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Acute sugar shortage hits Kirinyaga and neighboring counties
An acute sugar shortage has hit Kirinyaga County after the commodity had been seized from all the outlets as crackdown of contrabands intensifies across the country.
The shortage has escalated into a crisis with teachers in the county who head boarding secondary and primary schools expressing fears their students could riot.
Yesterday most of the teachers spent the day looking for the scarce commodity which has vanished from the shelves.
At a supermarket within Sagana town several school buses remained parked outside as the shop owners declined to stock the commodity for fear of being impounded by police.
An area Jubilee operative Muriithi Kangara yesterday expressed fears that the shortage was likely to spark out riots in schools as students reject taking tea and porridge without sugar.
“Unless the said poisoned sugar is addressed urgently the entire country is likely to experience a crisis which would later explode into something uncontainable,” Kangara said.
Kangara also took issue with the sugar traders who import it duty free only to retail the commodity later exorbitantly to Kenyans who are the taxpayers.
A survey by KNA in most sugar outlets established that many outlets had empty shelves with residents opting to take sugarless tea.
Supermarket owners and other retailers said they were fearing to stock any sugar for fear police would impound the commodity.
“We have decided not to stock any sugar since the moment realise we have the stock they will rush and impound it leaving us incurring heavy losses ,”said Jane Wanja, a supermarket owner at Kianyaga market.
Wanja said the crackdown has hurt most business people and it was the high time the government came out with a comprehensive statement over the matter.
By Irungu Mwangi


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The chambers also demanded that the central government
The chambers also demanded that the central government take steps to declare the whole of J&K as a free economic-zone to able the state to trade with all the countries in central Asia, China, Russia and Iran.
"It will be good for the economy of not only the state but of the country as well. A committee be formed to check whether this is feasible and to work out the modalities," Gupta said.
He said till the free economic zone was achieved, both the chambers demand that the items to be traded for cross Line of Control (LoC) trade should be based on a negative list of not more than 50 items and not a positive list of 21 items which is the case now .
"This step will ensure free trade and not a restricted trade and advantage should come to J&K on both sides than to any other state as we have been the sufferers economically from 1947," the president of the Jammu chamber said.
Gupta threatened that the business community would stop paying taxes to the government if the Sales Tax Department continues to "harass" the traders.
"Both the chambers put on notice the state government to stop the harassment of all traders before we react and resort to financial indiscipline. We request Chief Minister (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) and Finance Minister (Haseeb Drabu) to announce amnesty pertaining to Pre-Vat period.
"We warn the Commercial Taxes Department not to enter the premises of honest taxpaying business people and instead advise them to stop corruption within their own Department at the only entry point ? Lakhanpur," he said.
They also asked the government to treat tourism, including hotels, as industry and provide all the incentives available to industries in the State. PTI SSB MIJ TA PVI

domain: news


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Ever since a deal to team up with Chrysler Group fell apart last year, the Titan's future had been in limbo. But during an interview last Monday at the Detroit Auto Show, Larry Dominique, Nissan North America's vice president for product planning, confirmed that the next-generation Titan will be built in-house.
In August, Chrysler threw out plans to share vehicles with Nissan Motor Co., including a pickup.
A Nissan spokesman had explained that the company was exploring options and is seeking another automaker as a partner. The plan had been for the next-generation Titan to be based on the Dodge Ram pickup and to go on sale in 2012 model year.
Dominique clarified that the next-generation Titan will arrive later than it would have been with Chrysler but no timetable was mentioned.
He said that the company would be focusing on a better fuel economy. Last year, the Titan faced severe competition from the Ram, the Ford F-series, and the Chevy Silverado.
Compared to 2008 figures, Titan sales dropped 44% to 19,042 vehicles; Ram sales plunged 28% to 177,268; F-series fell 20% to 413,625; and Silverado dropped 32% to 316,544.


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Toyota releases first pictures of next-gen model of Mirai fuel cell sedan
Japanese automaker Toyota has recently released the first pictures of the forthcoming second-generation model of its Mirai fuel cell sedan --- the Mirai Concept. The next-generation edition of the Mirai is scheduled for launch in Japan, Europe, and North America in 2020.
The pictures of the Mirai Concept have been released by Toyota ahead of the official presentation of the preview of the vehicle at the Tokyo Motor Show. The pictures reveal the 4.975-metre long, 1.88- metre wide and 1.47-metre high Mirai Concept, which appears to be close to series production.
The Mirai Concept to be displayed by Toyota at its booth at the motor show will essentially highlight the new design of the next-generation Mirai, which may include some technology changes as compared to the current Mirai model.
The technical specifications of the new Mirai have not yet been fully disclosed by Toyota. Nonetheless, going by reports, the next-generation model of the Mirai will be based on the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA), capable of hosting different drive forms. The new Mirai will also have rear-wheel-drive rather than a front-wheel drive like the current Mirai model.
Toyota has said that the next-generation Mirai will feature bigger hydrogen tanks, with optimized fuel cell drive. The projected range of the new Mirai is 650 km, which will significantly higher than the 500 km range of the current Mirai.
Against the backdrop of the record-high number of 3.1 million electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide on the roads in 2017, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said in a recent report that more incentives, research and policies are required to fur
Loveland, Ohio-based Workhorse Group has deployed four units of its new lightweight all-electric delivery van, N-Gen, in the San Francisco Bay Area this week.
In a recent press release, Australia-based integrated lithium miner and refiner Kidman Resources Limited has announced an offtake agreement which the company has signed with US-based electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla Motors.
Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has strong fan following in India but Tesla Motors hasn’t made an official entry to Indian automobile sector.
Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors has issued a voluntary recall of 123,000 units of its Model S electric cars, owing to a defect in a power steering bolt.
In Berlin this week, German automaker Audi shared some notable details about the 1,576-pound, 95-kWh lithium-ion battery pack of the company’s forthcoming 2019 e-tron battery-electric SUV.


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- Many mall owners have slashed the rent up to 50 per cent for the lockdown period, lowered common area maintenance
- Mall owners have also shifted to a revenue-share model with many of the tenants
- Industry sources said that the minimum revenue share is 5-11 per cent, but could be higher in some cases
- Mall owners with less debt may be able to offer concessions, but those with a high level of debt would not be able to offer much
Amid the tiff over rent waiver during lockdown, with a section of restaurants and store-owners insisting on relief as a condition to re-open, many mall owners have agreed to ease the terms offering 50 per cent cut in rent for the lockdown period, lower common area maintenance (CAM) and switch to revenue-share model for three months.
Sources said that one of the country's largest mall operators DLF has assured some of its tenants that it will come back with 'mutually acceptable terms' while convincing them to open up their stores.
"We have opened our store in Ambience Mall and would open the one in Mall of India in good faith. The top management has given personal assurance to me and we expect a viable financial proposal," said a tenant operating out of the two DLF malls.
He said that his expectation was complete rent waiver for the lockdown period and moving to revenue-share model hereon as footfall was expected to remain much low for quite a long period.
Executives of retail outlets operating from Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj said that nearly 60-65 per cent stores have opened up but footfall was not even 5 per cent of the pre-lockdown level.
Other major mall owners are also working out options that would ensure both the parties sharing part of the revenue loss on account of nationwide shutdown. Among the options on the table are complete waiver of rent for the lockdown period, deferral of the rent for some time or shift to revenue share which would ensure both mall owners and tenants sharing the risk in case of low sales.
Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO, India, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa, CBRE said that many mall owners who have less debt may be able to offer concessions as they could have the required leeway but malls that have high level of debt would not be able to offer much.
Some of the malls are learnt to have agreed to go for complete waiver of rent for the lockdown period. Sources said that Lulu, Prestige Group and Mantri Square Mall have given good deals to the tenants.
"Some have given 50 per cent waiver while some of the malls especially in South have given complete waiver for the entire lockdown period," said Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India.
On possible options to resolve the ongoing rent issue between mall owners and tenants, Gaurav Karnik, Partner & National Leader (Real Estate), EY India said, "It is a matter of discussion between landlords and tenants. The solution would be based on business imperatives of each situation and not any fixed formula."
With cash flow dried up during the lockdown period, retailers and shop-owners saw their cash reserves sinking and now when the malls have been allowed to open from June 8 the footfall is not very encouraging. Manoj Gaur, Managing Director of the Gaurs Group which runs a mall in Noida Extension said that footfall on weekdays is averaging around 2,000-2,500, nearly one-fourth of the pre-lockdown period.
Malls being quite capital-intensive, their owners are also under pressure to generate cash for serving the debt. Not surprisingly, many of them have tried to resolve the issues with the tenants quickly so that cash generation can happen.
"The issue with restaurateurs and retailers has been more or less resolved. It is a tough time for everyone. They have made a lot of investment. We have also made a lot of investment. Within a week, 100 per cent shops would be open. We have negotiated a two-month revenue share with someone. With some people we have agreed for a three-month revenue share. Some are on MG (minimum guaranteed rent) while some on revenue share basis. We have agreed with the revenue share model for one quarter as during this time business is likely to stabilise," Gaur said.
While mall owners have agreed to cut minimum rent they have also shifted to a revenue-share model with many of the tenants. Industry sources said that the minimum revenue share is 5 per cent and maximum 11 per cent but in some cases it could be higher.
The mall owners have renegotiated the terms of rentals with each of the tenants individually. The concession in rent in many cases varies from 15-50 per cent, depending on the tenant's size, for the lockdown period. Many of the restaurant owners have, however, insisted for complete waiver of the rent for the lockdown period and lowering the rent in future as social distancing would substantially reduce their occupancy level.
"You cannot operate on old costs with less than half of older revenue," Anurag Katriar, President of National restaurant Association of India had said while pitching for rent waiver earlier.


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Since its launch 50 days ago, the German streaming app Joyn, operated by ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery, has been installed more than 2.4 million times.
Acorn TV, the streaming service for British and international television in North America, has expanded its distribution channels in the last month.
EE has announced plans to replace its current TV offer with a Home Broadband plan that includes Apple TV 4K.
All Digi TV customers in the Czech Republic can now access the service via Apple TV.
Apple has previewed tvOS 13, the operating system for Apple TV 4K due to be launched this autumn.
Starzplay is now available across Europe and Latin America including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia as an Apple TV channel.
The all-new Apple TV app is now available for Samsung Smart TVs, marking the first time the video player has been available beyond Apple’s own platforms.
The new Apple TV app, which brings together all the ways to watch TV into one app, is available starting today in over 100 countries across iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and select Samsung smart TVs.
Insight TV will be the first 4K UHD HDR channel to launch on Sunrise’s new TV neo max OTT app.
As part of the launch of Sunrise TV neo, Stoneroos has announced the tvOS application with Single Sign-on operator login.


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The British TV serials Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister were a hit in India. Sunil Mittal of Bharti Enterprises received an honorary knighthood, raising questions about Indian citizens accepting British titles post-independence. The British Empire used titles to reward and bind Indian rulers.
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In an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christoforous, Cannabiz Media’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Ed Keating, shared some of the strangest marijuana laws on the books across the 29 states that have legalized medical and/or recreational marijuana. You can watch the full interview from Yahoo Finance Video below.
As Ed mentioned during the interview, regulations can make it difficult for marijuana-related businesses to operate profitably. Not only are regulations often difficult to comply with, but they also change frequently.In the Cannabiz Media Marijuana Licensing Reference Guide: 2017 Edition, the many factors that affect marijuana business growth were synthesized into five main categories:
Each of these five categories is discussed in more detail in the free Reference Guide Overview, which you can download here, and of course, all details are included in the complete Reference Guide. After analyzing all of the data in the Cannabiz Media Database, the Cannabiz Media research team discovered that these five categories aren’t just affected by state laws.
Local laws and even rules passed at the neighborhood level (e.g., the Office of Neighborhood Involvement in Portland, Oregon) can impact a marijuana business’ ability to operate. For example, seven states that allow medical marijuana also allow local municipalities to fully ban all medical marijuana operations. That means a business could have a state-approved license but still cannot operate in specific municipalities.
In terms of fees, the costs to obtain and maintain a marijuana business license can be exorbitant. As you’d expect, those high costs are passed down from cultivators, processors, and dispensaries to customers who are forced to pay higher prices for medical marijuana. Making things worse for marijuana businesses are the additional high fees that local towns are allowed to charge in some states such as Massachusetts.
Innovation and growth are limited by state laws that only allow certain product types to be sold (such as concentrates only) as well as by laws that create such high barriers to market entry through high license fees that only a small number of players can participate.
As you’d expect, fewer players, high fees, and volatile regulations also lead to reduced competition. This is exacerbated by the fact that it is challenging for marijuana-related businesses to expand across state lines.
State and local rules and regulations not only cause inflated costs to consumers, but they also limit patient access to medical marijuana. As mentioned above, many municipalities can ban marijuana businesses while others can set restrictive zoning requirements or other rules that make it nearly impossible for a marijuana business to operate within those borders. Ultimately, patients suffer because they can’t get (or can’t afford) the medical marijuana they need.
As Ed discusses in the interview with Yahoo Finance, some regulations are good, but when regulations get too specific and just too strange, they can do more harm than good. For example, some laws seem unnecessarily restrictive, such as limiting font choices to 80-point Times New Roman or Arial in Oregon or charging $2,500 to change the name, address, or location on a marijuana business license in Arizona.
The key to a successful marijuana program in any state is ensuring the businesses that enable the program to operate can actually generate profits and stay in business. That’s not always easy in the marijuana industry.


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JOHNSTOWN, N.Y. (NEWS10) — 7 Brew Coffee, an Arkansas-based drive-thru coffee chain, has opened its first store in the Capital Region. The shop is celebrating its official grand opening in Johnstown on Saturday, October 28.
On Saturday, customers who buy a large drink will get a free 7 Brew t-shirt. The store opened its dual drive-thru lanes on Monday, October 23. 7 Brew is open from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
The shop is located at 206 North Comrie Avenue on the former Johnstown Pizza Hut site. That Pizza Hut, along with several others in the area, closed in July. 7 Brew dropped its building on the site in September.
7 Brew Coffee only serves beverages, no food. The menu includes coffee, tea, Italian sodas, smoothies, shakes, energy drinks, and hot chocolate. You can view the full menu on the 7 Brew Coffee website.


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The growth of ecommerce has always fit the old line about a frog in boiling water. Every year, the share of retail taken by ecommerce rose a little higher, and physical retailers got a little more uncomfortable (and recently have started failing), but the growth in any given year was never dramatic enough to make headlines. That was until 2020, of course - now we’ve had a reset. Lockdowns triggered a huge spike in online sales of every kind, but then the question was where this would stabilise - once things started to calm down, where would the new level be set? We’re now starting to see.
In the USA, where lockdowns have been pretty patchy, ecommerce was ~17% of addressable retail at the beginning of the year. It spiked up to 22.5% in Q2 and in Q3, reported last week, it dipped back to close to 20%. In the UK, where we have monthly data that makes the picture clearer, penetration was already 20%, spiked to over 30% and now seems to be stabilising in the high 20s.
You have to be careful about the denominator here - if physical retail was closed, what does a percentage tell you? Hence, the next charts show you ecommerce and physical retail in absolute terms. The UK had a painful lockdown of physical retail, but ecommerce has stabilised at the same level in absolute terms even as it came out of that. Some of this may be because we’re still wearing masks to go out, and we still don’t really know the long-term change (as I wrote here, there will be cascading consequences), but the general picture is becoming more clear.
For the US, there has been less of a lockdown on a national level (though much more in some places, but we don’t have regional ecommerce data from the US Census), and less of a surge, but, again, ecommerce is holding at a new and much higher level.
There’s always something of a debate about what parts of physical retail we should compare against ecommerce - hence the label ‘addressable retail’ in some of these charts. It doesn’t make much sense to include fuel sales or car repairs, which really can’t be done online, and we generally exclude bars and restaurants, even though food delivery has become a big business this years as well. But the really big exceptional category is grocery, since that requires a completely different logistical chain to other kinds of delivery. If you compare UK online sales against retail excluding grocery (on each side), ecommerce is now 40% of revenue.
Meanwhile, online grocery delivery itself doubled in the UK, more or less overnight, and, again, is holding at the new level.
One final observation: roughly half of online sales now comes from physical retailers’ online stores. They gained share in lockdown - a little. So, this chart shows you the share of online sales made by online-only retailers, including Amazon. Amazon is having a good lockdown, but so is anyone else who can sell online - lots of habits are being broken right now.


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Goodyear honors associates for inventions and patents
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. recently honored 353 of its technical associates for their inventions and innovations.
The associates, who work in the company’s Technical Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, as well as manufacturing locations around the world, were responsible for 215 U.S. patents and 21 trade secrets in 2004.
The company recognized 16 associates as 2004 "Inventors of the Year," and six others were awarded special honors in recognition of their contributions over the course of their careers with the tiremaker.
"When we set out to fundamentally change our company two years ago, we knew innovating new products and processes would be essential," said Robert Keegan, Goodyear’s chairman and chief executive officer.
"The role of our engineers and scientists has been critical to our market success, as well as our ongoing cultural transformation," he added.
In the last year, Goodyear introduced new products including the Fortera and Wrangler featuring SilentArmor Technology; the Dunlop Direzza DZ101 and Dunlop Grandtrek in North America; the Goodyear HydraGrip in Europe and the Dunlop SportMaxx to both European and North American markets.
Goodyear has said that its Assurance tires, introduced in 2004, are the most successful new product launch in the company’s history.
Special awards included:
Inventors of the Year: Akron, Ohio: Bill Bedont, Gary Burg, Ron Loeffler, Dan Schuster, Jeff Sevart, Don Helle, Ching-Chih Lee, Wil Looman, Minwu Yao and Austin Young. Lincoln, Neb.: Darren Moncrief
Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg: Yves Donckels, Sylvie Dubru, Serge Imhoff, Rene Reuter and Frank Schmitz
"100" Club: Bill Hsu, a research and development associate based in Akron, became the seventh Goodyear associate to achieve a combination of at least 100 patents and trade secrets.
Silver Coin Awards: The Silver Coin Award is given to inventors who achieved various ingenuity milestones through their career. Dave Zanzig, Luxembourg, has achieved 60 patents and trade secrets, while new recipients at the 20 level are: Jean Bergh, Luxembourg; Don Gilliam, Akron; Kevin Legge, Akron; and Christian Labbe, Luxembourg.


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The Chinese government is expected to increase import tariffs on semi-finished LCD products to about 5 percent next month, rather than doubling the tax as some had speculated, in the hopes of increasing the incentive for Taiwanese and South Korean LCD makers to build plants in China, market researcher DisplaySearch said.
To protect Chinese LCD panel makers, such as BOE Technology Group Co (京東方), which are market latecomers with weaker technological abilities, the Chinese government was mulling a hike in import duties on semi-finished LCD products.
However, because a dramatic hike in import duties would increase costs for panel makers and weaken their pricing power, LCD companies jostled to obtain one of five licenses to produce TV panels in the world’s biggest LCD TV market last year, before the weak global economy started to take a toll on the industry.
The latest forecast from DisplaySearch now indicates that Beijing will probably hike import duties on LCD cells used by LCD panel makers in the products they export from the current 3 percent duty to 5 percent, while leaving duties on finished LCD modules unchanged at 5 percent.
The 5 percent duty “might not be big enough to drive Taiwanese and [South] Korean panel makers to build factories in China, according to our cost analysis,” DisplaySearch vice president David Hsieh (謝勤益) said on the company’s blog on Thursday.
The less-than-expected tax hikes come amid strong opposition from Chinese TV makers to any drastic increase in import duties because the tax hikes would curb imports from their major panel suppliers — Taiwanese and South Korean LCD panel makers, Hsieh said.
Taiwanese and South Korean LCD panel companies provide better quality flat panels, a more stable supply and a diverse selection compared with Chinese panel companies, Hsieh said.
Because Chinese panel makers “cannot currently provide this [wide] range of panels, raising import duties increases costs for the TV companies,” he said.
Last month, Taiwan’s two biggest LCD panel makers — Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子) and AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) — accounted for 54 percent of the LCD panels bought by China’s six biggest LCD TV brands, led by Hisense Electric Co (海信) and TCL Corp and Skyworth Group (創維), according to Taipei-based research house TrendForce Corp (集邦科技).
Leading its local rivals, AUO received permission to enter the Chinese market via a joint venture, with China’s Longfei Optoelectronics Co (龍飛光電) to build an 8.5G LCD factory.
Construction of the factory was put on hold this summer after AUO incurred massive losses because of oversupply and stagnant demand. AUO posted losses of NT$40.59 billion (US$1.34 billion) in the first three quarters of this year.
Hsieh said raising import duties to 5 percent was “a compromise between Beijing’s intention to protect domestic panel makers and the cost structure of the domestic TV brands.”


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No date for energy price hikes
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is mulling plans to increase electricity prices, but has no timetable for doing so, Bureau of Energy Deputy Director-General Wang Yunn-ming (王運銘) said yesterday.
The issue was raised after Taiwan Research Institute (台灣綜合研究院) president Wu Tsai-yi (吳再益), who is also an independent board member of Taiwan Power Co (台電), said on Monday that the ministry was considering raising electricity prices twice this year, which would result in an overall 20 percent hike.
The proposal has been submitted to the Cabinet for approval, Wu was quoted as saying in local media.
The last electricity price increase was in October 2008.
Local server shipments stall
Shipments of servers in Taiwan slumped 12.8 percent year-on-year to 19,608 units in the fourth quarter of last year, as a weak macroeconomy prompted corporation curtailed IT spending and because of short supply of hard-disc drivers, market researcher IDC said in a report yesterday.
Compared with the third quarter, shipments rose 7.4 percent, IDC said.
Total revenues, however, grew 0.2 percent annually to US$91.02 million last quarter as government agencies and telecoms companies purchased more medium and high-end servers, it said.
“Global economic weakness and short supply of hard disc supply will continue to overshadow Taiwan’s server market in the first half of 2012,” IDC analyst Leon Kao (高振偉) said in the report.
Hewlett-Packard, Dell and IBM were the top three suppliers of mainstream x86 severs, while local brands Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Acer Inc (宏碁) ranked No. 4 and No. 5 respectively, the report showed.
TPK board approves payouts
TPK Holdings Co Ltd (宸鴻), which supplies touch modules to Apple Inc, yesterday said its board approved the delivery of NT$20 per share in cash dividends and NT$3 per share in stock dividends to its shareholders.
That represented a 50-percent payout ratio based on last year’s net income of NT$11.34 billion (US$384 million), or NT$46.12 a share.
The board also agreed to allocate NT$628 million in employee bonuses and NT$69.63 million in compensation for board members. The decision still needs shareholder approval in its annual meeting on May 16.
Powerchip grace period goes on
Memorychip maker Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) said yesterday its creditor banks had agreed to extend the grace period for debt repayments for another year, a stock exchange filing showed.
The Hsinchu-based company owes five syndicated loans valued at NT$46.6 billion, held by most domestic and foreign banks in Taiwan.
Acer posts sales increase
Acer Inc, one of the world’s leading personal computer vendors, reported on Monday its unconsolidated sales increased 38 percent from a month earlier to NT$37.54 billion last month, and the figures were up 34 percent from the previous year.
In the first two months of this year, the firm’s unconsolidated sales totaled NT$64.74 billion, up 5.41 percent.
NT dollar up on TAIEX rebound
The New Taiwan dollar increased against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.034 to close at NT$29.528, as the local bourse rebounded, lifting demand for the local currency, dealers said.
Turnover totaled US$720 million during the trading session.
Softbank Group Corp plans to keep a stake in the chip designer Arm Ltd, even if it sells a partial interest to Nvidia Corp, the Nikkei reported. The companies are negotiating terms, the newspaper reported, citing sources. Softbank might take a stake in Nvidia after it buys Arm, the report said. Nvidia and Arm might also merge through a share swap, and Softbank would become a major shareholder in the combined company, it said. The two parties aim to reach a deal in the next few weeks, the sources said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Nvidia is the
END TO SPECULATION: The hotel’s management contract has been extended, despite reports that it wanted to end its alliance with Hyatt Hotels over a deal with Riant Capital Singapore-based Hong Leong Hotel Development Ltd (豐隆大飯店股份) yesterday said it has extended a management contract to ensure the continued presence of the Grand Hyatt brand in Taipei, ending rumors that the two sides were parting ways. “We are pleased Hyatt is able to come to terms on the extension of the management contract of Grand Hyatt Taipei,” said Kwek Leng Beng (郭令明), executive chairman of City Developments Ltd (城市發展) and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Ltd (千禧國敦酒店). Hong Leong Hotel Development is a subsidiary of Millennium, and both fall under the Hong Leong Group (豐隆集團). The Grand Hyatt Taipei (台北君悅大飯店), owned and built by
Gold surged to a fresh record on Friday, fueled by US dollar weakness and low interest rates, while silver headed for its best month since 1979. Spot bullion is up more than 10 percent this month, as US real yields lingered near record lows. While the ferocity of rallies in gold and silver cooled in the middle of the week, most market watchers predict there might be more gains ahead. Both metals have added about 30 percent this year, with gold and silver exchange-traded funds boosting holdings to a record, as concern about the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic fuels demand for
MOVING FROM CHINA? The article did not name the company, but Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron were among firms chosen for a production-linked incentive plan in India An Apple Inc vendor is looking at shifting six production lines to India from China, which could result in US$5 billion of iPhone exports from the South Asian nation, the Times of India reported, citing people familiar with the matter who it did not identify. The establishment of the facility would create about 55,000 jobs over about a year, the newspaper reported, not naming the Apple vendor. It would also cater to the domestic market and expand operations to include tablets and laptops, the newspaper reported. Samsung Electronics Co and Apple’s assembly partners are among 22 companies that have pledged 110 billion


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The recent wave of hot weather has made e-bikes an even hotter commodity in Vero than they already were, but at the same time has raised new questions about their safety, both on and off the road.
“It’s been so hot that people who would normally go for a traditional bike ride are more inclined to stay indoors because it’s just too hot to pedal or do any exercise,” says Mike Costner, the owner of the Bicycle Sport shop on 7th Avenue. “With a pedal-assisted e-bike, you don’t have to pedal as hard, and you can still go a little faster so you can catch a good breeze.
“That’s why it’s an ideal way to still get some exercise outdoors even when it’s hot. We’ve seen a definite uptick in sales since the start of the hot, sticky days of summer.”
E-bikes come in all shapes and sizes, and range in price from a no-frills basic model costing around $1,700 to an all-bells-and-whistles-included superbike with more powerful batteries that’s made of lightweight materials so it’s easier to carry. Top-of-the-line models will run to around $15,000.
The people buying e-bikes include all age groups and both genders at Costner’s Bicycle Sport shop as well as at the Trek dealer on Commerce Avenue, while Mike Logue, owner of the Pedego dealership on Miracle Mile, says his typical customer is male and between 50 and 70 years of age.
“We see a lot of couples buying e-bikes for both the husband and the wife,” Costner says.
“Without insulting either sex or any age group, there are a lot of situations where one partner has a little more physical strength than the other, so one has a hard time keeping up if they go for a ride together on traditional bikes. The e-bike will allow that physically less-strong partner to keep up so they can still ride together.”
All bicycle sales soared during the COVID pandemic as people were looking for ways to safely get out of lockdowns, but traditional bike sales plummeted when life started returning to normal.
The only segment of the industry that keeps growing is e-bike sales.
“They’re selling like hotcakes,” said a salesman at the Trek shop. “We’re selling about two a day.”
“The summer may be a little slow for us, but once we get into the winter season and the snowbirds return, we really expect sales to take off,” said Logue, the Pedego dealer.
E-bikes are ideal for the Vero populace, said Costner of Bicycle Sport, because a lot of older, retired people who want to continue to exercise outdoors have knee or hip issues that make traditional pedaling difficult. Also, on flat terrain close to the ocean with often a stiff breeze, e-bikes can help make going against the wind a lot easier.
Costner said he has heard of a few minor scrapes involving e-bikes, but no more than you would expect from bikes riders pedal. “I don’t think e-bikes are inherently more dangerous,” Costner says. “It’s like everything else. You have to pay attention, obey all the traffic rules and don’t do anything crazy.”
Vero Beach Police Chief David Currey said that while he and his officers have noted the increase in e-bikes on the streets of Vero Beach, he has seen no specific problems with them.
“No accidents have been reported to us that specifically involved e-bikes. I guess we’ve been lucky so far.”
The Indian River County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to questions about e-bike safety and traffic enforcement involving e-bikes.
The more basic e-bikes can reach speeds of up to 20 mph, while the bikes with more powerful batteries can go up to 28 mph, which allows e-bike riders to fly under the radar of any regulations applying to traditional motorcycle riders. Unlike Harley enthusiasts, people do not have to be licensed to ride an e-bike.
Costner said he knows of a couple of people around town who have “tuned” their e-bikes, tinkering with them and using after-market kits to plug into the e-system and bypass the speed limits on the bikes, allowing them to go considerably faster than 30 mph.
“I’ve seen them, but that’s illegal,” Costner says. “If they go faster than 30 mph, they should get regular licenses like motorcycle riders – and I predict sooner or later there will be bad consequences for that kind of behavior. You can just do some many crazy things before you inevitably come to a bad end.”
Traditional motorcycle riders don’t like sharing the road with e-bikers, especially those riding souped-up machines. “These guys don’t have to be licensed and they go too fast, running red lights and ignoring traffic rules,” said Arnie Summers, an experienced motorcycle rider. “It’s just not right.”
Others have issues with e-bikes as well. Some pedestrians complain that e-bikers don’t give them the right of way they are entitled to on sidewalks. One woman said she had to jump out of the way when two e-bikers came at her from opposite directions at a pretty good clip and neither made any move to slow down to let the other biker pass.
Apart from on-road hazards, e-bikes also present other dangers. Several condominium buildings around Vero Beach have banned e-bikes from being stored in their bike rooms because of the fire danger when the batteries are being charged. The fires that have occurred mostly involve off-label parts or batteries ordered over the Internet.
Since most e-bikes weigh upwards of 40 pounds, storing them has become a problem for some condo residents since they’re difficult to lug upstairs and keep inside an apartment, although the newer, more expensive models are made with light-weight materials and weigh less.
Some e-bikes have internal batteries, meaning the whole bike has to be plugged into an outlet to recharge the battery, while others have external batteries, which can be detached and recharged inside a home or business.
“Since this is a new thing that has come along, different jurisdictions are still struggling with how to respond,” says Costner. “To limit the fire hazard, I heard that New York City is now considering requiring the electronics on all e-bikes to be UL-certified (referring to the Underwriter Laboratory standards). But I don’t know how they’re going to enforce that.”
The state of California is also considering regulation of e-bikes, especially for teenagers after two deadly crashes involving teens in the San Diego area.
Nationwide, a million e-bikes are expected to be sold across the country this year and e-bikes have also become very popular in Europe.
The range for e-bikes varies widely by type of battery and how the bike is used. Almost all bikes are pedal-assisted, and if you pedal more, it uses less battery; if you pedal less and use the motor more, you’ll run down the battery sooner and will have to recharge sooner.
The smaller 36-volt batteries on the cheaper models have a range between 16 and 32 miles, depending on how much you pedal, while the more powerful 52-volt battery models can have a range up to 76 miles.
Among the celebrities who have endorsed e-bikes is William Shatner of “Star Trek” fame, who says he rides with children and grandchildren in a three-generation group. “It’s hard to pick the adults out of the crowd when we’re out (e-biking) together,” he says. “They all giggle and race around like unruly schoolchildren.”
And a 70-year-old British cancer survivor, David Hayles, e-biked 21,000 miles around the world through 28 countries in less than a year and a half, shipping his bike across two oceans to complete the voyage. “My particular stupid thing was to bicycle around the world,” he said.


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ELBURN – New to the Elburn Days festival this year will be a pie-baking contest, which will take place on Sunday, Aug. 17, at the festival at Lions Park, 500 Filmore St., Elburn.
Registration takes place from 8 to 9 a.m., with judging to start at 10 a.m. The announcement of winners and prizes is set for 10:45 a.m. The grand prize is $100. The first prize for each category will be $50, and the runner-up for each category will receive a $25 prize. For official rules, visit the Elburn Chamber of Commerce website at www.elburn.com.
Categories will be fruit, nut and other. Pies should be brought to the site for registration on the morning of the event. There should be no pies that require refrigeration, such as dairy, cream or meat pies. There will be at least three judges in each category.
For information on Elburn Days, visit www.elburnlions.com.


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KABUL—The United Nations agency that administers a trust fund bankrolling Afghanistan's police allowed procurement fraud to flourish for several years, according to an internal U.N. report seen by The Wall Street Journal.
The report, which hasn't been made public, casts new light on possible mismanagement at a U.N. office that has channeled billions of dollars into the country since 2002. It also raises new questions about the international community's role in Afghanistan at a delicate moment: U.S. and international troops are departing next year, just as the country is bracing for a high-stakes election to pick President Hamid Karzai's successor.
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Number of visitors to UK drops in Olympic month
The number of visitors to the UK fell in August, despite the Olympics, but the amount they spent rose.
Overseas residents made three million visits to the UK in the month, down 5% from August 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This may be due to fears of overcrowding due to the Games and the unseasonally wet weather.
But the amount spent by visitors, which includes their spending on Olympic tickets, was up 9% on August 2011.
The Olympic Games ran from 27 July to 12 August while the Paralympics began on 29 August.
The ONS estimated that 590,000 people in July and August normally resident outside the UK had visited and attended at least one ticketed Olympic or Paralympic event, of whom 420,000 visited primarily for the games.
"Figures from previous Olympics show that it is normal for the host country to experience a dip in international visitors during the Games," said Gillian Edwards, spokesperson for the Association of British Travel Agents (Abta).
"We would expect a tourism boost from the Games to come in the next few years and it will be essential for the UK to continue to market itself at home and overseas to make the most of the opportunities that being a host nation has opened up."
Higher average spend
Some in the travel industry claim potential visitors decided not to visit the UK to avoid any disruption caused by the Games, but the ONS stressed that there may have been other reasons for the fall in visitor numbers.
"[Wet weather] is a very important factor to consider alongside the Olympics and other things like exchange rates, which may have an impact on visits," Roger Smith from the ONS told BBC News.
Between June and August the number of visits was down 7% compared with 2011, but for the year to the end of August the UK had the same number of total visitors as last year.
UK residents made 7.3 million trips abroad in August, which was down 1% from the same month last year.
The ONS figures are taken from interviews with people leaving the UK during the month of August, so exclude visitors who did not leave the country until after the end of the month.
Of the 420,000 people whose main reason for visiting was the Olympics, 260,000 were residents of European countries with 80,000 coming from North America.
The average spend by visitors who attended at least one ticketed event was £1,290 - almost twice as much as those who did not.
"Normal visitors stayed away and the Olympic visitors didn't make up for it," said Miles Quest from the British Hospitality Association, which represents hotels and restaurants.
"But London hotels were very busy in August with over 90% occupancy rates and revenue also up."
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said its figures showed that August had the slowest sales growth they had seen all year.
"It is very clear that overall the Olympics did not deliver any benefits to UK retailers in August," said Richard Dodd from the BRC.
"There were lots of overseas visitors who attended the Games and whose focus was not on shopping."
On Tuesday, the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva) said that the wet summer and Olympics had meant that some London attractions had hosted 60% fewer visitors than usual during the two-week period of the Games.
"For London attractions, the Olympic period was one of their worst trading periods in living memory and for visitor attractions, the summer is their equivalent of retailers' Christmas," said Alva chief executive Bernard Donoghue.


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The S60 Cross Country will arrive at Volvo dealerships in the summer, targeting such German wagons as the Audi Allroad and BMW 3 Series Sports Wagon. Pricing will be announced closer to he S60 Cross Country's on-sale date.
The S60 Cross Country joins the 2015 Volvo V60 Cross Country wagon in the lineup.
Volvo calls it "the first premium sedan with the same level of capability and rugged design cues" as the Cross Country wagons.
The all-wheel-drive S60 Cross Country has an increased ride height of 2.5 inches compared to the S60 sedan. It will launch in the U.S. with a 250-horsepower 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder gasoline engine linked to an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Buyers have a choice of 18- or 19-inch wheels with high-profile tires.
"We have identified a clear niche in the market for a more capable sedan with rugged styling cues and a higher stance," said Alain Visser, Volvo senior vice president of sales, marketing and customer service, in a statement. "The S60 Cross Country will appeal to people that are searching for an exciting and capable sedan, while enjoying the clear benefits that a crossover offers."
Edmunds says: The Volvo S60 gets a little SUV swagger, thanks to the new Cross Country version, something that should drive more buyers into Volvo showrooms.


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Restaurant and entertainment chain Dave & Buster's (PLAY 4.84%) released its fourth-quarter report Wednesday, and there was a lot to like. It beat expectations on comps growth and posted solid numbers overall.
In this segment from MarketFoolery, host Chris Hill and analyst Emily Flippen discuss the company's expansion plans, how it's upgrading its offerings, and most importantly, the ways it has successfully reinvigorated its image. But it's not all sunshine and rainbows -- the duo also talk about the less upbeat aspects of Dave & Buster's outlook.
A full transcript follows the video.
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This video was recorded on April 3, 2019.
Chris Hill: Dave & Buster's had a pretty solid fourth quarter. Same-store sales came in higher than expected. Shares of Dave & Buster's up about 4% or 5% this morning. They look like they are doing a very good job of not only just operating well quarter after quarter, but also not really sitting on their hands.
Emily Flippen: Yeah, definitely. They've been expanding aggressively. They've done a great job marketing this reformed Dave & Buster's, where it's a trendy, fun spot for adults to hang out after work or on the weekends. Been running a ton of promotions, including happy hours and food specials. Trimming down the business model to make it look sleeker and more exciting. Changing up the amusements to be more modern and high-tech. They're actually doing an impressive job.
I will say that the company, while it beat on this quarter, they still expect same-store sales to be flat to the range of 0% to 1.5% over the next fiscal 2019. That to me is a little bit concerning, especially because you see this pop today, but ultimately, net income, while it beat expectations, it's still down 17% year over year. It's not like this is a really high-growth business. But they're definitely taking steps to change the brand and change the awareness of the company.
Hill: Yeah. Some would, in the years past, derisively refer to this as Chuck E. Cheese for adults. To your point, they're doing a good job of refreshing the games that they have. They're also doing a good job of slimming down their menu and just saying, "We just need to have enough food and make it be good enough." They're doing a good job with the menu. The food menu is being slimmed down. They're doing a good job with their drink promotions. Think what you want about that, but that's a profit part of the business for them. So it seems like they're doing well on the operating level.
Did you get a sense of any plans they have for expansion? I forget the company we were talking about, some retailer, last week. Maybe it was Five Below. I was really surprised by how many new locations Five Below is planning in this calendar year. Do you have a sense of what Dave & Buster's [is planning]? Among other things, management at Dave & Buster's has struck me as being pretty smart about not being overly aggressive in opening new locations.
Flippen: Yeah, they're definitely not being as aggressive as someone like Five Below is. But, that's largely because Dave & Buster's already has a huge footprint. They are still expanding, though. They're net expanding. You mentioned the food. I know we're going to touch on this a little bit later, but they're doing a good job of staying trendy with their menu. One of the foods that they're bringing on is actually the Impossible Burger, a meat alternative burger. They're now offering that at their locations, as part of that slimmed-down menu. It's going to be a fun company to watch. I'm not really sold at this point, though.


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Equities research analysts predict that American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (NYSE:AEO) will report sales of $1.23 billion for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Five analysts have made estimates for American Eagle Outfitters’ earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $1.27 billion and the lowest estimate coming in at $1.21 billion. American Eagle Outfitters reported sales of $1.03 billion during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year-over-year growth rate of 19.4%. The firm is expected to announce its next earnings report on Tuesday, November 23rd.
On average, analysts expect that American Eagle Outfitters will report full year sales of $4.96 billion for the current year, with estimates ranging from $4.91 billion to $5.07 billion. For the next financial year, analysts expect that the business will post sales of $5.35 billion, with estimates ranging from $5.14 billion to $5.69 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that cover American Eagle Outfitters.
American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 1st. The apparel retailer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. American Eagle Outfitters had a return on equity of 31.70% and a net margin of 6.12%. The company had revenue of $1.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.03) earnings per share. American Eagle Outfitters’s revenue was up 35.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
NYSE:AEO traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.14. 3,157,741 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,594,619. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.61. American Eagle Outfitters has a one year low of $13.36 and a one year high of $38.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69 and a beta of 1.43.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 8th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. American Eagle Outfitters’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 360.00%.
In other news, EVP Andrew J. Mclean sold 16,282 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.31, for a total value of $558,635.42. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 69,464 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,309.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer M. Foyle sold 5,920 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.00, for a total value of $207,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 115,711 shares in the company, valued at $4,049,885. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,633 shares of company stock worth $1,305,920. Company insiders own 8.20% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AEO. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 261.4% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,066 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,209 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in American Eagle Outfitters by 81.1% during the 2nd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in American Eagle Outfitters during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000.
About American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc is a multi-brand specialty retailer, which offers an assortment of apparel and accessories for men and women under the American Eagle Outfitters brand, and intimates, apparel and personal care products for women under the Aerie brand. The firm operates stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom.
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This past fall, Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), told attendees to NMPF's annual meeting that he remains committed to achieving passage in Congress of the Dairy Pride Act, legislation in the Senate and House that would require FDA "to enforce existing food labeling standards and prevent misbranded plant-based imitators from appropriating federally defined dairy terms on their labels."
As another year comes to a close, many dairy processors are likely reflecting on the ups and downs of the past 52 weeks — and looking forward to the year ahead with cautious optimism. Unfortunately, none of them have access to a working crystal ball to help ensure success in 2018.
Numerous processors of drinkable yogurts, other ready-to-drink (RTD) dairy beverages and RTD nondairy beverages rely on blow-molded bottles for their products. In many cases, these bottles are produced elsewhere and delivered to the processing facilities.
For Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the definition of success is simple. It means delivering value back to its 13,000-plus dairy farmer owners and adding value to the marketplace by increasing demand for U.S. dairy products.
This year, The Dannon Co., White Plains, N.Y., is celebrating its 75th anniversary. To say that the company has accomplished a lot for the U.S. yogurt category in its seven-plus decades of existence would be a massive understatement.
A growing number of Americans seem to be convinced that some things are just better with butter. According to data from the USDA, per-capita consumption of butter reached 5.7 pounds in 2016 — up a 1.4 pounds since 1996 and a full pound since 2006.
Ice cream's recent comeback — which began in earnest last year — shows no signs of waning. Retail sales of ice cream in the United States rose a respectable 3.9% to $6.1 billion during the 52 weeks ending Aug. 6, 2017, according to data from Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI). Unit sales climbed 2.6% to 1.6 billion.
If you’re tired of hearing about millennials, I can’t say I blame you. A new millennial-related report, study or news item seems to come out on a daily basis. (I’m sure the Greatest Generation felt the same way about all of the baby boomer coverage way back when!)
It's no secret that per-capita liquid milk consumption has been on the decline in the United States for many years. In fact, Americans consumed 93 pounds less of the dairy beverage in 2016 than they did in 1976, according to data from the USDA.
You’ll find no signs of a cool-down for the red-hot refrigerated coffee and tea segment. Refrigerated ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee and refrigerated tea both saw significant dollar and unit sales gains during the 52 weeks ending July 9, 2017, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm Information Resources Inc. (IRI).


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Twenty-eight year MediaCom vet Harvey Goldhersz has been named chief executive officer of the media agency’s North American operations. He was previously vice chairman and worldwide chief operating officer of MediaCom Worldwide.
Goldhersz replaces Doug Checkeris, who resigned to pursue other interests. Worldwide CEO Stephen Allan said Checkeris will remain with the firm during a transitional period.
As head of MediaCom North America, Goldhersz will be responsible for the management and operation of all MediaCom activities in the U.S. and Canada. He will oversee over 1,000 employees and an estimated $7.4 billion in billings, per RECMA, MediaCom said.
In Goldhersz’s previous role, which he assumed in 2004, he served as the global head of digital and he oversaw the leaders of the network’s key services like business science, research, insight, data solutions, media optimization and strategic planning.
Allan said Goldhersz will retain these responsibilities in his new role.
During his MediaCom tenure, Goldhersz has also worked with clients like Procter & Gamble, Dell, Kraft, Sprint, Volkswagen/Audi, Canon, Novartis and Panasonic.
From 1998 until 2004, Goldhersz served as founder and chief executive officer of MediaCom Digital and CEO of Beyond Interactive. Prior to his roles at MediaCom Digital, Goldhersz served as senior VP of strategic media planning at MediaCom and Grey Media.
Goldhersz will remain based in New York and will report to Allan.
We're always talking about the growing convergence of the physical and digital worlds. Here are five brands with great phygital campaigns all over the world.
We talk a lot about content. How to make it, what makes it work, how to measure it’s effects, if there’s too ... read more
Sport England wanted to encourage women to increase their physical activity, so it created the campaign ‘This Girl Can’ and its authenticity ... read more
Should you post stories about people dying, religion or bikinis on LinkedIn? That all depends on the business context.


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Florida State University’s Michael Brady has partnered with Michael Brusco, a professor at FSU, and Clay M. Voorhees, an assistant professor at Michigan State University, to explore the relationships between service industry employees and their consumers, particularly when that relationship is blurred by friendship.
The study, which was released in the Journal of Marketing, discusses a phenomenon dubbed by Brady and his associates as “sweethearting,” which focuses on the behavior of employees who provide friends and acquaintances with food and beverages, or other free services, that never appear on the bill and are never given the “OK” by management.
Brady said “sweethearting” goes beyond the permitted act of providing free items and instead focuses on acts that break the rules in the workplace.
“Sweethearting is only referring to the behaviors that the manager would disapprove of,” said Brady. “It’s not giving a loyal customer a free beer or appetizer every now and then, which is approved by the manager. It’s having your friends come in and giving them free stuff—allowing free admissions—in a way that is contraire to the rules.”
Brady said the discovery of this phenomenon came as no surprise to him.
He said his research has proven it is never more prevalent than in a college town.
“It’s something I’ve been aware of for a while,” said Brady.“[Sweethearting] is found particularly in college towns and resort areas, where you have a lot of younger people working in front line service jobs and who are socially active. Whenever that environment exists, “sweethearting” is going to be more prevalent than in other locations.”
Although most would relate the practice of “sweethearting” to their knowledge of the hospitality industry, the potential for such behavior exists in any industry in which employees interact with customers at the point of sale.
“One of the most surprising things was that [sweethearting] isn’t just food services or bars,” said Brady. “We found people who work at golf courses giving away free golf. Movies were popular and tanning salons. We even found an insurance where, if your friend is an insurance adjuster and you have a wreck, whatever dents exist on your car all get fixed under the same price.”
Although “sweethearting” may fail to register with it’s practitioners as a “hard” crime, it does have consequences. In his study, Brady cited statistics showing employee theft is estimated to cost U.S. firms up to $200 billion annually and is a contributing factor for 30 percent to 50 percent of firm bankruptcies.
In particular, “sweethearting” is estimated to account for up to 40 percent of revenue losses from theft—an amount equal to $80 billion.
“[‘Sweethearting’] has the same effect long term [as stealing cash], when you look at revenue losses,” said Brady. “It’s associated with a fairly large percentage of firm bankruptcies, particularly in the restaurant-bar retail sector. It can get out of hand quickly […]. I don’t think people see it the same as theft, but clearly that’s not the case when these retailers are loosing billions of dollars every year.”
Brady said in his study released on “sweethearting” the motivating factors of this risky behavior rarely depend on friendship, but instead are generally centered around a notion of reciprocity—as in, “I give you this beer free at the bar I work at, you give me a free ticket at the movie theater you work at.” Other influences are what Brady has labeled as the “dirty underbelly of this behavior,” namely, money.
A local bartender, who wished to remain anonymous, said he is a “sweethearter” and justifies his behavior.
“I bring more people in,” said the bartender. “I don’t give everything away for free, so something is being paid for. I think of it as them making more money than they would have made if my friends didn’t stop in.”
The bartender also said he feels little remorse for his actions, attributing his decision to “sweetheart” to the loyalty he feels for the restaurants patrons, rather than the establishment itself.
“It’s not the same as taking money from the cash register,” said the bartender. “But my company doesn’t reward its employees at all. My manager realizes when you work in a bar, stuff gets given away. I have a good work ethic and form relationships with the people that come in.”
Another Tallahassee bartender said he tries to steer clear of such behavior, but finds it’s not always that simple.
“I just give my friends a discount, which [the management] allows,” said the other bartender. “Technically, [“sweethearting”] is theft. But it depends on the situation and how much you give away. For example, if you give away something small and then they start coming back as a regular, I think it’s justifiable.”


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Amid The QR Code Renaissance, Swapt Helps Businesses Take Full Advantage Of Them
With the worst of the pandemic behind the U.S., consumers are flocking back to in-person consumption at restaurants and brands across the nation. However, businesses struggle to build relationships with their patrons in-stores and offline settings. Swapt, founded by Andrew Smith and Trevor Brown in April 2022, is a B2B SaaS technology powering businesses to connect with their customers in a personalized way using QR codes. The remote startup recently raised $550K in a pre-seed round led by Perkins Cove Partners, with participation from the co-founders of Klaviyo, Andrew Bialecki and Ed Hallen, and Asymmetric Capital Partners.
Swapt’s pre-seed round closed in August of this year. The founders plan to use the funding to “further develop the platform, create more advanced automations, and deeper analytics.” The startup competes against Flowcode and qrcodegenerator. Swapt makes money based on a usage basis, or based on the number of customers served using their technology.
Frederick Daso: As a greater share of retail occurs online, what opportunity opens up for the remaining in-person experiences that could turn customers into champions of the business?
Trevor Brown and Andrew Smith: We’re seeing a dramatic shift to offline mattering again. Offline events, experiences, and popups are back in style and working to represent brands in a positive light in more than just a qualitative way.
Brown and Smith: People are craving to connect in person, to be able to interact with products and brands they’re interested in, and to be part of those brands’ experiences. With Swapt, brands can provide personalized communication, incentives, and promotions based on a consumer’s current and historical interaction with the brand. As a consumer, I can now receive unique offers and communication based on # of visits, dollars spent, loyalty status with a brand, offline events attended, and any other parameters a brand wants to implement.
Daso: Before COVID, QR codes were heavily underused compared to now, an example being in restaurants. What has driven the trend toward QR codes?
Brown and Smith: The QR code trend in the West is not only driven by restaurants but mainly driven by the large advances in the technology that Apple and Android phones have unlocked for users.
The potential to scan a QR code without an app and to click on a QR code in a photo (a release from the last iOS update) has driven ease of use to a new level.
Companies and consumers realize that the easiest way to communicate online is through QR due to these new updates.
Daso: Traditionally, how have brands and businesses attempted to market to their current customer base and new demographics to expand into?
Brown and Smith: Currently, brands and businesses market to their current customer base solely by using email and SMS communications (SMS being a new, still tested channel), nothing for this exists in person. To expand into new demographics, brands purely rely on third-party data sources (meaning Instagram/Facebook/Google advertising) that consumers find “intrusive” because they listen to your speech, cross-track app usage, messages, and online searches.
With the update on iOS 14 that allows consumers to opt out of tracking, Facebook has lost over $400 billion GMV because they are not able to target and listen to the extent that they were allowed to before. The public has spoken; they want their privacy back.
Daso: What was the thought process for having Swapt QR codes as the foundation of the business’s promotional programs?
Brown and Smith: After a few years of Covid, online technology in the e-commerce realm has accelerated at an unpredictable pace. Loyalty, referrals, rewards, engagements, communications, and more have been created to make purchasing seamless and easy.
Swapt codes are the first branch of the offline world that can bridge the functionality of the online world to help businesses connect with their audience in person. QR codes provide the easiest and quickest ability for a consumer to engage with the brand in person.
Daso: How will Swapt help businesses build sophisticated operations around the offline data they collect on the startup’s QR platform?
Brown and Smith: Swapt makes personalized communication easy by merging online purchasing data, loyalty data, and offline event attendance available to customize experiences for brands when the person scans. The sophistication also lies in Swapt’s ability to communicate this data in an intelligible manner to a brand’s marketing, CRM, or data platform.
Using the user’s device ID, Swapt can easily make lookups to determine the person’s interaction and historical interaction with a brand and personalize that experience for the individual in real time.
Written by Xodas.


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Deloitte is getting into the mobile business with the acquisition of Ubermind, a digital agency that specializes in mobile apps.
The acquisition adds mobile strategy to Deloitte’s already extensive list of consulting services. “Mobile technologies are rapidly reshaping the nature of business,” said Janet Foutty, Deloitte’s national managing director of technology, in a release. “The acquisition combines the creative and technical strengths of both organizations to bring depth and scale to digital strategy, design, engineering and integration for the marketplace.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Ubermind, a 200-person firm based in Seattle, has built mobile apps for companies including Target, Amtrak, REI and American Airlines. Following the acquisition, Ubermind CEO Shehryar Khan and founder Donald Brady will join Deloitte Consulting as principals. As of this morning, Ubermind has added the tag “powered by Deloitte” to its logo on its website.
In a blog post, Ubermind called today “a pretty epic day for us,” and explained that the unusual pairing of consulting firm and mobile agency made sense now that business is increasingly conducted through mobile technology.
“Joining Deloitte gives us a chance to be part of something big – something bigger than we could ever accomplish on our own,” read the blog post. “By combining our creative and technical chops with Deloitte’s global reach, industry insight, and deep talent, we have the ability to make an unmistakable impact in the industry.”
On Monday, Netflix reported that it added 370,000 new subscribers in the U.S. in the third quarter, 20% more than the 300,000 it ... read more
Snapchat Discover has been a hit with publishers that want access to the popular messaging app’s highly-desirable audience, and some reports even ... read more
According to Deloitte’s annual retail holiday sales forecast, retailers should expect to see an uptick in both in-store and online sales this coming holiday.
Spotify, the popular digital music service, is getting into the video ad game with a new ad offering called “branded moments.” Currently, ... read more


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Hundreds of people attended the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s annual celebration of spring on Wednesday with nasturtium cocktails, jazz, and Gardner-inspired fashions by Project Runway winner Erin Robertson. This year’s Nasturtium Celebration — so named for the brightly colored edible flower — was held in honor of the life of New York Times fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, who died last year at the age of 87.
by Emma Loewe, MBG Editorial January 23, 2017
A few weeks ago, Erin Robertson, a recent fashion school grad with an affinity for bright colors, handmade textiles, and bananas, won the 15th season of Project Runway.
In case you haven't caught it before, the TV show seeks to find up-and-coming designers who are shaping the future of fashion, with past winners including notable names like Christian Siriano and Leanne Marshall. If Robertson's win is a sign of what's about to show up in our closets, expect to see a lot of pop-y clothing that just so happens to be incredibly sustainable.
Initially inspired by a conversation with friends about the Pacific trash vortex, Robertson has made a name for herself crafting handmade clothes from unconventional materials.
"That conversation made me think about how I could take my passion for creating clothes and use it in a meaningful way that would hopefully do something," she tells mindbodygreen.
Traditional fabrics like nylon and polyester require a ton of water and a good amount of chemicals to create—a fact that's just starting to creep into the mainstream consciousness. The rise of more responsible options like bamboo, tencel, and organic cotton speaks to a growing shift in consumer preferences.
Robertson steps a bit deeper into this eco-friendly ethos by creating fabric out of materials like bubblegum, wigs, and worms. Yes, you read that right. She clenched the first Project Runway challenge with a yellow dress fashioned from wigs, gumballs, and beads. In later episodes, she totally reimagined wire fencing and somehow managed to turn dried mealworms and guitar picks into a work of art.
Her work outside of the show proves just as impressive. She made "Plashion," a gorgeous 6-look line showcasing plastic bags and recycled materials, to raise awareness about the danger of single-use plastics. Her models turned the streets of downtown Boston into their runway, donning trash pick-up tools called "selfless sticks," a play on the selfie stick.
"They walked as a group, kind of like a pool of fish, and picked up trash," Robertson explains. "It was amazing—people were taking pictures with their phones and asking me questions about it. I saw in that moment how you could attract attention using fashion."
She hopes Project Runway will help her start more environmental conversations using clothing. With her eyes set on MIT's Media Lab, a design hub dreaming up better-for-the-planet tech, she's looking to explore new eco-materials like Bionic Yarn, made from recycled water bottles, as well as produce some of her own.
"I want to create a business that is very true to my aesthetic but has a really intense sustainable backbone to it. It's actually pretty challenging—it's going to be a really fun research period to figure out how to do it."
Considering her talent, creativity, and totally fresh perspective, we're betting mealworm dresses may be hitting stores sooner than you think.
By Meghan Kavanaugh | Feb. 24, 2017
Project Runway Season 15 winner Erin Robertson has barely had time to catch her breath since taking home the design competition’s top prize in December’s finale, a feat the former dental assistant achieved just months after finishing up a dual degree program at MassArt. “I haven’t stopped,” Robertson says. “I was a pretty intense college student. … It’s just transitioned into a different kind of nonstop.” She’s working on an “overwhelming” number of commissions—some taking the Central Square resident as far as Zurich to make deliveries—as well as a textile design project with painter and fellow MassArt alum Jordan Piantedosi, who gave Robertson a hand with her finale collection. The latest inspiration? “I just want pink everything,” Robertson says. “I think it’s going into and touching base on female power and that whole movement.”
For now, Robertson is keeping her own personal schedule, eschewing the fashion calendar to focus on starting a business and creating a brand identity. She plans to continue collaborating with friends from MassArt and explore new connections at MIT, perhaps as a sustainable textile technology student or a participant in the Media Lab. “That’s one of the reasons why I love Massachusetts and Cambridge,” she says. “There’s just innovation, and people are working on such cool projects.” Regardless of what comes next, Robertson trusts her intuition to guide her toward the right move—a lesson she took from her time on the show. “We don’t have contact with the outside world, so there’s a lot of reflection that you do,” Robertson explains. “I learned how to really think about listening to my gut brain rather than my brain brain. The gut brain is so important, and you need to listen to that.”
Project Runway just announced their Season 15 winner! The show that stars the incomparable Tim Gunn as the designer’s mentor, model Heidi Klum as host and judge, Nina Garcia, judge and Creative Editor for Marie Claire, acclaimed fashion designer Zac Posen round off the regular judges with Shake It Up star and fashion designer in her own right, Zendaya as the guest judge for this spectacular finale. Anyone who has not seen the finale nor wants spoilers please stop reading now and please return back once you have seen the finale on Lifetime. We don’t want to ruin the fun!
If you always thought that if you lived back in the 60s and would have dug Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, this season’s Project Runway is the litmus test. Considered a visionary and artist all the way to wacky and cartoonish, the controversial and innovative Erin Robertson was announced the winner of Project Runway Season 15.
The disruptive designer, originally from Provo, Utah and now from Boston MA, was selected from four finalists. Her finale collection was a tribute to innovation, color, and texture. Her fashion forward designs and aesthetic have a fresh look and her runway show entitled “Project Funway” emitted an aesthetically pleasing visual appeal. Yet, it is her small detailing is what she does best and packs the biggest punch. Her innovation with ornamentation such as fishing lures or laser-cut plexiglass discs that are sewn onto her dresses creates a soft rustle as the model walks by, adding more to the runway experience.
Her runway show demonstrated her mastery with color, her love of innovation and her sense of whimsy. Her models walked down the runway in tinted glasses, perhaps a hint of how Erin sees the world? Her fashion forward show paired yellow with pink, copper with reds, and ended with a shiny leather suit with a repeated design of a hand holding a banana.
Her obvious power color is yellow and nothing says Erin more than a banana! This is because Erin Robertson is not just a designer. She is an artist. Bananas on fabric is so absurdly cool. She has the sort of humor of an artist and disrupter like Andy Warhol. Her love of bananas is reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s Velvet Underground cover with a banana on it.
The late 60s band with Lou Reed, John Cale, and cool blonde Nico were all about the banana. Erin has brought back that sort of 60s artistic vibe to fashion.
Fans of Robertson who have been following her on Instagram have gotten such treats as her creative Madonna costume for Heidi’s Halloween party (was this a clue that Erin was the winner?) or her recent creation of fantasy shoes that are made of plexiglass, leather, and 3-D resin. These are the modern day Cinderella slipper!
While Erin has received praise from the Project Runway judges and leagues of fans, there are others who are haters. Critics like fashion bloggers Tom and Lorenzo have blasted some of Robertson’s looks as obviously inspired by the architectural innovation of Delpozo. While she has taken this inspiration, Erin has certainly made it her own, not unlike what author Austin Kleon preaches to artists of all mediums in his exceptional book “How To Steal Like An Artist.” In addition, no one had ever questioned Erin about this influence. In other seasons, designers have been called out for copying other designers.
Erin’s foray into fashion and design was not a straight forward shot. Early in the season, Robertson explained that she was a “half-Mormon” that lived a sheltered life and never watched television and had escaped Utah and went to live with her dad in Boston. There, she started to work at a dentist’s office where her boss there saw something special in her love of design. At her Tim Gunn visit, Erin explained how she was encouraged her to explore her design aesthetic. During the season Erin explained that she is a tactile designer and finds that in the unconventional challenges, she enjoys that creating her own “fabrics.” This is where she feels she can create real innovation.
In her recent conversation with Hollywood Life, Erin envisioned her design career as becoming much, much more. She has more future projects planned and this includes more with Project Runway and an undisclosed project with MIT.
“I really want to be a part of the next wave,”
Project Runway Season 15 started out with 16 designers and after a cornucopia of challenges, there were four designers who remained to show their collections at NYFW. These designers were Erin Robertson, Laurence Basse, Rik Villa, and Roberi Parra.
From early in Season 15, the obvious judge’s favorite has been Erin Robertson. Her use of bright colors like yellow and pinks, obviously made the editor eye of Nina Garcia just scream with joy. How many seasons has Nina screamed at the designers to use color? Every season.
During the season, three of the four final designers won two challenges, while Erin won three challenges, with two of these challenges being the fan favorite unconventional challenges. In fact, fans thought she should have won the final unconventional challenge as well.
Project Runway Season 15 may go down as the unconventional season. There have been a total of three unconventional challenges, which sandwiched the entire season. This included an unconventional party challenge to kick off the season and two back-to-back unconventional challenges, including an avant-garde twist in the first of the last two unconventional challenges, that ended the season to determine the final four finalists. This could be the very first Project Runway season where there has been no red carpet challenge nor have any gowns been made.
The Project Runway Season 15 group of designers has been a mainly “street” group, hand picked by Tim Gunn. Last season, Tim had expressed his dissatisfaction with Season 14 as he felt they were not “hungry” enough. Uncharacteristically, Gunn trashed the Season 14 winner, plus-sized designer Ashley Tipton for making “hideous” clothing. He thought glitzy designer Kelly Dempsey should have won because he felt she was more hungry, in a season of designers that were rather lazy in their work ethic.
Are you happy Erin Robertson was the winner of Project Runway Season 15? Who do you think should have won?
MassArt graduate and Cambridge resident Erin Robertson won the 15th season of Project Runway with a New York Fashion Week collection that judge Heidi Klum described as "quirky," "gutsy" and "exciting."
In the season finale, judges Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Zach Posen and guest judge Zendaya gave Robertson all positive remarks, complimenting how playful and colorful her collection was.
"I think you balanced the 'kooky' with the chic very well," said Zendaya.
Robertson took a moment to reflect on her past work and stated, "I've never been pushed this hard before, it made me grow. This journey has been absolutely unreal...I'm just like, 'who was that at the beginning?' Because I feel totally changed."
Originally from Provo, Utah, Robertson moved to Boston in 2005 to pursue a career in dentistry, but decided to seek a career in a more creative field.
According to her website, Robertson has returned home to Cambridge, to focus on "private commission work and her application to MIT, where she hopes to study sustainable textile technology."
South Boston’s Capo restaurant was festooned with sunshine-colored balloons Thursday night, symbolically shining down on the evening’s honoree, Erin Robertson. And on a dark winter’s night, it did feel bright and sunny for Robertson, 29, the Cambridge designer and textile artist who that night was voted winner of “Project Runway.”
Inside the restaurant lounge, Robertson – who was decked out in a dress that matched the balloons – was glowing. “What I love is fun,” she said. “I’m always trying to be fun, fun, fun.”
In fact, Robertson loves fun so much that she presented her final collection on the Lifetime fashion competition as “Project Funway.”
Actress, singer, and finale guest judge Zendaya summed up Robertson’s style and her collection: “As fun and as kooky as it was, it felt very expensive and very cohesive at the same time.”
At the viewing party Thursday, Robertson was joined at Capo by fellow contestants -- and Boston-area locals -- Cornelius Ortiz and Nathalia JMag.
Since breaking into the fashion scene while attending the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Robertson has made her mark as an eccentric young designer with a strong vibe of humor and levity. She once created a dress for a MassArt show that was topped with Doritos. On “Project Runway,” she constructed a bright yellow dress (notice there’s a yellow theme in her life) made of bubblegum and wigs.
“I just love colors,” she said.
Born and raised in Utah to a Mormon family, Robertson dropped out of high school and moved east, eventually landing a job as a dental assistant at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. It was there that a co-worker inspired her to start thinking about fashion, which eventually brought her to MassArt in 2012.
By 2013, her sophomore year, Robertson had won the CDFA/Teen Vogue Target Scholar award, a prestigious accolade for a young designer -- and one that earned her the attention of the fashion world.
The light, color-filled aesthetic has always been central to her designs, especially in her emphasis on yellow. In the fashion world, she is drawn to Delpozo and Kenzo, two fashion houses known for their use of color.
But then there is her whimsy. Robertson hands out business cards shaped like bananas. The fruit is woven into her fashion as well, adorning dresses and even the phone case she carries. When asked about the banana obsession, she simply said, “It’s a really great fruit.”
On “Project Runway,” Robertson came out strong but late in the season there was buzz on the social media that she had lost her edge and would not prevail. Last night’s victory was a vindication.
Designer and “Runway” judge Zac Posen lauded the winner: Robertson “is humor and she is craft. To me, she’s the full package.”


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An Indonesian monkey who shot to fame after it snapped a grinning selfie - and sparked a landmark US copyright case - was named "Person of the Year" by PETA, the animal rights group that took on the simian's cause...
Scopen has just finished presenting its 4th edition of Agency Scope in Mexico where more than 40 agencies subscribed to the report and were able to learn and understand the state of the industry in a turbulent period...
Indonesia is setting up an agency that will tackle fake news after a flood of untrue stories on social media, an official said on Thursday, including claims China was waging biological warfare against the country...
JAKARTA, INDONESIA: BlackBerry will this week launch a new budget handset in Indonesia, one of its last bastions, a major step in the ailing smartphone manufacturer's's fightback against Samsung and Apple.
JAKARTA, INDONESIA: Protesters hurled eggs at the Australian embassy in Jakarta Friday, as Indonesia's former spy chief dismissed official anger at espionage allegations as an overreaction and said tapping leaders' phones was "normal".
SINGAPORE: The hotly anticipated Spikes Asia Awards Ceremony has taken place at the Grand Theatre, Marina Bay Sands. Over 1,000 delegates attended to be the first to hear this year's winners and celebrate the best of creativity in communications from across Asia Pacific.
NEW YORK, US: Purchases of environmentally protective products have grown significantly in two of the world's leading markets - China and Brazil; but the widespread perception that these products are too expensive may be blocking deeper adoption.
BALI, INDONESIA: Publish Asia 2012, the annual Asian newspaper convention from the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), is set to take place in Bali, Indonesia, from 10 to 12 April 2012. It is a first for Indonesia.
NEW YORK, US: Global consumer confidence increased one index point last quarter to 89, while Europe led confidence declines in 24 of the region's 27 measured markets, according to fourth quarter 2011 global consumer confidence findings from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy.
MOSCOW, RUSSIA / JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA: Kaspersky Lab has announced the publication of its spam report for December 2011. The last month of the year was predictably quiet - compared to November the share of spam in email traffic fell 4.4% and averaged 76.2% for the month.
NEW YORK, US: Global online consumer confidence fell for the seventh consecutive quarter as confidence in 31 of 56 global markets measured declined, according to from Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy.
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Effective Measure, a leading provider of digital media planning solutions in emerging markets, has reported that over 115 million web pages are viewed on mobile devices in the month of September 2011 in Malaysia - attributing to a 6% increase in mobile page views from the start of the year.


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Last updated on December 13th, 2012 at 10:57 am
The Kansas City Business Journal reports that the settlement, announced late last week, stems from a 2008 Environmental Protection Agency audit that found problems at Russell Stover’s Iola, Kan., location, including the company’s acidic wastewater discharges in a publicly owned treatment facility.
In July 2009, the EPA ordered Russell Stover to stop discharging its acidic wastewater and provide monitoring to the EPA. Since the 2009 order, the company implemented the changes the EPA ordered.
“This settlement sends a clear message,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said in a written statement to the Journal. “Companies that use publicly owned treatment works to treat their wastewater must follow the law. In this case, Russell Stover had been discharging acidic wastewater for years, and deteriorated sewer lines and manholes in Iola.”
In a company news release, Russell Stover Chief Executive Thomas Ward said the company took immediate action to comply with the regulations after it became aware of the problem.
“Russell Stover’s No. 1 priority remains a commitment to product quality and consumer safety,” he said.
Russell Stover is based in Kansas City, Mo., and has nearly 40 company-owned retail stores.


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EXCLUSIVE – Last week we revealed that Madonna’s Crave Remixes Pt 1 will be available on every DSPs (digital streaming..
Tag Archives: Tracy Young
We at DrownedMadonna.com learnt that a Crave Remixes EP will be (digitally) released soon, but there is not a date..
We at DrownedMadonna.com heard some juicy news about Madonna‘s I Rise remixes. Plans are to release an I Rise mix..


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3 businesses destroyed in 5-alarm fire
More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene of a five-alarm fire that engulfed a strip of stores in University Heights.
The flames broke out at around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, completely destroying three businesses on University and West Burnside avenues, and damaging two others.
The fire chief says it appears that the blaze started inside a 99-cent store, then jumped to a pizzeria and a new laundromat.
Salomon Rojas, owner of Sal's Pizza, says the destruction of his eatery will make the impending holidays incredibly difficult, and he's not sure how he'll recover from the loss.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries as they battled the flames and heavy smoke, which penetrated apartments and forced traffic detours.
The cause remains under investigation.


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Amazon has forayed into the country's food delivery segment currently dominated by food tech unicorns Swiggy and Zomato. The Jeff Bezos-led e-commerce firm will start its operations in Bengaluru and allow customers to order food from local restaurants and cloud kitchens. It is currently delivering to four pin codes in the city. The company said that it is "adhering to the highest standards of safety" amid the coronavirus crisis and has constructed a proprietary hygiene certification bar. Amazon plans to provide 'contactless delivery' from local restaurants, around the vicinity of the customer.
"Customers have been telling us for some time that they would like to order prepared meals on Amazon in addition to shopping for all other essentials. This is particularly relevant in present times as they stay home safe. We also recognise that local businesses need all the help they can get. We are launching Amazon Food in select Bangalore pin codes allowing customers to order from handpicked local restaurants and cloud kitchens that pass our high hygiene certification bar," said an Amazon spokesperson.
The government recently allowed the e-commerce players to deliver both essential and non-essential items in red zones as well. Earlier, the e-tailers were only allowed to sell non-essential items in green and orange zones only.
On Monday, Swiggy announced that it will be laying off around 1,100 of its employees to absorb the impact of coronavirus pandemic. In a blog post, the company revealed that it will scale down businesses that are not going to be relevant for the next 18 months. They have also stated that the company will provide financial, emotional and career-related support to the impacted employees.
Meanwhile, Swiggy has reportedly announced home delivery of alcohol in Ranchi today. Liquor would be delivered through the 'Wine Shops' category on the app. The feature was launched after the app received the nod from the Jharkhand government. The service would be extended to other cities within a week.
Copyright©2022 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today


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Crews Start Demolition of Carson's in Hammond
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