including home address, credit card or banking information.
For more information go to staysafeonline.org.
Health officials announced the death of a Port Arthur resident Friday afternoon, the third local death related to coronavirus in... read more


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It’s not easy to imagine agriculture and fresh produce growing in the UAE given much of it is desert, but there has been a boom in local farming thanks to techniques like hydroponics and vertical farming – and the country’s gastronomy sector is set to benefit. Traditionally, the UAE’s population depended mainly on local fisheries, livestock and wheat. In 2019 its food trade value (imports, exports, and re-exports) was $24.7 billion, with the country importing a whopping 80% to 90% of the food it consumes.
More recently, the country is adopting hydroponics and aeroponics (cultivating plants without soil) plus vertical and smart farming as part of its National Food Security Strategy 2051, which it launched in 2018. One of the many goals of the strategy is to implement resilient agricultural practices to increase production. The ongoing pandemic, which led to supply chain disruptions, has made this strategy even more important as it became apparent that the UAE’s reliance on imports is unsustainable.
The UAE has more than 177 farms that use modern agricultural technologies and hydroponics, and over 100 entities that implement organic farming. Mohamed Aissaoui, a fifth generation farmer from France who left his engineering career to pursue farming, is the owner of Myfarm Dubai, a self-sustaining eco-farm. “We are here in the desert with limited resources, water is precious and we use technology to control the irrigation system and give water only where a plant is growing,” he told Business Recorder.
“The success at Myfarm for me is not about what we grow in the desert even if we are proud of that. In Dubai we have a big demand to connect with nature, find the real taste of fruits and vegetables,” he said, adding that he was not prepared for how many people were interested in his work.
Read the complete article at www.brecorder.com.


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As women go to great lengths to straighten unruly hair in time for holiday parties, new research finds that Christmas is the peak time for accidents with straightening irons.
The greatest risk is to children handling the heated devices, with experts recommending users slip the straighteners into heat-resistant pouches after use to reduce the risks of burns. A study was published in the journal Burns last month.
In the UK, the number of consumers owning straighteners rose from 4.6 million in 2007 to 5.3 million in 2010, The Independent reports. And it's not just women: one in five men own a hair straightener.
One major hazard is that the straightening plates can reach as hot as 450 degrees, even hotter than an iron. Plus since it takes up to 15 minutes for the plates to cool off after use, this adds to the risk.
Other holiday hazards? Taking a spill while drunk, tumbling over platform heels, or "drunk walking" -- that is, wandering out into the street, drunk. A prior study published in the journal Injury Prevention revealed that New Year's is more deadly for pedestrians than any other day of the year.


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The online small business accounting system Xero now has the ability to integrate with Silicon Valley Bank, a technology and start-up focused financial institution, the companies announced on Wednesday morning.
By linking Xero’s online accounting solution directly with SVB’s online banking platform, business owners get reliable overnight delivery of the prior day's bank transactions directly into Xero's online accounting workflow. As a result, business owners can make smarter business decisions by getting an accurate and comprehensive view of their finances, without the hassle and costly mistakes caused by out-of-date cash flow balances.
“For my company, this integration is a life saver. I used to worry constantly that I didn’t know my true account balances,” said Benjamin McCann, co-founder at Connectifier, Inc., a venture-backed talent sourcing startup in North Beach, Calif. “Trying to get an accurate picture of our financials was a pain and we always had an out-of-date view. Now it happens seamlessly. At any point during my week, I can open up Xero and know exactly where we stand,”
Starting this week, businesses using Xero in the US and UK can sign up to integrate with Silicon Valley Bank for deposit account balances and transactions. After signing up, they will start getting bank feeds the week of August 11th.
“Xero and Silicon Valley Bank have a common objective — to make the lives of our customers easier,” said Jamie Sutherland, president, Xero U.S. “In fact, it wasn’t that long ago that Xero was a startup itself — so we know all too well what it’s like to be under the gun to create up-to-date financial reports for the board or quickly get an update on cash flow before making a key purchasing decision. Now with Xero’s integration with SVB’s banking platform, small businesses can get their up-to-date financial info faster than ever before.”
“Our SVB Direct Connect platform integration with Xero is another important step in our organizational strategy to make it easy for our clients to bank with us,” said Bruce Wallace, COO, Silicon Valley Bank. “SVB Direct Connect enables Silicon Valley Bank clients to access their banking information through leading accounting platforms. As the leading bank for high-growth, disruptive companies, integrating with innovative partners such as Xero is a critical strategy for SVB.”


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Los Angeles, CA, fifth October, 2022, Chainwire
- An unique web3 social system called Diamond is introducing on DeSo, a brand-new blockchain that has actually increased $200 million from Coinbase, Sequoia, and also Andreessen Horowitz.
- Ruby is the very first item ever before to allow all articles, accounts, social charts, and also material to be organized on a decentralized censorship-resistant blockchain.
- Articles on Ruby can be produced as NFTs, gain crypto suggestions, and also various other unique functions.
Today, material is organized on central systems like Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram. Lots of idea leaders like Elon Musk and also also Twitter creator Jack Dorsey require an option.
Just recently, messages arised in between the two billionaire entrepreneurs pertaining to a blockchain-based social networks system.
“I have an idea for a blockchain social media system that does both payments and short text messages/links like Twitter.” Claimed Elon Musk in one text exchange.
He proceeded, “Third piece is a twitter-like app on your phone that accesses the database in the cloud. This could be massive.”
Nonetheless, Musk might not require to produce a decentralized Twitter different many thanks to the launch of Ruby, a Web3 social application powered by the DeSo blockchain.
Diamond is the very first system ever before to hold its material and also social chart on a decentralized blockchain.
By releasing material to the DeSo chain, authors, and also designers can possess and also regulate their material similarly they possess and also regulate their Bitcoin. This indicates they can be devoid of censorship and also acquire brand-new means to generate income from that have actually never ever been feasible in the past.
For instance, articles on Ruby can be produced as NFTs, can gain crypto suggestions, and also a lot more. Developers on Ruby can really quickly introduce social symbols that permit their fans to buy their success. All with an onboarding that is as simple as producing an account on a web2 system like Instagram.
Ruby’s option to utilize the DeSo blockchain for holding every one of its material showcases DeSo’s distinct toughness in material storage space. “Existing blockchains cannot store content efficiently,” claims Nader Al-Naji, the creator of DeSo. “It costs about $50 to store a 200-character Tweet on Ethereum, and about fifteen cents to store it on Solana, Avalanche, or Polygon. In contrast, DeSo is one ten-thousandth of a cent, making it the first blockchain capable of disrupting storage-heavy applications like social, blogging, and even marketplaces,” he claims.
On top of that, Ruby’s combination of the DeSo pocketbook makes it feasible to onboard Ethereum
customers in addition to traditional customers. “The DeSo wallet supports both a one-click Google login and a one-click MetaMask login,” claims Al-Naji. “It’s not our goal to be tied to a single chain, or really any chain. We just want to allow people to connect with each other no matter what ecosystem they’re a part of. DeSo is the unified social layer for all of web3,” he claims.
This is the most up to date in a current string of successes for DeSo. The system provided on Coinbase previously this year introduced a groundbreaking MetaMask integration recently that has actually createda significant price surge It has actually likewise been experiencing a current rise in individual numbers.
In a globe where several are disappointed with conventional social networks, Ruby and also DeSo use a decentralized remedy that can lastly take on web2 juggernauts. “DeSo is the first and only blockchain that allows developers to build social apps where you can’t even tell you’re on a blockchain,” claims Al-Naji. “That means, for the first time, we have a shot at finally expanding web3 from disrupting finance to disrupting the trillion-dollar social media industry.”
Regarding DeSo Structure
DeSo is a brand-new layer-1 blockchain constructed from scratch to decentralize social networks and also range storage-heavy applications to billions of customers. They increased $200 million and also are backed by Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase Ventures, Social Funding, Polychain Funding, Winkelvoss Funding, Pantera, and also others.
$ DESO, the indigenous money of the DeSo blockchain, is provided on Coinbase.
Development Advertising And Marketing Lead
- Ash Ghaemi
- DeSo Structure
- [email protected]


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Last year, a new company called Lightsquared promised an innovative business model that would dramatically lower cell phone costs and improve the quality of service, threatening the incumbent phone operators like AT&T and Verizon. Lightsquared used a new technology involving satellites and spectrum, and was a textbook example of how markets can benefit the public through competition. The phone industry swung into motion, not by offering better products and services, but by going to Washington to ensure that its new competitor could be killed by its political friends. And sure enough, through three Congressmen that AT&T and Verizon had funded (Fred Upton (R-MI), Greg Walden (R-OR), and Cliff Stearns (R-FL)), Congress began demanding an investigation into this new company. Pretty soon, the Federal Communications Commission got into the game, revoking a critical waiver that had allowed it to proceed with its business plan.
And so Americans continue to have a small number of expensive, poor quality cell phone providers. And how much does this cost you? Take your phone bill, and cut it by 80%. That’s how much you should be paying. You see, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, people in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Finland pay on average less than $130 a year for cell phone service. Americans pay $635.85 a year. That $500 a year difference, from most consumers with a cell phone, goes straight to AT&T and Verizon (and to a much lesser extent Sprint and T-Mobile). It’s the cost of corruption. It’s also, from the perspective of these companies, the return on their campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures. Every penny they spend in DC and in state capitols ensures that you pay high bills, to them.
This isn’t obvious, because much of how they do this has to do with the structure of the industry. Telecommunications isn’t like selling apples, where you have a lot of buyers and sellers. In a business like buying or selling apples, all you need is an apple tree to get into the business. Cell phones aren’t like that. It’s a business where you sell services on top of a network of cell phone towers that can transmit phone calls and data, and these networks cost tens of billions of dollars to build. But even if you have the money to build one, you still might not be able to, as the Lightsquared example shows. These networks all use public airwaves, or “spectrum”, and you need government permission to use it. Remember the electromagnetic spectrum you learned about in school? The government literally leases that out to companies, and they make radios, microphones, wifi routers, and cell phones that use it.
The GOP — especially it’s Tea Party advocated — like to call themselves “libertarian.” It’s a lie of course. The GOP has its nose buried in the butts of established big businesses that have no tolerance for the free market. That’s why they gin up the rules to force companies like Lightsquared out of business. And the Democrats are of little help.


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WASHINGTON, Feb 19- U.S. housing starts recorded their biggest drop in almost three years in January, likely weighed down by harsh weather, but the third month of declines in permits pointed to some underlying weakness in the housing market.» Read More
CNBC's Rick Santelli reports the latest numbers on weekly unemployment and producer prices. Also, discussing the impact this data will have on the markets and what it indicates about the economy, with CNBC's Steve Liesman.
The "Squawk on the Street" news crew reports on all the market moving stories of the day, including Home Depot's earnings beat; a slew of retail earnings; and whether Groupon's 20 percent dip presents a buying opportunity for investors.
CNBC's Rick Santelli breaks down the latest numbers on retail sales and producer prices, with Beth Ann Bovino, S&P deputy chief economist.
"This is a huge miss in terms of analyst expectations," says CNBC's Rick Santelli breaking down the latest data on the health of the U.S. economy, with Brian Levitt, OppenheimerFunds economist.
Don Marron, Lightyear Capital chairman & CEO, and Donald Marron, Urban-Brookings Tax Policy director, discuss how Europe's sovereign debt worries have created a crisis of confidence in the markets.
Helen Zhu, Goldman Sachs chief China equity strategist, discusses the dip in China's GDP and its impact on global markets.
CNBC's Rick Santelli breaks down the numbers on May's retail sales and the Producer Price Index.
Vishnu Varathan, Market Economist, Mizuho Corporate Bank says inflation isn't a big problem in China right now.
CNBC's Rick Santelli discusses the latest action in the bond market.
Laurence Meyer, former Federal Reserve Governor; Randy Kroszner, former Federal Reserve Governor; and CNBC's Steve Liesman, weigh in on their expectations of further quantitative easing and what they hope to hear from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke today, after the Fed wraps up its two day meeting.
Traders in all markets will be watching the bond market in the week ahead to see if higher interest rates are here to stay.
The bond market is at a turning point, say portfolio managers, as interest rates start rising and inflation shows signs of reviving.
Discussing better-than-expected economic news, a slew of strong profits, and the outlook for the market, with Bob Doll, BlackRock chief equity strategist; Tobias Levkovich, Citi chief US equity strategist; and Jack Bourdoudjian, Index Futures Group.
The U.S. economy has stepped back from the brink of a double-dip recession, but how vulnerable is America to Europe's contagion, and what's the Fed's next move? Vincent Reinhart, Morgan Stanley chief economist, provides insight.
Discussing why the U.S. economy is not headed for a recession, with Joseph LaVorgna, Deutsche Bank chief U.S. economist.
The week's top business news and investment advice, including speeches from President Obama and Fed Chairman Bernanke, with CNBC's Brian Shactman.
Perspective on the U.S. economy, the Fed, and today's jobs report, with Mark Olson, Treliant Risk Advisors Co-Chairman.
Discussing whether the U.S. economy is stalled or at the beginning of a recession, with Joseph LaVorgna, Deutsche Bank chief U.S. economist; Mike Feroli, JP Morgan, and CNBC's Steve Liesman.
Is the Fed too optimistic about employment? Reaction to the FOMC forecast and its impact on the markets, with Steven Wieting, Citigroup director of economic & market analysis and CNBC's Brian Sullivan.
CNBC's Steve Liesman takes a look at today's market moving data.


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By Becky Yerak
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) In 2015 there were 55.3 million health club memberships nationally, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. That marks the third straight year of growth as well as the highest level of memberships in at least a decade.
Less is becoming more when deciding where to make good on that 2017 New Year’s resolution to hit the gym regularly.
In an industry once associated mostly with big-box gyms, some workout enthusiasts and dieters are gravitating to “boutique” fitness centers or studios.
The growing segment is winning consumers over partly because of a greater willingness to provide access on more flexible terms. Some fitness center operators also are seeing success by offering group workouts that take the guesswork out of exercising and provide a greater sense of community — so much so that technology makes it possible to compare one’s performance against others in the class.
Meanwhile, the popularity of what were once considered niche activities like yoga and rock climbing is helping to fill empty retail spaces as that industry consolidates.
“Fitness continues to be one of the most active categories in the retail landscape” — and highly specialized, too, said Adam Foret, associate for real estate firm CBRE Retail Services. Niche workout clubs offering classes for about 20 people for an hour or less in spaces ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet are “as active as they’ve ever been” on the retail scene, he said.
Take Studio Lagree, which offers 50-minute full-body workout classes. It opened last month in a 2,200-square-foot space in Chicago’s Near North neighborhood. The Toronto-based business entered the Chicago area about three years ago and also has Highland Park and Lincoln Park gyms. It has signed a lease for a facility in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood that will open by early 2018.


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thePlatform Announces Executive Advancements
Published Feb 13, 2012
Alex Glass promoted to CIO, Marty Roberts promoted to SVP of Sales and Marketing worldwide, Michael Horwitz named as SVP of Engineering
SEATTLE, WA – February 13, 2012 – thePlatform, the leading white-label video publishing company, today announced a number of executive advancements to enhance the company’s focus on metrics-driven customer experience, streamline sales activities, and scale the business globally.
Alex Glass, who currently serves as vice president of global operations, will now serve in the newly created role of chief information officer (CIO). Marty Roberts, who previously served as vice president of sales and marketing, has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing worldwide. Michael (Mike) Horwitz, formerly vice president of engineering, has been promoted to senior vice president of engineering.
“Alex, Marty and Mike have made invaluable contributions to thePlatform, our customers, and to the overall video market,” said Ian Blaine, co-founder and CEO of thePlatform. “At a time of significant growth and opportunities domestically and internationally, I am confident their proven expertise will enable us to accelerate our business, as we further expand our partner ecosystem, customers, and geographic deployments worldwide.”
As CIO, Mr. Glass will manage business intelligence, security, service availability, and worldwide system performance. He previously served as vice president of global operations. He also served as vice president of client services, director of customer service, and as a solutions architect with thePlatform. Prior to joining thePlatform, Glass was with Digeo, Inc. where he worked as both a project and program manager. Glass will continue to report to Ian Blaine, CEO of thePlatform.
Mr. Roberts now leads worldwide sales and account management, overseeing all revenue generation, business development, product management, marketing, public relations, and thePlatform’s extensive partner program. Mr. Roberts previously served as vice president of sales and marketing, and as vice president of marketing at thePlatform. Prior to joining thePlatform, Roberts was an executive at GiftCertificates.com, and was a pioneer in the development of online video and digital media services at RealNetworks. Roberts will continue to report to Blaine.
Mr. Horwitz will add development operations (DevOps) to his existing responsibilities for the company’s core product development, testing and deployment, and operational business intelligence, including capacity planning and metrics monitoring. Previously, Horwitz held numerous senior-level engineering positions at Comcast Corp. Most recently, he served as senior director, engineering for Comcast Converged Products. Before that, he was senior manager of engineering and principal engineer, both for Comcast Interactive Media. Horwitz will continue to report to Blaine.
The other members of Ian Blaine’s senior management team at thePlatform remain unchanged, with Jamie Miller serving as COO & CFO, Alan Ramaley as CTO, Simon McGrath as GM of Europe, and Tina Santos as chief legal counsel.
thePlatform publishes video and other media to PCs, mobile devices and TVs. Media companies rely on thePlatform’s mpx system as their open, central hub for managing, monetizing and syndicating billions of professionally produced video views annually. thePlatform currently provides online video management services to numerous programmers, leading media companies, and five of the top TV service providers in North America, including the largest “TV Everywhere” deployments.


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Data Snack: Behind the mismatch between consumer payment preferences and what their actual experiences
- Consumers are embracing the move to digital, with 74% preferring to make payments digitally.
- When it comes to receiving disbursements from firms, American consumers report speed, choice, and convenience as top factors.
The vast majority of US consumers prefer to make and receive payments using digital methods. A belief that digital transactions are safer than traditional payment methods is driving this behavior.
For brands looking to succeed in the payment space, it is becoming increasingly important to understand consumer behavior, like what sort of payments they’re using; what they value the most in the payment process; and which newer technologies they plan to try.
Onbe’s Future of Payments report takes on some of these questions. The report was drafted out of 1,191 American consumers’ responses, who were asked to complete a 17 question survey.
The shift of preferences to digital
Ever since the pandemic, global finance has accelerated its move to digital, carrying the momentum in 2022. With the rise of services like P2P payments, mobile wallets, bank prepaid cards, and shopping preferences moving from in-store to online, consumers have come to embrace the new digital payment ecosystem.
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Abu Dhabi based-technology company, NEXT50 has launched PLATFORM50, a one-stop-shop solution for organizations to maximize business value and address various challenges in businesses.
The announcement was made at NEXT50’s inaugural Executive Day. The launch aligns with the UAE National Innovation Strategy and the UAE’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Strategy which aims to contribute to the national economy by advancing innovation and future technologies.
PLATFORM50 is designed to support organizations as they accelerate the adoption of AI, advanced analytics-based solutions, and automation to meet their growth and sustainability goals.
The company said that the PLATFORM50 offers access to real-time advanced analytics and unlocking cost efficiencies by using data insights to deliver effective digital transformation and through the capabilities of its data scientists and subject matter experts can reorganize data in order to leverage it for business outcomes.
“AI, machine learning, and data, underpinned by deep industrial expertise, have the potential to transform the way businesses operate. AI will have a profound impact on the growth of the non-oil sectors in the UAE, seeing up 34 percent annual growth in the contribution to AI to its economy and industry sectors. To accelerate this transformation, a future-proof, cloud-agnostic platform that offers full lifecycle management is imperative to leverage this $96 billion opportunity in the UAE. As pioneers of Industrial AI at the forefront of Abu Dhabi’s technology vision, we are proud to launch PLATFORM50, an end-to-end solution to address the most pressing challenges businesses face on their AI and data journey.”
Mr. Ussama Dahabiyeh, CEO of Injazat, said that, “AI-powered processes and data-driven insights are revolutionizing conventional value chains and designing new business models in Industry 4.0. The disruptive potential of these technologies necessitates the development of digital-first solutions like PLATFORM50 – which brings together NEXT50’s industrial experience and the possibilities of data-driven AI methods to revolutionize the highly dynamic platform economy.”
“The launch of PLATFORM50 is incredibly timely and will support the industrial sector in enhancing operational capabilities by utilizing new technologies, accelerating processes, and becoming more adaptable to changes in the future allowing precise AI-based decision-making. At Microsoft, we are delighted to be supporting NEXT50 on this important journey leveraging Azure Data & AI Services & Microsoft Commercial Marketplace as an expansion engine for global reach & partnership within the ecosystem,” commented Mr. Naim Yazbeck, General Manager at Microsoft UAE.


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Scripps goes OTT with ulive platform
October 4, 2013
Scripps Networks Interactive is launching ulive, a new digital lifestyle video site (www.ulive.com) and distribution network. ulive combines videos from all of Scripps’ brands – HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and Great American Country – plus more than 70 new original video series from Scripps’ talent and social media stars and bloggers.
“With ulive we have created an online destination where anyone can enjoy entertaining and relevant videos for the way you live,” said Jeff Meyer, president, ulive. “It enables viewers to discover, watch and share what they love the most, across food, home, travel, parenting and wellness – and this is only the beginning of the site’s capabilities and content.”
Scripps says that ulive enables it to reach current and new audiences by creating a platform where video content is distributed in a thoughtfully curated way. Additionally, by utilising a responsive player, ulive makes it easier for viewers to watch their favourite videos on any media device, it notes.
“Scripps has 20-plus years of forging meaningful relationships with its audiences, and now we have a proprietary video player that will provide our viewers with an enhanced and more engaging experience,” said Lisa Choi Owens, chief operating officer of ulive.
Scripps says that as well as the technology benefiting current and new viewers, it also works harder for advertisers. ulive will allow advertisers to reach their desired audiences in more places through ad targeting and placement across all Scripps channels. Ford Motor Company has signed as ulive’s launch partner and will be integrated into nine custom episodes utilising three ulive presenters. The Ford Motor Company’s videos will showcase how the brand connects to its customers’ lives every day.
“At Ford Motor Company we are consistently seeking opportunities that allow consumers to experience Ford vehicles in a space that is personalised to them,” said Erica Bigley, digital media manager of Ford Motor Company. “By sponsoring ulive now, it provides us the ability to capture the excitement and the momentum of the launch and to connect with an engaged audience.”


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Doctor returns Gold's Gym to El Paso
Gold's Gym has returned to El Paso with an East Side location, which opened last month.
The 27,000 square-foot gym, in a shopping center at 1224 Wedgewood, will celebrate the opening Sept. 26 with a 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will feature entertainment, food trucks and giveaways.
The gym is located in a former EP Fitness location. EP Fitness' roots are as a Gold's Gym licensee. But in 2001, EP Fitness owner Scott Kubitz changed the name and became a local fitness-club chain.
The new Gold's Gym franchise is owned by Dr. Carlos Viesca, a pain-management specialist at the El Paso Orthopaedic Surgery Group. Viesca said in a statement that he was inspired to open the gym after adopting a healthier lifestyle three years ago. The gym now has about 1,500 members, Viesca reported.
Dallas-based Gold's Gym, in operation 50 years, has about 700 locations worldwide.


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- CBDC is a digital form of any national currency. It is the opposite of decentralized cryptocurrencies.
- CBDC is intended to modernize the monetary system and make it more competitive in times of the cryptocurrency revolution.
- Governments are massively exploring CBDCs, but the fast pace of adoption is risky.
Digital currencies have stormed into headlines and millions of digital wallets in the past few years. Cryptos saw triple-digit growth during the global pandemic, brought higher returns than traditional stores of value, and continue to attract billions of dollars from institutions worldwide.
Decentralized money alternatives eventually became a threat for the established financial system and for its guardians, the central banks. Some of them decided to ban the competitors, others chose a more sophisticated way to combat them: central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), more than a half of the world’s central banks are exploring digital versions of their own national currency. Some of them, like China, are already at the finish line.
Although CBDCs are still in their very early development stage, they might affect all our lives if implemented.
What Is Central Bank Digital Currency?
CBDC is a digital form of any national currency, and it is always issued by a central bank. In other words, it is issued by a national bank that implements the monetary policy of the government and controls the country’s money supply.
Regardless of the fact that CBDC is issued on a blockchain, it remains a centralized currency.
Why Are CBDCs in the Spotlight?
Societies worldwide are increasingly moving away from cash, and interest in digital assets is growing. Billions of institutional and corporate funds were allocated to cryptos in the past few years. Cryptocurrencies became a recognized asset class, and their influence strengthened.
At the same time, the saturated global landscape of payment service providers started to show signs of power concentration in several hands.
Central banks, which are responsible for national monetary policies, found this a threat to the status quo and financial stability. They also saw decentralized and unregulated cryptos as a means for tax avoidance and money laundering.
One of the world’s biggest economies, China, is leading the race to create a CBDC. The country plans to change its financial system and launch its digital yuan in 2022. This could even strengthen China’s global economic power and also threaten the status of the US dollar, the world’s main reserve currency.
As no one wants to be left behind in the race, countries worldwide are jumping into researching their own digital currencies.
The Role of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
Central Bank Digital Currencies are an advanced form of money. But they are still meant to coexist with physical cash and serve the same purposes of money: to be a store of value, the unit of account, and the means of payment.
In general, the key task for CBDCs is to bring innovations to the monetary systems and financial infrastructure that play an important role in a country’s economic development. CBDCs are expected to make payment services faster, effective, accessible, secure, and thus more competitive.
1. More efficient payment system
Current financial systems rely on multiple intermediaries and third-party service providers. This makes international cross-border transactions slow and expensive, and sometimes even hard to access.
Blockchain functionality allows CBDCs to facilitate direct peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and bypass long chains of payment transfers. Governments do not need to print paper money and manage it. So digital currency transactions significantly lower the cost and time needed for funds to flow through economies. Unlike multiple intermediaries that operate within strict working hours, CBDC transactions can be completed 24/7.
In addition to that, CBDCs could offer an alternative to a highly concentrated financial payment market. The current tendency shows that even in payments systems, the concentration is narrowing in the hands of a few major companies. And traditionally, higher competition means lower prices and better services for the end-users.
2. Financial Inclusion
Further, CBDCs may play an important role in enhancing the monetary system with new players. This not only includes new payment service providers but also people who were previously unable to use financial services. Currently, nearly 2 billion people live under such conditions, almost a quarter of the world’s total 7.7 billion population.
CBDCs could help to solve this problem. The blockchain functionality allows central banks to bypass intermediaries and transfer money directly to users’ digital wallets.
3. Security and Resilience
As of now, the majority of CBDCs would be built on the blockchain infrastructure, which is immutable, trackable, and transparent. Every transaction recorded into the distributed digital ledger is encrypted and impossible to delete or change.
And as any single transaction is recorded and traceable, the usage of CBDCs could help institutions to better control tax evasion and identify illicit payments. Eventually, the higher level of transparency in public finance should contribute to governments’ ability to efficiently fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Another important feature is the enterprise and government-grade blockchain, on which CBDC would only be issued. Blockchains of such levels combine the best aspects of public and private blockchains. They still operate on decentralized infrastructure but require permission to access certain data. Such hybrid blockchains are regulatory-compliant and can meet the complex needs of integrity, transparency, and privacy at the same time.
How CBDCs Are Different from Cryptocurrencies
Central Bank Digital Currencies are centralized currencies issued by centralized governmental institutions. They are fully regulated and under the control of monetary authorities. In the meantime, cryptocurrencies are decentralized and have no authorities behind them.
CBDCs most possibly would be built on permissioned blockchains as they must be regulatory compliant. However, they are not protected from the risk of an increase in supply. In times of economic uncertainties and critical situations, governments could print extra money, and the same could happen to CBDCs. This is an inflationary action and typically, the increase in supply eventually reduces the value of the money.
In contrast, cryptocurrencies operate on an open-source public network and usually have a fixed supply. The limited supply means they are scarce, and scarcity typically leads to a price increase over time. In addition to that, cryptocurrency supply cannot be changed without the consensus of the community, which adds an extra layer of protection against an increase in supply.
Cryptocurrencies come with the full package of anonymity. Typically they are issued on the decentralized open-source public blockchain with an anonymous nature. There are no regulations on public blockchains, and it is easy for users to keep their identities private. Especially, when not all crypto exchanges require ID verification to make transactions.
CBDCs could only be possible on permissioned blockchains that are regulatory compliant and come with additional security features. This automatically means lower privacy standards. Although some parts of transaction data might be kept private, the identities of the users are not anonymous.
Why Banks Are Slow in CBDC Adoption
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has analyzed the potential impact of CBDCs on global financial stability and addressed several factors regarding their further adoption in its report.
According to their study, the fast pace of CBDC adoption could unbalance the financial systems. Currently, central banks hold large reserves of the country’s money in the accounts of commercial banks.
The switch to digital money would require the withdrawal of reserves from banks. Without these deposits, commercial banks become unable to issue loans and credit. In the end, this severely impacts financial chains, capital allocations, investments, and economic growth.
BIS also named the central banks’ responsibility and infrastructure discussions as another factor that could slow the adoption. Theoretically, central banks could be the creators and operators of the CBDC ecosystem.
The problem is they lack expertise in direct financial services with end-users, contrary to the commercial banks. To fully manage the CBDC ecosystem, central banks would have to create it from scratch or collaborate with private financial institutions and share functions with them.
On The Flipside
- The biggest concerns regarding CBDCs are related to the increased governmental control, greater surveillance capabilities, and potential privacy infringements.
- Government-backed CBDCs might slow the adoption of privately issued stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Contrary to cryptos like Bitcoin, CBDCs cannot be used as a store of value or hedge against inflation.
- From a security perspective, CBDCs are more vulnerable to cyber attacks than cash.
- Digital transactions highly depend on internet speed. However, in many jurisdictions, internet connections are not fast enough yet.
Why You Should Care?
Central banks are the banks for governments and create the course of how money is used in a particular country. Despite the fact that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) concept is still in early development, it could become a reality one day that will affect us directly.


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Morrisons seals £1bn deal to stock convenience shop chain McColl’s with Safeway groceries
Supermarket Morrisons has sealed a £1billion deal to stock convenience shop chain McColl’s with groceries.
In an agreement which has angered rival chains, who had hoped to secure the lucrative contract, Morrisons will resurrect the Safeway brand and supply products across McColl’s 1,300 convenience stores and 350 newsagents.
McColl’s will be exclusively supplied with around 400 Safeway own-brand products from January next year. It will mark the return of the supermarket whose shops closed in 2005.
McColl’s will also benefit from Morrisons’ fresh food offer, including its bakery and sandwiches as well as its branded products like Flora margarine and Yeo Valley yogurts.
The £1bn contract is a major boost for Morrisons which has been revitalised under boss David Potts, and has seen a turnaround in sales. The grocery industry has been consolidating in recent months to combat the threat posed by Amazon, which bid £10.7bn for organic retailer Whole Foods in June.
Tesco hopes to close a £3.7bn takeover of convenience chain Booker by Christmas, while Sainsbury’s is rumoured to be pondering a takeover of Nisa.
Morrisons won the contract with McColl’s over rivals thought to have included The Co-op, Nisa and Palmer & Harvey. McColl’s was previously supplied by Palmer & Harvey and Nisa.
Potts said Morrisons is ‘pleased to be reviving the Safeway brand which we know customers will enjoy’.
Nick Read, chief executive of Nisa Retail Limited, said: ‘We are disappointed that the tender process has been halted nine weeks early – before there had been a chance for follow up conversations and proposals, especially when sales at Nisa-supplied McColl’s stores were 8.4pc ahead of budget.’
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The car industry is going through a period of massive change, and technology is playing a big part in that. We’re seeing new developments in electric and autonomous vehicles, and these are just the beginning. The future of cars is looking very different to the past, and it’s all thanks to technology.
The Effect of Technology on Auto Warranty and Car Protection
In the past, car warranties were purchased through dealerships at the time of purchase or lease. However, with the rise of the internet, consumers are now able to comparison shop for warranty coverage and choose the plan that best meets their needs.
According to some CarShield reviews, extended warranties are now offering extended warranties directly to consumers, either online or through the mail. As a result of these changes, the car warranty industry is becoming more competitive.
In order to attract and retain customers, warranty providers are now offering more comprehensive coverage and enhancements such as rental car reimbursement and trip interruption coverage.
Some companies are using technology to provide customers with greater flexibility and convenience. For example, some providers now offer mobile apps that allow customers to file claims and track the status of repairs from their smartphones. As the car warranty industry continues to evolve, it is clear that technology will play a significant role in shaping its future.
The Car Industry is Changing Rapidly with The Advent of New Technology
The car industry is racing ahead with the introduction of new technology that is changing the way cars are made, sold, and driven. Already, many carmakers are experimenting with self-driving cars and even AI-driven autonomous cars.
Automation has also made transportation significantly more efficient by allowing for mass production on an unprecedented scale. The trend is expected to continue as autonomous features become increasingly popular; it’s predicted that in the near future, most of the vehicles produced will include some form of driver assistance technology.
Accompanying these advances, the ways we use cars is also evolving. Ride-hailing services like Uber are rapidly decreasing private ownership and car manufacturers are introducing new flexible leasing schemes to capitalize on this shift.
This change has benefited automakers and consumers alike with increased competition among car makers driving down prices while also improving safety by enforcing stricter road regulations.
The combination of technological advancements and shifts in consumer trends have brought about a revolution in the automotive industry – one which looks set to continue into the distant future.
Electric Cars are Becoming More Popular and Affordable
Electric cars, which were once viewed as a niche product for the wealthy few, are now becoming increasingly popular and more affordable to the general population.
Thanks to advances in technology, battery production costs have fallen drastically over the last decade, making electric vehicles more cost competitive than ever before. Companies like Honda are releasing affordable electric options for SUVs and other vehicle types.
In addition, due to their superior fuel efficiency and lack of harmful exhaust emissions, electric vehicles can help drivers save money on fuel costs and reduce their impact on the environment.
Furthermore, governments around the world are beginning to introduce incentives that make purchasing an electric car more attractive. From tax credits to HOV lane access and other preferential subsidies, these incentives are driving further adoption of electric vehicles and calling attention to the benefits they offer.
While sales of electric cars still have a long way before they catch up with sales of gasoline-fueled models, it’s clear that electrification is playing an increasing role in personal transportation today—and its popularity is only expected to grow in years ahead.
Self-Driving Cars are Being Developed by Major Companies
With companies like Google and Tesla pioneering technological innovations in self-driving cars, the implications for automobile transport are truly groundbreaking.
Self-driving cars have many advantages over traditional vehicles: for instance, they’re capable of detecting objects on the road far better than humans can because of their advanced sensors, cameras and radars.
Additionally, autonomous vehicles are able to respond quickly to any type of situation with a perfectly programmed driving style that allows them to avoid collisions and ensure passenger safety at all times. They’re also significantly more efficient in terms of energy consumption and fuel economy when compared to traditional cars.
But more than anything, self-driving cars will help reduce traffic congestion and pollution by optimizing the route taken by each vehicle so as to minimize traffic snarls.
With new levels of convenience and efficiency being introduced, self-driving cars will revolutionize transportation around the world.
New Materials and Designs are Being Used in Car Manufacturing
The automotive industry is constantly evolving, driven by advances in materials science and design technology. Automakers are increasingly turning to specialized materials like aluminum, magnesium alloy, and carbon fiber composites to make cars that are lighter and more fuel efficient.
These new materials are also more durable and safer in the event of an accident. Meanwhile, automakers continue to leverage technologies such as 3D printing and computer-aided design in order to create cars with improved aerodynamics, better structural integrity, and enhanced performance capabilities.
In addition, automakers are investing heavily in researching new electric vehicle designs as they look towards a future of emission-free vehicles. All these changes illustrate just how rapidly car manufacturing is innovating and advancing — from material science to design technology — thanks to the power of applied innovation in the automotive industry.
Car Sharing Services are Becoming More Popular
Car-sharing services are quickly growing in popularity. Thanks to technological advances, these businesses make it easier than ever for people to find reliable vehicles without the hassle of owning their own.
Services such as Zipcar, Car2Go, and Hertz On Demand provide low-cost alternatives to traditional car rental and ownership services by giving customers access to a fleet of vehicles while eliminating long-term commitments or expensive services fees. Now, consumers can pay only for the time they use a vehicle instead of paying the full cost upfront.
Additionally, many car-sharing companies boast environmentally friendly fleets made up mostly of hybrids and electric cars, reducing emissions drastically compared to non-hybrid options.
With technology continuing to advance, more and more people now have access to convenient car sharing services that save them time and money—not to mention help make a positive impact on the environment. For those looking for an innovative way to get from point A to B, car sharing is the perfect option.
The Future of The Car Industry is Uncertain, but it is Clear That Technology Will Continue to Play a Major Role
The future of the car industry is a difficult topic to predict but it is clear that technology will have an ongoing and important role to play. We are already seeing developments in terms of artificial intelligence and self-driving vehicles, and there is a trend toward increasing levels of connectivity too.
In addition, cars are becoming increasingly economical and environmental as improvements in battery technology and vehicle design provide drivers with more options for fuel efficient cars. The landscape of the car industry is changing quickly and manufacturers need to be prepared to meet consumer needs.
It’s likely that government regulations and consumer preference will open up opportunities for new innovations – such as those that allow for shared use of electric vehicles between different individuals or companies – which could drastically change how people think about transportation.
As we move into the future, automakers must keep pace with technological advances if they wish to remain competitive. The industry needs to continue investing in research if they want to remain relevant in the coming years.
Ultimately, it’s interesting to speculate on what direction the car industry will take, but one thing is certain: technology will play an integral part in its future success.
The car industry is changing rapidly and it is difficult to predict what the future will hold. However, one thing is certain: technology will continue to play a major role in the car industry.
Electric cars are becoming more popular and affordable, self-driving cars are being developed by major companies, new materials and designs are being used in car manufacturing, and car sharing services are becoming more popular. These changes could have a major impact on the way we live our lives in the future.


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Lex in depth: why the luxury market needs to hedge against China
We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Luxury goods news every morning.
Customers at the exclusive Shinsegae department store in the Gangnam district of Seoul prefer to display their wealth discreetly. But their high spending was exposed to the wider world when it revealed annual sales had topped $2bn in 2021 — the highest turnover for a single store in the world. It outpaced even Harrods in London, which before the coronavirus pandemic had long held the world’s top spot.
Global travel restrictions partly explain the success of department stores such as Shinsegae across Asia. Chinese and Korean luxury consumers previously reserved their biggest shopping sprees for European holidays. Covid-19, however, prompted them to pick up high-priced items at local department stores, which were unaffected by lockdowns.
This shift of turnover from Europe to Asia could mark a more permanent change in the balance of power within the global luxury industry. These changes in the spending habits of Asian consumers — the driving force of the luxury goods sector worldwide — have far-reaching implications for global brands and even some economies.
Asian shoppers, who accounted for more than 60 per cent of global luxury spending in 2021 — a market worth $300bn excluding cars — have delivered record profits for brands such as LVMH, with its shares more than doubling during the pandemic to become the most valuable stock in Europe by market capitalisation at the start of 2022.
But against this backdrop China’s economy is slowing and Beijing has unleashed a crackdown on its billionaires. That could trigger a rerun of the plunge in luxury demand seen during the country’s last anti-corruption drive in 2012.
A long-term shift in sentiment and spending habits cannot be ruled out. Nor can a profitability squeeze. Luxury brands are losing their lucrative premium pricing strategies in Asia which could trigger a lasting reversal in the lofty valuations of European luxury goods companies.
The sector now needs a hedge against its biggest customer: China.
China’s luxury open runs
Lines of up to 300 people outside Chanel boutiques in Beijing and Seoul department stores hours before opening have become a common sight in the past year, with some camping overnight to protect their place in the queue.
These so-called open runs have even created their own job opportunities. For $150 a morning, a substitute will queue for you. Or, to guarantee success, you can pay an 80 per cent premium on the product price for a reseller to stand in line until they get their hands on the desired object. Chanel and other brands have responded by rationing handbags. In Seoul, for example, sales of its most popular bags are limited to just one per person, per year, and passport and identification numbers are employed to track every sale.
The rationing, long lines and occasional loud quarrels associated with open runs have made headlines, providing free marketing for brands and contributing to a bumper 2021 for the world’s top five luxury brands: Gucci, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Prada.
LVMH’s 2021 group sales were up a fifth compared to its previous record in 2019 to €64.2bn, led by its fashion and leather goods unit, its largest business, which analysts estimate generates profit margins of more than 40 per cent. “The business is showing some very good momentum in many countries outside China too,” says LVMH chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony. “This includes Korea, whose contribution in terms of revenue is not far off that of France.”
The surge in prices for assets ranging from equities — especially US tech stocks — to bitcoin during the pandemic has helped drive wealth creation.
Asia-Pacific now has more billionaires than any other region of the world. Yet less than a third of global luxury brand sales come from these ultra-high net worth shoppers. The rest is from the rising middle class.
In 2019, Chinese consumers bought luxury goods worth about $120bn: about 70 per cent of that spending was made outside the country. But as overseas sales of personal luxury goods fell to near zero over the past two years, those inside mainland China climbed. In 2021 alone, they increased more than a third to Rmb471bn ($71bn), according to Bain estimates. That’s more than double the 2019 luxury spending in mainland China.
Asia’s price premium evaporates
The lack of flights to Europe is not the only reason Asian shoppers are doing their luxury spending at home. An equally important factor is the narrowing of the price differential between Europe and Asia. Traditionally there has been a significant gap that made the same products far more expensive in Asia due to the pricing strategies of luxury brands, local taxes and logistics.
The premium, which added up to 80 per cent on the same products in China a few years ago, meant a first-class flight to Paris for a shopping trip still cost less than the same spree at home.
That price gap — the reason Chinese consumers have long been the most profitable for global luxury brands — has, since the pandemic, narrowed to an average of 30 per cent. For some brands such as Chanel, the price differential between China and Europe is even lower — down to just about a tenth.
At the same time, the war in Ukraine means that the rebound in Europe is unlikely to be swift. “Even beyond Covid, the social and political turbulence in Europe does not pave the way for any immediate resumption of tourism,” says Claudia D’Arpizio, Bain’s global head of fashion and luxury. “Even when the Chinese are free [from Covid restrictions] and willing to travel back to Europe, I don’t see them buying abroad as they [used to].”
Another byproduct of the pandemic is the way the luxury goods industry has embraced ecommerce after years of snubbing it, over fears that an online presence could potentially damage the image of some brands. Now, such platforms are critical to the marketing and sales strategies of those same brands. In China, sales of luxury goods, which accounted for just a tenth of total online market share in 2019, peaked at 80 per cent of total sales during the pandemic.
That gives luxury brands the opportunity to cut costs in Asia and take full advantage of trends towards online purchases, including direct sales through messaging apps and courier delivery services. That also puts at risk the once-seemingly bulletproof revenue streams of Asian department stores and their business models, built around receiving 30 to 40 per cent of total sales as a commission.
European luxury groups have traditionally cultivated demand by selling their brands as status symbols in China, a country that has seen a huge growth in its middle class over the past two decades, with many of them working in the booming tech sector.
“This group earns big bonuses, usually multiples [of their] annual salary. That is where their purchasing power has been coming from,” says Iris Pang, chief economist for greater China at ING.
That in turn helped boost the value of shares in Europe’s luxury groups. LVMH and Hermès reached decade high valuations last year on a forward earnings basis, with the latter reaching 65 times at the end of 2021, reflecting the buying frenzy in Asia. Current valuation levels, while short of those highs, imply that the current double-digit earnings growth will continue.
But longer term, lower average selling prices could hold back the profitability of luxury brands. A return to the operating margins of 24 per cent enjoyed a decade ago is unlikely. Indeed, the risk of further lockdowns and restrictions in China’s wealthiest cities means a return to 2020’s operating margins of just 10 per cent cannot be ruled out.
The shift in spending to Asia means entire economies are taking a hit. Hong Kong, which does not tax luxury goods sales, has long benefited from being an important shopping destination for mainland Chinese, Korean and Japanese tourists, who all faced higher domestic prices for the same items.
Mainland Chinese visitors made up about 80 per cent of total Hong Kong tourists before the pandemic and accounted for 60 per cent of total luxury sales in the city — a figure that has since fallen more than 90 per cent.
At the same time, Hong Kong residents are leaving the city at a record rate, according to official data. The city’s retail sales in March fell almost 14 per cent from a year earlier. Lifestyle International, which owns and operates Hong Kong’s Sogo department stores, reported a record loss in 2021.
“Hong Kong has long been one of the most important hubs for luxury consumption [in Asia], but that is no longer the case,” says D’Arpizio at Bain, adding that mainland Chinese tourists are unlikely to return in the same numbers. “We do not expect Hong Kong to recover on this front as people can buy luxury goods duty-free in China now, [in places] such as Hainan. There will be a period of Hong Kong store closures for luxury brands.”
Xi’s ‘common prosperity’ drive
Shanghai, home to the flagship stores of global brands, has for weeks been living with a lockdown that has trapped 26mn residents in their homes. The city’s economy “will shrink 6 per cent in the month of April alone if the current lockdown persists”, says Pang at ING. And luxury sales will not escape that second quarter hit. With restrictions spreading to other cities, including Beijing, analysts expect annual growth across the country of just 4.2 per cent, well below the official state forecast of about 5.5 per cent.
Beyond the shorter-term impact of the lockdowns and the country’s zero-Covid policy, mainland China’s shopping habits are expected to undergo profound change. The biggest risk to global brands remains political: President Xi Jinping’s commitment to “common prosperity” and a pledge to redistribute wealth.
When the policy was announced in August, shares in the largest luxury groups plummeted. Paris-listed Kering, owner of the Gucci brand, fell by a fifth as did LVMH and Switzerland’s Richemont, the company behind the watchmakers Cartier and Piaget. But since then most investors have shrugged off the plunge.
Yet if China’s anti-corruption drive of 2012 is any guide, the worst is still to come for the luxury groups. Back then the clampdown led to a sharp drop in profits for Europe’s luxury brands and shattered sales expectations for everything related to luxury, from handbags to private jets. It lasted four years.
The latest crackdown has drawn in a range of characters from tech billionaires to film stars, social media influencers and private tutoring start-ups. Its breadth suggests it may be more enduring than its 2012 forerunner.
Meanwhile Chinese officials have blamed foreign brands for creating the consumer credit bubble, claiming millennials — the driving force behind new luxury goods purchases in China — borrow money to pay for them. The debt-to-income ratio of China’s post-1990s generation had already reached a record of more than 1,800 per cent in 2018, according to an HSBC survey. Since then official household debt levels have grown further.
In this environment, prudent Chinese shoppers may decide it is better to hide rather than flaunt their wealth. That could mean moving away from luxury brands entirely.
That is a problem for an industry that is expected to rely on the under-40s for almost three-quarters of its total sales by 2025. And may force the brands, as part of their hedge, to shift resources to other markets.
Some argue that if common prosperity expands the middle class in China that may be positive for luxury sales. Yet such arguments look overly optimistic. The middle class has expanded, but its growth and spending power remains fragile. At $10,400, gross domestic product per capita remains far behind the luxury sector’s next biggest market, the US.
The greatest risk: China
Lockdowns are weighing heavily on an already slowing Chinese economy. The youth jobless rate climbed to 16 per cent, a two-year high, at the end of March, nearly triple the national average. Patriotic shoppers, championing domestic brands, who have previously led boycotts against the likes of Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana, could also apply a brake on luxury goods sales.
Sectors outside luxury have already taken a hit. Canadian winter wear producer Canada Goose has slashed revenue and profit expectations after it was hit by nationalist backlash over a no-returns policy in 2021. H&M and Nike have faced boycotts over their refusal to use cotton sourced from Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of detaining Muslim Uyghurs. That has sparked a shift to home grown brands.
“The increasing support for homegrown brands is a long-term trend, which we believe will persist.” says Scott Chen, managing partner at private equity group L Catterton. “[This is] in part due to rising national pride, but more importantly because of improving product quality and narratives that resonate with consumers.”
Brands already face rising costs of transport, logistics and raw materials. The headwinds in Asia mean shoppers have become more selective. Traditionally, in the years following an economic slowdown, sales of hard luxury — watches and jewellery — have taken a prolonged hit. In China, the sector outlook for luxury watches, which during the 2012 anti-graft drive became a national symbol of corruption, is more vulnerable.
The biggest risk according to D’Arpizio is that “luxury brands are so dependent on a single market”.
For years Chinese consumer appetite for luxury products moved in lockstep with the nation’s economic growth. When China was growing at 10 per cent a year, as it did for the decade leading up to 2012, so did luxury goods sales.
The reality remains that global luxury demand will face pressure as long as Chinese growth keeps slowing. The looming political risks make it hard to trust the sustainability of the buying frenzy of the past two years. There is now a greater need for investors and luxury brands to hedge against China.