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Treasure And Bond
Treasure & Bond Launches in New York City
Treasure & Bond, a new store part of the Nordstrom Group, launched yesterday in New York City. The brand is known for its charitable efforts and will donate a portion of its net sales to local charities every quarter. This new concept is a way for the company to connect with and understand New Yorkers.
Treasure & Bond will be smaller than the typical department store. It will be less than one-tenth the size of a typical Nordstrom. The new department store will be located in SoHo. The store will sell more edgy, sexier clothing and accessories. But before we go into the specifics, let’s look at the stores.
Treasure & Bond is a Nordstrom exclusive brand that provides trendy clothing and unique accessories. It is one of the few clothing brands that give back with every purchase. The brand recently made 2017 their most successful year. Besides clothing, the brand also introduced a home collection and donated 2.5 percent of its net sales to a non-profit partner. The new home line will include textiles, tabletop items, and more.
Nordstrom’s Treasure & Bond line includes modern pillows, accessories, and other great pieces. The line supports five charities and donates a portion of its net sales to them. The products range in price from $45 to $199. They are available at Nordstrom and online. The brand also has a giveback program that donates a portion of its net sales to kids in need.


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Anker's new Lightning Nano Power Bank now comes in five colors at $25.50 (Reg. $32)
Last month, Anker launched a novel new addition to its charging lineup centered around a Lightning connection. The new Nano Power Bank is now on sale for $25.49 shipped after you’ve clipped the on-page coupon. While not the first time on sale period, today’s discount does stand out as the first chance to save on all five of the new colorways. We previously have only tracked a discount on the black model, and now all of the different styles are getting in on the savings. Anker’s newest power bank takes a more streamlined approach by connecting right to your device. The compact design is just a little bigger than a lighter, and has a built-in Lightning connector that can fold out to plug into your iPhone 14. It has a 5,000mAh battery and refuels via USB-C, ensuring you have some extra juice with you in your everyday carry. Dive into our launch coverage for a closer look at what to expect.
If you’re planning on upgrading to an iPhone 15 next month, going with a Lightning-enabled charger probably isn’t going to be the move. Instead, this compact 10,000mAh power bank is worth a closer look instead, with the ability to dish out 20W of power. It won’t directly connect to your iPhone like the new Anker model, but will give you double the power for less.
Anker just launched a new collection of Prime power banks which cut down on the size compared to the PowerCore Reserve. These new offerings sport GaN USB-C technology to go alongside ample battery capacities, as well as a companion magnetic docking station that makes refueling a breeze. They’re joined by some new Anker Prime USB-C wall chargers, too, all of which is on sale and starting at $60 or less right now thanks to some launch discounts.
Equipped with a built-in Lightning connector, making it easy to charge your Apple devices without having to carry an extra cable. Power your device quickly and efficiently with the 12W output, so you’ll be up and running in no time. The power bank is made specifically for Apple devices like iPhones, iPads, and iPods—trust it to work safely and effectively with your devices.
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Acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis marked the first anniversary of the U.S. – Korea Trade Agreement. Within this year, U.S. exports of transportation vehicles increased significantly, achieving a 48% rise.
The Office of the USTR expects that by 2016, 95% of U.S. exports to Korea will be completely duty free. Ambassador Marantis said, “One year in, I am pleased to see that the U.S. – Korea Trade Agreement is already producing promising results for U.S. businesses and workers in America’s factories, farms, and firms. As both of our economies improve, we look forward to seeing America’s growing exports to Korea support even more jobs here at home.”


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If Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice wasn't hard enough for you as is, then FromSoftware has good news for you. A special update for Sekiro is due out later this year on October 29, and will add a special boss rush mode to the brutal action game.
FromSoftware announced the news in a special "thank you" message to fans of the game earlier today. "Rematch previously defeated bosses in single and consecutive battles. Extraordinary foes that once stood in the way of victory can be fought again and again to your heart's content," the update reads.
This sounds absolutely brutal, especially if you're going to fight infamous titans like Genichiro and Isshin Ashina, or the Guardian Ape's many forms. I look forward to seeing who among the Sekiro community can put together the longest boss rush streak.
Additionally, there's an online function coming to the game for the first time. Sekiro quite famously launched without any online component whatsoever, a stark contrast to the way messages are left by players in Dark Souls and Bloodborne. Now, you'll be able to record up to 30 seconds of your gameplay, and share it along with a message for other players to learn from.
Finally, there's a few new looks for the titular protagonist. Sekiro will be able to dress up in several new looks when the update arrives, including Old Ashina Shinobi, and Tengu. You'll have to meet certain in-game conditions to unlock these new outfits, though.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is actually slated to make its way to Google Stadia later this year. There's no release date yet for the port, but we wouldn't be surprised if the Stadia version ends up releasing on October 29, the same day as the new update.


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Bilingual digital superstar Juanpa Zurita is going after the English-speaking market with a brand new YouTube hub launched in collaboration with noted digital studio Shots and his talent management firm, DW Entertainment.
Twenty-two-year-old Zurita, who was born in Mexico but currently resides in Los Angeles, counts a combined 51 million followers across all social platforms, and has previously appeared in other Shots-produced videos alongside Lele Pons, Rudy Mancuso, Hannah Stocking, and more. On Zurita’s new channel, which has already amassed 520,000 subscribers in one day, he will share weekly comedic sketches on Mondays. (Zurita’s existing Spanish-language channel counts a whopping 9.4 million subscribers).
Zurita rose to fame on Vine in 2013 and has subsequently harnessed his digital imprint to pursue opportunities in TV and fashion, including an appearance on the Netflix series Luis Miguel and a stint on the runway during Milan Fashion Week with luxury label Dolce & Gabbana. Zurita has also used his following for good, co-founding the #LoveArmy fundraising initiative to combat various humanitarian crises across the globe.
“Juanpa has been a friend to our team and has been collaborating with Shots Studios since our early days,” co-founder John Shahidi said in a statement. “The chemistry has been there, so it’s time to take the content to another level.” Adds Zurita: “I really fell in love with how [Shots] took content more serious than anyone else in the industry. Their vision of what we can do in the digital space is limitless, and I couldn’t agree more.”
All told, Shots says its videos garner 1.2 billion minutes of watch time per month. Zurita’s management company, DW, says its roster of Latin American creators has amassed a collective 700 million followers.
You can check out Zurita’s debut English-language video right here:


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Readers with long memories may recall that, some five years ago, Meta, or Facebook as it was then known, got in a spot of bother over a so-called VPN app they launched called Onavo.
Well, Onavo is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving for Mark Zuckerberg as this privacy-busting fake VPN has just landed him with another hefty fine, this time from an Australian court, for no less than US$14 million or a cool $20 million in Australian dollars.
What was Onavo?
Facebook first bought Onavo back in 2013. At the time, it was reported to have cost them US$200 million.
They sold it to the public as a VPN, but in fact, it was primarily an analytical tool used by Facebook to monitor people’s use of their rival apps.
It was data harvested by Onavo that showed Facebook that WhatsApp was massively outperforming their own Messenger app and convinced them to pay a cool US$19 billion to acquire it in 2014.
It is thought that Onavo also had a role in the acquisition of Instagram, two mergers that competition authorities have since expressed regret for approving.
Onavo was a free app and both endorsed and promoted by Facebook, so, inevitably, it got an awful lot of downloads. According to this particular court case, there were more than 270,000 downloads of Onavo in Australia alone.
The problem is, Onavo did not do what it said on the tin.
What Onavo claimed and what it did
Facebook claimed that Onavo was a VPN; a privacy app that would help keep users’ personal data private. And because it was free, yet being hawked by a mainstream and popular social media site, many people took this to be the holy grail of VPNs, a free and trustworthy VPN.
This wasn’t the case, of course. Indeed, far from being an app that would keep user data private, a glance at the app’s small print showed that it actually hoovered up just about every last bit of data that your device was generating and sent that off to Facebook’s servers.
Far from protecting user privacy online, Onavo dramatically undermined it.
A Federal court in Australia has now concluded that Facebook, or Meta as they are now known, deliberately “deceived” users into installing the app by pretending that it would protect online privacy when actually it did the exact opposite.
As a result of this ruling, Australia’s Federal Court fined Meta’s subsidiaries Facebook Israel and Onavo Inc. US$7 million each for sharing user data with their parent for commercial benefit.
A hefty fine with more to come
Commenting on the conclusion of the case, Australia’s competition regulator said: “We took this case knowing that many consumers are concerned about how their data is captured, stored and used by digital platforms.”
They continued, “We believe Australian consumers should be able to make an informed choice about what happens to their data based on clear information that is not misleading.”
They are not wrong. And such a clearcut ruling now also appears to open Meta up to similar court cases in other countries around the world.
Onavo was heavily downloaded in plenty of different legal jurisdictions, including the UK, before it was finally taken down. Each and every one of those countries is a potential lawsuit waiting to happen.
Even in Australia, Meta is facing more time in the dock. It is still facing a separate civil court action Down Under by Australia’s data watchdog over its dealings with disgraced data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.
As $200 million purchases go, Onavo looks like a bad bit of business. But, despite the app being taken down in 2018 and 2019 and essentially no longer existing, in helping Facebook to acquire WhatsApp and Instagram, it has arguably done its job in making Meta the global digital behemoth it is today, even if that was at the expense of user privacy.
Clearly, Mark Zuckerberg is still living by that famous mantra he espoused back in the early days at Harvard just after founding Facebook; “People just submitted [their data]. I don’t know why. They trust me. Dumb f*cks.”


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REDMOND, OR – The ’14 Outlander midsize cross/utility vehicle represents the start of Mitsubishi’s effort to overhaul its lineup in the U.S.
“This is the kickoff to revamp Mitsubishi,” says spokesman Roger Yasukawa.
Trying to get its mojo back after falling into a sales funk, the auto maker has redone the CUV, equipping it with advanced-technology features usually found in more upmarket vehicles and slapping on a sticker that’s less than the outgoing model.
Mitsubishi claims a lot of firsts for the Outlander that goes on sale in June.
“We are the first manufacturer in this segment with forward-collision mitigation, lane-departure warning and adaptive cruise-control options,” says Masatoshi Hasegawa, executive vice president-corporate planning for Mitsubishi North America.
“We also did a lot of work to make this model’s ride, body and chassis the most advanced in the lineup.”
Mitsubishi has been sparse on product since scratching the Galant sedan, Eclipse coupe and Endeavor CUV.
That leaves the Outlander, a smaller Outlander Sport, three versions of the Lancer small car and the i-MIEV electric vehicle. The auto maker unveiled an upcoming subcompact Mirage at the New York auto show in March.
After fellow Japanese auto maker Suzuki announced plans to quit the U.S. market, some industry observers wondered if Mitsubishi would follow because its languid sales and sliver-like market share resembled Suzuki’s.
But Mitsubishi North America is staying put, as evidenced by its determined product development of the Outlander and other impending models, executives say.
“Products are coming down the pipeline, and will do so more frequently in coming years,” Bryan Arnett, MNA’s senior manager-product strategy, says at an Outlander media preview here.
This is the third generation of the vehicle first introduced in 2003. “Mitsubishi is committed to building equity with this nameplate in the U.S.,” Arnett says. “It is a complete redo, inside and out.”
The last Outlander redesign was in 2007. Mitsubishi sold 7,750 units in 2012, off 20.8% from the year before, according to WardsAuto data. The vehicle held a 0.2% market share of the Middle CUV segment last year.
The new model weighs about 200 lbs. (90.7 kg) less than its predecessor. Shedding pounds came from using high-tensile steel on the platform and reducing the weight of the brakes and suspension.
The result is a nimble CUV that handily negotiates the twisty and hilly roads in the high-desert terrain of central Oregon.
The diet plan also is intended to squeeze out better fuel efficiency. Mitsubishi estimates the front-wheel-drive ES model’s gasoline consumption at 25/31 mpg city/highway (9.4-7.6 L/100 km).
The all-wheel-drive system makes the GT model more surefooted, but its extra weight and torque delivery requires more fuel consumption. That vehicle gets 20/28 mpg (11.8-8.4 L/100 km).
“The Outlander went from a vehicle that was among the heaviest in its class to the lightest,” Arnett says. “It has become the most fuel-efficient 7-passenger (CUV) on the market.” The ES weighs in at 3,274 lbs. (1,485 kg).
Mitsubishi bills the Outlander as one of the most aerodynamically efficient vehicles in its class, with a 7% reduction in drag compared with the previous model.
Gone is the flat, wide-mouth grille. In its place is a “progressive sleek design that improves the aerodynamics,” Arnett says, referring to a front fascia that is more functional, but less bold-looking than the one on the outgoing model.
“A lot of emphasis was put on aerodynamics both to make the car more appealing and also more fuel-efficient.”
Engine choices are a 2.4L inline 4-cyl. and a 3.0L V-6. The lower block mostly is a carryover design, but the upper portion is new.
The 2.4L SOHC engine works with an improved continuously variable transmission and a new version of Mitsubishi’s valve-timing electronic lift system designed to increase power and reduce emissions.
The V-6 is rated at 224 hp at 6,250 rpm with torque at 215 lb.-ft. (291 Nm) at 3,750 rpm. It is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission with design changes that include a new final drive ratio for improved fuel economy and a revised torque converter for better performance.
“We decided to continue offering the V-6,” Arnett says. “The RAV4 dropped its version. We are the only V-6 in the segment.”
The Mitsubishi Super All-Wheel-Control system is available as a $2,000 option in the mid-grade Outlander SE model and standard on the high-grade GT model.
New standard features include a new driver-activated ECO-mode that reduces fuel consumption by slightly cutting back on engine power during initial acceleration.
When Outlander models equipped with S-AWC are driven with 4-wheel-drive engaged, the driver-activated ECO-mode allows the vehicle to function in 2-wheel-drive unless sensors reactivate S-AWC after detecting poor road or weather conditions.
Mitsubishi says it has outfitted the redone vehicle with interior upgrades such as premium surfaces, high-grade materials, a soft-touch instrument panel and a glossy piano-black center console.
The auto maker sought to keep the interior simple and clean, Arnett says. “We don’t want to put in a fighter-jet cockpit. Everything is ergonomic and intuitive.”
Passenger seating sections have been reworked, with the designers paying particular attention to folding-seat configurations and making second- and third-row access easier. Mitsubishi deserves credit for carving out a third row in a relatively small vehicle. But its cramped rear seating seems intended for children.
Arnett sees the Outlander appealing to price-conscious and safety-conscious families. “We are looking for a lot of Generation Xers with families.”
Outlander prices range from $22,995 for the base model to $33,895 for the GT with S-AWC, V-6 engine and a premium touring package.
Options include heated leather seats, dual climate controls, an electric power tailgate and a hands-free compatible Link system with a USB/iPod port and voice-recognition commands.
Other options include a 710-watt, 9-speaker sound system and a navigation system that features real-time traffic, diamond-lane guidance, weather and 3-D mapping.
All models include active stability control, hill-start assist, antilock brakes and seven airbags.
“It’s an insult to call the Outlander base model a base model,” Arnett says. “We are giving so much value for the money. Even with option packages, for $800 you get thousands of dollars in features.”
As the Outlander starts showing up at Mitsubishi’s 373 dealers, the auto maker will launch a major ad campaign. That is necessary, in part, to get Mitsubishi back on shoppers’ radar screens.
Next year, Mitsubishi plans to introduce a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle version of the CUV to the U.S. market. Currently available in Japan, it is touted as the world’s first P-HEV with all-wheel drive.
|Vehicle type||Front-engine, FWD midsize CUV|
|Engine||2.4L SOHC inline 4-cyl.|
|Power (SAE net)||166 hp @ 6,000 rpm|
|Torque||162 lb.-ft. (220 Nm) @ 4,200 rpm|
|Bore x stroke (mm)||88 X 97 mm|
|Wheelbase||105.1 ins. (266.9 cm)|
|Overall length||183.3 ins. (465.5 cm)|
|Overall width||70.9 ins. (180 cm)|
|Overall height||66.1 ins. (167.8 cm)|
|Curb weight||3,190 lbs. (1,390 kg)|
|Fuel economy||25-31 mpg city/hwy est. (9.4-7.6 L/100 km)|
|Competition||Ford Escape, Chevrolet Equinox, Toyota RAV4|
|Less money than predecessor|


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An innovative East End company is really making a meal of supporting London 2012.
Square Pie, a traditional pie and mash shop, have launched a special pie branded with the London 2012 logo.
The classic mince and onion recipe is available throughout October at Square Pie's shops in Selfridges Food Hall, Canary Wharf and Spitalfields Market.
All Square Pie's products are handmade at the company's headquarters in Hackney, close to the proposed Olympic Park site, and its employees come from the local community.
London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe welcomed the initiatve, saying: "The bid needs support at all levels from large corporate companies through to small local employers.
"We are very enthused by Square Pie not only recognising this, but also by acknowledging how important the London 2012 bid is when it comes to revitalising and reenergising the East End of London."
Square Pie Managing Director Martin Dewey said: "We at Square Pie feel very strongly about backing London's bid for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012.
"As a local employer and company, there would be immeasurable benefits to our employees, their families and other residents of the area. Hackney would be transformed by the legacy left from the Games.
"We hope our support of the bid will help make people see that it would be a great thing for London to host the games as well as get people talking and eating pie."
Square Pie was founded three years ago, and was named Speciality Food for the South East at the Great Taste Awards in September 2004.
13 October 2004


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Orginally posted by Global Banking and Finance Review on Dec. 6, 2016
How Retailers Can Prepare for December’s Christmas Transaction Bonanza
By Hubert Da Costa, Vice President EMEA at Cradlepoint
Retail companies can spend most of the year preparing for the Christmas shopping period. Christmas is often a means for businesses to make massive financial gains in an otherwise challenging month.
This opportunity is seized by most retailers, but the high level of competition means that businesses need to invest significant time, effort, and money ensuring that everything from product delivery and marketing campaigns, to customer WiFi is executed smoothly and efficiently.
Here are seven key enterprise network necessities to help the transaction run smoothly:
Provide a Connected Customer Experience
Retail customer expectations are expanding rapidly. Customers now walk into retail stores already informed about the products and services they’re interested in. Upon arrival, they expect to be able to use amenities such as guest WiFi to further research potential purchases. Splash pages, ads, and the collection of customer data can enhance their experience while also connecting them with information about the items they are most likely to buy.


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“Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought more Apple shares before their latest jump to all-time highs,” Evelyn Cheng reports for CNBC. “Berkshire also cut its stake in IBM by 32 percent, or 17.06 million shares, in the third quarter, according to a required quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released Tuesday.”
“Buffett’s conglomerate increased its holdings of the iPhone maker’s stock by 3.9 million to 134.1 million, the filing showed,” Cheng reports. “Apple hit a record high last week and is up nearly 11.2 percent this quarter, following the launch of the iPhone X. The stock has rallied nearly 48 percent this year.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There’s a nice (and smart) vote of confidence in AAPL near all-time highs!
Warren Buffett: Berkshire has not sold any Apple stock – August 30, 2017
Warren Buffett: I used Berkshire’s insights into the furniture business to figure out Apple’s worth – May 8, 2017
Why we’ll never know who made Berkshire Hathaway’s epic Apple call – May 2, 2017
Warren Buffett reveals Apple stake is twice as large as previously disclosed at more than $18 billion – February 27, 2017
Warren Buffett tripled investment in Apple shares in Q416 to 57.36 million shares – February 15, 2017
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway boosts Apple stake by 5.42 million shares – August 16, 2016
Apple’s historic stock surge could confirm what Warren Buffett already knew – July 28, 2016
Buffett saved $460 million by waiting to swap AT&T for Apple – May 16, 2016
Warren Buffett takes shine to Apple – May 16, 2016
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway takes new $1 billion stake in Apple – May 16, 2016


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While still news, the release of a new browser version of Firefox - or even Chrome for that matter - is not the kind of earth-shattering event it used to be before Mozilla adopted a rapid release schedule. But the latest stable release of the Firefox is noteworthy as it is said to address an issue that has rankled users for many years now. Yes, we are talking about the notorious memory leak problem.
Can you tell that GPU makers are totally stoked about the release of Battlefield 3? Both Nvidia and AMD have made available pre-release graphics card drivers for the Battle 3 beta, the former of which we detailed yesterday (catch a recap of Nvidia's GeForce 285.38 beta release here), and the latter we'll break down after the jump.
If you're planning to participate in the Battlefield 3 beta that goes live tomorrow and own an Nvidia graphics card, there's a new set of drivers you should know about. Nvidia's just released R285.38 drivers, which are also in beta, supposedly boost performance in Battlefield 3 by up to 38 percent. The drivers are also supposed to help with stability and improve image quality in the game.
The mere announcement of Diablo III's always on DRM had many players putting down their socketed swords of the bedazzled alligator to pick up their pitchforks and torches, but now the moment of reckoning has arrived. And the verdict? Not so hot. Now, this is still a beta, mind you, so some issues could get ironed out. Most of the issues RPS zeroed-in on, though, stem from the hack 'n' slash genre's inability to cope with a constant connection.
"Leaner and meaner" are two terms you may use to describe a malnourished lion suffering through a drought, but the same phrase also applies to a cornered Firefox. Google's Chrome took a bit of the luster away from Mozilla's star browser. Rather than simply shrug their shoulders, Firefox's developers rolled up their sleeves and got hard at work on the MemShrink program, an initiative to reduce the browser's horrible memory leaks. Members of the team have reported great successes; now, with the release of Firefox 7 Beta, you can check out the memory improvements for yourself.
Itching to get your hands on a copy of Windows 8? You won't have to wait much longer, or at least that's the case if you're willing to roll the dice on beta software being stable. Microsoft announced in a blog post yesterday that a pre-release version of Windows 8 is slated to ship real soon, which likely means a beta build is just around the corner.
Longtime Maximum PC readers might remember former Associate Editor David Murphy stuffing a shopping cart full of PC parts into a cardboard enclosure in order to save some nickels in our $500 PC Build Off challenge. Obvious safety hazards notwithstanding, Murphy's pauper path to PCtopia is still an option, or you could forgo a night at the movies and apply that money you would have spent on an ultra cheap chassis like BitFenix's new Merc series.
Mozilla over the weekend gave its Firefox 6 browser a groom and haircut so that it can pass for a beta release. The next step is to give the 6.0 release a suit, tie, and spiffy pair of shoes so that it's ready to mingle with the public at large. Until then, you can download the beta build and get acquainted with Firefox 6, which offers a handful of changes and improvements over previous builds.
Steven Sinofsky and his team are guarding the release date of Redmond’s next OS pretty carefully these days, but despite the all the clues that point to a 2012 launch we haven’t had much to go on until now. According to ZDnet’s Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft should be ready to launch Windows 8 by no later than summer 2012, with an official beta being seeded to developers at the September build conference.
If there's a Rodney Dangerfield of browser makers, it has to be Opera Software, the Norwegian browser maker responsible for Opera, the oft overlooked alternative to Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. Opera might not get the same market share respect that the big three receive, but even if the useage numbers don't bear it out, it's a decent overall browser worth checking out. For those who like to live on the bleeding edge, Opera Software just made available Opera 11.50 beta codenamed "Swordfish."


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The digital healthcare platform's IPL campaign features the actor as a delivery person, who is dancing to the brand’s famous jingle. A chat with its CMO.
One of the major consumer pain points of buying medicines and other healthcare products offline, is the unavailability of all these under one roof. There is also the possibility of the prescribed medicines or essential items being out of stock when one needs them. PharmEasy, the leading healthcare and medicine ordering app, aims to solve these pain points.
PharmEasy wants to make the complicated world of medicines as simple as possible. Taking forward the ‘Take It Easy’ narrative of its Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign, the brand has onboarded its first celebrity endorser. Conceptualised and executed by FCB India, the ad features actor Aamir Khan as a PharmEasy delivery person, who highlights the benefits of ordering medicines from the app.
Speaking about the campaign, Gaurav Verma, CMO, API Holdings, says, “We were specifically on the lookout for a well known and relatable celebrity, who would be the perfect match for our brand identity. Aamir Khan fits the brief to the tee. We want to be to the Indian healthcare system, what Aamir Khan is to Indian cinema - a perfectionist.”
“I was inspired by the depth that the actor brought to our association. From deeply understanding the business, to being actively involved in the creative process - he was a pleasure to work with,” adds Verma.
PharmEasy competes with not only online healthcare apps like netmeds.com, apollopharmacy.in and 1mg.com, but also the unorganised sector that includes local pharmacists. So, how does PharmEasy deal with its competitors?
Verma responds, “Customers' needs and expectations have evolved over the last few years, as they have a plethora of choices. It's important for a brand to fulfill the needs of its customers. If a brand can't do this, the customers will move on to another brand. The three levers that help PharmEasy meet the needs of its customers are affordability, availability and affinity.”
The brand has a 360-degree marketing approach, with a focus on TV and cricket. PharmEasy’s recent ads can be spotted during IPL matches. Verma shares, “The brand wanted to leverage the popularity of IPL to the maximum. Festivals, trends and events come and go, but cricket will always remain big, especially in India.”
“To maximise consumers’ interest, engagement and affinity towards the brand, PharmEasy decided to strengthen its association with cricket via IPL. This collaboration will help the brand to drive awareness that will further lead to conversions,” he adds.
On how the brand plans to stand out from other advertisers, Verma states that PharmEasy has a two-fold strategy. “We have a ‘jester’ brand archetype that reflects in all our campaigns, whether they are for digital platforms or TV. Our communication has been clutter-breaking and quirky in nature that helps us to get better ROI. The brand’s light-hearted jingle has a high recall value amongst the audience.”
Verma informs that the brand’s media strategy is based on extensive research, past learnings and the understanding of its TGs media consumption habits. The brand will figure out the most effective strategy to increase reach and frequency by analysing data from TV, OTT and social media.
Given cricket’s popularity in the country, IPL will get a significantly higher share of PharmEasy’s media budget, this year. The brand also plans to launch another cricket-themed campaign later this year.
Talking about the challenges, Verma says, “Many brands try to replicate discounts and offers, while neglecting customer experience and holistic healthcare needs. This might be good for the customers in the short run, but it can hamper the brand’s ability to invest in technology and services that add value, over the long run.”


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21 Sep 2021
Redwood Materials is a Li-ion battery recycler based in Carson City, Nevada. The company recently closed a $700 million Series C raise to expand its current operations and announced plans to produce battery materials from its recycled content.
25 Aug 2021
Volta Trucks First Trials of Prototype All-Electric Volta Zero
Volta Trucks has confirmed the start of engineering evaluation and development testing of the first prototype Volta Zero at HORIBA MIRA in Nuneaton, UK. The start of testing follows soon after the reveal of the first prototype chassis of the Volta Zero - the world's first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle designed specifically for inner city logistics.
23 Apr 2021
A $174 Billion EV Investment Would Transform the American Bus Market
The deployment of zero-emission buses in the US has lacked the impetus of the electrification efforts seen in China and Europe, as discussed in IDTechEx's report "Electric, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Buses 2021-2040". This is about to change.
8 Dec 2020
World's First Regulatory Approval for Cultured Meat
Eat Just Inc announced that, after a rigorous consultation and review process, its cultured chicken has been approved for sale in Singapore as an ingredient in chicken bites. The company has developed other cultured chicken formats that will be an extension to this product line.
10 Sep 2019
Gerben Hilboldt appointed as CTO of Koolen Industries
Electric vehicle specialist Gerben Hilboldt has been appointed as chief technology officer of the Dutch clean energy solutions conglomerate Koolen Industries.
14 Sep 2018
Electric vehicles are the new material battleground
Electric vehicles are rapidly scaling up in production, but under the surface of this explosive growth there are significant competitions taking place across the supply chain.
22 Aug 2018
Electric Vehicles: Everything Is Changing - Discussing The Key Trends
IDTechEx's will bring together the leaders of the emerging electric vehicle sectors of the future. Whilst electric cars are an important area for electrification, passenger vehicles are not the only segment that is becoming electrified.
18 Jun 2018
Chicago Transit Board $32 million contract for all-electric buses
The Chicago Transit Board awarded a $32 million contract for the purchase of 20 new, all-electric buses - the latest investment by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the CTA to completely modernize the agency's bus fleet.
27 Nov 2017
Bay Areas first electric airport bus fleet
Proterra has announced that the San José City Council has approved the purchase of ten Proterra Catalyst E2 zero-emissions battery-electric transit buses and related charging infrastructure for use at the Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport.
27 Oct 2017
Electric vehicles deliver two killer blows
The total cost of ownership of an electric vehicle is
usually lower than the TCO of the smoking alternative
but that is just the beginning.
27 Sep 2017
World record for driving on a single charge
Proterra, an innovator in heavy-duty electric transportation, has announced it has set a world record for driving the longest distance ever traveled by an electric vehicle on a single charge.
8 Jun 2017
Hyundai comeback on buses
Hyundai used to be a leader in buses but the explosion of the huge, protected Chinese market has resulted in the global leaders consisting entirely of Chinese companies growing their sales rapidly - mainly with pure electric buses - and Daimler, with declining sales.
16 Jan 2017
The death of conventional buses
The recent developments of the bus industry have led to impressive advancements: batteries with two different chemistries have been demonstrated to be capable of retaining 90% of the capacity after 10,000 deep cycles in ultra fast charge up to 400kW.


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It is now official that, as we previously reported, the review embargo for Arc A7 GPUs will be lifted on October 5. That is precisely one week before the scheduled October 12th formal launch date. It should be noted that NVIDIA releases their RTX 4090 GPU on the same day, making the timing odd. On the other hand, except for two providers, one will be able to get both high-end and mid-range GPUs equipped with the most recent technology available.
This Arc launch will be international, but Intel hasn’t confirmed the whole list of partners and merchants that will participate. The rollout of Arc desktop, according to the business, would be “restricted to critical nations.” Only Intel’s own Limited Edition GPUs are currently known to be arriving on this date, although the firm is teasing partner cards that may also be available shortly.
A unique Arc A750 Gold Edition is anticipated for China, however, it’s essentially simply a new box. The card itself is unaffected by the special edition’s colour changes to the Arc emblem and box embellishments.
After months of anticipation, we can now announce that the Intel Graphics team is officially providing test units to the press. It will be less than a week until we get test results from unbiased media and no more Intel promotion if the review embargo date is accurate.


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Responsibility Along the Supply Chain
07 Feb 2014 | AT&TTagged: Planet,
Since then, the changes have brought dividends not only to companies but also to consumers in the form of lower prices. Globalized operations have delivered their share of challenges, though. Increasingly, companies are facing the need to uphold labor and environmental standards in factories not owned by them, across international boundaries. It is a complex undertaking — one that essentially means bringing corporate social responsibility to far-flung supply chains.
Two companies that illustrate the task are AT&T and California-based Deckers Outdoor, known for its niche footwear products such as UGG boots and Teva sandals. These two organizations are very different from each other, notably in scale and in the corporate space they inhabit. Yet they both have concluded that their supply chains present them with risks as well as opportunities in the corporate citizenship arena. Both have developed strategies for diminishing those risks while leveraging the benefits of a more socially and environmentally responsible supply chain. Each can offer recommendations to other companies about how to engage their suppliers, lessons that often travel well across industries and locations.
Among other indicators of performance, AT&T looks at whether suppliers are tracking greenhouse gas emissions and have specific targets for lowering those emissions; AT&T’s own goal in that respect is to make sure that by 2015 a majority of its spending is with companies doing just that.
“Our supply chain is a large ecosystem,” says Steve Bernard, sustainability manager, supply chain, at AT&T, pointing to companies that provide AT&T with products and services ranging from cell phones and office supplies to network equipment and installation. “We spend tens of billions of dollars annually with tens of thousands of suppliers. So we have an opportunity to make a positive impact on society through both influence and collaboration” with suppliers, Bernard adds. In one such collaboration that began in 2008, AT&T has worked with suppliers — car manufacturers, alternative fuel-conversion companies, vehicle transporters, vehicle up-fitters, and others — to significantly expand the use of alternative-fuel vehicles in its own fleet. As a result of these efforts, AT&T has deployed 7,500 such vehicles (halfway to a goal set for 2018), and during 2012 alone, avoided purchasing four million gallons of gasoline.
As a $1.4 billion enterprise, Deckers Outdoor has a smaller supply chain. It does, however, contract with factories in places as far o as China. Mark Heintz, the company’s director of corporate responsibility and sustainability, points out, “Any issues that arise are traced back to our brands. There’s a brand risk in not understanding and monitoring the supply chain.” At the same time, Heintz says, there are clear opportunities to burnish the brand through “ethical sourcing.” Like AT&T, Deckers also derives tangible benefits from working closely with producers on sustainability and energy efficiency (benefits that can take the form of cost savings passed on to the company and stronger business relationships with suppliers).
Though the reasons to engage a supply chain are clear enough, the strategies for doing so are just beginning to take shape in many companies. AT&T and Deckers each has five years of experience that show how companies can extend commitments to corporate citizenship into their supply chains.
From Principles to Programs
Codes of conduct for suppliers—which articulate principles, standards, and expectations — are by now routine in corporate America.
For example, the code promulgated by Deckers in 2008 states, “We believe that no business should ever be complicit in human rights abuses. We promote greater environmental responsibility, and we encourage the development and use of environmentally friendly technologies.” It calls for suppliers to observe the highest standards — often beyond compliance with laws and regulations — when it comes to issues such as child labor, work hours, wages, health and safety, and the environment. The code established by AT&T that same year affirms, “Suppliers are an important part of our business and therefore must be an important part of our approach to citizenship and sustainability.” It proceeds to set out guidelines in several areas ranging from sustainability and safety to diversity, labor rights, privacy, and data security (an unavoidable subject for a telecommunications company).
What has become clear to most stakeholders is that publishing a code — even a very good one—is not the same as engaging a supply chain. Companies are seeing a need to move from statements to processes, from principles to programs of implementation. AT&T seems to underline the point by calling its program, “Engaging Our Supply Chain.” Likewise, Deckers puts the heavy emphasis not simply on its code but on its “Ethical Supply Chain” initiative that animates the guidelines and the approach to suppliers.
Both programs establish clear performance goals and metrics for evaluating progress, as well as processes for achieving the goals.
Among other indicators of performance, AT&T looks at whether suppliers are tracking greenhouse gas emissions and have specific targets for lowering those emissions; AT&T’s own goal in that respect is to make sure that by 2015 a majority of its spending is with companies doing just that. More generally, AT&T maintains a “C&S Scorecard,” which rates its top suppliers on their achievement of citizenship and sustainability goals (the ones articulated in the code of conduct). The average C&S score now stands at 62; AT&T’s objective is to ramp it up to 80 by 2017.
Similarly, Deckers assesses each supplier according to its level of risk (low, acceptable, or high); the risk relates to problems that could flare up in the areas of concern identified by the code of conduct. The assessments are based on frequent audits conducted by a team that travels from factory to factory (mostly in China). A chart presented at the company’s Ethical Supply Chain web page indicates that the number of acceptable-risk suppliers has more than doubled in the past few years, while high-risk ones have dwindled. The number of low-risk suppliers has remained fairly stable, and one broad goal articulated by Deckers is to usher more of the higher-risk ones into that category. The footwear company currently works with about a dozen partnering firms that operate nearly twice as many plants in Asia.
Trainings on corporate responsibility and the supply chain have become a growing focus for both companies. Says Heintz: “Things that you and I may take for granted,” such as overtime, safety, and energy efficiency, “are often not on the radar screens of management teams in developing nations.” Last year, more than 150 managers from nearly two dozen supply chain partners attended training sessions that featured presentations and role-playing activities. AT&T’s major training thrust has been with its own contract managers who select suppliers, purchase products, and have direct relationships with these companies.
Tools of Engagement
One particular step in the Deckers process is its “corrective action” for conduct running afoul of the code. The problems and infractions are discovered in the audits, which Heintz describes as the “main tool” of the Ethical Supply Chain initiative. Nearly every audit turns up at least one issue that requires further action. “You don’t usually go into a factory and everything is fine,” Heintz points out, citing such causes of corrective action as excessive work hours (as defined partly by local laws and regulations) and wasteful water and energy use. At this stage, practically all of the problems are remedied without having to terminate a partnership.
In one case, auditors turned up a problem with work hours. That triggered what Deckers refers to as “root cause analysis,” another feature of the process that involves further investigation into the matter and feedback from those involved. The analysis led Deckers to realize that the basic problem had to do with the bonus structure at the factory as well as work processes that needed improvement. The company reports on its website that the remedies led to fewer weekly overtime hours and a drop in the number of continuous work days.
For its part, AT&T has sought to encourage suppliers partly through its annual Supplier Sustainability Awards, a program that has recognized 10 of these firms for improvements in such areas as alternative energy, greenhouse emissions, packaging, and water use.
Advice to Others
When asked how they would advise those who are new to the supply-chain side of corporate citizenship, representatives of AT&T and Deckers ordered recommendations that are broadly applicable to other companies and industries.
Nathan Sparks, who directs the program and project management team of AT&T’s supply chain and fleet operations, underscores the value of “setting up a roadmap early on.” By that he means a step-by-step plan with a clear mission and equally clear goals. AT&T’s roadmap started with its Principles of Conduct for Suppliers, in 2008, and led to a Supplier Sustainability Survey that assessed the levels of experience with sustainability programs among suppliers (2009); collaboration with the global nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project’s supply chain program, along with the beginning of goal setting (2010); the introduction of scorecards (2011); and the Supplier Sustainability Awards (2012). Implicit in the roadmap strategy is the idea of incremental change (which might include starting o with a relatively modest number of suppliers), as opposed to “trying to solve all things at once,” Sparks adds.
In his recommendations, Heintz zeroes in on the collaboration — in the case of Deckers, with such groups as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which includes 100 leading apparel and footwear companies, and the lesser-known Leather Working Group, which monitors the environmental practices of tanneries and brings together leading brands. Heintz sees such industry collaboration as a cutting edge of corporate citizenship. “There’s no reason to create [a supply-chain initiative] from scratch. The blueprint is already out there,” he says, adding that the greatest strides come when companies “step out of our silos” and forge common standards and practices.
“Proactivity” is a word used by him and others to sum up the challenge of creating value in the supply chain. It reflects their sense that companies need to initiate changes in these operations, beginning with assessments and continuing with various kinds of action, rather than merely react to events. As Sparks vouches, “All that can help reduce risks and increase opportunities to make a positive impact.”
This article was originally published by Corporate Citizen Magazine.


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ROYAL OAK, Mich. — As the 18th annual Woodward Dream Cruise got under way on Saturday morning, I drove south on Woodward Avenue accompanied by my wife, Marlene, and son, Erik, in our 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. Our immediate goal was a breakfast of sliders at the venerable Hunter House in Birmingham, a nutritionally suspect Dream Cruise tradition for the Stenquist clan.
The blue sky and mercifully dry air delighted the smiling and waving spectators in their lawn chairs at the side of the road. I switched on the radio just as an announcer on WOMC-FM, the longtime broadcast partner of the Dream Cruise, gushed that the cruise was not only the world’s biggest single-day automotive event but the world’s biggest party.
Though the first claim is regularly echoed beyond metro Detroit, the second is obviously hyperbolic. But given the celebratory atmosphere building all week here, the announcer’s enthusiasm was understandable. According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, roughly 1.35 million people drove, danced, cheered, barbecued and watched an odd mix of classics, customs, hot rods, buses, wheeled bar stools and various other contraptions parade along the 16-mile route.
Like the automotive industry it celebrates, the Dream Cruise has come a long way since 2009, when the mood was such that many wondered whether that year’s event would be the last. Underpinning that fear was the not altogether remote idea that a city synonymous with the rise of America’s auto industry might also bear witness to its death. In 2009, I wrote that Woodward Avenue was “a place where car folk can go to dream about the way things were and hope for better days.”
On Saturday, with Detroit’s major automakers in relative health and the local economy having achieved at least a modest recovery, Woodward was a place where car folk gathered to celebrate the way things are.
Among the smiling cruisers encountered during a one-mile walk down Woodward was Phil Caruso of Utica, N.Y., who toured Woodward in a 1951 Lincoln Lido two-door coupe. Mr. Caruso said a Michigan friend persuaded him to come out for the cruise in 2005, and he has returned every subsequent year.
“Every year we get more and more people to come out from New York,” he said. “We love it.”
Though Mr. Caruso and his friends traveled a long way for the cruise, they didn’t come close to qualifying for the long-distance award. That recognition would probably go to Sven-Erik Mattsson and Kenneth Rooslund. According to an article in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press, the Swedish duo shipped Mr. Mattsson’s 1968 Chevrolet Corvette across the Atlantic for the event.
Dave Krueger and his wife, Sharon, of Flushing, Mich., drove to the cruise in their 1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk. Mr. Krueger’s first car was a 1956 version of the same car, but he parted with it many years ago when he and his wife were planning a family. They bought the Golden Hawk in 1991. Mr. Krueger said the car was originally ordered for the wife of a Studebaker dealer in California and subsequently used in a film produced by MGM. One of fewer than 5,000, the swoopy Studebaker was equipped with a 275-horsepower supercharged V-8 engine.
“We drive it all over,” Mr. Krueger said. “We recently followed the Lewis and Clark trail to Spokane, Wash., along with 19 other Studebakers.”
Farther down the street, another uncommon car caught my eye: the 1955 Hudson Rambler Cross Country station wagon of Jim and Dave Rouleau. Among Hudson’s last efforts, the diminutive wagon featured reclining seats, the stuff of drive-in-theater legend. The Rouleaus’ car is equipped with an optional camping tent and factory air-conditioning. It’s one of fewer than 7,500 produced.
I am a sucker for Chevrolet Impala Super Sport models from the mid-’60s. As a teenager, I lusted for one, so Mike Baublitz’s stunning black 1965 Super Sport set off a double-take. That second glance revealed a 409 badge on the fender. Most students of the Chevrolet brand know that the more modern but less celebrated 396-cubic-inch V-8 engine replaced the 409 in 1965, three years after the Beach Boys immortalized it. So a 409 in a ’65 model had me scratching my head.
Mr. Baublitz explained that Chevrolet built 742 Super Sports from the 1965 model year with the 400-horsepower, 409-cubic-inch V-8 before replacing it with the 396 midyear. Like other full-featured Super Sports, Mr. Baublitz’s nicely restored machine was equipped with the console-mounted tachometer and wood steering wheel. Giddy-up 409, indeed.
I saw many dream machines on the avenue, including what appeared to be a Stutz Bearcat that I couldn’t quite catch; a Cadillac of ’30s vintage; Packards representing every decade of that company’s existence; and a plethora of Corvettes, including at least one from each of that car’s 60 years.
At 9 p.m., as planned, the police closed Woodward and directed traffic onto connecting roads that could handle the volume. Soon, the cars were gone but the smiles remained. For the first time in several years, it was easy to believe that Detroit would be making cars, even models that may be considered dream machines, and partying on Woodward for many years.


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Vinzenz Pflanz, Sixt SE: “Customers must be brave, and go digital”
As a major player on the European Fleet and Mobility scene, Sixt SE is a natural fit as sponsor for the European Fleet and Mobility Manager of the Year at this year’s Fleet Europe Awards (6 November at the Fleet Europe Summit in Estoril, Portugal). Vinzenz Pflanz, President of Corporate Sales at Sixt SE, is looking forward to the event – but has an interesting take on the importance of innovation: “It’s not just a job for suppliers, it’s also up to their customers.”
In your opinion, what’s the top trend in Fleet and Mobility Management in Europe today?
“We see two things.”
- “On the one hand: flexible, short-use mobility products. These include Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS for short), flat rates, and subscription models that go hand in hand with digitalisation.”
- “On the other hand: digitalisation itself, and then especially when it comes to booking and invoicing processes.”
It’s important to transition from Fleet Management to Mobility Management. That’s the oft-repeated refrain. But why is that so?
“About a century ago, the German Emperor Wilhelm II said: I believe in horses; the automobile is a temporary phenomenon. Of course, he was wrong. And today, we’re at a similar crossroads. It would be a big mistake to say: We believe in cars. Other mobility alternatives are a temporary phenomenon. So, making the transition from Fleet Management to Mobility Management is important in order to stay relevant in the Mobility market.”
What’s driving this transition?
“Behavioural changes, environmental needs and infrastructural constraints.”
- Firstly, Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2015, Ed.) is about to reach market maturity, and their attitude towards Mobility is even more diversified than Generation Y (a.k.a. the Millennials, born between 1980 and 1994, Ed.) Company cars are just a small fraction of the entire mobility mix. So we need to diversify.”
- “Secondly, in light of the ongoing environmental debates, we need to find sustainable solutions. One such solution is to have a more diverse Mobility mix, one that doesn’t just equal company cars.”
- “And finally, as traffic jams in city centres keep increasing, the calls to change the mobility mix are growing louder: from this perspective as well, we need less cars, and alternatives that are cleaner, greener and smarter.”
For now, most customers are looking to optimise their Fleet and Mobility Management. How is Sixt supporting that demand?
“Via continuous digitalisation. For Mobility, we’ve developed the Sixt App:”
- “The app integrates rental, car-sharing, ride-haling and e-scooter services – all in one place. It’s no longer necessary to switch to other apps. We’re currently linking rail services to the app.”
- “It’s convenient for travellers, saving them from hidden costs – losing time in the queue at the car rental office, for example. The app literally offers ‘mobility out of one hand’.”
- “Key elements of the app include: the fact that the rental car’s entire value chain is digitalised; fast-lane access to the Sixt car-pool at the destination, including the ability to select an exact model and skip the counter; a virtual implant at the customer’s location; on-demand or pre-booked rides; and multibrand, unfenced sharing, from 1 minutes up to 27 days.”
“And for Fleet Management purposes, Sixt Mobility Consulting has released the Companion App:”
- "This app sends push notifications when it’s time for tire changes, maintenance appointments, driver licence checks and even ordering a new vehicle.”
- “The app’s entire service portfolio is fully digitalised.”
Turning to the Fleet Europe Awards, what are you looking forward to see the candidates focus on this year?
“We would like our customers to be brave and take the step towards more digitalisation. Many are talking about it, but the ‘first movers’ are few in number. Improving Mobility is not just a job for suppliers, who are constantly developing new solutions. It’s also up to their customers, who need to invest in adopting and implementing these innovations.”
More information and registration details about the 2019 Fleet Europe Summit & Awards on 6 and 7 November can be found here.


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Largest US Retailer Halts Sale Of Vapor Products
Sales stop amid unfounded health scare
Health claims misattributed to nicotine vaping have left the future of the vaping industry looking uncertain. These problems were actually shown to have been caused by the use of contaminated illegally produced cannabis oil cartridges. Regardless, these unfounded reports have been used by lawmakers across the country as justification for hastily enacted bans that range from a ban on all flavored vapor products to outright prohibition.
It appears now that national retailers are beginning to follow lawmakers leads in reacting before the complete story and all scientific data is available. Walmart, the largest retailer in the US, has recently announced it will stop selling vapor products at both its namesake and Sam’s Club stores.
Anti-vaping activists have applauded Walmart for joining retailers such as Rite Aid for ending the sale of all vapor products in their stores. Members of the vaping community note that while these retailers no longer carry vapor products, which have been proven to be an effective smoking cessation tool, they do still carry a variety of traditional tobacco products, which have been repeatedly proven to be far more harmful.
The current negative climate surrounding vaping has left the future of the industry in limbo as manufacturers and retailers struggle to adapt and navigate this new landscape. This sudden misinformed onslaught against vaping has significant potential ramifications for the economy as the $6 billion-a-year industry continues to face unnecessary regulatory hurdles and financial burdens.
Walmart announced that it would stop selling vapor products once the current inventory is sold out in response to growing scrutiny surrounding the vapor industry. There are growing concerns in the vapor industry that other retailers may soon follow Walmarts lead, this coming alongside growing scrutiny and excessive taxation against smaller mom-and-pop vape shops.
The largest US retailer is well known for taking controversial activist stances, earlier this month announcing that it would stop selling handgun ammunition and ammunition commonly used in “military-style assault weapons” in response to recent mass shootings. In a statement, the company cited “growing federal, state and local regulatory complexity and uncertainty regarding e-cigarettes” as reasons for ending sales.
Critics of the move note that the company has not announced plans of any kind to end sales of tobacco products in any of its stores, which kill millions around the world annually. These critics claim ending sales was nothing more than another activist stance in the wake of hysteria in the media surrounding vaping.
Excessive taxation and bans on flavored vapor products, which make up 90-95% of sales for some, have been forcing smaller mom-and-pop retailers to close. If other major retailers follow Walmarts lead you may soon only find vapor products in small gas stations. Unless of course, your municipality has completely prohibited all sales of vapor products.
As a federal ban looms, states enact bans of their own, and national retailers pull vapor products from their shelves while not even mentioning tobacco, evidence continues to emerge highlighting the safety of vaping over smoking. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Aerosol Sciences found that vapers have a 57,000 times lower risk of developing cancer in their lifetimes in comparison to smokers.
On top of this, separate studies from Public Health England and the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center found vaping to be 95% and 93% safer than smoking, respectively. These kinds of studies not only prove that vaping is less harmful than smoking, but also help to highlight the efficacy of vaping as a smoking cessation aid.
In fact, there are emerging studies showing that vaping may be the single greatest tool we have in the fight against the smoking epidemic. Research at the University of Louisville found vaping to be the single most effective smoking cessation tool available on the market today, beating out all other options including prescription smoking cessation therapies.
It’s unfortunate that despite all this evidence, research shows the public at large tends to be misinformed about the potential benefits of vaping. A study by Action on Smoking and Health found that as little as 13% of adults believe vaping is safer than smoking, with a staggering 26% of respondents claiming that it’s just as bad, if not worse.
Vaping and You
Major retailers such as Walmart and Rite Aid pulling vapor products from its stores could be the beginning of a devastating downward trend that leaves the future of vaping in jeopardy. Not only do these moves threaten the foundation of a $6 billion-a-year industry, but also dramatically restricts access to a proven smoking cessation aid to millions of current and former smokers across the country.
These moves by major retailers along with unreasonable regulatory burdens to smaller ones, threaten the viability of the retail vapor market as we know it. Vapers may soon find themselves forced to the black market or use risky homemade options, not produced under strict industry standards, should this trend continue.
It is imperative, now more than ever, for vapers to use platforms such as social media for voicing their concerns, addressing these companies, and contributing to the larger public discourse surrounding vaping. Through positive engagement and sharing experiences of how vaping has changed our lives and improved our health, we can help shift some of the negative stigma currently surrounding vaping.
Has vaping helped to improve your health or change your life? How do you feel about retailers such as Walmart and Rite Aid ending sales of vapor products while continuing to sell tobacco products? Please let us know what you think in the comments. Don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to receive all the latest vaping news.
(Image Credit – Pixabay – https://pixabay.com/images/id-4054031/)


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The "eatertainment" brand Dave & Busters has officially announced the completion of its $835 million deal to acquire Main Event, which it anticipates will trigger increased growth for both companies.
Dave & Buster's, based in Coppel, Texas, has been in business for 40 years and has 147 locations. Main Event, headquartered in Dallas, has amassed 50 locations since its founding in 1998. The $835 million price tag represents a valuation of approximately nine times Main Event's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).
The two Texas-based brands hope to expand their client base by joining forces. Both brands offer consumers food, drinks, and games, also called "eatertainment." However, while Dave & Buster's caters to teens and adults, Main Event's clientele is predominantly families with young children.
"This is truly a transformational time for our company," said Main Event Chief Executive Officer Chris Morris, who is transitioning to CEO of the new combined entity. "We have created a combination of brands and people that will enhance our relationships with our guests."
This acquisition will mark a new era for Dave & Busters, who recently returned to their full operating hours post-pandemic. They had a record-breaking first quarter, with same-store sales up 10.9% over 2019. Michael Quartieri, Dave & Buster's Chief Financial Officer, told Nation's Restaurant News that walk-in sales are currently even higher, at 14.7% over 2019. However, Morris hopes to refocus on late-night consumers and events business, which both took a nosedive during the pandemic—Quartieri says their special events business is still down 34.6% compared to 2019.
This shift into growth will also be marked by new leadership. The aforementioned Morris will be replacing Dave & Buster's interim CEO, Kevin Sheehan, who had been leading since the retirement of Brian Jenkins in September 2021. Sheehan noted in a statement that the combination of these two brands generates "enormous opportunity" by creating separate spaces for varying consumer demographics that improve customer experience.


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Nersa mistake could cause huge Eskom tariff increases — report
The National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) has conceded it had made calculation mistakes when it approved tariff increases for Eskom, a move that could see consumers throttled by a 15% electricity tariff increase next year, according to Rapport newspaper.
Eskom on Wednesday proposed in a virtual court hearing that tariffs be increased by 15% next year instead of the 5.22% that had been approved by Nersa, the Afrikaans Sunday paper reported.
This would mean an increase five times the inflation rate.
But Nersa has asked the judge to refer the matter back to the body so it can fix its calculation mistake, instead of having the courts decide on the matter.
Judgment was reserved.


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Miss Independent has been waiting for a moment like this: Kelly Clarkson got married over the weekend to her longtime boyfriend, Brandon Blackstock, on October 20th!
The couple became engaged last December and officially tied the
Earning a coveted position on Vanity Fair's annual International Best Dressed List is no easy feat. Between the limited number of slots and the heavy competition, the honor is nothing short of monumentous. This year, per usual, a healthy
The latest (and very exciting) fashion addition to the internet is here! Temperley London—a brand that offers beautiful, wearable, and luxurious clothing—has launched its Summer 2009 project, TemperleyLondon.com.The newly designed


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It began when U.S. postal workers in Alaska spotted an unidentified substance oozing from several packages. Upon inspection they found 1,000 leaky vials, some labeled, others not, of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) oil. A call went out to Alaska’s Alcohol and Marijuana Control Board.
Concerned about the quality of unregulated products intended for human consumption and the potential risk to public safety, the Control Board came down hard on Alaska’s fledgling network of marijuana dispensaries that retailed CBD hemp oil products. On February 9, 2017, law enforcement officers raided every cannabis storefront in Alaska—seven in the Anchorage area, one in Kenai, and two in Wasilla—seizing an assortment of hemp-derived CBD merchandise, including chocolate bars, chewing gum, and syringe-style applicators filled with dark, viscous oil.
Two G-men paid an uninvited visit to a shop called the Green Jar in Wasilla and cleared the shelves of $1000 worth of Charlotte’s Web CBD hemp oil. “They took our product. They didn’t give me any paperwork for anything they took,” said Caleb Saunders, co-owner of the Green Jar, which had been selling CBD hemp oil for half a year without government interference.
Some 1,500 CBD products were seized during the multicity anti-drug dragnet. The problem, according to state officials, is that these CBD oil products ran afoul of state law, which requires that all cannabis commodities be manufactured, tested, and marketed in accordance with seed-to-sale tracking rules as stipulated under Alaska regulations. The hemp-derived CBD came from out of state and was not packaged or labeled correctly.
Alaska, like other states where marijuana is legal for therapeutic and/or adult use, maintains that all cannabis products must be grown, manufactured, and consumed within its own borders. Cannabis products aren’t supposed to be imported or exported, and it’s illegal for the U.S. postal service to transport federally proscribed substances across state lines.
No one was arrested during the raids, but the cannabis industry in Alaska was spooked. Retailers are still confused. No one told them that hemp-derived CBD oil is illegal in Alaska. Had they been informed, they would have removed these products from the shelves. The Marijuana Control Board deems that CBD oil products are a form of marijuana and that retailers ought to know whether their products are legal or not.
Yet it’s still not difficult to obtain CBD products with a trace of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana’s psychoactive component, from other outlets in Alaska, such as grocery stores or natural food shops. Alaskan law enforcement, citing a lack of resources, has thus far refrained from taking action against CBD oil retailers that are not marijuana dispensaries. Unwilling to risk a police raid, some of these stores have voluntarily pulled their CBD oil products.
In recent months, CBD oil storefronts in several other states have been raided by law enforcement personnel. Here are some examples:
- Kentucky: On the afternoon of February 7, 2017, officers and detectives with the Pennyrile Narcotics Task Force raided the Princeton Smoke Shop in Princeton, Kentucky. The store owner, Pankajkumar G. Patel, was cited to appear in court to face charges of marijuana trafficking after CBD edible gummies and cash were seized at his shop. It was his first offense. Although Kentucky is not a medical marijuana state, it has legalized the therapeutic use of CBD and the cultivation of industrial hemp. But the Princeton Smoke Shop was not licensed by the state to distribute CBD oil products.
- Missouri: In August 2016, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster sued two Kansas City retailers, charging them with illegal sales of hemp-derived CBD oil, which can only be marketed by licensed care centers. Koster had previously sent letters to some 30 unlicensed stores across the Show-Me State, warning them to stop selling CBD hemp oil. All but four stores, including the two KC outlets that were raided, dropped their CBD product lines. In the lawsuits, the Missouri Attorney General asserted that Vapor West and the Main Smoke and Gift Shop were not licensed to sell CBD oil. In addition to seeking a court injunction against the disobedient retailers, the Missouri lawsuits called for unspecified civil penalties and restitution for CBD customers who purchased CBD oil from these stores.
- Wisconsin: In June 2016, police officers seized the entire inventory of CBD oil products at a store called Vaporlicious in Milwaukee. The police maintained that CBD oil is contraband and they refused to return any of it. Prior to the bust, undercover cops bought a bottle of CBD Drip from Vaporlicious and tested it. They found evidence of THC in the oil, but the screening didn’t reveal how much THC was present. The police field tests could only yield a yes-or-no response regarding THC content. Store proprietors John and Janet Frazen didn’t realize they were selling a controlled substance. They had been misled by the California-based distributer of CBD Drip, which claimed it was legal to sell and purchase in all 50 states. The Frazens were not charged with a crime.
- West Virginia: On February 21, 2017, police seized CBD hemp oil products from a vape store called Glass Gone Wow in Morgantown, West Virginia. Later the same day, the police returned the products to the store. Although West Virginia has yet to legalize CBD or medical marijuana, no one at the store was cited or charged with engaging in criminal activity. But the store owners were warned that they risked incurring the wrath of federal law enforcement if they continued to sell CBD oil. Alyssa Morris, general manager of Glass Gone Wow, lamented that the raid hurt their clientel: “A lot of these people have made a lifelong commitment to no longer be on prescription drugs and to use more holistic remedies like CBD.”
- Massachusetts: On July 17, 2015, a SWAT team with masked personnel in flak jackets wielding automatic weapons descended upon the home of Bill Downing in the Boston suburbs. Boston police simultaneously executed a search warrant at Downing’s store, CBD Please!, which sold CBD hemp oil products in a state where marijuana and CBD were legal for therapeutic use. Downing himself was a certified medical marijuana patient and his personal supply of cannabis and hashish was seized along with several computers, more than $100,00 in cash, and about $3,000 worth of CBD product inventory. The raids were the culmination of a nine-month police investigation that began shortly after the well-publicized opening of Downing’s store. On eight occasions, undercover cops purchased PlusCBD Gold, a cannabidiol oil extract, from CBD Please! — a sting operation that became the basis of criminal charges against Downing. The charges were eventually reduced to civil citations. In exchange for pleading that he was “responsible” for the citations, Downing got his money returned, but the cops kept the medical marijuana, and several of his personal and business computers were somehow “lost” while in police custody. As of May 2016, according to Downing, a dozen retailers of CBD oil products in Massachusetts were touting their wares on Leafly, the online cannabis locator service. Why, then, was CBD Please! singled out by law enforcement? A past president of NORML’s Bay State chapter and chief organizer of the annual Boston Freedom Rally for cannabis law reform, Downing maintains that his business was targeted because of his high profile activism for several decades as an outspoken marijuana legalization advocate.
Are these sporadic raids the death throes of a drug war dinosaur thrashing its tail? Or are they a foretaste of what’s to come as the Trump cabal threatens to put the brakes on nationwide efforts to legalize cannabis? Local law enforcement officers have targeted a small number of CBD retailers in states where medical marijuana is legal; in states that have legalized only CBD products for therapeutic use; and in states that have yet to legalize either CBD or medical marijuana. The common thread in all these cases is confusion about CBD’s lawful status, which remains a point of contention in the United States even though cannabidiol is not intoxicating and has no abuse liability per se (albeit, drug interactions and poor quality products are a concern).
Confusion about CBD’s legality has been fostered by both cannabis detractors and promoters. Mixed messages from industrial hemp entrepreneurs have muddied the waters regarding the legitimacy of foreign versus domestic sources of CBD oil. Some maintain that CBD oil is legal if it’s extracted from the stalk and seeds of industrial hemp grown abroad — in much the same way that fiber hemp products and nutritional hempseed protein powder are legal to import and obtain in the United States. Today one can purchase hemp-infused soap and hemp protein supplements at grocery stores nationwide thanks to the Hemp Industries Association’s successful litigation against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which culminated in a 2004 Ninth Circuit of Appeals ruling that rejected the DEA’s attempt to ban hemp food commerce.
But the legal status of cannabidiol was not affected by this court decision. (CBD was never actually mentioned in the judge’s ruling.) Because it resides within the resin of the cannabis plant, CBD remained an illegal Schedule I substance along with THC, which is also found in the resin. While the Controlled Substances Act exempts cannabis stalk and seed from the official definition of marijuana, the resin, wherever it is found on the plant, is explicitly proscribed, even the minuscule amount of CBD-containing resin on the stalk. That’s been the law ever since the passage of the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act.
Compared to high-resin marijuana, industrial hemp is a low-resin plant, and there’s hardly any resin (and therefore hardly any CBD or THC) present on the stalk and none at all on the seeds. Thus, neither hemp stalk nor hempseed are viable sources of CBD oil. It’s obvious that the CBD oil has to be extracted from the resin bearing parts of the plant – the flower tops and to a lesser extent the leaves – which weakens the contention that imported hemp oil extracts are legal.
Industrial hemp advocates who favor domestic sources of CBD oil are on firmer ground because of the 2014 Farm Bill, which defined hemp, as distinct from marijuana, as any cannabis plant with a THC level of less than 0.3%. In effect, the Farm Bill was designed to perpetuate marijuana prohibition while carving out an exception for U.S. farmers to grow industrial hemp for CBD oil extraction and other purposes.
The vast therapeutic and economic benefits of CBD-rich products have catalyzed a rebirth of industrial hemp farming in the United States. The Farm Bill requires farmers in states that legalize hemp to cultivate their crop as part of a state-sponsored or university-affiliated pilot research program. But the scope of the Farm Bill is interpreted differently by different regulatory agencies. Hemp is an agricultural commodity, not a drug, and the DEA insists that the Farm Bill does not authorize commercial production of CBD oil.
But it’s happening anyway. And consumer demand for CBD is growing, despite the DEA’s suborn refusal to acknowledge that CBD-rich cannabis – or any kind of cannabis – can confer medical benefits.
In December 2016, the DEA issued a new tracking code specifically for cannabis oil extracts, including hemp-derived CBD oil concentrates and isolates. This administrative tweak rebutted the claims of online CBD vendors and their suppliers that cannabidiol is legal in all 50 states. The DEA’s latest missive didn’t make CBD illegal — it was already federally illegal under the Controlled Substances Act because CBD comes from the resin of the plant. Hemp stalk and seed might be legal, but the resin, where CBD resides, is not legal, according to the DEA.
Back to Court
On January 13, 2017, the Hemp Industries Association (HIA) filed a judicial review petition in federal court against its perennial nemesis. The HIA lawsuit maintains that the DEA’s latest administrative ruling failed to recognize the legal distinction between cannabis and hemp, as defined in the 2014 Farm Bill.
The HIA argues that the DEA overplayed its hand by nixing CBD oil extracted from domestic hemp grown in compliance with the Farm Bill. Moreover, a recent spending bill in Congress stripped the Department of Justice and the DEA of their ability to allocate funds to prevent the transportation of domestically grown hemp across state lines or to otherwise interfere with industrial hemp farming in states that are Farm Bill compliant.
Project CBD supports the legal cultivation of industrial hemp for many uses, including the production of whole plant CBD-rich oil extracts, in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the Farm Bill. We encourage farmers, if possible, to seek out high-resin CBD-rich cannabis cultivars, as these are much better suited for medicinal oil extraction than low-resin fiber hemp.
Currently, the most prolific source of cannabidiol is high-resin CBD-rich cannabis that slightly exceeds the 0.3% limit for THC, so technically it doesn’t qualify as hemp. But the debate over sourcing CBD from cannabis rather than hemp will soon become moot, as plant breeders succeed in developing high-resin cannabis varietals that satisfy the Farm Bill’s criteria for industrial hemp – with CBD levels topping 20% by dry weight and THC measuring less than 0.3%. Instead of choosing between cannabis or hemp, the key conflict looming on the horizon pits single-molecule CBD against whole plant, full spectrum CBD-rich extracts.
Pharma Versus Farmer
At this critical juncture, the DEA may actually pose less of a threat to hemp-derived CBD commerce than the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is not bound by the same budgetary constraints that prohibit the Justice Department from using federal money to thwart state medical marijuana programs. Like the DEA, the FDA has long since forfeited any claim to credibility with respect to cannabis, which remains a Schedule I drug despite the recent study by the National Academy of Sciences, which unequivocally asserts that marijuana has medical value.
The FDA has declared in no uncertain terms that it does not consider online or over-the-counter CBD products to be legitimate dietary supplements. Food supplements are not subject to pre-market drug approval by the FDA, a federal agency that privileges single-molecule compounds over “crude plant” remedies. The pharmaceutical development of cannabinoid compounds is based upon controlled experimentation with molecular isolates in keeping with the notion that sick people benefit most from predictable, reproducible medicine that never varies. But scientists have shown that pure, single-molecule CBD, while effective at precise high doses in some cases, has a much tighter therapeutic window and is much less potent than whole plant CBD-rich oil. And clinicians and patients are discovering that high CBD oil with little THC isn’t a miracle cure for everyone. People need access to a wide range of cannabis oil options with different amounts of CBD and THC.
CBD oils don’t qualify as food supplements, according to the FDA, because GW Pharmaceuticals, a UK-based drug company, initiated clinical trials with a CBD-rich remedy in the United States before hemp-derived CBD oil became available for popular consumption. (The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act stipulates that a compound can’t be marketed as a food supplement if it was previously the focus of still ongoing clinical research.) Thus far, hemp CBD proponents have yet to provide evidence that contradicts the FDA’s conclusion that cannabidiol was not marketed as a food supplement prior to the commencement of clinical research by GW Pharmaceuticals.
If, as expected, GW Pharmaceuticals wins FDA approval of Epidiolex, a CBD medication for seizures, then what? It’s not far fetched to anticipate that when it gets the green light to commercialize Epidiolex, GW will pressure the FDA to move against the CBD “supplement” industry. From a drug company’s perspective, it makes little sense to develop a pricey pharmaceutical when people can buy virtually the same active ingredient (single-molecule CBD) for a fraction of the cost online. Vanquishing over-the-counter hemp CBD commerce may be necessary for Pharma to profit off of CBD isolates.
Once CBD becomes an approved pharmaceutical, it will be a matter of enforcement discretion on the part of the FDA as to whether storefronts and online retailers will still be allowed to peddle a plethora of hemp-derived CBD oil products. The FDA has already documented instances of fraud and product mislabeling when it analyzed the content of several CBD hemp oil items. The bad apples – hemp oil extracts with no cannabidiol or excess THC – could be a pretext for the FDA to restrict non-pharmaceutical CBD products.
But there are significant countervailing forces that favor industrial hemp as an abiding source of CBD oil irrespective of the FDA’s pro-Pharma bias. The fledgling domestic hemp industry has the backing of some very powerful DC politicians (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, for example), who see economic opportunity for hardscrabble farmers in hemp-growing states. The fledgling U.S. hemp industry is buoyed by a groundswell of public support for medical cannabis in general and CBD in particular. Investors are drooling over the prospect of a billion dollar CBD market in the near future – if Uncle Sam doesn’t get in the way.
In March 2017, bipartisan members of the recently formed Congressional Cannabis Caucus filed a package of bills aimed at creating “a path to marijuana reform,” which includes legislation to remove cannabis from Schedule I, a category reserved for dangerous drugs with no medical value, and to de-schedule CBD entirely. Various measures, if enacted, would lift restrictions on cannabis research, end the federal ban on hemp farming, and limit federal interference in states where marijuana is legal for therapeutic and/or adult use, while also addressing issues that are germane to the cannabis industry: banking access, taxes, asset forfeiture, and amnesty for cannabis convicts.
Thus far, forty-four states have legalized some form of cannabis, including eight states (and the District of Columbia) that allow adult use. Twenty-nine states have legalized medical marijuana and 15 other states have legalized CBD (but not the whole plant) for therapeutic purposes. Some states, lacking a homegrown supply of CBD oil products, only provide a safe haven for residents who manage to acquire cannabidiol from international or domestic sources. Absent any significant change in federal law, it’s important for CBD-rich product-makers and retailers to fully understand how CBD is regulated in their state. They should not assume that if Whole Foods or Walmart are carrying CBD products, then it’s okay for anyone to hang a shingle and sell CBD.
Martin A. Lee is the director of Project CBD. He’s authored and edited several books, including Smoke Signals, Acid Dreams, and The Essential Guide to CBD. © Copyright, Project CBD. May not be reprinted without permission.


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Atlanta-based Home Depot has announced plans to shutter 15 underperforming stores in 10 states, part of a plan to cut capital spending by $1 billion dollars over the next three years. The closures will include three retail outlets in Wisconsin: in Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee. The home improvement giant says it's been hurt by a slowdown in the housing market. Home Depot also will no longer pursue the opening of approximately 50 U.S. stores that have been in its new store pipeline, in some cases for more than 10 years. The company stated that it does intend to open 55 new stores, including 36 new stores in the U.S, in the current fiscal year.
"Closing a store is always a difficult decision because it affects both our people and our communities," Home Depot chairman and CEO Frank Blake said in a statement . "But, as with our decision to slow future store growth, this is the right decision and will bring long-term benefits to our associates and to our shareholders."


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Countless bleak headlines, online arguments and months of quarantine later, we all need a little bit of a pick-me-up. Thankfully, one Maltese hairdresser has heroically stepped in… literally.
“Should we dress like that?” Żebbuġ’s Mus/Cut Facebook page told followers in a video where they joked about what their “post Corona comeback” would look like. “Suggestions for a new uniform!”
After giving everyone a little bit of a tour of the unusually empty salon, the camera pans to hairdresser Roderick, but something looks a little different.
Decked out in every single protective gear imagineable (and then some), he prances around the room, spraying empty chairs, cutting imaginary hairstyles and looking like the superhero we all need.
“Can’t wait to come for a haircut and see you in this costume!” one customer mused, with another saying he looked like “the Maltese Zorro”.
Posted on the salon’s Facebook page last week, the hilarious video came before the latest hurdle hairdressers are now facing.
After being given the green light to reopen as of next week, Malta’s hairdressers are now faced with a long list of preventive measures they actually need to put in place if they are to resume business.
While some have applauded the decision and can’t wait to be able to welcome customers again, others have been vocal about the uphill struggle they face, the militant measures they need to take, and the steep expenses they will need to incur.
In the meantime, Mus/Cut later joined the rest of the island’s hairdressers in assuring clients that the salon will be up to the required standards, with the hilarious faux-Superman video being followed up by barbicide certificates and breakdown of health & safety requirements.


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Tag Archives: virtual football
- AGT, 500.com boost China sports betting options
October 30, 2013
AGT wins Chinese approval to launch Virtual Football; 500.com plans $150m IPO after rumored go-ahead to expand online sports bet offering.
BTC China extends bitcoin withdrawal freeze into March
February 17, 2017
William Hill exits China, loses Jimmy Vaccaro to South Point
August 18, 2013


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Two new bakeries hoping to make downtown dough
Rising from a former gallery space and a high-end clothing store, two bakeries are preparing to open downtown this spring and early summer.
Luke Gutelius and Sean Dew, owners of the clothing store, Maax at 4 Broad St., are currently grinding the grist of local permits, start-up capital and menu items that will hopefully yield the Bluefish Bakery on May 22 at 7 Easy St., the building that until just recently, held the Cromartie Gallery, which moved to 41 Dukes Road.
This young pair of island entrepreneurs secured a special permit from the Planning Board at the board’s April 22 meeting, is due to present their plans to the Historic District Commission, and still needs permits from the Board of Health and the Building Department.
“We like to think that we do have local flavor; we’ve worked together for almost 10 years,” said Gutelius in describing the approach of their new business to the Planning Board.
And ReMain Nantucket, which recently purchased 35 Centre St. under the name, Center of Town, LLC, is working on a plan that would put a year-round bakery between Vanessa Noel’s Green Hotel and Glidden & Glidden, P.C. sometime in early summer.
“We’re hoping to help them get started, but we don’t have our permits yet and we’re still working out the details, but that’s our current hope, and we would look for a summer opening,” said ReMain Nantucket executive director Melissa Philbrick.
Although the Planning Board approved a special permit for the Bluefish Bakery, from which its owners will sell bakery items prepared in their kitchen as well as baked goods from other island bakers, the board did not let Gutelius and Dew walk away with its unanimous approval until they answered a few crucial questions about the harbor overlay zoning district, parking and building access. While Planning Board member John McLaughlin questioned their compliance with this new zoning district that requires existing spaces on the waterfront with marine uses to remain only for water-related businesses, senior planner Leslie Woodson said that bylaw did not come into play in this application because they are not changing the use.
Woodson said she was a little anxious about the Easy Street side of the building.
“My only concern was that because this front area is so visible, what they’re going to do with this patio area because it’s so close to where people are downtown, but I think it looks good,” said Woodson.
The main access into this bakery, where there is to be seating for eight people with service from a take-out counter, will be through the front of the building with an exit out onto the deck facing the Easy Street Basin. On this deck, there will be no patron seating, and through the kitchen on the south end of the building, there will be no access onto Old North Wharf, as McLaughlin worried there might be.
The board, as it always does with new businesses in the core district, briefly took issue with the Bluefish Bakery’s request for a parking waiver request for six parking spaces.
“I know there’s limited parking on Easy Street,” Planning Board member Sylvia Howard said to Gutelius. “You, as the manager or whatever you are, where are you going to park?”
Gutelius indicated that he, Dew, their employees and customers would find parking within the downtown area.
Because of these outstanding issues the board had with the Bluefish Bakery, at first McLaughlin suggested that the board continue the public hearing to the May 17 meeting, which sent Gutelius and Dew into a brief panic over their scheduled opening.
“We are already at a huge disadvantage,” Gutelius told the board. “We are two local guys and it’s come up this week who our competition is. If we don’t open on May 22, we won’t be able to open at all.”
In the end though, the board worked out the parking and building access issues, and agreed that the harbor overlay zoning bylaw did not apply to this application.
The Bluefish Bakery duo’s concerns over ReMain Nantucket’s bakery for 35 Centre St. appear well-founded despite Philbrick’s reticence about sharing product particulars, name specifics and concept details. Although she would not dole out much information, Philbrick’s excitement for this new ReMain-sponsored endeavor hinted strongly at its becoming a reality this summer.
“We’re always looking for year-round uses and we’re always thinking about things that don’t already exist and trying to see if they will work on a year-round basis, and this is one of those things,” said Philbrick.


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Gas station turned coffee shop uses their drive-thru to stay in business
A gas station dating back to the 1940s has now turned into a coffee shop offering drive-thru service during the pandemic. Partners Jeff Solorio, John Juniper, Benjamin Montoya, and Edoardo Chavarin started fixing it up three years ago and turned it into Full Service Coffee Co., a drive-thru coffee shop for people on the go. With the stay at home order forcing many non-essential businesses to shut down due to safety, this coffee shop was able to keep running at full service.
07.01.20 | 01:41 | CC


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August 24, 2016
ReD Acquired by ACI Worldwide for $205 Million
July 21, 2014
Florida-based payment processor ACI Worldwide today revealed that it has agreed to acquire antifraud technology provider ReD. ACI said London-based ReD will provide its merchants with fraud protection as more of them transition to e-commerce and omnichannel environments. But, ACI Worldwide CEO Philip Heasley noted that as this shift has taken place, payment technology often has been bolted on, resulting in different technologies serving different channels within the same company.
“Retailers are currently operating disparate systems for their online, mobile and point-of-sale operations,” Heasley said. ”ACI and ReD together have an unrivaled merchant retail solution – global, omnichannel with integrated fraud management built on Universal Payments technology. This solution will not only guarantee a consistent, unified customer experience in any retailer modality, but also will be a key part of our real-time commerce, any-to-any transaction strategy.”
In its announcement, the company also alluded to the U.S. migration to EMV and the resultant spike expected in card-not-present fraud, which ReD’s technology is designed to thwart. ACI said it expects the all-cash $205 million deal to close during the third quarter of this year.
Additionally, ReD’s consortium models, business intelligence offerings, modeling and risk analyst expertise will both complement and enhance our issuer risk management solutions.”