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Investment U #Trending: RadioShack Tanks While GM Orders Yet Another Recall
The second week of June is officially in the books, featuring big IPOs, exciting acquisitions and, yes, even more recalls. Here are the trending stories you may have missed...
- On Monday, Web hosting giant GoDaddy filed for an initial public offering – the company’s second attempt since it was founded in 1997. GoDaddy was previously valued at $2.25 billion, but its CEO, Blake Irving, said in July that it could increase its annual revenue to $5 billion within the next two to three years. GoDaddy has been mired with scandals recently, from selectively shutting down websites to its founder’s penchant for hunting elephants. However, most people are familiar with the company due to its humorous - some would say gross - Super Bowl ads (the most recent is embedded below).
- Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) 7:1 stock split officially went into effect Monday, with individual shares priced at $94. According to a CNN Money poll, the majority of retail investors are thrilled to finally be able to purchase the stock. Prior to Monday, shares closed at $645.57.
- RadioShack (NYSE: RSH) slipped into a tailspin Tuesday after announcing a quarterly loss of $98.3 million. The company is planning to close 200 stores a year over the next three years, but analysts question whether that will be enough to keep it from becoming the next Circuit City. Since Monday, shares of RadioShack have fallen more than 20%. Our Managing Editor, Rachel Gearhart, recently covered this story - and how it could have larger implications for the electronic retail sector. Click here to read her piece.
- On Wednesday, Toyota (NYSE: TM) re-recalled more than 766,000 cars and trucks in the U.S. The previous recall notice - issued in 2013 - involved an issue with improperly assembled airbag inflators. But according to a new press release, "the involved serial numbers provided by the supplier were incomplete, and did not include all of the potentially involved inflators." As a result, the automaker is notifying all customers who took part in the previous recall, as well as those who bought certain model years of its Corolla, Tundra, Sequoia and Lexus SC 430 lines.
In other recall news...
- General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced that it’s recalling nearly 512,000 Camaros as part of its ongoing ignition switch issue. So far this year, the company has recalled 16.5 million vehicles in North America. And odds are there will be more to come. What does that mean for investors? Click here to read our latest on the subject.
And last but not least...
- On Friday, OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN) shares hit a two-year high of $104.32 - up 48% from their previous close - on news that the company will be acquired by Priceline (Nasdaq: PCLN). The deal is valued at $2.6 billion and will add restaurant booking to Priceline’s existing capabilities. In response to the news, other local business Internet stocks rose higher, including Yelp (NYSE: YELP), Groupon (Nasdaq: GRPN) and GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB).
That’s it for this week. As always, I encourage you to follow Investment U on Facebook here, Twitter here, and Google+ here. And feel free to contribute to the conversation in our LinkedIn group here.
Have a great weekend.


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Will Dan Brown's 'The Lost Symbol' Surpass 'The Da Vinci Code?'
Months of waiting is over for Dan Brown loyalists.
Today the book will finally be available in stores and as e-books online. Details about the novel by the author of the blockbuster "The Da Vinci Code" have been spare since April when The Knopf Doubleday Group, a division of Random House, Inc., announced its release.
In an interview this morning on NBC's "Today Show," Brown told Matt Lauer that "The Da Vinci Code" is a tough act to follow.
"There's plenty of pressure," Brown said. "You're following up 'The Da Vinci Code.' You want to make sure you hit it out of the park."
The book, which took six years to complete, took Brown to Washington D.C., often undercover, to do research.
"I've gone to D.C. many times and taken tours, just regular tours, with a baseball cap on and just let that sort of be my first experience," Brown said. "And, then, I may decide, you know, I can set a scene here."
Brown said he does his best work at 4 a.m. and if he's suffering from writer's block, will put on gravity boots like Richard Gere wore in the movie "Gigilo" and hang upside down.
"The boots are a trick because not only do they increase circulation in your head, but you think differently upside down," he said.
And up until yesterday, when reviews of the strictly-embargoed book appeared in The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, the veil of secrecy cast on "The Lost Symbol" appeared airtight, because it seemed impossible to get anywhere near the estimated five million copies that have been printed so far.
Book dealers worldwide have been protecting the novel with high-level security last seen during the release of the latest Harry Potter installment.
Amazon's chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, wrote in a letter to customers that the yet-to-be-released books were being kept under "24-hour guard in its own chain-link enclosure, with two locks requiring two separate people for entry."
Patricia Bostelman, the vice president of marketing for Barnes and Noble, told ABCNews.com that the company's employees have been made "very clear of the security on the title."
"Throughout our supply train and our distribution chain we have very, very clearly articulated the procedure for keeping them secured until the moment we're allowed to release them," said Bostelman, who declined to elaborate on the company's security measures.

domain: news


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Music Gear News
Pink Floyd and Ed Sheeran Olympic team-up planned
A famous acoustic guitars player who is going to be turning up, none other than Ed Sheeran, has spoken out about the fact that he'll be playing alongside a famous electric guitars band…
The band in question? Pink Floyd!
"I'm playing the closing ceremony - which I think is kinda cool right?" he said to Nova recently.
"I'm doing a song with Pink Floyd. I'm doing 'Wish You Were Here'." The Lego House and Wake Me Up crooner later added to the Australian radio station.
Sheeran's LP is called '+' and is home to tracks such as Kiss Me, This and Grade 8.
According to the singer, though drums player Nick Mason is going to feature, not all of the Pink Floyd members who are still alive will be there for the upcoming gig.
Published by AW.Posted on 3 Aug 2012 20:28 to category : Band / Celebrity News
Related Music News
Legendary Motorhead bassist, Lemmy Kilmister has been presented with with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bass Player Live Event in Hollywood, USA.
British pop star Adele reached 100 million views on YouTube in five days - averaging over 1 million views per hour - a rate that outdid the new Star Wars movie trailer.
Marshall amplifiers has confirmed that Slash, Lemmy Billy Gibbons, Joe Bonamassa and more will feature in the forthcoming documentary - Father of Loud. Detailing the life of the Jim Marshall, the iconic amplifier company's founder.
Iron Maiden has been confirmed as the Download Festival's headlining act for 2016.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is working alongside Ricky Gervais for the forthcoming David Brent movie, Life On The Road.
Stooges saxophonist, Steve Mackay has passed away aged 66-years-old, reports have confirmed.
Recent Music News
In the run up to Black Friday 2015 we are giving away a great prize every day from now until and including Black Friday (27.11.15) alongside some fantastic deals.
Universal Audio is now offering a FREE UAD Satellite Quad worth 719 GBP when you purchase selected Universal Audio Apollo rackmount interfaces. The offer is valid until 31st December 2015.
Fender Custom Shop guitars are now available in-store and online at Gear4music.
Novation is offering customers the opportunity to win a week intensive Ableton Live production course, take part in artist's masterclasses as well as performing live in a popular Berlin club. Are you in?
Mackie is offering a free iPad for customers who purchase a Mackie DL32R mixer from Gear4music before 31st December 2015.
VIP Software Launch New Version and Website.


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ASUS has announced the PQ321 monitor packing 4K resolution. The professional-grade screen is 31.5 inches in diagonal and can show one billion colors thanks to its 10-bit RGB LED-backlit IGZO panel.
The 4K resolution translates to 3840 x 2160 pixels, which adds up to a pixel density of 140 pixels per inch. Other features of the ASUS PQ321 include 176-degree viewing angle, 350 cd/m2 brightness and 8ms response time.
Gladly, the monitor offers lots of adjustment; there’s height, tilt and swivel. Connectivity wise, there’s a DisplayPort, dual HDMI inputs sporting picture-in-picture capability, and a 3.5mm audio jack for the 2W built-in stereo speakers.
Promised to hit shelves in the USA and Canada at the end of June, the ASUS PQ321 doesn’t yet have an official price tag, but you can bet it’s going to be priced along the lines of its resolution.
Source | Via


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Android phone manufacturers will have to install Google's video calling app if they want other Google apps.
(CCM) — Google is planning to give its Duo video calling app a massive shot in the arm by making it part of the Google Mobile Services (GMS) package of apps that Google supplies to Android smartphone manufacturers. Manufacturers have to install all of the apps in the package or none at all, so any manufacturer that wants to install key Google apps, such as Gmail or Google Maps, on new smartphones after Dec. 1 will have to install Duo as well. The video calling app was launched in August for Android and iOS devices, but so far, it appears not to have gained much traction. By making Duo part of the GMS package, Google will ensure that millions of new phone purchasers who might not have heard of the app will be exposed to it.
Both Microsoft's Skype and Facebook's Messenger already provide cross-platform video calling, while Apple's FaceTime offers video calling only between iOS devices. But by effectively forcing Android phone makers to pre-install Duo, Google looks likely to gain a significant share of the market — on Android, at least — in a very short space of time. The company has also decided to demote Google Hangouts in its app portfolio: starting Dec. 1, manufacturers will no longer have to install Hangouts group chat and video calling app as part of the GMS package.
Image: © Google.


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The deals keep on coming ahead of Christmas and Chanukah this year, and Monday’s roundup is going to blow you away. Highlights include discounts on the Sonos Play:1 and Play:3 speakers, a deeper-than-normal discount on Amazon’s best-selling soundbar, wireless headphones that look just like AirPods but with a cord, $22 off everyone’s favorite Philips Hue bundle, $81 off an August Smart Lock, a killer deal on those outdoor Christmas laser lights everyone loves, $20 off the Echo Dot (Amazon’s top-selling Black Friday deal), an indoor garden that’s probably powered by magic, and more. See all of today’s top deals below.
Follow @BGRDeals on Twitter to keep up with the latest and greatest deals we find around the web. Prices subject to change without notice. BGR may receive a commission on orders placed through this article.


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Gap Inc. gave rosy guidance for the fiscal year for which it plans to report on shortly, despite saying fourth-quarter overall sales declined and comparable sales at its three major brands fell in January.
Shares, up 4.7% in the past month, edged up 1.3% to $24.30 in after-hours trading.
Gap said its fiscal 2015 earnings per share excluding items are projected at $2.41 to $2.42, at the high of its earlier guidance.
The company also said its overall sales for the fourth quarter totaled $4.39 billion, down from $4.71 billion in the year-earlier quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast $4.46 billion.
The company saw a 6% comparable-store sales decline in January at Gap and noted that comparable sales fell 17% at Banana Republic and 6% at Old Navy.
Gap is slated to release full fourth-quarter results Feb. 25.
Write to Josh Beckerman at firstname.lastname@example.org


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The beginner's guide to everything coins and bullion.
Current and accurate modern coin mintage information.
The history of the Penny goes back over 1,200 years ago, as the first pennies were made all the way back in 790 A.D. Read the article and take a journey through the historical roadmap of the Penny.
Throughout American history, tens of thousands of ships have been lost at sea. Read the article to learn which notable sunken treasures were discovered!
Join ModernCoinMart in celebrating this iconic brand with officially licensed Coca-Cola Bottle Cap-shaped silver coins!
Super-sized 99.9% pure silver versions of the popular America the Beautiful Quarters series … Stock up now on these big, affordable silver coins from the U.S. Mint – available at ModernCoinMart!
The history of American coinage mirrors and reflects the history of the American nation and its people. ModernCoinMart is proud to offer a vast selection of U.S. coins from colonial to modern times.
Coming soon to ModernCoinMart! The U.S. Mint provided release dates for the products being released this summer. Keep an eye out for some of the most highly anticipated coins of 2018.
The Singapore Mint released three medallions to mark the historic meeting between President Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. You can now purchase these medallions from ModernCoinMart to commemorate this major world event. Read more about the momentous event and the thoughtful design behind the medals.
Read about President Trump's decision to move the U.S Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and the resulting coins released by the Mikadash Education Center to mark the occasion!
For many years, Numismatists have found interest in the discoveries of mint error coins. The result of various mishaps, these rare finds often garner a hefty price tag when collectors claim them.
After third-party grading service, Numismatic Guaranty Corporation, identified a missing Mint mark error on five, 2014 5 oz. America the Beautiful coins, collectors may find themselves on the lookout for unnoticed rarities within their collections!
Learn more about the CGC grading scale and see comparisons against other grading companies such as NGC and PCGS. Grading more than comics, CGC certifies foil notes, now available!


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Google reinvent Android
Google came with huge new Apps and features for the new Android which is going to be called Android N , you’ll start seeing huge changes on how your android operating system runs in your Mobile devices such as Samsung , LG , HTC and so on .
I’m actually talking about new services such as DUO which is a FaceTime App that will allow a new way of video conference and Allo as a new way of texting , maybe it’s going to be the next WhatsApp ! .
Google is not stopping from there , the tech giant never forget to improve it’s Android wear to make the Wear operates better with wearable devices such as Smartwatches , Virtual reality gadgets and wearable glasses.
But the major changes in terms of operation will be seen on the Android N , Google doesn’t give any details about if it did any improvement concerning security , battery life and storage related issues .
We have to wait for couples of week to see what are the full changes on the Android N .


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Sustainability starts at the source, by choosing the right suppliers and green targets. Panellists at The Caterer's Sustainability Summit shared their expertise
When it comes to reaching environmental goals, no operator is an island. Experts at The Caterer's Sustainability Summit discussed how they're working with suppliers to trace the origin of ingredients, and share tips on how we can collectively make a difference.
Any journey into sustainable sourcing must begin with buy-in from the entire team. Peter Weeden, head of sustainability and chef-director at the Culpeper Family Hospitality Group, a group of four pubs in London, knows this first hand, as he is responsible for getting everyone on the same page across the business.
"Having an open conversation about where you are and where you're looking to go is key. I use the example of the Duke of Cambridge [in Islington in London] as a good starting point – it's the first organic pub in the UK and it's been running for almost 25 years,"says Weeden, speaking at the summit, which was sponsored by Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, Compass Group UK & Ireland and Dynamify.
"The Duke set out guidelines and principles very early on in conjunction with the Soil Association – that all the ingredients in the kitchen would be organic, that it had an agreed and approved standard that was independently audited – which makes it easy to measure what we are doing," he said. "And you can very clearly communicate back to your staff and customers what your standards are because they're explicit."
"It's also useful to conduct a full audit of the menu, consumption and accounts to see where there are high volumes of meat and fish sales compared to vegetables, and gradually try to build up an understanding of what you're serving," he said. Asking suppliers about the source of ingredients is also crucial: "We have to question our assumptions a bit more and not just say ‘it's fine, we've been using them for ages'."
"Once you start to have a dialogue or discussion with your supplier, try and get a policy written down on what it is you want to serve. Have a set of criteria you want to stick to and just chip away very gently and take the whole team on board. This is the key part – this is all about a journey you have to take everyone on."
Creating sustainability strategies
Harinder Singh, head of sustainability at Foodbuy UK, the procurement division of Compass Group UK & Ireland, has recently implemented an extensive sustainability strategy across its supplier base – no mean feat for a company that works with thousands of suppliers.
For him that meant starting with a mission statement of what sustainability means. "The answer is we're trying to leverage £1.5b-worth of scale to make sure we can implement sustainable practices. That includes a series of actionable ambitions, such as decarbonising suppliers to deliver net zero emissions by 2030.
"Sustainability and procurement working together can really create a legacy," he said. "For me, the culture shift in food waste is so palpable and I'm really pleased to see commercial teams fully engaged with sustainability, having conversations with their supply partners, and considering it all through the procurement process."
Effective supply chain management is crucial. "Success in this space is largely down to having the right supplier partners who understand our targets, ambitions [and] initiatives."
Creating the strategy over the last 10 months has also made Singh appreciate the crucial role of data. "We're so heavily reliant on our supplier partners to keep us informed of any changes they are making in their supply chain, because data is at the heart of everything we're doing."
Maxwell Harding, founder and chief exeuctive of Dynamify, an omnichannel point of sale business, agreed this is a fundamental starting point: "Obviously we all know that what gets measured, gets improved. We know that when we track our weight on a scale or record how much we drink in any given month, we realise our consumption might be higher than we think it is."
For example, monitoring carbon labelling data has proved successful. "We found that where operators start using carbon labelling inside the Dynamify solution, they can reduce their carbon footprint within about 18 months by up to 25%. So, we're seeing some really interesting stats coming out where you can use monitoring and tracking and gamification to change consumer behaviour."
For Michelle Devlin, general manager at the Egerton House hotel in London and sustainability head for Red Carnation Hotels, a comprehensive plan from the outset is key to everything.
"Have a very detailed roadmap of what you want to do and have it focused in on particular subjects or items, because otherwise it can become quite a complicated mess. You need to have a very structured process of how you want to go about it," she said.
"We made sure we had procurement managers in place who understood the sustainability element of purchasing. Procurement in the past has always been about looking for products [with] the best value, whereas, actually the culture now is to make sure there is a sustainability element to that. Sustainability has as much a part in that decision-making process as the cost."
The group also set up a working committee of chefs across the collection to identify 15 top products that could be sourced locally, which has contributed to an increased use of more local products. For example, one of its properties now sources its dishes' main ingredients from within a 25-mile radius, and its property in Ireland uses ingredients from within the estate itself.
"The team went out and looked for different suppliers and suddenly these relationships started to appear around the different hotels, with suppliers coming on board. That not only provided us with an opportunity to have a great product on the plate appearing to our guests, but also to offer the story behind that product."
'We don't have a bin'
Given the complexity of supply chains, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to being more sustainable. Thankfully, those who have already embarked on this path have plenty of learnings to share.
Douglas McMaster, chef-owner of Silo in London, is a pioneer of zero waste. However, one of his tactics is fiendishly simple: "We don't have a bin. It seems like an odd thing for a restaurant to do. But the more I learn about waste and sustainability, the more I realise the bin is the thing that is odd in this scenario," he said. Instead, the restaurant has a circular approach to cooking where nothing is wasted.
He also uses invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed, on restaurant menus, borne out of an idea of wanting to raise awareness about the imbalance caused to ecosystems through overpopulation of non-native species. "We need to reinvest in the supply chains that feed us… Invasive species are one of those interferences in nature that humans have created," he said.
However, he cautions anyone taking this approach to do their homework first to avoid making the problem worse. "The three [invasive species] dinners we have done involved thousands of hours in research and development into getting those ingredients safely and responsibly. And we had to learn what is responsible, because no one is telling us how to do this… we're learning and trying to spread that knowledge."
For Devlin, one of the pitfalls to avoid is the potential greenwashing of products: "There are lots of products on the market now promoted as being sustainable," she said. "Before any long-term decisions are made operators should ask: ‘Where have the raw materials for that product come from? Have they come from responsible sourcing?'"
One example is checking that recyclable items can be appropriately handled. "There are some new products coming in that our waste contractors are not yet set up for."
For Harding, incomplete data can be a key setback. "I think it's quite frustrating for people if you're saying you offer, for example, carbon labelling but you only have it on a couple of your menu items or it's incorrect in terms of the value. So, if you're going do it, do it properly or don't bother."
His advice is to have scalable processes across all sites. "Have the right tools behind the scenes so that you have accurate data."
Unfortunately, for some, there still remains a mental barrier towards taking the first step to sustainable sourcing, especially as it can feel like a complicated area to navigate.
"The biggest pitfall is when we imagine that somebody else is going to deal with it. That we externalise the cost. That we externalise responsibility. We'll just put it onto the supplier or the customer," said Weeden.
"If we take responsibility and internalise those costs and think about ways to deal with problems as they arise, we're not kicking them down the road for people further on," he says. "It's about taking responsibility."
Alaska's sustainable seafood journey
When it comes to ensuring food is sustainably sourced, knowing the provenance of produce is key. In Alaska, the sustainability of its wild seafood is embedded into its way of life – it is the only state with sustainable fishing written into its constitution.
Alicia Parker, Northern Europe marketing representative at the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, a public-private partnership set up to promote the natural resource, said: "Because of Alaska's fisheries management practices, it has never had a species on the endangered species list, because it prioritises the needs of the ecosystem over the harvest," she says. In fact, it is illegal to farm fish in Alaska.
Fishing is the largest private sector employer, employing 60,000 people out of a population of 733,000. "Fishing families are part of the industry and are really important to protecting the future generation of stocks," she says.
"Fisherman are really sustainable stewards and know they must sometimes put aside their short-term gains for the long-term health of the resource. They are committed to obeying strict laws, making sure to use careful harvest methods, accurate reporting and also adhering to scientific data to protect the fish and their livelihoods."
Once the fish is caught, the intention is to use 100% of it to minimise waste. For example, the skin and oil are used in beauty products, and the bones are used in pet food and fertiliser.
Anyone looking to purchase Alaskan-sourced fish can verify the origin by checking the certification is from Alaska Responsible Fisheries Management (RFM)and the Marine Stewardship Council to ensure supply chain traceability. "Now more than ever provenance is becoming really important and people are caring about the origin of their product," said Parker.


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The Australian Labor Party has said it would review the economics of the NBN, including the implications of the multi-technology mix, on the cash-flow of the NBN Co, the company which is rolling out the network, if it were voted back into office in the forthcoming Federal Election.
An issue with security cameras can be the resolution of what they capture, but with Arlo's new 4K cameras, will your new security resolution be to upgrade to this new model?
Apple's long-awaited video streaming service is expected to debut on 25 March, which will be 26 March for Australians, but the event should be about much more than movies and TV.
Cannot the NBN Co introduce a new plan at a Speed of 20/4 Mbps. Only 3 plans are available to[…]
“If we can have more retail service providers offering a $60 a month retail priced plan with no monthly data[…]
“Just nine years ago on fixed line networks that number was 11GB a month. We’ve gone from an average of[…]
Something like a third of NBN Co fixed line connections will use the inferior FTTN technology. 5G mobile will be[…]
Does it do Apple TV yet?They won't get any money from me until it does.


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Our client is RefreshNow! Soda. RefreshNow! is a top 3 beverage producer in the U.S. and has approached McKinsey for help in designing a product launch strategy.
Description of RefreshNow! Soda
As an integrated beverage company, RefreshNow! leads its own brand design, marketing and sales efforts. In addition, the company owns the entire beverage supply chain, including production of concentrates, bottling and packaging, and distribution to retail outlets. RefreshNow! has a considerable number of brands across carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, 5 large bottling plants throughout the country and distribution agreements with most major retailers.
RefreshNow! is evaluating the launch of a new product, a flavored non-sparkling bottled water called O-Natura. The company expects this new beverage to capitalize on the recent trend towards health-conscious alternatives in the packaged goods market.
RefreshNow!’s Vice President of Marketing has asked McKinsey to help analyze the major factors surrounding the launch of O-Natura and its own internal capabilities to support the effort.


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Electric car maker Tesla must install a software update for around 1.1 million vehicles. There is a risk of compression.
The Federal Highway and Motor Vehicle Safety Authority (NHTSA) pointed out a fault in several Tesla models with the automatic closing system of the windows: drivers risk pinching their fingers.
Tesla cars (like cars from other brands) have a sensor system that automatically detects resistance and prevents the windows from closing. However, in some Model 3, Y, S and X vehicles, this resistance is not always reliably detected, NHTSA warned. Tesla said the company is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from the malfunction.
The problem should now be resolved with a software update. Affected vehicle owners will be notified from November 15. Tesla already had to launch several such memories in the United States this year.
For a long time, the company has been running software updates without notifying owners or regulators. In recent months, however, Tesla has become the target of NHTSA. The regulatory authorities launched an investigation after several collisions between Teslas and emergency vehicles.


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Nokia Normandy is an Android phone?
When Nokia Normandy was first posted on this website, we had all assumptions it was just another Asha phone.
Right now, a new report says the phone codenamed Nokia Normandy is an Android phone. But before that, remember that on the day we first saw the Nokia Normandy, we got two pictures: One was identified as Normandy while one the one was looking like a fly Samsung Galaxy phone with Nokia logo.
Now, truth to be said, the other ‘unidentified phone’ might be the Nokia Android phone being talked about, not event the Normandy. Reason is because it has a home button like an Android phone while the one identified as Normandy has a normal Asha home key.
So back to the gist, Nokia Normandy is said to be in final stages of production and a 2014 release date has been slated. It is not clear why Nokia is still pursuing their Android dream even though an acquisition by Microsoft is at hand.
A Nokia smartphone running on Android operating system will be a shot in Microsft’s leg, given that the later are pushing their Windows Phone 8 OS agianst Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS, even using desperate measures sometimes.
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Sony teases us with hot super-limited-edition MGS4 wireless headphones
byNilay Patel||March 24th 2008 at 2:57pmMarch 24th 2008 2:57 pm
If Metal Gear Solid 4 truly is the last game in the series (please please no), it's going to have gotten quite a send-off: a limited-edition gunmetal PS3 in Japan, a new $499 PS3 bundle in the rest of the world, the North American launch of the DualShock 3, and, uh, some wireless headphones. Well, not just any wireless headphones: a limited-edition run of Sony's hot 7.1-channel MDR-DS7000s, with different artwork on each can. Sadly, it doesn't look like these are going to be all that easy to get -- only 30 will be randomly handed out to those buying MGS4 bundles from the Japanese Konami store from now until June 1. Better get clicking, Sparky.


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AST is to break with CHS/Merisel and sign a new distribution deal with Ingram Micro.
Although both parties have described the split as an amicable one, Jan Lawford, director of vendor management at CHS/ Merisel, said that unsatisfactory sales of AST product had led to the decision.
Con Mallon, AST marketing director, said: ?We are mutually dissolving our contract with CHS/Merisel. AST would like to see this as an amicable parting and we wish CHS/Merisel all the very best for the future.?
Lawford highlighted AST?s poor corporate presence as the main reason for the termination of the contract.
?CHS/Merisel will be focusing resources on IBM, Compaq and HP,? she said. ?AST is not a leading brand in the corporate arena ? we need to work with vendors where we can get a high return on our resources.?
Accusations of a lack of brand awareness in the corporate arena were discounted by others in the channel. Martin Hellawell, general manager of corporate development at Computacenter, said that AST was the preferred choice of many corporate users.
?We have corporate customers who favour AST and they are doing well in the retail sector,? he said. ?It wouldn?t be fair to say they suffer from a lack of corporate awareness.?
On the signing with Ingram, Mallon said that the two companies were working together in the US and Europe and the UK signing was a natural extension of this. ?We felt the time was right for us to do business with Ingram in the UK ? distribution is the lifeblood of AST. The coverage we will gain from Ingram will be very valuable.?
Ingram vice president of marketing Andy Arthur said the deal was important in enabling the distributor to offer a greater choice to its customers. ?We see AST as an exciting and important strategic addition to our PC division portfolio and one which further strengthens our relationship with AST.?
Latest figures from Romtec show that AST has 5.7 per cent of the UK PC market.
Nima Green asks what is driving public cloud uptake in Germany
In the wake of yet another lawsuit involving Oracle, we run through 10 of the vendor's biggest court battles
CEO Chuck Robbins says Cisco will use the Catalyst 9000 product range as a template for future launches
Today saw 14 of the UK IT channel's biggest hitters come together to determine the winners of CRN's WiC awards. But what does being a WiC judge actually involve? Doug Woodburn reports


text: baffling comment that the device's GPS antenna is "too small" to support turn-by-turn directions, and Apple's iPod and iPhone marketing head Greg Joswiak recently sat down with AppScout to clear up some of the confusion. Greg says that Apple has an internal priority list of features for the iPhone, and that the company went as far down the list with the 3G as it could -- and that copy / paste support simply didn't make the cut. Similarly, there are no technical issues preventing turn-by-turn directions, just other "complicated issues" (read: legal agreements) that need to be sorted out, and Josiwak expects developers to "amaze us." as things "evolve." Hopefully that means that nav app TomTom's got in the labs will evolve its way into the wild sometime soon. Finally, Joswiak said that he's not aware of any technical reasons an office suite isn't already in the App Store, but that the lack of a cross-application file structure could impede development. Yeah, and maybe the lack of copy / paste, you think?


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GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased six points to -30 in April. All measures were up in comparison to last month’s announcement.
Joe Staton, Client Strategy Director GfK, says: “As food and energy prices continue to rise, and inflation eats into wages, the cost-of-living crisis is a painful day-to-day reality for many. But are all consumers buckling under the pressure? On the evidence of April’s confidence figures, the answer is no. Instead, there’s a sudden flowering of optimism with big improvements across the board. The eight-point jump in how we see prospects for our personal financial situation is a dramatic change that might suggest household finances are stronger than we thought. The brighter views on what the general economy has in store for us, with April’s six-point rise cementing a 20-point improvement since January, could even be seen as the proverbial ‘green shoots of recovery’. Moreover, the Major Purchase Index at -28 is higher than it has been for a year and will bring much-needed cheer to retailers as we head into summer. This is the third month in a row that confidence overall has improved; can we look forward to this momentum building for the year ahead?”
The Overall Index Score increased six points to -30 in April. All measures were up in comparison to last month’s announcement.
The index measuring changes in personal finances during the last 12 months is up five points at -21; this is two points worse than April 2022.
The forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months increased eight points to -13, which is 13 points higher than this time last year.
The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months is up seven points at -55; this is five points higher than in April 2022.
Expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months have increased by six points to -34; this is 21 points better than April 2022.
The Major Purchase Index is up five points to -28; this is four points higher than this month last year.
The Savings Index is down two points this month at +19; this is nine points higher than this time last year.
Notes to editor
Please source all information to GfK.
Press contact: for further details or to arrange an interview, please contact Greenfields Communications:
Stuart Ridsdale E: firstname.lastname@example.org T +44 (0) 7790 951229 ORLucy Green E: email@example.com T +44 (0) 7817 698366
About the survey
Personal Financial Situation
This index is based on the following questions to consumers: ‘How has the financial situation of your household changed over the last 12 months?’
‘How do you expect the financial position of your household to change over the next 12 months?’ (a lot better – a little better – stay(ed) the same – a little worse – a lot worse)
General Economic Situation
This index is based on the following questions to consumers: ‘How do you think the general economic situation in this country has changed over the last 12 months?’
‘How do you expect the general economic situation in this country to develop over the next 12 months?’
(a lot better – a little better – stay(ed) the same – a little worse - a lot worse)
Major Purchase Index
This index is based on the following question to consumers: ‘In view of the general economic situation, do you think now is the right time for people to make major purchases such as furniture or electrical goods?’
(right time – neither right nor wrong time – wrong time)
This index is based on the following question to consumers: ‘In view of the general economic situation do you think now is?’ (a very good time to save – a fairly good time to save – not a good time to save – a very bad time to save)
(Commented on but not included in the Index Score)
GfK. Growth from Knowledge.
For over 85 years, we have earned the trust of our clients around the world by solving critical business questions in their decision-making process around consumers, markets, brands and media. Our reliable data and insights, together with advanced AI capabilities, have revolutionized access to real-time actionable recommendations that drive marketing, sales and organizational effectiveness of our clients and partners. That’s how we promise and deliver “Growth from Knowledge”.
These are GfK’s global findings ahead of CES 2024.Read more
Environmental appeal ‘not enough’ to convert non-luxury buyers to EVsRead more
In the latest Green Gauge® study from GfK Consumer Life, more than half the U.S. population (53%) expressed serious concern for the environment, noting it should be a priority for everyone.Read more


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It’s certainly been a big day for Kamen Rider fans, as our first look at Kamen Rider Zi-O was dropped quite recently and Bandai is showing no signs of stopping any time soon. You might recall that a new video game called Kamen Rider Climax Scramble was recently announced for the Nintendo Switch if you’ve been looking to import the game we have good news for you.
It was just confirmed on Bandai Namco S.E.A’s official Twitter account that Kamen Rider Climax Scramble will be making it’s way to South East Asia, complete with English subtitles much like last year’s Climax Fighters game.
The good news is that the Nintendo Switch console is region free, so this version of the game will be more import friendly for our English reading audience. We’re still waiting for the trailer to drop, but we’ll let you know once it comes out so be sure to check back with us for more updates yet to come.
Both the Japanese region and South East Asia region versions of the game are currently up for pre-order on Play-Asia.


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The Protea Hotel Kruger Gate in South Africa is parting ways with Marriott International, announcing plans to operate independently as the Kruger Gate Hotel starting Sept. 1.
The hotel, which has been Marriott-managed for the past 20 years, will be operated by Platinum Hospitality Holdings moving forward.
Anton Gillis, who will be taking the reins as the Kruger Gate Hotel’s CEO of hotel operations, said in a statement that “all reservations, current and future, remain unchanged.”
Located along the Sabie River near Kruger National Park’s Paul Kruger Gate, the lodge-style Kruger Gate Hotel features an infinity pool and pool bar, two restaurants, a coffee shop, a spa and a fitness center.
Source: Read Full Article


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Why Sheryl Sandberg turned down the top job at LinkedIn
More tidbits are emerging from Sheryl Sandberg’s yet-to-be-released book, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead.”
According to Wall Street Journal, Sandberg turned down the top spot at LinkedIn in 2006, when the company was a lot smaller and shopping for a CEO. Founder Reid Hoffman reached out personally to Sandberg, who admitted after five years at Google, she was ready for a change.
But, she said, she was 37 wanted to have a second child and passed on the opportunity.
And a few years later, Sandberg headed off to Facebook, where she helped take the fast-growing company public.
Also, read more of her personal anecdotes here. Then look for the book, which should hit shelves in March.
Shana Lynch is managing editor at the Business Journal.
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Motorola’s highly anticipated new flagship phone, Motorola Edge Plus, was spotted in Geekbench. The device, powered by 12GB of RAM, seems to score 4,106 points in single-core tests and 12,823 points in multi-core tests.
Motorola, which attracts attention with its vertically folding smartphone Razr 2019, is working on a new flagship. The smartphone named Edge Plus, which was recently discovered by leak master Evan Blass, is expected to come with a smart pen like Samsung’s Galaxy Note models.
Motorola Edge Plus, which has already created a great expectation, appeared on Geekbench charts. Although the list in question does not specify the name of the processor, we expect to see an eight-core Qualcomm chipset at 1.8GHz on the device. According to the Geekbench list, Motorola Edge Plus, which will come with 12GB of RAM, has achieved 4.106 points in single-core tests and 12.823 points in multi-core tests.
Motorola Edge Plus Geekbench results
The hardware features of Motorola Edge Plus have not been revealed yet. However, the device is said to have a perforated screen with curved edges. Also, as I mentioned above, there may be smart pen support on the phone.
The device will likely be supported by the Snapdragon 865 processor. The mobile platform, the newest flagship processor that supports Qualcomm’s 5G connection, was introduced late last year. If the Snapdragon 865 really is at the heart of Motorola Edge Plus, it is quite likely that the device has 5G technology.
That’s all we know about Motorola’s new flagship for now; however, we anticipate that more details about Edge Plus’s display, camera, storage and design features will be revealed in the coming days.


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Wal-Mart cuts annual profit outlook as costs rise
Bentonville, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut its annual earnings outlook Tuesday because of currency fluctuations and higher wages and investments in overhauling its stores are squeezing its profits.
The world’s largest retailer also reported an 11.4 percent drop in second-quarter profit, though an important sales measure rose for the fourth straight quarter.
Wal-Mart is facing challenges on all fronts, obstacles that have resulted in its shares falling 16 percent this year. Its low-income shoppers are still struggling in an economy that is slowly recovering. The company is also facing increasing competition from the likes of online king Amazon.com and dollar stores.
Wal-Mart has been doing a number of things to improve its results. It’s increasing its spending for its online operations to between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion this year, up from $1 billion last year. It’s opening a string of fulfillment centers dedicated to e-commerce that should speed up delivery and put more items in one box. And it’s testing an unlimited free-shipping service for $50 a year, undercutting Amazon’s popular Amazon Prime, whose annual dues are $99.
Wal-Mart’s U.S. division, which accounts for 60 percent of its total sales, is undergoing a major overhaul under Wal-Mart’s new U.S. CEO Greg Foran. The company is trying to improve pricing and selection as well as beef up customer service. It promises tidier stores and an improved holiday shopping season. Earlier this year, it announced wage increases for hourly workers.
The company, based in Bentonville, Ark, earned $3.63 billion, or $1.08 per share, in the quarter ended July 31. That compares with $4.09 billion, or $1.26 per share, a year ago.
The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.12 per share. The world’s largest retailer posted revenue of $120.23 billion in the period, beating Street forecasts. Eleven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $120.06 billion.
Wal-Mart now expects full-year earnings to be $4.40 to $4.70 per share.
Shares slipped 47 cents to $71.91 in pre-market trading.


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A world famous wrestler with over a decade of service in the WWE will be coming to Lincoln for an all-action pay-per-view show at the Engine Shed next year.
One Pro Wrestling is a professional British promotion aiming to fill the void at the top of the country’s wrestling industry.
It boasts a number of high profile names from the UK and beyond, and will be coming to Lincoln Engine Shed on February 18, 2023 for an epic showcase of suplexes and top rope manoeuvres.
The No Turning Back show will be broadcast globally on pay-per-view via the organisation’s exclusive digital streaming partners at FITE TV.
Fronting the bill is John Hennigan, who soared to fame as John Morrison in the world’s top wrestling company – the WWE. He has also appeared at the likes of Impact and All Elite Wrestling in recent years, and will be ready to bring his high-flying attitude to Lincoln.
He will be joined by Taya Valkyrie, wife of Hennigan and an elite-level wrestler in his own right, working for the likes of WWE and Impact in her career so far.
Many more star-studded names are set to be announced in the lead up to the event, with tickets on sale right now from the One Pro Wrestling website.
You can purchase show tickets for prices starting at £45, or meet and greets from £30 and VIP backstage passes from £125.
Adam Moverley, 1PW Director said: “We are thrilled to be bringing Europe’s most exciting brand of wrestling to Lincoln. we cannot wait to see the fans for what is guaranteed to be the first of many incredible visits to the Engine Shed.
“Lincoln fans have been desperate for world class action and we won’t let them down February 18th!”
There will also be an afternoon show on February 18 called Fearless, which offers One Pro Wrestling fans the chance to watch the next generation of wrestlers compete for the chance to compete on the FITE TV shows.


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Four months ago, he barely had a product. Now in November, CEO Keith Rabois has set an ambitious goal for his team at OpenStore: close the year on a pace of acquiring one new Shopify-based business each day.
“That will prove to me, when we get there and we’re doing this in an automated way, that we have a mechanical machine that can scale,” Rabois says. “That’s the goal of this quarter. But unfortunately the quarter’s already X days in, so back to work.”
Founded in March, OpenStore is doing everything in a hurry. The startup launched with backing from Founders Fund, where Rabois is an investment partner, and startup studio Atomic. In June, it reached a reported $250 million valuation after raising $30 million in a round led by Khosla Ventures pre-launch. Now, with a team of 35 and more than a dozen merchants rolled up into its platform representing tens of millions in revenue, the Miami-based startup has gone back to the well to make Rabois’ target a reality.
OpenStore has raised $75 million in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst, the company says. Atomic, Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, which led its Series A just five months ago, all participated. Following the investment, OpenStore is now valued at $750 million, a source with knowledge tells Forbes – tripling the company’s valuation over the same short period.
Launched after a holiday conversation between Rabois and fellow Miami transplant and friend Jack Abraham, Atomic’s cofounder, OpenStore’s basic premise is to use software to quickly evaluate, price and make offers on “long-tail” merchants selling through the Shopify platform, typically with single-digit millions in annual sales. OpenStore then hopes to leverage its technology and superior resources to bolster the sales of the acquired product lines, eventually combining them under one ecommerce brand that Rabois compares to Wish at all price points, or Wayfair for all shopping verticals.
Leveraging economies of scale can improve margins on such products and allow OpenStore to reduce prices, Rabois says, accelerating adoption with consumers. Its software can leverage data from the collective acquired brands, meanwhile, to better spend on marketing like Instagram ads, and to extract better rates from logistics providers like FedEx and UPS.
The merchants fully sell their business – this is no venture capital equivalent, or new form of financing – they cash out completely. But OpenStore’s founders see themselves as the good guys in that scenario. In an interview, Abraham said he first got the idea after he was asked by a founder he mentored how she could easily sell her company, a maker of organic skincare products. “We knew she had a really big chasm to cross to get to the point where the company could have liquidity,” he says now. Raising outside capital, investors would expect tens of millions in revenue; the founder was closer to $3 million.
According to Abraham, a third-party partner commissioned by Atomic (which is known for minting startups to address gaps in the market – even if it isn’t always first) found that 80% of surveyed smaller sellers on Shopify were open to acquisition. “Giving them liquidity and optionality to do what they want to do with the rest of their life, including getting a win… it’s very pro-entrepreneurship,” he claims.
Companies opt in by raising their hands and sharing their Shopify log-in credentials, for OpenStore’s software to get to work on their sales data. OpenStore has purchased more than a dozen so far, ranging from jewelry to frozen food. One early taker: FarmFoods, a brand selling responsibly raised meat online, founded by a former human resources manager at Tesla in 2018. According to OpenStore, Land’s business grew five-fold during the pandemic in 2020; taking a multi-million dollar cash offer allowed her to move on to “unlock her next endeavor.”
If all this sounds familiar, it’s because merchant roll-ups have proven a booming business in recent years, particularly in the Amazon ecosystem, where startup Thrasio has spent hundreds of millions on a portfolio of more than 200 brands, raised hundreds of millions more in debt and most recently took in $1 billion in an equity investment at a valuation of more than $5 billion in October (a valuation that may look cheap now to some).
OpenStore claims to have little in common with such players, despite the obvious. “All these aggregators you see on Amazon are pretty much nothing other than financial engineering, because Amazon provides the blocking and tackling and all the moving pieces,” Rabois says. “The founders running those companies have an easier job than I do, which is nice for them. The bad news is there’s not that many levers to improve those businesses, because Amazon’s pretty damn good at what Amazon does.”
But that doesn’t mean Amazon aggregators won’t set their sights on the neighboring Shopify kingdom, where OpenStore is already facing other entrants like Pattern Brands, launched by the team behind once-influential branding agency Gin Lane and backed by its own group of VC firms. While Rabois claims he’s never encountered a direct competitor in talks with potential for-sale merchants, it appears a safe bet that won’t be the case for long.
Hence the large funding round. For now, access to debt is still expensive for OpenStore as such a young company, meaning some of that $75 million will go straight into its acquisitions pile. The company also plans to grow headcount to 50 by year’s end, then 150 over the next year – many of them engineers to improve its software and maker faster deal decisions, eventually within an hour. Rabois says he doesn’t “cherry-pick” companies to target proactively from Shopify’s 1.7 million in the sub-$10 million pool. But that could change with more data and software in time, too.
“They are the leader in the market in the Shopify ecosystem, but there are bigger visions to be able to build something much bigger,” says General Catalyst partner Mark Crane.
For now, investors are betting as much on Rabois, who says he raised the new funding in just one day. A PayPal mafia member and the former COO of Square, Rabois also cofounded Opendoor, today a $13 billion market-cap business that similarly applies technology to automate flipping homes, and build a Midas List-caliber portfolio as a venture capitalist at Khosla Ventures and now Founders Fund. Such tech star power has attracted talent like OpenStore president Michael Rubenstein, formerly president of AppNexus; Rabois’ relentless evangelizing of the burgeoning Miami tech scene, meanwhile, has helped draw away talent from Google, Facebook and Uber.
Three-quarters of OpenStore’s team relocated for their new jobs, though Rabois continues to invest for Founders Fund across the U.S. “If I was pontificating publicly that people should build in Miami, I should absolutely be building a company in Miami to set an example,” he says.


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Today Marvell is announcing general availability of the industry's first embedded software development kit (SDK) with Apple HomeKit support. Specifically, Marvell's existing EZ-Connect IoT Platform is now HomeKit enabled. HomeKit, released with iOS 8, is an Apple designed framework to connect IoT devices (from a certified vendor) in a user's home with Apple devices. At Apple's 2014 developer conference (WWDC), Apple provided hardware and software developers with a HomeKit specification and training. Since then, Apple has been working with industry to integrate HomeKit technology into tool chains and products. Marvell announcing HomeKit support integrated into their embedded SDK is an important step toward the eventual launch of HomeKit enabled devices from Marvell's customers. These devices could be anything electronic common to a home, such as...
Even with Broadwell not completely out of the door, a lot of attention is being put towards Skylake, the 14nm architecture update from Intel. Current information out the wild...13 by Ian Cutress on 2/24/2015
Lately we’ve been working on expanding our GPU coverage to include more GPUs that aren't directly sold to consumers discretely or as part of a package. Up until now...27 by Ryan Smith on 5/2/2011
The embedded market is dominated by SoCs based on RISC processors such as ARM and MIPS. The low power consumption of these SoCs make them attractive. Other than ARM...77 by Ganesh T S on 1/19/2011


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Hill notes that digital communication is another area of alternative for jewellery retailers that ought to continue to embrace now that bricks-and-mortar stores are reopening. The team at Silkoh, in Melbourne, listed “e-commerce, social media, advertising, dropshipping and stocktaking” as the key focus factors through the isolation interval, with an emphasis on gaining skills in bookkeeping and e-commerce administration. Recent monetary stories from Michael Hill International and Pandora Jewelry indicated on-line sales had dramatically elevated in the first quarter of 2020. In the three weeks to 14 May, MHI digital gross sales outperformed its earlier record week, which fell in the 2019 Christmas buying and selling interval. The assertion is supported by Australia Post information, which reveals online retailing has elevated by 80 per cent during the pandemic, with greater than 200,000 consumers purchasing online for the first time in April. The Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council has facilitated India’s first jewellery exports via courier mode from Mumbai.
Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, the most important jewelry retailer in China, has reported a strong income enchancment regardless of the on-going COVID associated lockdowns. The jewellery for Lord Ram idol in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir is crafted by Harsahaimal Shiamlal Jewellers and certified by the International Gemological Institute. It includes a 1.7 kg yellow gold crown adorned with 75 carats of diamonds, 135 carats of emeralds, and 262 carats of rubies. “The core values and purpose Auto News of Blue Nile are very similar to ours at Signet. We’ve done lots of work to create a tradition where leadership and innovation can come from all levels of our firm. And as a pioneer in the online house, they’ve an entrepreneurial spirit with the velocity and agility to reply to a dynamic setting like we face today.
Whether it is a delicate necklace, a sparkling pair of earrings, or a shocking bracelet, Jewellery adds a touch of glamour to any outfit. The shimmering gems and complicated designs make jewellery gifts a cherished token of affection and appreciation. So, this Diwali, shock your family members with the timeless magnificence of jewellery and let the festivities shine even brighter. On the auspicious day of Dhanteras, the Bureau of Indian Standards has launched the ‘BIS Care App’ to handle concerns about the purity of gold and silver jewelry. The app permits customers to trace ISI and hallmark-certified jewelry, verify the authenticity of hallmarked gold objects, and verify the purity of jewelry articles. Weir & Sons, whose flagship retailer is on Grafton Street in Dublin, presents covetable watches and jewellery, in addition to a broad selection of Irish gifts.
Some jewellers stated they’re now pushing studded jewellery where the margins are up to 3x greater than plain gold jewellery. Jewellery retailer Senco Gold and Diamonds has launched a brand new assortment called ‘SiyaRam Collection’ to honour the upcoming inauguration of the Ram Mandir temple. The assortment contains pendants, necklaces, and earrings with intricate designs inspired by the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. The assortment options delicate craftsmanship, meenakari work, and intricately set diamonds. India’s diamond industry plans to scale back its financial institution financing requirements by a third, targeting $4 billion for the present fiscal year, down from $6 billion in FY23.
However, demand in 2022 still held above pre-pandemic levels and y-o-y comparisons are in opposition to the very strong volumes of 2021. The strong US jobs market was a supportive issue, whereas Christmas gifting helped lift Q4 demand. Kalyan Jewellers added 12 new ‘Kalyan’ showrooms across non-south markets in the course of the quarter and expects to launch 20 new showrooms across non-south markets before Diwali. State run UCO Bank was ordered to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to a customer who maintained a financial institution locker within the financial institution’s Civil Lines, Allahabad branch. What occurred was thieves broke into the financial institution’s department and looted the contents of a quantity of lockers. Finding deficiency in service, NCDRC has ordered UCO Bank to pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the victim whose locker was looted.
- Among the 50 components within the Nifty index, 27 shares have been buying and selling within the green, while 22 have been within the pink.
- According to the makers of the crown and the opposite jewellery, Harsahaimal Shiamlal Jewellers in Lucknow, the crown features 75 carats of diamonds and one hundred thirty five carats of Zambian emeralds together with 262 carats of rubies aside from other gems.
- State run UCO Bank was ordered to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to a customer who maintained a financial institution locker within the bank’s Civil Lines, Allahabad department.
- Finally, the pandemic has brought to the fore key tendencies in client behaviour which influence buying patterns and attitudes to buying – a part of what Bird defined because the ‘heart’ class.
It has a completely integrated stock administration system throughout the complete firm and insights necessary to optimize its retail footprint. And because of its efforts to distinguish its banners, a Kay and Zales shops can sit side-by-side and not cannibalize sales as they as soon as did. Find out the most recent prices for twenty-four karats and 22 karat gold in India and compare them so you can even make a sensible alternative. In India, 10 grammes of 24-carat gold price fifty two,785 rupees, whereas 10 grammes of 22-carat gold prices forty seven,750 rupees. Gross earnings rose by eleven.three per cent to $HK22.3 billion ($AU4.11 billion), pushed by demand for gold jewelry in mainland China, regardless of the risky market conditions generated by the government’s response to the pandemic. It provides tips like understanding your type, contemplating the outfit, matching your skin tone, and paying consideration to particulars.
This isn’t the first time a company led by Kemp was placed underneath administration following the failure to secure government research and improvement funding and/or tax concessions. Everledger was initially positioned under Voluntary Administration on 24 April, and the subsequent administrator’s report famous that, underneath Kemp’s administration, the company successfully survived on authorities earnings and grants. “In my opinion, it would be in the best curiosity of the collectors to merely accept the proposal for a Deed of Company Arrangement,” Staatz wrote on 21 June; however, on Wednesday all of it fell apart when the wind up discover was accepted. Key tendencies are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside probably the most current research data obtainable.
For most couples getting married, bridal jewelry just isn’t a discretionary purchase however vital. “What matters is how customers are purchasing, how are we buying them and how are they moving via our buy funnel,” she added. In North America, average transaction value was up more than 15% and in-store conversion up practically 20% in comparison with two years ago.
Madhuri Dixit will characterize the brand globally and throughout India, and can feature in PNG Jewellers’ upcoming advertising campaigns, social media content, and different brand promotional actions. Advertisers across quite so much of industries, including FMCG, retail, e-commerce, auto and real estate, are more likely to improve their advert expenditure to capitalise on pent-up demand among customers in the course of the festive season, they stated. Kimai, the lab diamond jeweller, has simply launched Second Life, a service in which purchasers can restore an old piece of their jewellery box or have it redesigned to create one thing new. “After talking with our prospects and neighborhood, we realised so many of us have pieces gathering dust in our jewellery bins, and we wanted to supply a sustainable solution to this.
However, while the existing development toward e-commerce has been nicely and truly accelerated by the pandemic lockdown, it appears consumers are already returning to bricks-and-mortar shops. Other retailers, together with style chain City Chic and jewellery retailer Michael Hill International, have decreased their retailer networks because of fruitless landlord negotiations. The importance of getting a financial buffer in place has been famous by a quantity of jewellery retailers and retail consultants.


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A lack of clarity in liquor licensing laws means pubs can operate takeaway or delivery services.
The Irish Times reports Garda HQ sought legal advice on the matter and were told neither practice is an infringement.
Last weekend drinks for delivery were confiscated by members of the force in Co. Donegal.
As long as drinks are paid for at the licensed premises they can be delivered.
Takeaway is also allowed on the condition the alcohol isn’t consumed in public or within 100m of the pub.


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Adding to their famous-faces roster, the next insta-star to be snapped up by the brand is model Hayley Baldwin.
Always first to jump on a new trend and not afraid to push the style limit when it comes to her own fashion sense, Hailey Baldwin has been quietly making her mark on the fashion industry.
Now you can channel her on-point off-duty supermodel style and glitzy red-carpet outfits with her latest role as face of PrettyLittleThing holiday campaign.
Although PrettyLittleThing is keeping the rest of the imagery from the collection top secret for now, they did release a sneak peek with Hayley poses up a storm in a silver sequin dresses, shinning from head-to-toe with matching shimmery courts.
It’s like Christmas come early with plenty of festive cheer with the collection oozing OTT glamour boasting a plethora of statement sequins.
You better get ready to go out out, as the range will lead you into party season with crystal embellished dresses and pieces dripping in diamantes.
Oversized blazer dresses, sequins maxis, figure hugging jumpsuits, and the Kardashain favourite of cycling shorts for evening are all a focus of the disco-ready collection.
PrettyLittleThing starring Hailey Baldwin will launch exclusively on www.PrettyLittleThing.com on Tuesday 6th November and be available in UK sizes 6-26.


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Forever 21 is not letting the trademark dispute it initiated this summer against Gucci die. After a California federal judge held earlier this month that Forever 21 had not sufficiently made its case as to why an array of Gucci’s trademark registrations for its three-stripe designs should be invalidated, Forever 21 promptly filed an amended complaint, aiming to bolster its allegations.
In addition to reiterating its view that the Gucci trademark registrations at issue (at least nine different trademark registrations for the Italian design house’s blue-red-blue and green-red-green stripe marks) should be cancelled and any pending applications for related marks to be terminated, Forever 21 cites over 100 examples of garments and accessories that make use of similar stripes from various brands.
Given the frequency with which other brands make use of the stripes design and by providing an array of concrete examples, including Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Tory Burch, J. Crew and Urban Outfitters, Forever 21 endeavors to show that consumers do not associate Gucci’s striped trademarks with the Italian design house; Gucci’s striped trademarks are essentially incapable of serving as trademarks because they are decorative features and by giving Gucci a monopoly over them that would stifle legitimate competition (aka would prevent others from using these decorative stripe designs); and Gucci’s stripe designs are simply too common or generic to serve as trademarks.
Additionally in its amended complaint, Forever 21 alleges that “Gucci wrongfully claims a monopoly on these common ornamentations on clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories,” and as a result, the court should rule to have them overturned.
According to its filing, “All of the Gucci registrations feature three parallel stripes colored blue-red-blue or green-red-green. Many clothing and accessory items adorned with decorative stripes colored blue-red-blue or green-red-green are sold by countless third parties. Gucci should not be allowed to claim that Gucci, alone, has a monopoly on all blue-red-blue or green-red-green striped clothing and accessory items.”
Forever 21 said in a statement released via its counsel that “Forever 21 believes that Gucci’s efforts to monopolize everyday color combinations will harm consumers and designers, and will continue to fight to ensure that common stripe designs remain available for all. Forever 21 looks forward to continuing to litigate this case to a fair and just result.”
A spokesman for Gucci told TFL: “Rather than heed the U.S. District Court’s dismissal and stated skepticism of Forever 21’s baseless claims that Gucci lacks rights in some of its most famous and iconic trademarks, Forever 21 has attempted to bring these claims again.”
The spokesman further stated, “The amended complaint is merely a longer version of Forever 21’s spurious first filing and underlines the extent to which Forever 21 will go to persist in its predatory business model, built on consumer deception and confusion. However, it does nothing to deter Gucci from its unwavering commitment to the enforcement and protection of its renowned trademarks and brand identity.”
Forever 21 filed suit against Gucci in June in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, asserting that Gucci repeatedly threatened to sue Forever 21 for using an array of its registered trademarks. The fast fashion giant is asking the to declare that its garments are not infringing Gucci’s striped marks, and as a result, Gucci does not have a case for trademark infringement. Moreover, Forever 21’s lawsuit calls for the Gucci trademark registrations at issue to be cancelled and any pending applications for related marks to be terminated.


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In a shocking turn of events, Huawei’s CFO, Cathy Meng has been arrested in Canada on allegations that Meng has violated US trade sanctions against Iran. Canadian authorities on Wednesday arrested the Chief Financial Officer of China’s biggest tech company, Huawei. China has responded aggressively against this arrest and has demanded Cathy Meng’s immediate release. Experts believe that there will be serious consequences as a former Canadian envoy to China has warned that this action may lead to serious retaliation by the Chinese against American and Canadian executives. According to the New York-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group:
“Beijing is likely to react angrily to this latest arrest of a Chinese citizen in a third country for violating U.S. law,” Eurasia analysts wrote.
Cathy Meng is a daughter of Huawei’s founder Ren Zhengfei, her bail hearing has been set for Friday. Huawei has responded to this by saying that they have been provided with very little information by the authorities regarding the arrest of their CFO. The company has further emphasized that they comply with all the laws and regulation where it operates. This arrest will definitely increase tension between China and USA and may usher a new era of trade wars. It should be noted that Huawei’s local rival ZTE Corp has been repeatedly reported and found guilty of breaking US sanctions against Iran and North Korea.
US authorities have had some tussle with Huawei in recent time, recently Huawei products were banned to enter the US market citing Cyber-security and Data breaching issues. The US authorities have also bee probing Huawei for allegedly shipping US products to Iran and other countries thereby violating US export and sanction laws.


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U.S. beef and pork are a success in the Caribbean islands, with new cuts and recipes attracting home cooks and chefs alike. Retail promotions, cooking contests, trade shows, U.S. industry tours and personal contacts by the U.S. Meat Export Federation are helping increase interest in U.S. meat, and developing new markets for a variety of products.
“We’re establishing solid relationships with chefs, retailers and companies purchasing beef and pork in most of the Caribbean islands, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica and the Netherland Antilles,” according to Elizabeth Wunderlich, USMEF consultant to the Caribbean. “Our strategy is to deliver the same messages to buyers and consumers in the islands, but in different ways. As a result, they are finding a lot to like about what U.S. meat has to offer.”
In 2006 the United States exported 25,816 metric tons (mt) of pork and pork variety meat to the Caribbean, worth more than $48.5 million, a 32 percent increase over 2005. Meanwhile, 16,704 metric tons of U.S. beef and beef variety meat worth more than $68.6 million were exported to the islands, a 29 percent increase over the year before.
Among the recent efforts by USMEF in the Caribbean was participation in a foodservice trade show for chefs and purchasing managers in late March in Bermuda. A booth at the show enabled U.S. meat companies to offer samples of their products and make contact with hundreds of decision makers.
Earlier this year in Barbados, deskside seminars for chefs, retailers and buyers conducted by Wunderlich demonstrated cutting methods for various meat items. “We made believers of salespeople for the products,” she says. “They now know they can have something different that sells well, and be perfectly comfortable with the product.”
Through another USMEF retail promotion, a team of six meat merchandisers from the Caribbean traveled to the Annual Meat Conference in
June events also are being planned for chefs and retailers in other Caribbean islands, including St. Maarten, Aruba, Anguilla, Curaçao, and Trinidad & Tobago. Among the cuts to be promoted to some of these countries include U.S. pork sirloin, shoulder cushion, crown roast and steamship leg.
“Because the United States is close to the islands, we have a great opportunity to reach out to these markets,” says Wunderlich. “U.S. beef and pork are making great inroads in the Caribbean.”
Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation


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Title: Jim Cramer Optimistic about Apple’s Future Despite Recent Sales Downturn
Date: [Insert Date]
Byline: [Author Name]
In an exciting development for Apple enthusiasts, Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, expressed his unwavering belief in the tech giant’s ability to maintain its value owing to its highly loyal customer base. However, Cramer criticized Wall Street analysts for fixating too much on recent earnings data, instead of recognizing Apple’s long-term potential and its profound impact on consumer culture.
Apple’s recent earnings report exceeded the expectations of analysts in terms of sales and earnings per share. Nonetheless, the report also confirmed a decline in overall sales for the fourth consecutive quarter. This news has sparked certain concerns regarding Apple’s sales in China, which remained flat for the year, as well as a decrease in sales of Macs and iPads.
Nevertheless, Cramer maintains an optimistic outlook for the company’s future, especially in other international markets. He highlights the growth potential in countries like India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, as burgeoning markets for Apple’s wide range of products. According to Cramer, any new customer Apple acquires is likely to become a “lifetime customer,” making future purchases from the company.
Cramer also emphasized that, despite the recent sales decline in hardware, Apple’s thriving service revenue could offset the weaknesses. The strong service revenue reflects the loyalty of Apple’s customer base, which spans the globe. Cramer underlined the immense value of each customer, mentioning that their lifetime worth could average thousands of dollars.
Encouraging investors to seize opportunities during periods of weakness, Cramer urges them to consider investing in Apple’s stock. The host believes that despite short-term hiccups, the company’s dedication to innovation, coupled with its solid customer base, will drive its long-term success.
In conclusion, while Apple’s recent sales figures have raised some concerns, Jim Cramer’s belief in the company’s loyal customer base and its global growth potential highlights prospects for a promising future. It remains to be seen whether Apple will overcome the challenges it currently faces, but according to Cramer, the tech giant’s foothold in the consumer market and dedication to service expansion will ensure its enduring success.
Word Count: [Insert Word Count]
Internet geek. Wannabe bacon enthusiast. Web trailblazer. Music maven. Entrepreneur. Pop culture fan.


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14 MAY 2019
ICSA suckler chair John Halley has said that one decent REPS type scheme is what’s required to put money back in suckler farmers’ pockets. “Suckler farmers are fed up of the current array of schemes which are just not delivering. There are too many terms and conditions attached and they are of no real benefit financially to farmers at the end of the day. Farmers are sick and tired of talking shops; the time has come for action,” he said.
“Suckler farmers do not want a scheme where state bodies are telling them what kind of cow to breed. They do not want a scheme where they are being pushed towards half bred cows from the dairy herd for replacements. But they also don’t want a scheme that simply allows meat factories to keep prices low in the knowledge that suckler farmers are locked into a scheme that guarantees supplies of loss-making cattle.”
“Meat Industry Ireland’s call for a coupled payment for suckler cows is no surprise. The meat industry wants a coupled payment so that farmers continue to produce more and more cattle at a price less than the cost of production. It’s really that simple and it has always been the policy of the meat industry.”
“Farmers need to be very wary of falling for this misguided proposal. If the meat industry wants sucklers, they should pay a fair price. A coupled payment is a cop-out by the meat industry to keep farmers losing money on production. Farm organisations that support the meat industry proposals need to look at basic economic principles. When we had decoupled payments, beef price was €2.50/kg.”
“When you hear the meat industry looking for a coupled payment you should know it’s because they are seeing dollar signs. It’s clear that current problems will not be solved when farmers are desperately trying to get cattle into factories because supply is exceeding demand in markets that can afford a viable price.”
“There is no country in Europe that gives a €200 coupled payment per suckler cow. But if we do close down other schemes to fund a new scheme, we need to be very precise about devising a scheme that puts real money into the pockets of the farmer. The biggest loss to cattle and sheep farmers was the old REPS scheme where farmers typically got up to €10,000 for providing a tidy, biodiverse landscape which gave multiple benefits to rural economies. In reality, the CAP budget needs to be increased in line with inflation. For too long politicians have accepted an ongoing erosion of the value of CAP supports in real terms and then they wonder why farmers are angry. No other sector would accept payments which have not increased in line with inflation since the 1990s.”
“It is now time for the Government to wake up to the threat faced by the suckler and beef sectors. We need a concerted effort to get more and more live exports and of course, ICSA is demanding a Brexit rescue package from the EU to cover losses sustained over the past few months. Unless something is done soon, there will be no suckler sector in a few years’ time.”


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The U.S. isn’t a usually marketplace where media companies are consolidating to offer an promotion height to opposition Facebook and Google.
While AOL (which owns TechCrunch) is in a routine of appropriation Yahoo, over in Malaysia a identical consolidation was announced this week — nonetheless not utterly on the scale of AOL-Yahoo (Oath?!) and a $4.48 billion cost tag. Media Prima, a Malaysia-listed organisation with a palm in print, radio and TV media, announced a understanding to acquire new media startup Rev Asia for RM105 million, or approximately $24.2 million.
The understanding will see Rev Asia integrated into Media Prima’s height to emanate Malaysia’s largest digital media entity. Rev Asia’s further will mean Media Prima’s sum strech will arrange third in Malaysia formed on trade — a sum of 10.4 million monthly visitors — behind usually Facebook and Google, who lift in an estimated 15.7 million and 14.1 million per month, respectively.
Media Prima’s business interests include New Straits Times and dual other newspapers, 4 mainstream radio stations, 4 promote TV channels, and out-of-home promotion networks. Rev Asia, meanwhile, is really many a digital player. It is stoical of a dozen new media sites, including user-generated calm use Says.com that it joined with in 2013. It has been listed on a Ace marketplace of Bursa Malaysia, a some-more youth exchange, given 2011.
Media Prima organisation CFO Encik Mohamad Ariff Ibrahim pronounced a understanding would massively grow a company’s presence, quite among a 18-35 year aged demographic in Malaysia.
“The partnership is approaching to outcome in a expansion of income contributions from Media Prime’s digital height exponentially,” he added.
For a final financial year, Rev Asia reported a RM6 million ($1.4 million) distinction on sum income of RM23.4 million ($5.4 million).
Three of Malaysia’s many distinguished tech entrepreneurs are concerned with Rev Asia. Patrick Grove started a media association by his Catcha Group business, that retains a 57 percent share of Rev Asia and is concerned in ventures such as Iflix (recently lifted $90 million), iProperty (sold to News Corp) and iCar Asia (listed on a Australian Stock Exchange). 500 Startups’ partner Khailee Ng and Fave CEO Joel Neoh founded Says.com and came aboard following a 2013 partnership deal. Ng and Neoh had previously sold a internal group-buying site to Groupon.
Featured Image: Garry Knight/Flickr UNDER A CC BY 2.0 LICENSE (IMAGE HAS BEEN MODIFIED)


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A customer who denies signing a sales contract for a Chrysler Pacifica but accepted loan proceeds and racked up 20,588 miles can't disavow the deal, the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled.
The three-judge panel unanimously rejected the customer's forgery, breach of contract and negligence claims against a Mitsubishi dealership that sold the used 2004 Pacifica: CBS Quality Cars Inc. in Durham, N.C. However, the panel said the victorious store isn't entitled to attorney fees.
In September 2008, Horace Huff and his wife signed a bill of sale conditioned on financing and took the Pacifica the same day. The total purchase price, including financing charges, was $27,028. Coastal Federal Credit Union bought the paper.
Seven months later, Huff stopped making payments, and the Pacifica was repossessed.
Huff sued the dealership to rescind the deal and recoup what he had paid. The suit asserted that the store had sent documents to Coastal Federal Credit Union without Huff's permission and without his valid signature.
Plaintiff's lawyer Martin Horn of Durham said a handwriting expert concluded that Huff hadn't signed the documents.
Dealership lawyer Glen Bachman of Durham said Huff rejected a settlement offer during mediation. The case then went to a nonjury trial, where a Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the dealership and ordered Huff to pay the store's attorney fees and costs of $7,875.
The Court of Appeals upheld the dealership's lack of liability, saying Huff's actions showed that he had accepted the benefits of the vehicle sales contract whether or not he had signed it and other loan paperwork. The panel said Huff ratified the contract by accepting the loan proceeds, taking possession of the Pacifica, making payments and using the vehicle until it was repossessed.
Horn said Huff hasn't decided whether to appeal further.
The appeals panel overturned the award of attorney fees to the dealership, saying there was no legal basis to support it. The dealership won't appeal, Bachman said.


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Since I moved to the area more than 10 years ago, March has become my new favorite month of the year. I love all the events and festivals that start the new season. Many visitors come back year after year to attend these events and will rent vacation homes.
When people dream of vacation homes, often they cut themselves off quickly, thinking they would never be able to afford one. However, new research by the National Association of Realtors shows that is probably not the case. While vacation homes are obviously a big investment, they aren’t out of reach for those under the six-figure salary mark.
According to the association’s 2015 Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey, the median household income for those who own a vacation property is $94,380, only about $15,000 more than the median income for those who own their primary residence ($79,650). And if you thought buyers needed cash to buy a second home, think again — 70 percent of vacation homes purchased last year were financed with a mortgage.
As visitors return home from their holidays, they might be curious about buying a vacation home and start to research the possibilities. While all the information available online is great, there is nothing like a Realtor to assist you in your decision. Only a Realtor has access to the latest figures and data for the Hilton Head area and can supply the most accurate information to help you make an informed decision.
The market is off to a great start for 2016. In the first month of the new year, new listings were up 18.6 percent to 554. Pending sales increased 1.6 percent to 318. Inventory grew 2.6 percent to 2,303 units. Prices moved higher as the median sales price was up 27.4 percent to $300,650. Months supply of inventory was down 12.2 percent to 6.5 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.
If you know someone thinking of buying a vacation home in the area, be sure they work with a Realtor and a member of the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors.
Jean Beck is the executive vice president of the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors.


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The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's deadline for the public to comment on the agency's proposed net neutrality rules passed Monday with more than 3 million comments filed, by far a record number for an FCC proceeding.
More than two-thirds of U.S. respondents in a new survey say that decades-old telephone regulations should not apply to the Internet, which suggests that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission should stay away from reclassifying broadband as a re...
Back-end technology that AT&T implemented partly for VoLTE (voice over LTE) will help make the Apple Watch and other connected devices useful.
Box and AT&T plan to lock down cloud file-sharing with a service that places enterprise content behind an AT&T VPN.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should stay out of the way of states that have passed laws prohibiting or limiting city-funded broadband networks that compete with private services, several groups have told the agency.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has the green light to collect new data on the pricing of so-called special access services, the middle-mile network services used to deliver business broadband and mobile service backhaul.
Digital rights group Public Knowledge will file net neutrality complaints against each of the four largest mobile carriers in the U.S. over their practice of throttling some traffic, in some cases on so-called unlimited data plans.
Mobile carriers have pulled in hundreds of millions in profits through third-party charges tacked onto customers' bills without their consent, according to a report from a U.S. Senate committee.
A majority of AT&T's new smartphone customers are now choosing a plan where they pay for their phones over time, helping to drive strong second-quarter financial results, the carrier said.
The most successful wearable devices will be ones that can work without a phone, and AT&T will have at least one of them by the end of this year, the man who manages the carrier's partnerships said.
Isis, a mobile payments service that has struggled to gain traction despite the backing of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, is now working toward a new name to avoid association with the Sunni militant group formerly known as ISIS.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is looking into complaints from Netflix and some Internet backbone providers that several large broadband providers have been refusing for years to upgrade their backbone connections as a way to slow video t...
AT&T is backing Microsoft in its challenge of a U.S. search warrant for private email communications located in a facility in Dublin, Ireland.
AT&T plans to test a service allowing payment card providers to access the location of a customer's phone to improve the accuracy of fraud prevention systems for transactions made abroad.
AT&T wants to tap the open-source community to develop cool applications for connected wearables, mobile devices, home appliances and cars.
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The Colombian peso has been in free fall since July 2014. After largely staying within a range of COP$1,800-COP$2,000 to the US dollar since 2009, the value of the peso has seen a steady decline over the past year. On July 23, the peso value dropped to $2,800 per US dollar, breaking through to lows not seen since 2003.
The chief reason for the decline in the peso’s value is the price of oil. In June 2014, oil made up approximately half of Colombia’s export revenues, but since then oil prices have seen similar declines.
As prices for Colombia’s main export drop dramatically, there is significantly less demand for pesos; decreasing the currency’s value.
The weak peso is not an entirely bad thing – it’s a boom for tourism coming into the country and helps Colombian exporters, whose products are significantly cheaper than a year ago.
Yet foreigners earning pesos are feeling the pinch. Trips home to the United States, England and elsewhere are significantly more expensive. So too are products imported from abroad, so you might want to think long and hard about how much you really enjoy that tea, imported beer, and peanut butter or marmite for your toast.
Don’t hold your breath expecting to see relief anytime soon. The US central bank is widely expected to increase interest rates later this year to protect against inflation, as the US economic recovery finds its legs. An interest rate hike would likely hurt the peso even further, at least against the American dollar.
By Greg Haugan


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Asda is to invest £600m opening 17 new supermarkets and revamping 62 more, despite undergoing a tough 12 months of flatlining sales and profits.
This year’s expansion plans are in sharp contrast to Asda’s major rival Tesco, which is shutting stores and selling off development sites. Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have also reined in expansion.
Asda plans to open six large superstores, 11 supermarkets and 36 petrol station outlets in the year ahead as well as adding more than 150 new locations where shoppers can pick up groceries ordered online.
“Whether they are 50,000 sq ft or 10,000 sq ft, the majority of customers still want to come and do their shop in a store,” said Andy Clarke, Asda’s chief executive. “We have fewer large stores and an opportunity to open more supermarkets than some of our competitors.” He said Asda was particularly keen on opening stores in the south of England and London.
The supermarket is also reworking its logo, introducing a sunshine element and the slogan “Save money. Live better” – which is used by its parent company, Walmart. The new company slogan replaces Asda’s “saving you money every day” line which has been in place for six years.
In a tough market that Clarke said was going through “one of its most challenging and changeable periods in history”, Asda said total sales rose 0.5% for the year to 4 January after it opened 17 new stores. Profits rose by about the same amount. But underlying sales, which exclude new store openings, fell by 1% – the first annual decline since 2008.
The figures were dragged down by a difficult final three months of the year when sales at established stores fell 2.6%. Asda blamed heavy use of discount vouchers for a significant step-down in performance from the 1.6% fall it recorded in the previous quarter.
For the key Christmas period, that put Asda ahead of Morrisons, where sales fell by 3.1% in the six weeks to 4 January, but behind Tesco where sales fell 0.3% over almost exactly the same period and Sainsbury’s where sales fell 1.7% in the three months to 3 January.
“I am pleased with a solid performance in an incredibly difficult market,” said Clarke. “The pace of change accelerated in 2014 and will continue in 2015 which will be a very challenging year.”
Clarke said the step-down in performance was a result of Asda’s refusal to follow its rivals by sending out thousands of discount vouchers and reflected “a competitive market where retailers took a decision to drive unprofitable sales”.
He said this year, and potentially next, would continue to be very tough for grocery retailers. But Clarke said he would not be diverted by “kneejerk short-term decisions” and “gimmicks”.
Analysts said Asda’s performance was disappointing and it was losing market share, as Tesco and Morrisons appeared to be undergoing a revival. “With both of its key competitors regrouping, Asda may find the going quite challenging in the year ahead,” said Clive Black of Shore Capital.
Asda cut prices by £300m last year and plans to invest at least £700m in more cuts over the next four years. The supermarket claims it is now at least 8% cheaper than its “big four” rivals and has halved the price gap with discounters to 10% over the last two years.
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