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“We are and will continue to be open for business and hope to see you soon,” said David’s Bridal CEO Scott Key, in a video posted online regarding David’s Bridal filing for bankruptcy.
Concerned brides-to-be who recently bought dresses from there reached out to us looking for answers.
So, the News4 I-Teams Lindsay Bramson started investigating what this means for them.
Veronica Privett has always imagined what her wedding day would be like.
"The dress was probably the most important thing for me. I’ve thought about it since I was a little girl,” said Privett.
She said yes to the dress back in September at the David's Bridal in Cool Springs. However, her fiancée, Andi still has to get her dress.
"Not only are we both getting our wedding dresses, each of us has bridesmaids,” said Privett.
9 dresses total all coming from Americas largest wedding retailer, that just filed for bankruptcy. Leaving both Privett and her fiancée with many unanswered questions.
"Perhaps, are they going to raise dress prices? Are they going to eliminate retail stores,” wonders Privett.
“There's a lot of ways this could end up affecting the stores in ways they may not even be aware of,” Privett added.
Good questions and here are the answers.
Will dress prices go up? According to David’s Bridal, no.
Will all 300 stores remain open, including the 7 in Tennessee? A representative for the chain says yes.
And will customers still be able to purchase other items including shoes and veils? Also yes.
“At David’s, we’re honored to be part of the most important day in a woman’s life,” said Key.
According to David’s Bridal, all brides will receive dresses on time and there will be no impact to customers.
But Privett has her doubts.
"I worry now how is that going to affect my dream wedding and having my dream dress,” said Privett.
Customers are receiving emails telling them their dress is on schedule.
If you have a dress at a local David’s Bridal and want to know the status of it, you can email email@example.com or call 1-844-400-3222.


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There are a lot of things that demand attention day-to-day, and although that is true for everyone, it is particularly true for businesses and professionals. Cal.com is one of the solutions to a busy day, providing open-source scheduling that helps people bring some order to their day. If you want to know more about what Cal.com is doing and how they plan to empower people and developers with their latest funding, check out the official announcement below.
REMOTE – April 15, 2022– Cal.com, the leader in open source scheduling, today announced a $25 million Series A funding round led by Seven Seven Six with participation of ObviousVentures, OSS Capital, Jack Altman, Tobi Lutke, Anthony Pompliano, and many more.
Cal.com is the first open scheduling platform to offer developer-first open source functionality, making scheduling accessible to businesses, governments, nonprofits and consumers.
Today, Cal.com launches their new initiative of making time programmable with the App Store for Time, which empowers developers to build entire time-based apps on top of the existing scheduling infrastructure without rebuilding calendar-APIs and timezone calculations from scratch.
Following the $7.4 million seed round announced in December 2021, the company will use its new round of financing to empower developers to launch a range of new apps in their new App Store for Time, and become the best developer platform for building anything and everything time related: productivity apps, hiring marketplace, telehealth provider or government appointment software.
“We were searching for scheduling infrastructure as we built Cerebro, the operating system that powers 776, and stumbled on Cal.com. It only took a few minutes to realize not just how valuable this would be to our product, but to millions of people all over the world,” said Alexis Ohanian, Founder of Seven Seven Six. “Making time programmable is an audacious goal, but everything we’ve seen from this team and platform so far is showing a clear path to achieving it in a world where more of our life will be connected with software.”
With Cal.com’s open source core, the goal is to put users first and give them the ability to customize their own scheduler with everything from customer data to workflow and costs. Their infrastructure is integrable with multiple existing platforms – including Outlook, Google Calendar, iCal, Google Meet, and Zoom, among others.
The release of the App Store for Time further opens the door for developers to build and launch time-based apps. With its open core, a newly launched developer API and a range of embed options, Cal.com truly means scheduling for everyone.
The original press release can be found here.

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First Data Corp., a payment processing company owned by KKR, has agreed to acquire InComm, a provider of stored value gift and prepaid products. No financial terms were disclosed. InComm had over $300 million in 2007 net revenue.
First Data Corp., a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing services, today announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire InComm, an industry leading marketer, distributor and technology innovator of stored value gift and prepaid products.
Specific terms and conditions of the agreement were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to be accretive to First Data. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
With over $300 million in 2007 net revenues and almost $8 billion in retail sales transactions processed in 2007, InComm is one of the U.S.'s largest distributors of gift cards, prepaid wireless products, reloadable debit cards, digital music downloads, content, games, software and bill payment solutions.
“The combination of First Data and InComm propels us into having a holistic prepaid product suite that includes banking products, payroll solutions, closed and open loop gift cards and now expanded distribution,“ said Ed Labry, president of First Data Corp.'s USA division. “We look forward to leveraging InComm's expertise and robust retail network to offer end-to-end prepaid solutions to our retail customers around the world.“
InComm's innovative product and technology advancements in the United States have positioned the company well for continued international expansion. Currently, InComm provides stored valued product marketing and technology solutions to international markets in Europe and Canada.
Brooks Smith, current president and CEO of InComm, will become the leader of First Data's Global Prepaid Services division when the transaction closes. “We are pleased to join First Data and are confident that this partnership will deliver even more value to our current customers. Additionally, First Data's global reach, unmatched scope of solutions and commitment to service excellence will not only enable us to enter new international markets, but also help to expand distribution and deliver innovative prepaid solutions to the small and mid market,“ said Smith.
InComm is a leader in the marketing, distributing and technology innovation of stored-value gift and prepaid products using state-of-the-art point-of-sale transaction technology and payment solutions to revolutionize retail product sales and customer experiences. With almost $8 billion in retail sales transactions processed in 2007, InComm is one of the nation's largest distributors of gift cards, prepaid wireless products, reloadable debit cards, digital music downloads, content, games, software and bill payment solutions. InComm partners with consumer brand leaders around the world to provide more than 145,000 retail locations the products and services their customers demand. Since 1992, InComm's patented technologies have made the buying process easier for consumers while streamlining the selling process for product and retail partners. To learn more about InComm, visit www.incomm.com or call 1.800.352.3084. InComm is headquartered in Atlanta with offices in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, Colorado, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Oregon, Arkansas, Alabama, Minnesota and Mississippi.
About First Data
First Data Corp. is a leading provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions for businesses worldwide. With operations in 37 countries, First Data serves over 5.4 million merchant locations, over 2,000 card issuers and their customers. We power the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses around the world to buy goods and services using virtually any form of payment. The company's portfolio of services and solutions includes merchant transaction processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication solutions; receivables management solutions; electronic check acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce, loyalty and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2.1 million ATM and retail locations. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.


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Iconic Entertainment Group launches on Music Row
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Music Row veteran Fletcher Foster has launched Iconic Entertainment Group, a new artist management and development company, in Nashville.
Most recently, Foster oversaw Red Light Management's Nashville office. He stepped down from that role in February and will serve as president and CEO of Iconic Entertainment. Previously, he held marketing positions at Capitol Records and Universal Records South.
Entrepreneur Larry Beckwith, founder of Eco-Energy, a biofuel company, will serve as co-founder and chairman of Iconic Entertainment.
The following are excerpts from today's news release:
Veteran music industry executive Fletcher Foster and entrepreneur/businessman Larry Beckwith have partnered to form Iconic Entertainment Group, serving all aspects of the entertainment industry including artist management, music, television, film, artist development and strategic partnerships. Iconic Entertainment is Nashville-based, but global in nature, representing all genres of music.
“Larry stepped down as Chairman of his company at the end of 2012 to move onto his next entrepreneurial venture and began exploring opportunities in the entertainment industry,” Foster explained. “His record with start-up companies is impressive as is his reputation for integrity in business. It’s a great fit with my 30 years in entertainment and his 30 years in business.”
Beckwith, best known as the founder of the highly successful company, Eco-Energy, and Foster have known each other both professionally and socially for several years and have been looking for an underserved niche in the entertainment industry that would utilize their combined talents.
E.J. Boyer covers the Music City's tourism, hospitality and music business.
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Hidden Solutions To Vaping Unveiled
Skip researching by way of 1000’s of manufacturers for the perfect e-cigarette essentials. We offer you every thing you need to vape, from incredible products to information of the vaping industry. Nobody connected with the tobacco trade is allowed within the building.
Vape, Vape Juice, Pod Methods, Mods And More
A examine in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2015 found a connection too. Researchers surveyed 2,500 Los Angeles highschool college students who had by no means smoked. They found that kids who used e-cigs had been extra doubtless than non-users to smoke cigarettes or different tobacco merchandise over the next yr. “If there was good proof that folks were utilizing e-cigarettes simply to stop smoking, there can be wide assist,” Benowitz says.
The Framework doc says governments “need to be alert to any efforts by the tobacco industry to undermine or subvert tobacco management efforts” and must restrict their contact to absolutely the minimum. Activists now take this to imply there should be an impenetrable wall between themselves and anyone in any means related with tobacco. Glantz turned an icon of the anti-tobacco movement after he obtained four,000 leaked paperwork from Brown and Williamson, then the US’s third-biggest tobacco company, in 1994. They proved the trade knew that smoking caused cancer and had hidden it. Since then, Glantz has at all times objected vigorously to any compromise with the business. In 1997, a deal was broached with the tobacco business by Matt Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Liquid Nicotine Can Poison Individuals
That will all the time be the case when the health of our kids is on the road,” announced the San Francisco city attorney Dennis Herrera in an announcement after the ban was handed by the the town legislature last June. He was scathing about the FDA’s failure to control e-cigarette gross sales. If the federal government just isn’t going to behave to guard our children, San Francisco will,” he stated. Behind the outright ban on gross sales of e-cigarettes in San Francisco is a panic about teenagers vaping.
- The FDA is working on several options to stop youth access to e-cigarettes, similar to current legislation to raise the minimal age for the sale of tobacco products.
- The FDA has the authority to control all tobacco merchandise, including e-cigarettes.
- In the UK, anti-smoking campaigners and well being consultants counter that for a lot of adult people who smoke, vaping provides the best hope of avoiding a untimely dying.
- The e-liquid in all JUULs and most different e-cigarettes contains nicotine, the identical addictive drug that is in common cigarettes, cigars, hookah, and different tobacco merchandise.
It would have brought in tight federal regulatory management of cigarettes, prohibiting the kind of advertising and marketing that’s nonetheless ubiquitous within the US, as well as sales to youngsters. But Glantz was opposed to any deal that would allow cigarette manufacturers to continue in enterprise. Myers was stymied by his own allies, and the US nonetheless does not have the anti-tobacco regulations which might be frequent in Europe. Anti-tobacco activists – whether they are for or against e-cigarettes – believe they are defending the features they have made in the battle in opposition to smoking. Vaping’s defenders say the tobacco corporations are diversifying right into a product that received’t kill their buyer base. Hardline opponents are satisfied e-cigarette gross sales will maintain the hated tobacco corporations in business. In the UK, the NHS continues to edge as close as it can to approving the usage of e-cigarettes to quit smoking.
Vitamin E acetate shouldn’t be added to any e-cigarette, or vaping, merchandise. Additionally, folks mustn’t add another substances not intended by the manufacturer to merchandise, together with products purchased via retail establishments. If you’ve by no means smoked or used other tobacco products or e-cigarettes, don’t begin. Scientists are still studying concerning the short-term and long-term health results of HTPs, however the obtainable science reveals they contain harmful and probably harmful elements. Youth use of any tobacco products, together with heated products, is unsafe. The use of any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe for young folks.


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Under Armour opens 6th Store in Mall of the Emirates Dubai
Under Armour has officially opened the doors to its latest store in Mall of the Emirates.
The new store, with a total sales area of 180 sq.m,. The recent opening is part of Under Armour’s aggressive growth plans across the GCC region, with 5 stores planned to open in the next 12 months, including Dubai Marina Mall and Riydah Park Mall, KSA.
The new Under Armour store is located on the 2nd Floor (opposite the cinema) of Mall of the Emirates and will be open daily Sunday to Wednesday 10am to 10pm and Thursday to Saturday 10am to 12midnight.


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Surely some of you will remember that an ARMS graphic novel it was on its way officially licensed by Dark Horse. Well, now we have bad news.
After its announcement in 2017 and its reconfirmation in 2020, now its writer Ian Flynn
Dark Horse has not commented on the matter, so we will be attentive to more details. Meanwhile, we leave you with the sample that was offered at Free Comic Book Day 2018.


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Ask big retailers about big pain points as the fourth quarter’s busy season begins and you’re apt to find they’re not only dissatisfied with their existing tech but are also leery of their ability to create the hybrid eCommerce/in-store shopping experiences that consumers want now.
As a result, retail chains are scrambling to correct their underestimation of the durability of the in-store shopping experience of yore and are faced with a daunting mix of decisions as to which is the best path or solution to take.
According to PYMNTS’ new report “Big Retail’s Innovation Mandate: Convenience And Personalization,” done in collaboration with ACI Worldwide and based on surveys of 300 large U.S. and U.K. retailers, three areas stand out as needing attention to optimize multichannel sales.
Additionally, we found a high incidence of chains qualifying as “big retail” planning to outsource these digital upgrades to third-party experts. Per the study, “51% of U.S. and 63% of U.K. retailers are planning to completely outsource payment method innovations,” with 73% of convenience stores and pharmacies outsourcing payments innovations versus 57% of general retailers, for example.
Many Current Tools Not Cutting It
Big Retail’s frustration with its ability to deliver engaging digital customer experiences in-store or in the power of existing digital tools to help do so is evident in the data.
Roughly half the U.S. and U.K. retailers surveyed feel their mix of online and in-store experience is giving shoppers the best experiences, and that’s a big problem for the other half. The study states that “dissatisfaction is leading many retailers to launch innovation strategies designed to improve the customer experience and their digital capabilities, such as those that collect and analyze customer purchasing data.”
There’s an imperative underlying it all, as retailer surveyed say lack of balance between in-store and digital shopping tools has a direct impact on customer loyalty.
Per the study, “Most retailers stated that consumers were likely to shop elsewhere if they could not use the following in-store digital features: mobile apps, cited by 81% of retailers we surveyed; barcode and QR code scanner apps, cited by 81%; digital rewards and coupons, cited by 77%; alternative payment methods, cited by 76%; and self-service kiosks, cited by 51%.”
Data Is the Key to Unlock Loyalty
While big U.S. retailers lead U.K. counterparts in prioritizing mobile apps (78%), in-store shopping and order for delivery (76%) and barcode and QR code scanner app integration (74%) as must-have features for customer retention, the U.K. sample is ahead in data use to power these tools.
We found that just over half (51%) of U.K. retailers are already using operational data analytics to inform retail decisions, and 24% will pursue this in the next 12 months, compared to 34% of U.S. retailers with data analytics innovations now at work, and 25% planning it for 2023.
Making Real-Time a Reality
While integrating smartphone-assisted shopping in stores is a priority for virtually all big retailers, long-promised innovations like real-time payments are seen as a game-changer and thus loom large in the planning for big retailers we surveyed on both sides of the pond.
The study notes that at present, “43% of U.K. retailers and 33% of U.S. retailers plan to add real-time payments as an option for their consumers in the near future. Innovations such as these allow retailers to easily plan and launch convenience-focused in-store digital features, and many are tapping third-party technical solutions.”
Retailers surveyed were focused on recreating more elements of eCommerce into in-store excursions, bringing real-time inventory checks and real-time payments up in the queue.
For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.


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Permanent Magnet Industry Newsletter... 2017-05-26
This unique newsletter delivers critical news and expert commentary covering the global permanent magnet industry.
Topics include raw material prices, strategic alliances, acquisitions, facility expansions, new product announcements, technology breakthroughs, executive appointments, updates regarding patent issues and additional topics of interest to the permanent magnet industry.
This electronic newsletter is published six times a year!
Next Issue -- June 2017
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MFA has filed on the docket for the APS rate case.
Remember when APS cared about it’s customers? So do we. Sadly that isn’t the case anymore.
APS was focused on keeping prices lower while providing service and a grid that was beneficial to all. Sadly, the new leadership team has gone on a very different path, fully embracing the Tom Steyer/Bernie Sanders agenda. Oddly, they now want to California our Arizona with crazy gimmicks, that are sure to cost the ratepayers even more money.
Disturbingly it appears that APS is colluding with Tom Steyer to implement a “Green New Deal.” APS has rolled out a near carbon copy of the Steyer agenda and adopted it as their own which will lead to significant rate increases. We strongly urge you, through your authority, to seek any and all documents and communiques between APS and their agents and Tom Steyer and his agents. While we realize you can’t compel Mr. Steyer, you most certainly can compel APS.
This possible collusion must be uncovered.
Second, the rate increase proposed by APS must be rejected. SRP, a company that provides nearly the same service, does so at nearly 20% lower the consumer cost as APS. Put another way the Arizona Corporation Commission is picking winners and losers by creating a hidden energy tax on millions of Arizonans whose only crime is to live in the service territory of a monopoly that cares not a wit about their customers.
Third, APS’ return on equity must come in line with our new economic realities. As you know APS’ ROE was set at 10% by the Commission. As you also know, APS illegally made over $28.4 million dollars by exceeding the 10% ROE. For the large part ROE is determined by the profitability of a given company. The authorized 10% and the illegally gotten 10.45% were obtained during times of fantastic economic growth.
Sadly, due to the global pandemic we are seeing a real financial contraction. No monopoly should be given carte blanche profitability levels while the rest of the economy and the people of Arizona suffer.
We do find with great interest the proposal from Commissioner Dunn on performance based rate design that puts customers first, and urge you to give it serious consideration. Coupled with our new economic reality, and the fact that APS illegally obtained over $28.4 million dollars we would urge you to set the ROE at a baseline of no higher than 7.5% and then institute performance based rates which would allow APS to move their ROE to no higher than 8.5% for a period of 3 years.
Lastly, we would urge you to protect ratepayers. During the previous legislative session Market Freedom Alliance, the Goldwater Institute and the Free Enterprise Club worked to establish a Ratepayer Bill of Rights. Unsurprisingly, APS and their legion of lobbyists and lawyers, went to work to kill this important legislation. As a regulated monopoly APS should be allowed a reasonable profit margin without the need to trick customers into bad rate plans. While APS apparently opposes their customers having basic rights, we believe it completely unconscionable that they were given $5 million dollars to educate their customers about the true nature of their rates, and then fail so miserably at it. Since this plan was an abject failure, we urge you to reclaim the $5 million dollars and give it back to customers as a rebate.
Market Freedom Alliance Trade Mission to Mexico August 22- August 25
Arizona Representative Tony Rivero invited representatives from Market Freedom Alliance to a trade mission in Mexico. The mission was punctuated with a series of meetings with Mexican government officials, including Senator Juan Carlos Romero Hicks and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray, as well as business leaders, including Jorge Vallejo, the Director of Exports, Institutional Relations and International Affairs for Nissan’s Leaf division and corporate public relations expert Magdalena Carral. Private sector attendance also included representatives from the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Arizona Lodging and Tourism Association, and Chicanos Por La Causa. The University of Arizona and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University were also represented.
The mission and meetings addressed not only the importance of trade in general, but the importance of the ongoing NAFTA negotiations. In all, twenty-six members of the Arizona delegation attended the trade mission, which was noted in the Mexican press as the largest such foreign delegation of its kind.
Market Freedom Alliance strives to promote the common good and general welfare of Arizonans. Market Freedom Alliance was pleased to help sponsor the opportunity for the bipartisan Arizona delegation to learn first-hand about the economic and humanitarian benefits of the relationship with our Mexican trading partner. With $8.3 billion in exports and $7.4 billion in imports last year, Arizona has much to gain by fostering and improving our relationship with Mexico on trade. Mexico is Arizona’s number one trading partner and we trade more with Mexico than the next four partners combined (Canda, Korea, China and the United Kingdom). Our trade business accounts for close to 100,000 jobs in Arizona.
Because of our geographic proximity, shared cultural relations, and years of mutually beneficial trade, any business restrictions, including tarrifs, would be particularly damaging not only to Mexico, but to Arizona as well. Former executives of the Arizona Mexico Commission led meetings in an effort to articulate to Mexican counterparts that there is a broad consensus among the Arizona business community in strong support of a “modernized” NAFTA. Arizona has two of the most ardent free-trade Senators in the country, so despite the restrictionist rhetoric coming from Washington, DC, the trade delegation left Mexico with a sense of optimism about the future of NAFTA.
Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry President and CEO, Glenn Hamer interview with Bloomberg.
Meeting with business and government leaders including Mexico Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Luis Videgaray.
The Hon. Tony Rivero, Member, Arizona House of Representatives; Chairman of the Local and International Affairs Committee.
UofA Dean of the College of Science, Joaquín Ruiz.
Briefed on Puerto Peñasco Port by Mayor Kiko Munro.
On November 22, 2016, a federal district court in Texas granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) from implementing and enforcing its recently revised regulations on the white collar exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The regulations, which were released in May and scheduled to go into effect on December 1, would more than double the minimum salary requirement certain executive, administrative, and professional employees must receive in order to be exempt from overtime.
Employers should note that this is only a temporary injunction, not a permanent one. The injunction applies nationwide and simply prevents the regulations from going into effect on December 1. There will be a decision issued at a later date on the actual merits of the case, so changes in the FLSA salary threshold for exemption may be back.
Impact for Employers
For many employers, this is good news for the time being. As a result, employers that have not made the necessary changes to their compensation plans have more time to plan for the changes in the event the regulations are upheld. Employers that have already made changes to their compensation plans will need to determine if they want to continue with the changes, suspend the changes, or roll back those changes pending any legal developments. These decisions should be made in accordance with any applicable state or local laws. Employers should consult their attorneys to determine what course of action is best for them.
For more information visit ThinkHR to monitor developments and keep you informed of any changes.
As an Arizona resident and small business owner, I am deeply troubled by a threat to one of our growing economies — the vaping industry. If left unchanged, a provision in new rules by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), called the “predicate date,” will force all vapor products produced after 2007 to undergo a costly and time-consuming approval process. Vapor shop owners and convenience stores will have to pay untold sums in the process while waiting months or years for approval — the result of which will inadvertently over-regulate the industry out of existence in Arizona. Businesses could close down, jobs could be lost, taxable Arizona revenue may go out of state and consumers could be denied of the choices they want and deserve.
While the FDA may have had good intentions, their rule will not improve oversight of the tobacco industry, instead, it will cause an unnecessary prohibition of the very products consumers are increasingly demanding to curb smoking traditional cigarettes. We cannot allow the predicate date of the rules to remain as-is—it’s bad for business, it’s bad for consumers, and it would reverse constructive progress in public health spurred by the vapor industry.
Thankfully, Congresswoman Martha McSally can help save Arizona’s vapor industry and, therefore, I am urging her, along with her colleagues, to take action as soon as possible to fix the FDA’s regulation. The Cole-Bishop Amendment is just the solution we need as it will update the predicate date from 2007 to 2016.
This small but important change will provide vapor businesses a more workable timeframe in complying with the review process for new and developing vapor products, which will keep businesses open, support innovation in the vapor industry, and ensure Arizonians can continue to access less harmful substitutes to traditional tobacco products that many consumers have increasingly come to rely on.
This issue is important because it is a matter of regulations keeping pace with marketplace advancements and supporting consumer choice. I hope, for the sake of Arizona’s economy and for consumers, Congresswoman McSally supports the Cole-Bishop amendment and urges congressional leaders to include it in any of the remaining spending bills Congress must pass this year.


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Come up with a name for your new list and we'll add to it:
DryBar Holdings raised a round of funding on November 07, 2014. Investors include
Pine River Capital Management.
DryBar is a provider in the beauty industry, offering a no-cut, no-color hair blow-out salon. Drybar currently serves more than 100,000 women each month across 37 retail locations, and recently expand…


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MARKET REPORT: Xstrata rises on Glencore hopes
A super-confident Ivan Glasenberg, who is the boss and biggest shareholder of controversial commodities giant Glencore International has insisted his £23billion offer for Xstrata is a ‘fair price’.
Dealers took those comments with a pinch of salt and are still of the opinion that he will have to significantly increase the terms if he wants to create the fourth largest mining group by the end of the third quarter.
Shares of Mick ‘the miner’ Davis’s Xstrata jumped 34p to 1183p as the market noticed that Qatari investors had increased their stake in the group to almost 7 per cent. They are obviously banking on Glasenberg upping the ante.
Merger: Glencore has insisted his £23bn offer for Xstrata is a' fair price'
Pressure is therefore definitely growing on Glencore (13.45p better at 429.2p), to raise its February offer of 2.8 of its own shares for each one in Xstrata to three of its own for every Xstrata.
It has already faced calls from investors including Schroders, Fidelity Worldwide and Standard Life to lift it. Glencore will have to pay a break fee of £298million (1 per cent of its own market capitalisation) if it changes its offer or recommendation.
Analysts say that reflects the fact that Glencore is the suitor, and needs the deal more, even if it is a ‘merger of equals’.
Platinum miner Lonmin, in which Xstrata still sits on 24.6 per cent of the equity, rose 39.5p to 1034p. Punters live in hope that should Xstrata eventually not climb into bed with Glencore, it will launch a fresh bid for Lonmin.
Shrugging off news that first-quarter Gross Domestic Product fell 0.2 per cent, meaning the UK has fallen into a technical recession, the Footsie traded 36 points higher before drifting to finish 9.4 points up on the day at 5,718.89, while the FTSE 250 added 62.22 points to 11,334.45.
Wall Street advanced 89.16 points to 13,090.72, bouyed by much better-than-expected second-quarter profits from Apple. Sales figures are amazing. The tech giant sold 7.7million iPods, 35.1million iPhones and record 11.8million iPads during the quarter.
The App store now offers more than 600,000 apps, including over 200,000 apps specifically for iPad. The 25billionth app was downloaded in March, less than four years after the launch of the App store.
Chip designer ARM, a major customer of Apple, was chased up to 557.3p on the figures before closing 6p dearer at 537.5p. Imagination Technologies, which also designs chips for Apple’s mobile devices, touched 715p and closed only a penny better at 687.5p.
Buying ahead of next month’s AGM and on a revival of vague takeover speculation lifted online retailer Ocado 7.9p to 121.4p.
Kesa Electricals sparked 2.25p higher to 57.65p after UBS upgraded to buy from neutral. The broker says with a market leading French brand (Darty), no liquidity issues and solid cash generation, there is scope for both valuation and sentiment to recover.
Data from Kantar for the four weeks to April 15 showing a slowdown in sales growth dragged supermarket Wm Morrison 3.3p lower to 285.2p. Whilst total market sales growth was 5.2 per cent, Kantar reported growth for Morrison of just 0.8 per cent.
Oil services company Lamprell rose 21p to 343.6p after announcing that the National Drilling Company of Abu Dhabi has exercised its options over two jack-up rigs valued at £103million each. These rigs will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2014 and first quarter of 2015 respectively.
Small buying on recovery hopes helped AssetCo, the company that owns London’s fire engines, jump 38.5p to 162.5p. The company recently restated its 2010 revenues at almost half their original value and moved operating profits for the year into the red because of ‘a serious failure of management and internal financial controls’.
Company doctor Tudor Davies, who joined as chairman a year ago, along with director Christopher Mills, are now in the driving seat and looking towards outsourcing contracts in the Middle East to lift the company out of the mire.
Andrew Perloff’s property company Panther Securities improved 5p to 342.5p on satisfactory results. The charismatic chairman said ‘the company is trading well, considering the difficult times we live in and the constant extra burden placed upon us by uncomprehending government’.
Reflecting a Peel Hunt recommendation and target price of 290p, dating website company Cupid climbed 8.75p to 198.75p.
According to Alexa, the web information site, BeNaughty.com (40pc of group revenues) is now in the top 500 global most visited sites. The site climbed from 98th in February to 73rd in March.
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- Chinese Nio ET7 electric family car costing £60,000
- All-New Dacia Sandero supermini will hit UK market later this year
- Land Rover Defender pulls transporter carrying seven SUVs


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Donald Trump’s travel ban might not have got through the courts, but experts say it is already hitting the travel industry in the wallet.
According to reports, visits to the US have dropped by 2.2 per cent since the ban was implemented.
The Global Business Travel Association told The Telegraph that the US travel industry has lost around $185 million (£148 million) in revenue as a result.
In fact, experts claim that there has been less interest in American holidays as a whole since Trump’s inauguration.
The flight intelligence site Hopper have analysed the data from billions of flight searches over that period.
They found that flight search demand from international origins to the US has dropped 17 per cent overall since the January event.
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The big exception to this downwards turn is among Russians – in Russia, flight search demand to the US is up 88 per cent.
While international demand is down for all major US destinations, the big east coast destinations like New York and Boston have suffered the least, while San Francisco and Las Vegas have seen the largest declines in interest.


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Who Killed Tesla As The Electric Car Giant? – Electrification is increasingly being carried out by automotive manufacturers, so it is not surprising that in recent years sales of electric cars have continued to increase. Even though Tesla is the biggest name, global electric car sales are dominated by brands from China.
Who Killed Tesla As The Electric Car Giant?
When it comes to electric cars, the thing that comes to mind is Tesla. Yes, the automotive manufacturer from the United States is one of the pioneers of electric vehicles that are now worldwide.
Although Tesla’s name is already big and its electric cars sell well in a number of countries, Tesla is not a company that dominates sales of electric vehicles. In fact, auto manufacturers from China dominate nearly half of global EV car sales.
Quoted from the Jato page, data from Jato Dynamics shows global electric car sales figures reached 2.79 million units between January-September 2021. This number increased by 149 percent when compared to the same period last year.
From these data, brands from China account for 45 percent of global electric vehicle sales. This means that almost half of EV car sales worldwide are held by the brand from the Bamboo Curtain country.
Meanwhile, sales of cars from China that carry Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) accounted for only 26 percent. Meanwhile, vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) have the lowest sales, only 13 percent globally.
Although Chinese brands dominate the global EV sales figures, the majority of them occur within the country. In fact, nearly 95 percent of China’s electric cars are sold domestically. Only about 5% is sold to other countries.
The dominance of electric vehicles from China is not only a matter of sales, but as much as 60 percent of vehicle production in China has also switched to electric power. In fact, well-known brands such as Tesla, Volvo, to BMW have built their electric car factories in China.
One more thing that causes sales of electric cars from China to sell well because the price is cheap. Since 2011, the average price of new electric cars in China has continued to fall from around Rp. 660 million to only Rp. 350 million, down to 47 percent.
One of the cheap electric cars currently being sold is the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV. This compact electric car is sold for only Rp. 64 million. After its launch, Wuling’s electric car sales have even reached 30,000 units every month.
Not to mention the addition of subsidies from the government related to electric cars, so that people who buy EV cars in China will get almost half of the subsidy. Not only that, the Chinese government continues to build adequate infrastructure for electric vehicles, so that people are willing to switch from fuel-powered vehicles to environmentally-friendly electric power.


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SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Adriel, an all-in-one digital marketing solution with a proven track record of managing paid advertising campaigns for thousands of businesses and agencies, is joining a list of more than 300 MarTech providers at this year’s Technology for Marketing expo. The two-day event is set to kick off on September 28 at Excel London.
“We’re thrilled to spearhead one of the most accredited networking fairs alongside highly respected peers in the field,” said co-founder and CEO Sophie Eom. “What’s even more exhilarating is that this will give us the chance to meet fellow industry professionals and discuss how leveraging analytics and automation can power their marketing efforts and drive growth.”
In an increasingly digital ecosystem, organizations must embrace innovation to achieve operational excellence. Adriel and featuring vendors are committed to helping businesses implement a tech-driven approach to stay ahead of the steep marketing curve.
Adriel is an intuitive plug-and-play platform that enables marketers to connect, manage, and optimize an unlimited number of digital advertising accounts in a central workspace. Since its launch in 2019, Adriel has helped over 6,000 enterprises maximize ROI while minimizing risks on nearly 32,000 campaigns across more than 600 channels, including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, and more.
Visit https://adriel.com to learn more. For event details, visit https://www.technologyformarketing.co.uk/welcome.
Adriel is a next-generation digital marketing platform that allows users to monitor and manage paid advertising across more than 600 channels, including Amazon, Facebook, and Google. Founded in 2017 by AI technology veterans Sophie Eom and Olivier Duchenne, Adriel pioneers the future of digital marketing by leveraging advanced technologies to generate a seamless advertising experience. To learn more, visit www.adriel.com or follow @AdrielMarketing on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Technology for Marketing
Technology for Marketing is the UK’s only trade fair dedicated to MarTech. The event offers an opportunity to connect with over 300 leading suppliers in the industry that deliver services and solutions critical to business strategy. More than 10,000 brands, retailers, agencies, media owners, and tech providers participate in a 2-day program consisting of one-on-one meetings, multi-track conferences, and networking.
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SINGAPORE, June 6 — Nicholas Lim, owner of La Cantina in Venezia, a restaurant at Village Hotel Changi, said that it felt like he had “lost his child” when he had to close his restaurant in early April this year after 17 years in business.
The restaurant had originally opened in 2003, when Singapore was grappling with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) crisis, but the current pandemic is much worse, Lim said.
“I’ve been in business for so many years but this is so different. There is no playbook to follow, you just have to ask yourself what makes sense going forward.”
Lim is not alone in his plight as the pandemic has devastated Singapore’s food-and-beverage (F&B) industry in the last few months, as reflected in the latest data from the Department of Statistics Singapore (Singstat) yesterday.
F&B sales tumbled by 53 per cent in the month of April as compared with the same period last year, after dropping 23.7 per cent in March.
Compared with March, F&B sales plunged by 38.8 per cent in April, led by a 53.6 per cent fall in restaurant sales.
This is the steepest monthly drop in F&B sales since the Sars outbreak caused sales to fall by 22.9 per cent between March and April 2003.
Singstat said that overall retail sales also plummeted 40.5 per cent in April compared with the same month a year ago, to S$2.1 billion (RM6.43 billion), after sliding 13.3 per cent in March.
In its report, the department attributed the declines to the circuit breaker measures that restricted non-essential business activites and movement of people from April 7 to June 1.
Economists interviewed by TODAY said that these drops are unprecedented, and that while the numbers may have hit bottom, they expect F&B sales to continue to be weak for several more months yet.
For some, there is no recovery in sight for the short term. A list of restaurants that have reportedly had to shut down during the circuit breaker has been making the rounds on social media.
A check by TODAY found that while some of the restaurants on the list are indeed out of business, others are scaling down their operations or pivoting to new business models.
Xcel Yeow, the co-owner of Inspirit House, one of the restaurants on this list, will be shutting his restaurant down when its lease ends in August. He will not be extending his restaurant’s lease at Punggol Settlement, an F&B dining spot near the Punggol Point Jetty, because sales plunged by 90 per cent during the circuit breaker.
“It was a hard decision because emotionally, we are very attached to the brand that we have built from scratch. Many of our customers have asked us to stay but I’m afraid the overheads are just too high to sustain the business, especially with the challenging conditions,” he said.
Meats N Malts, a bar and diner near Tai Seng MRT Station that was also on the list, ceased operations on June 1.
A spokesperson from Strumm’s Holding, which owns Meats N Malts, said that most of its customers were office workers in the area and most of them have not returned to work since the circuit breaker.
Although the restaurant tried to take advantage of delivery platforms, Strumm’s Holding said that the commissions they had to pay were too high and the sales too low for it to continue with the business.
Lim of La Cantina in Venezia said that even before the circuit breaker, patrons had become more wary of dining out when the Covid-19 outbreak worsened in March. Just before the circuit breaker, business had already fallen by 60 to 70 per cent and he knew then that the restaurant would not survive.
Still, he has continued employing his two chefs and they are setting up a central kitchen so that they can pivot towards doing deliveries of some of their popular items, such as thin-crusted pizzas and lasagne.
Coffee Break, known for its traditional sock-brewed Nanyang Kopi, has had to make the same switch.
By March, before the circuit breaker began, its Science Park outlet had already suffered a 50 per cent drop in business, as office workers in the area began working from home, its co-owner Faye Sai said.
She and her two sibling co-owners had to close that outlet when the circuit breaker kicked in and their employees moved to work at a new stall at Hong Lim Food Centre, with 90 per cent of the sales there coming from deliveries.
“The F&B scene has changed... and we cannot be completely reliant on foot traffic. All three of us foresee that the new normal will be to put everything online, be it services, be it our products or merchandise. Even if we operate out of a hawker centre, we will be serving people at home and in offices and we cannot expect that same level of footfall,” Sai said.
Outlook for F&B still grim
CIMB Private Bank economist Song Seng Wun said that the drop in F&B sales in April is likely the worst Singapore has ever seen and reflects a sharp plunge in overall household spending.
“As online sales (of F&B businesses) get ramped up, we should see sales figures stabilising in May and June,” Song said, noting that F&B establishments were probably still adapting to handling deliveries in April when the circuit breaker started.
Data from Singstat showed that online sales made up 39.2 per cent of all F&B revenues in April.
Song added that there may be a net contraction in the number of F&B businesses in Singapore in the next several months.
Already, there were just 29 net formations of F&B business entities between February and April this year, as compared to 192 net formations a year ago, Singstat figures showed. This is the difference between the number of new F&B businesses created in the period and the number that shut down.
Irvin Seah, a senior economist at DBS bank, said that he was not surprised that the April F&B sales figures had fallen so sharply, given the prohibition on dining in and the decimation of tourism.
Even though restaurants were able to continue offering deliveries and takeaway during the circuit breaker, Seah said that this would not have been able to offset the loss in revenue from dine-in patrons.
When dining in is allowed in the second phase of Singapore’s exit from the circuit breaker, Seah believes that restaurants will still have a difficult time sustaining their businesses because they will have to continue to abide by safe-distancing regulations.
The Government has previously said that in this second phase, patrons will only be able to dine together in groups of five or fewer, and tables will have to be spaced 1m apart.
“The number of customers they can receive will be limited by the safe-distancing requirements and hence, the revenue generated may not be enough to cover their overheads,” he said. — TODAY


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Dennis Benner left Fluor, the world's largest engineering and construction company, last year after serving as CIO for more than five years. Now an executive vice president at Autobytel.com in Irvine, California, Benner oversees corporate strategy and international partnerships for the online automobile marketplace. He reflects on the job of CIO, the old-economy/dotcom dichotomy and the importance of stuff.
- It’s NDB-Day. Do you have anything to declare?
- Apple changes a Safari privacy feature that "breaks" Facebook's Like button
- The global cyber war is heating up: Why businesses should be worried
- Cisco bug lets anyone login to network as admin with a blank password
- Intel ships new Spectre patches: Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake now, Sandy Bridge next


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Photo: photine, Flickr
As The New York Times reports, a company called Automated Media Services has developed TV screens that can be clipped to supermarket shelves. And what will be showing on those tiny screens? You guessed it: endless loops of the same commercials for cereal or soup or shampoo.
More after the jump.
Despite the proliferation of flashing screens everywhere from airport gates to the backseats of taxicabs, advertisers are still not happy. They want to be right there by your side at the precise moment when you're weighing the choice between, say, Prego and Ragu, and access to that advertising sweet spot is what 3GTV is promising.
AMS is testing its Lilliputian TVs this summer at nine supermarkets in Maryland and Virginia. One enthusiastic store executive was quoted as saying that 3GTV could "transform the shopper experience."
Presumably he means for the better, though the image of aisle after aisle of picture-perfect TV clones hawking everything from Listerine to Lunchables may just have some of us longing for the day when the only broadcast in our local A&P was, "Clean up on aisle 11."


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Prepare homes, businesses for active 2013 hurricane season
Pella® impact-resistant products help provide protection, reduce outside noise
Weather experts predict another active Atlantic hurricane season in 2013. If you live in an area prone to hurricanes, Pella Windows and Doors encourages you to prepare your home, vacation home or business for the high winds, flying debris and heavy rains that can accompany hurricanes.
The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season — one of the most active and costly in U.S. history — caused more than $75 billion in damages, according to the National Hurricane Center. Super Storm Sandy left nearly 150 people dead, thousands homeless and caused about $20 billion in property damages.
“When a hurricane threatens, make personal safety a top priority,” said Kathy Krafka Harkema, Pella spokesperson. “The time to prepare your home or business for severe weather is before a hurricane or tropical storm hits. For example, consider installing Pella windows or patio doors with impact-resistant glass to help protect your home and belongings year-round, whether you are home or away.”
Pella’s HurricaneShield® impact-resistant glass is laminated with a polymer interlayer that helps stop flying debris from breaking completely through it, to help keep a building intact, even in fierce winds.
In fact, Pella windows and doors with HurricaneShield impact-resistant glass are so strong that they are designed to withstand the equivalent impact of a 2-by-4 traveling at 50 feet per second. To learn more about how Pella tests its products with impact-resistant glass, watch a hurricane testing video here. Plus, these durable products meet the stringent Dade County, Florida code.
Help protect belongings, reduce outside noise
“Pella HurricaneShield windows and doors with impact-resistant glass help protect you and your home in the event of a hurricane. They also help reduce outside noise, for a more peaceful home environment, no matter where you live,” said Krafka Harkema.
Krafka Harkema encourages home and business owners to consult with their insurance agents to review coverage for buildings and their contents.
“If you live in an area prone to hurricanes, ask if your insurance coverage provides discounts if you replace your existing windows and doors with impact-resistant products,” she said. “Lower insurance premiums can help offset the cost of window or door replacement, and add to your peace of mind by preparing your home or business before a storm strikes,” Krafka Harkema said.
Wood product options
Pella Architect Series wood windows and doors with impact-resistant HurricaneShield glass offer sought-after features including seacoast-worthy, low maintenance EnduraClad®aluminum clad exteriors that help protect the window or door from the elements. Stainless-steel operating hardware — a standard feature on Pella casement windows — resists rust and corrosion even in demanding coastal environments.
Pella’s design eliminates the need for unsightly brace clips and other visible reinforcement, enabling you to enjoy beautiful, natural wood interiors in the Architect Series collection.
Durable, low-maintenance vinyl patio doors
With a distinctive design, durable frame and high-quality hardware, Pella 350 Series vinyl sliding patio doors feature energy-efficient options that meet or exceed U.S. ENERGY STAR®guidelines.
Pella 350 Series vinyl patio doors include premium options:
- 2-, 3- or 4-panel doors let in more natural light and expand your view
- Multiple design possibilities with choice of sidelights and transoms, and factory-installed grilles-between-the-glass
- Shades- or blinds-between-the-glass that stay clean, and provide light control and increased privacy. Plus the cordless design is safer for homes with children and pets.
- Triple-pane Low-E glass and foam-insulated panels for increased energy efficiency
Pella Corporation is a leader in designing, testing, manufacturing and installing quality windows and doors for new construction, remodeling and replacement applications.
As a family-owned and professionally managed privately-held company, Pella is known for its 88-year history of making innovative products, providing quality service and delivering on customer satisfaction. Headquartered in Pella, Iowa, the company is committed to incorporating new technologies, increasing productivity and practicing environmental stewardship to create satisfied customers.
Pella manufactures quality windows, patio doors and entry door systems sold through a Direct Sales Network operating Pella Window & Door Showrooms across the United States and Canada and select building materials retailers, including Lowe’s®. For more information, call 888-847-3552 or visit pella.com. Follow Pella on Twitter.com @Pella_News, on Facebook at facebook.com/pellawindowsanddoors on Pinterest.com/pellawindows and on YouTube at youtube.com/pellawindowsanddoors.
Kathy Krafka Harkema


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An average of 59 percent os U.S. households own home PCs, with Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., at 70 percent or more, according to a recent survey of 64 cities that Scarborough Research conducted.
Seven of the top ten cities are west of the Mississippi, with three in California. Among the lowest-ranking cities (of those surveyed) are Memphis, Tennessee (49 percent), Birmingham, Alabama (48 percent), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (48 percent), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (47 percent), and Charleston, West Virginia (46 percent). The survey also found that 20 percent of households without computers plan to buy one by next year.
If you own a home PC, chances are you're a married college graduate with at least one child. You own your home and work in a white-collar profession, bringing home an average salary of $55,200. That's the profile Scarborough Research drew up based on the responses of 175,000 survey participants.
PC households increasingly resemble those of typical American families. The majority of these households comprise a married couple and at least one other member. Almost half have children at home, and over two-thirds own their homes.


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Correctional Services spokesman Manelisi Wolela has denied allegations that student leader Mcebo Dla.
Thumbs up to the National Consumer Tribunal, which this week thwarted the outrageous bullyboy tactics of a big lender.
For too long financial institutions have got away with pummelling consumers into submitting to their arbitrary decisions. This time the regulatory authority has stepped in and served notice it will be monitoring their actions more closely from now on.
Frans Duma bought a car on credit. Times turned tough and he realised he could not keep up with the payments, so he wanted to sell the car on which he still owed R128000 for R99000. He was willing to pay the extra R29000 from his own pocket. But Motor Finance Corporation rejected his eminently fair proposal, sold the car for R54000 - and then demanded the outstanding R74000 from their client.
Duma saw red and took his case to the National Consumer Tribunal, which ruled in his favour. He must now pay just the difference he was willing to cough up had he been able to find a buyer.
Lenders have regularly abused their financial might to sell repossessed items at bargain prices and then demand the outstanding balance from struggling consumers. This ruling serves notice on them that they will have to start applying a bit of common sense and compassion in future.


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Amazon Prime Day 36 hour sale began at 12pm on 16th July 2018 and will…
June 15, 2017
GST sale on online shopping website
Highlights of the GST sale on Online shopping websites:
- Apparels and furniture are being offered for sale on e-commerce platforms Flipkart and Amazon India at discounts of up to 80%.
- While men’s apparel under brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Lee and Arrow are up for grabs at a 70% cut, Prime members on Amazon are getting a minimum of 50% off of on clothing and accessories from UCB and Indigo Nation.
- Sportswear from Puma and Reebok are also being made available at a cut of up to 70% on Amazon, whereas ethnic wear like sarees and kurtas is up for sale for as much as 80% discounts on Flipkart. This includes a range of brands like Global Desi, Aurelia and W.
- Shoppers can sit tight and avail of minimum 60% discounts on a range of items on Amazon including coffee tables, bean bags and wall shelves.
- Flipkart is also giving an extra 20% off on furnitures from HomeTown including modular closets and shoe cabinets.


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Indonesia is a perfect economy where companies such as Ekasurya Inout Indonesia can thrive.
As the distributor celebrates two decades of operations in the country, Ekasurya is constantly looking for new ways to develop its growing business.
Recognized as one of the leading distributors in Indonesia, Ekasurya provides excellent service. The company decided to expand its business through diversification and launch its own range of safety PPE products under the UGO Safety brand.
“After years of development, we are excited to announce the release of our personal protective equipment product line created and designed to specifically cater to all our current and prospective clients’ needs,” said Martin Candra, director of Ekasurya.
Recognized as one of the leading distributors in Indonesia, Ekasurya provides excellent service.
Having formed strong ties with Japan from the company’s earliest beginnings, Ekasurya works closely with Indonesian-based Japanese companies.
Recognizing the importance of strengthening its relationship with these trusted clients, the company is looking to further expand its relationship with Japan to develop its business.
Ekasurya established a partnership with a Japanese manufacturer last year and successfully launched UGO Safety footwear earlier this year.
As the company grows its business, Indonesia’s economic growth, specifically in the construction and mining sectors, continues.
The company decided to expand its business through diversification and launch its own range of safety PPE products under the UGO Safety brand.
Ekasurya plans to strengthen its manufacturing potential and capture the market through new product lines.
“We are extremely grateful to the customers we have had the pleasure of working with for the past 22 years,” Candra said. “We look forward to maintaining and strengthening these exceptional relationships in the years to come.”


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Aston Martin introducing their new super cars concept in this 2011 Aston Martin V12 Zagato. Without digesting the full breadth of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato, we presents the Race Specs of this brand new super cars concept. Aston Martin V12 Zagato was got its first debut in Nurburgring later of this week. Aston Martin give a public show of first-hand look at the race-spec version of the V12 Zagato. Unfortunately this brand new cars only a rendering of the car today, but at the very least, it gives an idea on what to expect when the car officially makes its track debut on May 28, 2011.
From the best NASCAR cars Dodge Charger RT which driven by Kurt Busch the American NASCAR and NHRA driver has a lot more to offer then just being the leader in several races in the past few years. This Dodge Charger RT is third-generation race car driver is also head of the Kurt Busch Foundation. This Dodge Charger RT is currently raffling off a one off 2011 Charger R/T. Without any ordinary of Dodge Charger, This special edition is covered in a distinctive Redline Red color with door scoops inspired right from the 1970 Charger R/T.
The german tuning company Novitec Rosso building a fabulous works with 2011 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider which stands on top of tuning specs and modification style. Featuring 2011 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider, Novitec Rosso gave the fastest and the most powerful Alfa Romeo even more another fast cars. This 2011 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider powered by new supercharger system and a stainless-steel exhaust system that takes the output of the Italian supercar from its stock 450 horsepower all the way up to 600 horsepower. Translated to new performance numer for the 8C Spider, the power upgrade was particulary a new 0-62 mph time of just 3.9 seconds and a top speed of 189 mph.
Scion FRS was released the official specs for their brand new sport coupe concept in New York 2011 Auto Show. This new Scion FRS was adapted the stunning two-door is the latest iteration from the oldest models. Scion FRS name is taken from its dutation, Front-engine, Rear-wheel drive, and Sport. Like 2012 Mazda3 Little Compact Car Showed at New York 2011 which showed up too, this sport car was aspirated 2.0-liter ‘boxer’ engine mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic and flagship turbocharged model may also be launched.
Related Auto Show & Car Showoff for nascar gen 6 car specs at AutoCarShowOff.com
From the best NASCAR cars Dodge Charger RT which driven by Kurt Busch the American NASCAR and NHRA driver has a lot more to offer then just being the leader in several races in the past few years. This Dodge Charger RT is third-generation race car driver is also head of the Kurt Busch Foundation. [...]
Minagi compact crossover concept was released for new 2012 Mazda CX5 since 2011 Geneva Motor Show. But in that time is only the concept of this awesome 2012 Mazda CX5 which has been hinting at production of its attractive. At New York 2011 Auto Show Mazda was finally released the true car named 2012 Mazda [...]
When introduced in Paris Auto Show last year, this 2011 Ferrari SA Aperta an open-top version of the now famous 599 Ferrari cars which designed to celebrate Pininfarina’s 80th anniversary and will be limited to only 80 units. But now its all ferrari proof it, this 2011 Ferrari SA Aperta become a rare sport cars [...]
Aston Martin introducing their new super cars concept in this 2011 Aston Martin V12 Zagato. Without digesting the full breadth of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato, we presents the Race Specs of this brand new super cars concept. Aston Martin V12 Zagato was got its first debut in Nurburgring later of this week. Aston Martin [...]
Whatever Murcielago is not the future of Lamborghini anymore, but it certainly doesn’t mean that we’ve seen the last of this highly popular supercar. Lamborghini Murcielago can be sure tuned by tuning companies like Wheelsandmore which are still around. This 2011 Lamborghini Murcielago LP720-4 Final Edition is pretty sick projects in the past have outdone [...]
The brand new 2013 Nissan GTR was get its new engine which powered 560 Horse Power. As like oldest one, this 2013 Nissan GTR gets better and better every year and will no exception fot this one. As we know the first version of GTR was launched in 2007 at the Tokyo Motor Show delivered [...]
If you have off-road market, then the name of Jeep Wrangler Rock Raider River Raider Off Road may come to mind and this company has a new full service outside. We recently spoke with Kenny Hauk Hauk project and talked with him about the various models that the company developed for its customers. He mentioned [...]
Lexus LX570 which tuned by Wald was turn the ordinary SUV into Black Bison Edition. Tuning an SUV is something often left to become more capable off-road specially on Lexus LX570. Some platforms luxury SUV like the Land Rover, being treated ultra-luxury, but you’ve seen a Lexus LX570 SUV makeover of a renowned tuner? Wald [...]
Unveiling their old 326 series car which has been modernism to 2011 BMW 328 Hommage and got the best looking sport car concept make BMW so proud of it. The systematic design of this BMW 328 Hommage was make its successful at the world of sport car. The BMW 328 Hommage success was given by [...]
The limited edition of Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss which only produced 75 units was actually showed up at Cannes Film Festval which drives by Kanye West. Improving the views of see one actually outside of an air conditioned and secured garage is a spectacular treat for the eye is the real unique feature of this [...]


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Fat-cat Adam Crozier pocketed almost £2.5million in his last year at the Royal Mail.
The payments - including £1.7million in bonuses and extras - came in a year of a national postal strike.
Dave Ward, of the Communication Workers Union, said staff would be "outraged".
Figures revealed that former chief executive Mr Crozier could have earned an extra £650,000 in bonuses but quit early to join ITV.
Royal Mail chairman Donald Brydon said the company needed to offer big money to attract the "best management talent".


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Joining Bart this month are Gazmaz from the MyMac Podcast, and Nick Riley.
Presumably due to the pre-WWDC lull, May was an odd month for Apple news, so the structure of this episode is a little unusual. It starts with some followups, a few notable numbers, some legal stories, and some Apple HR news as normal, but then there are only two main stories. First, another bad month for the App store with a big loss in the US Supreme Court, and a very sensationalistic article in the Washington Post about trackers in apps. Second, some new hardware from Apple in the week before WWDC, new MacBook Pros complete with updated Butterfly keyboards, and new iPod Touches. The show finishes with a quick rundown of some smaller Apple-related stories that made the new in May.
For detailed show notes visit https://lets-talk.ie/lta69
Please consider supporting the show on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/ltpod


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An 8-year-old girl reacts to a Barbie doll on the last day of the Nourishing Hope Toy Drive. (All photos by Pratyush Swarup for Nourishing Hope)
At the Sheridan Market on a recent afternoon, the vibe was merry and bright.
Children eagerly waited in line with their parents. Holiday classics blasted from the stereo. Decorative snowflakes festooned the walls by the front counter. Upstairs, there was a room chock full of toys — tables and shelves lined with LEGO sets, Barbies, books, footballs and countless other delights.
It was the final day of the Nourishing Hope Toy Drive, an annual event that brings joy to hundreds of families struggling to make ends meet.
“When families walk into the toy room, they have the biggest smiles,” said Aliya Prescott, Nourishing Hope’s director of donor and volunteer engagement. “It brings me so much happiness to see our neighbors leave with so much hope and excitement to bring a toy home for their loved ones.”
This year, more than 550 children received toys through the Nourishing Hope Toy Drive. The toy drive also gives some relief to families faced with mounting bills and, potentially, holiday heartache.
For Ruby Davis, 68, this holiday season was especially difficult. Almost exactly one year ago, her daughter Charlene died from diabetes.
Typically, Davis decorates her apartment with pride. She just couldn’t do it this year.
“I ain’t too much in the spirit,” Davis said.
But she wanted to make sure her grandchildren had something to open on Christmas. So she visited the toy distribution for her 7-year-old grandson — Charlene’s son, a “miracle baby” named Duke — and her 13-year-old great-granddaughter. She even found a chew toy for the family dog.
“I’ve been thinking about giving little gifts to lift their spirits,” Davis said before leaving the pantry. “I’m feeling joyful now.”
The Nourishing Hope Toy Drive dates back to 1998, when a group of Lakeview neighbors — in partnership with Lakeview Pantry — organized the effort to ensure children had presents to open for the holidays. In 2010, the effort was rededicated to honor the memory of Vincent Babiarz, a young boy who died in a tragic accident.
Nourishing Hope continues to partner with the Babiarz family to keep the toy drive going and to honor Vincent’s life and memory by bringing joy to children in need.
This year’s toy drive also sparked some festive joy for families just recently arriving in Chicago from other countries. Only two months ago, Maira Muñoz, 38, and her family made the arduous journey from Venezuela. For now, they’re staying at a nearby shelter.
Oscari, Muñoz’s 3-year-old daughter, bounded around the toy room with unabashed delight.
Her brother Fabian, 7, wasn’t there with them; he was in school. But suffice to say, he’s in for a holiday surprise.
“Gracias por esta pequeña alegría,” Muñoz said. “Thank you for this small joy.”


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The Passing of a Legend — Robert Mondavi
I couldn’t call myself a wine writer if I didn’t honor the passing of Robert Mondavi on May 16, a month short of his 95th birthday. The industry is abuzz about this relentless, wildly charismatic man, affectionately calling him “the patriarch”, “the godfather” and “the ambassador” of wine. To me, he was more than that; he single-handedly and unarguably founded everything wine in California. Mondavi believed in creating a wine community, unselfishly sharing his vinification research and vineyard knowledge with competitors to nurture a fledgling industry. When he set up Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966 — after being ousted from his family’s Charles Krug project — California’s wine industry wallowed in cheap jug juice, unheard of at the average American dinner table. Mondavi spun America 180. His gritty determination to make California a quality wine producer sealed the fate of many careers, wineries and the industry as a whole. Simply put, if you have California wine in your glass right now, you have Robert Mondavi to thank for it. Toast to him, and hope that we all live to 94 by drinking wine.
Pretty in Pink
I harp about rosé wines constantly. In an attempt to convert everyone I know, I pour pink proudly and often, hoping my enthusiasm will rub off. According to Nielsen Ratings, sales of rosé wines priced above $8 surged 53.2 percent from February 2007 to February 2008, 17 times faster by volume than table wine sales. Hey, I’ll take as much of the credit as you want to give me. Although still a drop in the glass of total sales — less than 1 percent — at least the numbers are rising. The biggest markets for rosé growth are Miami, Seattle and New York. Maybe the Southeast can aspire to be as pretty in pink.
Florida Avoids a Swipe
Despite tenacious lobbying by wholesalers, you can still have your wine shipped from your favorite producer to your doorstep. This session, Florida’s legislature considered severe limitations on interstate wine shipping by way of SB 1096. Wholesalers have fought stridently to regain the turf lost when, in 2005, the Supreme Court loosened interstate wine regulations and opened new options for Florida oenophiles. And you know why? According to FreeTheGrapes.com, consumers ordered 30,000 cases of wine directly from out-of-state producers (cutting out the middleman wholesaler), generating $157,000 for the Florida coffers in the six months between July 2006 and January 2007. Drink up Florida.
We’re Partying, Dude
In 2007, Americans drank more California wine than ever before — 457 million gallons, up 2 percent from 2006, according the Gomberg-Fredrikson Report. This is the 14th year in a row that we’ve filled our glasses with more wine. According to Nielsen, by volume, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and white zinfandel accounted for a 48 percent market share in U.S. food stores, with gains for pinot noir, zinfandel, sauvignon blanc, riesling and pinot grigio. Different year, same fantastic growth. Go us.


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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - People love a bargain, especially when it comes packaged with 40% to 70% savings off regular priced items, which is the big selling feature at the Grocery Outlet Bargain Market in Santa Barbara.
Thursday's ribbon cutting ceremony and soft opening at 2840 De La Vina Street drew in hundreds of shoppers vying for a parking spot in the packed lot at the site of the former Ralph's and created 35 jobs.
The Emeryville-based company boasts big savings on brand name products at more than 270 locations in six states, including California and Nevada.
NewsChannel 3 found loaves of bread priced at $1.59 apiece and a pound of bananas at 49 cents. One shopper was thrilled to find a European brand of butter that normally sells for about $7 dollars priced at the Grocery Outlet for less than 80 cents.
Shoppers told NewsChannel 3 they were excited to find their go-to items at a fraction of the normal cost.
"For one, the avocados," Debbie Metcalf said. "That was a really good deal, only $1 dollar and 99 cents for a whole little bag of 'em," the Goleta resident said.
The bag contained six small avocados. Most locals know that avocados can sell at other grocery stores for up to $3 for just one of them.
The Grocery Outlet Bargain Market was also stocked with home goods including bath towels ($3.99 apiece) and shower curtains in one aisle as well as specialty organic and gluten-free items in another.
"We don't sell anything in the stores that's expired," said co-owner Brandon Brewer. "We don't sell any inferior quality products. It's all brand name items that have quality guarantee on them and we offer 100% satisfaction guaranteed and it's all great quality products."
However, in some cases, the marked expiration dates were a month away. Brewer also said if you see something you like, buy it; many items are a one-time deal.
The Community Grand Opening happens Saturday.


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Charge Zone announced that it has partnered with Marriott International to deploy EV charging stations across all its properties in India. As part of the partnership, Charge Zone has started with the first opportunity and has installed a Fast DC 60kW/120kW Charging Station with Dual Charging Guns at “The Westin Mumbai Powai Lake” and will complete the installation of more than 100 EV chargers in a phased manner by December 2022. This initiative is also part of Marriott’s commitment to sustainable operations and creating an EV Charging infrastructure around the globe.
Designed to charge e-4w, these charging stations will be open to the public as well as to users of Marriott’s EV fleet. Charge Zone’s charging stations are Rapid DC charging points with the CCS2 charging protocol that provides 80 per cent charge in 45-60 minutes and full charge in 90-120 minutes depending on the EV’s battery size. These chargers also come with an additional facility of Type-2 AC chargers wherever needed.
Bhaskar Gurunath, Area Director of Engineering , Marriott South Asia, said, “Marriott continues to be a leader in offering guest experiences that exceed expectations and setting the standard for global sustainability targets within the hospitality sector. By partnering with Charge Zone, Marriott International is moving closer towards its goal of creating an Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, in its hotels around the globe, that can be accessible by its patrons and general public alike. Range anxiety is the one of the largest stumbling blocks for a customer to move from internal combustion fossil fuel powered vehicles to Electric Vehicles. Considering Marriott’s presence across the globe, we would want to play a part in reducing that anxiety by providing chargers in our properties where the road warriors can park and recharge their vehicles as well as recharge themselves while waiting for vehicle batteries to be charged.”


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Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com recently acquired the Japanese blockchain development startup O3 Labs in a deal where the two firms did not disclose any information about the price of the acquisition. Previously, O3 Labs has built applications for the NEO and Ontology blockchain networks. With this acqusition, however, it will build mobile apps for Bitcoin.com using the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network and in that manner help them offer financial services.
“We look forward to accelerating services in our mobile applications serving anyone in the world with an internet connection, regardless of nationality, socioeconomic status, or access to traditional finance,” the official statement of the CEO at Bitcoin.com Stefan Rust showed.
For those of you who don’t know, Rust took over the role in August directly from Roger Ver, who then moved on to the role of an executive chairman. As we can see from the terms of the acquisition deal, 03 Labs and its staff will get absorbed as part of Bitcoin.com.
The announcement also shows that O3 Labs has six members listed on its website, including two co-founders. Currently, it is still unclear whether the co-founders will be joining Bitcoin.com. However, both Bitcoin.com and O3 Labs did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
What’s also not clear, as the latest cryptocurrency news show, is what specific financial services Bitcoin.com is planning to offer. The CEO Rust said that the firm aims to give users “the ability to manage, grow, and spend [money] … without the need for traditional banks or financial intermediaries.”
As you probably know, Bitcoin.com recently launched a cryptocurrency exchange and was also preparing to launch a futures contract for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulated exchange.
“Our mission is to make money work for everyone, building tools and products that help people access Bitcoin Cash,” said Rust in Monday’s announcement.
The deal between Bitcoin.com and O3 Labs started a few months ago. As the details show, the latter will start working on applications to support the Bitcoin Cash network.
“I think you can see some interesting innovations in our wallet within the next 2-3 months,” Rust said and was featured in the latest Bitcoin Cash news.
The O3 team has previously built NEO and Ontology blockchain applications.
DC Forecasts is a leader in many crypto news categories, striving for the highest journalistic standards and abiding by a strict set of editorial policies. If you are interested to offer your expertise or contribute to our news website, feel free to contact us at [email protected]


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According to the United Nations, the current global population of nearly 7.7 billion is expected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050. Shifts in population growth coupled with changing diets are also set to boost the global demand for milk and meat by 57% and 48% by 2050 (taking 2005 as a baseline). Unless we bring about some fundamental changes to the food chain, meeting such demands will prove to be an impossible task.
There are simply not enough resources to fulfill the future demands of animals and humans alike. In light of such pressing concerns, researchers are focusing more on feed ingredients to address the issue of sustainability. From converting methane-eating bacteria into a protein-rich feed to plumping up fly larvae by feeding them waste, the race is on to discover viable solutions.
In this blog, we’ll discuss some of the leading influencers within the feed industry in the coming decades.
Increased Scrutiny on Animal Feed
For a decade or two, there is a noticeable increase in concern over the ethics and treatment of the poultry and livestock industries. A growing number of consumers are asking farms questions pertaining to animal treatment, slaughtering methodologies, feed nutrition, and how the meat is packed and transported.
This is in part due to instances of poor treatment or abuse of animals at the hands of farm management as well as growing health concerns. Compared to the past, consumers are more educated and aware of how nutrition affects the animals they eat and how that, in turn, affects humans.
Growing scrutiny over animal feed led to governments keeping a closer eye on industry practices, passing laws that directly affect the feed industry, and increased media attention. The primary reason behind the growing scrutiny and concerns is nutrition that is inadequate in terms of both quality and quantity—a fact highlighted by a study published on intechopen.
There continues to crop up instances of feeds containing hazards such as PCB’s, myotoxins, high dioxin levels, and heavy metals—toxins with the potential to impact food quality and consumer health. It is hoped that the increased scrutiny coupled with advancements in technology will positively impact feed safety standards.
Accelerating Global Population
As mentioned previously, the global population is expected to spike in the coming decades. With such a large number of hungry people to feed, the demand for feed is expected to skyrocket.
According to a report published by PwC, the world economy is projected to increase at a rate of 3% per annum and is set to double and then triple by 2037 and 2050 respectively. The consequence of this growth is the availability of more livestock and by extension, a global rise in meat consumption.
Climate change has never been more noticeable than it is today. A fact that has led to an increase in both political and public awareness regarding the agriculture industry. High rates of industrialization in developing nations coupled with methane gas emissions from animal waste are having a direct impact on the ozone layer.
To create a positive public image, industries are expected to adopt sustainability efforts. Feed businesses will become more customer-oriented by growing their environmental footprint. As greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of animal production receive more attention, feed farms and mills will inevitably adopt efficient processes.
Technological Impact on Feed Production
High-tech feed production is expected to take center stage as feed additive supply and food production will become increasingly complex and feed mixtures more scientific. The entire feed mill is expected to become smarter, especially now that NIR or near-infrared spectroscopy is growing in commercial applications.
Such technology enables real-time analysis of incoming raw materials as well as the reformulation of diets to ensure consistency in each batch.
Aside from growing demand, feed companies must also deal with rising prices of feed commodities and loss of fertile farmland. In an attempt to reduce production costs while seeking ways to increase efficiency, food processing equipment and plants must also evolve. An example is the advancements in extrusion technology and that has led to safer food production processes.
Research and development have also given way to biological remodeling that explores the dynamics of nutrient digestion as opposed to traditional feeding practices. While it is somewhat impossible to predict future governmental regulations, these are a few trends expected to impact the feed industry.
To best address these needs, feed companies will need to look towards industrial equipment suppliers offering aqua feed and pet food extrusion equipment. CFAM is one such business that has been leading the way for research and development related to feed and food processing technologies.
Contact them today to view their products and services.


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Blonde Ambition brings a taste of L.A. style to the world.
Since launching at Micam for spring ’10, the California contemporary brand has already landed 30 accounts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the U.S. Now it is looking to expand its base in its home territory.
“The line is made for the world market,” said creative director Carol de Leon, who intentionally debuted Blonde Ambition in Italy to attract international buyers. “We are an L.A.-based brand, but that’s important because of how I interpret the California lifestyle [with] a European sensibility.”
De Leon, who previously lived and worked in Italy while at the helm of such brands as Taryn Rose and Marco Delli, said she values that country’s reputation in footwear and was determined to place Blonde Ambition’s architectural silhouettes with pop colors and exotics in well-respected spaces.
Financed by a private-label company and retailing for less than $200, the brand locked in major international stores including Luisa Via Roma in Florence, Italy, and IT in Hong Kong during its first season.
But de Leon admitted she had reservations about pitching a contemporary line made in China to the international audience.
“One of our biggest concerns was being accepted in that atmosphere,” she said.
Nonetheless, de Leon’s California aesthetic and the brand’s playful name — inspired by the West Coast and the perception of its residents — were instrumental in sealing deals overseas.
“International buyers like to know what’s going on in Los Angeles, so we wanted the name to appeal to them,” said de Leon.
But, she added, it takes more than a catchy name to drive sales, especially at the start.
“Retailers were intrigued [by Blonde Ambition]. The fact that we were coming out of Los Angeles got their attention, but what makes them write the order and have the product in stores is the shoes,” she said.
With validation from the global market, de Leon began presenting Blonde Ambition to retailers in the U.S. last fall. It is currently available at Urban Outfitters and several U.S. independents. Karmaloop.com picked up the collection for spring ’12.
“[Blonde Ambition has] a truly stylish feel with a bit of edge, but a lot of sex [appeal]. The bright colors and on-trend tribal patterns, mixed with futuristic constructions, [attracted us to the brand],” said Joe Farese, head of women’s footwear for Karmaloop. Curved wedges in neon patent have done particularly well for the retailer so far, he added.
Miami-based KoKo & Palenki will be one of the label’s newest U.S. accounts for fall, said VP Justin Garcia. “It’s one of the best new lines out there,” he said, praising the brand’s accessible price point and design sensibility. “If I have a customer who doesn’t want to spend $600 or $700 [on high style], they’ll go for this.”
Following Blonde Ambition’s introduction to the American market, the brand debuted more red-carpet-ready styles. “Because we’re in Los Angeles, we get a lot of requests for shoes for celebrities,” de Leon said. “When I put a couple of shoes [in the collection] that are more-elegant, single-sole constructions, they get pulled [by stylists], so we have expanded the red-carpet collection especially for that.”
The addition also has translated into consumer sales, said de Leon, who has noticed a direct sell-through on styles worn by such celebrities as Jessica Biel. And the reach goes far beyond the Los Angeles shopper. “That kind of exposure is really important for the brand in Los Angeles; however, the impact also goes to all the other countries as well,” she said.
With Blonde Ambition in 150 doors worldwide, the label’s distribution is split equally three ways between the U.S., Europe and other regions in Asia and the Middle East. Global sales remain a focus for de Leon as she continues to build the brand.
“The most thrilling [aspect is] to have stores in different parts of the world appreciating it and wanting the label for their own local market,” said the designer. “The whole world is one marketplace if you want to grow and bring the ultimate consumer something interesting and new.”


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British fast fashion brand Topshop has completed the decoration of it first Chinese store in Hong Kong, and the new store will soon open its door to customers.
Located in Asia Standard Tower, Queen's Road Central, the new Topshop store has two floors and an area of 1,115 square meters. The first floor is for the sales of apparel, while the second floor provides accessories and cosmetics. In addition, a lounge and a VIP room are available on the first floor.
In December 2012, LAB Concept, a subsidiary of Lane Crawford, and Topshop jointly announced that they planned to open the first Topshop outlet in Hong Kong in May 2013.
Philip Green, head of Topshop, said LAB Concept's retail experience in the Chinese market is very important and it will be an exciting step for the global growth of Topshop.
Topshop belongs to Arcadia Group, one of the largest apparel retailers in Britain. Founded in London in 1964, Topshop started with a specialty counter in Sheffield department store. In 1974, Topshop left Sheffield and became an independent retailer. Every week, Topshop puts about 100,000 new products on shelves. Products sold in Topshop stores cover a wide range, including fur coats, short coats, bags, bracelets, underclothes, cosmetics, and toys.


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News Briefs for January 27, 2023January 27, 2023
•Espanita Tequila has announced a new line of limited-release Barrel Reserve spirits, starting with Double Barrel Reposado Tequila. The 40% abv Tequila is initially matured in American white oak casks before transferring to ex-Bourbon barrels sourced from Kentucky. Espanita Double Barrel Reposado carries a suggested price of $43 a 750-ml. and is now available in select markets across the U.S. The next release in the series—Double Barrel Añejo—will be released in the second half of 2023. Espanita Tequila is imported to the U.S. by Double Eagle Imports.
•Alcohol-removed wine brand Starla Wines is expanding throughout Texas via a new distribution agreement with Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. The move will expand Starla’s footprint to hundreds of retail doors across Texas, including top-ranked grocery store H-E-B, Central Market and additional Texas liquor store chains like Spec’s and Goody Goody. Launched in 2021, Starla’s alcohol-removed portfolio includes Red Blend, Sauvignon Blanc, and Sparkling Rosé expressions retailing at $30 a bottle.
•Breakthru Beverage Group has named Erin Engels as senior vice president, commercial strategy. Engels, who was previously vice president, strategy & corporate development, joined Breakthru last year from Sysco Corporation, where she held senior leadership positions in the areas of strategy, M&A integration, sales and general management. In her new role, Engels will be responsible for above-market commercial excellence, insights, and route-to-consumer sales strategies.Subscribe to Shanken News Daily’s Email Newsletter, delivered to your inbox each morning.
Tagged : Breakthru, Espanita, Starla
GET YOUR FIRST LOOK AT 2021 DATA AND 2022 PROJECTIONS FOR THE WINE AND SPIRITS INDUSTRIES. ORDER YOUR 2022 IMPACT DATABANK REPORTS. CLICK HERE.


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By Steven Chisholm
Since the Volkswagen ‘diesel-gate’ scandal broke last year, some have speculated that affected owners could be due a windfall as the automotive giant looks to compensate customers.
German newspaper Die Welt cited anonymous sources this week when it reported that a deal had been struck between Volkswagen and the US government to compensate North American customers to the tune of $5000 after the firm was found to have cheated on environmental regulations.
It is not yet clear whether this compensation will go toward the cost of replacing engines, or whether the firm will foot the bill for repairs separately.
But what does that mean for Volkswagen owners in the UK?
Well, Volkswagen has said that British owners of cars affected by the emissions issues will not receive compensation, arguing it is a ‘very different situation’ to that in the US.
Transport spokesman Lord Younger said drivers were unlikely to suffer losses, but that could not be established for certain.
“The Competition and Markets Authority has not opened a formal investigation but is continuing to assess whether there is evidence of consumer harm.”
“The Government view is that Volkswagen could be liable to compensate consumers for any actual losses they suffered.”
A Volkswagen UK spokesperson commented: “The reports circulating on compensation for US customers are – at this stage – speculation, as the details on the deal are yet to be announced.
“The situation in the US is different to the situation in Europe because emissions regulations stateside are more stringent, and it will be a more costly process to bring affected engines up to standard.
“In the UK, we estimate that affected vehicles can be brought within regulations standards within 30 minutes of labour time. In some vehicles the issue can be resolved with a software update, while others can be fixed through a combination of a software change and an adjustment to the airflow meter sensor.”
Volkswagen UK’s boss has previously apologised ‘unreservedly’ for the emissions issues.
But while it appears disruption to UK customers will not be as extreme as it is in the US, our consumer columnist, James Walker, of Resolver.co.uk, thinks consumers could have grounds to complain: “If Volkswagen is found to have deliberately mislead customers about the emissions or fuel economy of its diesel engines, it will come out.
“At that point a Volkswagen owner may well have cause to seek some form of redress, as their cars may have cost them more than was promised to run, as well as being worth less on the secondhand market.”


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BOK says no plan to introduce digital currencyThe Korean central bank said Tuesday that it has no plans to issue authorized digital currency in the near future despite heated debate over virtual money across the world.
The Bank of Korea (BOK) has completed a study on the prospects for the introduction of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), referring to a form of fiat money that is issued by central banks and governments.
Its final report said there is no urgent need for the BOK to introduce CBDC in the close future, while other leading central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, have also denied such possibilities.
Only a few small economies, including Sweden and Tunisia, are considering the implementation of digital fiat currency as a way to supplement their financial settlement systems.
“We have no plans to issue any type of CBDC that is available for all people in the near future,” an unnamed BOK official said in a briefing. “We have to work further on benefits and costs of CBDC implementation first.”
He said the report is aimed at brainstorming and checking the legal and social effectiveness of CBDC from a broad perspective. Further studies on the impact of CBDC realization at the BOK level will continue in a more detailed way, he added.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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