text:
☑ YES, I would like a FREE subscription to access EXHIBITOR magazine articles online.
photos: Department Zero
Deutsche Lufthansa AG celebrates the beginning of nonstop flights between Silicon Valley and Frankfurt, Germany, with a highly interactive three-day public
activation – and takes to the skies with 15 million total impressions. By Brian Dukerschein
Company: Deutsche Lufthansa AG Event: #MoreConnected Objectives: Educate consumers about the company's new nonstop service from San Jose to Frankfurt and generate publicity. Strategy: Hold a multiday event in a busy public venue that would appeal to an affluent, tech-savvy audience. Tactics: Give away tickets for free air travel to Europe via a live video stream with Lufthansa flight attendants in Frankfurt. Offer a virtual reality experience to allow participants to explore the airline's first-class cabin. Results: Generated 15 million total impressions, gathered 5,402 email addresses for lead generation, and received coverage in eight local newspapers. Creative/Production Agencies: Department Zero, www.departmentzero.com; MMGY Global, www.mmgyglobal.com Budget: $300,000 – $399,000
In 1938, when a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor operated by Deutsche Lufthansa AG landed in New York, it was heralded as the first commercial transatlantic flight. The plane's safe arrival, departing from Berlin and touching down roughly 25 hours later, made two things evident: Air transportation had achieved an impressive milestone, and despite vast distances – 3,728 miles, in this case – the world was a bit more connected.
Fast forward 78 years, and Lufthansa was ready to make another important connection. While the Cologne, Germany-based airline already had nonstop routes linking Frankfurt and Munich with 18 key U.S. cities, it didn't offer direct flights to a region of the country renowned for increasing connectivity, albeit in the digital realm: Silicon Valley. But that was about to change, as Lufthansa announced that it would begin offering nonstop flights between San Jose International Airport and Frankfurt Airport in July 2016. Much like the airline's historic Condor flight, the significance of this route was twofold: It would mark Lufthansa's debut in Silicon Valley, as well as the first nonstop service linking the technology hub with mainland Europe.
Based on the company's previous success holding consumer-facing events, marketers at Lufthansa wanted to host some type of experiential event in San Jose, CA, to introduce residents to the German brand and its nonstop service to Europe. So the company turned to MMGY Global, a Kansas City, MO-based travel and hospitality marketing firm that partnered with the airline on previous consumer campaigns. "Lufthansa is well-known in Europe, but less so in the United States," says Shea Carter, MMGY's vice president of social and experiential marketing. "Face-to-face connections and interactions are very important to Lufthansa, and we at MMGY view experiential events as one component of a larger brand-awareness campaign."
To make an impression on Silicon Valley's affluent and plugged-in populace, MMGY brought in Department Zero, another marketing agency in Kansas City that specializes in high-tech activations. The two teams brainstormed a number of concepts, including a mobile activation featuring touchscreen-based games on a tricked-out truck that would roam the streets of San Jose.
While a game-based approach appealed to both teams, something was missing. "We wanted to play on the idea of connectivity, considering the launch was in the heart of Silicon Valley, and technology is a powerful means of bringing people together," Carter says.
Connecting San Jose residents to Europe via live-streaming video would certainly drive that theme home, so the agencies investigated the logistics of offering a number of real-time interactions between Silicon Valley locals and popular personalities in multiple European cities – a grand proposal that proved to be a little lofty for Lufthansa's down-to-earth $350,000 budget. "The logistics were too challenging and expensive," Carter says. "But we mitigated those challenges by opting to choose a single location from which to connect consumers in San Jose with a Lufthansa flight attendant at Frankfurt Airport – two variables we knew we could control." And to incentivize locals to take part in the gamified activation, the agencies proposed awarding some lucky participants with two free tickets to Frankfurt.
Lufthansa approved the campaign concept and name, #MoreConnected, a social-media-friendly title that aptly referenced the company's and Silicon Valley's capacity to bridge people and places. With the broad parameters set, it was now time for MMGY and Department Zero to formulate a more complete flight plan.
One of the marketing agencies' top priorities was to find a venue that aligned with their targeted consumer, namely well-to-do, international travelers who reside in San Jose. "Ideally, we wanted an outdoor venue that would have both high foot traffic and a large percentage of affluent locals," says Paul Soseman, CEO of Department Zero, who quickly set his sights on Santana Row, an outdoor shopping center filled with high-end retailers, restaurants, spas, and salons that attract around 15 million visitors annually. After a site visit, the teams chose to stage Lufthansa's event in the shopping center's central courtyard for the highest possible visibility.
To inform Silicon Valley residents about its new nonstop service between San Jose, CA, and Frankfurt, Germany, Deutsche Lufthansa AG staged its #MoreConnected activation in the courtyard of Santana Row, an upscale, outdoor shopping center with significant foot traffic.
The venue was set, but another dilemma arose: Although the Lufthansa launch had a prime location, how could the marketers reach shoppers who might not pass through Santana Row's courtyard? Handing out leaflets and plastering signage across the shopping center would undoubtedly spread the word, but would do little to position Lufthansa as a premier airline or foster any meaningful, personalized connections. To accomplish both of these objectives, then, Soseman and Carter opted to use the best brand ambassadors available: Lufthansa's own polished, poised flight attendants. The idea was to have "street teams" of flight attendants in full uniform walk through Santana Row, interact with shoppers, and encourage them to visit the activation.
Soseman, who was responsible for overseeing logistics, then turned his attention to designing the event's physical components, which would include two freestanding columns, a touchscreen kiosk to facilitate the activation's gaming element, and a larger structure to house a flatscreen monitor and other equipment needed for the live-streaming experience. Meanwhile, the public-relations team at MMGY got to work on generating media buzz. Targeted pitches were distributed to local news and lifestyle outlets four weeks before the event, with additional communiques sent out in the days leading up to the launch in hopes of garnering publicity.
Ready for Takeoff
While some shoppers who visited Santana Row during the three-day #MoreConnected event came upon the activation serendipitously, others did so after being invited by one of the roaming teams of flight attendants – flown in from Germany to provide an on-brand experience – who presented them with faux 3.25-by-8-inch boarding passes. The front of the passes were designed to look very much like the real deal, with a barcode and information about the specifics of the event presented in air-travel lingo, such as the departing gate (Santana Row), flight dates (May 11 – 13), and boarding time (2 p.m. – 9 p.m.). Copy on the back outlined the event details in a more straightforward manner and included information on how to enter a Facebook contest for an Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset or Lufthansa-branded swag. Flight attendants then explained that the recipients could go to the shopping center's courtyard and scan their boarding passes at the kiosk for a chance to win a prize in a digital version of a well-known game – and possibly walk away with two free tickets to Frankfurt.
Boarding passes in hand, shoppers headed to the courtyard, where they lined up with those who wandered into the area on their own and had been given passes by professional brand ambassadors – also dressed in Lufthansa uniforms – supervising the activation. As they waited, participants were encouraged to tweet about the experience using the #MoreConnected hashtag and don one of three Oculus Rift headsets to be immersed in Lufthansa's first-class cabin on a Boeing 747 and explore its many amenities.
When it was their turn in line, eager participants stepped up to a mock ticketing kiosk with a built-in 25-inch touchscreen monitor and laser-break sensor. The kiosk was placed in front of an 8-by-16-foot structure branded with Lufthansa's corporate colors and outfitted with an 85-inch monitor, video camera, and two speakers. The action started once participants' boarding passes tripped the kiosk's sensor, which initiated a series of short videos that ran on both the touchscreen and the larger monitor. A clip of a Lufthansa flight attendant introducing the new nonstop service to Frankfurt was followed by an animation of an airplane flying from San Jose to the German transit hub. A second video featured another flight attendant who welcomed players to the game and explained its parameters – namely that they would have 60 seconds to identify as many differences as possible between two nearly identical photographs depicting any one of 21 European landmarks, such as the Colosseum, Notre Dame, and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. After another animation of an airplane taking off from Frankfurt to the location of the specific landmark, a set of photos appeared on both monitors, and players used the touchscreen to indicate where they noticed subtle differences in the images. Prizes were awarded based on how many differences each participant found and included branded rubber ducks, water bottles, and model airplanes.
Those receiving tickets to Frankfurt were chosen by a software program that randomly selected four winners each day of the three-day event. These lucky players' experiences took a different path following the second flight attendant's video, after which they saw an animation with text reading "Welcome to Frankfurt." The large monitor then cut to a live video and audio feed with a Lufthansa flight attendant at Frankfurt Airport. A brand ambassador assisting near the kiosk quickly produced a microphone, and the transatlantic interaction commenced.
The Frankfurt-based flight attendant initiated an informal dialogue with the participants, talking about topics such as the local weather and the nine-hour time difference, before asking if he or she knew any German phrases. The flight attendant then segued into a brief language class, during which she asked players to repeat simple sentences in German and then gave them the translation in English. After a few bilingual back and forths, the flight attendant asked the winning participant to say, "Ich fliege mit Lufthansa nach Europa." Once the phrase was repeated, the flight attendant asked, "Do you know what that means? It means 'I will fly with Lufthansa to Europe!'" Bewildered players, who recognized that their #MoreConnected experience was vastly different from those ahead of them in line, were then told they'd be receiving two premium economy tickets to Frankfurt. When the applause and cheering in the courtyard died down, the gleeful winners posed with Lufthansa flight attendants for a photo op – complete with a Publishers Clearing House-sized boarding pass – before leaving Santana Row to start planning their European vacations.
A live video stream connected winning participants with a Lufthansa flight attendant at Frankfurt Airport who informed them they'd be receiving two free tickets to Europe.
Cleared for Landing
Of the roughly 2,500 Santana Row shoppers who received Lufthansa's faux boarding passes, roughly 1,500 participated in the activation, resulting in a conversion rate of 60 percent. And while that's an impressive metric, it's somewhat dwarfed by the fact the company garnered a total of 15 million in-person, social-, and local-media impressions. Roughly 3.4 million of those impressions came from coverage in eight area newspapers, including the San Jose Mercury News, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, and Metro Silicon Valley. What's more, the #MoreConnected hashtag generated almost 262,000 social-media engagements, while the Facebook contest gathered contact info for more than 5,400 consumers. Corporate Event Awards judges understandably lauded the company for its results. "Lufthansa did an incredible job of leveraging social and traditional media to amplify its story," one judge said. "For a relatively small event, it generated big-league buzz."
Just as travel is capable of connecting people of varying cultures and beliefs, Lufthansa proved that it could plug into the culture of Silicon Valley with an event that was both high tech and highly personalized. "I think the most successful activations are simple in function and easy to participate in," Soseman says. "This was exactly that." And following these core principles resulted in both Lufthansa and the residents of San Jose feeling a little more connected. E


text:
Riding on rumors of a purported "budget" iPhone, Morgan Stanley on Tuesday released a report estimating that Apple could add nearly $2.4 billion dollars to its handset business and triple its addressable smartphone market in China by debuting a $330 "iPhone mini."
In the report, analyst Katy Huberty said that, contrary to a consensus view that the Chinese smartphone market is contracting, prices are actually stabilizing in the region, offering Apple an opportunity to target a new demographic of users. She pointed to historical trends in Apple product launches, noting that the company launched its first sub-$1000 notebook in Oct. 2004, the same year PC price drops recovered from a sharp decline of nearly 10 percent.
Coupled with growing 3G handset shipments on the China Mobile's TD-SCDMA network, Apple could be primed to address an incremental 20 percent of the market, adding to the 10 percent already addressed by the iPhone 5. The world's largest cellular provider by subscribership has yet to officially carry Apple's smartphone, though it was reported in March of last year that some 15 million iPhones were being used on the carrier's slower 2G network.
"We believe Apple could launch iPhone Mini at $330 (about Rmb2,000), in-line with flagship products in China from Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE and Coolpad," Huberty said in the note. "Even in a scenario of low 40% gross margin and 1/3 iPhone cannibalization rate (flattening legacy iPhone shipment growth), which we view as conservative, the iPhone Mini adds incremental revenue and gross profit dollars."
If the "iPhone mini" were to launch in 2013, Apple's gross profit margin would decline by 2 percent to 49 percent, but the new handset would boost the company's iPhone business by almost $2.4 billion in gross profit.
Huberty said there are several major catalysts to a China Mobile deal, including: the debut of a cheaper "iPhone mini" handset, next-generation TD-LTE licenses and the passage of cellphone number portability legislation, and the willingness on the part of China Mobile to subsidize high-end devices after a TD-LTE launch.
According to the firm, nearly 40 percent of all 3G smartphones shipped in China are TD-SCDMA, a figure up 15 percent year-over-year. Currently, however, none of Apple's iPhone models support the protocol.
For its part, China Mobile has stated that it has been in talks with Apple to become an official partner carrier since 2009, but the companies have yet to reach an amicable agreement. More recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly met with China Mobile during his trip to the country in January, though the nature of the discussion remains unknown.

domain: news


text:
The New York Times (NYT) is pressuring credit card giants to monitor customers’ buying habits and blacklist gun purchases. The Times suggests banks are “unwittingly financing mass shootings” by allowing individuals to use their cards to buy firearms and related accessories.
The NYT observes: Two days before Omar Mateen killed 49 people and wounded 53 more at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, he went on Google and typed “Credit card unusual spending.” Mr. Mateen had opened six new credit card accounts — including a Mastercard, an American Express card and three Visa cards — over the previous eight months. Twelve days before the shooting, he began a $26,532 buying spree: a Sig Sauer MCX .223-caliber rifle, a Glock 17 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, several large magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a $7,500 ring for his wife that he bought on a jewelry store card. His average spending before that, on his only card, was $1,500 a month.


text:
Law360, San Francisco (September 22, 2020, 8:49 PM EDT) -- Levi & Korsinsky LLP wrongly ran online advertisements designed to "mislead and deceive" consumers into opting out of a recently secured $650 million biometric privacy settlement with Facebook to pursue their own claims, a California federal judge said during a hearing Tuesday, slamming the law firm's "artful" deception.
U.S. District Judge James Donato let loose on Levi & Korsinsky partner Gregory M. Nespole during a video hearing on class counsel's bid for a temporary restraining order against the firm, admonishing Levi & Korsinsky for running ads before class members received official notice of the settlement and for soliciting opt-out plaintiffs by...
Stay ahead of the curve
In the legal profession, information is the key to success. You have to know what’s happening with clients, competitors, practice areas, and industries. Law360 provides the intelligence you need to remain an expert and beat the competition.
Access to case data within articles (numbers, filings, courts, nature of suit, and more.)
Access to attached documents such as briefs, petitions, complaints, decisions, motions, etc.
Create custom alerts for specific article and case topics and so much more!


text:
Posted: Aug 05, 2019
Wildfire isn’t the kind of smoky note most winemakers are going for.
But it’s apparently become an issue for some California vineyards in regions that saw large brushfires, even when the grapes were nowhere near the smoke.
One California vintner is suing a Long Island wine distributor for wrongly accusing it of selling 2017 vino with “smoke taint.”
The distributor rejected 4,841 cases of Noble Tree wine because it believed the California grapes used to make it were exposed to smoke from wildfires, according to a lawsuit.
The Port Washington-based company, SMT Acquisitions, was under contract to accept 2017 varieties of Noble Tree wine from the Sonoma-based Westside Winery, according to the Brooklyn Federal Court claim filed by Westside.
“SMT asserts it is not obligated to take possession of, or pay for, the 2017 varietals on the basis that they are purportedly ‘smoke tainted’ due to certain California wild fires.”
It’s simply not true, said Westside, noting in court papers the grapes used to make those wines “were harvested and in indoor storage tanks before the wild fire referenced by SMT.”
Westside says it’s owed $400,000 for the rejected wine.
Population of California town torched by wildfire down 90%The issue of wildfire smoke-tainted wines has been a concern in wine-producing countries for years, especially as climate change has increased the number of wildfires, said John
Aguirre of the California Association of Winegrape Growers.
But wineries are typically quick to toss compromised fruit.
“Wineries choose to err on the side of caution and reject problem grapes rather than accept grapes that would compromise the reputation of their brands,” he said.
The Association recently applauded $1.5 million in federal funding to study the issue.
SMT did not return messages.
By Kathianne Boniello
August 3, 2019
Go-Wine's mission is to organize food and beverage information and make it universally accessible and beneficial. These are the benefits of sharing your article in Go-Wine.com
Professional consulting to the Food and Beverage industry.www.winebusinessacademy.com
The Wine Thief Bistro & Specialty Wines is a locally owned small business in downtown Frankfort, IL offering world class wines in a relaxed, casual gathering spot for friends and family. Offering world class virtual tastings and touchless carryout.https://www.twtwineclub.com/aboutus
Go-Wine 25 Great Wineries in US selection prioritizes quality, value and availability.www.go-wine.com/great-wineries-in-america
Tasting wine is a nice experience, but visiting the places in which wine is made is a magic moment. Available in New York City for touchless pickup.


text:
BEIJING, June 7 (Xinhua) — China’s total imports and exports expanded 28.2 percent year on year to reach 14.76 trillion yuan (about 2.31 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of 2021, official data showed Monday.
This marks an increase of 21.6 percent from the same period in 2019, the General Administration of Customs said.
Exports jumped 30.1 percent from a year earlier while imports climbed 25.9 percent in yuan terms.
Exports and imports increased 23.6 percent and 19.2 percent, respectively, compared with the data registered in the first five months of 2019.
In the January-May period, the trade surplus increased 56.2 percent year on year to reach 1.32 trillion yuan. Enditem


text:
Small-business representatives claimed another victory over Washington with an Internal Revenue Service decision to relieve retailers and others of a potential tax-compliance headache.
In a letter to the National Federation of Independent Business, the IRS said Wednesday it would not require retailers and others to explain how and why their business income differs from their credit-card receipts, which Congress now is requiring card companies to report separately to the IRS.
“There will be no reconciliation required” for the 2012 tax year, “nor do we intend to require reconciliation in future years,” said a letter to NFIB from IRS Deputy Commissioner Steven Miller.
Small businesses have scored several victories lately against efforts in Congress to increase their tax reporting requirements and ultimately their tax payments. Critics say small businesses too often are underpaying their taxes, because of the ease of under-reporting income. Small business representatives say the remedy of increased reporting imposes too much paperwork burden on owners. They argue that tax compliance costs already are too high – almost $1,600 per employee for firms with fewer than 20 employees, according to NFIB.
In the case of the credit-card payments, the NFIB argued that small retailers often can’t readily account for ancillary payments such as cash-back payments to customers.
An even bigger victory came last year, when Congress rolled back a provision of the 2010 health-care law that would have required businesses to provide a 1099 information return to the IRS for any expenditures over $600 in a calendar year. Critics said that would have created a huge new paperwork burden and stifled job creation.


text:
Realme is Going To Launch 90Hz Display Smartphone | Techbells | Tech bells | New Mobiles
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Realme has confirmed that it would launch a smartphone with a 90Hz display. Realme's product supervisor Wang Derek took to Weibo to affirm that the company's 90Hz show smartphone is not some far away. He did not expose any specs of the upcoming system but stated that it would be more cost-effective than the OnePlus 7.
As per the report, the smartphone might be the rumored Realme XT Pro and would characteristic a 6.4-inch full-HD+ AMOLED show with a notch. The phone is predicted to have octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G SoC underneath the hood with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage.
In phrases of optics, the upcoming Realme telephone would residence a 32-megapixel selfie shooter and a 64-megapixel foremost camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, 2-megapixel macro shooter, and 2-megapixel depth sensor at the back.
Additionally, the Smartphone is reportedly coming with NFC, 4,000mAh battery with 30W quickly charging support, and next-gen in-display fingerprint sensor.
Meanwhile, Realme is getting geared up to launch its Realme XT smartphone in India this week. The smartphone sports a 6.4-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED panel with a waterdrop notch at the top. It has an in-display fingerprint scanner as well. The build excellent is right as the smartphone sports activities Corning Gorilla Glass 5 at the front and the back.
At the back, the Realme XT comes with a quad-camera module which homes a 64-megapixel Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and electronic stabilization. It also has an “Ultra 64MP” mode in the camera settings which will let you take photos at full resolution. The quad-camera setup additionally includes an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, a 2-megapixel macro digicam, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. At the front, it houses a 16-megapixel selfie shooter positioned in the waterdrop notch.


text:
Workers assemble new cars at a production line at JAC Motor's plant in Bozhou, Anhui province. LIU LIQIN / FOR CHINA DAILY
Old and new players join ranks to take the field in the largest autos market
China's carmaking industry, since the first-ever truck rolled off the production line in 1956, has never been so full of vitality－and uncertainty.
In less than a year, the authorities have given the nod to 14 companies to build electric car-building plants, and more are waiting for approval or preparing their applications.
All of them want to seize a slice of the electric, connected and autonomous car industry, something that both new startups and traditional car giants are convinced will eventually come.
None of them have a clear, whole picture of the industry's destination yet, nor how to arrive there.
But, there is a growing consensus that cooperation could prove to be their best collective weapon, at least in the current climate, according to executives at the ninth China Auto Blue Book Forum organized by the Automotive Business Review magazine. Nio, which was formerly known as NextEV, has not won approval from the authorities to build its cars. But its first model－an electric 7-seat SUV－is about to roll off the assembly line at one plant of JAC Motor, a traditional carmaker in Anhui province.
The arrangement is part of a 10 billion yuan ($1.45 billion) deal the two signed last year relating to new energy and smart cars, as well as connectivity technologies.
William Li, founder of Nio, said the two companies are working closely on many aspects, ranging from material purchases to quality control. "It is not 'they produce for me'; it is thorough cooperation."
Earlier last month, Nio inked a deal with another traditional carmaker, Changan Automobile, which also centers on new energy and connected cars.
The two plan to build a joint venture that focuses on research and development in that area as well.
Nio is not worried that cooperation with potential rivals may pose dangers.
In fact, Li believes that startups' hopes of succeeding in the market do not rely on how good their cars are, but their understanding of customer experience.
"Producing good cars is the prerequisite for selling cars, but what makes the difference is offering customers good service."
He argued that traditional carmakers are often more focused on manufacturing and they have a business-to-business model through their dealers, while new forces are more likely to provide better services directly to customers.
Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, which has joint ventures with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz, said those startups will not replace traditional automakers. But, he agreed that cooperation is indispensable in the age of a more complicated market.
"All roads lead to Rome, although every road is different. However, if traditional automakers and new ones can work together, with each bringing their strengths to the table, we can create a shorter and faster road. And this is better than if they were to each travel their own road."
BAIC is not limiting its cooperation to the car sector. It is also leveraging internet companies' resources to sharpen its competitive edge.
"We must collaborate and cooperate, especially with leading internet firms. All resources available should be fully utilized," said Xu.
In January, BAIC announced a strategic partnership with Baidu to expand the smart vehicle sector. Under the agreement, the companies will cooperate on autonomous driving technology, including high-definition maps.
Baidu and BAIC also plan to launch a research lab to promote technological collaboration and the mass application of intelligent vehicle technology.
Xu expects the results of this collaboration to start to pay off within two or three years.


text:
BERLIN (Reuters) -Volvo Cars is taking into consideration creating a third plant in Europe in get to raise its output capability over and above 1.2 million vehicles per 12 months, a business spokesperson stated on Sunday.
German autos publication Automobilwoche claimed before on Sunday that the business was planning on making an additional European plant by the middle of the ten years to meet up with its manufacturing focus on of 1.2 million automobiles a year, quoting Volvo Autos CFO Bjorn Annwall.
A company spokesperson reported by e-mail to Reuters that the company was currently able to develop 1.2 million automobiles per year at its two existing factories and wanted to boost its capability past this sum, but no options had been finalised as of nonetheless.
“What we can say at this stage is that no final decision has been built. However, Volvo Cars and trucks has grown promptly around the past decade and purpose to keep on to mature at a similar speed likely forward,” the spokesperson said to Reuters.
The Gothenburg-dependent enterprise, which grew to become Sweden’s next premier listing nonetheless following its IPO in late Oct with a valuation of $18 billion, at this time generates around 800,000 cars a calendar year at its two factories – one in Sweden and the other in Belgium.
“We need both our crops in Europe… but we have to have much more. That’s why we want to construct a third plant,” Annwall reported to Automobilwoche. Wherever that plant will be positioned is not nevertheless apparent, he said.
(Reporting by Victoria WalderseeEditing by Raissa Kasolowsky)


text:
Swab tests reveal high levels of coronavirus on gym door handles and self check-out stations
Why you MUST wash your hands after working out or shopping: Gym door handles and self check-out stations are covered in coronavirus but gas pumps are nearly virus-free, swab tests show
- Swab tests were conducted on 16 high-touch surfaces including gas pumps, door handles, shopping carts, credit card machines and check-out screens
- Results from gas station pumps and bathroom stall locks revealed low levels, which experts say likely means bits of viral RNA were left behind after cleaning
- Two surfaces – the entry door handle to a local gym and a self check-out station at at a local hardware store – showed high levels of the virus
- Experts say high levels mean there are either infected people within a build or more stringent cleaning protocols are needed
New swab tests have revealed that the novel coronavirus can be found lurking on several high-touch surfaces.
An investigation by CBS13 tested several surfaces including gas stations pumps, a door handle to a public gym and self-checkout screens.
Some areas picked up low levels of the virus, meaning the genetic material of the virus was still there, but not infectious enough to make anybody sick.
However, others had high levels, which could indicate that there are infected people in the building or that certain areas need better cleaning.
Swab tests, from Enviral Tech (above), were performed at 16 high-touch surfaces including gas pumps, door handles, shopping carts, credit card machines and check-out screens
Results from gas station pumps (pictured) and bathroom stall locks revealed low levels of the virus, which experts say likely means bits of viral RNA were left behind after cleaning
Two surfaces – the entry door handle to a local gym and a self check-out station at at a local hardware store (pictured) – showed high levels of the virus
COVID-19 mainly spreads through the air, when an infected person expels respiratory droplets that are then inhaled by a healthy person.
Experts say it is theoretically possible to contract the virus from high-touch surfaces, but highly unlikely.
Dr Shula Jaron, the CEO of Enviral Tech – which made the tests used by CBS13 – told the local station that the surface tests are more indicative of how widespread the virus is in a community.
She said a test that detects coronavirus on a surface can indicate they are infected people in a building or that more stringent cleaning protocols are needed.
‘Which really is an indicator that they’re probably not taking a lot of precautions with infection control,’ Jaron said.
Jaron added that the company primarily gives tests to businesses such as long-term care facilities, where routine testing for every resident can be high-priced.
‘It is less expensive to test the environment,’ she told CBS13.
‘Rather than testing 100 individuals that come into your facility, you’re testing just a couple of locations.’
The kits from Enviral Tech contain either four or eight swabs, which generally retail for around $300.
The swabs come in glass cylinders with directions for how to take a sample and label it, and results are returned within 24 hours.
CBS13 swabbed 16 high-touch surfaces including the handle of a shopping cart, a gas station pump, a bathroom stall lock, credit card keypads, a self-touch screen at a hardware store and doors handles to a local gym and a coffee shop.
The gas pump and bathroom stall lock returned very low results, which likely means bits of viral RNA remained behind after cleaning.
However, results for two surfaces – the entry door handle to the gym and the self check-out station at the hardware store – came back showing high levels of the virus.
A different check=out station at the same store did not return similar results.
Dr Phillip Norris, an infectious disease expert at the University of California San Francisco, told CBS13 that, although the risk of catching COVID-19 from a screen is low, it is a sign that cleaning standards need improvement.


text:
REAL DEAL 1971 DODGE SUPERBEE WITH ALL THE OPTIONS YOU WANT
PLUM CRAZY FC7 AIR GRABBER HOOD N96 BENCH 4 SPEED GO WING RALLY DASH EXHAUST TIPS AND THE OPTION LIST GOES ON AND ON
THIS CAR HAS A REBUILT MOTOR IN IT AND COMES WITH THE NUMBERS MATCHING BLOCK , SOUNDS AWESOME
ALL THE WORK WAS DONE ON THE CAR ABOUT 20 YRS AGO BUT HAS BEEN A LOW MILEAGE CAR SINCE
DRIVE IT AS IS AND ENJOY !
One of only 92 such 1969 Dodge Super Bee hardtop coupes with a Hemi engine and 4-speed transmission built for the U.S. market will be among the featured vehicles at GAA’s classic car auction scheduled for February 27-29 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The bright-yellow Mopar muscle car is Pick of the Day
For the first entry in our new ClassicCars.com feature, we have a popular low-mileage piece of classic Mopar muscle that the seller claims to be an all-original car in great shape.
Coast to coast — and even a drive on the Road to Hana on Maui — Mojo Travels offers its top-10 road trips for 2021. “We’re obviously aware of and deeply concerned about the global pandemic, and are choosing carefully what to publish as forms of escapism and entertainment to help ease thoughts of anxiety, […]
The Pick of the Day is a “real barn find,” a 1960 Fiat 1500 S cabriolet being advertised for sale — for $15,000 — on ClassicCars.com by a private seller. “These Fiat 1500S were built alongside the Ferrari 250S,” the seller says in the advertisement. “The car needs a good cosmetic restoration,” the seller adds, […]
Vinyl wraps are a thing. The technology has gotten so good and the artisans who do them so skilled, that almost every element of our lives is touched by it – for nearly 70 years, believe it or not. Thanks to one of the best wrapping shops in the Southwest, called WrapSesh, I now have […]
When it comes to James Dean, Porsche and racing, most everyone knows the end of the story. But how many know the long tail of passion that followed? The answer to that and many other questions are tucked away in Palm Springs, California, with a retired businessman who, as a racer, had the potential to […]
“The Indy 2020 auction is clear for takeoff!” Mecum Auctions announced in a brief statement Thursday, declaring the re-opening of the company’s annual live auctions that were halted by pandemic restrictions. Like most other auction companies, Mecum has been conducting online auctions of collector cars and automobilia in place of live events because of the […]
It was just a couple of weeks ago that we shared the news of the Horseless Carriage Club of America planning to add a building to the Gilmore Car Museum campus in Hickory Corners, Michigan. At the same time, we wrote about the museum accepting the donation of a 1902 Thomas Touring Car and re-opening […]
There was a new twist in the Ford vs. Chevy rivalry when it came to cars being searched during the month June on the ClassicCars.com marketplace. That twist was a Ford vs. Ford rivalry in which all-years Mustangs overtook all-years Ford in one of the two search lists. Oh, by the way, that all-years search […]


text:
As part of its economic diversification strategy, Gabon is developing three new special economic zones (SEZs), offering companies a range of investment incentives, each of which is to be dedicated to the development of different industrial sectors.
Up & Running
The first zone to have been launched is the Nkok SEZ, work on which began in 2010, and it began exporting goods in 2015. The zone is located around 30 km from Libreville, with direct road and rail connections to the Port of Owendo, as well as an estuary terminal of its own. It hosts a range of industries, including agribusiness, chemicals and plastics, pharmaceuticals, metals and financial services, albeit with a particular focus on wood-related industries such as timber processing and furniture manufacturing. Firms based in the zone benefit from incentives including full exemption from Customs duties on imported equipment and from corporate and capital gains, and a 10-year exemption from income tax.
The SEZ is being developed by Gabon Special Economic Zone (GSEZ), a joint venture between the Gabonese government and Singapore-based agribusiness firm Olam International, which is involved with the government in a range of major diversification projects. In April 2016 the Lagos-headquartered, pan-African financial institution Africa Financial Corporation announced that it would also invest $140m in GSEZ, for a stake of unspecified size in the firm.
Progress To Date
By 2015 the backers of GSEZ had invested around $600m in infrastructure and developed around 500 ha of land at the project site, to be eventually raised to over 1100 ha. The zone has attracted 80 companies so far, including 15 factories that were up and running as of May 2016. Recently opened facilities in the zone include a car battery factory owned by Chinese firm Haisheng Rong Hua, production at which began in April 2016. Total employment in the zone as of May 2016 stood at 1216 people, up from 1148 three months previously. “The launch of the Nkok SEZ has been broadly positive,” Yves Picard, director of the French Development Agency’s Gabon operations, told OBG, citing proximity to the country’s railway as a particular advantage. He said, “It is still in its early stages of development, but so far investors have responded strongly to it.”
Two more SEZs are also in the pipeline, though it is currently unclear when the projects will go ahead, with the current low oil price climate putting a damper on plans. One of these new zones is an €354.25m, 50,000-ha agribusiness-focused SEZ planned to be built in Boumango, near Franceville in south-eastern Gabon; however, little information regarding the timeline for the zone or planned projects has been released to date.
Another zone, in which Olam will also play a major role, will be based at Mandji Island, near the country’s hydrocarbons sector capital Port-Gentil, and will focus on adding value to oil and gas production in particular, most notably in the form of two planned gas-fed fertiliser plants. One of these is to be built by Gabon Fertiliser Company in an 80:20 joint venture between the Singaporean firm and the government, and will produce 1.3m tonnes per annum of ammonia urea fertiliser. While the plant was originally due to open in 2017, construction work has not begun on the project at the time of press, and indeed there has been little news on the project at all in recent years. Olam has announced plans to reduce its share in the project to below 50%, but as yet no other firm appears to be willing to take over the company’s stake.
The other planned facility is a nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertiliser joint venture between state-backed Société Equatoriale des Mines (SEM) and Morocco’s publicly owned phosphate company Office Chérifien des Phosphates (OCP). To be built at a cost of $2.3bn, the plant is part of OCP’s plans to quintuple its sales in Africa by 2025. SEM has suggested that the facility could be launched early in the next decade.
You have reached the limit of premium articles you can view for free.
Choose from the options below to purchase print or digital editions of our Reports. You can also purchase a website subscription giving you unlimited access to all of our Reports online for 12 months.
If you have already purchased this Report or have a website subscription, please login to continue.


text:
On-Chain Wealth Management, NFTs, Creality and more, a word with Elitium Founder & CEO Raoul Milhado
Elitium is a blockchain-based wealth management ecosystem powering a host of luxury and fintech products. Earlier this year, Elitium’s participation in the DigitalBits Foundation Partner Program was announced, with plans to integrate the DigitalBits blockchain into Elitium’s NFT marketplace.
We were able to catch up with founder and CEO, Raoul Milhado, to learn more about Elitium and what’s to come.
Find the full interview below.
First and foremost, I am very pleased to have the CEO of Elitium, Raoul Milhado, here with me today. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, Elitium, and what inspired the idea?
Thank you for hosting me. I’m so happy to be here!
So — let’s start with my background for some context.
I’ve been an entrepreneur from a young age, starting a digital marketing company at 19, before exiting my first venture at 23.
I went on to found several other businesses. But it was my role as the Managing Partner of Boatsters — an online platform focused on luxury yacht charters — that led me to blockchain technology.
In 2017, a year after I joined Boatsters, cryptocurrency was finding a more mainstream audience, so I put forward the idea to build a peer-to-peer wallet that would allow clients to pay for charters using Bitcoin, Ether, and several other tokens.
We launched the product in 2018, people jumped on-board, and I could see there was a clear, untapped interest in cryptocurrency within the luxury sector.
That’s when I set up Elitium.
At first, my intention was to build a blockchain-enabled app that would transform the luxury experience.
But as you know, blockchain technology has matured considerably in the last few years. And when we started to integrate investment products into the platform, we could see this was the direction to take.
We adjusted our strategy to focus on helping our high networth (HNW) client-base grow their wealth using cryptocurrency and DeFi.
And we’ve just released the first version of the Elitium wealth management platform, which enables anyone to invest in digital assets in a trusted, compliant, and secure way.
Elitium co-hosted NFT BAZL, a phenomenal event held at the auspicious Temple House. NFT BAZL was a unique combination of physical and digital art, and gave attendees a small taste of where the world of art is headed, alongside the synergies that exist between physical and digital realms.
What prompted the creation of NFT BAZL? And what does the future have in store for Elitium as it pertains to events like this?
We’ve always known that art is an attractive investment for HNW individuals, yet we couldn’t quite see a way to bring artworks to Elitium.
Then, Beeple sold one of his digital works as an NFT in early 2021, and we knew exactly what to do. We would build an NFT marketplace right into our platform, giving clients another great way to diversify their investment portfolio.
And we wanted to do something to celebrate what we saw as an important innovation in the sector, so we discussed ideas with our strategic partner, GDA Capital.
Ultimately, we decided to co-host an in-person exhibition that would bridge the worlds of art and blockchain, celebrating a new frontier for creators and investors alike.
That’s what led to NFT BAZL Miami in June 2021.
The event went so well that we’re already planning follow-ups, likely in Dubai later this year, before we head to New York in 2022, then who knows where else!
And this leads me on to an important point.
Elitium is here to do more than help people grow their wealth. We exist to educate investors about the power and potential of the blockchain.
Events like NFT BAZL are integral to this.
NFT BAZL played host to two pieces from the Floyd Mayweather NFT series, with 10% of the profits donated to the Elikia Hope Foundation.
I’d love to hear your perspective on having pieces like these at your event preceding his big fight — as well as the importance of charitable initiatives such as the Elikia Hope Foundation.
We were absolutely delighted to secure the pieces from Floyd Mayweather.
The reality is — there’s a lot going on in the world of blockchain. So when a prominent personality lends their support, it really shines a light on what you’re doing.
Equally, Floyd’s two NFTs were very popular, selling quickly — and for a premium. That process helped demonstrate the power of our NFT marketplace and the simplicity of buying a digital asset on the blockchain.
And yes, we wanted to give something back as part of the event. Which is why we partnered with the Elikia Hope Foundation.
As you say, we donated 10% of the profits from the Mayweather series to a charity that’s doing many great things for the global African community. The initiative is crucial to promoting diversity and inclusion worldwide.
And Elitium will continue to work hard to support the efforts of foundations like these.
In a recent Elitium video, you touched on the idea of ‘Creality.’
What is Creality? Why is it important? And how are you fostering this perspective within your organization?
Thank you for raising this point.
The concept plays a significant role in Elitium’s broader mission.
Creality alludes to the notion that we are living in a state of constant fear, largely because media organizations like to focus on what’s negative.
Add to this the fake news that cycles through social media, with influencers hyping the fear and other media channels doing little to stop it, and you end up in this really depressing headspace. We can’t even travel to escape this reality, so what can we do?
That’s where the notion of Creality comes in.
I invented the term to get my team to focus on ‘Creating their own Reality.’
Basically — I’m asking them to stop watching the news, to remove external negativity, to focus on what feels right for them.
It’s a mindset and philosophy we’re very much aligned to. As a group, we foster positivity and focus on creating prosperity. We don’t get distracted by the negative inputs that bombard us every day.
We work hard to build a new reality that the world can enjoy.
Elitium announced the integration of the DigitalBits blockchain into its platform. That means Elitium and DigitalBits users will soon be able to use XDB, as well as other DigitalBits-based assets, branded currencies, branded stablecoins, fan tokens, you name it, within the Elitium NFT Marketplace.
What do you see as the opportunities created here? And why is this so important?
We designed our platform to be compatible with any blockchain, so the niche approach from XDB and the partnership we’re building is really exciting.
It fits the diversified nature of the Elitium marketplace, helping us grow our portfolio of unique collectibles, memorabilia, and physical and digital art.
We also have every confidence that the DigitalBits Foundation can become one of the leading blockchain organizations in the world, so the opportunity to grow together is really compelling.
The Elitium platform is powered by your token, EUM? EUM appears to serve a number of functions within the platform: could you expand on those? And share your thoughts on why a blockchain-based asset is superior to traditional alternatives focusing on the same products?
EUM plays a dual role for Elitium.
On the one hand, it powers investment products like staking and masternodes, enabling clients to earn rewards in return for supporting the Elitium network.
On the other, it enables us to avoid charging fees on deposits, withdrawals, and in-platform transfers (and where a transaction does generate a fee — say, if you convert USDT to EUM — we can return this straight to the market, which refuels the ecosystem).
Better still, using EUM means we can process most transactions almost instantly, which you just can’t do if you use traditional alternatives.
Yes — EUM is an ERC-20. But we avoid gas fees by using an internal blockchain system to operate, and we use a fork of the PIVX protocol to run masternodes and power the PoS mechanism.
Elitium currently operates on the Ethereum network, correct? The platform as it stands today is feeless and powers instant operations: how do you guys go about this? And why is this so important to your users?
Yes — we’re using Ethereum.
As I mentioned earlier, our native currency and internal blockchain means we can offer instant transfers at negligible fees, which is crucial for two reasons.
Perhaps most importantly, given that our clients are making sizable investments, they want to avoid paying high-percentage fees on each one. Elitium enables that, saving clients a lot of money and allowing them to rebalance their portfolio as often as they like.
At the same time, clients want to be able to move funds quickly and seamlessly. Waiting hours — days, even — to reallocate a portfolio is not a good client experience.
Moving funds from one investment to another in a matter of seconds is.
Elitium users are able to enjoy a certain level of anonymity. Coming fresh off the Bitcoin Conference: one of the first large-scale solutions to pseudonymous transfer of value, why is it important that we maintain our financial privacy? And to that point, privacy in general?
Privacy is super important but, at the same time, things are changing fast.
Regulators and governments are demanding more information from all sides, so we’ll have to wait and see how the situation plays out.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of privacy. The more decentralization, the better.
That said, I respect that we have to work within certain bounds. Which is why we enforce a rigorous KYC process — but at the same time, we let clients spend and invest somewhat anonymously, if that’s what they want.
Whether we’ll always be able to do this, well, let’s wait and see.
Credit cards are a staple in today’s society. They help people budget, grant a plethora of rewards, and arguably provide an extra layer of protection when it comes to consumers transacting.
Would you consider issuing an Elitium credit card in the future?
Elitium has been working on a credit card concept for some time now.
We’re making strides forward, and we have some exciting potential partnerships that could really move the needle.
I can’t share a great deal, but the main takeaway is — yes, I can certainly see Elitium issuing a credit card in the not-too-distant future. And it will include plenty of client perks, spanning reward methods, cashback in gold, and an easy way for clients to spend their yield.
In essence, we see the Elitium Card as a way for clients to get free spending money for as long as they hold funds on the platform.
It’s certainly an exciting time in crypto. Lot’s of things are happening, with great people doing great things, so let’s bring things to a close by looking at your future.
What’s next in the cards for Elitium?
Well, while we’ve covered a lot of ground in a short time, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what we want Elitium to become.
Yes, our v1 wealth management platform includes some exciting new opportunities for HNW investors to grow their wealth and, as I’ve just mentioned, we’ve got an Elitium Card in the works.
But we now want to build out investment offerings to give clients even more ways to diversify their wealth.
Expect products like real estate investments, index investments, even tokenized funds — while we’ve set the wheels in motion to add retail banking-like services, which we intend to follow up with specialist blockchain-focused wealth advisory.
We love how blockchain is helping firms like ours return more value to clients by automating back-end processes, but unlike most companies, Elitium doesn’t intend to cut human interaction from our business model.
On the contrary, we want to preserve our client relationships, using technology to boost the value we offer.


text:
More On The New York iPhone 3G Line-Waiters: TheWhoFarm
More information has been found on the group of five heading up the line of iPhone-waiters in NY. It turns out that they’re with a group called TheWhoFarm, an environmental collective seeking publicity to further their mission of persuading the next President of the U.S. to transform the 17-acre lawn of the White House into an organic farm.
So yeah. They’re basically hippies.
“We’re here to restore the edible landscape,” says Daniel Bowman Simon, leader and spokesperson for the group. “We want to bring seeds of change back to the White House.”
To spread their mission, they hope to break a new record for the longest amount of time waiting in line to buy something. While they do seem to be excited (at least a little bit) to be getting the shiny new iPhones next week, their primary objective is to promote awareness of sustainability, affordable housing, energy security, locally-grown food (they’re eating lots of apples this week, har har), and “eating right,” says Simon, “especially our leaders.”
Here’s their list of what they hope to accomplish by pulling the stunt:
- We will spend a lot of time in a great public space, around the clock.
- We will use mobile solar power from Solar1.
- We will drink NYC’s renowned tap water.
- We will have local healthy food (especially Apples) delivered by our community gardener friends, Greenmarket farmers, and locavore restauranteurs via bicycles and pedicabs.
- We will compost our foodscraps, to help sustain our fragile soil.
- And most importantly, we will talk to whoever happens to stop by about local organic farming as a critical element to sustainable healthy living, food security, youth education, and climate change mitigation.
While I can’t say that I fully agree with their objective (or find it to be a good use of their time), their cause is at least noble one, for which I applaud them. Still, it would be great if just once someone was first in line for an iPhone that was just a hardcore superfan.
But I would much rather it be these people than that frigtard from last year.
[via Fortune: Apple 2.0]


text:
NUREMBERG, GERMANY: At a press conference held this week in Nuremberg, GfK presented a review of private consumption in 2010 and an outlook for 2011. As forecast by GfK, private consumption rose last year by 0.5%. For 2011, the market researchers are expecting private household expenditure to increase by a significant 1.5% and therefore make a strong contribution to the economic upturn.
In a European comparison, Germans are by far the biggest optimists when it comes to consumption.
Germany has shown impressive momentum in recovering from the financial and economic crisis. Whereas the gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2009 crisis year shrank by 4.7% and the country experienced its worst recession since the Second World War, GDP last year shot up by 3.6%, which was the strongest rise recorded since German reunification. As economic researchers revised their forecasts upwards, GfK's consumer climate surveys reveal that consumers' economic expectations also began a steep upward trend from summer 2010 onwards. The upswing had a very positive effect on the labour market. According to the Federal Employment Agency, the average number of unemployed people for 2010 as a whole stood at 3.244 million and was therefore 5.2% down on the prior year. In autumn 2010 the figure fell below the psychologically important three million mark, and this positive development in the labour market gave a decisive boost to consumers' confidence in their personal financial and professional futures.
Income expectations also rose considerably over the course of 2010. The indicator rose from 12 points in January to 40 points in December, almost reaching the high that was recorded in the years 2000 and 2001. German consumers expected the upturn to have a significantly positive effect on their salaries, and the most recent wage agreements confirm this expectation. The good framework conditions and increasing planning security for consumers also had a noticeable effect on the propensity to buy, which continued to rise steadily from an already high level. The average value of this indicator in 2010 was 27 points, which meant that it was 6 points higher than the already very pleasing value in the previous year. Correspondingly, the GfK consumer climate index followed a continuous upward trend and reached a three-year high at the end of 2010/start of 2011.
Retail sector back in positive figures
According to GfK's calculations, food retail outlets and chemist's stores in Germany saw an increase in sales last year. With a rise of 1.2%, they achieved a sales volume of €€154 billion (about R1510 billion), which is a new record high. The non-food segment - areas such as electronic goods, textiles, furniture and DIY - also recorded a marked improvement in sales. A climb of an estimated 2.6% and total sales of almost €148 billion (about R1450 billion) were the best sales result for the non-food segment since 2002. Technical consumer goods, including among others consumer electronics, information technology (IT), telecommunications products, the photographic segment and household appliances, enjoyed particularly strong growth: sales increased by over 8% to €47 billion (about R461 billion).
Among consumers, a sustained trend towards quality and away from low prices as the sole focus can be observed. One example is the textile retail segment. Last year, the industry achieved a sales volume of around €40 billion (about R392 billion), with sales value growth of 2.4% and a slight decline in sales volume. On average, consumers spent more on each purchased item and tended to opt for higher quality products.
Promising consumption prospects for 2011
Germans' consumption optimism has further increased at the beginning of 2011. The propensity to buy has climbed to a value of 41.8 points in January - the highest level since December 2006 - in spite of the recent rise in price expectations. The positive prospects on the labour market are further improving consumer sentiment.
"GfK expects private consumption to increase considerably by 1.5% in 2011 and to triple its growth rate compared with the previous year. The new propensity to consume that we are observing among Germans is not only adding stimulus to the economic upturn, but is also becoming a sustained and reliable source of support for the domestic economy," says Professor Dr. Klaus L. Wübbenhorst, CEO of the GfK Group.
For food retail outlets and chemist's stores, GfK is forecasting a sales increase of approximately 1.7% for 2011, and experts are also anticipating a further sales surge in the non-food segment, with estimated growth of 1.7%, although the rise will not be as high as in the previous year.
Germany's employment "miracle"
German consumers' propensity to buy is striking when compared with Germany's European neighbours. Last year, Germany's economy significantly outstripped that of the other major European countries and embarked on an upward trend, contrary to all predictions. While the gross domestic product in Germany increased by 3.6%, France (+1.6%), the UK (+1.8%) and Italy (+1.1%) were not able to match this growth spurt. GDP in Spain was even slightly negative, showing a decline of 0.2%. Among EU countries with large populations, only Poland (+3.5%) recorded positive growth on a similar level with Germany.
Germany's exceptional position becomes even more apparent when comparing unemployment figures. Across Europe, Germany was the only country to see a reduction in the number of unemployed people compared with the level before the financial and economic crisis in 2007. With a decrease of 17%, Germany clearly stands out among its neighbours. The Baltic states are bottom of the rankings in this regard, as unemployment here more than tripled. Ireland and Spain also recorded a marked rise in unemployment figures, which is a sign of the major impact of the property and financial crisis.
There are various reasons for the positive developments in Germany. The structural reforms introduced under Agenda 2010 have placed the country in a competitive position internationally. In the 2009 crisis year, the transition to flexible working hours, more opportunities for short-time working and government economic stimulus programs buoyed the labour market, so there were hardly any redundancies as a result of the economic situation. Consequently, the German economy was able to react immediately last year when global demand began to rise once again.
French people fear a decline in their standard of living
Positive reports from companies increased the economic expectations of German consumers in 2010 to an average of +29 indicator points. In France, however, people assessed their country's economic prospects far more negatively: economic expectations reached a value of only -11 points in 2010. In comparison with neighbouring Germany, higher social security payments and shorter working hours as a result of the legally imposed 35-hour week are weighing on the economy's competitiveness.
French consumers currently fear a major reduction in their standard of living. This is reflected in the average level of the income expectations indicator in 2010, a distinctly negative -27 points, compared with +28 points in Germany. The two countries in Europe with the largest populations also recorded divergent development in terms of the propensity to buy: the average indicator value for 2010 reached +27 points in Germany and only -32 points in France.
Government austerity measures have a negative impact on consumption in the UK
In the UK, the end of the long property boom and the government's measures to consolidate the budget have had a significant impact. Last year, the propensity to buy reached a value of just -29 indicator points, and the average indicator value for income expectations was also negative, at -5 points. The public sector is the largest employer in the UK, and the government's austerity measures are therefore having a correspondingly large effect here. In addition, pay freezes and a high rate of inflation in comparison with Germany have reduced the living standards of British people.
Italians cut consumption
Italian consumers also took a pessimistic view of the economic prospects in their country last year. An indicator value of -15 points for economic expectations and -19 for income expectations clearly reflect the population's anxieties about the future. Economic growth was already very low before the financial crisis, the national debt was massive, and last year unemployment reached its highest point since 2001. In addition, the situation on the labour market is being negatively impacted by a significant increase in temporary employment contracts and the number of low-paid jobs. The country's middle class is shrinking and Italian consumers are reacting by consuming with caution and displaying a high level of price sensitivity. The average value for the propensity to buy stood at just -19 indicator points in 2010.
Real estate crisis affects Spain
Spain is heavily affected by its real estate crisis. The unemployment rate has more than doubled from 2007 to 2010 due to the enormous weight of the real-estate sector for the country's economy. In contrast to almost all European countries, the gross domestic product even kept declining slightly over the last year. Correspondingly, the average indicator value for the economic expectations of Spanish consumers in 2010 was negative, at -18, and personal income prospects were assessed even more bleakly, with an indicator value of -22 points. The government is combating the high national deficit by making cuts to some social services, reducing civil servant salaries and applying higher taxes: for example, the VAT rate has been increased from 16% to 18%. With the propensity to buy standing at -8 points on average in 2010, the reaction of Spanish consumers to the economic situation was very moderate compared with their neighbours in France and Italy.
Poland's economic growth stands out
The gross domestic product in Poland grew by 3.5% in 2010 and was therefore almost as high as the German growth rate. The eastern European country's unemployment figures were also impressive in 2010, remaining at the same level as in 2007. However, the positive economic growth recorded last year was only noticed by Polish consumers to a limited extent, as the low average indicator value (+5 points) for economic expectations compared with Germany shows. Anxiety fuelled by the media about the potential consequences of the financial crisis influenced Polish consumers more in their assessments than the visible economic growth. This is evident from the income expectations indicator, which stood at -1 points on average for the year. However, the propensity to buy reached a very positive value compared with the rest of Europe, at +6 points.
Greeks and Romanians hardest hit by the crisis
Consumers in Romania and Greece felt the effects of the financial crisis and the high level of debt of their respective countries very strongly last year. The gross domestic product fell in Greece by 4.2% and in Romania by 1.9%, and consumers' economic expectations were correspondingly negative: with an average of -50 points in 2010, the Romanians were bottom of the rankings in Europe, followed by the Greeks with -39 points. The governments of both countries are under a great amount of international pressure to reduce their budget deficits, because they have received financial aid from the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the EU. Deep cuts in social services and increases in duties and taxes are the result. In line with this, the income expectations of consumers in both countries were negative in 2010, standing at an average of -47 indicator points in Romania and -43 points in Greece. The propensity to buy was also affected by consumers' fears for the future. With an average indicator value in 2010 of -38 points in Greece and -33 in Romania, these two countries - together with Portugal, where the value fell as low as -47 - came in last in a Europe-wide comparison.
"Reluctant" consumers become "optimistic" consumers
This comparison with other European countries shows that Germany is currently in an exceptional position. The upturn is not only giving a boost to companies, but has also led to a sustained improvement in consumer sentiment. Whereas Germans might previously have been considered panic savers and extremely price-sensitive consumers, they are now increasingly focused on quality and are happy to spend money. "German consumers have changed. Even back in the 2009 crisis year they were defying the negative headlines, and since last year they are the optimists of Europe. Private consumption has become a vital source of support for a sustained economic upturn," concludes Professor Dr. Klaus L. Wübbenhorst, CEO of the GfK Group.
GfK The GfK Association was established in 1934 as a non-profit organization for the promotion of market research. Its membership consists of approximately 600 companies and individuals. The purpose of the Association is to develop innovative research methods in close cooperation with academic institutions, to promote the training and further education of market researchers, to observe the structures and developments in society, the economy and politics that play a key role in private consumption, and to research their effects on consumers. Survey results are made available to the membership. The GfK Association is a shareholder in GfK SE. Go to: http://www.gfk.com
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This Message Board accepts no liability of legal consequences that arise from the Message Boards (e.g. defamation, slander, or other such crimes). All posted messages are the sole property of their respective authors. The maintainer does retain the right to remove any message posts for whatever reasons. People that post messages to this forum are not to libel/slander nor in any other way depict a company, entity, individual(s), or service in a false light; should they do so, the legal consequences are theirs alone. Bizcommunity.com will disclose authors' IP addresses to authorities if compelled to do so by a court of law.


text:
Gigamon has extended its line of network monitoring appliances with the release of the compact GigaVUE HD4 system.
The HD$ is essentially a smaller version of the company's GigaVUE HD8. The hardware footprint of the new platform is just five rack units, compared to the HD8's 14.
The smaller design allows the H-series to fit in to a wider range of businesses and operating environments than before, Mike Valladao, Gigamon senior product manager, told V3.
"In some cases, a 14RU chassis is just too big for people," he explained.
"This is a much smaller form factor, which allows it to go into places that have tighter restrictions."
Valladao said that in addition to physical space limitations, the HD4 could also appeal to rapidly growing environments, such as telecom providers who are struggling to keep up with the increased data loads brought by wireless broadband growth.
The hardware release comes amid a larger overhaul of the company's network management offerings.
Gigamon also recently updated its software platform to provide an improved graphical interface which is better equipped for large deployments with hundreds of active ports.
The update, said Valladao reflects what Gigamon sees as a change in the nature of networking and the evolution of the company's own role in monitoring traffic.
"It is about providing the visibility to all of those different tools, regardless of the number of ports."
Microsoft seizes control of phishing sites linked with Russian state hackers
Fitness trackers over-estimate the number of steps their users take, analysis of 67 research reports suggests
Everything we think we know about the imminent Apple iPhone 9, iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Plus launches
All the latest rumours about Apple iPhone Displays, CPUs, launch dates and even prices
Nvidia brings Turing microarchitecture into the high-end gaming segment


text:
One of the most exciting moments for a child is a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop. They have the opportunity to create a stuffed companion that is 100% unique to them. Unfortunately, many of these creations have been recalled due to a choking hazard.
Even though we just entered September, and we haven't even thought about Halloween yet, Toys R Us is thinking Christmas. They even skipped Black Friday! They just released a list of the Top 15 Holiday/Christmas Toys for 2015. Here's what they think will be the top seller.
Walmart was getting positive attention in the media for deciding to no longer sell Confederate flags. Now, it looks like that good press may go away for the day. Many fans of the store are upset that they currently sell a twerking bear and twerking panda to kids.


text:
Publishers and distributors of e-books in Japan have voiced concern over the proposed hike in consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent by April 2014. However, while the taxation would apply to ebook publishers and distributors in Japan, the same when sourced from overseas vendors enjoy immunity from the tax net. As such, retailers such as Amazon or Rakuten’s Canadian arm Kobo are not required to pay consumption tax in Japan. This as per the local players are allowing the overseas vendors undue benefit vis-à-vis their domestic counterparts.
As per the current legal system, ebooks purchased and downloaded from servers outside of Japan are deemed transactions, and are hence considered to be outside the purview of consumption tax. It is only the items and services purchased in Japan that are subject to paying consumption tax.
“Online shoppers are sensitive to prices. One of the reasons that foreign vendors gained a large share in the Japanese market was the unfair environment regarding the consumption tax,” said an executive with bookstore operator Kinokuniya Co.
This, as per Daiwa Institute of Research Holdings Ltd. is also leading to the Japanese government losing out billions of yen in revenue every year. The loss is pegged at a substantial 25 billion yen in 2012 alone. The domestic players are urging the government to come up with a quick solution though anything of that sort seems unlikely to emerge before spring 2014 when the higher rate structure will come in place. Government sources have assured local publishers and ebook retailers they are investigating the matter and have assured a level playing field for all though that is not expected to happen anytime soon.
“At the time the consumption tax was introduced (in the late 1980s), few imagined that the Internet would develop this much. The Finance Ministry should start upgrading legislation to create a fair environment,” said Yoshikazu Miki, a law professor at Aoyama Gakuin University.
Sovan Mandal is the senior tablet and tech corespondent for goodereader.com. He brings a international approach to news that is not just applicable to the North American market, but also Asia, India, Europe and others. Sovy brings his own writing flavor to the website and is interested in Science Fiction, Technology and Writing. Any questions, send an email


text:
MOBILE, Alabama -- Students can give their teachers gift cards this holiday season, so long as it is to buy items for the benefit of the class, according to an opinion just rendered by the Alabama Ethics Commission.
The commission met this morning and approved a 26-page opinion addressing the issue of holiday gifts for teachers and other state employees as well as other questions surrounding Alabama's new ethics laws.
As Christmas shopping is underway, the Ethics Commission has been getting about 25 calls per day asking what gifts can and cannot be bought for teachers. Alabama's new ethics laws were designed to limit gifts and actions of lobbyists toward legislators.
"However, the unintended consequences trickled down and affect school teachers just as they affect legislators," the opinion states. In fact, the law affects all 200,000-plus city, county, state and school employees.
Alabama law used to allow gifts as long as they were less than $100. Now, the law states that gifts must be of de minimis, or little, value. Ethics Commission director Jim Sumner has said the commission cannot set a specific dollar amount to de minimis, because doing so would be arbitrary.
In today's opinion, the commission gave these examples of acceptable gifts for school teachers:
-- fruit baskets, homemade cookies, etc.
-- Christmas ornaments of little intrinsic value.
-- Coffee mugs filled with candy or of a holiday nature.
-- Any item that the teacher may use to assist him/her in performing his or her functions as a teacher, such as notebooks, school supplies, etc.
-- CD's or books of a nominal value, scarves, etc.


text:
Newsman Tom Brokaw once said “It’s easy to make a buck. It’s a lot tougher to make a difference.” Thanks to undertaking a series of strategic changes, Zen Leaf Illinois is doing both.
When the multi-state Zen Leaf partnership took over struggling Chicago-area dispensary Union Group of Illinois in November 2017, the company faced a big challenge. The shop desperately needed a new look and a new outlook. First on the to-do list: change the dispensary’s name. “The name change helped bury the negative stigma of the old organization,” said Marketing Director Dan Scheidt.
Next up: Addressing the bland décor. “We reconfigured the floor plan and lighting to make it open and bright,” said Vice President of Operations Anthony Dindia. “By upgrading the public access area with an open, lofty space, it became an enjoyable place for patients to visit.”
But the shop’s problems extended beyond design and signage. “Patient numbers were declining, and sales were low,” Scheidt said. Under previous management, cash register receipts and inventory counts routinely failed to match. Although human error may have contributed to the license-threatening discrepancy, theft wasn’t the issue. “The staff lacked training in many areas, and [former management] hadn’t implemented best practices,” Chief Retail Operations Officer Anthony Marsico explained.
Zen Leaf’s new managers reevaluated how its existing staff could be leveraged to the best advantage. “We trained every member of our team in all aspects of the day-to-day operations,” Marsico said. The retrained staff was strategically deployed to operate at peak efficiency.
Management installed an inventory tracking system, making products less likely to be misplaced or disappear entirely. Point-of-sale protocols for handling cash were introduced. Both inventory and cash variances have been reduced by 99 percent, according to Marsico.
With solid operational procedures in place, Zen Leaf embarked on a mission to change public perception that the shop was out of sync with patients. “We offer discounts to patients who are veterans, minors, and on Social Security and disability,” Marsico explained.
Anyone can offer discounts, but Zen Leaf also realized the importance of taking medicine seriously. Employees now are devoted to creating a positive, comfortable experience for first-time patients by providing tailored consultations and take-home educational materials. After an initial consultation, Zen Leaf follows up to ensure individualized treatment regimens are working.
The physical and environmental modifications have benefitted the dispensary, Scheidt said. “Our social media and Google reviews have shown a complete 180-degree turnaround,” he revealed. Zen Leaf’s sales have tripled over the past year, and the shop experienced a 200-percent increase in registered patients.
But Zen Leaf measures success in more than numbers. “There are patients that bake [unmedicated] cookies for the staff to say ‘thank you,’” Dindia said. “We are consistently receiving phone calls from our patients thanking us and telling us they just feel better.”


text:
May 24, 2023
JAKARTA – At the age of seven decades, PT GA Tiga Belas, the company behind local bookstore chain Gunung Agung, plans to shut down its last five outlets this year after gradually closing its stores across the country since 2020.
The company said it was unable to overcome the mounting operating losses it had endured since 2013, and which was exacerbated by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
GA Tiga Belas said it had made efforts to cut operating costs during that period, while admitting that these efforts had not been enough.
Several stores in Surabaya, Semarang, Gresik, Magelang, Bogor, Bekasi and Jakarta were affected in 2020 as it started to scale down operations to stay afloat.
“[Our operating cost] has not been comparable with our sales performance every year. And the situation became more difficult with the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020,” GA Tiga Belas management said in a statement on Saturday.
Gunung Agung is one of the oldest bookstores in the country. It was founded in 1953 by Chinese-born entrepreneur Tjio Wie Tay, also known as Haji Masagung, and organized its first book fair the following year.
Competitor Gramedia was established almost two decades after Gunung Agung first opened its doors.
Indonesia’s first president Sukarno appointed Gunung Agung as the main publisher and distributor of his books in 1960. The company then expanded its business in 1986 by establishing the Walisongo bookstore, specializing in titles on Islam.
In 1992, Gunung Agung went public and was listed under the ticker code TKGA on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, a precursor to the Indonesia Stock Exchange, raising Rp 5 billion (US$335,045) in the process.
But the company was delisted in 2017 after it was suspended in 2015 for failing to meet the bourse’s requirements, including publishing its financial report.
Read also: Online bookstores open physical branches amid pandemic sales boom
Mirah Sumirat, president of the Association of Indonesian Trade Unions (ASPEK), said on Friday that she had received several complaints and requests for legal advocacy from the workers union at GA Tiga Belas over alleged “unilateral layoffs”.
She added that the GA Tiga Belas workers union was a member of ASPEK.
According to Mirah, the company had unilaterally laid off 220 employees between 2020 and 2022. Following Saturday’s announcement, she estimated that the figure could rise to 350.
GA Tiga Belas responded by saying that the layoffs complied with existing laws.
“[The claim of] some media that we unilaterally laid off 350 employees [contrary] to applicable laws is not true. We have always complied with the law in [our business] efficiency and effectiveness processes,” the company’s management said in a statement.
It had also responded to letters from ASPEK, the statement said.


text:
Gibson celebrates 40th anniversary of AC/DC’s Back In Black with livestreamed event
Hosted by Jared James Nichols, and featuring guests Slash, Sebastian Bach and more
Photo: Michael Putland / Getty Images
Gibson will be commemorating the 40th anniversary of AC/DC’s Back In Black this year with a livestreamed celebration, featuring artist performances, tutorials and testimonials. The celebration takes place this Friday, 24 July at 5:00pm Eastern Time (10:00pm BST).
Back in Black 40th Anniversary: A Virtual Celebration will be held over Consequence Of Sound’s Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitch channels.
The event will be hosted by Jared James Nichols, and feature appearances from a host of esteemed rockers including Slash, Sebastian Bach, members of Alice In Chains, Cage The Elephant, Anthrax, Lamb Of God, Trivium, Airbourne, Refused and many more.
To kick off the festivities, Gibson, along with event partners Consequence Of Sound, Sony and SoloDallas, have launched a giveaway contest exclusive to US and Canadian residents.
Its extravagant prizes include a Gibson Custom Shop ‘61 Les Paul SG “Red Devil”; two Gibson SG Standards in ebony; a Marshall JTM45 (Modded by SoloDallas to sound akin to the JTM50 Angus Young used on Back In Black), and more.
Meanwhile, AC/DC have been celebrating Back In Black’s 40th anniversary with special video uploads for fans, including rare archived concert footage, as well as a mini documentary series that explores the songwriting behind the acclaimed album.
For more music news, click here.
Get the latest news, reviews and features to your inbox.Subscribe


text:
Lectra’s latest innovation is boosting apparel production for a major French brand.
The integrated technology solutions provider equipped Cache Cache with Modaris 3D, a 3-D prototyping tool that streamlines product development and sub-contractor communication. Cache Cache dramatically reduced the number of prototypes possible with Modaris 3D, and in addition to using the tool for its dresses, the company has incorporated the solution across all of its lines.
“We are leveraging Modaris 3D to react rapidly to evolving demand. With this solution, our stylists and product managers can easily make choices, organized around the same screen, based on prototypes developed in 3-D,” Cache Cache director of sales Camille Dupont said. “The decision-making process starts as early as possible and is much quicker.”
Group Beaumanoir, Cache Cache’s conglomerate, has been a Lectra customer for more than 15 years. As the group’s early brand, Cache Cache dominates the French and international prêt-à-porter market with more than 1,590 sales points worldwide. Cache Cache also recently expanded in other continents, including Asia, with the opening of its 1,000th shop in China and is engaging rapidly in the e-commerce scene.
Incorporating Modaris 3D enabled Cache Cache to replace a portion of its physical prototypes with virtual prototypes. The tool streamlined exchanges between sub-contractors and the design offices, which saved the brand time and money in the production development process. With Modaris 3D at both of its design offices in St. Malo and Shanghai, Cache Cache will be able to speed up its apparel production development, build a strong global footprint and continue to satisfy the needs of its millennial consumer demographic.
“Highly responsive, Cache Cache is permanently adapting to developments in fashion across its many markets. By advancing more quickly at the product development stage, our teams will have more time to dedicate to new creative ideas,” Cache Cache technical division head Jeanine Guillaume said. “In addition, we will achieve considerable all-round savings thanks to improved exchanges between our suppliers.”


text:
CHICO, Calif. – The Downtown Chico Business Association announced the launch of the Open Air Marketplace will be delayed by one week due to the excessive heat warning issued by the National Weather Service.
The new date for the marketplace is set for Thursday, July 2, from 6 to 9 p.m. in downtown Chico.
"We apologize for the confusion on the launch date; however, the health and safety of our community is our first concern," said Melanie Bassett, Executive Director of the Downtown Chico Business Association.
Moving the marketplace to the first Thursday in July, should bring temperatures back into the 90's for a more pleasant and safe open-air experience for marketgoers, said members of the association.
Due to state and county guidelines for coronavirus, the Open Air Marketplace will be limited to essential businesses; farmers and downtown restaurants.
The former Thursday Night Market has been redesigned into an open-air marketplace where vendors are spaced out between several blocks of downtown. Marketgoers will be able to shop, dine, and enjoy local takeout safely from downtown restaurants and retail businesses.
Just last week, the Downtown Chico Business Association said it currently did not have the staffing, infrastructure, or safety precautions in place to turn the concept into a reality by June 18. However, members of the association continued to work to make the event happen by pushing to a later date.


text:
“Intelligent Delivery Service is really focused on improving how people work. It’s not just about opening mail and scanning it. We are trying to optimize mail delivery, reduce processing time, and drive better business decisions.”
—Nicole Blohm, Ricoh USA, on the company’s new Digital Mailroom offering
“You only have to step back 10 years, and you will see that enterprise content came mostly in simple and easy to understand formats—with the majority flowing in and out as Microsoft Office documents. Today, however, the landscape is much more complex thanks to social media, audio, video files etc. This has made content far more difficult to classify, archive, and access.
—Bob Larrivee, AIIM, in his guest editorial column
“Our goal has always been to automate document-based processes as seamlessly as possible for end users. We want to streamline what people are doing, so they can get out of the office more quickly and spend more time with their families or whatever they want to do. We are now able to focus more completely on the end-to-end process. Last time we talked, we discussed how we were increasing our focus on areas like HR and accounts payable. Capture is a big part of streamlining processes in both those areas.”
—Abe Niedzwiecki, founder, Cabinet, discussing his company’s acquisition by PSIGEN, where he has been appointed CTO.
“Our initial plan was to target businesses looking to sell their companies. But, the appetite in the market currently seems to be bigger for services to help reposition companies to improve their growth with the goal that this will enable them to exit at a more desirable value.”
—Martyn Christian, founder of the consulting firm UNDRSTND
“FineReader 14 combines the best of two worlds. Users get the benefits of a full desktop OCR application and a traditional PDF product. We think it can compete effectively in both product segments.”
— Slavena Hristova, head of product marketing for desktop products at ABBYY, discussing her company’s latest desktop software release.
“I think Microsoft always had plans to release another on premises version of SharePoint, but they let people think they were going to discontinue it—figuring this would drive customers to evaluate the cloud offering,”
—Bernie Schweiss, president and CEO of KnowledgeLake, discussing the strategy of its ECM partner, who last year came out with SharePoint Server 2016, for which KnowledgeLake just announced complete support.


text:
Listen: Stocks surge after U.S. delays new China tariffs
"Falsely saying china would pay tariffs and not american consumers just this week trump delayed the next round of tariffs until december he said out out of deference to the christmas shopping season last night in new hampshire. He assured his supporters that his strategy would lead to success. I never said china was going to be easy but it's not tough. They wanna make a deal. We just spoke to him yesterday. They wanna make a deal. They wanna make a day. They have to make a deal and you. You know what it'd be wonderful to make. You have no choice but to vote for me because you have 4._0._1._k.'s down the tubes. Everything's gonna be down the took whether you love me or hate me. They got to vote for me."


text:
Congratulations to the winners!
Congratulations to all of the winners in the Portsmouth News Business Excellence Awards.
We just missed out on the Small/Medium Business of the Year and Best Employer titles but were delighted to have been nominated for the final shortlists.
There was tough competition across the board for all of the categories – which is good news as it shows just how well business is picking up in the area following the worst recession in living memory.
We’ve seen the uplift too, and had a superb 25th anniversary year in 2014. The awards night a great way to mark a fantastic 12 months and also look ahead to an even more successful 2015.
We had a very enjoyable evening at the Guildhall and will be back next year, aiming to do even better!
You can read more about the awards night here: http://tinyurl.com/pkdoubr
Congratulations to all of the winners in the Portsmouth News Business Excellence Awards. We just missed out on the Small/Medium…


text:
Motorpoint Group PLC (LON:MOTR) shares rose on Thursday after the vehicle retailer managed to deliver a profit rise in its first half as a result of strong trading following reopening of its branches in June and July as the UK’s lockdown was eased.
In its results for the six months to September 30, the company reported a pre-tax profit of £9.7mln, up 3% year-on-year, while revenues fell 27% to £387.7mln which was attributed to the forced closure of retail branches and preparation centres between April and June. The company also said its dividend was under review and did not propose an interim payment compared to 2.6p per share last year.
The company highlighted a “significant acceleration” in online sales over the period, which accounted for over 40% of the total, adding that its market share has also grown following the reopening of its branches. Gross margins also expanded in the six months to 9.1% from 7.5% last year following what Motorpoint said was “strong customer demand and increased stock turn”.
Looking ahead, the firm said it remained confident that its home delivery and reserve & collect offerings will continue to service its customers and provide access to new markets, although given the “uncertainty of future demand and margin levels” caused by the pandemic it did not provide any earnings guidance.
“Through operational rigour and a focus on e-commerce solutions, the group delivered an improvement in profit before tax against the prior year, despite a complete closure during the UK-wide lockdown from March 24th, and order fulfilment limited to home delivery only from May 21st. Since fully reopening all branches in July, demand levels have exceeded management’s expectations…Margins have also been above recent levels, reflecting strong customer demand and continued improvements in vehicle preparation speed and marketing effectiveness”, Motorpoint chief executive Mark Carpenter said in a statement.
“Notwithstanding the challenging macroeconomic backdrop, we look to the future with confidence as we continue to innovate and build on the strengths of our low-cost, independent, flexible operating model and leading brand to drive further market share growth”, he added.
In a note on Thursday, analysts at house broker Shore Capital said the company was “excellently positioned to thrive over the medium term” and that its combination of “close to customer physical locations and a fully operational digital/online capability” was compelling.
Motorpoint shares rose 2.7% to 308p in early deals.


text:
Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the nation's No. 2 grocery chain behind Wal-Mart; IBN, of Salt Lake City, Utah, provides in-store music and TV advertising services to supermarket and drug store chains.
18 months rollout
Kroger says the new in-store TV messaging system will reach 68 million shoppers weekly, following an 18-month rollout. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Until now, IBN has offered in-store radio network services to its clients. Kroger TV is its first TV project and puts it in direct competition with the better-known in-store TV network, Premier Retail Networks (PRN). PRN counts Wal-Mart, Albertson's and Shaw's among its clients.
Evan Anthony, vice president of marketing and advertising at Kroger, said he waited before jumping on the in-store media bandwagon for better technology to come along, particularly decreased costs for plasma TVs. He said he wanted to build a network from the ground up that would allow for customization by store, group of stores or other categories. He also wanted to allow the triggering of content by weather and day-part.
“We want to make sure of the measurable element of it," Mr. Anthony said. "Even now we are testing in Houston a network with people meters. It’s going to look at what the customer is actually listening to, not just what the standard is.”
Even with the Houston test, “the key is going to be: you’ve got to find a way to measure it,” he said.
Kroger TV will coordinate both in-store radio and television messages, a combination Mr. Anthony called “perfect media,” and touted as a better sell to consumer product brand marketers and media buyers.
“I can think of my company as a media company now,” he said. “This will deliver more reach and frequency than the largest radio station in the country. If you are investing in radio, do you want to invest in $1 of radio in the general market, or where the customer is making a buying decision?”


text:
STC has effectively tackled the egg scarcity and high prices in our country by importing approximately 122 million eggs up to November 2023. This task was completed in accordance with the guidance provided by the Ministry of Trade and under the supervision of Mr.Asiri Walisundara the Chairman of STC.These eggs are being made available to the public at an affordable price through SATHOSA outlets. This initiative not only ensures a steady supply of eggs to the market but also eases the financial burden on consumers, reflecting STC’s dedication to providing essential goods at reasonable prices.
In addition to importing eggs, STC has shown its commitment as a compassionate social contributor. Recently, in October, STC donated 20,000 eggs to the flood-stricken victims in the Matara District. This act of generosity not only provided essential nutrition to those in need but also demonstrated STC’s unwavering support for the community during challenging times. Such acts of kindness showcase STC’s dedication to making a positive impact and helping those affected by natural disasters