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The Federal Trade Commission has halted a scheme that deceived friends and family of incarcerated people with false promises of unlimited minutes for inmate calling plans that, in reality, did not provide a single minute of talk time. As part of a settlement with the FTC, the scheme’s operators are prohibited from making deceptive claims and consumers must be notified about the unlawful conduct.
In its first case involving inmate calling plans, the FTC alleged that the operators of the scheme preyed on inmates’ families and friends who rely on phone calls to stay in touch with their incarcerated loved ones—particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person visitations were suspended.
In its complaint filed in October 2020, the FTC alleged that Marc and Courtney Grisham and their companies Disruption Theory LLC and Emergent Technologies LLC, doing business as inmatecall.com and inmatecallsolutions.com, advertised and marketed the unlimited minutes calling plans that they never provided. They also posed as companies authorized to provide calling services to prisons and jails to bolster the credibility of their false claim.
As part of a settlement with the FTC, Marc Grisham is prohibited from making similar claims in the future and must notify past and future customers about his unlawful conduct. Marc Grisham must post a notice on any current and future consumer-facing websites notifying customers that he was sued for false advertising, and that his inmate calling plans did not eliminate required per-minute call charges or replace approved call providers.
A federal court also issued a default judgment against Courtney Grisham, Disruption Theory, and Emergent Technologies on September 1, 2021, which permanently bans them from offering inmate calling services.
The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 5-0. The FTC filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The order was approved by a federal judge on October 14, 2021.
NOTE: Stipulated final orders or injunctions, etc. have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.


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Our new summer issue—with stories on Dominican snow cones, ice cream sandwiches, fancy ketchup, the city’s hometown sodas, homebrewers and beekeepers, chef Dave Pasternack, the man behind New Amsterdam Market and much more–doesn’t hit doorsteps for another two weeks. But if you’re in need of beachside reading material this week, you’re in luck. Our digital edition is available now, and looks just as pretty as it does in print.
You can read it on any smartphone, tablet or computer for just $1.99. And if you like what you see, for $10.00 you can have a whole year’s worth of Edible Manhattan (six issues) at your fingertips, and get an email alert whenever a new issue is online. Don’t want to go totally digital? Anyone who buys a print subscription now gets instant access to our browser-based edition.
So what are you waiting for? Certainly not the mail: Read us and eat.

domain: news


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India’s biggest automaker Maruti Suzuki reported sales of over 3 Lacs units of BSVI compliant cars. The milestone came in span of just 7 months when the first BSVI compliant car was launched by the company.
In the month of October alone the company was successful in selling more than 1 Lacs BSVI cars owning to the strong festive season. The executive director of the Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Limited said, Shashank Srivastava said "We are delighted to announce that Maruti Suzuki crossed the milestone sales figure of 3 lakh BS6 vehicles in a short span of 7 months. Of this, close to one lakh vehicles were sold during the month of October owing to the festive demand. These figures are very encouraging and reflect on Maruti Suzuki cars being preferred choice of people and indicate towards trust placed in our products. With the largest range of BS6 vehicles on offer, Maruti Suzuki cars have garnered widespread acceptance."
In the month of April 2019, Maruti Suzuki launched its BSVI compliant cars in India.
One of the first two models that received the BSVI compliant engines was the Baleno and Alto which are also the company’s bestselling cars.
The company launched BSVI cars almost a year before the new emission norms set to take place from April 2020.
At the moment, the company is offering BSVI compliant car models that include Alto 800, WagonR, S-Presso, Swift, Dzire, Baleno, Ertiga and the XL6 as well. The company says that its new BSVI compliant cars will help in reduction of 25% in the emission of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx).
Also, the BSVI cars are also capable of running on BS4 petrol as well.


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A study prepared for the Directorate-General for Climate Action found that savings from Flettner rotors and wing sails are seen as comparable.
President-elect Donald Trump warned German automakers of a 35 percent tariff on imports from Mexico if they continue producing cars there instead of building them in the United States.
Alain Bédard, chairman, president and chief executive officer of TFI International, formerly known as TransForce, said the acquisition diversifies the company into the medical last mile business.
Registration takes less than 1 minute.
The Port of Long Beach Harbor Commissioners approved the sale of Hanjin Shipping’s 54 percent stake in Total Terminals International to MSC and its sister company Terminal Investment Ltd. Wednesday night by a 3-to-1 vote.
JLL Chief Industrial Economist Walter Kemmsies said many factors are likely to impact the freight movement industry, ranging from macro issues, such as possible trade policy and regulation changes, to specific issues that affect how goods are shipped.
Inna Kuznetsova, president and chief operating officer of INTTRA, explained the reasons behind the company’s rapid growth in a recent interview with American Shipper.


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One of the more notable trends of 2021 that we’ve been tracking is what we call the “great eCommerce rollup.” This reflects the emerging business model to buy up disparate third-party Amazon marketplace sellers. We roundup the latest happenings in this emerging area.
We continue to wonder what will happen to the local food delivery world once the pandemic recedes into our collective rearview mirror. We’re writing this from Washington D.C. where the lock-down and Covid restrictions will soon be over. This information came out of the D.C. Mayor’s office this week. It essentially makes June 11th re-opening […]


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Crypto Highlights: Stock crash threatens Bitcoin, WhatsApp launches payment services, Craig denies Mt. Gox hack, 40% of global companies now use blockchain, 8,000 Bitcoin ATMs now available globally: These and more in this week’s crypto highlights.
Top Stories Of The Week
- Kraken CEO Jesse Powell has alleged that layer-two solutions will in time make Bitcoin (BTC) as easy to use as the United States dollar.
- Ahead of the most anticipated Libra launch, WhatsApp has gone ahead to roll out payment service within the premium messaging app.
- The bulls have the objective of reclaiming and sustaining the $9,600 mark. However, a potential crash in the stock market could put an end to Bitcoin’s bullish run
Ahead of the most anticipated Libra launch, WhatsApp has gone ahead to roll out payment service within the messaging app. As earlier announced via a blog post, WhatsApp, Facebook-owned messaging service has now enabled users in Brazil to be the first to be able to send and receive money by way of its messaging app.
This payment network is hosted by Facebook Pay which launched last year. The services are currently free for consumers or ordinary users while businesses will be required to pay a processing fee in the order of 3.99% to utilize the services. WhatsApp introduced additional biometric verification or a six-digit pin to be used each time a transaction was to be executed.
Global installations of Bitcoin ATMs have jumped by 150% in two years, with the United States leading the pack. Total installed ATMs have been up by 1000 from the 7000 recorded in March. According to monitoring resource CoinATMRadar, there are currently 8,208 ATMs in 73 countries allowing users to buy and sell Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins for cash. More than 6,000 of them are in the United States.
The surge in the prevalence of Bitcoin ATMs in the United States might likely gain the attention of regulators who might be looking at taming the widespread. This might come sooner than expected as governments around the world seek to put the screws on money laundering. A report suggests that 88% of funds from US-based Bitcoin ATMs sent to exchanges in 2019 ended up offshore.
Bitcoin continues to attract institutional and mainstream interest, this is not without its share of difficulty with scalability and transaction time. In an interview on Tuesday with Bloomberg, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell has alleged that layer-two solutions will in time make Bitcoin (BTC) as easy to use as the United States dollar.
Powell had pitched Bitcoin’s success as a reliable store of value. He stated that the predictable issuance of the digital asset is one of the key factors driving its institutional interest as many flocks to BTC as a hedge against traditional asset classes, and Powell reiterated that he believes Bitcoin will in the long term most likely surpass gold.
In the past years, there has been an unwavering effort to unmask the mysterious creator of Bitcoin who goes with the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. Even though some crypto personalities claim to know Satoshi personally but have decided to keep it secret, at least to the general public. There have also been people who have publicly claimed to be Satoshi.
There is a belief that Satoshi’s decision to stay anonymous has benefitted the digital asset and has also contributed greatly to its success. Privacy is one of the key things that bitcoin takes seriously. It is one of the main reasons why it is such a success in the world of finance. Unveiling Bitcoin’s founder could jeopardize cryptocurrency anonymity.
In case you missed the story, Ricardo Spagni, one of the anonymous persons behind the privacy coin Monero, explicitly revealed information that suggests Craig Wright could have been directly involved with the Mt. Gox dilemma. Contrary to this claim, the self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto has addressed the recent allegations about him hacking the now-defunct exchange Mt. Gox.
Wright claims that he purchased the Bitcoin stored in the 1Feex wallet in late February 2011 and the same amount was transferred into that address on 1 March that year. “The full amount of the Bitcoin, which is now owned by Tulip Trading Limited, remains in that address today,” Wright further alleges.
SaTT, the revolutionary digital advertising solution from France made headlines in Bitcoin Africa earlier this week.
The media highlighted how using SaTT, it is possible for anybody to play the role of an online influencer and be compensated for the posts that they make on prime social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & Youtube. Founded on the Ethereum blockchain network, all transactions on the platform is fully automated and transparent.
This rounds up the news updates of this week’s crypto highlights. Next we’ll take a look at the Mainstream Adoption of the Week.
Mainstream Adoption Of The Week
The march to mainstream adoption continues as blockchain finds unwavering interest across almost all industries and business sectors. In a recent survey conducted by Deloitte, it was revealed that about 39% of the participants of the survey conducted by Deloitte have incorporated the DLT into their organizational operations such as in production.
The research which polled the opinion of 1,488 top company officials from 14 countries made other interesting findings: 89% of the respondents believe that technology would be absolutely a part of their industry in a few years and about 83% of those surveyed believe that technology gives them an edge over their competitors.
This Weeks Crypto Market Sentiment
Prior to Bitcoin halving, the digital asset has long decoupled from copying the price trend of the United States stock, but analysts still believe that a fresh stock market crash will potentially end Bitcoin’s bullish sentiment. Bitcoin bulls and bears will be looking at making a decision for the new week as traders look forward to the market close for the week.
The bulls have the objective of reclaiming and sustaining the $9,600 mark for potential upside. Whereas the bears will be looking to take advantage of any weakness, a potential break below $8,900 would most likely open the door to test the lower levels of support around $8K. In Summary, from a technical point of view, the market remains in a bullish posture, above all key MAs but is consolidating below resistance. While this trend holds, Ethereum and other altcoins will likely copy Bitcoin’s price movement.
This Week’s Crypto Meme
We hope you enjoyed the latest crypto highlights from last week. For a peek at the our last edition of crypto highlights & blockchain news, click here.


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An era of digital trade
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant slump in global trade volumes in 2020, with the latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) forecast estimating that global merchandise trade will shrink by 9.2% year-on-year. If there is any silver lining to the crisis, however, it is that it has accelerated the adoption of digital trade processes and raised the profile of digital innovators within the industry.
Digital innovation is changing the way that global trade is transacted, by delivering new capabilities that facilitate optimised, efficient processes and more frictionless trade. Technology has already enabled micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) across the globe to identify counterparties and to trade goods over far greater distances, while advances in communication and transportation have supported the growth of more sustainable global value chains.
Digital processes that leverage blockchain and the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI), now have the potential to further boost global trade activity and thereby economic growth, which is important as global trade volumes are forecast to rebound by 7.2% in 2021 following the pandemic induced slump. A key element of this digital transformation is happening in the hitherto largely analogue world of trade finance, which is increasingly becoming a digitised, data management business.
Banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) process and store phenomenal amounts of data and can harness this using technology, to gain a deeper understanding of their clients’ businesses and thereby build enriched relationships them; supporting their business needs and helping to generate opportunities for growth. For instance, companies looking to export to new markets could be provided with information pertaining to the potential risks and rewards of doing business in those locations, as well as details of the trade finance products that are most suitable for those countries.
Digital trade is also seen as a key enabler to help financial institutions close the global trade finance gap, estimated to be in excess of $2 trillion per annum. Indeed some 55% of respondents to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) 2020 Global Survey on Trade Finance stated that they are looking to use technology solutions, including outsources Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based platforms, to help them service more MSMEs.
According to the ICC survey, MSMEs (particularly those from emerging markets) face a disproportionate challenge accessing working capital funding and are more likely to have their requests for trade finance rejected than their larger counterparts; usually due to know your customer (KYC) concerns and/or low-quality applications.
If this trade finance gap is allowed to persist, it could have severe implications for international trade and compromise the health of the world economy. Indeed, with both emerging markets and MSMEs tipped to become primary contributors to global trade growth in the coming years, and as key trading partners for larger companies across the world, ensuring that they can access trade finance is of paramount importance to the industry.
The potential benefits of digitalisation range from cost savings and enhanced efficiency, greater transparency and security throughout the supply chain, enabling the adoption of common documentation standards, to improving the overall ease of doing business. Blockchain technology, for example, has the potential to be an ideal platform for KYC checks, as its distributed-ledger format records data in a completely transparent manner, whilst being cryptographically secure. For example, the data stored and shared on databases such as the Global Legal Entity Identifier System, enables financial institutions to authorise and verify identity, and could reduce the cost of verifying parties to a trade transaction by an estimated $500 million per annum.
The role of technology in enhancing trade finance does not stop with KYC. It is also creating opportunities to transform existing processes across global supply chains, with resulting enhancements to operational efficiency.
AI, for example, is increasingly being used to digitalise trade and supply chain processes. From a transaction initiation perspective, AI helps digital platform users submit relevant transactional information, by validating data inputs and ensuring that their applications are submitted in an optimal manner. From a risk management perspective, AI can leverage network data and real-time payment behaviours to develop more accurate, real time credit scores and associated tools to monitor investments. Increased use of AI across all aspects of global supply chains will help to further boost economic growth, by reducing transactional risks, driving down costs and facilitating smoother, frictionless trade.
Application programming interfaces (APIs) can also play a particularly important role in the new era of digital trade. APIs enable the easy exchange of information between systems, allowing data to be extracted from multiple sources and collated. Powerful analytic capabilities can then be used to deliver comprehensive, meaningful insights on both the performance of portfolios of assets, and also on the behaviours of participants to specific transactions, from which financial institutions can develop bespoke solutions and add real value to the client experience.
Investing into new technology can, however, present challenges for many businesses, given the costs and complexities involved. However, partnerships between corporates, financial institutions and fintechs can provide the answer. Such alliances are powerful means by which companies and financial institutions can leverage the latest technological capabilities, as well as knowledge and specialist expertise, and avail of the very best service and trade solutions, without the need for substantial investment.
Technological developments are integral to the success of global trade and trade finance, and the importance of delivering digital capabilities to enhance transaction management processes and alleviate the $2 trillion trade finance gap, is increasingly being recognised by industry participants. If global trade is to really flourish in the digital era, the barriers that are blocking access to trade finance must be tackled strategically and collaboratively.
Banks, non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs), fintechs, industry associations, regulators and governmental bodies can all work together to promote common digital standards, enhance participation in global supply chains by enterprises of all shapes and sizes, and thereby allow new business opportunities to be unlocked.


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The Pet Innovation Challenge, hosted by Factory and sponsored by New Hope Network, is a new event which will highlight innovative and emerging pet health brands and tackle the opportunities and challenges of the current pet health industry. The event recently took at Factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and attracted pet lovers, industry members, entrepreneurs and investors.
Ten pre-selected, cutting-edge pet health companies kicked off the event with a live pitch slam competition. The winner of Pitch Slam was Shameless Pets, a different way to enable concerned pet owners to do their part for the planet. As the winner, Shameless Pets received a cash prize, six months of entrepreneur services from Factory, and a free booth at Natural Products Expo East 2020. The other competing brands included Animal Biome, microbiome testing and supplements for health and wellness; Because Animals, a biotechnology company creating pet food made with cultured meat; Chippin, the “Beyond Meat of Pet Food;" Hachi Tami, a smart cat litter box that helps early detection of chronic kidney disease; Jiminy’s, dog food and treats using insect protein; Maranda, veterinary-approved lab tests from home; Mella Petcare, a first-generation thermometer device that allows for non-rectal temperature readings; Obe, a patented pet health and wellness system using smart technology for personalized dog wellness and nutrition; Primal Health, a patented, clinically-proven drinkable dental prebiotic.
The event also included the Innovation Challenge bringing pet health leaders, entrepreneurs, and industry veterans together for hands-on problem solving in a mastermind solutions event.
The winners of the Challenge were:
- 1st Place: Teef - a potentially breakthrough scientific idea addressing a universal problem with a simple consumer proposition
- 1st runner up: Because Animals - a big idea that deserves all the help it can get to make it a reality
- 2nd runner up: Chippin - a platformable idea to address the increasingly salient climate change issue, by millennials for millennials
Animal health expert Dr. Katy Nelson, veterinarian and host and executive producer of “The Pet Show with Dr. Katy” led the keynote address discussing the state of the pet industry and her work with pet-related companies from Fortune 500 corporations to pet start-ups.
The ten pet health brands presented their biggest challenges to the larger group, and then attending participants were assigned to groups based on their experience and skillsets to brainstorm and collaborate on finding real-time solutions.


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Ashley Tisdale is sporting a new look!
The 33-year-old actress/singer showed off her bright, pink hair while stepping out to do some shopping on Friday afternoon (December 14) in West Hollywood, Calif.
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Ashley Tisdale
During her outing, Ashley looked super chic in a black jacket over a black and white polka-dot blouse as she spent the afternoon getting some Christmas shopping done.
Ashley recently released “Voices in My Head” – her first song in almost nine years – which also happens to be the first single off of her upcoming album Symptoms.
Source: Read Full Article


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Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ are getting closer to being unveiled at the Galaxy Unpacked event, just ahead of Mobile World Congress 2018, in Barcelona. Although leaks, rumours, renders haven’t left much to imagination, pricing and availability still remains a bit ambiguous. Fresh leaks have suggested a steep price hike for the upcoming flagship series. Separately, the Galaxy S9+ has been spotted on Geekbench for the first time. And, lastly, we have several more “sharper” renders of the two phones as well.
Pricing of Samsung’s Galaxy S flagship phones has never been more of a mystery than this time around. Several reports have suggested that the Galaxy S9 duo will be priced higher than any other variant in the past. TechRadar now cites sources claiming that the Galaxy S9 will cost GBP 739 (roughly Rs. 66,600) in the UK, compared to the GBP 689 (roughly Rs. 62,100) price tag of the Galaxy S8. Alternatively, Clove UK claims the phone might have a starting price tag of GBP 800 (roughly 72,100), inclusive of VAT, in the country. And, finally, tipster Roland Quandt tweeted on Monday that the Galaxy S9 (64GB) will cost NOK 8,790 (roughly Rs. 72,600) and the Galaxy S9+ (64GB) will cost NOK 9,790 (roughly Rs. 80,900) in Norway. Previously, reports had suggested a starting price tag of GBP 789 (roughly Rs. 71,700) in the UK. We might have to wait till the official launch to get a clearer picture around the final pricing.
In yet another set of renders, reputed tipster Evan Blass has released larger, unmarked images of the upcoming Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. The renders, at the least, confirm the design of the flagship duo, which will be similar to the Galaxy S8 in many aspects. We can also spot a dual camera setup on the bigger Galaxy S9+.
Talking about performance, the Samsung Galaxy S9+ has been spotted for the first time on benchmarking portal Geekbench’s database. The smartphone scored an impressive 3773 in single-core performance and 9024 in multi-core performance. However, this is still below the single-core score of 4188 and multi-core score of 10069 set by the Apple iPhone X last year. Smaller sibling Galaxy S9 was seen on Geekbench’s database earlier this month. The phone scored a decent 3648 in single-core and 8894 in multi-core performance.
Earlier this week, a report by WinFuture had revealed most of the details around the upcoming flagship range. You can check out all the expected specifications and features in our rumour roundup.
Stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for extensive coverage around Samsung’s and other product announcements around and during MWC 2018.


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CHARLESTON, S.C. — The St. Louis ice cream shop known for its naughty and nice flavors scooped up another sweet recognition this week.
Clementine’s Naughty and Nice Creamery was just awarded the best new ice cream flavor in the country. The winner is a St. Louis favorite: Gooey butter cake.
“I’m so excited to share that we won the No. 1 best new flavor of ice cream in the country for our gooey butter cake ice cream from St. Louis!” Clementine’s founder Tamara Keefe announced on Facebook.
The award was given during the annual National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) meeting in Charleston, South Carolina. Keefe explained that hundreds of artisan ice cream makers attended the convention to talk, taste, share and learn all about ice cream.
In a blind taste test among ice cream peers, gooey butter cake beat out all the other entries.
‘That Gooey Butter Cake was the bomb,’ NICRA wrote on Instagram.
Clemetine’s Italian butter cookie and salted crack caramel flavors also were awarded best flavors, coming in second and third respectively.
This was just the latest recognition for Clementine’s gooey butter cake ice cream. It just made ‘The O List’ in the November issue of Oprah Magazine, naming it the “sexiest ice cream alive.”
Clementine’s has three locations in the St. Louis area. The original shop opened in Lafayette Square. The other two locations are in Clayton and the Southampton neighborhood in south city.
Click here for more information about Clementine's Creamery.


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University Bookstore to Host Publication Showcase December 3, 2015, 4:30-6:00pm.
The University Bookstore will have a number of authors on hand to sign copies of their new books during the afternoon of Thursday, December 3. Five of the authors are from the University of Nebraska—Lincoln community. The featured authors:
Joy Castro, How Winter Began: Stories
Parks Coble, China’s War Reporters: Legacy of Resistance against China
Karen Shoemaker, Meaning of Names (2016 One Book One Nebraska selection)
Steve Smith, Forever Red: More Confessions of a Cornhusker Fan
Jennine Capo Crucet, Make Your Home among Strangers
The University Bookstore is located in the lower level of the Nebraska Union at 14 & R Streets. For more information, call the bookstore at 402-472-8523.


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Adidas has rolled out a simple activation campaign to celebrate the 40th birthday of Sachin Tendulkar
Studio AKA has created animated trailers for BBC Radio4 to highlight the new Cultural Exchange feature on the station’s Front Row programme
Creative director Tsubasa Oyagi has conjured a dazzling interactive website for Japanese property developer Mori Building that allows users to create their own virtual light show, projection-mapped onto a miniature model of Tokyo
Believe it or not, the above image is an entire film squeezed into a unique visual code. It is part of a campaign created by TBWAChiatDay New York for the Brklyn Film Festival to drum up interest and ticket sales
Lacoste is celebrating 80 years and its iconic L.12.12. Polo shirt in a wide-ranging, colourful campaign
Dove and Ogilvy Brazil have hired a forensic artist to show the difference in how women see themselves and how they are perceived by others
Can you tell your David Shrigley from your Si Scott, or your Marion Deuchars from your Laura Dockrill? Secret 7″ is back this year with another massive guessing game, pairing tracks from seven mainstream music artists with a slew of illustrators, artists and designers to raise money for Art Against Knives.


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Toyota Dominates J.D. Power 2017 Vehicle Dependability Study
Not only was its Lexus luxury division ranked at the top of the dependability survey for the sixth consecutive year (this time in a tie with Porsche), the Toyota car division itself was ranked first among non-premium brands and third overall.
In addition, a whopping seven Toyota vehicles (and three Lexus cars) were at the top of their segments for dependability (out of 18 total segments), in effect dominating the competition. The closest other brand was GM with their vehicles leading four of the remaining eight segments.
In the J.D. Power VDS, cars and brands are ranked based on the average number of problems they experience per 100 vehicles. For example, the industry average is 156 PPV, meaning that of 100 vehicles, owners experience on average about 156 problems. According to J.D. Power, the average has actually gone up compared to last year by 4 PPV because of continued problems with in-car technology.
More Reliable: Just one of the many benefits of leasing
All seven Toyota vehicles that led their segment experienced fewer problems than the industry average.
- Midsize Car – Toyota Camry (76)
- Compact SUV – Toyota FJ Cruiser (92)
- Compact Car – Toyota Prius (108)
- Midsize SUV – Toyota Venza (112)
- Large Car – Toyota Avalon (113)
- Compact MPV – Toyota Prius v (124)
- Minivan – Toyota Sienna (147)
Vehicle Warning Lights: What they mean and what you should do


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Walmart Stores Inc. is closing three of its Neighborhood Market stores in the San Antonio area, the company said Wednesday. The company’s Neighborhood Market store at 3175 Nacogdoches Road (pictured) closed in December.
Walmart Stores Inc. will close three stores in San Antonio next month, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday — the latest in a series of area closures for the retail giant.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer, which currently has about 48 stores in the San Antonio region, will shutter three of its Neighborhood Market format stores on Oct. 12 — 6938 Walzem Road near Windcrest, 3418 E. Southcross on the city’s Southeast Side and 3847 Pleasanton Road on the South Side, company spokeswoman Anne Hatfield said.
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With the $37.2 billion deal to buy Precision Castparts announced Monday, US investment guru Warren Buffett is extending his storied Berkshire Hathaway holding company.
Here are some of the major acquisitions engineered by Buffett, 84, the world's third richest person with net worth of $72.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Announced in November 2014, Berkshire said it was buying the Duracell battery business from US consumer goods maker Procter & Gamble in a deal valued at $4.7 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2015.
"I have always been impressed by Duracell, as a consumer and as a long-term investor in P&G and Gillette," Buffett said at the time.
Auto dealership Van Tuyl
The fifth-largest US auto dealership group, Van Tuyl fell into the Berkshire fold for $4.1 billion in the first quarter of 2015, in a deal announced in October 2014.
"The Van Tuyl Group enjoys excellent relations with the major auto manufacturers," Buffett said.
Public utility NV Energy
In May 2013, Berkshire announced a $10 billion cash-and-debt deal to acquire NV Energy, a supplier of electricity and gas in the western state of Nevada.
The Las Vegas-based NV Energy closed the transaction with Berkshire subsidiary MidAmerican Energy Holding Company in December that year.
Ketchup king Heinz
To gain control of H.J. Heinz, whose Heinz brand ketchup is an icon of American culture, Buffett's holding company joined forces with Brazilian investment firm 3G Capital, the owner of fast-food chain Burger King.
The transaction was valued at $28 billion, with $12 billion coming from Buffett, known as the "Sage of Omaha" for his investment savvy. Omaha, the largest city in the Midwestern state of Nebraska, is Buffett's birthplace and home and where his holding company is based.
That transaction closed in July 2015, leaving Berkshire with about a 27 percent stake in Heinz Holding, renamed The Kraft Heinz Company after its merger with Kraft Foods.
Chemical company Lubrizol
In March 2011, Buffett put $9.7 billion in cash on the table to buy Lubrizol, a specialty chemical company that notably makes lubricant additives for engine oils and additives for personal care products and pharmaceuticals.
"Lubrizol is exactly the sort of company with which we love to partner -- the global leader in several market applications," Buffett said. The transaction was completed in September that year.
Railroad operator Burlington Northern
Before the Precision Castparts deal, Buffett's largest acquisition was rail operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The deal, announced in November 2009, was valued at about $36.5 billion, including debt. Berkshire, which owned about 23 percent of the firm's shares, bought the rest in the transaction that closed in February 2010.
"Our country's future prosperity depends on its having an efficient and well-maintained rail system," Buffett said at the time.
"Most important of all, however, it's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States," he said. "I love these bets."


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Prices drift lower despite rising demand
Year-on-year house price inflation is currently registering the lowest rate of price falls for two years.
In the north of the country there are signs that prices are firming with a steady decline in the size of the gap between asking and achieved prices over the last six months.
Re-pricing older stock to a level where sales can take place has been a key trend over summer. As a result October saw a 9.2% increase in the number of sales agreed. Double digit growth in sales was seen in the midlands and Wales.
Overall demand for housing remains subdued. The modest headline increase in demand nationally was largely driven by a 3.9% jump in new buyer registrations in London. This follows four consecutive months (June – September) of falling demand in the capital.
The time to sell indicator remains largely unchanged despite a slowing in price falls over the last two years. The time on the market over October averaged around 12 weeks in the midlands and northern regions, eight weeks in the south and less than six in London.
While the UK has moved back into economic growth and out of recession in the third quarter of 2012, the housing market will not see a sustainable recovery until there is sustained growth in the economy and real household incomes.
Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack – the property analytics business – said: “House prices continued to drift lower in October, falling by -0.1%. This is despite a 9.2% jump in sales agreed and a small increase in new buyers registering with agents over the month.
“However, taking a broader view of the market, year-on-year house price inflation is currently registering the lowest level of price falls for two years (currently -0.4%). This is down to a strong spring market in 2012 and a steady firming in underlying pricing levels in the north of the country.”


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Summer Infant, Carter’s partner on new products
LAS VEGAS Summer Infant and Carter’s on Monday announced a licensing partnership as they launch two exclusive Gear Collections and a line of Infant Health products.
“We are excited to partner with Carter’s, a trusted brand name that resonates with virtually all parents today, to bring contemporary and innovative designs to the juvenile market,” stated Jason Macari, President and chief executive officer of Summer Infant.
Performance and fashion are common features throughout the Infant Health program, the companies stated. The Summer Infant and Carter’s partnership puts a new twist to a sterile category, giving caregivers kits that are well-designed, useful and up-to-date.
One of the new products in the lineup is the Elephant and Butterfly Ouchy-Pouch Assortment, which features character-shaped ice packs to help comfort and ease a child when minor bumps occur.
Alcon launches protective dry eye therapy
HOUSTON Alcon recently launched Systane Ultra Lubricant Eye Drops, a high performance dry eye therapy with a unique mechanism of action, the company stated.
While acting like a drop, the new system protects like a gel, providing extended protection to the eye’s surface, making the eyes feel more comfortable and lubricated longer.
Systane Ultra Lubricant Eye Drops is available in two sizes, a 10 ml and a new Home & Away Pack featuring both a 10 ml and a 5 ml bottle in one box
Energy drinks carrying more natural ingredients
LONDON Business Insights on Friday issued a new report finding that more and more energy drink manufacturers are introducing natural ingredients to their drinks range, shifting the energy drink market from a stimulant, instant boost energy drink model to a more sustainable, longer lasting energy lift model.
The energy drinks market continues to offer significant growth opportunity and is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 4.5 percent in Europe through 2011, which is expected to grow the dollar volume to $5 billion. Within the region, the Italian market will experience the fastest rate of growth at 10 percent, followed by Sweden with 7 percent. .
According to Productscan, of all sports and energy food and drinks launched globally in 2007, 7 percent claimed to be natural and 12 percent claimed to be high in vitamins. These products contain ingredients such as oats and ginseng (a well established energy provider) and more novel superfruits such as acai and goji berries.
By formulating drinks with such ingredients, manufacturers are not only able to make a natural claim; there is also the added benefit of positioning the product as an everyday soft drink, targeted at consumers looking for vitality and wellness benefits, the company stated. Sports drinks in the United States, such as Gatorade, are consumed for general wellbeing and hydration, not just for sporting activities, and manufacturers in Europe have the opportunity to tap into this trend.


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Nestle is issuing a voluntary recall on more than 200,000 packages of its popular chocolate drink mix Nesquik. The product is believed to be contaminated with salmonella. The Associated Press reported that the issue involves the ingredient calcium carbonate. Nestle stated that their ingredient...
See more Salmonella Stories >


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Reuters: Los AngelesAccording to executives speaking on Wednesday in a pitch to prospective advertisers, Netflix Inc.'s recently announced ad-supported tier reaches close to 5 million active customers per month.
As an alternative to ad-free plans that start at $10 per month, the pioneer of streaming video unveiled a $7 per month option with advertisements in 12 locations, including the United States, last November. As competition for online viewers grew, it was made with the intention of luring in additional clients and introducing a new revenue stream.
At the annual tradition known as the upfronts, where networks try to secure commercial contracts for forthcoming series, Netflix made its first pitch to advertisers on Wednesday. Other businesses, such as Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp., are battling for digital advertising budgets.
Netflix officials emphasized the company's diverse selection of programming, which includes the sci-fi hit "Stranger Things," the upcoming action movie sequel "Extraction 2," and the Korean drama "Squid Game."
Bela Bajaria, Netflix's chief content officer, asserted that "no other entertainment company aspires to create great movies and shows across so many genres in so many countries, and for such a broad, diverse audience."
Netflix's VP of global advertising, Jeremi Gorman, announced that there were now 5 million active members worldwide. All adult accounts used on a single account with ads are counted as monthly active users. Commercials do not appear on children's profiles.
By the end of March, there were 232.5 million paying Netflix users worldwide. Executives stated that they desired to collaborate with marketers to develop novel forms of advertising that were exclusive to digital services. According to co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos, a 30-minute advertisement might spread over several days, with a plot developing each time a person watches a Netflix show.
Because people don't live on just one channel, you can't achieve that with linear TV, according to Sarandos. To avoid objections from the Writers Guild of America's strikers, Netflix decided to do the commercial presentation virtually instead of live in New York.
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Parrot Analytics Justifies Amazon Canceling 'Good Girls Revolt'11 Jan, 2017 By: John Latchem
Amazon in December canceled its original series “Good Girls Revolt” after just one season despite it receiving generally positive reviews upon its release Oct. 28. The show details efforts by female journalists in the late 1960s to gain equal status to their male counterparts at a New York magazine.
Sony Pictures Television, which produced the show, claimed viewership was particularly strong, citing data from streaming monitor Symphony Advanced Media indicating “Good Girls Revolt” had twice as many viewers as Amazon’s best-known show, “Transparent.”
However, , which tracks consumer demand for a title through many metrics, including social media, indicates viewer interest in the series was actually rather low, justifying the cancellation, though no official explanation was given by Amazon. Parrot’s data demonstrates the new breadth of information available to networks and video services when making programming decisions, allowing them to buck trends when a renewal or cancellation would have seemed otherwise straightforward according to traditional metrics.
Parrot compared the popularity of “Good Girls Revolt” in the five Amazon Video markets available in October and November — the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria and Japan — and found it was outranked by several other Amazon series available in the same time frame, including “Transparent,” which was 153% more in demand.
Another new Amazon show, the Golden Globe-winning “Goliath,” had 404% more demand. “The Man in the High Castle” and “Ripper Street” were also cited as more popular, 439% and 129%, respectively.
According to Parrot, this indicates that the high viewership touted by the show’s producers didn’t actually translate into as loyal a following as shows such as Emmy winner “Transparent” or “High Castle.”
“Amazon may value a less-watched but buzzier show over a low-key but solid performer if the buzzier show attracts more new subscribers to its platform,” the report reads, pointing out that “Transparent” has this advantage even in its third season. According to Parrot, demand for “Good Girls Revolt” sharply declined in the weeks after its release, indicating subsequent seasons were not likely to maintain viewers. In contrast, demand for “Goliath” grew by 70% from the first to fifth week after its release.
Parrot’s data suggests two other freshman Amazon shows displaying similar trends with lower demand than “Good Girls Revolt” — fashion-themed “The Collection” and Woody Allen’s “Crisis in Six Scenes” — are similarly likely to be canceled (though reports have already surfaced that Allen is not interested in another season).
On the other hand, according to the Parrot report, “Good Girls Revolt” did find an audience in other countries not covered by Amazon Video. This global appeal likely inspired Sony Pictures Television’s ultimately unsuccessful effort to shop the show to another programmer.
“While ‘Good Girls Revolt’ did not do well in Amazon’s markets, it had more popularity in a variety of countries in Asia and Europe, indicating that it could still be a successful show in the right market,” the Parrot report reads. “From Amazon’s point of view, though, its cancellation was almost inevitable.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, plans for a second season were well underway as a result of the seemingly positive viewership numbers, so the cancellation came as something of a shock to the show’s producers. The show’s creator on Jan. 11 confirmed the show would not continue.


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The Department for International Trade (DIT) has launched a new Global Partnerships Programme, entitled ‘Leading Edge’, as it looks to provide access to UK fintech solutions for the global market.
The goal of the programme is to create the perfect conditions to initiate new partnerships and investment opportunities by providing International Financial Institutions with access to leading fintech solutions in the UK.
The scheme will initially centre its focus on the US, Australia and Singapore and will look to establish new trading relationships, particularly in key areas such as AI, robotic process automation and regulatory technology.
Gerry Grimstone, Minister for Investment, said: “The digital adoption and transformation support offered by the UK’s leading firms will enable International Financial Institutions to remain not only competitive but also a viable part of the financial services sector of tomorrow.
“I welcome the launch of Leading Edge, which will give these global firms in our partner countries, including Singapore, the opportunity to collaborate with and benefit from the UK’s world-leading fintech expertise.”
Large financial intuitions in the global market place will be able to take advantage of the UK’s leading fintech market, which was worth £11 billion in revenue last year, accounting for eight per cent of total financial services output.
The news follows the UK agreeing a post-Brexit trade deal with Singapore, which also saw the DIT agree on partnerships with the country’s three major banks, DBS, OCBC and UOB, with the UK being heavily involved in the Singapore FinTech Festival.
To find out how our team of innovation funding specialists can help you, contact us today.


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The Brocker Technology Group has gone from “doing a tremendous job” for supplier Novell to being out of business in the space of 12 months.
The company, which was the parent of defunct IT distribution company Sealcorp, said last week it was shutting up shop in New Zealand with the loss of 20 jobs. They include that of chief executive Richard Justice.
Novell New Zealand head Peter Revell says the turnaround in Brocker’s fortunes is amazing.
“I genuinely don’t know what went wrong,” says Revell of the company which, through Sealcorp, in 2000 accounted for more than a third of Novell sales.
Brocker’s Justice, who headed the company for two years but worked within the group in a variety of finance roles for eight years, says a series of occurrences brought about its downfall.
“There was no single circumstance that led to this.”
But Justice says the loss through fraud of several million dollars by the company’s Australian operation had a significant impact. The subsequent closure of Sealcorp Australia made Sealcorp New Zealand unviable, he says.
At its peak, Sealcorp employed about 250 people in New Zealand and had total turnover of about $200 million. Sealcorp was put into liquidation earlier this year, owing suppliers including Novell and Compaq millions of dollars.
Revell says a six-figure sum was owed to Novell, which he has no expectation of recovering.
Sealcorp Australia had distributed Novell products until July last year, sharing the agency with Tech Pacific and Express Data. Revell says the decision to drop Sealcorp Australia was made before the fraud was exposed.
“The Australian thing was a body blow,” says Revell. He thinks the fact that Sealcorp management didn’t see it coming calls into question the company’s governance.
But Justice refutes any suggestion that mismanagement led to Brocker’s demise. Apart from the fraud, which is still under investigation, he says the collapse of technology stocks just as Brocker listed on the US Nasdaq exchange was a blow.
Brocker’s head office is in Canada, where the company is also listed. It continues to operate Fiji-based IT reseller business Datec and is negotiating with management the sale of its Certus professional services business.
Certus employs 20 people in Auckland and Wellington.


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The grocery industry, one of the most competitive and market reactive in the retail sector, is at critical moment. Pandemic shopping habits changed dramatically by force, and operators had to pivot and adapt quickly as customers curtailed trips to the grocery store in favor of online shopping and delivery.
Revenues rose as much as 35% from the previous year as home-cooked meals, stress baking and panic buying ensued during 2020. The coronavirus elevated fiscal sales by $4.6 billion. As events unfolded,
e-commerce platforms, store operations and supply chain logistics were figured out in real-time. Profit margins in the grocery industry have always been thin because of intense competition, and operators often sought promotions to entice customers into their stores. Industry analysts are wondering if consumer habits, developed out of necessity, will carry forward as we move past the pandemic era. Will we stay glued to our phone apps and Instacart? Or will the visceral experience, and possibility to pick our own fruits and veggies, entice us back into the grocery aisle?
Doug Munson is the founding Principal at MTN Retail Advisors, a national primary grocery retail research and data collection firm that works with major grocers to help retailers, developers and investors determine the best locations for grocery stores.
Munson says, “I do see a demarcation between publicly-traded and privately-owned grocery companies and their business focus. The large publicly traded grocers are investing heavily in eCommerce and online fulfilment to support that segment, which averages 8-10% of total store sales. To that point, the physical store is not going away. There are approximately 8,000 exclusively-online retailers looking to establish brick and mortar locations.”
Moving toward a period of normalcy, leading chains will need to reinvent themselves in order to preserve and sustain additional sales they achieved from the pandemic. Other headwinds include the inflationary environment, supply chain hiccups and a constricted labor market exacerbated by the “Great Resignation.” Munson sees the latter as a pain point that is not going away any time soon.
“Grocery is essential to the economy, as we quickly realized during the pandemic. While supply chain disruptions have eased somewhat as we move away from the crisis, we still face considerable challenges in hiring. The labor market is very tight, and grocers are having a tough time finding employees. I feel this will continue to be an issue for retailers for some time to come.”
Munson feels that grocers need to focus on delivering one or more of the following attributes to their customers to maintain the edge in a growing field of competitors:
Retail Trends and Technology
Store-within-a-store concepts will continue to emerge as large grocers strike deals with retailers in alternative categories to create new segments of merchandise under their roof. Consumer brands in popular categories such as clothes and household goods will create interest, differentiation, and expand margins.
Kansas City-based Ball’s Food Store has introduced a CBD store-within-a-store in its Price Chopper supermarket through a partnership with American Shaman, a provider of high quality CBD tinctures and beverages. The store environment features botanical prints, a small seating area to test products and consult with brand representatives, and wood-toned finishes to reflect the brand’s focus on natural ingredients.
Amazon Fresh, who currently has 19 stores across six states and Washington, D.C., according to their website, was one of the first small-format grocers to introduce this technology to consumers. The grocery chain’s deep-pocketed parent absorbed the considerable R & D technology costs as a loss leader. Wood notes, “It will be interesting to see how many companies can buy this technology in the future.”
Advances in the fulfilment center are improving efficiencies, managing inventory, costs and reducing waste and energy-use. The need for large warehouses and smaller, localized-sites to create micro-fulfillment centers, has transformed the industrial sector into the reddest hot and most active in commercial real estate. Ocado Group, a U.K-based online grocer, builds automated customer fulfilment centers (CFCs) using sophisticated AI-powered, demand-forecasting engines, high-speed picking bots and a 3D grid of crates packed with items. The company has partnered with Kroger, the largest U.S. grocery chain, to build several automated giant CFCs to meet the demand for online grocery. Ocado’s solution, the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP), offers grocers an end-to-end e-commerce, fulfilment and logistics platform.
Kroger’s e-Commerce online delivery earnings outperformed during the pandemic. The company will dedicate significant resources to accelerate e-Commerce under its strategic growth plan. The company’s 2020 fiscal sales were $132.5 billion. Digital sales increased 103% on a two-year stack basis and store sales grew 14.1%. While online grocery seems to be waning somewhat as we emerge from the pandemic, the company believes strongly in the future of e-commerce. Currently operating 45 warehouses, their partnership with Ocado will result in 20 super warehouses. The first of these debuted mid-April 2021 in Monroe, Ohio. The $55 million, 375,000-square-foot facility contains over 1,000 robots alongside 400 human employees to pick, sort and move items controlled by a proprietary air-traffic control system to fulfil customer’s orders. Algorithms regulate the pick-and-sort process and robots pack groceries intelligently, balancing bag weight to reduce plastic use and waste. The center is forecast to process as much as $700 million in sales annually, equivalent to 20 brick-and-mortar stores. Ocado’s 2021 Q4 earnings call revealed an advanced 600 series pick and pack bot that has half of its parts HP 3D printed. Touted as a ‘game-changer” the new series is five times lighter than its predecessor, energy efficient, quicker and less expensive to build. Warehouse grids will be built lighter, more portable and adaptable to fit in many different-sized buildings. The chill equipment will consume less energy and lower construction costs.
Omnichannel Retail Strategies
Omnichannel retailing enables consumers to interact with brands through both online and offline channels, enjoying a unified experience. Grocers are incorporating this strategy to allow shoppers to order online and pick up at the store, providing choice and flexibility. Shopping habits may be permanently changed, considering the popularity of OGP (Online Grocery Pickup) and BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup In Store). During the pandemic almost half of the top 500 retailers with brick-and-mortar operations were offering BOPIS, a rise from less than 7% pre-pandemic, according to a Digital Commerce 360 survey taken August 2020. Amazon at Whole Foods, Walmart and Kroger offers a BOPIS option to customers.
Pandemic-driven services like curbside pickup and same-day delivery are expensive for retailers to operate and eat into profitability. The BOPIS model helps offset delivery expenses and benefits grocers as it gets consumers into the store—reducing online cart abandonment and capturing brand loyalty.
Major markets have begun to roll out omnichannel grocery store prototypes that function as both a physical store and online fulfilment center. Workers pick OGP and BOPIS merchandise from existing store shelves and not a warehouse as with online home delivery. Workers quickly pick items with hand-held inventory guns identified by wayfaring signage. Inventory is restocked speedily by moving merchandise from the back-end fulfilment area to the sales floor, allowing consumers to get their essentials faster.
Grocers are partnering with nonprofit and government entities to meet the needs of “food deserts.” A food desert, or healthy food priority area, has limited access to affordable and nutritious food. The USDA’s Economic Research Service previously identified more than 6,500 food census tracts in the United States based on 2000 and 2006 census data. This equates to approximately 13.5 million people with low access to sources of healthful food. In early 2021, H. R. 1313 (Healthy Food Access for All Americans Act) was introduced to stimulate investment and healthy nutrition options in these communities.
However, the most viable and agile solutions seem to be emerging from grass-roots organizers, civic leaders and business partnerships. For example, when Buy For Less, suddenly shut its doors in northeast Oklahoma City in 2019, its primarily black community lost its only full grocery option. Working closely with community nonprofit, RestoreOKC, Homeland Stores was able to open a 6,800-square-foot grocery store in April 2021. It is about one-third of the size of an average store, and will sell a seasonal supply of fruits and vegetables grown at the nearby RestoreOKC urban farm by local middle and high school student interns. Corporate suppliers with food assistance programs can sell grocery items with deep discounts to the store. This particular Homeland Store will provide an invaluable resource to the community, and include nutrition, cooking and shopping classes.
Consumers and competition is forming the reality of the grocery landscape as we move into what’s next. Technology will continue to play a major role in shaping every aspect of the industry, however the demise of physical stores is largely overblown. The U.S. Department of Commerce census bureau news reports that while 2021 e-commerce sales did increase 14.2 percent year-over-year, it still accounts for 13.2 percent of total retail sales. There is a sense that consumers like the convenience of their phone apps, but also are beginning to welcome the communal experience of shopping after a long and isolating pandemic. Chains and independents will have to willingly embrace innovation, as different choices, challenges and opportunities present themselves.
The 2021 holiday retail sales are on pace to eclipse predictions of record spending, despite supply chain disruptions, inflation and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 omicron variant. National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Chief Economic Jack Kleinhenz said in its 2021 forecast, “the season could turn out even better than we expected. Consumers and retailers have both revised their playbooks and broken with previous traditions. With the momentum we’ve seen so far likely to continue, it seems probable that we will exceed our initial projection.”
While that sounds promising for the retail sector overall, one of the key lessons learned during the pandemic was that grocery retailers emerged as a dominant force in shifting consumer shopping patterns. The big questions are will those increased grocery spending trends continue and has grocery replaced department stores as an anchor?
Consumers drove record sales across the grocery sector during the pandemic, cementing grocers’ potential to serve as an anchor retailer. Grocery emerged as an essential retail category and the segment’s performance in 2020-2021 reinforced a view that it is also recession proof. It clearly was the cornerstone for the retail sector during a turbulent time, and certainly has made a strong case that grocery may be the new anchor retailer.
Grocery retailers are working to solidify that position by evolving to meet consumer demand for enhanced shopping experiences. By creating experiential offerings inside the grocery store, it is working to expand what grocery is. Expect to see more amenities such as food tastings and demonstrations including those involving high-profile chefs. Those efforts are designed to drive engagement and create opportunities to build brand affinity and extend time in store. We expect to see beer and wine tasting sections, culinary schools, restaurants, coffee bars and other features that provides the customer with more direct in-store experiences meant to reinforce the consumer experience and keep the customer engaged with store personnel.
Grocery retailers are also making adjustments to the merchandising mix to appeal to consumers seeking experiential shopping environments. The center of the store area is changing too. Center store items are actually shrinking because they’re not perishable and can be shipped. That means, warehousing of center store items are shifting to fulfillment centers – both Central Fulfillment centers and Micro Fulfillment centers. Consumers have yet to perceive this shift yet, as store space gets reallocated to online fulfillment space.
These changes are designed to drive higher spend and bigger baskets, which is important to the grocery retailers. But there are other potential benefits. There is expected to be positive spill-over to the center’s co-tenants. But there is concern that grocery anchors may steal foot traffic and business from other retailers at a center. That may be an age-old argument dating back to the days when department stores served as a center’s anchor. Savvy in-line retailers have already figured out ways to encourage shoppers to step beyond the four walls of the anchor store.
The shift to having a grocer serve as the anchor destination creates considerations that may not have been factored into the design of a center. The dynamics of a center must adjust from a time when shoppers arrived at an anchor department store that featured multiple entrances and was positioned at a focal point surrounded by sufficient parking areas. For grocery to function well as an anchor today, its location, ingress and egress must be convenient, prominent and flow well. Additionally, parking areas will likely need to be reconfigured to accommodate new uses, especially during peak grocery shopping times.
Centers were already struggling with adding online return areas, but now must figure out how to accommodate pick up areas for online grocery orders, as well as curbside or drive-thru options. That is especially crucial in centers where a grocer is located in line with a linear layout. That makes it difficult to accommodate shoppers wanting to park close in front as well as those who’ve ordered online and arrive to collect orders – and there simply may not be an option to add a drive-thru.
Another factor to weigh when centers shift to a more dominant grocery-anchored strategy is finding the right balance. For mixed-use and lifestyle centers, it is vital for owners and developers to develop a synergistic plan that considers everything from traffic flow and shopping times to merchant mix.
A final consideration in this grocery-anchored discussion involves location. There’s been a shift to favor suburban sites. The pandemic contributed to a trend that was already underway. It had been driven by the Millennial cohort’s search for larger places to live than they could typically find in CBDs. Millennials tend to wait longer to get married, start a family and their inability to meet the qualifications to buy a home, means they are staying in a rental product longer. Millennials are starting to move into new a life phase and seek a more subdued and less urban setting where they can start a family lifestyle.
The single-family rental product, which tend to be located in the suburbs, appeals to them.
The uncertainty about when workers will be allowed to return to an office setting or if they will continue to work from home has complicated projections about demand for grocery retailers in suburban or CBD locations. Clearly, the model has been disrupted and whether it returns to previous patterns remains to be seen. What is obvious, given the transitional situation today, retail center owners and developers have an opportunity now to capture future success by developing strategies that feature a grocery retailer as prominent anchor in plans for a center.
With a record 100 ships waiting to dock and unload outside the Port of Los Angeles, President Biden’s recent announcement that the port would operate 24/7 came as welcome news to those anxiously looking ahead to a busy holiday season.
It’s the latest in an ongoing saga of disruptions in the global supply chain that began during the pandemic. That includes record demand for industrial warehouse space, which gets more intense by the day.
And then there’s the issue of labor. Dock workers, truck drivers and even retail clerks are all in short supply. With what is expected to be the busiest quarter since the pandemic began, disruptions could drive industrial rents even higher, and leave retailers scrambling.
Oblivious to these forces, consumers are ready to enjoy the upcoming holiday season.
“We’re looking at a huge jump in shopper demand this holiday season,” says James Cook, JLL’s Americas Director of Research in Retail in a new post. “There are fears now that supply issues will mean bare shelves.”
There’s Not Enough Space
Industrial real estate developers are trying to keep pace with the explosion of online shopping. But while inventory has grown substantially across the US, in many markets, there isn’t much more land on which to build. US vacancy has hit an all-time low at 4.3%, according to Mehtab Randhawa, Senior Director, Industrial Research, JLL.
This has driven industrial rents sky high.
Large big box retailers are better positioned to absorb the shock of supply chain issues that result in these product shortages at the worst possible time. Some of them, including Target, are chartering their own cargo ships and stockpiling goods ahead of the holidays, creating additional demand for warehousing.
“Big box retailers will come out of this with more market share,” Cook says.
Sandy Sigal, President and CEO, NewMark Merrill Companies, tells GlobeSt, “While it has been great to see the strong customer desire to come back to stores—and our traffic is not just showing increases over 2019, but historically strong traffic and sales—our fear is and has been that the customer is not receiving the experience that should lock them in long-term once their savings and ‘cabin fever’ wears down.
“Between not enough servers, chefs, sales people, etc., or those who are there being overburdened, and constraints on goods being in stores in time for each season, the labor and supply chain breakdowns are a warning sign for the holidays.
“While this will be the first ‘normal’ holiday shopping season in two years, and we think traffic will be there, what concerns us is the sentiment and satisfaction of the customer and whether that impacts their future view of shopping in person.”
Warehouse Workers in Desperate Need
The supply shortage is the result of cascading factors driven by the pandemic. Factories have been plagued by repeated shutdowns due to Covid-19 outbreaks. Cargo ships and containers aren’t where they should be. Goods have stacked up at ports.
At the biggest ports, like the port of Los Angeles in Long Beach, ships wait as long as three weeks to unload goods. Once they do arrive and unload, there’s still the issue of the ongoing labor shortage: not enough truck drivers or train operators.
And the labor shortage doesn’t stop there. A lack of retail workers has put the squeeze on businesses hoping to keep up with increased holiday traffic. Warehouses face a shortage of workers too, but less so since some retail workers are switching over due to higher pay and incentives.
“It has been an in-store issue to get store associates because of the competition from big box warehouses,” Cook says. “Warehouses pay wages typically higher than in store associate jobs.”
Grocery Aisles Disappointing Consumers
Doug Munson is a principal at MTN Retail Advisors, a Salt Lake City-based national primary grocery retail research and data collection firm that works with nearly every major grocery company to help real estate investors determine best locations for grocery stores.
“The pandemic reinforced a conviction that investors have always held, grocery is essential, and virtually recession proof,” Munson tells GlobeSt. “That fact was reflected in the top performances experienced by just about every grocery retailer and grocery-anchored retail center during the pandemic.
“Set against that backdrop, what we are seeing today is that staffing is an enormous issue facing grocery retailers, and the disruption in the supply chain is having perhaps even more of an impact on the sector. We’re seeing significant gaps of product in nearly every aisle of a grocery store, and not just the toilet paper aisle. These are wholesale gaps that retailers haven’t seen before.
“Consumers are accustomed to seeing full shelves, so this condition is expected to have a huge psychological impact on them. Even though demand is strong, the impact of a reduced labor pool, and supply chain issues are adding up to inflated costs to build and stock a store. The result is grocery retailers are tapping the brakes a bit now on expansion or investment plans.”
Supply shortages are hurting industrial space and development in other ways.
Jessica Mann-Amato, Design Principal and Co-owner of Mancini, a 105-year-old tech-driven design firm in New York City with regional offices in Red Bank and Millburn, NJ., tells GlobeSt, her company is constantly reassessing the supply chain for materials and components to find shorter lead times for our projects.
“Suppliers are doing everything they can; however, the whole world is encountering these challenges, so the solutions are limited.
“When we start a new project, we are very open and honest with our clients about lead times. We also avoid over-promising. As the architecture and design firm, we are proactively tracking every single item and staying on top of it so that we, in turn, can manage our client expectations.”
Menomonee Falls, Wis. and San Francisco — Sephora will debut at least 850 “Sephora at Kohl’s” locations within Kohl’s stores by 2023, the San Francisco-based cosmetic company announced. The locations will span 2,500 square feet and will typically be situated near the front of each Kohl’s. Sephora at Kohl’s shops will replace Kohl’s current in-store beauty assortment. Exterior signage at locations that feature the in-store shops will display both Kohl’s and Sephora branding. These locations will be selected based on existing Sephora store proximity, market opportunity and customer insights. Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s expects the first 200 locations to open by next fall. Sephora at Kohl’s will also launch on the Kohl’s website in the fall.
Sephora has 500 of its 2,600 stores in the Americas and Kohl’s has more than 1,150 locations in 49 states
As Lidl prepares to pepper the East Coast with 200 or more new stores, the German retailer could be tripped up by the same real estate issues that plagued the last European food retailer to invade the U.S. — Tesco and its now defunct Fresh & Easy brand, several real estate experts told SN Thursday.
In an interview, Douglas Munson and John Tippetts, co-founders of MTN Retail Advisors, a Salt Lake City-based site analysis firm, said their research indicated that about 70% of what they identified as the first 75 sites Lidl intends to open lack adequate ingress and egress typical of “Class A” supermarket real estate; and further, that its sites appear to have been selected with a lack of insight into the volume of the competitors in its immediate trade areas.
These issues, they cautioned, could result in Lidl struggling not only to draw shoppers, but to draw the particular shoppers it intends to win. Tesco, which rolled out more than 200 Fresh & Easy stores on the West Coast beginning in 2007, encountered similar troubles before succumbing to Chapter 11, they said.
MTN, which earlier this week shared its methodology and findings with Barclays researchers, told SN its point of view was based on proprietary data and experience in the specialized field of site selection analysis. Munson and Tippetts are both former Kroger real estate staffers.
“What we see is a lack of attention to the competitive landscape,” Munson said of Lidl. “I don’t mean to say they don’t know who they’re competing against, but we’re certain that they can’t quantify the amount of volume of the stores they’re going to take from. If you don’t know if [competitors] are doing [sales of] $880,000 or $680,000, or $660,000 or $460,000, and your premise is to take dollars away, you’re making some bad assumptions.”
Matthew P. Casey, a site specialist in Clark, N.J., in a separate interview expressed a similar sentiment about Lidl’s approach. “I don’t think they evaluated competition beyond doing things like looking at the number of cars in the parking lot, saying ‘This guy’s high volume, this one is not.’ That’s just not how they approached it.”
Munson said he based his point on the speed at which Lidl assembled sites, which would not allow time for the kind of detailed research a competitive analysis would require, and on the assumption that Lidl intends to win sales from “quality-service” supermarkets like Wegmans and Harris Teeter. According to Tippetts, “Lidl wants to be the ‘Aldi’ of Wegmans in the same way Trader Joe’s is the ‘Aldi’ of Whole Foods.”
Lidl has not spoken publicly of specific competitors or its intended market position beyond saying it intended to address quality and price in a manner that existing U.S. markets are not. A company spokesman on Thursday declined comment on SN’s questions about its real estate selection or specific site characteristics.
Said Munson, “What I think they’re going to end up doing is taking volume, but from the wrong type of people. It’s going to be the Weis, Bi-Lo’s and Food Lions of the world and not the Harris Teeters. You have to realize that the average Food Lion is doing $175,000 a week and the average Harris Teeter is doing $450,000. If you assume you’re hitting Harris Teeter and you wind up hitting Food Lion, you’re taking a much, much smaller piece of the pie.”
As to the stores themselves, Tippetts said MTN analysis found that around 70% of the 75 Lidl sites acquired first and likely to open soonest would do in locations that are “mid-block” and/or won’t allow shoppers to make a left turn into or out of parking lots. He added, however, sites added more recently tend to have better site characteristics. He said MTN has identified 233 future Lidl locations.
Lidl thus far has acknowledged that its first 20 sites would open this summer, and that it had plans for 100 in its first year of operation.
In Lidl’s favor is a wealthy and committed private holder in parent Schwarz Group, which according to Barclays analyst Karen Short is likely to have more patience behind the concept than did Tesco with Fresh & Easy, where it faced considerable pressure from shareholders to answer for a concept that in addition to real estate issues failed to deliver a compelling store experience. Lidl by contrast is bringing a slightly larger version of a concept proven very successful in Europe.
“Irrespective of whether or not Lidl’s initial entry is successful, Lidl appears very committed to the U.S market — so it may not matter if these initial units are or are not successful because if Lidl has a very, very long-time horizon, they are more likely than not to succeed and prevail as they have in other countries they have entered,” Short said.
Mark Thompson, managing director at Crossman & Co., told SN it was likely Lidl is relying to some extent on its concept to overcoming real estate challenges in part because the latter was inevitable when building hundreds of units in markets that are already saturated.
“If Lidl or anyone else for that matter is going to North Carolina and Virginia, how many ‘A’ and ‘high B’ sites are left? None? So [location quality] doesn’t entirely surprise me,” he said. “But look at what Wawa did in Florida. They went off hard corners to midblock and where they are hard corner it’s a ‘B’ corner, yet all the pumps are full. Their model blew the market away. If Lidl’s model blows the market away then people will shop.”
(SALT LAKE CITY) September 9, 2021 — MTN Retail Advisors (MTN), the leader in primary grocery retail research and data collection nationwide, today announced two key leadership appointments to its rapidly growing team. These new hires will help to elevate Salt Lake City-based MTN’s mission and position the company to deliver reliable first-hand retail market research at scale, as the only national one-source solution that pairs its offerings with tenant-focused services and analysis. MTN’s new leadership appointments include:
Jake Johnson, Director of Research & New Product Development: In this role, Jake Johnson will focus his efforts on supporting current tools, reports and processes that assist clients in decisions related to grocery anchored development, acquisitions, and investment. Further, he will also work directly with MTN's internal team in building real estate strategy for its grocery retailers and strategy for the grocery-anchored investment community. Johnson has 11 years’ experience building real estate strategy for grocery retailers and strategy for the grocery-anchored investment community, previously serving in leadership roles at Target, Southeast Grocers (Winn-Dixie) and BJ's Wholesale.
Brad Markle, Senior Research Analyst: In his role, Brad Markle will be heavily involved in grocery anchor primary data collection, developing sales forecasts for MTN's retail clients, real estate strategy, and market optimization analysis. Further, he will help assist MTN in understanding the role and impact of e-commerce on the retail real estate industry, especially grocery retail clients. Prior to joining MTN, Markle served in a leadership capacity at Ahold, where he worked closely with e-commerce initiatives. MTN will leverage Markle’s comprehensive grocery knowledge and expertise to further understand the role and impact of e-commerce on the retail real estate industry, especially grocery clients.
Following the successful transition into his new role, Markle will formally shift to a key leadership position, where he will work closely with MTN's Principals in business development, talent development and oversight of operations.
“As MTN continues to experience growth, we are thrilled to have Brad and Jake’s extensive research experience and combined knowledge of the grocery retailing landscape to achieve our mission to deliver reliable first-hand retail market research at scale,” said Doug Munson, Principal at MTN. “These new hires were strategically chosen to help strengthen our company and position MTN for continued growth in both the US and Canadian grocery retail markets.”
MTN has built a reputation in the industry for delivering the most detailed market insights available to help grocery retailers, municipalities, developers, and real estate investors answer their most challenging market questions with certainty, to maximize profitability, minimize risk and grow their business.
To learn more about MTN Retail Advisors, visit https://www.mtnra.com.
About MTN Retail Advisors
MTN Retail Advisors (MTN) is the leader in primary grocery retail research and data collection nationwide. We have built a reputation in the industry for delivering the most detailed market insights and analysis available to help grocery retailers, municipalities, developers, and real estate investors answer their most challenging market questions with certainty, to maximize profitability, minimize risk and grow their business. MTN speaks the same language as grocery retailers because our team of experts works with nearly every major grocery company and has unmatched insights gathered from more than 30,000 touch-points. As MTN brings its power and proven approach to deliver reliable first-hand retail market research at scale, we are boldly setting a new frontier, as the only national one-source solution that pairs its offerings with tenant-focused services and analysis. To learn more about MTN Retail Advisors, visit https://www.mtnra.com.
The retail sector remains one of the most dynamic and fiercely competitive. The industry is shaped and reshaped by shifting consumer buying preferences, at the same time the category continues to face challenges from competitors, ecommerce and the effects of a pandemic that reset the strategies of retailers across the country. An inflection point was reached for the grocery-anchored retail investment sector over the past 18 months, a massive shift in buying habits that is reflected in the strategies emerging today.
Savvy investors understand they must track and monitor both the markets in which they invest, as well as the grocery retailers themselves to uncover the best opportunities. Typically, grocery operators react and adapt quickly to the opportunities and challenges faced. Yet, when the pandemic initially hit in 2020, grocery retailers found it hard to anticipate the elevated activity, then ramp up to handle the increased buying and ultimately to maintain the growth beyond the surge purchasing. But it was obvious from the outset, even from field visits, that grocery was thriving.
The pandemic reinforced a conviction that investors have long held, that grocery is essential, and virtually recession proof. That fact was evident in the top performances experienced by just about every grocery retailer and grocery-anchored retail center since the pandemic started. Many grocery chains and operators experienced record revenues as the category redefined its position as the “essential” retail category. Most conventional grocers experienced as much as an estimated 35% increase in revenue during the peak months of the pandemic when compared to the previous year.
While revenues reached record highs last year, income dragged in comparison, as grocers were forced to spend considerably more on such areas as store labor, cleaning or hazard pay. Another factor to consider was the fact that grocery operators were simultaneously forced to address and invest in ecommerce platforms at a faster pace than any period prior to the pandemic to keep pace with demand.
Even before Covid hit, ecommerce and online shopping was also helping drive consumers to grocery stores in increasing numbers, which continued as the pandemic spread across the country. Consumers preferred spending more time close to home with their immediate families, a trend fueled by remote work schedules and a desire to follow social distancing guidelines. Since people still needed to eat, and many restaurants were closed or were limited in service, grocers filled the need to feed America. There were some interesting tendencies that emerged over the pandemic, though.
One shifting consumer trend was in the number of store visits. Grocery shoppers made an average of 6.7 retailer trips per month in August 2020. That was a decrease from 7.5 trips in August 2019, a drop of nearly 11%. However, basket size swelled 19%, with customers spending an average of $49.28 per trip compared with $41.38 the previous year. The obvious reasoning for this phenomenon was the desire and necessity of the customer to limit activities that exposed them to large gatherings of people, including at the grocery store; however, once at the grocery store, consumers were increasing their expenditure per visit.
There is some evidence that customers are returning to normal shopping patterns, and grocery chains still believe that there will be a permanent shift in some consumer mindset. This could have a two-fold impact on the grocery-anchor center. One is that lengthier grocery store visits may open the door to grocers introducing more of an experiential offering in hopes of securing higher expenditure. Two, the downside may be that co-tenants in a typical shopping center could see less traffic and exposure to their concepts.
The pandemic did force groups without ecommerce options to quickly figure out how to add click-and-collect or delivery options. Some grocers may have been caught off guard or didn’t execute their ecommerce strategies well, but across the country there was a significant amount of investment made by grocery operators to ensure they had some type of online presence or platform that customers sought. That process may have also included a learning curve that was often custom-tailored to each site, for instance in situations where a mid-center located grocer didn’t have a pick-up area close to its entrance.
For grocery-anchor shopping investors, it is important to separate the facts from the “hysteria” surrounding ecommerce. Many believe ecommerce is a larger force today than it really is. The fact is, in 2019 ecommerce represented 4.3% of grocery expenditure. During the pandemic’s peak in 2020, ecommerce represented 10.2% of grocery expenditure. By comparison, through May 2021, ecommerce sales represented 7.4% of grocery expenditure. That is a distinct drop from 2020 and further evidence that the consumer has not fully accepted the platform.
Based on research and the current percentages related to ecommerce, it’s likely that ecommerce will see marginal growth over the next four to five years. Retail experts like MTN estimate that by 2025, ecommerce will account for roughly 12-13% of the total grocery expenditure. The long-term view of MTN is that ecommerce will plateau in the 18-20% range once more sustainable business models are tested and proven.
Set against that backdrop, the harsh realities of today’s market add intrigue and uncertainty. First, grocery operators are facing an enormous staffing issue. While that’s not unique to the sector, because food is a need for survival and continues to drive high demand, it presents problems grocery operators must address.
Second, significant disruptions being experienced across the supply chain are having perhaps even more of an impact on the retail sector. Significant gaps of product are showing up on nearly every aisle of a grocery store, and not just the toilet paper aisle. These are wholesale gaps that retailers haven’t seen before. Consumers are accustomed to seeing full shelves, so this condition is expected to have a huge psychological impact on them.
Even though demand is strong for grocery, the impact of a reduced labor pool, and supply chain issues are adding up to inflated costs to build and stock a store. The result is grocery retailers are understandably tapping the brakes a bit now on expansion or investment plans. They must closely examine their footprints in a market and acutely understand the macro- as well as micro-level factors. That encompasses deep insights into the performance of their own stores, their competitors’ locations, and a submarket-by-submarket evaluation to uncover the best locations for a grocery store.
Wise investors should focus on strong regional and national chains that are balancing both ecommerce platforms and physical store investments. They should place emphasis on site and shopping center characteristics that promote the success of the grocery asset. Investors must closely track the demographics that complement the grocery-anchor and co-tenancy, while ascertaining locations that provide the grocery-anchor with strategic positions relative to the competition.
Couple this information with knowing the weakest locations and the potential shuttering of stores/chains that rank in the fourth place or lower market share position allows an operator to be better-positioned – both from a real estate and operational perspective. By weighing these research-based considerations investors and grocery retailers can find locations that grocery tenants should pursue and maintain for long-term hold. Those operators will also be able to absorb the market share and volume and thus more likely to thrive in the current and future grocery retail environment.
* Excluding gas and adjustments


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For Our Partners
Yes, a cyber attack can happen to you
Hackers and thieves target small businesses
Why should a small business purchase insurance coverage? After all, some owners might say, they may not have many customers or big revenues.
They have more data than they realize
In fact, hackers and cyber thieves do attack smaller businesses, often exclusively, because they are easier to infiltrate and most have more sensitive data than they might think.
Almost nine out of ten keep 1,000 records
An HSB survey of small businesses conducted by Zogby Analytics found that 87 percent of companies stored more than 1,000 records containing personally identifying information or health records of employees, clients and vendors.
Small businesses are easy targets
Small businesses are easier targets. They might not have the IT staff or resources to adequately protect their computer systems or provide security training for employees. HSB’s survey found they are also less likely to encrypt stored data: about half do so, compared with 100 percent of large companies.
Stolen identity records are sold on the dark web
Hackers can package large numbers of personal records and sell the information they steal. It’s estimated that the median price for a stolen identity is more than $20 and up to $10 each for medical records. That can add up fast when thousands of businesses are compromised.
Cyber extortion and phony email schemes
Cyber extortion and email payment schemes can threaten a business of any size. There has been a spike in ransomware attacks that demand payment to unlock company systems. And small business employees can be tricked by phony emails into paying company funds into bogus accounts.
They’re a back door into bigger companies
Cyber criminals may hack smaller businesses as a pathway into larger companies. That’s because the smaller business may be a contractor or supplier with access to the bigger entity’s computer system. The Target breach of 41 million accounts was traced to the stolen credentials of an HVAC contractor.
Cyber insurance is often part of doing business
For that reason, many corporations and other organizations now insist that a small business have cyber insurance coverage as part of a contract to provide goods or services.
48 states now have data breach notification laws
Forty-eight states now require a business to notify individuals who are affected by a data breach. How many small business owners would know where to start when they’re required to contact customers or provide credit services?
Small businesses need cyber insurance
So, there are plenty of reasons why a small business owner should worry about cyber security and purchase cyber coverage as an essential part of a business insurance package.
HSB’s Cyber Suite offers coverage and services
HSB’s Cyber Suite of data and information coverages and services can help protect small businesses and the data they keep. Visit our website to learn more about our coverage for identity theft, data breach, cyber attacks, and other cyber exposures.


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More than 80,000 pubs and bars of the United Kingdom applied for the extension of opening hours
No increase in a crime rate or the number of arrests of persons under the influence has been reported over the first weekend after the new law on alcohol sales came into force in England and Wales. The new law authorizes round-the-clock sale of alcoholic beverages. As by the previous rules, bars and outlets selling liquor were to open at 11.00 and close at 23.00.
“The new law is not meant to encourage drunkenness and lawbreaking,” said British Minister for Culture, Media and Sports Tessa Jowell. The opponents of the new law believe that the end of the uniform opening hours will result in a sharp increase of alcohol consumption.
The new law provides for a wider range of authority for the law enforcement agencies involved in operations against criminal activities due to irresponsible drinking. A special unit of plainclothes policemen will conduct sting operations in pubs and retail outlets. The policemen have been instructed to uncover pubs and shops that sell alcohol to underage or drunk customers. Pub owners who are found guilty of selling booze against the law will be fined 5,000 pounds and have their alcohol sales licenses suspended or revoked.
Young people drinking irresponsibly will face penalties too. They will have to pay a fine of 50 pounds. “The sale of alcohol to persons under 18 years old is not just an irresponsible action, it is a crime,” said a spokesperson for the Home Office. More than 40% of supermarkets, shops and pubs can sell booze to any customer. More than one thousand pubs and retail outlets in England and Wales have been already issued licenses that meet the new rules.
In the spring of this year around 70% of more than 80,000 pubs and bars of the United Kingdom applied for the extension of opening hours. Some pubs advocated an extension of one or two hours while others wanted to switch to 24-hours operations, the way alcohol is served in similar establishments in continental European countries.
The British government believes that longer opening hours will help avoid hooliganism and fights between 11 p.m. and midnight because the uniform closing times will no longer dump boisterous crowds on the street late at night. Meanwhile, according to the British Police Chiefs Association, there are no signs indicating that longer opening hours can curb hooliganism. The measure may have an opposite effect. Members of the association believe that “a continental style of drinking culture requires a continental style of behavior e.g. people at the restaurants sipping their drinks slowly well into the night.” The chiefs of the police point out that the British have been notorious for heavy drinking. British drinkers normally drink standing at bars in a noisy environment. They talk and shout, and they try to drink as much as they can, says the statement by the police chiefs association.


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Budco Financial integrates into RouteOne to boost dealership sales of VSCs
Budco Financial last week announced the integration of its 0% payment plan services into RouteOne’s menu powered by MaximTrak.
Budco Financial highlighted that its addition to RouteOne’s F&I platform can provide dealerships the ability to seamlessly present, rate and remit F&I products electronically with an interest-free financing option to deliver a personalized, effective customer experience.
According to a news release, dealerships using the RouteOne Menu powered by MaximTrak can now immediately present and sell vehicle service contracts using Budco Financial’s interest-free financing option without having to enter duplicate information in multiple sites, thereby saving time and reducing errors.
“RouteOne’s goal as an open integration platform is to support dealer choice and provide technology solutions that enhance the F&I process for all of our customers,” RouteOne chief revenue officer Jeff Belanger said in the news release. “We are pleased to welcome Budco Financial as an option within our menu solution.
“F&I Managers can present a menu with a vehicle service contract included and provide customers with an easy, flexible option by presenting Budco Financial’s interest-free financing solution for their aftermarket products,” Belanger continued.
Budco Financial vice president of sales and marketing Mark Pierret elaborated on this integration means for the company.
“We are excited to have the RouteOne Menu powered by MaximTrak as an F&I menu integration partner. By integrating with RouteOne, we are able to provide a streamlined, customer-focused vehicle service contract selling solution that creates efficiency for our joint dealership clients and helps them generate incremental profit,” Pierret said
“As an integrated partner, the entire RouteOne team is dedicated to providing the highest level of service, while maintaining a leading-edge retailing experience for F&I products,” Pierret went on to say.
Belanger also represented RouteOne during a recent episode of the Auto Remarketing Podcast, discussing how the pandemic has influenced F&I activities and more. The episode is available through the window below.