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Safeway forms committee on humane practices
- David Goll
In a move described by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as "groundbreaking," officials of Safeway Inc. have agreed to form a committee to look into some animal welfare issues.
Brian Dowling, a Safeway (NYSE: SWY) spokesman, said Wednesday the committee would consist of both company employees and outside experts, including Temple Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University who is a noted authority on humane slaughter methods of farm animals.
PETA, an animal welfare advocacy group that has 192 shares of Safeway stock, has lobbied Safeway officials to promote a method of slaughtering birds called controlled-atmosphere killing, commonly called CAK. They announced they would withdraw a proposal to gain shareholder support for Safeway to support CAK.
The CAK method includes slowly replacing the oxygen birds are breathing with an inert, nonpoisonous gas like argon and nitrogen that puts the animals to "sleep." PETA said current slaughter methods often include hanging birds upside down by their legs, which can result in broken bones, running their heads through electrified water giving them severe shocks and slitting their throats.
Dowling, who noted the company does not operate any poultry-processing facilities of its own, said Pleasanton-based Safeway would contact its vendors who supply it with poultry products to "suggest" they adopt CAK techniques. He also said the company would post its animal welfare policies on its Web site.
PETA officials expressed their satisfaction with Safeway's decision.
"Controlled-atmosphere killing will save Safeway money, help workers and save chickens from a horribly cruel death," said Bruce Friedrich, PETA's factory farming campaign director, in a statement. "We're thrilled that Safeway is taking a leadership role in eliminating some of the worst abuses of chickens at slaughter."
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Like scientists looking on an experiment that yielded unexpected results, retailers are sizing up shoppers and thinking, “What have we done?”
Consumers have more merchandise choices and information than ever, much of it literally at their smartphone-gripping fingertips, searchable and buyable in a moment. Such convenience and access have created a new type of shopper that is reshaping how retailers will sell for years to come. And it’s increasingly blurring the lines between the old-fashioned store and the boundless digital world.
“We have these great tools, phones, apps, but I walk into a store and that’s gone,” said Dan Shust, vice president of innovation at Resource LLC, a Columbus digital marketing firm. “That’s not good enough anymore.”
Shust thinks stores aren’t taking advantage of technology to link merchants and consumers.
While experts don’t expect plaza shops to disappear, they’re debating the look and function of the store of the future.
“We have the ability to do almost anything we want at a digital level,” said Christian Davies, executive creative director for the Columbus design firm Fitch. “But no one is doing it well.”
Will retailers use more personalized and targeted marketing on their shoppers? Almost definitely.
Will retail spaces be used as showrooms for browsing and testing and not as an immediate selling outlet? Perhaps.
“This is in its infancy,” Shust said of retail’s technology-aided transition. “All the ingredients are there, but the final product isn’t together yet.”
The key ingredient is data. Consumers have it, retailers want it and with today’s handheld devices there are innumerable ways to chop it and turn it around to retailers’ and shoppers’ benefit. That road leads down the information superhighway and straight into consumers’ pockets because stores are expected to become more tightly intertwined with ubiquitous smartphones and tablets.
Research firm Gartner Inc. projects that chief marketing officers will be spending more on technology than chief information officers by 2017.
The more retailers can learn about their shoppers – location, likes, buying history – the more closely they can custom tailor the shopping experience. The store of the future, to an extent, will be your store, with messaging targeted at individuals rather than the masses, and employees instantly armed with precise consumer information. The store’s background soundtrack might even change based on consumer tastes.
Davies said technology mostly is now used for the basics – finding products and checking prices. Retailers need to make the tools and data more meaningful.
“Does any of this really enhance the experience, or is it just digital wallpaper or fluff?” he asked.
Selling pitches made in text messages are common, but the more data that retailers collect, the more targeted the missives can become, said Joanna Felder, vice president of intelligence and brand strategy for Chute Gerdeman Inc. in Columbus. Shoppers are demanding more information to help whittle their options so they can make a buying decision.
One target is by location. So-called geofencing creates a virtual border around a store. Once a consumer is inside the boundaries, they receive tailored communications through their mobile device.
Columbus-based Alliance Data Retail Services ran a pilot program with eight retailers at Easton Town Center during the holidays when consumers signed up to receive targeted information once they arrived at the shopping center. The offers were well received by retailers and shoppers.
“You (have) to get retailers to think local, not national,” said Jim Walz, Alliance’s director of digital solutions. “The most important store to the customer is the one nearest to them.”
Shust said some merchants are altering store displays that will change information or deals based on the shopper standing closest to it. Employees could be alerted when a customer arrives at the store and his preferences and purchase history could pop up on a tablet so they know who they’re dealing with. Shoppers will gain more power as well, whether it be the ability to control displays inside a store to learn more about products or even avoid the checkout register by buying through their smartphone.
Risk vs. reward
Much of the technology that promises to change shopping is available, but it hasn’t caught on. Felder said it’s difficult to choose the technologies to use, and each comes with risks and expenses.
“To this point, it’s been more return on image than return on investment,” Walz said.
Though many retailers may be unwilling or unable to pay for digital signs or tablets for sales staff, Shust said, that won’t stop changes to the store experience. Even if an apparel shop’s physical layout doesn’t change, for example, handheld devices still can unlock information for consumers.
“The smartphone could still present my store,” he said.
Matt Wilson, general manager at SBC Advertising in Columbus, said adoption by retailers is slow because the technology needs to be reproduced.
“A lab is good for learning, but you have to be able to bring that to your chain or you’ll see a fall-off from a cool idea to something half-assed,” he said.
Then there’s this: Technology of the future quickly can become a thing of the past. Consider the QR code, which was the rage a few years ago but has been passed by advances, such as near field communications, that have made even a simple act like scanning passe, said Gretchen Ardizzone, Chute Gerdeman senior marketing manager.
“It’s built in, it’s a little more seamless (now),” she said. “You don’t have to scan. It’s just there without any added steps.”
Regardless of where technology is headed, consumers won’t abandon the chance to walk a store’s aisles, sizing up merchandise with a touch or a taste.
“Even though the Internet is really awesome, it’s an arms-length relationship between the consumer and online,” Davies said. “You can’t taste the food. You can’t smell the fragrance. You can’t try something on.”
Indeed, shopping is entertainment, Felder said. It’s social, it’s fun. That plays to an experience technology cannot replace.
Lululemon Athletica Inc. has built a rabid fan base not on its yoga pants alone, but because each store doubles as an event space and showroom. Ardizzone cited Reebok International Inc., which opened a store for its crossfit apparel and footwear in New York that also is a gym.
“You’re not just selling products,” she said. “You’re selling a lifestyle.”
Wilson said retailers are looking for smaller spaces. It means a smaller back room and less stock on hand. That’s driving some retailers to reduce inventory to a curated selection and turn their shops into showrooms, where customers might not walk out with the merchandise they want but they can order it for delivery within hours.
“We’re living in interesting times,” Davies said.

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Fido, a subsidiary of Rogers, will be going through an extensive branding and strategy overhaul in the coming weeks. Similar to the brand refresh Rogers recently went through, Fido is undergoing a logo change and a shift in messaging.
According to sources, “The New Fido” is set to launch as early as April, with a full rollout by early May. The company’s seminal doghouse symbol is set to be replaced by an actual dog, a playful cartoon dog with a wagging tail, classy jacket and jewelled bandana. Aimed at attracting a younger demographic, Fido is going after the “in-the-know” millennial market that is “no bull,” “quick-witted” and “hangout-able.” To that end, Fido will be using the naming scheme YOLO — yes, as in “you only live once,” — to appeal to that particular demographic.
The FidoDOLLARS loyalty program is also going away. New customers will be shifting towards a loyalty-based membership program focused on rewards like credit towards streaming music and a certain allotment of video streaming (with a heavy emphasis on Rogers’ Vice Media partnership).
Changes are also coming to Fido’s device subsidy pricing, with prepaid users being able to purchase up to 2GB of data. Fido will also be introducing new value packs that start at $6, allowing customers to access 3rd party messaging services like Viber, WhatsApp, and iMessage without accruing monthly data usage.
Fido also plans to unbundle international texting from its value packs.
We’ll have more on this story in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!


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Tynan Muddle at Aussie-Gamer.com writes: "Like it or not, Nintendo's latest home console Wii U has already won the "next generation" of video game hardware.
It's no secret that the Wii U has had a rocky start. Fire up almost any video game website out there and you will come across hundreds of articles about how the console has "doomed" Nintendo forever, how the lack of video game releases is a bad omen, or how some developer has a problem with the hardware architecture.
But those issues are all but behind the biggest video game publisher in the world. The future looks bright for both Nintendo and Wii U, even with new consoles from Sony and Microsoft breathing down its neck.
Here's why I feel Nintendo Wii U is not only out of the woods, but has cemented its spot as number one console for the next generation."


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Bitcoin Market Manipulation
So, What Is Market Manipulation? Bitcoin traded at about $9,300 on Monday. Gox was caused by exchange pm to bitcoin two bots named "Markus" and "Willy" that seemed to be performing valid trades but didn't. It is bitcoin market manipulation of great importance for investors and regulators to recognize whether there are market manipulation and its manipulation patterns Even though these addresses account for just 0.01% of all addresses, they control 43% of the Bitcoin supply. Manipulations in stock or economy markets is an old thing but reports of manipulations in the crypto market sounds like mere speculations for it seems like a difficult feat “If the market manipulation story is true, then BTC is not in a bubble in the traditional sense, but is in the midst of something that could be much worse,” said Pickard. Bitcoin's epic rise last year may have been more than investor fervor.
Jurisdiction. In this live trading session, Jon Morgan will be bitcoin market manipulation discussing the manipulation. Bitcoin whales get a foul rap. This isn’t a new phenomenon. 05:42 According to the researchers, much of the manipulation at Mt. Bitcoin bubble? btc try The manipulation occurred as bitcoin rose to an all-time high of nearly $20,000 in late 2017, the study found.
A study published Wednesday says at least half of the jump in bitcoin was due to coordinated price manipulation bitcoin market manipulation University. Equally, the. Ilan Sterk, the VP of Trading & Capital Markets at Orbs Group and VP Trading & Business Development at Alef Bit Technologies, recently undertook extensive research on Bitcoin market manipulation A chronological calculation shows the sellers sold about 2,905.7 units of bitcoin, in aggregate at about $2.5 million below what they would have realized at a bitcoin market price of $7,700 Bitcoin purchases with Tether following market downturns is not extraordinary and is no proof of market manipulation..Research Affiliates Quant Warns of Bitcoin Market Manipulation (Bloomberg) -- In 2017, Alex Pickard had made so much money from Bitcoin that he quit his job in finance and moved to Washington. A chronological calculation shows the sellers sold about 2,905.7 units of bitcoin, in aggregate at about $2.5 million below what they would have realized at a bitcoin market price of $7,700 Market Manipulation. On that, Giannotto said that with such tight controls on BTC supply, and by so few, the Bitcoin market is at the mercy of the whales. BITCOIN MANIPULATION IN THE CRYPTOCURRENCY MARKETS, THIS IS NUTS! Gox Transaction Network Abstract: The cryptocurrency market is a very huge market without effective supervision.
Justina Lee, January 14, 2021, 2:35 PM EST Former crypto miner urges caution as prices reach new heights. Research Affiliates Quant Warns of Bitcoin Market Manipulation By. Extending the analysis to include addresses with BTC > 100 paints an even greater degree of unequal distribution, with 0.05% of addresses holding 62% of the Bitcoin. However, unequal distribution is a problem that affects all asset bitcoin market manipulation classes. They will select to withdraw liquidity, by not taking part in market exercise.
Indeed, Bitcoin markets are still subject to this and other kinds of manipulation – some that may be even more insidious. "One of the SEC's top bitcoin market manipulation worries is that. The practice is illegal and. But in the case of Bitcoin, the actual market manipulation took outside the U.S. Market Manipulation of Bitcoin: Evidence from Mining the Mt. But for some time now, especially after the 2017 bitcoin price surge, speculations have surfaced about manipulations in the crypto currency market.Market manipulation ensues when one tries to meddle with the market and makes synthetic, inaccurate or misleading representations of any currency. The primary goal of market manipulation is financial gain at the expense of other market participants. Source: bitinfocharts.com Market Manipulation. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets are in turmoil tonight after the disappointing launch of the hotly-anticipated Bakkt crypto platform The bitcoin price shed 15% of its value this week, with.


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According to Apple, 3D Touch display technology integrated into the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus accounts for the bulk of an 11 percent increase in weight over last year's models, not the use of 7000 series aluminum as some have speculated.
The findings were uncovered in Apple's environmental reports for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which break down materials used by respective component weight. The Verge was first to spot the additional tech specifications.
As seen in the charts above, the 3D Touch display comes in at 29 grams for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 40g for the larger 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus (iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus). That's more than twice as heavy as the 12g and 19g assemblies found in iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, respectively.
As a whole iPhone 6s weighs in at 143g, or 14g heavier than the 129g iPhone 6, while the 192g iPhone 6s Plus is a full 20g heavier than its predecessor. Not counting glass, which is another heavy iPhone component, 3D Touch assemblies in iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus account for a respective 20 percent and 21 percent of overall handset weight. Also adding weight, and directly associated with 3D Touch, is Apple's Taptic Engine, a haptic feedback mechanism that takes up substantially more internal space than vibrators used in previous iPhones.
Apple's 3D Touch technology relies on capacitive sensors integrated into iPhone's backlight to sense input pressure, enabling specialized UI gestures that add an entirely new layer to iOS 9 interaction. Dubbed "Peek and Pop," the new control scheme lets users preview content like photos and email with a light press down on the screen. A deeper press "pops" open a full version of the corresponding app.
Prior to last week's unveiling, Apple's new handsets were widely rumored to be slightly larger and heavier, though some debate as to why. Some believed the use of stronger 7000 series aluminum would add substantial heft, while others, like noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, pointed to an implementation of Force Touch technology.


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Surf Dogs celebrate with limited edition dogs and 1 day 1/2 price sale
Southsiders don’t want to let everyone know about Surf Dogs however, it’s a place you should try out if you live further afield. see our review here.
If you haven’t been yet, for one day you’ll be able to try their dogs for half price as part of their American Independence Day celebrations.
After bring inspired by tasting delicious American hotdogs whilst working in the US, it only seems right that Surf Dogs go all out to celebrate Independence Day here.
There’s a new selection of hot dogs on sale from 1st to 4th July. One of these is the Big Show, named after a WWE wrestler. Ingredients include jumbo corn dog, chilli, onions, Monterey jack cheese finished with a mustard drizzle.
On Independence Day itself, 4th July, there will be a special celebratory half price offer on ALL Hot Dogs for the full day.
Surfdog founder Martin Capaldi explains that the US played a big part in the creation of Surf Dogs and that he is excited to celebrate that heritage with this Independence Day party, he said: “All through my trips across the US as a sound engineer, I felt inspired to start up a gourmet hot dog shop and, three year’s later, Surf Dogs was born. Now I want to participate in US holiday celebrations and hopefully this will be the first of many to come!”
Woohoo! Might catch you there for a dog (or two!)


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Pirates can’t be stopped – An long article on the media war between the music/video industry and the end user/pirates
All posts in Elsewhere
Few days ago, Messenger spacecraft got close enough to Mercury to get more photos of it, showing more than what we had previous known.
U.S. Consumer Debt Rose $15.4 Billion in November to a cool 2.5 trillion dollars. I hate whoever invented plastic money.
Warner Bros announced Friday that it would pick up Blu-ray as its high definition standard


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Taylor Swift's Reputation album was 2018's best-selling LP, according to Billboard's year-end charts.
How the mighty have fallen. Digital downloads, typified by the 99 cent iTunes tracks that ruled the music industry as recently as four years ago, now make less money for US labels than CDs and vinyl records.
Downloads represented just 11 percent of US labels' revenue last year, a music industry trade group said Thursday. Physical sales -- the term for music formats you can actually hold, which are mostly CDs and vinyl at this point -- booked 12 percent. Instead, streaming music has been asphyxiating demand for downloads. Streaming sales were 75 percent of revenue last year, according to year-end data from the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA.
It wasn't that long ago that digital downloads and streaming stood on equal footing. In 2015, downloads and streaming each accounted for about 34 percent of the music industry's sales. But as streaming has shot up in popularity, the music industry's overall fortunes have soared: Total sales have increased 40 percent in those three years that streaming has overtaken downloads.
It underscores the meteoric popularity of streaming, which has spurred a larger, cultural shift in consumers' relationship with their music. Rather than buying music outright, like we did in the era of CDs and downloads, people are increasingly paying monthly fees for all-you-can-access tunes on services like Spotify or Apple Music or listening free by sitting through advertising on sites like YouTube. Though the shift caused an outcry among some labels and artists, the growth of subscriptions has fueled the music industry's best sales growth in years.
Overall last year, retail revenues from recorded music in the US grew about 12 percent, to .85 billion.
Subscriptions, like the monthly fees for Apple Music or Spotify's paid tier, were the biggest moneymaker, at .66 billion, up 33 percent, the RIAA said.
That number doesn't count "limited tier" subscriptions, like Pandora Plus, where members pay a monthly fee to remove advertising, or Amazon Prime, where members have some music streaming included. The industry banked another 7.1 million dollars last year from those limited paid memberships, up 26 percent.
Money from ad-supported streaming, like free listening on Spotify or music videos you watch on YouTube or Vevo, grew 15 percent to 9.5 million. (Online radio was the second biggest source of streaming sales, at 2.8 million.)
Meanwhile, download sales dropped 26 percent to .04 billion.
Physical sales slid less, falling 23 percent to .15 billion. Vinyl, continuing its trend, was the lone format slowing the decline -- vinyl record sales were up 7.9 percent, at 9.2 million.B:
香港黄大仙小姐好白【郭】【天】【叙】【恼】【火】【之】【极】，【马】【上】【把】【张】【天】【祐】【叫】【过】【来】【训】【话】，【当】【场】【打】【起】【了】【官】【腔】，【黑】【着】【脸】【道】：“【张】【元】【帅】，【咱】【们】【已】【经】【耽】【搁】【行】【程】【了】，【命】【令】【你】【的】【主】【攻】【部】【队】【加】【快】【前】【进】！” 【唉】，【他】【们】【不】【听】【话】，【我】【也】【没】【有】【办】【法】【啊】！ 【张】【天】【祐】【焦】【头】【烂】【额】，【愁】【眉】【苦】【脸】【地】【还】【未】【说】【话】，【他】【手】【下】【的】【三】【万】【士】【兵】【突】【然】【惊】【喜】【高】【呼】【一】【声】。 【一】【个】【个】【像】【是】【打】【了】【鸡】【血】，【提】【着】【刀】【就】【往】【前】【跑】【去】
【二】【房】【的】【周】【姻】【也】【跟】【着】【搭】【腔】，【明】【明】【她】【还】【比】【周】【欢】【小】【两】【个】【月】。 “【我】【只】【是】【看】【热】【闹】，【又】【不】【看】【其】【他】。” 【周】【欢】【没】【有】【让】【开】，【好】【不】【容】【易】【挤】【出】【一】【个】【位】【置】，【她】【并】【不】【想】【走】。 “【你】【还】【向】【自】【家】【姐】【姐】【顶】【嘴】【了】？【谁】【给】【你】【这】【么】【大】【胆】【子】。” 【周】【婷】【咬】【牙】，【开】【始】【将】【她】【往】【后】【面】【挤】。 【周】【欢】【没】【回】【话】，【可】【也】【没】【让】，【死】【死】【抓】【住】【窗】【棂】【不】【放】。 【两】【人】【眼】【看】【就】【叫】【上】
【一】【众】【人】【簇】【拥】【着】【祁】【琰】【往】【里】【走】，【他】【一】【身】【红】【字】，【走】【在】【最】【中】【间】，【显】【得】【尤】【为】【抢】【眼】。 【姜】【北】【坐】【在】【床】【上】【不】【能】【下】【来】，【房】【间】【内】【留】【乔】【安】【一】【人】【陪】【着】【她】，【其】【她】【四】【人】【都】【跑】【下】【去】【堵】【门】【了】。“【乔】【安】【姐】【姐】，【我】【有】【些】【紧】【张】！”【姜】【北】【侧】【目】【看】【着】【陪】【在】【她】【一】【边】【的】【乔】【安】。 “【放】【轻】【松】【点】，【等】【会】【应】【该】【挺】【好】【玩】【的】。” 【也】【是】【直】【到】【这】【一】【刻】【姜】【北】【才】【真】【正】【地】【体】【会】【到】，【身】【处】【这】【样】香港黄大仙小姐好白【下】【一】【章】【大】【结】【局】。
【远】【大】【集】【团】，【发】【布】【会】【现】【场】。 【在】【聊】【聊】【事】【业】【部】【总】【监】【方】【振】【的】【主】【持】【下】，【发】【布】【会】【进】【入】【提】【问】【环】【节】。 【各】【大】【媒】【体】【的】【记】【者】，【纷】【纷】【提】【问】。 “【方】【总】【监】，【请】【问】【贵】【公】【司】，【是】【在】【怎】【样】【的】【情】【况】【下】，【考】【虑】【上】【线】【蚂】【蚁】【森】【林】【的】？” “【请】【问】，【蚂】【蚁】【森】【林】【是】【否】【有】【盈】【利】【计】【划】？” “【方】【总】【监】，【请】【问】【蚂】【蚁】【森】【林】【都】【有】【哪】【些】【合】【作】【方】？” “【方】【总】【监】，【请】【问】【蚂】
【见】【主】【持】【人】【看】【见】【了】【自】【己】，【左】【峻】【豪】【做】【了】【个】【禁】【言】【的】【手】【势】，【然】【后】【走】【到】【菀】【菀】【的】【身】【后】。 “【既】【然】【这】【么】【难】【选】，【那】【就】【选】【和】【我】【合】【唱】【的】【那】【首】【吧】。” 【众】【人】【所】【见】【的】，【楚】【菀】【菀】【都】【懵】【逼】【了】。 【听】【到】【左】【峻】【豪】【的】【声】【音】，【快】【速】【的】【转】【过】【身】，【眼】【角】【挂】【不】【住】【的】【惊】【喜】。 “【你】【怎】【么】【来】【了】？” “【第】【一】【次】【开】【网】【络】【直】【播】【的】【答】【谢】【会】，【我】【当】【然】【要】【来】【啊】！” 【既】【然】【正】


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By following us here at Komando.com, you already know about the enormous Equifax data breach. If you haven’t already done so, click here to find out if your critical data has been affected.
The number of consumers first thought to be impacted by the breach was horrifying. Now, Equifax is admitting that the breach is even worse than originally thought.
How the Equifax breach is worse
Originally, the number of consumers impacted by the Equifax breach was 143 million. As if that wasn’t bad enough, brace yourself, the news just got worse.
Equifax announced this week that the security firm it hired has completed the forensic portion of its investigation. The completed review showed that roughly 2.5 million more U.S. consumers were impacted by the breach. The number is now up to a total of 145.5 million. Yikes!
Apparently, there has not been additional victims since reports of the breach first came out. The number was always 145.5 million, they had just not all been accounted for until now.
Equifax said it will mail written notices to all of the additional potentially impacted consumers soon. It’s also updating its website to reflect the new number of victims.
The company will extend its free services until the end of January, like a credit freeze, to help consumers deal with the breach. Click here to learn how to set up a credit freeze.
There’s one thing everyone must do with their Social Security number following the Equifax breach
Over 145 million people have been affected by the Equifax data breach, and it keeps getting worse. I’ve shared critical steps you need to take, but there’s one step you may have missed that leaves you wide open to ID theft. Here’s how to protect your SSN, and why it’s so urgent. If you don’t do this now, hackers will.


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Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne is confident Volkswagen will eventually approach him about merging the two automakers together, Bloomberg reports.
Marchionne’s words come immediately after PSA Group’s acquisition of General Motors’ Opel brand, which officially made PSA the the world’s second largest automaker behind VW AG. Marchionne believes PSA’s purchase of Opel will put the pressure on VW to expand its business and that FCA is the best option for a merger.
“I have no doubt that at the relevant time VW may show up and have a chat,” Marchionne said this week on the sidelines of the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.
Marchionne is an outspoken supporter of consolidation within the automotive industry. The Italian-Canadian executive says automakers are wasting money by developing their own versions of what are essentially identical products. With profits plummeting and overhead costs swelling amid the arrival of more high-tech and innovative vehicles, consolidation should become a trend within the industry in coming years.
Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault SA, which acquired Mitsubishi last year and entered a partnership with Nissan Motor Co. back in 1999, shares Marchionne’s belief that automakers must merge together or risk a much dire situation.
“The industry is moving towards consolidation,” Ghosn told Bloomberg. “You’re going to see more and more players trying to gain in terms of scale. It’s logical because of all the investments we need to face.”


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With the peak shopping season approaching, Urban Outfitters is asking its employees to pitch in a bit more, but they won't get paid for it.» Read More
With November coming to an end today, here is a look at the best and worst performing stocks within the major US averages, as of yesterday's close.
As shoppers rush to the malls, private equity is also taking greater interest in teen retail names, Lori Wachs, president of Cross Ledge Investments, told CNBC on Friday.
After J Crew said it's agreed to go private, investors are speculating on which retailer will be taken out next. Here's Cramer's take.
Investors are wondering which retailer could be the next takeover target, given J. Crew Group said Tuesday it will be taken private. The traders weigh in.
Ah, no. But don’t be surprised if you hear this over and over again for the next six weeks.
But there still ways for the everyman to play it.
There were a lot of incorrect theories for the Dow's 178-point loss on Tuesday. Here they are, rebutted.
Joe Terranova of Virtus Investment Partners thinks so. Here's how he and the rest of the "Fast Money" traders are playing the tech space.
Stocks fell in the last few minutes of trading Monday to close mixed despite being higher most of the day after an upbeat retail sales report, and news that firms were beginning to spend cash on acquisitions. Caterpillar rose, Disney fell.
What follows is a roundup of corporate earnings reports for Monday, Nov. 15
Stocks fell on Monday as investors recouped from last week's selloff to focus on an upbeat retail sales report, and news that firms were beginning to spend cash on acquisitions. Caterpillar rose, Disney fell.
Stocks gained amid news of strong retail sales in October and acquisitions by Caterpillar and EMC, and despite continuing worries over debt troubles in periphery European countries. Caterpillar rose, while Disney fell.
U.S. stock index futures continued to point to a slightly higher open Monday after news of a better-than-expected jump in retail sales in October, and despite a drop in an indicator of manufacturing in New York.
Plus, Cramer highlights the most important events of the coming week.
With 13 retailers reporting earning next week, the "Fast" traders share which they'll be listening to.
With the reversal in the markets, the traders recommend watching these key levels in the S&P.
Stocks closed down Thursday soon after Walt Disney released worse-than-expected results into a market already weakened by disappointing results from Cisco and a rise in the dollar as European debt troubles continued to roil currency markets. Cisco and Disney fell, Chevron rose.
Stocks declined ahead of the close Thursday, as Walt Disney released worse-than-expected results into a market already weakened by disappointing results from Cisco and a rise in the dollar as European debt troubles continued to roil currency markets. Cisco and Disney fell.
Here's why you should keep a close eye on these six stocks.


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Fruits and vegetables are the best immune boosters, a naturopath, Dr Lambo Adebisi, has said. He said fruits and vegetables contain anti-oxidants, which help the body to withstand free-radicals, especially during the rains when people come down with cold and flu, among other ailments caused by germs.
“Antioxidants can be man-made or natural substances, which may prevent some types of cell damage in the body. Free radicals are atoms or molecules containing unpaired electrons. They are deleterious to the body,” he said.
He said fruits can help to mop up free radicals, and as such promote wellness.
Adebisi spoke of regular consumption various fruits as minerals and vitamins providers, adding that they are full of many health benefits, especially strengthening human system against diseases.
The traditional medicine practitioner said orange, guavas, peppers and dark green vegetables are major suppliers of vitamin C to the body.
“People who take them do not experience scurvy and dental problems. Inability of many to consume fruits and vegetables regularly have made them to become deficient in various vitamins,” he said.
He said vitamin C also prevents cold and flu, adding that it rebuild bones and blood vessels, as well as boost brain function.
“It also hasten the healing of injuries,” he added.
Besides, some people are suffering from vitamin deficiency anaemia (VDA) also known as megaloblastic anaemias because they do not take fruits.
This, he said, usually occur when the body does not have sufficient vitamins needed to produce adequate numbers of healthy red blood cells (RBC).
RBC, he said, carry oxygen from the lungs to all other organs in the body.
VDA, he said, can occur when somebody’s diet is lacking in certain vitamins.
Moreover, the body cannot properly absorb the nutrients from the foods people eat if they are not beneficial.
Adebisi cautioned people against eating artificial food, stressing that they are the cause of most diseases affecting people.
He enjoined the people to eat organically grown food because they are natural and have been proven to be beneficial to the body than synthetic food.
“Thus, sweetners and food kept through preservative should be avoided because they are deleterious to man’s life. So they should eat only naturally grown food,” he added.


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The beginning of the year often has us bringing out the lists.
The Tomato Food & Drink is asking everyone to submit their lists of the top 100 things to eat in the city.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Right now camera crews are making their way from one restaurant to another to snap shots of this year’s top new spots and best restaurants for Avenue magazine’s annual food issue, which will hit newsstands in March.
One list that the general public and media aren’t paying attention to is the growing list of restaurants to shutter their doors. While we haven’t even turned the page to this year’s second month we have already seen a few notable restaurants to elect to close their doors.
After an extremely long run the Manor Cafe is up for sale, but will continue operations for a little while longer. Solstice Seasonal Cuisine, home to chef Jan Trittenbach, in my opinion one of our city’s most under appreciated talents, will be closing their doors in late February, as they consider their options going forward. Characters Fine Dining has served their last dish, leaving the way for a brew pub to take over the space. These are just a few of the eateries that have elected to call it quits.


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B&M to secure £250m through senior notes offering
Discount retail chain B&M is looking to raise £250m through the offer of senior secured notes.
The listed company said it intends to use the proceeds for “general corporate purposes” and to pay fees and expenses incurred in connection with the offering of the notes which will be due to be repaid in 2028.
The Liverpool-headquartered group only last week announced revenues rises as the company remains confident for the Christmas period.
In the 26 weeks to September 25, revenue reached £2.2bn and rose by 26.8 per cent on the same period two years ago.
However, group adjusted EBITDA came in at £282.2m compared to £295.6m in the prior year and group adjusted pre-tax profit dropped by 6.2 per cent to £238m in the period.
Boss Simon Arora said: “The group has performed strongly throughout the first half of our financial year, with customers continuing to be drawn to our value-for-money offer.
“We have responded decisively to supply chain challenges by leveraging our strong supplier relationships and we have improved in-store execution.
“As a consequence, we are fully stocked heading into the golden quarter, with stores already showcasing our excellent Christmas ranges.”
It is not uncommon for companies to offer senior secured notes which is considered to be more secure than other debt.


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Retailers and other firms involved in the payments process should be subject to the same data security requirements as banks, ABA President and CEO Frank Keating and other trade group CEOs said in an op-ed today published in The Hill newspaper. The CEOs expressed their support of the Data Security Act, legislation introduced by Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Reps. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) and John Carney (D-Del.) that provides “a reasonable, flexible and scalable solution” for protecting consumers against data breaches.
The act — modeled on the rigorous standards already in place in the financial industry under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act — would replace state data protection laws with a single set of national requirements and establish a national data security and breach notification standard for financial institutions and retailers.
“As is often the case, technology and innovation have far outpaced the existing body of laws and regulations designed to keep consumers safe. Expectations that sensitive personal and financial data is being kept safe are not being met, and Congress needs to act,” the CEOs said. ABA recently wrote to Congress in support of the bills, whose objectives are part of the association’s Agenda for America’s Hometown Banks.


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TechCrunch's Michael Arrington, who last year boldly proclaimed TechCrunch would break every embargo it agreed to, apparently has broken his own embargo and leaked some news about his little consumer electronics side project, the CrunchPad.
OK, maybe he didn't really break his own embargo, but we wouldn't put it past him. The fact is Arrington says he's "just about nailed down the final design for the device" and that he'll have "first working prototypes" in a few weeks.
Arrington has been posting progress reports on the creation of the CrunchPad, which was originally envisioned as a "dead simple" Web tablet that would cost $200. Arrington is working with Fusion Garage to create the sexy-looking CrunchPad, which will be next talked about publicly "at a special press and user event in July in Silicon Valley." But the good news is you can talk about it privately all you want.
An earlier prototype was making the rounds in April, but this new version will be slimmer (less than an inch) and have an aluminum case, "which is more expensive than plastic but is sturdier and lets us shave a little more off the overall thickness of the device." As it stands, the CrunchPad will run on an Intel Atom chip and is Linux-based.
It's unclear how the new concept will price out. In April, Arrington said the device could be built for around $250 (with packaging) and sold for $300. But we suspect the ultimate, final price tag may be higher. In fact, by the time Arrington gets it finished, there will be plenty of Netbooks with slightly smaller screens that do more or less what the CrunchPad does (except boot up to a browser as quickly), are less fragile, and have a physical keyboard.
Of course, the other possibility is that Apple will come out with its own touch-screen tablet-style Netbook that costs a lot more but everybody wants to buy.


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Jerry Jones might be embarrassed to host the greatest game on turf sans his Cowboys this year (despite his early-season predictions), but the city of Dallas has plenty of reasons to celebrate. Hosting the Super Bowl creates a massive economic infusion for any host city. In Dallas, hotels, restaurants, rental-car companies, Terrible Towel purveyors and beer vendors alike all have been dreaming of these magical two weeks leading up to the final event.
I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of effect the Super Bowl actually has on the host city's hotel base, using last year's 7 February game in Miami as a base of analysis (Indianapolis Colts vs. New Orleans Saints). I pulled the daily hotel data for the two weeks prior to and the date including the game, both for the year of the game and the prior year, so I could look at percent changes.
Across all chain scales in Miami, the results were:
As a baseline, the total revenue increase for the State of Florida in February 2010 was roughly 5%, so the whopping 48.7% increase in revenue per available room for the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl clearly was a result of the game. No surprise there, obviously. It is interesting that rate increases were only moderately greater than demand increases; while price-gouging certainly must have occurred in pockets, overall pricing push wasn't extraordinary given the demand spike.
It's more interesting to dig into the data by individual chain scale. These results are detailed in the following table (note these chain scales do not reflect the recently adjusted chain-scale system implemented by STR).
The independent hotels were able to push Super Bowl rates the most, at more than 32% in the two weeks leading to the game, followed closely by the luxury chains at 29%. The demand increase leaders were the luxury hotels at nearly 39%, following by the upscale hotels. Overall, luxury hotels were the clear overall winner, posting a massive 63.3% increase in RevPAR, more than double the RevPAR gains achieved by the midscale and economy hotels.
Even in a deep recession, people still want to see the Super Bowl live, just not as much. On 1 February 2009, the Steelers took home the Lombardi trophy after squeaking past the Cardinals in Tampa. For the month of January, Florida hotels posted a crushing 12.7% revenue loss. In Tampa, however, the two weeks leading to the Super Bowl earned the local area hotels a 29% RevPAR gain, this time led by the upscale chains (47.7%), and followed by the luxury chains (40.2%). Most interestingly, total demand increase in Tampa was just about flat compared to the prior year (an achievement in and of itself given the national decline), and the RevPAR gain from the Super Bowl was almost wholly attributable to rate increases.
One way or another, in good times and bad, the Super Bowl represents big bucks for any host city, and given the trend last year, expect luxury hotels to hit it especially big in Dallas this year. Jerry, maybe you should have spent an extra couple hundred million to build a Four Seasons next to your pigskin palace …


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Six hundred new jobs are to be created in Scotland by Hutchison 3G, which is planning to base a customer care centre in Glasgow. The news is a boost to the country's IT sector, which has been hit by a series of recent job cuts and factory closures.
Staff at the Glasgow offices will offer support to users who sign up for the company's third-generation mobile service. Last year Hutchison 3G won a licence to operate a high-speed mobile phone network, which is expected to launch towards the end of 2002.
Hutchison was persuaded to locate its customer care centre in Glasgow by the Inward Operations division of Scottish Development International. The decision was hailed by Scottish enterprise minister Wendy Alexander, who said that Hutchison 3G's decision represented "a major investment by a leading international company." "I know that the company's decision to locate in Scotland was based on the availability of skilled labour and first-class communications infrastructure," she added.
It is questionable, though, whether a job in Hutchison 3G's call centre will appeal to many of the thousands of workers who were laid off from mobile phone manufacturing plants earlier this year. Over 3,000 jobs were lost when Motorola closed a factory at Bathgate, while PC maker Compaq also shut a Scottish factory.
Many of the employees affected were employed to construct or fix handsets, rather than offer technical support.
3G phones will offer high-speed, always-on, Web access, which should support applications like video clips and video conferencing. Staff employed at Hutchison 3G's Glasgow centre will have to help customers to use their 3G devices effectively.
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If you have something to say about work and employment issues say it here at the Jobs Forum
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read other letters.


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So far, we've had countless of leaks, rumors, dummies and case maker renders trying to guesstimate and depict the upcoming iPhone 8
with a new for Apple OLED display that will supposedly occupy most of the handset's front. That's not all there will be to this year's iPhone crop announcement next month, though. In fact, Apple should be unveiling three handsets - one unorthodox iPhone 8
to hint at where the phone maker is going, and two more legacy
-oriented iPhone 7s
and 7s Plus
upgrades that are meant to satisfy those used to the current hardware paradigm.
It is understandable that all the leaks and rumors so far have been focused on the shiny new iPhone 8 concept, but some news are slowly starting to trickle down about the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, too. Today's portion is based on case maker sketches obtained by a German Apple-centric blog, which reveal that the iPhone 7s will be slightly thicker than the iPhone 7
, mostly because the new edition should have a glass, instead of aluminum, chassis. The case maker that provided these schematics claims they have sources at Foxconn, the iPhone's assembler, so these might turn out credible in the end.
We've heard the rumor about the glass chassis on all new iPhones
, aimed to facilitate wireless charging
, and now there is a tangential evidence that might indeed be the casing. As you can see from the schematics above, the 7s could be slightly larger in all dimensions than the 7, though probably not to the extent that the current cases won't fit at all with a bit of stretching. In any case, pun not intended, we've no doubts that these eventual new dimensions will spark a veritable flood of "iPhone 7s" wrappers from all major case makers anyway.


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MONTPELLIER, France -- South Africa, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand export their wines all over the world, a feat that was unthinkable here a few decades ago. Fatalists claim it won't be long until there will be more produced in China than in Europe. To some observers, these prognostications illustrate the wide-ranging adaptive capacity of the wine grape, Vitis vinifera.
To others, particularly those whose reputations and businesses are at stake, changes to worldwide wine production patterns are unthinkable. Add incursions of grape growing into wilderness habitats of endangered species, and green groups get upset.
A study published in April in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) started this debate by projecting that a warming climate would render many of the traditional European wine-growing areas unsuitable for wine production by 2050. These hallowed and fiercely protected topographical regions are famous for imparting inimitable characteristics to their vintages.
If the paper's mathematical models are correct, vintners in much of France and Italy could lose a huge share of the market. To make matters worse, previously uncultivated areas -- the habitats of pandas, antelopes and wolves -- especially in China and western North America will come under increasing pressure from wine growers.
Lee Hannah, senior research fellow at Conservation International and the study's lead author, pointed out that the hallmark of wine cultivation is suitability. "Wine grapes have been grown wherever it has been expedient to do so," Hannah said. "Until 60 years ago, most French wine wasn't even French."
After Phylloxera vitifoliae, a tiny aphidlike pest, wiped out most of France's vines in the 19th century, thousands of ruined French winemakers migrated to the then-French colony of Algeria to exploit favorable growing and trade conditions. Then came independence in 1962, and the Algerian wine industry collapsed.
French viticulture recovered, thanks to the ingenious technique of grafting French varietal vines onto phylloxera-resistant North American root stock, and the equally ingenious new regulatory regime: the controlled location of origin, the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) in French, which protected French vintages from dilution with grapes from non-French harvests.
For a time, it seemed, French winemakers had nothing to fear from abroad.
Do they move uphill or abroad?
The four major European wine-producing countries -- Spain, France, Italy and Portugal -- cultivate about 6.9 million acres. The worldwide total is about 18.5 million acres of vineyard, including the European countries as well as the Americas, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
But these numbers are rapidly changing. In 2000, China had about 692,000 acres of wine grapes. By 2011, the Chinese figure had doubled.
Jean-Marc Touzard, director of research on innovation at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Montpellier and co-coordinator of a national program to assess the impact of climate change on the wine industry, found the PNAS paper too alarmist. Some of the data are flawed, he said, and the suitability indexes are wrong.
"Some of the areas where [the paper indicates] wine is projected to grow in 40 years, it simply couldn't. Even if the climate were warmer, the conditions are all wrong," Touzard said.
Hannah acknowledged that some areas, even if they became climatically suited, will be at a competitive disadvantage because of their distance to major markets. Furthermore, other factors will come into play, such as the local availability of water, competition with other crops such as wheat or corn, and the sheer cost of planting and maintaining new vineyards and production facilities.


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Xiaomi likes to launch its devices and that of its subsidiaries in other markets before they make their way to the US. They have taken the same path with some units now, but we could be getting them in Europe soon too.
Note that there is no official confirmation yet but this comes from a source which we can trust.
That said, the first unit on this list is the Redmi Note 9 Pro which has already seen a launch in India. The launch happened sometimes last month too, so this is still a good window of time to get the unit into other markets.
The phone has also been introduced to Thailand and some other countries where AliExpress ships to too. Now, it would be making an official bow in India.
The next on the list is the standard Redmi Note 9 which we are yet to see in any market at all. It is almost like Xiaomi wants to get the most money from their Pro variant before they introduce the standard option. No matter what is going through their mind, the European launch could be the same time when we get it elsewhere in the world too.
Rounding up the list of devices to get into the new market is yet to be confirmed Mi Note 10 Lite. Note that the market already has a standard Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro in the market from last year. This is almost the same kind of move with Samsung and their Galaxy S10 devices for last year which got the Galaxy S10 Lite addition this year.
For now, we don’t know for sure when these units will be launching. Now that we have the information, though, we don’t think that will be far away anymore.


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LONDON (CBS.MW) -- European technology companies, long the Cinderellas of the global merger-and-acquisition industry, have finally arrived at a ball long dominated by U.S. firms.
During the first half of 1999, European companies announced 94 deals in the United States worth a total of $72.8 billion -- a 34 percent surge in deal flow, and one that Broadview International said in its latest quarterly report "reverses the traditional flow of U.S. buyers coming into Europe."
Victor Basta, managing director and European head of Broadview, the global investment bank, said that "across all sectors, the international, industry-defining acquisition is no longer the preserve of the Americans."
Britain's General Electric Corp., for instance, has made five acquisitions in the past six months worth a total of $6.2 billion, while Germany's Siemens AG smawy has done five and Finland-based Nokia nok four.
Internet fever lights M&A fire
But it's so-called Internet fever that has really lit the M&A fire, with 447 digital media deals worth $37 billion getting done during the first half of the year. The growth has been stratospheric: This year's total compares with just $4.9 billion, in 297 deals, for the same period last year.
In Europe, it's just the beginning. Broadview, which specializes in the information technology, communications and media industries, said the number of European deals almost doubled year on year from 38 to 73, while total deal value hit $928 million, up from $346 million. "We should see over 200 Internet M&A deals in Europe in the next year," Basta said.
Media groups forge ahead
European media groups in particular are being forced to hit the acquisition trail as print media deals fall away and markets fixate ever-more on the Internet. Basta said that if these companies hope to compete effectively, they'll have to made a beeline for the companies which have the best available Internet assets during the next 12 months.
In Europe, unlike the United States, media companies have proved to be king of the Internet landscape. Broadview said the top 10 Web sites in most countries are dominated by traditional media companies, which are seizing the initiative from smaller and younger Web-based companies, unlike the United States, where upstart Net companies have proliferated.
Retailers, particularly in Britain, have also proved fierce competitors for a piece of the Internet. Take Dixons Group PLC, the electronics retailer which this week floated 18.25 percent of its free ISP Internet service Freeserve freev. The float was a blowout success and has given new meaning to Dixon's market value. See full story.
"Retailing groups like Dixons, Darty and Kingfisher have established a foothold on the Internet, many of them among more than 100 companies that have introduced free Internet access services since Freeserve's launch" last September, Broadview said. The firm added that European retailers now have a leadership opportunity that's no longer available to their U.S. counterparts, noting that "they're ahead of the curve."


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Even as local governments continue to ease restrictions on restaurants, bars and other entertainment venues, leisure and hospitality job losses remain far starker than in other sectors.
And it may take some time before those jobs return in New Mexico and across the Mountain West, according to a new report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
The report, titled “Recovery in Rocky Mountain Leisure and Hospitality Employment,” notes that more than 98,000 jobs at leisure and hospitality businesses across New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming haven’t returned since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, even as the overall economic picture has improved.
Sly said consumer demand is likely to be strong as business restrictions ease, but declines in business travel, fewer people attending conventions and fewer employees working out of offices could constrain the growth of the sector going forward, particularly in city centers.
Leisure and hospitality has been the hardest-hit economic sector since the pandemic began, and New Mexico’s sector has lagged behind its peers. In New Mexico, 60% fewer small hospitality businesses were open this January compared to a year prior, compared to a 50% drop in Colorado and a 40% drop in Wyoming, according to the report.
Sly said New Mexico’s comparatively stringent business restrictions, combined with the virus’ impact on consumer confidence, contributed to the particularly steep loss of jobs in the state.
The report notes that restaurants and hotels in urban centers face a particularly uncertain future. Sly said suburbs and communities that rely heavily on leisure travel, including Taos and Santa Fe, may fare better than downtowns, which tend to rely more heavily on business travel and offices.
“I think there is a risk for some downtown … areas that we want to monitor,” he said.
One risk that goes along with a stagnant leisure and hospitality sector is that workers who can’t find jobs in the industry often gravitate to the retail and health care work, which also faces an uncertain future coming out of the pandemic.
“Those other opportunities that we tend to see workers take advantage of just aren’t as vibrant as they have been in other recoveries,” Sly said.
Despite the challenges, Sly said the industry is adding jobs quickly as consumer confidence grows. Employment in leisure and hospitality increased by 280,000 jobs nationwide in March, the largest increase in any sector, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released Friday.
Sly said the sector will likely be the last to recover from the effects of the pandemic, but the timeline will depend on how much pent-up demand there is for restaurants, movie theaters and other entertainment venues.
“It does really remain a key sector to return our regional economy back to its full vibrancy,” he said.


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The Gurus Are Back! 2017 Supply Chain Predictions II
Last week, we ran part I of our supply chain guru supply chains predictions for 2017, highlighting key elements of the prognostications from Mike Regan of TranzAct Technologies, Gene Tyndall of Tompkins International, Dr. Michael Watson of OpEx Analytics and Northwestern University, and Jim Barnes of enVista.
You can find my summary column on their predictions here: The Gurus Are Back! 2017 Supply Chain Predictions.
Then earlier this week, we published the full text versions of those predictions, which you can find here: Predictions from Supply Chain Gurus for 2017 - Full Text Version Part I.
It was all very good stuff. Take a look.
I am back this week with predictions from the second half of our virtual panel, so let's get right to it.
Dr. Chris Gopal has been a long-time consultant in the supply chain, and a keen observer of supply chain trends.
Among his interesting predictions is this one: "Global trade uncertainties, national pressures, risk mitigation and the need for vendor compliance will lead to increased complexity in sourcing, network design and location decisions."
As we are seeing, the economic world is getting less global and more national, Gopal says, leading to increased tariffs, trade regulations, protectionist measures, and a focus on local jobs across the globe.
Gopal observes that "We now have a supply chain environment where sourcing and the location of facilities must consider far more than the traditional cost elements."
This is requiring new methods and approaches - not optimization, but trade-offs. "Many of the parameters will be subjective, and include quality, risks and costs of disruption, loss of IP, local jobs, public perception, the element of National Security in some cases, and, naturally, total costs in all its complicated dimensions," Gopal says.
I think Gopal is right on, not only in that supply chain network design decisions now must accommodate many more variables than not long ago, but that many of them are very difficult to quantify, meaning a linear programming engine won't be of much help to supply chain managers.
In addition, we are in a period of huge dynamics, even worse than recent years. What is the economic, geo-political, and supply chain climate likely to be three or five years from now? Who knows - yet we have to make decisions today.
My advice: put a premium on flexibility in the face of uncertainty.
Former supply chain executive and now consultant David Schneider of David K. Schneider & Associates says we can expect Amazon to get still more aggressive in building out its own logistics network and capabilities in 2017.
Schneider says Amazon will grow its use of aircraft chartering to control airfreight systems - though stopping just short of becoming its own airline. He expects Amazon's fleet of over the road trailers to grow, all of which will be moved through dedicated and contract drop and hook line haul carriers. Lastly, Schneider says Amazon will achieve final mile delivery of time-sensitive and perishable goods that will be executed through a dedicated fleet.
We'll note word broke last week that Amazon has indeed begun operating a global freight forwarding service, having managed the movement of 150 containers from China to the US since October, and is advertising the service on its website. It appears not just retailers but now freight forwarders and global 3PLs are at risked of being "Amazoned."
Amazon also announce plans for a huge new Prime Air hub in Cincinnati this week.
Long time supply chain observer Rich Sherman, now of Tata Consulting, says that in a period of disruptive change, many companies with traditional linear thinking somehow believe that change can be resisted and that a "wait and see" strategy is safest.
They are wrong, Sherman says, noting that "in a digital, connected age, change is systemic, with many small repercussions building over time, like placing dominoes in a line, building towards a single, catastrophic fall."
Yikes - that's an interesting analogy for sure.
Sherman adds that to compete in 2017 and beyond, all industries, not just retail, have to think "omnichannel, omnidirectional, and eco-systems."
Keys to success will be market and product segmentation strategies, new collaborative partnerships, and adoption of digital technologies, and in the end those decisions will determine who the falling dominoes knock off - either your competitor or you.
Art Mesher, CSCMP Distinguished Service Award winner a few years ago and former Gartner analyst and later CEO of Descartes Systems, predicts 2017 will see the start of a new dimension in supply chain - up!
What does that mean? He says soon drones and their sourcing facilities and delivery mechanisms will use space in the air to attempt to "uncongest the congested." That will mean "that air waves and air rights will have value, and we will see the rise of licensing of these rights to more things in spaces. Who owns what space and what rights of passage will become new and real issues with monies to be made and positions in markets maybe gained or lost," Mesher says.
Very smart - wish I had thought of that. Who owns the air space above your property, and how high if at all does that private airspace go? I have no idea. Can Amazon someday just fly a delivery drone over my neighborhood or factory? If anyone knows the answer to this, send me a note.
Mesher also added that "Drones and autonomous trucking are happening exponentially and are way more real than most people expect, and I believe that is going to become much more clear in the year to come."
I agree on the technology side, but the regulatory side is still way behind and likely to stay that way, though in the US a Trump administration may be more aggressive on allowing these technologies than we saw under a very cautious Obama White House.
David MacLeod of Learn Logistics Limited, a UK organization focused on supply chain education, took a very different tack, citing insights stemming from a paper delivered by Professor Helen Haste of Bath University in the UK to an audience at Harvard seven years ago. It focused on new competencies that businesses and individuals will need to attain to survive and thrive.
He thinks they are still very relevant for 2017 and I agree. Here is one of these new competencies, as adapted by MacLeod, that I especially liked: "Agency and responsibility: in a supply chain world or more correctly a network of demand chains no one achieves anything on their own. The ability to work effectively and efficiently through others whilst not having direct responsibility is critical."
MacLeod added that despite many challenges, he remains very optimistic about the ability of supply chain managers to get the job done, noting that "Logistics and supply chain practitioners are light on their feet and punch above their weight on a daily basis. They are used to solving problems and keeping stuff on the move, but one prediction I can have real confidence in making is that they are going to have to up their games in 2017."
Amen to that. Are you punching above your weight? I know many surely do. If not, time to hit the supply chain gym!
Again, really good stuff. Thanks again to all of our panel members, who really put some effort into this, exclusively for SCDigest readers. I do not believe any other publication does anything like this.
Look for the full text predictions of these on Monday at www.scdigest.com, and in our OnTarget newsletter next Wednesday. Predictions from the analyst community next week to wrap this up.
Any reaction to the guru predictions? What resonates with you? What are some of your 2017 supply chain predictions? Let us know your thought at the Feedback section below.


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Restaurants can never go out of style, especially with avid lovers of burgers, pizzas, grilled sandwiches, ice creams, and a range of other food items.
The first half of 2019 reads as an eventful chapter of the restaurant industry. So far this year, the industry has witnessed a gain of 25.2%, compared with the S&P 500’s rally of 18.2%.
The restaurant industry is buzzing, thanks to recent partnerships with delivery channels like DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates and Uber Eats, digital innovation, rollout of self-service kiosks and loyalty programs. Further, given the growing transactions on the Internet, digital innovation is the need of the hour.
Sales Rise Despite Traffic Woes
Most restaurateurs have been grappling with soft traffic. Same-store traffic fell 2.1% in May and the trend is likely to persist in the near term. Persistent erosion in traffic compared with comps growth indicates that only guest checks and not guest count contribute to restaurant sales.
Despite low traffic, the industry is likely to witness impressive sales growth in 2019. Per tdn2k’s Restaurant Industry Snapshot, restaurant sales picked up in May after a disappointing April. Comps grew 1.1% in May. The report also revealed that two-year same-store sales have grown in the last seven of eight months. Right from menu innovation, introduction of digital platforms to serving up healthy food items, such initiatives have been contributing massively to the industry’s growth trajectory since 2017-end.
Considering the trend-driven nature of the industry, restaurateurs have been constantly coming up with new and unusual items for consumers while maintaining complete transparency about ingredients. Moreover, restaurant operators are focusing on driverless delivery systems to drive sales. This is expected to bring down expenses substantially as it does away with delivery personnel. Per Mordor Intelligence, the autonomous delivery robots market is likely to see a CAGR of more than 49.5% during the 2019-2024 period.
Meanwhile, online ordering has been gaining popularity. While direct delivery from restaurants is still the highest, the third-party app space is getting creative with their approach to attract diners to their platforms. Per The NPD Group, foodservice delivery has contributed extensively to restaurant sales in the past few years. Digital orders have increased 23% over the last four years. Moreover, Morgan Stanley expects the food delivery industry to account for 11% of overall restaurant sales by 2020.
Meanwhile, we expect the fast-casual restaurants to lead gains in this space. According to an article by Restaurant Business, the fast-casual restaurant space is likely to record sales growth of 8.3% in 2019 compared with 8% in 2018. Casual dining sales are expected to rise 3.4% in the current year, up from last year’s 3.2%. Fine-dining restaurants are also slated to grow 5.2% compared with 5% in 2018.
This versatile approach of industry players is expected to help reverse the declining traffic trend. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), U.S. restaurant sales are projected to hit a record high of $863 billion this year, up 3.6% from last year.
4 Solid Picks
Given the rosy forecast for restaurants in 2019, adding stocks from this space to your portfolio might be prudent.
With the help of the Zacks Stock Screener, we have zeroed in on four stocks in the Retail-Restaurants industry with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
We have narrowed down our search to the following stocks based on a solid earnings growth rate of more than 10% for the current year. Further, these stocks have gained more than 10% year to date and are likely to maintain the momentum in the second half of 2019.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG - Free Report) is currently one of the best performing restaurant companies. The Mexican food restaurant chain’s increased focus on food safety and sales-building initiatives bodes well.
Zacks Rank: #1
YTD Share Price: 69.3%
F1 EPS Growth Rate: 43.6%
Noodles & Company (NDLS - Free Report) develops and operates fast-casual restaurants in the United States.
Zacks Rank: #1
YTD Share Price: 14%
F1 EPS Growth Rate: 700%
Domino's Pizza, Inc. (DPZ - Free Report) , through its subsidiaries, operates as a pizza delivery company in the United States and internationally.
Zacks Rank: #2
YTD Share Price: 13.3%
F1 EPS Growth Rate: 10.9%
J. Alexander's Holdings, Inc. (JAX - Free Report) owns and operates complementary upscale dining restaurants in the United States through its subsidiaries.
Zacks Rank: #2
YTD Share Price: 26.5%
F1 EPS Growth Rate: 16.7%
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This week, we highlight one fashion brand that’s trying its hand at livestream shopping, and the luxury resale brand that’s changing the game with AI technology. Plus, could fruit be the route for Gen Zs looking to find their perfect match? Some food for thought.
Forever 21’s livestream shopping app
Having already explored the metaverse at the end of 2021 when the fashion brand partnered with Virtual Brand Group to build ‘Forever 21 Shop City’ on the Roblox gaming platform, Forever 21, is now exploring the innovation behind shoppable livestream events.
Just last month, the fashion retailer took part in a live demonstration of the Open4Sale Technology O4S video and payment shopping app – a tech platform comprising live chat, video, streaming, and instant payments that integrate to existing retail POS and ecommerce backend systems. During the pilot livestream, Forever 21 virtually brought together attendees in Manhattan, New York, to its store all the way across the country in the city of Costa Mesa, California. Those in attendance were able to observe, interact and purchase products digitally through the live call.
Meanwhile, the app would display more information on the products featured in the livestream, just as they would on the store’s website.
14% of UK Gen Zs have attended a livestream shopping event – this rises to 18% in the US. With formats like this growing in other parts of the world – particularly in China – it could pay for Forever 21 to be an early adopter.
Clair AI by Rebag
Luxury resale brand, Rebag, has created the first image recognition technology for luxury resale – called Clair AI.
The brand, which allows customers to buy, sell, and trade luxury accessories like handbags, jewelry, watches, and small leather goods, launched the technology earlier this month as part of its efforts to further distinguish itself in a fast-growing market.
Clair AI works by instantly recognizing and delivering the resale value of handbags across a list of over 50 brands and 15,000 Clair Codes, backed by six years of data and millions of image references. The technology works on desktop and mobile, but, as noted by Rebag, provides the smoothest experience on mobile via the app. With the app, users can simply scan a handbag and find out instantly the designer, the model, style and the offer that Rebag is willing to pay for that specific item.
Currently, Clair AI can recognize around 15,000 bags with over 90% success rate, which is constantly improving. You can catch them talking about ecommerce innovation in March at YMS:NYC.
Bumble acquires French dating app, Fruitz
It was announced last week that fast-growing French dating app, Fruitz, has been acquired by Bumble – an app that helps people ‘date, meet and network better’.
As the parent company of dating-focused social network, Badoo, which is especially popular in Europe, Bumble already has a decent level of exposure across international territories. However, the move to acquire Fruitz is primarily down to the company wanting to increase its engagement with Gen Z consumers who are entering the dating scene – something that Fruitz is reported to be doing extremely well in.
Fruitz uses a similar swipe-based interface and freemium experience that are seen on other dating apps, like Bumble and Tinder. Its unconventional stance is presented in how it helps it’s 5.6 million global users find matches – by assigning a fruit to each relationship type (watermelon for those looking for friends with benefits, for example). Relationships range from those wanting long-term commitments to those who are looking for a casual hook-up, and allows users to filter out the fruits that don’t tickle their taste buds. The app also encourages users to answer icebreaker questions before messaging their match.
Already, dating apps and ecommerce are inextricably linked – there’s a transactional element to swiping left and right. As a generation that is redefining how they view and approach relationships, could Fruitz become their TikTok, in a digital dating sense?
Which one of these ecommerce moments do you think will have the biggest impact on Gen Z shopping? Vote for your favorite!


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After eight years in the App Store, YouTube finally climbed to reach the number one spot for highest-grossing app in the U.S. this week.
Until now, YouTube has never ranked higher than the number three spot. While it’s not clear exactly what pushed YouTube into pole position, revenues have gotten a big increase in recent years due to the launch of its $9.99 a month YouTube Red service.
YouTube Red was launched in 2015, replacing YouTube Music Key and giving users a simplified way to access Play Music and YouTube content through the same interface, without the ads. When YouTube Red first launched, it was estimated to be bringing in between $100,000 and $300,000 per day on iPhone.
Since then, its popularity has continued to climb as the “cord cutting” generation has continued to gain prominence. According to Sensor Tower data, last month YouTube grossed $14 million on iOS.
YouTube’s revenue also comes from YouTube’s virtual tipping mechanism, Super Chat. However, it doesn’t include YouTube Music, YouTube Gaming, or the money that YouTube makes from movie rentals, purchases, or advertising in general.
Apple’s “Top Grossing” chart was removed from the App Store with iOS 11, but App Store analytics companies such as Sensor Tower still have access to it.


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Get involved: send your pictures, video, news and views by texting TANEWS to 80360, or email
Uriah Woodhead's Bradford site storage plan is approved
12:00pm Saturday 4th January 2014 in News
A Bradford builders’ merchants has been given permission to store building materials on a neighbouring field so it can expand.
Uriah Woodhead was given permission to change the use of a site off Valley Road that will allow it to move some materials and expand its sales office.
Planning officers said that although such materials could be “unsightly,” the application would help an existing business expand.


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SIE confirmed to me no next-gen PlayStation console release in FY19, but if you, for some reason, have some doubts about it, here's another: SIE doesn't expect increase of marketing cost in FY19. https://t.co/i76W7vSolH pic.twitter.com/3sYDGmVnLB
— Takashi Mochizuki (@mochi_wsj) April 26, 2019
The platform holder is said to have confirmed the news to Wall Street Journal reporter Takashi Mochizuki following today’s announcement of its fiscal year 2018 results.
We already knew the PS5 launch date wouldn’t be in calendar 2019. If today’s report is accurate, Sony has also ruled out releasing the console between January and March 2020. VGC has contacted Sony for confirmation.
However, the company expects a decline in PS4 hardware sales during the current business year, and it has also warned that PS5 development costs will hit profitability.
The PlayStation division’s operating income is expected to decline 10% year-on-year to ¥280 billion yen ($2.5 billion/£1.9 billion), primarily due to an increase in development expenses for its next-generation console.
Sony recently announced the first official PS5 hardware details, with lead system architect Mark Cerny revealing the next-gen system will be disc-based, include an internal SSD and support 8K graphics.
He also said PS5 will be backwards compatible with PS4 games and will support the current PS VR headset.
Additionally, Cerny believes the PS5 price “will be appealing to gamers in light of its advanced feature set”.


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Advertising on smart TVs has become expected on almost any platform, and over the past few years, its dominance has begun on Android TV. And now there are even more ads on Google TV.
When Google first launched ads on Android TV in 2020, ads were styled as “recommendations” of content, showing movies and TV shows available to watch on TV through various streaming services and apps. The situation began to change in 2021, when Google TV and Android TV began showing movie ads in online cinemas, and then trailers for upcoming releases.
Users are now discovering that physical goods and even offline stores have been hooked up to Google TV ads. Users in India were the first to notice such ads, where India iStore, an online and offline store for Apple products, began to advertise. The phenomenon is not limited to India, for example, an advertisement for the American Chrysler has been noticed, and in Canada, the Tim Horton’s coffee chain is being promoted. Advertisements are shown on TVs from various manufacturers, from OnePlus to Sony. However, they are united by a software shell – Google TV.
Recall that Google TV is not an independent operating system and not renamed Android TV, but an additional shell for Android TV. It debuted on the Chromecast media player in October 2020.


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As an industry largely built on the idea of self-expression, the movements of the fashion world have long been intertwined with wider societal discussions about gender and identity. Over the last few years, we’ve begun to see non-binary models such as Hunter Schafer and Indya Moore make waves on the catwalk. Meanwhile, in pop culture, the cult of Harry Styles is arguably as much down to his penchant for flowing silhouettes and frills as his music, resulting in him becoming the face of Gucci under creative director Alessandro Michele, and Billie Eilish has reclaimed the expression ‘tomboy’ with her oversized streetwear looks and various-shades-of-fluoro hairdos, much to the delight of her angsty teen fanbase.
As with other industries, fashion brands are having to move fast in the hope of keeping up with the demands of their rapidly changing customer base. Even the differences between millennials and Gen-Z are stark: a 2016 study by J. Walter Thompson found that 48% of Gen-Zs identified as exclusively heterosexual, compared to 65% of millennials, and only 44% said they always bought clothes designed for their own gender, versus 54% of millennials. With Gen-Z boasting an estimated $143 billion worth of spending power, it’s not surprising that the fashion world has been more willing to embrace the idea of gender fluidity of late.
An array of new labels tailored around non-binary dressing have been cropping up across the world’s fashion capitals, including London-based Loverboy and One DNA in New York. In haute couture, Gucci has been been leading the way with Michele at the helm. Its catwalk shows typically cross-pollinate across genders, with women wearing pieces from the men’s collections and vice versa, and the gender fluid casting in the campaign for its new unisex perfume, Mémoire d’une Odeur, is a far cry from the hyper-gendered fragrance ads we’re used to seeing.
Elsewhere, Burberry, JW Anderson and Dolce & Gabbana have all taken the decision to stage their men’s and women’s collections together as one catwalk show, and campaigns such as Chanel for its unisex ‘It’ bag, Gabrielle, which starred celebs including Kristen Stewart and Pharrell Williams, have been making headlines worldwide.
The greater acceptance of gender fluidity in high fashion circles also seems to be filtering down to the high street and retail experiences more broadly. 2016 brought us Zara’s Ungendered, a line of unisex separates from jeans to hoodies, H&M launched a gender neutral collection in collaboration with fellow Swedish label Eytys last year and, established in 2018, the ASOS-backed unisex range Collusion pitches itself as being “designed by Gen-Z, for Gen-Z”.
In 2016, department store Selfridges went one step further, creating a gender neutral pop-up shop called Agender at its site in London. Created in collaboration with designer Faye Toogood (who also runs her own unisex label, Toogood, with her sister Erica), the space had an almost art installation feel to it: accessories were wrapped up in white, unmarked boxes, while the clothes were all logo-free, and came bagged up in cases made from stiff artist’s canvas.
While all this is evidence that progress is being made, considering that the fashion industry is worth an estimated $758 billion globally, you could argue that launching a temporary pop-up store or a one-off collection feels more like dipping a toe in the water than a wholesale change. So, are brands viewing gender neutral fashion as a marketing trend or a long-term investment?
“I don’t believe it is a trend but as the industry is sometimes too conservative, they are treating it more as a trend,” says Open Studio creative director, Sara Hildén Bengtsson.
Bengtsson knows a thing or two about how to build a fashion brand, having launched H&M-owned fashion and beauty retailer & Other Stories in 2010, and overseen its expansion to 13 other countries. She co-founded Stockholm-based creative agency Open Studio in 2017, and now works with clients including Chloé and Christian Dior to develop new campaigns and retail concepts. For Bengtsson, retailers still aren’t responding strongly enough to the demand for gender neutral fashion, particularly when there is a wealth of evidence staring them in the face.
“For a very long time people have been dressing in gender neutral fashion, maybe forever,” she says. “I think we all have our own gender neutral fashion stories, I can remember the joy of taking my dad’s Levi’s 501 jeans as soon as I could fit into them…. In my experience a lot of fashion-interested men and women shop wherever they want to shop. When I was at & Other Stories – a women’s brand – men still bought the clothes or used the beauty products.”
Rather than half measures or headline-grabbing publicity stunts, some retailers are beginning to take a more nuanced approach to unisex fashion. Founded in Denmark in 2012, Rains’ brand has been built less on its gender fluid credentials than on a problem which unites people of all backgrounds: the weather. The label’s first product was a reimagined version of the traditional rubber raincoat, but it has since expanded its range to include an array of waterproof products, bags and accessories designed to mix fashion with function. Apart from a couple of exceptions, its range also happens to be entirely unisex.
“We design some silhouettes of jackets and bags with specific genders in mind, but we always offer all apparel products in dual-sizing – small/medium, medium/large – the design doesn’t change. We design all our products with a Scandinavian sensibility, based on classic archetypes and functionality,” says Rains’ UK country manager, Tom Bettison. The way the brand communicates with its customers doesn’t play into gender norms either; products are shot on both men and women for its website and campaigns, and in its retail spaces everything is displayed by style rather than gender, with pared-back fixtures and materials that don’t feel gender specific.
While Bettison says he sees non-gender specific collections and retail spaces becoming more popular in cities like London, particularly with niche brands in the footwear and accessories spaces, he believes bigger and online-only brands still have much work to do if they hope to compete. “I think there are still challenges in creating ready-to-wear concepts that resonate well to a unisex customer base,” he says. “As online shopping’s popularity continues to rise, it will be interesting to see how brands navigate non-gender specific collections, because customers want to see apparel shot on people, not just flat lay imagery.”
While fashion designers have arguably always flirted with gender neutrality, up until now unisex fashion has felt like more of a PR exercise than a long-term strategy. But with smaller brands and the next generation of influencers leading the way, perhaps the industry is finally ready to put to bed the old cliché of sticking men in dresses and women in suits.


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LOUIS Vuitton stole the attention of fashion lovers for showing off his latest collection some time, namely a raw diamond which is claimed to be the second largest in the world. The diamond that Louis Vuitton bought was named “Sewelo” or “rare invention” and has a size of 1,758 carats.
The black-colored diamonds were on display at the Louis Vuitton shop at Place Vendome in Paris. The fashion company did not want to say how much was paid for a diamond the size of a tennis ball found in Botswana last year. The luxury fashion brand only said that the raw diamonds would be cut and made into jewelery.
According to Lucara, a diamond mining company in Canada that partners with Vuitton and a manufacturer based in Antwerp to produce gems, the diamond will be turned into a jewelry collection.
Louis Vuitton, better known for making expensive handbags, began entering the realm of jewelry in 2012 – where he competed with luxury brands Bvlgari and Richemont’s Cartier.
High-end jewelry designers are currently displaying their collections at the Paris Haute Couture fashion week, in a clothing display for top designers.
Jewelery from gemstones has now become one of the fastest growing fashion segments for the luxury goods market in recent years. This was used as an opportunity by Louis Vuitton who had bought the Tiffany label for US$ 16.2 billion last year. Gucci luxury label also had said it would open a special shop to sell luxury jewelry. [antaranews]


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A continuous plume of steam rises from the Silver Springs Citrus Cooperative processing plant outside Howey-In-The-Hills, a sign of life among the acres of dead citrus groves.
Inside Silver Springs, which started operating in the 1920s, workers are busy preparing, processing and canning drinks made from fresh grapefruit and other juice concentrates that will be shipped throughout the country, and the world.
While Lake County's citrus industry struggles to recover, the county's major processing plants have employed a few new twists expected to -- or already starting to -- pay off.
At Silver Springs, business has never been better, said Philip Tope, cooperative vice president and plant general manager. The processing plant racked up record sales of between $50 million and $60 million last year, and expects to do the same this year, he said.
At Golden Gem Growers in Umatilla, officials expect to be operating at full capacity in early December, a month earlier than usual, because of early shipments of mature citrus from South Florida and an aggressive marketing strategy that expanded its grove holdings in South Florida and increased the number of growers who supply fruit to the cooperative.
Workers are packaging drinks from concentrate at Coca-Cola Food Division's Minute Maid plant in Leesburg, although the plant is not expected to start receiving shipments of citrus until December.
Silver Springs cooperative's major stockholders, Earl ''Duke'' Crittenden and Gene Langley, decided two years ago to devote full-time to developing and operating the processing plant in Howey, Tope said.
The decision has paid off as an average of 65 employees work year- round at the plant. And that number is expected to increase by 25 with citrus concentrate shipments from Brazil and fresh fruit cooperative-owned groves in South Florida coming in later this year.
Silver Springs also has received approval from the county for a $2.9 million bond issue to finance construction of a new sprayfield for the plant, which will allow expansion of the plant's capacity.
In the past two years, the plant has storage tanks with a capacity of almost 2 million gallons of concentrate, a new canning system and a new feed mill to turn peels and other fruit leftovers into cattle feed.
Silver Springs packages its own citrus juice brand, Sun Bright, in addition to about 50 different labels for other companies, Tope said. The cooperative will continue to expand into the world market, he added.
Golden Gem decided in the late 1970s to start buying groves and recruiting members in growing areas further south, said Reid Scott, assistant director of the cooperative's grower division. ''I think it was a very progressive move.'' Today, the 500-member cooperative relies on fruit from South Florida to survive. One of the largest processing and packing plants in Florida, Golden Gem was the first plant in Lake County to handle fresh grapefruit shipments this year.
Last year, Golden Gem purchased a packing plant in Lehigh Acres in South Florida to handle some of the cooperative's fruit. Reid said the Umatilla plant will remain the flagship plant for Golden Gem because the cooperative's board of directors decided it's cheaper to ship the fruit and concentrate than it would be to relocate the plant.
In addition to processing and packing, Golden Gem is starting its third year of producing citrus-related products such as an industrial strength hand cleaner made from peel squeezings. The cooperative also is negotiating with a European manufacturer to processs and distribute a new juice product in the United States.
Golden Gem expects to employ about 500 workers when citrus shipments start arriving from South Florida next month. The cooperative processes and packages juices for 65 different labels apart from the Golden Gem brand and can store 5 million gallons of concentrate in its tank farm.
The cooperative also started its own marketing division for fresh fruits last month, a job previously done by Seald Sweet Growers in Tampa. Golden Gem wants more control over how its fresh fruit is marketed to buyers.
At Minute Maid, workers are packaging year-round although the plant will not hit full stride until citrus starts arriving from South Florida.


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However, this sad news quickly became good news as, since then, the studio has been funded by publisher FDG Entertainment to make the game. And not just that, FDG has offered to fund Castle Pixel to make two games.
“We’re excited to announce that FDG Entertainment has agreed to fund the development of Blossom Tales and a second game we’re planning called Holo City!!!,” Castle Pixel wrote on its Facebook page.
We know about Blossom Tales already (and if you don’t, read it about it in Siliconera’s previous post), so the only mystery belongs to Holo City. Unfortunately, not much is known about it apart from what can be seen in the two screenshots below.
Looks like it’s set in a future mega city amid robots and, of course, retains Castle Pixel’s recognizable pixel art style. There are no release dates or any other details regarding these two games yet.


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In the battle for the future of same-day delivery, Deliv has a secret weapon: you.
Google has a lot of reasons to start its own same-day shipping service. Here are a few of them.
With same-day shipping, everything’s perfect — but not quite perfect enough.
The Europas European startup awards just held in Berlin may not have been an unqualified success (the bone-cracking temperatures didn’t help), but the event did shine a welcome light on tech startups from across the continent and beyond. The full list of winners is a long one, so here’s an entirely subjective list of interesting startups spotted at the event.
Male shoppers are today’s hottest consumer in the funding world


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Android and Windows Phone manufacturer.
By Humberto Saabedra on February 23, 2011
Dell has begun to roll out its long awaited Android Froyo update for the Dell Streak 5 tablet on AT&T. The update adds the Dell Stage user interface as well as adding Flash 10.1 support, live wallpapers and other enhancements. There is currently no word on whether the Streak 5 will be further updated to […]
By Humberto Saabedra on January 6, 2011
T-Mobile and Dell have officially announced the forthcoming launch of the Dell Streak 7 Android tablet. The tablet features Android 2.2, front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera, a Gorilla Glass fronteed touchscreen display at WVGA resolution, 16GB of internal memory, HSPA+ support and the 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor. Launch and pricing details will be revealed in […]
By Humberto Saabedra on December 9, 2010
By Christopher Price on March 24, 2010
Dell confirmed to PhoneNews.com that, much like the Motorola Backflip, the Dell Aero will be prohibited from running unsigned Android applications. The company refused to comment on the reasons why, but the reason is quite clear; AT&T. The company refuses to allow unsigned applications to run on any Android device launched by the carrier. To […]


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1. Government decides to revise classification criteria for medium enterprises
- Government has decided to revise classification criteria for medium enterprises.
- As per the government’s decision, the investment limit will be increased to Rs 50 crore and turnover limit to Rs 200 crore.
- Earlier, government has revised definition of MSMEs. Before the revision, investment limit for medium category was up to Rs 10 crore and turnover limit for medium category was Rs 5 crore.
(Source: The Hindu)
- Government is also open for increasing turnover limit to Rs 250 crore for the category of medium enterprises.
- Currently, MSMEs contribute 48% to India’s exports and 29% to India’s GDP.
- Government has planned to increase contribution to exports to 60% and to India’s GDP to 50%.
2. India begins to buy Malaysian palm oil again
- India has begun to buy Malaysian palm oil again after a pause of four months.
- The decrease in India’s domestic inventories is the reason why India has begun to buy Malaysian palm oil again.
- During January to April 2020, India’s import of palm oil has declined by over 50%.
- Indonesia has increased levy on palm oil export. But, Malaysia is offering a discount of 15 dollars.
(Source: The Financial Express)
- The discounted price of Malaysian palm oil is another reason why India has begun to buy Malaysian palm oil again.
- Last week, Malaysian government has signed an agreement for purchasing 1 lakh tonnes of Indian rice.
- Indonesia and Malaysia occupy 1st and 2nd place in the list of world’s largest producers of palm oil.
- India is largest edible oil importer of the world. India purchases about two third of its imports of total edible oil.
3. Canara Bank starts gold loan business vertical
- Canara bank has started special gold loan business vertical.
- Canara Bank’s gold loan products are aimed at providing faster credit to customers at low interest cost.
- The special gold loan campaign will continue till 30 June. The turnaround time for gold loan product is low and flexibility of loan repayment is high.
- Turnaround time is defined as the time between loan application and loan disbursal.
4. Central trade unions move ILO against changes in labour laws
- Central trade unions have moved International Labour Organisation against changes in labour laws by 13 state governments.
- While addressing their complaint to Guy Ryder, DG of ILO, the labour unions said that changes in labour laws violate ILO conventions such as Convention 144 on tripartite consultation.
(Source: UN website)
- Various state governments have granted exemptions to all business organizations from obligations (responsibilities) of employer under all labour laws for 3 years.
- Eight states have increased working hours from 8 to 12 hours through executive order.
- In addition to 144th convention of 1976, labour unions have also talked about following other conventions.
- Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948
- Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
- Consultation (Industrial and National Levels) Recommendation, 1960
5. Patanjali launches e-commerce app
- Patanjali has launched e-commerce app, called OrderMe.
- The app was launched last week and this week, the app achieved 10,000 daily transactions.
- The app is based on the word OM (OrderMe). The products of other FMCG companies and goods of neighbourhood shops may also be included.
(Source: The Financial Express)
- Amazon, Flipkart, Bigbasket and JioMart will be competitors of this app.
- As per the research agencies, India's e-commerce market will reach from $24 billion in 2017 to $84 billion in 2021.
- India's overall retail market will grow from $795 billion in 2017 to $1.2 trillion by 2021.
6. NAA confirms profiteering allegations against a product of Park Avenue
- National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) has confirmed profiteering allegations against a product of Park Avenue.
- The name of the Park Avenue product is After Shave Lotion Park Avenue Good Morning. It is a product of Raymond Group's J K Helene Curtis Ltd.
- As per the decision of NAA, RS 19 crore will be deposited within 3 months by the company and its one distributor.
- The amount will be deposited with the Consumer Welfare Fund (CWF).
- The company was accused of increasing base prices, not changing the MRP and not passing GST rate cut benefits to the consumer.
- NAA was formed under section 171 of the Central GST Act, 2017. It is a statutory body. It consists of a Chairman and four technical members. Its current chairman is B.N. Sharma.
- Consumer Welfare Fund (CWF) was created under section 57 of the CGST Act, 2017. Its aim is to make India’s consumer advocacy movement strong.