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February 17, 2011
Power Moves: How Your Small Business Can Make Money Now
As part of my weekly segment on Warren Ballentine’s Truth Fighters radio show,Â we have discussed and will continue to review over the next month the best ways to empower our audience given the current environment.Â I told him one of the areas that continues to be a a major focus for our editors has been entrepreneurship. And for good reason: According to the recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Businesses: 2007, the number of firms owned by African Americans increased by a whopping 60.5% to 1.9 million, more than triple the national rate of 18%. Over that same period, the report stated that black-owned businesses showed an increase in revenues of 55.1% to $137.5 billion.
Although Census data — the survey is conducted every five years — does not include the growth of black businesses since the brunt of the Great Recession, it is a good bet that there has been more business creation and self-employment out of necessity. That doesn’t mean that the same challenges of gaining contracts and financing hasn’t continued to serve as an anathema for black firms. One way for African American entrepreneurs to get a leg up on the competition or find new business strategies andÂ funding sources is by registering for the BLACK ENTERPRISE Entrepreneurs Conference + Expo hosted by Nationwide and held in Atlanta from May 22-25. Our theme,Â Rethink:Business, gives you an idea of the type of information you will receive during the course of that event.
Are you an entrepreneur looking for some power moves to expand your business? Click here for 10 tips that can give you the edge you need.


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It looks like cash will start to flow again for former photography pioneer, Eastman Kodak Co.
After filing for bankruptcy on Thursday 19th Jan, the company have since been granted permission by the Manhattan bankruptcy court to access a loan to pay suppliers, refinance debt and meet costs for essential restructuring. The full amount of the loan, financed by Citygroup is $950 million but the company will have to return to court to receive the rest at a later date.
Kodak's downfall is largely believed to be a result of their failure to embrace the digital era. For many years the company chose to focus on film, then digital printing and patent litigation while rivals such as Fuji successfully concentrated on digital cameras.
Kodak have also claimed in court papers that techno giants Apple, makers of the iPhone 4S and iPad, along with HTC and Blackberry producers Research in Motion, sped up their decline by delaying negotiations over patent litigation.
While the decision to approve the loan was met with some resistance by note holder groups, concerned that the terms of the loan may not be beneficial to creditors, Citygroup and many Kodak supporters believe the company is worth saving.
It is hoped that the loan and Kodak's attempts to restructure and redefine their position in the market will at least enable them to continue. The company currently have many businesses which are still profitable so it is expected that in the future the company will shrink, employing fewer people.
In an interview for US channel 'Bloomberg Television', former Kodak chief marketing officer, Jeffrey Hazelett said he believes Kodak will recover, he just thinks it will take more than restructuring to survive. 'There are a lot of people inside the company who believe their best days are behind them,' he says. 'They've really got to change the mood within the company and decide where they want to go.'
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Retail & Consumer Group:
Outlook for 2021 with Richard Lim, CEO, Retail Economics
Wednesday 10 February, 12:30 – 13:30 GMT
The retail sector was going through seismic change even before the pandemic hit. Now, as the sector emerges from the all-important seasonal year end, in a continued battle with Covid-19, the new year continues to reveal the winners and losers, highlighting those who have been able to accelerate their shift to a new era versus those who have been less able to adapt.
Throughout 2021 as industry restructuring unfolds and consumer behaviour trends cement or slip away, there will be many opportunities for retailers, but also many pitfalls. In this session, Richard Lim will explore the key trends and opportunities for the year ahead.
Richard Lim is Chief Executive of Retail Economics — an independent economics research consultancy focused on the consumer and UK retail industry. He is a regular commentator on retail performance across all major news channels.
Richard Lim previously headed up the ‘Retail Insight and Analytics’ team at the British Retail Consortium; before that, he worked in mergers and acquisitions for Citi. He has a wealth of experience in data analytics, consumer research and macroeconomics. Richard was also recognised by LinkedIn as a Top 20 UK voice to follow in 2020.
With retail facing critical change, this is going to be an interesting webinar for anyone connected to the wider retail sector.
Moderator: Teresa White (MBA 88D)


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Like-for-like sales growth slows at Wickes in third quarter
Travis Perkins has reported that like-for-like sales growth at its consumer division, which includes Wickes, Tile Giant and Toolstation, slowed in its third quarter.
In the three months to 30 September, growth fell to 2.4% from 6.3% in the same quarter a year ago. The company said this was mainly due to more subdued growth in Wickes and “increasingly difficult” market conditions.
John Carter, Travis Perkins chief executive, said: “Trading conditions in our markets continue to be mixed, with consumer discretionary spending under pressure from rising inflation and on-going uncertainty in the UK economy.”
The company said it is continuing to roll out the Toolstation network in the UK and the Netherlands and that the business had achieved “excellent” like-for-like and overall sales growth.
Across the wider Travis Perkins group, third quarter sales rose by 3.5% with a like-for like uplift of 4.1% following a significant improvement in the sales performance at its plumbing and heating division.
Carter added: “We have delivered a good like-for-like sales performance across the group in the third quarter against a challenging market backdrop of input cost inflation and market volatility.
”We maintain our confidence in the long-term fundamental drivers of our markets, and this underpins our plan to invest in our businesses to improve our customer propositions and extend our competitive advantage.”
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Among AI applications being tested is a tool designed to read facial expressions
Private report filed with Korean standards agency two weeks ago
Or has it lost the ability to innovate?
Hardware giant dumps former partner Salesforce
Chris Middleton argues that the UK needs to be more ambitious with its investment, especially post-Brexit
UPDATED Failure meant all transactions made after 5pm UK time appeared to 'vanish into thin air'
The smart device manufacturer is in financial free fall - but could Android reverse the decline?
Drinks giant signs 22,000-seat deal with cloud tools vendor
Reported US antitrust investigation follows similar probes in EC and Russia
UK defence chief uses presentation at French Cyber Symposium 2015 to identify Russia as a key cyber threat
The smartphone market is looking increasingly unsustainable as icons of the industry - such as Nokia, BlackBerry and Motorola - tumble, and even established giants, such as Samsung, start to struggle
But do long-suffering users want more, or less, from Facebook?
Development kits allow rapid prototyping of IoT ideas
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John Manzoni's remit is to embed digital reform in government
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The government's Mystery Shopper service is being used to criticise the results of its own procurement policies.
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Costs for making and receiving calls also capped from today
Computing Research reveals that significant numbers of IT leaders can't answer basic questions about their jobs
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This week's Nintendo Direct Mini presentation featured a look at Dark Souls, Mario Tennis Aces, The World Ends With You Final Remix and ports of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Hyrule Warriors.
Nintendo's got a bunch of new games coming to its wildly popular Switch console in 2018. There is also a new local multiplayer mode called CRIME.NET Local Play, that will let you set up a local game and invite friends that share the same local network. We'll be sure to keep you posted, since I'm sure any Souls fan would be more than happy to get their hands on it. This is according to Head of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg, who claims that not only did the Xbox One outsell the PS4 in December 2017, but the console enjoyed its highest-ever sales for any December ever. Nintendo surprised all of us during last year's E3 when it finally announced that the much-loved Metroid Prime franchise would be making a return with the reveal of Metroid Prime 4. Instead, he'll be heading up the new online activity, Luigi's Balloon World, which you'll be able to play once you've downloaded the free update in February, so long as you've completed the main story. Which games are you most looking forward to on the Nintendo Switch? That seems to be what this new story mode is going for, but it also seems that this particular mode might abandon the tennis academy setting of previous Mario Tennis stories in favor of something a little wackier.
Ford Ranger Production to Begin in Late 2018
The first-ever diesel engine offered for the F-150 comes as a 3.0-liter Powerstroke with a 10-speed automatic transmission. Most of the exterior tweaks are minor: The grilles, head- and taillights, and hood all differ from the global version.
From Software has announced the release of a Dark Souls Trilogy Box set.
EA is also expected to release its other sports titles besides Federation Internationale de Football Association like Madden NFL on the Nintendo Switch console. The game's specific release date is not yet available. Nintendo will release the game in Spring 2018.
Messi meeting gave Barcelona new boy Mina goosebumps
The 22-year-old had nothing but praises for his new team-mates even calling Lionel Messi the best in the world. I got goosebumps when Messi approached me with Suarez in the dressing room.
Are you excited for some of the other games coming to Nintendo Switch this year?
The biggest third party announcement is that the first Dark Souls video game is getting remastered.
'Give 3 Good Reasons For Slavery': Outrage at Fourth-Grade Homework Assignment
A Wisconsin teacher has sparked outrage after instructing students to write "3 "good" reasons for slavery and 3 bad reasons". The 9-year-old also finished the assignment by saying, "I am proud to be black because we are strong and fearless ".
Fe will bring a unique visual style of platform action to the Switch on the 16th February 2018, but this is another multi-platform release.


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(Michael Buck, director,…)
Like most leading global multinationals, Dell Corporation is actively reengineering its business to focus on India and China, emerging economies that have the demand promise that can continue to propel growth. In an interview with ET Bureau, Michael Buck, director, Global SMB Online Business, Dell, shares the key trends that are driving change in the business. As the head of the multinational PC giant's online sales, Buck is overseeing a change in priorities for the company.
How has the global financial crisis helped reshape dell Corporation and its priority markets?
The financial meltdown has brought emerging economies in focus of most global companies including ours. India is a focus region for our company and in particular for the online business. I know that this will certainly not be my last visit here. Asia Pacific as a region has been a key growth market for us. So that hasn't really changed. What has changed is that we see huge market potential in India China and also enabling factors like infrastructure and PC penetration has gone up phenomenally in these regions. So we have a much broader opportunity here now.
When you look at the mobile and internet penetration in India, its gone up so much, particularly in the last few years that it presents a great opportunity for us.
How have enterprise orders- the B to B business shaped up for Dell during this period?
The global recession has meant that orders from small and medium businesses have indeed gone down but we know that these businesses, while they are the first to get impacted by economic fluctuation, they are also the first ones to bounce back and see the upside.
That said, there has been a credit crunch and it has been difficult for small and medium businesses to get money to further grow their business. But other than that, the prospecta look very good.
How do you see the opportunity in India for the B-to-B business of Dell?
India has a lot of small and medium business enterprises. They are very fragmented. There is a large population, which is also scattered across this huge country. This means that you need to have a very scalable model of how you serve your customers. You can use traditional means like the shop around the corner. But you also need to find something that grows and serves this diverse market in a different way. And that's why we believe that online is the key to success in India. Because with its help, not only can we serve such a large region, but we can also make sure that the standards of commerce and information that we provide is the same throughout.
This is not unique to India but because of the size of the market, we have fragmented and scattered businesses here.
How are Indian consumers different from those elsewhere, as far as consumption of technological products and services goes?
I am amazed at the level and speed of technology adoption of Indian consumers. People in India are very smart, the education system here is fantastic so the rate of adopting technology here is very quick as compared to other countries. That is one of the key things that stand out.


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Tesco To Start Recycling Bread Bags And Crisp Packets
Tesco has developed a new plan to reach the green goals by rolling out collection points in the South West of England and in Wales. The collection points provide customers the opportunity to recycle their soft plastics, i.e. crisp packets, pet food pouches, and bread bags at Tesco stores. The recycled materials will then be used to package food, household, and beauty products. The collection points aren’t exclusive to Tesco products as customers can bring soft plastic packaging from other retailers, however they will need to clean items that are heavily soiled and take them back to participating stores, while the rest of their recycling is collected.
What Prompted The Scheme?
Tesco said it is still prioritising reducing their use of plastic packaging but this new service will create a “real impact” in reducing their contribution to plastic waste. Currently, most soft plastics end up in landfills, so providing customers accessible collection points to recycle their soft plastic waste will help combat the excess waste. During a 10-store trial in 2018, Tesco said the most commonly returned packaging was bread bags, fruit and vegetable packaging, crisp packets, salad bags, and baby and pet food pouches. This trial showed us the type of soft packaging we can expect to collect but it also shows how willing customers are to participate in this new scheme.
Benefits Of Recycling Soft Plastics
It takes hundreds of years to decompose plastic items in landfills. Landfill waste disrupts our environment through pollution and increases the amount of greenhouse gases which ultimately contributes to the global warming crisis. Tesco’s new scheme helps reduce the amount of soft plastic that contributes to this problem as they’ve said they expect to collect 1,000 tonnes of soft plastic a year. Although this does not completely reduce the amount of waste supermarkets contribute, one estimate suggests UK supermarkets produce 800,000 tonnes of plastic every year (figures aren’t made publicly available by them), it is still a good step to a greener future.


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0:00 One Of Three UAW Workers Didn’t Bother to Vote
0:51 Subaru Raises Wages to Fend Off UAW
1:24 Brightdrop No Longer Independent from GM
2:05 Cadillac Going to Australia & New Zealand
2:43 Cadillac Unveils New EVs For China
3:44 Lucid Launches Its 1st SUV
5:34 Honda Offers Hands-Free Driving
6:15 Amazon to Sell Hyundai’s
6:55 GAC Going to Solid-State Batteries
7:37 BMW’s Centerlock Wheels Need 685-lb/ft Torque
This is Autoline Daily, the show dedicated to enthusiasts of the global automotive industry.
ONE OF THREE UAW WORKERS DIDN’T BOTHER TO VOTE
Well it’s official. UAW workers at GM, Ford and Stellantis voted in favor of their new labor contract. But here’s the interesting thing. One-third of UAW workers did not even bother to vote on the contract. In fact, nearly half of all UAW workers at Ford did not bother to vote. At Stellantis nearly 39% of workers sat out the vote and at GM it was about 26%. That says to us the support for the contract is stronger than the final votes suggest, because we can only imagine that if people didn’t bother to vote they’re happy enough with the contract that the union negotiated.
|2023 UAW CONTRACT|
|Total Votes||Total UAW Members||% Not Voting|
|Source: UAW, industry sources|
SUBARU RAISES WAGES TO FEND OFF UAW
Even though the voting is over, we’re still seeing the ripple effect of the union’s new labor contract. Subaru told Reuters it will raise wages for workers at its plant in Lafayette, Indiana, but it has not decided by how much yet. So far Toyota, Honda and Hyundai have announced they will raise wages. UAW president Shawn Fain says he’s now going to try and organize the transplants and EV startups, so the non-union automakers will want to raise wages to try and keep the union out.
BRIGHTDROP NO LONGER INDEPENDENT FROM GM
Another development that could be strike related is that General Motors is going to bring Brightdrop into the corporate fold and will no longer let it operate as a separate subsidiary. Travis Katz, the CEO who was running Brightdrop, is going to leave the company. And all of Brightdrop’s software and service development will also be integrated into existing GM operations. Maybe General Motors was already contemplating this move, but it needs to find ways to cut costs to offset the higher price of its new labor contract. And bringing Brightdrop in-house is definitely a cost-cutting move.
CADILLAC GOING TO AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Of course, you can’t cost-cut your way to prosperity. You have to grow the top line too. And GM announced its going to start selling Cadillac Lyriq’s in Australia and New Zealand as 2025 models, which suggests they could go on sale there next year. It will also start selling the Lyriq in Sweden, Switzerland and France in the first half of next year. The Lyriq was designed from the outset to accommodate right hand steering, so it should not be an expensive conversion. And that opens up other right-hand-steering markets like the UK, Japan and India.
CADILLAC UNVEILS NEW EVS FOR CHINA
But GM did not say if the Lyriq’s for those markets will be built in the US or in China. Earlier this morning it unveiled a new rear-drive version of the Lyriq for the Chinese market. Up to now it only sold all-wheel-drive versions there. The rear-drive one starts at $41,275 which is about $10,000 less than the all-wheel-drive version. Cadillac also teased the Optiq, a smaller crossover that will be priced even lower, but will only be available in the Chinese market. And it showed two other EVs under wraps that will be launched in China by the end of this year, which means we’ll see a couple of other reveals in just a few weeks.
LUCID LAUNCHES ITS 1ST SUV
EV startup Lucid Motors revealed its first SUV, the Gravity. It shares similar front end styling to the Air sedan and the rear clam-shell liftgate mirrors the Air’s trunk lid. But it also offers three rows of seating. The Gravity will feature a newer version of Lucid’s 900-volt electrical architecture, which will allow it to add up to 200 miles of range in about 15 minutes of charging. Overall, it will have more than 440 miles or 708 kilometers of range. Lucid was already known for having a compact, but powerful electric motor and it says the SUV will get an even newer version of it, which will help it go from 0-60 in under 3.5 seconds and tow up to 6,000 pounds. The interior is similar to the Air as well, but there’s some different treatments on the dash and doors and the center screen is set higher and floating, rather than more integrated into the center console. Lucid hints that the Gravity might have a different battery pack. The one in the Air ranges from 88-118 kWh, but it says Gravity will set new standards for SUVs with a smaller, lighter, more sustainable battery pack that is a little more than half the size of some of its battery-hungry competitors. Pricing will start under $80,000, but sales won’t kick off until the end of next year. Lucid’s sales have tapered off, so a new model is going to inject some excitement into the company. But it will also be under more pressure to scale up production. The big thing Lucid has going for it that not too many EV startups have is billion dollar backers in the Saudi Investment Fund.
HONDA OFFERS HANDS-FREE DRIVING
Automakers keep taking steps that are getting us closer to autonomous driving. Honda will offer hands-free driving next year. It’s coming out with a new version of its safety technology, called Honda SENSING 360+ that adds a driver monitoring system and high-definition maps. These new features make it so the system now supports hands-free driving on the highway and lane changes when the driver uses the turn signal. The new Accord is the first model to get Honda SENSING 360+. And China will be the first market where it’s available, which will be sometime next year. After that, it goes global.
AMAZON TO SELL HYUNDAIS
Hyundai dealers can sell vehicles online through Amazon’s U.S. stores starting next year. Buyers can search for vehicle’s, pick the model, trim, color and features they want, and choose payment and finance options through Amazon’s online checkout. They can then pick it up or have it delivered to their local dealer. Hyundai will use Amazon AWS as its cloud provider to help with the automaker’s digital transformation for operations, production and customer service. And Hyundai will also integrate Amazon’s Alexa voice-assistant into its vehicles starting in 2025.
GAC GOING TO SOLID STATE BATTERIES
Solid state batteries could be a game changer for electric vehicles and Chinese automaker GAC announced that it plans to equip its EVs with fully solid-state batteries in 2026. The batteries have an energy density of 400-Wh per kilogram, which compares to about 300 for most of today’s batteries. And the company says it will meet safety and reliability standards. That’s all the details we have but it looks like GAC could be the first automaker to sell EVs with full solid-state batteries. Toyota, Honda and Nissan are also developing them and are aiming to bring them to market by the end of the decade.
BMW’S CENTERLOCK WHEELS NEED 685 LB/FT TORQUE
I never realized how tight you have torque down centerlock wheels. BMW is offering quick-change centerlock wheels for versions of the M2, M3 and M4, which replaces the wheel studs and/or lugs with one central screw. But it says that screw has to be bolted down to 930 Nm or 685 lb-ft of torque. I came here from a world of working on cars and trucks, but most vehicle lug nuts are torqued to about 100 lb-ft, while some full-size trucks would be around 150 lb-ft or a little more. I was just very shocked to see that number. And like any set of good aftermarket wheels, these are not that cheap with a price tag of over 12,000 euros.
But that brings us to the end of today’s show. Thanks for tuning in and I hope that you have a great weekend.
Thanks to our partner for embedding Autoline Daily on its website: WardsAuto.com


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By Xinhua writers Wang Xiuqiong and Cheng Jing
BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhua) -- China's economy delivered a solid start to the year with above-target growth in the first quarter, demonstrating its resilience amid escalating trade tensions with the United States.
The country's GDP expanded 6.8 percent year on year at comparable prices in the first three months of 2018, unchanged from the growth rate in the previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.
"The economy is off to a good start," NBS spokesperson Xing Zhihong told a press conference, noting that the quarterly performance laid a good foundation for sustained, healthy growth for the whole year.
Workers assemble tank cars at a factory in Lianyungang of east China's Jiangsu Province, April 16, 2018. (Xinhua/Si Wei)
The GDP growth rate has stayed within the range of 6.7 percent to 6.9 percent for 11 consecutive quarters, with the jobless rate and inflation remaining stable, he said.
The solid first-quarter performance extended the economic strength of last year, when China's GDP logged 6.9-percent growth, picking up the pace for the first time in seven years.
Graphics shows the Chinese economy saw a solid start to the year with a 6.8-percent growth in the first quarter, official data showed on April 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Lu Zhe)
It was welcome news as aggressive protectionist moves by the U.S. administration added uncertainty to the world economy.
In the first quarter, China's industrial output and fixed-asset investment growth eased from the January-February period, but retail sales, private investment and property investment growth accelerated, the NBS data showed.
Xing attributed the moderation of some indicators to seasonal factors as the Spring Festival came later this year than previous years and affected production.
"Looking ahead, the favorable conditions and factors to support high-quality development are increasing, and the economy will continue to maintain stable development with a positive outlook," he said.
Zhang Zhanbin, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said China will fulfill its goal of achieving GDP growth of around 6.5 percent this year.
Graphics shows the Chinese economy saw a solid start to the year with a 6.8-percent growth in the first quarter, official data showed on April 17, 2018. (Xinhua/Meng Lijing)
CONSUMPTION "BRIGHT SPOT"
Commenting on Tuesday's data, Asian investment bank Nomura said the "bright spot" was retail sales.
Retail sales growth accelerated to a higher-than-expected 10.1 percent in March from 9.7 percent in January-February, NBS data showed.
"This is a good sign that growth is rebalancing from investment to consumption," Nomura said. "Indeed, underneath the very stable GDP growth over the past five quarters has been a continued rapid rebalancing, from old economy industrial sectors and investment toward new economy sectors like tech and services, as well as consumption."
Residents buy seafood at a supermarket in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, Feb. 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhang Guojun)
The transition was part of China's bid to steer its economy toward high-quality development rather than growth based on inefficient investment, low-end exports and polluting factories.
Services accounted for 56.6 percent of the economy and 61.6 percent of its growth in the first quarter, the NBS data showed.
Final consumption contributed to 77.8 percent of the economic growth, up from 58.8 percent last year.
Meanwhile, new businesses and industries continued to grow fast, and the industrial sector steadily upgraded toward medium- and high-end production, according to Xing.
TRADE TENSIONS MANAGEABLE
The structural shift of China's economy is also key to its effort to cope with pressure from rising protectionism, a threat highlighted by the NBS spokesperson.
"The biggest [difficulty facing China's economy] is uncertainty in the international environment," he said.
Xing said China is "fully capable" of handling trade tensions with the United States, citing the country's increasingly domestic-led growth, growing innovative edge, and ample room for development and policy control.
"The economy has plenty of resilience, potential and leeway. The Sino-U.S. trade frictions cannot stump the Chinese economy, nor can they change its sound momentum of sustained and healthy growth," he told reporters.
Photo taken on April 13, 2018 shows a container wharf in the harbour of Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Xinhua/Geng Yuhe)
As an upgrading market in China increases demand for high-end products, domestic sales can partially offset the adverse impact of external factors, said Wang Changlin, an economist at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
Domestic demand contributed 105.7 percent of China's economic growth on average annually from 2008 to 2017, according to Xing.
While drawing attention to a narrowing trade surplus, Xing said the country is opening up further.
China earlier this month unveiled a number of landmark measures to be taken this year to significantly broaden market access, from significantly lowering import tariffs for vehicles to opening up the financial sector.
"China does not seek trade surplus and is continuously expanding imports," said Bai Ming, researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. "This will bring new opportunities for other countries to share the market dividends of China." Enditem
(Xinhua reporters Rong Jiaojiao, Chen Yongrong, Zhang Zhongkai, Zheng Xin, Chen Weiwei and Shen Cheng also contributed to the story. Video editors: Zhu Jianhui, Mu Xuyao)


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Philip Anschutz could import his Examiner chain of local give-away newspapers to Los Angeles by the end of the year, according to Media Life, citing "a newspaper industry source familiar with the growth plans of parent Clarity Media Group."
The Los Angeles Examiner would directly challenge the foundering Los Angeles Times, owned by Tribune Co.
Clarity has trademarked the Examiner name in 69 markets, and it's said it plans several additional launches in the near future, but chain executives decline to confirm or deny that it is working to launch in Los Angeles by year's end.
“We do have expansion plans, but I am not prepared to comment now on any specific market launches,” Mark Wurzer, chief marketing officer for Clarity Media Group, tells Media Life. “All I can say is that we have growth plans, but I can’t give you a time frame.”
Media buyers in Los Angeles say they would welcome the Examiner as competition to the beleaguered Los Angeles Times.
“It could be a good time for the Examiner to break through and fill the gap the LA Times is leaving,” Adam Block, a print media buyer at Initiative Media North America in Los Angeles, tells Media Life.
“From a buying standpoint we would certainly use that leverage. Past history has proven that free dailies put pressure in the market, and we would expect that to happen here.”
Media Life says the Examiner model in Baltimore and San Francisco is to deliver local stories aimed at busy women as the key household decision-makers, "offering advertisers rates a third or half of those charged by the existing newspaper."


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The influencer marketing space is being filtered for the better, as Instagram is hiding likes and brands/advertisers are seeking more performance-driven campaigns. Fake influencers are being rooted out, and that is crucial because fake influencers have caused billions of dollars in losses to legit companies.
Another big step towards recognition, not just for the top-tier influencers but newcomers and smaller, micro-influencers, is the existence of influencer awards, becoming like the Oscars for influencers, where all categories are recognized and rewarded for remarkable work, moving the industry forward.
The upcoming Influencer Awards 2020, under the banner of GURUS AWARDS, are gearing up for such an event, in Kyiv, Ukraine, in April 2020, and will be followed up by global ceremonies.
Influencers, big and small, can benefit significantly from participating in and winning influencer awards, as they not only increase exposure but present a vote of confidence for influencers who are truly engaged in creating unique content, forming beneficial relationships with advertisers and companies, and building trust among their followers.
If you’re an influencer and were always wondering if there will be an Oscars for influencers, sign up for the Influencer Awards 2020 and get updates ahead of the big event!


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The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has introduced a number of smartphones this year. The company has introduced smartphones in all price segments including budget and premium segments. Oppo had recently launched its premium offering the R17 and R17 Pro. Both the smartphones come with some decent set of specifications and features and have been received quite well by the audiences. Now, two new Oppo phones are being suggested by the rumor mill.
The new Oppo smartphones on which the company is said to be working on are the Oppo R19 and Oppo 19 Pro. The Oppo R19 has already been suggested by some recent leaks and the new leaks give us a brief insight into the design of upcoming Oppo R19.
The latest leaks surrounding the Oppo R19 hints that the smartphone might come with a dual-lens rear camera setup which will be stacked vertically at the center of the rear panel. The rear camera setup has a small circular cutout just below it which could be for the third lens. It could be a possibility that Oppo uses a triple-lens rear camera setup on the Oppo R19.
In addition to the rear panel of the device, the leaked renders further suggest the placement of the keys on the smartphone. The power key sits on the right panel of the smartphone, whereas, the volume rockers are placed at the left panel of the device. Also, Oppo might not ditch the standard 3.5mm audio jack for headphone connectivity.
Currently, this is the only information which the latest leak suggests. It still remains to be seen what all new features the Oppo R19 bring for the masses and what all hardware it will pack inside. However, some recent leaks surrounding the phone had suggested that there will be a MediaTek Helio P80 chipset. We will keep you posted with all the latest information on the upcoming Oppo R19 smartphone, so stay tuned with us for more updates.


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2012 Subaru Impreza was release the first debut at New York 2011 Auto Show with despite initial fears the design of the new small car. 2012 Subaru Impreza is also 30 percent more fuel efficient than the model it replaces, making the new 2012 range the most fuel efficient all-wheel drive car on the market. 2012 Subaru Impreza is the roomiest Impreza ever, as well as being lighter and quicker than its predecessor. Like 2013 Chevrolet Malibu Show Off at New York Auto Show, subaru impreza give their full concept in this auto show.
After old schools BMW 3-Series when the day of announcement it was 25 years ago. This 2014 BMW M3 was appeared on four different generations and evolved from a 2.3 liter inline-four cylinder engine with 200 HP to an impressive V8 hitting 420 HP. 2014 BMW M3 maybe not the best sport cars out there, but it have the most needed functions as sport cars such as extraordinary look, great performance, the best class handling, and a luxurious interior. The brand new 2014 BMW M3 concept was continuity from 2013 models which the sports car’s history will move on to its next chapter as BMW will be set to reveal the new generation M3.
Minagi compact crossover concept was released for new 2012 Mazda CX5 since 2011 Geneva Motor Show. But in that time is only the concept of this awesome 2012 Mazda CX5 which has been hinting at production of its attractive. At New York 2011 Auto Show Mazda was finally released the true car named 2012 Mazda CX5 and confirmed that a production version of the concept was in the pipeline and destined to the CX5. Like 2012 Mazda3 Little Compact Car Showed at New York 2011, they powered the engine with SKYACTIV range of fuel efficient technologies too.
The 2012 Jaguar XFR model truly impressive unveiling by Jaguar at New York 2011 Auto Show. The 2012 Jaguar XFR enjoyed our eyes with the bulbous look of the previous XF’s lights, and cleaning up some of the lines elsewhere, the new XF is very bit as iconic and now, cleaner and more elegant. This 2012 Jaguar XFR is the most attractive Jaguar lineup the XF stands out as unique and stylish. Like 2012 Subaru Impreza More Fuel Efficient at New York 2011, they should make this new car more less to use the fuel.
America will not get the 2.2-liter diesel of 2012 Jaguar XFR »
2012 Mazda3 is the brand new little compact car from Mazda that showed off at New York 2011 Auto Show. This 2012 Mazda3 coming with a mid cycle refresh that not only provides a refined exterior and interior. 2012 Mazda3 performance is dishes out a new engine that utilizes Mazda’s innovative SKYACTIV fuel saving and performance oriented technologies. Like Future Volkswagen Beetle Revealed on New York 2011, they use that fuel saving technology both on new and old Mazda3. With manual transmission revealed will enhance this city car.
Related Auto Show & Car Showoff for most fuel efficient truck in 2014 at AutoCarShowOff.com
Behind Audi completely new ideology behind this electric R8 and the normal gasoline version, they serious about bringing this Audi R8 E-Tron to the market. And after the E-tron Detroit Show car, Audi has brought us the e-tron technology platform based on the 2013 Audi R8 E-Tron. The supercar form of R8 was made an [...]
Mercedes Benz a world class car company was released new concept for their future car at New York 2011 Auto Show called Mercedes Benz A Class Shines. The Mercedes Benz A Class Shines concept was bring the shines into the full body of the car which make the car looks so glamour and luxurious. Mercedes [...]
Although Lamborghini was prepare to replace the Gallardo with the more powerful car rumored named Cabrera in 2013 SR Auto Group was not finish to presents you tons of tuning packages for the Lamborghini Gallardo. This 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo was very exciting to review with its pure black design like an Devastator. Of course SR [...]
From trio of Transportation Design students at the Politecnico di Milano in italy, Jaime Cervantes, Andrea Coccia, and Chetan Rajput has bring their maserati concept to the internet which fit to wear the maserati crown. Based on GranTurismo, they designed a future vehicle which would look like in 2020 with a throwback to the Maserati [...]
After tuning up various models of sports cars, today Hennessey showed up its tune to a 2011 Nissan GTR800 which touch the power till 800 HP. Hennessey did not have much time to make over the exterior of this 2011 Nissan GTR800, they went straight to work pumping up the standard 3.8L V6 producing up [...]
Lamborghini was introducing their brand new supercar limited edition named 2012 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento which bring cool side of sportcar in mens color. 2012 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento reported will be arrive in October 2011, they will produce this supercar only 20 units and each carrying a price tag of 1.9 million euro, or about $2.8 [...]
SMS Supercars a Steve Saleen’s new company was unveiled its 2011 302 ford mustang last spring. They bring the awesome dark blue color as main color on the new 2011 of 302 ford mustang on last spring. With sporty design body painted with dark blue color this 302 ford mustang really perfect for bussines man [...]
The stealthy upgrade of the 2011 Ford Focus RS which developed by Anderson Germany was stabbed their own program by another German Company for the American hot hatch. MR Car Design was developed the another 2011 Ford Focus RS design which to be the latest in a long line of performance kits for the Focus [...]
Most people searching the official pricing of 2012 Audi TT RS in U.S. And now it finally come with official price from Audi which finally released U.S. pricing on the company’s 2012 TT RS. This 2012 Audi TT RS which powered by 360-horsepower coupe engine has planning on handing over $56,850*(*plus any applicable destination charges). [...]
After old schools BMW 3-Series when the day of announcement it was 25 years ago. This 2014 BMW M3 was appeared on four different generations and evolved from a 2.3 liter inline-four cylinder engine with 200 HP to an impressive V8 hitting 420 HP. 2014 BMW M3 maybe not the best sport cars out there, [...]


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Industry experts are in agreement: They don’t know what’s going to happen for the rest of 2009 in the hotel and tourism industry. But they also agree 2009 hasn’t been as catastrophic as previously expected locally, thanks to leisure business. One question remains: When will business travel pick up? They hope by mid-2010, but no one can be completely sure.
Gold Strike Casino Resort, Tunica
The regional casino business isn’t down as much as what’s being experienced in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, where they’re discounting and providing more incentives (to encourage travel). We’re fortunate for what we do have and that we haven’t experienced that much of a decline.
We’re going to have a better year in 2009 than in 2008 because of the renovations we completed last year. The guests are enjoying the remodeled rooms and we’re getting great feedback.
We’re seeing an increase in leisure travel over May, June and now July, but we’re experiencing a shortened booking curve. We’re seeing a lot of rooms booked two or three days out because people just aren’t willing to book that far in advance.
But as long as the phones are ringing, we’ll work with it. We’ve been replacing positions, but we’re not increasing our staff in any areas and we’re not expanding.
Outlook: Thumbs up. I’m a glass half-full guy, so I’m always cautiously optimistic, but we’re going to continue to focus on customer service and reaching out to new markets. With that focus, we will succeed in these difficult times, and it’ll set us up for success in the future.
Executive vice president and COO
Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau
The second half of the year is very promising because we’ve got some very, very large conventions and sporting events in the fall, which will drive incremental room revenue to the city.
Right now, we’re seeing more leisure than corporate business, but it’s still slow. We’re down 9% for the year and nationally it’s down as much as 15%. We’ve been hurt, but not as bad as other major markets around the country.
Industry forecasters and economists are saying travel and tourism probably won’t turn around until six months after the economy recovers, which could be early next year or late this year, so we’re not expecting a drastic turnaround until late 2010.
Outlook: Thumbs up, because of the strength of conventions we have on the books. But — and that’s a very, very large “but” — we don’t know how attendance to these conventions will be affected. We’re also anticipating 2010 being a tough, tough year. We were fortunate for 2009 because we already had a good slate of conventions booked for the year. The entire tourism industry is dependent on the economy.
We’re probably going to be down five points in occupancy compared to last year and we’ll probably be down to budget (revenue-wise). Weekend and summer business has picked up, but corporate has not.
Leisure travelers are traveling mostly because of summer, but the booking pattern is shorter and the window is much more short-term. It used to be 21 days out, but that’s down to 10 or less now.
We’re not expecting to see a turnaround until the middle of next year because our industry tends to lag behind the rest of the world. We’re actually doing some hiring now in a few different positions. We probably laid off less than 10 people over the last year and our biggest decrease in staffing was through attrition.
The one good thing about tough times is that it will hopefully make businesses better, because people dig a little deeper and figure out better ways to do business and improve quality and service. Those companies and hotels that do that well will probably come out of this downturn much better for it


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A gay coffee shop owner forced a group of Christian abolitionists to leave his store because their beliefs are “offensive.”
Statistician Leah Libresco says that analyzing the data on gun laws and gun-related deaths has changed her mind about sweeping gun control laws
San Juan’s mayor is seemingly more focused on hating President Trump than helping her own people.
SNL’s Michael Che hurled a number of insults at President Trump, including calling him a “cheap cracker.”
Budweiser is considering ending their sponsorship of the NFL due to the protests. The company just launched a hotline so consumers can weigh in.
It’s petty to us Dr. Seuss as a weapon…
Apparently, a Massachusetts school deems Dr. Seuss “cliché.”
Following national anthem protests, ticket sales for NFL games are falling fast and already dropped by 17.8 percent—will sales continue to plummet?
A photo showing a man kneeling at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider while Taps played is going viral, sparking outrage nationwide.
A wildfire can take many lives simultaneously—almost instantly.
Fortunately, there’s still patriotism in the NHL.
While CNN may portray itself as a beacon for tolerance, a lawsuit filed last year for racial discrimination tells a different story.
Allan Jones, CEO of Hardwick Clothing and several other companies, says he’s pulling all ads scheduled to air during NFL games due to player protests.
Will this NFL anti-patriotism tend ever end?
Hugh Hefner has passed away…
This is no typical dog-versus-cat situation…
CNN is getting sued by 175 black employees for racial discrimination—all while still pointing fingers at Trump and calling him a “racist.”
DirecTV will reportedly be offering a refund for their NFL Sunday Ticket service, thanks to national anthem protests. How many cancellations will there be?
National survey data shows that most Americans agree with Trump: NFL players should be respectful of the national anthem and stand.
Many corporate leaders lean left—and their brand of “activism” means silencing political opposition and destroying diversity of thought.


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As well as a number of new features and improved functions in the programs within Office, Microsoft is giving users of Office 2010 an online version of its software.
Office Web Apps are lightweight versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote that allow users to view, edit and share documents online. It also means you don’t need the productivity suite installed to access these documents, you simply need a PC with an internet connection and a web browser.
Microsoft is going head-to-head with Google Inc. by offering Web Apps. The search engine giant already offers an online productivity suite that features a word-processing, spreadsheet software and presentation capabilities.
Google’s online productivity suite began in 2006 with word-processing program Google Docs. However, it has managed to capture around four percent of the market, according to research firm Gartner Research Inc.
Microsoft Office, on the other hand, is used by more than 94 percent of PC owners
“There’s no question – Microsoft is responding to Google’s threat,” Gartner analyst, Whit Andrews, told the BBC.
“Until Google emerged with a credible suite of networked applications, Microsoft was not compelled to do anything.”
Consumers will be able to get their hands on Office 2010 from the end of June. Amazon.com Inc. says the Office suite will launch on 30 June and is offering a three-user Home and Student version for £99.99 ($154).
However, Microsoft has yet to confirm the exact release date for home users.


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Sales of passenger vehicles in the country continue to be dismal this month, as can be reflected from the monthly figures given by Hyundai Motors India Limited and Tata Motors. During the month of March 2013, Hyundai managed to sell 33,858 units, as against 39,122 units in the same period last year, which is a decline of 13.46 per cent. Experts believe that the pressure on sales will remain until the time macro-economic factors show improvement, as can be seen through the figures of other manufacturers as well.
Expressing his disappointment with the numbers, Hyundai Motors India Limited, Sales and Marketing, Vice President, Rakesh Srivastava said, “The slowdown of economy is impacting vehicle sales. Against large base of last year, there was a sharp drop in conversion of enquiries in the absence of any positive stimulus and sentiments.”
Passenger and commercial manufacturer Tata Motors has reported a decline in sales volume for the fifth consecutive month. Total passenger vehicles sold by the utility vehicle manufacturer are down by a whopping 66.67 per cent (12,347 units) from last year's number of 36,984 units during March. Similarly, sales of commercial vehicles for the company have also declined.
As mentioned initially, companies apart from Tata and Hyundai have also witnessed diminishing sales. American manufacturer General Motors, which operates in India through Chevrolet, sold only 9,006 units during March 2013, whereas 10,588 units were sold during March in the previous year. Expressing his views on the current scenario, General Motors India Vice President P. Balendran said, “Despite offering various schemes, the show-room traffic has come down drastically and enquiry conversions are also not taking place. The market sentiment continues to remain subdued due to poor economic conditions and various other factors. We are not expecting any improvement in the short term, but there can be some movement during the festival season, which is also possible only if the interest rate comes down and economic situation improves in the coming months."
Japanese manufacturer Honda also went down by 8.82 per cent in domestic sales this year in March. The company posted sales of 10,044 units this year, as against 11,016 units in March during 2012. Reflecting the same story, Ford India also sold only 5,271 units in March this year, which was 41.61 per cent lesser than 9,028 units sold in March 2012. Commenting on this trend, Ford India’s Executive Director of Marketing, Sales & Service, Vinay Piparsania said, “We see the current downturn as cyclical and we expect stronger sales growth in the future."
Despite the overall gloom, there still are three manufacturers who have been able to rise above the rest in this period. One of these is Mahindra & Mahindra, the country's top utility vehicle manufacturer. Bolstered by the robust domestic sales of XUV500, Scorpio, Bolero and other models, number went up by 12.57 per cent to 25,847 units, from 22,961 units in March 2012. Toyota Kirloskar Motor also went up by 6.76 per cent to sell 19,452 units in March this year. For the same period last year, the company sold 18,220 units. Expressing satisfaction over the company's performance, Toyota Kirloskar Motor Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer (Marketing & Commercial) Sandeep Singh said, “Despite the slow demand in market, we have registered a growth. This growth can be mainly attributed to high customer acceptance of the new models of Etios and Etios Liva, launched recently."
Another rising star for India has been in the form of French manufacturer Renault. With Duster leading the charts for them, Renault managed a significant eight-fold increase to sell 8,232 units during March of the current year, as compared to 1,005 units in the same period last year.
It is clearly visible that sales figures for most auto companies have been continuously declining since the end of last year. Experts sincerely hope that macro-economic factors are cured soon, so that momentum can be infused again into the Indian automobile industry.


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By Kane Wu and Alec Macfarlane
HONG KONG–A Chinese logistics company backed by technology giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Foxconn is planning an initial public offering in the U.S. next year, according to people familiar with the situation.
Best Logistics Technologies Ltd., based in Alibaba’s hometown of Hangzhou, is expected to kick off IPO preparations as early as late January, one of the people said.
The company was valued at more than $3 billion after raising $760 million from a dozen new investors earlier this year, according to people familiar with the matter. Investors included Fosun International Ltd., SoftBank China Venture Capital, Alibaba’s own logistics unit, Cainiao Network, and the World Bank’s private-sector investment arm, International Finance Corp, according to a company announcement.
It isn’t clear how much the company plans to raise from the offering, the people said. Best Logistics didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Chinese logistics companies that support the country’s rapidly growing e-commerce industry have attracted billions of dollars from investors. ZTO Express Inc. raised $1.4 billion from its New York IPO in October, making it the largest such offering in the U.S. this year. However, shares in the Shanghai-based company fell 15% from their IPO price during their first day of trading after being priced aggressively at $19.50 a share, exceeding the top end of an expected $16.50 to $18.50 a share range. ZTO shares closed at $14.61 on Wednesday.
Founded in 2007 by Johnny Chou, Google China’s former co-president, Best Logistics has grown quickly by building a warehouse and distribution network across China. It operates 400 distribution centers in China as well as three warehouses in the U.S. and one in Germany. It expanded its logistics business to Australia, Japan and Thailand this year. The company also provides domestic and international delivery services for China’s online shoppers.
Alibaba has invested in Best Logistics several times since 2009 and has bought about 22% of its shares for a total of $256 million, according to its 2016 annual report. Cainiao Network invested $165 million for about a 5% stake in Best Logistics this year, the report said.
Best Logistics’ other existing shareholders include Mr. Chou and electronics assembler Foxconn–known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.– among others. Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s private-equity investment arm is also a shareholder.
Goldman Sachs advised the company on its latest funding round, Best Logistics said in September. Chinese fund-management firms Everbright Asset Management Co. and CITIC Private Equity Funds Management Co. led that round.
Write to Kane Wu at email@example.com and Alec Macfarlane at firstname.lastname@example.org


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This week has seen product updates from Google and Snapchat – but that’s just the appetiser.
Dig in for more digital sustenance, including all the marketing and advertising news you need to know from this week.
Google AMP for ads
Of course, video ads are not yet included this effort and remain an issue for mobile loading.
Google has also brought AMP to landing pages and in further news from DoubleClick, dynamic native-format ads are now available programmatically.
AMP for ads. Image via Malte Ubl, AMP tech lead
Pokémon GO gets McDonald’s Japan sponsorship
McDonald’s Japan will be the first paying sponsor of Pokémon GO.
3,000 restaurants will (ironically?) become gyms, allowing Pokémon trainers to battle.
Google Cloud Natural Language API
Sticking with Google product updates, the search beast has unveiled its Cloud Natural Language API.
The blog post reveals ’Cloud Natural Language lets you easily reveal the structure and meaning of your text in a variety of languages, with initial support for English, Spanish and Japanese.’
It can be used for sentiment analysis, entity recognition and sentiment analysis.
Snapchat debuts more fun features
Bitmoji (built from the acquisition of BitStrips) allows you to create an emoji of yourself, combining the two obsessions of young people.
The other new feature, Face Paint Lens, lets users create realtime overlays.
Demi via Snapchat (theddlovato) pic.twitter.com/1esdp2DBk1
— Demi Lovato News (@justcatchmedemi) July 21, 2016
Facebook Messenger hits 1bn monthly active users
Boom, Facebook Messenger catches up with WhatsApp.
Daily Mail post-Brexit bounce
The FT reports Daily Mail digital ad revenues have risen 19% in the three weeks since the Brexit vote.
It has also seen an 8% drop in newspaper advertising, leading to 1% rise in ad revenue overall.
Are you verified?
Any person or brand can now apply for the little blue tick on Twitter.
If you want to know more, here’s everything you need to know about a successful application.
wanted to see what would happen if i used new Twitter Verification process. Answer: NO pic.twitter.com/h3T2kggzD1
— Hunter Walk (@hunterwalk) July 20, 2016
Facebook’s Snapchat copy is killed
A fascinating post from Techcrunch. Facebook has been trialling a Snapchat-like feature, but is not furthering its development at this time.
NBA content for Twitter
Twitter, already set to broadcast Thursday night football, is bringing more sports content, with a weekly pre-game NBA show that will be streamed live.
Another NBA show stream is also in development but not yet announced.
Ninth Measurement and Analytics Report release
Econsultancy’s Measurement and Analytics Report 2016, in association with Lynchpin, reveals some fascinating insights into the data landscape amongst companies and agencies.
Here’s a summary to whet your appetite.
Festival of Marketing agenda announced
A whopping 200 speakers over 12 stages, including Wozniak and Sorrell.
What more could you want in London in Autumn as a marketer? See the agenda here.


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If you ever have Ryan Seacrest over to your house, please make sure you clearly explain to him how your toilet flushes. The TV host told viewers of Live with Kelly and Ryan on Wednesday that after taking care of business in Kris Jenner's toilet, he was unable to dispose of said business. “So I’m in there, and the toilet, it’s like one of those electronic toilets, but it’s black, so you can’t see any of the buttons or things on it, and it’s dimly lit,” he said. “I can’t find the flush.” Seacrest then admitted that he just went ahead and left his, uh, something extra behind in the toilet bowl. “I left it there. It could still be there. I don’t know," he confessed to the adequately grossed out crowd.
Now, a toilet company has decided to weigh in on the situation and offered up a solution for all involved. American Standard sent out a press release letting the media know they'd just sent two toilets out for delivery: one to Kris Jenner and one to Ryan Seacrest. The toilets will come in handy as they include an "intuitive remote" for flushing and are virtually "clog-free", they also retail for up to $600, and with an added on bidet seat that runs for $1,650. So it's a pretty generous gift, and even if Jenner wasn't ready to give up her more confusing model, she could always have it installed in a random closet just in case of emergencies.


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Wheat futures fell further on Thursday, under pressure from weak demand, and an improving US weather outlook, and strong export sales data did little to support soybean prices.
The United Nations food agency said food prices edged up in March, thanks to a rally in sugar and vegetable oil.
But prices remain near a 7-year low, and the index is still down by around 12% from last year.
Disappointing wheat sales
US weekly wheat exports sales were very weak.
For sales in the current season, there were more cancelations that new orders, leaving the total number of booked sales 58,100 tonnes lower week on week.
Markets had been expecting positive export sales of 150,000 to 350,000 tonnes.
Sales for 2016-17 were a bit more encouraging, at 159,300 tonnes, slightly over the top end of expectations, but the overall number was still “terrible,” in the words of Joe Lardy at CHS Hedging.
Mr Lardy noted “big cancellations in spring wheat mainly to South East Asia”.
Darrell Holaday, at Country Futures, said the wheat export figure was “simply not a good number and more confirmation that USDA is still too high with current year wheat exports”.
Rains for the Plains?
Wheat is also under pressure from ideas that wet weather may be on the way for the US Plains.
But there is a significant degree of uncertainty over this, as main weather models are disagreeing on what is in store for the 6-10 day period, ranging from significant rainfall, to almost none.
“The wide range of model solutions certainly keeps confidence low,” said Kyle Tapley, at MDA Weather Services.
Chicago May wheat futures finished down 1.1%, at $4.57 a bushel.
Drought helps French exports
France is gaining sales from a drought in the Maghreb, which is boosting import demand from North Africa.
France exported 1.1m tonnes of soft wheat outside the European Union in February.
Morocco was the biggest destination, followed by Algeria.
French exports this season are now outpacing last year by around 2%.
Egypt buys a little wheat
Eypt’s state grain buyer Gasc bought 60,000 tonnes of French wheat in a tender.
The wheat was bought from Casillo at $181.69 a tonne, plus $10.65 a tonne freight.
Although prices were up from the last tender two weeks ago, both participation and sales were low, indication traders are still wary of the destination due to an ongoing dispute over acceptable levels of ergot.
In Paris, wheat futures took little cheer from the news, with the May contract ending down 0.3% at E153.25 a tonne.
Good corn, soybean export sales
Soybean export sales for this season came in above expectations, at 420,400 tonnes, compared to forecasts of 150,000 to 350,000 tonnes.
But export sales of soybean products were disappointing.
Soymeal export sales for this season were just 23,300 tonnes, compared to expectations of 75,000 to 250,000 tonnes, although there unexpected sales of 29,300 tonnes for the next season.
Soyoil saw net-negative sales, thanks to cancelations, leaving a net-cancellation of 7,600 tonnes, where markets were looking for
Corn export sales came in in-line with expectations, with a hefty 945,300 tonnes for this season, and 175,100 tonnes in 2016-17.
Chinese switch corn to soybeans
The Chinese agriculture ministry announced a plan to cut the country’s corn 8.2m acres by 2020.
The move is expected to boost domestic soybean production, although a Chinese official said that the country would not attempt to resist imports.
But the USDA’s bureau in Argentina saw an opposite trend for next season, with corn rapidly winning acres over soybeans.
Brazilian hopes cut
The Brazilian government cut its forecast for this season’s soybean crop by 2.2m tonnes to 98.98m tonnes, although this is still a record level.
The Brazilian government lifted its forecast for 2015-16 corn production to 84.66m tonnes, from the 83.52m tonnes forecast last month.
May soybean futures finished down 0.4%, at 9.04 ½ a bushel.
The soybean corn spread is continuing to narrow down, after jumping wide last week.
May corn rose by 1.0%, to 3.61 ½ a bushel. The front month contract is continuing to see the sharpest gains, suggesting squeezed prompt markets as farmers hold onto supplies.
Coffee and sugar futures are still under pressure from the Brazilian real, which touched two-week lows on Thursday, as the central bank warned of private sector bankruptcies to come.
May raw sugar futures hit a one-month low of 14.43 cents a pound, down 1.3% on the day.
And coffee markets had to contend with an upgrade to Brazilian production hopes from the IBGE.
Hopes for the arabica crop were lifted by 300,000 bags to 39.2m bags.
And Brazil’s robusta coffee crop was seen at 11m bags compared to the 10.8m bags forecast in March.
May arabica futures finished down 1.4%, at 119.80 a pound, a one-month low.
But robusta settled up, although prices trimmed an early surge that saw futures up 4% in the opening minutes of the session.
May robusta finished up 1.8%, at $1,496 a tonne.
Nigerian production hopes raised
Top cocoa grower Ivory Coast will harvest 1.6m tonnes this year, down from 1.8m tonnes last season, a senior finance ministry official was reported saying.
But an official at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria forecast production in that country at 350,000 tonnes, compared to earlier forecasts of 260,000 tonnes, citing high input application.
And much needed rains are expected across the key West African cocoa growing region.
New York July cocoa finished 1.4% down, at $2,872 per tonne.
(Source – http://www.agrimoney.com/marketreport/pm-markets-wheat-extends-losses-after-dismal-export-numbers–3571.html)


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The software giant Microsoft announced on Wednesday that it would be firing 10,000 employees. This morning, Alphabet piled on another 12,000. Amazon has already laid off 18,000 workers, and Meta has eliminated another 11,000. Add to that list Salesforce, which at the start of the month eliminated 7,000 positions.
There is one company that stands out from the rest on this dismal list, and that’s Apple.
It’s important to remember that the last time Apple laid off that many people was in 1997, when Steve Jobs took over as CEO and fired 4,100 people. Before Jobs led a massive turnaround that started Apple on a steady march to where it is today, the company was in dire straits.
This chart illustrates one of the main reasons we’ve heard for these layoffs:
|Employee numbers at time of layoffs
|Employee growth 2020-2021
|Employees laid off
During the height of the pandemic, between 2020 and 2022, each of these businesses experienced explosive growth, with the result being a significantly larger number of employees. Large-scale layoffs have occurred as a result of companies deciding to correct their course as the economy slowed throughout 2022.
Apple’s hiring practises have been much more restrained than those of other large tech companies, adding only 17,000 employees between 2020 and 2022. Maybe it hasn’t had to implement widespread layoffs because it hasn’t hired as many people as the competition.
One small round of layoffs has been reported so far, but Apple has been relatively quiet on the subject. Forbes reported in August that the company secretly fired 100 contract tech recruiters. That may not seem like much in a company with over 160,000 workers, but it could have indicated a slowdown in hiring.
That is precisely what happened after the company announced a hiring freeze in November. Apple said it would continue hiring for some positions despite the freeze, but the company joined others in the industry in responding to the economic uncertainty by halting hiring generally.
Changes in the economy and general unpredictability going into the new year have also played a significant role in the reduction of staff, though Apple has so far refrained from laying off employees.
However, on February 1st, when Apple is expected to report earnings, we should have a more complete picture of the company’s financial health. There’s no telling what will happen, but based on the recent trend of layoffs at other companies, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that Apple will follow suit. Hopefully, the company’s careful hiring practises will prevent this, though, and the company’s employees will be spared the trauma.


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STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: To ensure the hallmarking of gold jewellery in order to protect the public against lower cartage and also ensure that customers do not get cheated while buying gold ornaments and get the exact purity as marked on the ornaments, Sarafa Association Jammu Province (SAJP) has decided to follow the government guidelines set forth by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) but urged the Union Government to carry out certain amendments in the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act for the overall interest of customers as well as jewellers.To implement the government decision of making all gold jewellery bear hallmark from June 16 onwards, the team of SAJP led by its President Raman Suriand comprising of the office bearers Rakesh Mahajan (Sr. Vice President), Deepak Jain (Vice President), Vijay Kumar Verma (General Secretary), SumitHanda (Secretary), Surinder Kumar Jain (Treasurer), Advisors Vijay Saraf, Ajay Talla, Darshan Lal Dhalla, Sanjay Jain, Chaman Lal Khajuria, Rajesh Sawhney and Executive Members Ankur Suri, Aman Jain, Jugal Kishore Babbar, Vishal Jain and Rajiv Jain, met R. C Dass, Scientist-D & Head, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Jammu and Kashmir at the BIS Office, Bari Brahmana, here.They apprised him of the teething issues confronting jewellers in the Union Territory (UT).The team also apprised the officials that jewellers are voluntarily coming forward for the purity certification of Gold through hallmarking but they need a few weeks to get themselves registered and start the branding processes.The team also apprised the BIS officials about their resolve to bring in massive changes as desired by the Union Government in larger interest of the public but spelled out their concern over lack of infrastructure.They said that out of 20 districts in Jammu and Kashmir, only two districts are having testing laboratories and hallmarking offices.They also added that lack of computer and related knowledge is also a huge hindrance in implementing the orders immediately.Raman Suri said that several jewellers in Jammu and Kashmir are already selling Hallmark jewellery and the remaining ones will also begin adhering to the government norms in shortest possible time frame.He assured that like rest of the country, Jewellers in Jammu and Kashmir have also started their registration with BIS and the moment it is completed, they will start selling hallmarked jewellery.He urged the authorities to begin the process of establishing new hallmarking centres in all other districts to facilitate the jewellers and ease the process.Raman added that gold hallmarking is basically a purity certification of the precious metal and mandatory hallmarking basically means that jewellers will now be able to sell only hallmarked jewellery certified in three caratages 14, 18 and 22 till now, though some more may be added by the Government soon, and added that customers need to check whether the jewellery they are buying is hallmarked or not.The jewellers in Jammu and Kashmir, he added, want to adhere to the government guidelines and help consumers get pure gold ornaments.“Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which is responsible and authorised to carry out the hallmarking of gold jewellery, will be approached to issue license and registration number, as required before getting the jewellery hallmarked. It has now become mandatory for all jewellers to hallmark gold jewellery so that customers who go to buy gold, don’t feel cheated and get pure ornaments only”, he informed, saying that SAJP is committed to give consumers pure gold jewellery at any cost.Once all the jewellers in Jammu and Kashmir are granted licenses and certifications, customers will be able to check whether it is hallmarked gold or not, and for that the client will be free to look at the four hallmark signs or symbols that include BIS Mark, Purity in Carat or Fineness like 22K/916, 18K/750, 14K/585or more as may be notified by Government later,Identification Mark or Number of the Hallmarking Centre, and Identification Mark or Logo of the Jeweller.BIS officials assured the teamof Sarafa Association Jammu Province that every possible help will be rendered to set up BIS centres or get the jewellery certified and facilitate jewellers in their endeavour to adopt to new standards.
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Philly transplants should soon find respite in a sandwich shop planned for the recently vacated space at 204 Princess St. Port City Cheese Steak Company, a new restaurant from the same ownership team behind the New Orleans-themed Bourbon St. just around the corner at 35 N. Front St., is shooting for an early December opening, partner Kevin Corbett said.
Although he graduated from Laney High School, Corbett was born in New York, and has a strong affinity for that region’s cuisine. Expect sausage parmigiana heroes and other Italian staples from the Northeast to show up on the menu. But he said nailing the authentic details that make Philadelphia’s signature sandwich special is his foremost goal. “I’ll go to Philly before it opens. I’ll do my due diligence,” he said, outlining an enviable research mission he’s planning in coming weeks.
The building has been stripped back to the studs, a new black-and-white check tile floor installed. The space will exude an old-timey atmosphere, with vintage Coke signs and other diner-era paraphernalia soon to materialize. Despite
the costly renovations, Corbett said the shop will appeal to budget-minded diners, with combo meals including a soda and fries in the $7 range.
Corbett said a Facebook page for the restaurant would launch soon, and be the best source of information about the project’s development.
The space most recently hosted the now-defunt Princess Pizza, which owner Sam Rayan shuttered in September. At that time, he announced plans to open a new pizzaria in Leland in the former Domino’s spot at 1735 Reed Road NE.


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Nearly a thousand Americans die of coronavirus deaths a day – more than in any other nation. While Americans constitute 4% of the world’s population, we have suffered nearly 25% of the global number of COVID-D cases and almost 25% of the deaths.
It’s clear that many households were not prepared for the economic downturn The loss of income and the consequent economic crisis hit a middle class that does not have much of a cushion to weather a depression.
A Federal Reserve study found that 6 in 10 households do not have enough liquid assets to cover three months’ worth of expenses. Just five percent of middle-class assets are liquid while almost 60 percent of a family’s assets are tied up in primary residences, retirement accounts, and businesses. 1 in 6 Americans could go hungry amid the Covid-19 crisis.
Even if families could sell their assets, they would be risking their homes, security in old age, and, for some families, their primary source of income. The need for cash is causing people to sell and barter their possessions.
With 74% of U.S. families living paycheck-to-paycheck—including one in four households that earn at least $150,000 per year—the pandemic plunged millions into desperate situations overnight. The U.S. economy has been kept up by economic stimulus of funds, IRS reminds consumers that unemployment income is taxable, meaning the government will get back some of the money it has spent over the next year.
The Brookings Institution took a deep look at pay across the U.S. and found that almost half of workers — 44% — earn low wages. 12 percent of Americans say they can’t cover a $400 expense; the remaining 27 percent said they could cover the expense but would need to use some combination of a credit card, taking out a loan, or selling something.
Almost a third of low-wage workers were below 150% of the federal poverty level. The median pay among low-wage workers was around $10.22/hr. When wages stay the same, they’re not really staying the same.
Before the pandemic, the overall personal saving rate was relatively low at just under eight percent. While the savings rate has increased since just before the 2008 recession, it is nowhere near historic highs of over 13 percent. The value of savings are they can be drawn upon in an emergency. Sixty-nine percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings account. As the economy falters, many in the middle class will now need to draw on whatever assets they have.
“The real tsunami is coming,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, tells us “the labor market is set to start weakening again. That leaves us with very little job creation in the rest of the economy but with still high levels of layoffs.” “You’re starting to see unemployment spells last a long time. The longer you’re out of the labor force and disconnected from your prior employer, the harder it is to reconnect.”
Less than a week after President Trump touted a positive jobs report and claimed victory over the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Labor announced that more than 1.5 million filed new jobless claims in each week of June. Before the pandemic, the all-time weekly high was 695,000 in 1982.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the employment-population ratio, which is the percentage of adults in the U.S. population who are employed, fell to a record low of 52.8 percent. It was 61.2 percent at the start of the year. Doing the math tells us that nearly 48 percent of working-age adults didn’t have a job in May.
Economists say the employment-population ratio is a truer indicator of the health of the labor market because it counts the people who could be working but, for one reason or another, are not looking for a job. The monthly employment report only counts those who are looking for a job.
One in three Americans say a household member has been laid off or had their pay cut. What’s more alarming is that many jobs are disappearing. A recent report by Bloomberg Economics warned that up to a third of the job losses experienced between February and May may never return.
The real unemployment rate is 21%–and is heading higher. Government data available don’t account for many workers who are still on the job but are expected to be let go. For example, Boeing (BA) announced plans to cut 16,000 workers, with 12,300 of those job cuts already being identified through buyouts or involuntary permanent layoffs. But virtually all of those affected workers are still on the job as of today. United Airlines announced plans to lay off more than one-third of its 95,000 workers. Brooks Brothers, which first opened for business in 1818, filed for bankruptcy. Bed Bath and Beyond said it will close 200 stores.
Many retailers are in bankruptcy –such as Brooks Brothers. J.C. Penney, Stage Stores, J. Crew, Nieman-Marcus, Roots USA, Pier 1, Tuesday Morning, Barney’s, Charlotte Ruse, Destination Maternity, Diesel USA, Forever 21, FTD, Full Beauty Brands, Gymboree, Payless Shoes, Things Remembered, and Z Gallery, and Denim retailer Lucky Brands, Stein Mart. Many of these bankruptcies result in the closing all of their Stores.
Giant Macy’s announced it is cutting 3,900 corporate jobs — 3 percent of its total workforce — to reduce costs as it struggles with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The cuts represent about a fourth of Macy’s corporate workforce. It expects to save about $365 million through the layoffs. The cuts represent about a fourth of Macy’s corporate workforce. The department store chain said it expects to save about $365 million through the layoffs.
Other businesses are in trouble, too, such as Chuck E. Cheese files, which filed for Chapter 11. Microsoft will permanently close its retail stores and put its resources into online channels after closing the outlets in late March due to COVID-19. Nordstrom, a major retail tenant finds itself at odds with its landlords. The upscale department store chain has reportedly notified the property owners of its namesake and off-price Rack stores that it will pay only half of its rent costs for the rest of 2020.
The demise of America’s malls can deal a blow to the towns that depend on them.
Malls and shopping centers across the country provide $400 billion in local tax revenue annually, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Millions of additional layoffs could come soon from cash-strapped state and local governments unless Congress provides additional relief and small businesses that have exhausted their borrowing under the Paycheck Protection Program. In a survey of its members, the National Federation of Independent Business said more than half of respondents had used up their loans and 22 percent planned to lay off workers as a result.
Temporary becomes permanent
People who are counting on businesses reopening their doors may be surprised to find that a temporary loss has become a permanent one, said Zandi. Millions of people remain unemployed and the number of jobs being permanently lost is going up each month. The rise in permanent job loss is the latest signal that the economic damage from the coronavirus is likely to be long-lasting. 6 million additional jobs lost may be a best-case scenario rather than the worst-case scenario
.An earlier University of Chicago study predicted that 42% of pandemic job losses would be permanent. These are not just job losses for millions of Americans but an even larger career existential crisis.
The “only way to have a viable economy and society is to control this epidemic.” “It was Trump’s defiance of science, his muddled messaging and his incessant vitriol that has plunged the country into a swamp of joblessness, receding labor participation and slumping business confidence unseen in other developed nations,”
“Here we are, a country so rich in expertise, in resources, in capacities, and yet we’re watching a complete failure of a political response — with a massive loss of life — in real-time,” Economist Jeffrey Sachs said. “It’s quite shocking because Trump not only does not know how to approach this issue but he blocks those who do.”
The nearly $3 trillion worth of pandemic relief measures approved earlier this year by Congress have clearly buoyed the economy, but the effect of those initial programs is ebbing. Many small businesses are running out of loans and grants that kept paychecks going out to at least some workers. State governments are financially distressed. Unless more relief money comes from Washington, more people will experience no-pay paydays.
The first wave of the coronavirus pandemic caused the U.S. economy to shrink at its fastest rate on the record because of the virus. The U.S. economy shrunk at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 32.9 percent during the second quarter of 2020 as spurred an economic collapse of record-breaking speed and size, according to the Commerce Department. It is the largest one-quarter plunge in economic growth since the federal government began reporting quarterly GDP data. The staggering contraction beats the last record set in 1958 when GDP shrank at an annualized 10% rate.
During the worst of the Great Recession, GDP shrank at an annualized 8.4% pace in the final quarter of 2008. Before that, the single largest annualized quarterly decline recorded by the Commerce Department was 10% in early 1958. the economy saw its worst quarter in at least 145 years. Federal regulators quietly shredded the most significant banking reform enacted after the 2008 financial crisis last month. When they were done, they patted banks on the back for continuing to shovel cash to their shareholders.
This downturn or depression is likely last well into the year. The average duration of a recession between 1945 and 2001 was 10 months. The middle class faces its greatest threat since the 1930s. Any way you slice it, it’s an ugly, historic economic contraction.
The industries that have seen the most job loss, including hospitality, leisure, and retail are industries where a much higher proportion of women work. The job market is rough for recent college graduates, with 68% fewer entry-level positions available this year than last year.
Making the Mortgage Payment or Rent
Half of U.S. homeowners struggling with mortgages due to COVID-19, researchers say many Americans are thinking about putting up the “For Sale” sign. A survey of 2,000 American homeowners found that 52 percent are constantly concerned about making their mortgage payment on time. Forty-seven percent of the poll say they are considering selling their home because they can’t afford their mortgage anymore.
Researchers say 35 percent of U.S. homeowners admit they’ve missed a mortgage payment during the pandemic. The same amount of respondents said they worry about losing their home. The poll, commissioned by the National Association of Realtors, also found that eight in 10 homeowners say the COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unexpected financial problem in their lives.
More than half of the survey admit they have cut back on their basic expenses to afford paying off their home. Seventy-one percent of homeowners have significantly cut back on buying clothes. Other habits the tough financial times have cut into include buying take-out food (66%), paying for a streaming service (46%), and buying groceries (45%). Another 53 percent of homeowners are selling their own possessions to make extra income.
A separate survey by Apartment List, a search firm, found that fear of eviction has escalated. More than one-in-five renters say they are “very” or “extremely” concerned about being thrown out in the next six months, up from 18% in June.
Thirty-one percent have asked a family member for a loan during the pandemic. Another 22 percent have reached out to friends for help with their bills. Some homeowners have opted for the real longshot, as 19 percent of homeowners admit playing the lottery has helped ease their financial burden.
What Jobs Are Coming Back
Eating and drinking establishments accounted for the bulk of the 7.5 million jobs the economy recovered in the past two months.
Yet restaurants still employed about 3 million fewer people at the start of July than they did before the crisis — a whopping 50% reduction. And the recent outbreak of coronavirus cases means many of those jobs probably aren’t coming back soon.st politics news.
A society in which the rich get richer as the poor and middle-class collapse is not a society that can sustain itself. The Fed and the financial regulators who stripped the Volcker Rule of its meaning are enlisting the country in a two-tiered future: one for the financial elite and another for ordinary citizens of a democracy. They are encouraging banks to take bigger risks as the economy collapses, without taking meaningful precautions. That cannot end well.
The Economy is Cratering. Welcome to the Trump Depression
Economists call 12.5% as the official unemployment rate or “U3” — but in these times, a better measure is “U6,” the statistic which includes “discouraged workers” and people forced into part-time work, or the underemployed. That’s closer to 20%, which is nearer to what you might expect after five months of unemployment topping a million people per week. And even that’s an understatement because none of this really measures the impact on the self-employed very well. The self-employed have come to be larger components of the economy, whether Uber drivers or Instacart deliverers — even the pre-Coronavirus economy was fully half “low-wage service jobs.” Nearly half of economists from leading association predict US economy won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022. The patient wasn’t healthy to begin with.


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The FDA wants genetically engineered salmon on the dinner table, but top chefs won’t bite.
On December 26 the Food and Drug Administration issued a statement that the first genetically engineered animal is safe human consumption. A company called AquaBounty Technologies created a gene-spliced salmon that grows far faster than wild or even farmed salmon, using DNA of two species of salmon, along with an eelpout.
Not salivating? You’re in good company. Chefs who say they’ll avoid genetically engineered salmon include Mario Batali, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and David Pasternack.
Eric Ripert of seafood temple Le Bernardin says, “I think it’s totally wrong and I am not happy to see this ‘Frankenstein’ kind of salmon, or any fish produced this way, enter the market.”
Chef Rick Moonen says we need premarket safety testing. “We’re testing the first genetically engineered animal on humans.”
Mary Cleaver of the organic eatery The Green Table shares these concerns. She says the FDA’s review has been “very minimal, under unusually lax regulations. The FDA only looks at the company’s own studies. AquaBounty culled the abnormal fish to create the sample groups for their studies. We don’t know what the health risks might be.”
Cleaver points to a recent study published by French scientist Gilles-Eric Séralini and seven co-authors, in which rats fed genetically engineered corn developed grotesque tumors. She warned that if genetically engineered salmon were approved, “the human population would be the test group.”
According to the Organic Consumers Association, even though AquaBounty’s studies were designed to conceal potential risks, they still show that its AquAdvantage® salmon is less nutritious, more likely to trigger an allergy, and could increase cancer risks by raising levels of IGF-1, a hormone linked to prostate, breast and colon cancers in humans. Nevertheless, the FDA concluded that these concerns didn’t pose enough of a health risk to deny approval—or even require labeling, something the EU does.
One threat government regulators did take seriously was genetically engineered salmon escaping and contaminating already imperiled wild salmon populations. Escape would be a certainty if they were raised in the open ocean; roughly 2 million farmed salmon escape into the North Atlantic each year competing with wild salmon for food and mates.
To allay these fears, the AquaBounty application is for inland tank production only—building artificial oceans on land, and the GE salmon would be rendered sterile.
Moonen points to another resource issue: Raising salmon, a carnivorous fish, in captivity, he says, is like raising lions for meat. These artificially quick-growing GE salmon eat more than twice as much as normal salmon endangering the food supply of an already fragile wild salmon fishery.
“I don’t see what it’s solving,” says Moonen. “You won’t see it on my menu.”
Public comment on the FDA statement has been extended 60 days until April 26, 2013. Make your opinion known here.


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UK-based start-up concept WildeRooms is all set to make online shopping even more exciting through its ‘try-before-you-buy’ service for those shopping for clothes online. Customers will be able to order from multiple retailers and try items on in a customer lounge, while also sharing their product selection on social media.
WildeRooms, set for a September launch, will pay for the goods chosen by customers and have them delivered to select dressing rooms, likely to be located in leading shopping centres, where shoppers can try on clothes before making a purchase decision. “Our aim is to increase online conversion rates and reduce returns, thereby tackling some major challenges faced by e-commerce retailers,” observes Kevin Dhami, WildeRooms chief executive.
Supported by property firm Cushman & Wakefield’s investment arm Pi Labs, WildeRooms is in talks with major shopping centre owners including Westfield and British Land about the venture. WildeRooms will be a proper destination featuring a lounge area with a café and sofas, in addition to a range of dressing rooms from standard to luxury. “When you visit us, we’ll know your name, size, favourite drink, making shopping a comfortable experience,” shares Dhami.
WildeRooms aims to digitalise a traditional retail space by infusing the best of both online and offline. Shoppers will be able to not only touch and feel but also try without having to go shop hopping. It currently has 129 partners including TopShop, Reiss, House of Fraser and Karen Millen from who it will take a commission on sales made. “We’re looking to shake up retail by attracting the discerning consumer, time-poor and cash rich,” Dhami avers.
WildeRooms customers can add items across any retailer’s website to a WildeRooms basket using a browser app. Once they have shopped they can visit the WildeRooms website to arrange a date and time to try on the items. Thereafter WildeRooms will source the items and have them delivered to its dressing room lounge. Shoppers will have to pay a fee for the service, designed to cover the cost if they don’t show up, and then pay for what they want to keep with WildeRooms handling any returns back to the retailers.
“With the advance of omnichannel retailing, shopping behaviours are changing, requiring retailers and retail property landlords to evolve with these trends,” explains Faisal Butt, Pi Labs chief executive. “We believe WildeRooms is well positioned to help landlords make better use of their space, while also facilitating retailers increase conversion rates from online shopping – all the while offering a seamless and enjoyable service to consumers. We rarely come across businesses that address pain points for all the stakeholders involved, and WildeRooms seems to have hit the spot in three different ways by creating an interface between delivery logistics, e-tailing and retailing.”
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