text:
As many of you already know, we have been working on the 2.1 version of CartoDB for several months now. In the upcoming release, we are incorporating multi-layer support, new visualization wizards, and a new and improved way to publish and save your visualizations.
Since this version is going to change a bit the way some users interact with the service, we are selecting a few users to test it out before we release it to the everyone. Today, we are ready to release the sneak peek to those users.
We are looking forward to sharing new features with the community and getting some valuable feedback. If you are interested in getting early beta access, drop us an email and let us know!
Initiated in 2007, Geospatial World Awards are internationally-acclaimed premium awards recognizing exemplary practices in the global geospatial industry. With the ceremony...News
Today we’re excited to announce a further partnership with Google Cloud at the 2021 Google Cloud Next event, supporting their ambitious sustainability program - enabling gl...News
Please fill out the below form and we'll be in touch real soon.


text:
Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) - 11/02/2006
No US-ME Free Trade talks this year but with Egypt
By Aya Batrawy WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (KUNA) — The United States is not expected to embark on any new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with countries in the Middle East, including Kuwait, in the next year despite the recent launch of bilateral FTAs with a few Gulf States.
According to US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East Shaun Donnelly, speaking to KUNA in an interview, the only Arab country under consideration for beginning FTA talks before the summer of 2007 is Egypt.
"We have had some good preliminary discussion with Egypt, but we have not yet been able to come to a conclusion on whether we are prepared to launch an FTA," said Donnelly.
Currently, Egypt is a "potential FTA partner" and "the most likely candidate" for an FTA, but beyond Egypt the United States is not likely to start an FTA with any country in the region soon, he said.
The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), a law that gives US President George Bush the authority to conclude trade deals with less restrictions and involvement from Congress, is set to expire in July 2007 and Congress is not expected to extend it.
Prior to the TPA, Congress was more heavily involved in drafting trade negotiations, and because of politics and pressure from lobbying groups, trade agreements did not pass through Congress as swiftly.
Donnelly explained that Egypt, which for the last decade has expressed a desire for an Agreement, is the only country that may start FTA talks before the TPA expires.
The United States recently signed FTAs with Bahrain and Oman with overwhelming support from Congress and is expected to finalize ongoing talks for an FTA with the UAE by end of this year, in addition to the FTAs already in place with Jordan and Morocco Several Mideast countries have Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFA) with the United States, including Kuwait, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Qatar and Iraq.
And while a TIFA is seen as an important tool for an FTA with the United States, it is not an automatic stepping-stone to an Agreement.
"It is not like getting on a conveyer belt where you sign a TIFA and move along and just automatically get your FTA at the end of some process. It depends on the countries being ready and willing," explained Donnelly.
Jordan, though, is an example of a country that had a TIFA prior to signing the first ever FTA between the United States and an Arab country in 2001.
"Each country is different. We try to move at the speed that the country is, and in the case of Kuwait, we would like very much to have a long-term vision of getting to an FTA, but it will take some time," he said.
There are some countries that are just not ready, able or willing to meet the high and demanding standards put forth in an Agreement, said Donnelly, who stopped short of naming such countries.
Earlier in the week Donnelly met with a team of Kuwaiti trade officials to discuss scheduling an official TIFA meeting sometime before the end of this year.
Although the last TIFA meeting between US and Kuwaiti experts was nearly two years ago, Donnelly said he is "confident" there will be another TIFA meeting this year.
The US Trade Representative official commended Kuwaiti improvements in the area of intellectual property rights, but said American companies still have concerns about this issue, technical standards and taxation with regard to Kuwait.
An FTA with the United States is highly coveted by Mideast partners because it is seen as a means to encourage foreign investment in the country, create jobs and increase exports to the world’s largest economy.
In 1999, Jordanian exports to the United States hovered around 9-million dollars, but soared to 54-million dollars in 2001 when the FTA with the United States was signed.
But some Mideast countries are concerned that if an FTA is signed too soon with the United States it could result in a large trade gap, with imports surpassing exports at a much higher level.
Furthermore, some critics complain that bilateral FTAs between the United States and countries in the region pit economies in the region against one another and threaten local producers that may be unable to compete with multinational companies.
"We are not trying to carve out a protectionist club," said Donnelly.
The United States is trying to develop relationships with countries in the region that make both the United States and the Middle East more competitive and open in the face of growing competition with China and India, he said.
In fact, FTAs between the United States and countries in the Middle East are relatively new phenomena.
Enhanced economic cooperation is a tool the United States is using to reach out to the region to promote democracy, liberalization, accountability and reduce poverty.
Bush has proposed a Middle East Free Trade Agreement by 2013 that would encourage FTAs with many more partners in the region, but it is unlikely that such an Agreement will meet its proposed timeline or include countries in the region such as Libya and Syria.

domain: news


text:
Despite the price slump, Vietnam has a new taste for coffee
THE village of Khe Sanh, a former battleground in the hills of central Vietnam, is something of an oddity: a booming coffee town amid a global coffee slump. During the mid-1990s, when coffee prices soared, Vietnamese farmers planted coffee bushes with abandon. In a decade, the country grew from the world's 16th-biggest exporter to the second, helping to create a worldwide coffee glut in the process. This week, as coffee farmers and industry officials gathered in Geneva for a crisis meeting, the Vietnamese are pushing ahead with a new strategy—one that could shake up the market all over again.
The plunge in coffee prices brought ruin to many farmers worldwide. According to a new report by Oxfam, a British aid group, the slump is boosting the drugs trade. In Ethiopia, which produces some of the finest coffee, many growers have uprooted their bushes to grow Khat, which can be chewed as a narcotic and sold for more money. In other countries, such as Peru, coca—which can be processed into cocaine—is being grown as an alternative.
Vietnamese coffee-growers have also suffered because of the glut in the market. But not the farmers in Khe Sanh, who have prospered and in the process prompted a nationwide recovery scheme. The key to Khe Sanh's survival is arabica, a pricier bean than the robusta variety most Vietnamese farmers grow. Vo Danh Ke, who owns 2.7 hectares of arabica bushes near the village, says they earned him the money to buy a new motorcycle, a television, floor tiles and roofing. His neighbour, Dang Sy Tich, explains how he made enough from his arabica crop to pay off his initial investment in land in just four years. The price has fallen recently, he concedes, but he is still earning a better living than he did growing cassava and rice. “I want to stick with coffee,” he concludes.
At the moment, arabica accounts for less than 5% of the coffee bushes in the country. But production has doubled since 2000, according to VICOFA, the Vietnamese growers' association. Doan Trieu Nhan, VICOFA's chairman, explains that cheap labour and high productivity make Vietnam one of the world's lowest-cost producers of coffee of all varieties.
So he reasons the solution to low prices is not to stop growing coffee, but to improve quality and switch to varieties with higher margins. Vietnamese farmers did cut down perhaps 10% of their coffee bushes last year, he admits, but mainly in infertile areas where they never should have been planted in the first place. Instead, VICOFA is encouraging struggling robusta farmers to switch to arabica. Mr Nhan hopes the same factors that made Vietnam the world's biggest robusta-producer will propel an expansion of arabica.
That is easier said than done. Most of Vietnam's coffee grows in the south, where the climate is not suited to arabica. A special training scheme, whereby big international buyers such as Kraft and Sara Lee teach growers how to meet their quality standards, also promoted the spread of arabica in Khe Sanh.
In general, however, the Vietnamese government makes a mess of agricultural improvement schemes, says Mandy Woodhouse of Oxfam. It has found the poorest coffee farmers on the least fertile land receive the least help from the government in terms of training, subsidised inputs, concessionary loans and so on. Many of these farmers come from ethnic minorities, speak little Vietnamese, have little formal education and so have the least access to information about prices. They are the people, by and large, who lost money at the height of the slump and who had no safety net to tide them over.
On the other hand, middle-class Vietnamese are investing successfully in arabica without any help, much as they rushed into robusta in the mid-1990s. Duong Xuan Vien, another farmer in Khe Sanh, says he gave up his desk job at a state-owned firm and moved to the hills to grow coffee. “No one wants to quit,” he says. “Even now we're planting more.”
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Planting trouble"
From the December 13th 2003 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the edition
Is the worst over for Mark Zuckerberg’s social-media empire?
Meet the small short-selling firm that picked a fight with a giant
What questions do technologies like ChatGPT raise for employees and customers?


text:
As some regions of the country begin to reopen their economies after coronavirus shutdowns, U.S. retailers are restocking dwindling inventories in warehouses, a trend that has led to rising import volumes at maritime ports.
At the Port of Oakland, that trend led to an increase in containerized import shipments of 6.4% in July compared to 2019 totals, after a 1.9% increase in June. That increase came after four straight months of declines between February and June, during the early stages of the global coronavirus pandemic.
But the Port cautioned against reading too much into the results. “It’s good to see an uptick in cargo activity,” Port of Oakland Maritime Director Bryan Brandes said in a Wednesday release. “But we’re not doing any victory celebrations because the trade outlook remains unclear as long as the pandemic is with us.”
For example, export volume at the California port has now dropped in three consecutive months, including a 6.4% decline in July, compared to July 2019. And overall, the port said its year-to-date total cargo volume is down 5.8% from 2019, due primarily to a nearly 10% drop in shipments of empty cargo containers back to origin destinations.
Similar results happened on the east coast, where the South Carolina Ports Authority had a record July for vehicles, handling 25,128 vehicles at its Columbus Street Terminal last month for a 47% jump year-over-year. The port also said it moved 99,431 pier containers in July, which measures boxes of any size, for an increase of 12% from June.
But those numbers represent an incremental recovery from the huge impact of how the pandemic disrupted businesses globally in recent months, and the port said its volume is still down compared to 2019.
“We are encouraged by some signs of an initial rebound in our container and automotive volumes, as well as an increase in imports and a decline in blank sailings,” S.C. Ports President and CEO Jim Newsome said in a release. “However, a more substantial recovery is dependent on the duration and intensity of the economic impacts from the pandemic, and ultimately, on a vaccine. We are hopeful for a stronger rebound throughout fiscal year 2021.”


text:
Greenpeace has spoofed VW’s “The Force” TV spot in an online campaign highlighting the auto maker’s alleged opposition to new European CO2 emissions standards. The effort plays on the Star Wars theme, suggesting VW has “turned to the dark side,” and is “threatening our planet by opposing cuts to CO2 emissions.”
A website dedicated to the effort at VWdarkside.com features a spoof video of VW’s own campaign, and prompts users to sign a petition to “join the rebellion” against Europe’s largest car firm. Users are also prompted to join the effort via Facebook, and to share the YouTube-hosted viral effort via Twitter and email.
As of 6pm Tuesday the video had received over 130,000 views, and the Facebook page had attracted 13,000 likes. The petition, meanwhile, had garnered more than 47,000 submissions.
Programmatic is taking over the digital advertising world, and at an even faster rate than expected, according to eMarketer, which raised its forecast for programmatic ad spending in the U.S. on the back of growth in mobile and video programmatic buys.
Despite the fact that it faces growing competition from Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, Google-owned YouTube is still one of the most popular ... read more
Can Snapchat make tech-enabled glasses cool? It’s going to try. Last week, it was revealed that the company behind the ascendant social app ... read more
Video consumption keeps increasing and Facebook is serious about a video-first world, encouraging us all to explore its full potential. Ian Crocombe, ... read more


text:
Russia’s leading APO harvester hires western top manager to develop new products and markets
The giant Russian Fishery Company (RFC) with fishing quotas over 320 thousand MT approved an appointment of Soren Dalsager as a Company’s Chief Commercial Officer in order to create a high performing global sales and marketing team, expand the customer base, develop new markets and sales channels, and increase the overall profitability of the growing product portfolio, according to RFC statement as per late November.
Mr. Dalsager brings more than 30 years of experience from the international seafood industry, and has held the positions of EVP Global Sales and Marketing for Regal Springs, аnd President of Royal Greenland U.S, among others. He is also the founder of the internationally recognized Napa Seafood Summit.
As Russian Fishery’s CCO, Mr. Dalsager will lead the Company’s efforts to ensure the transition from a production/fishing-oriented focus to a market-driven and customer-focused business by enhancing the Company’s product portfolio and developing new markets.
“We expect Mr. Dalsager’s deep knowledge of the fishing industry and his vast experience will help to create a high performing global sales and marketing team, expand the customer base, develop new markets and sales channels, and increase the overall profitability of our growing product portfolio” - RFC CEO Fedor Kirsanov commented. “Through our ambitious investment program in vessels and shore plants and strategic partnerships, we intend to build an efficient global corporate and sales structure to support RFC’s objectives to become a global industry leader in wild caught seafood.”
New product under its own brand
Along the lines earlier in November RFC announced start of the production of fish fingers in 250-gram packing at the facilities of the “Espersen Group” in Russia which is known as world’s leader in the production of frozen fish products.
Fish fingers will be available to consumers in Russia before the end of the year 2018.
“We are going to re-introduce such a product as fish fingers to the Russian consumer,” - commented the RFC CEO, Fyodor Kirsanov. - “We offer the market new products of the highest quality - from a frozen at sea Alaska Pollock fillet, which preserves the healthy elements and the pure taste of this fish.”
In the near future, the “Espersen Group” will also begin production of portioned Alaska Pollock fillet in packaging 400 grams and minced Alaska Pollock meat of the highest category in packaging 450 grams for RFC.
Products in the “ready to cook” category will be produced under the own brand of RFC “Nordeco” in the amount of 5-6 thousand tons per year. All Nordeco products are made from fillets and minced meat of Alaska Pollock frozen at sea. During processing, the fish is not defrosted, which ensures high quality of the product.
In addition to the production at the facilities of the Espersen Group, the RFC produces Alaska Pollock fillets in 1 kilo packaging under the Nordeco brand directly on fishing trawlers. Since this year, the production of Alaska Pollock mincemeat in the same packaging has also been mastered.
The start of retail sales of Nordeco products is scheduled for the end of this year.
Since the beginning of 2019, the products of the combined brand “Agama-Nordeco” will also appear on the shelves.
Russian Fishery Company (RFC) CEO Fedor Kirsanov and the Agama Group CEO Yuri Alasheev signed a long-term agreement on joint production of premium quality Alaska Pollock “ready to cook” products in late October 2018.
Under the combined brand “Agama-Nordeco” 100-gram portions of fillet and mince will be produced from RFC’s Frozen-at-Sea (FAS) Alaska Pollock. Individually packed Alaska Pollock fillets are also to be produced. According to the agreement, RFC will supply FAS Alaska Pollock fillet and mince blocks as well as shatterpack to Agama production facilities. Agama will produce “ready to cook” products without full defrostation during processing, which will ensure the preservation of the nutritive properties and pure taste of Alaska Pollock.
RFC will start supplying FAS Alaska Pollock to the Agama Group as of December 2018. Products under the “Agama-Nordeco” brand will appear in the stores in the first quarter of 2019.


text:
Most Popular in:
Sep 16, 2008 | 02:34 PM CDT
Datamontior’s recent Productscan report has found that ethical drinks are increasingly being introduced to market
Sep 15, 2008 | 04:35 PM CDT
Mintel explores the use of tea flavors in everything from cereal to desserts
Sep 12, 2008 | 02:39 PM CDT
By: Gerard Mosciano
Odor and taste characteristics and possible applications of Cinnamon Bark Oil, Ginger Oleoresin and more.
Sep 12, 2008 | 02:33 PM CDT
By: Brian M. Lawrence
Lawrence discusses the composition of melissa or lemon balm oil from Slovak Republic, Cuba, Turkey, Greece and Serbia. In addition, he examines the composition of laurel leaf oil from Italy, Turkey and Spain.
Sep 12, 2008 | 01:32 PM CDT
By: Barry Dowles, Berje Inc.
Evolving buyer needs and demands, the dominance and future viability of Chinese sourcing, and fluctuating prices for significant materials. Consider the plight of today’s raw material buyers and planners as they confront an unprecedented assault on the price and availability of everything they buy. The majority of the blame lies with recent higher crude oil prices, the effect of which impacts every phase of the production cycle.
Sep 04, 2008 | 05:38 PM CDT
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) has proposed a new method of deciding the country of origin of all imported merchandise, including food and dietary supplements and their ingredients.
Sep 04, 2008 | 05:30 PM CDT
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has released more REACH guidance documents.
Sep 04, 2008 | 05:21 PM CDT
The President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus, has refused to sign off on legislation adopted by the Parliament to implement REACH at the national level.
Sep 04, 2008 | 05:01 PM CDT
On August 26, 2008, the Canadian Environmental Law Association unveiled a model toxics reduction law, which it called on the Ontario government to adopt to reduce the use of toxic substances in manufacturing, workplaces and consumer products.
Sep 04, 2008 | 04:56 PM CDT
During a teleconference recently organized by the American National Standards Institute's and National Association of Manufacturers' Network on Chemical Regulation, industry representatives were encouraged to stay vigilant about tracking the candidate list of chemicals that could be banned under REACH.


text:
FTSE Falls with Europe on broad concerns
With very little happening in the UK market today in the form of news from companies and industry effecting sources, investors have been left to trade on their views of the current economic climate and their views on the market in the near future.
Naturally with so much concern currently lingering around the US, stocks declined throughout the sessions. ARM Holdings PLC continued their recent declines with another slip of 7 percent, which resulted in them filling the dreaded position of the days biggest loser — something they have become accustom to of late. Food retailer Tesco PLC saw a decline of 1.9 percent as they lead the retail sector in declines. The only real saving grace for the London based benchmark was the miners, who made gains as Gold prices increased on the back of falling stocks across the globe.
ARM’s decline came on the back of their US shares declining by 3.7 percent on Friday, with yesterday being the first chance that the UK markets had to react to that news. Tesco and other food retailers fell significantly. In addition to Tesco’s previously mentioned 1.9 percent decline, WM Morrison Supermarkets, Marks & Spencer Group PLC and J Sainsbury PLC all fell by 1.3 percent, 0.9 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.
EasyJet PLC fell by 3.55 percent on the back of a rise in crude oil prices, along with many other travel related companies such as Carnival PLC, which saw a fall of 3.65 percent. While analysts have put these declines down to the price of crude oil, many are also suggesting it could be a larger fall than usual due to the sector possibly being overpriced from the recent rally.
The FTSE was down by 57.97 points at the close of play in London to 6525.12, a decline of 0.88 percent. Elsewhere in Europe, the Stoxx 50 declined by 21.90 points, or 0.79 percent, to 2747.74. The German Dax also recorded losses, falling by 63.04 points to 8285.80, translating to a 0.76 percent retreat.


text:
Official WWDC app gains dark UI, Apple TV support ahead of June 13 keynote kickoff — The official WWDC app was updated on Friday with a new dark user interface, universal app support for tvOS, live streaming on iOS and tvOS, and support for multitasking on iOS 9 on iPad.
It’s safe to download iOS 9.3.2 for iPad Pro (9.7-inch) now — Apple re-released iOS 9.3.2 for iPad Pro (9.7-inch). Last week, Apple pulled the release for those devices after some users reported their devices had been bricked. The new update can be installed over-the-air (OTA), but for users who encountered Error 56, Apple supplied instructions for recovering the device through iTunes.
Yahoo Sports app comes to Apple TV with live streaming, news & highlights — Yahoo has relased a new app for the Apple TV, Yahoo Sports, giving owners of the set-top another centralised option for watching sports videos, including some live streams.


text:
Have you ever noticed that there is a preferred class of food portrayed in the media? It is the small organic farm. You have never seen a story about how mass produced foods by giant Agribusiness feeds the world, or how the predicted worldwide famine (popular in the 1970’s due to population increase) never happened because of the yield improvements of the large American Industrial Farmers. Politically correct organic food is portrayed as how things used to be before the chemicals and the big business got into our food. Did you know that the recent E. coli outbreak in Europe came from been sprouts from an organic farm? Maybe the fact that it came from an organic farm isn’t important to the story, or maybe that should be up to the news consumer to decide.
We cannot have our news media deciding which of the facts are important and not important, but that is exactly what they do. You cannot know everything about every story, but we rely upon news sources to sift out the pertinent facts. This E. coli story shows the bias that exists towards organic foods in most media organizations. If you think that your news does not go through a prism of politically correct filters before it reaches you, you are living in a fantasy world. Try to find a story about the E. coli incident that happens to mention the fact that it came from an organic farm. Most large news organizations are not including this important detail in their reporting. Of the two locations found mentioning this fact, one was a liberal health type website interested in dispelling fears of swearing off organic food (http://www.anh-usa.org/the-european-e-coli-outbreak-the-real-story/).
Issues are simple if they are black & white, and they are also easier for reporters. Most subjects are more complex and take more time to explain, and when the story is cut for time or print space the editing is vitally important. For whatever reason (often political) there is a template at most news organizations on each issue, and they wish to continue that narrative no matter where the facts lead. This has a direct effect on the stories that reporters go after as well as the content that makes “the news”. There are regular stories that are anti big business, and the food industry is no exception. Stories about how Monsanto is basically forcing people to use their seeds, or how big business is squeezing out the small family farmer are in the regular news rotation.
Imagine if food giant ADM (Archers Daniels Midland) had been responsible for this outbreak and the 3200+ affected as well as the 36 deaths that it caused. You can just see the stories that would be generated for the next few months. “ADM kills 36 and how many more?”…”Have we let industry take over our precious food supply?”…”Salary of ADM executives compared to the family farmer”…”Food subsidies being wasted”…”More money needed on inspections”…”ADM lobbyists watered down safe food law”. There would be a hearing in Congress where CEO’s of the big agribusinesses are asked probing grandstanding questions about how safe the food supply is.
I am not advocating or condemning organic foods or the family farm. They are not even mutually exclusive as there are big agribusinesses that produce organic food. What I am saying is this should be worthy of further investigation, and the exclusion of the word organic in the reporting up to this point does not give me a warm and cozy feeling about the information to come. If you compare this outbreak to other food related illnesses, more people have been killed in this incident than any I can find in the past 10 years, perhaps 20 years. Some organic farms use chemical based fertilizers similar to large industrial farms, but some use animal manure. The way one gets E. coli is to ingest feces. Gee is it just possible there is a story here? Hopefully we are still early in the reporting cycle such that these further questions will be investigated.
This story has the extra weight of the preconceived template of the media about the goodness of organic foods, and this must be broken in order to get to the truth. There are two different types of bias that I have seen in the media. One is when a media organization advocates a policy, and is almost always easy to spot. The other more destructive form of bias is not telling a story, or not revealing pertinent facts for the consumer to make a balanced judgment. We must all be vigilant in revealing this second form of bias. Our system and even our health are at risk.Hidden Secret Revealed A simple strategy to trade stocks is uncovered!


text:
Lego Indiana Jones and Lara Croft Crossover Was Pitched To LucasfilmOver on YouTube, there is a channel (GameHut) that has been created by founder of TT Games, Jon Burton. Now, gamers will be familiar with TT Games as they have brought us the fantastic Lego games such as Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones.
What is interesting is in the video below, TT Games pitched an idea of creating a Lara Croft game but thought that it needed a bit more to it so decided to approach Lucasfilm with the idea of a Lara Croft/Indiana Jones crossover Lego game.
Thinking Lucasfilm would be enthusiastic about the idea, they had the opposite reaction. Apparently, Lucasfilm have never been happy with the creators of Lara Croft (Toby Gard/Eidos.) In the video, Jon Burton said that Lucasfilm thought Lara was too similar to their hero with the whip and hat, Indiana Jones and going as far as claiming they "stole" their idea. The concept was shot down immediately and we never got that crossover. Toby Gard, creator of Lara Croft has said in numerous interviews that one of the influences for his creation was indeed Indiana Jones but also Tank Girl and the John Woo films.
What do you think? Do you think a Lego Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones would have worked?
The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.


text:
New meat market, eatery opens in Windsor
The owners of Branch + Daughter say they want to source goods from family farms.
VILLAGE OF WINDSOR, Wis. (WMTV) - A new business is bringing the farm-to-table experience to the community.
Husband and wife Judson and Monique Branch opened their butcher shop and restaurant on Friday.
The couple says their goal is to connect with local farmers and source goods from them.
“Our farmers are working night and day,” said Monique Branch. “We noticed there are a ton of farms really local that are close by and we just wanted to give them another location to sell their products and partner with the community.”
Judson Branch has worked as chef for over 20 years. He was also finalist on season 7 of the culinary reality show, ‘Chopped’.
He says he has a new appreciation for how hard area farmers work.
“I don’t think everybody really understands what they put into raising these animals,” said Branch.
Branch says he had a vision to bring something different to the area and wanted to build a place that was part grocery store and gathering place.
“It was more about creating an experience and creating this little hub that we have here where people could just get together and enjoy one another,” said Judson.
The menu includes pizza and sandwiches made from local meats and cheeses. For those with a sweet tooth, milkshakes will be made from ice cream from Sassy Cow Creamery.
“I would say it definitely evolved from something much smaller to much bigger now,” said Monique.
The name, Branch + Daughter, is both for the couple’s daughter, Vada, and to honor the women in their extended families.
“This is something that means a lot to me, it’s not just about our daughter,” said Judson. “It’s about all the women in our families who have allowed us to carry on and be able to do this today.”
The business is located on 6601 Traveler Trail in Windsor.
To view the menu and store hours, click HERE.
Copyright 2021 WMTV. All rights reserved.


text:
Strategy exams and Toyota. Is it a barrier?
Toyota has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. The company has faced strong criticism following reports of unintended acceleration and braking problems. These problems have been linked to a number of deaths. The end result is that millions of Toyota vehicles have been recalled for remedial work.
Akio Toyoda, the boss of Toyota and the grandson of the founder of Toyota, gave evidence yesterday to the House of Representatives Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the States. Whilst this is a very serious problem for Toyota in terms of the damage to its reputation there was a comment made by US congressman John Mica which reminds us of another interesting topic of discussion for ACCA P3 strategy students involving Toyota.
Mica said: “This is an embarrassing day for Toyota and for the thousands of hard-working Americans who work in Toyota plants across the US.”
Whilst Toyota is a Japanese company it can also be considered to be a truly global company. In America alone for example there are over 33,000 direct Toyota employees.
There are numerous reasons why a company may open up manufacturing operations in another country. Access to technology skills, cheaper labour and being closer to its end market are a few examples. For car manufacturers though there is a big incentive for manufacturing in certain countries. Namely, in doing so they remove a potential barrier to entry involving duties on imported vehicles.
In some countries there are excessive duties on imported cars. By manufacturing within the country the cars are built locally and therefore are not imported and hence there is no import duty. This nicely removes a barrier to entry. Of course there are other potential barriers to entry but these will be discussed in future blogs.
Anyway, back to Toyota. They are indeed a global company with recent Toyota figures showing that there are 53 Toyota manufacturing companies outside of Japan in 27 countries.


text:
Todd Horwitz, author and founder of Averagejoeoptions.com, says the U.S. equity market is "very close to a top" and could start to see some selling pressure.» Read More
The number of new cars registered in the European Union rose 5.5 percent in January, the fifth consecutive monthly increase in a row.
Paul Gait, senior metals and mining research analyst at Sanford Bernstein, says the iron ore price is falling due to record production volume which is helping the big miners like BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.
Peter Spiegel, Brussels bureau chief at the Financial Times, says the Troika is frustrated over the slow pace of structural reform in Greece.
John Hardy, FX strategist at Saxo Bank, says that sterling could go higher especially if U.K. and U.S. economic data continue to diverge but it is heading towards the top.
Gemma Godfrey, head of investment strategy at Brooks Macdonald Asset Management, says that despite disappointing GDP data on Monday, she is still positive for Japan's economy longer term.
Stacey Widlitz, an analyst at SW retail advisors, says we'll have to wait until March to see if it's the weather or the consumer 'falling off' behind softer U.S. retail sales.
Sarah Hewin, head of research for Europe at Standard Chartered Bank, explains the importance of Matteo Renzi's proposed political and economic reforms for Italy.
Sam Bowman, research director at the Adam Smith Institute, says banks like the Royal Bank of Scotland could move to England if Scotland got independence as there would be no guarantee of getting a bailout should the institution collapse.
Guy Foster, group strategist at Brewin Dolphin, says the U.S. Federal Reserve will continue with its tapering plans even if weak economic data emerges.
Allegra Perry, managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald, says fashion shows like London Fashion Week are a "vital" part of marketing for luxury brands.
Lucio Malan, an Italian senator for Forza Italia-PdL, says the party will support electoral reform in Italy and will push for fresh elections if the reform law passes.
Marco Valli, chief Italian economist at Unicredit, says Matteo Renzi will attempt to push through many reforms but will have to deal with the same people as Enrico Letta which could hamper his progress.
Tomo Kinoshita, chief Japan economist at Nomura, says the sales tax hike in Japan will only create one quarter of negative growth for Japan.
Scott Shellady, senior vice president of derivatives at Trean, says equities will end the year up 15 percent but warns it will be a "long and bloody ride".
Kosha Gada, principal at A.T. Kearney, says there is upside for Netflix as it grows its subscriber base, but the company's cost structure remains its biggest challenge.
Vashi Dominguez, founder of vashi.com, discusses the business of selling diamonds online.
Phyllis Papadavid, senior global FX strategist at BNP Paribas CIB, discusses the euro zone's economy after the latest data showed the economy grew 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter.
Cecile Bonnefond, president and CEO at Champagne Piper-Heidsieck, says there is a clear link between economic health and champagne sales.
Nick Paulson-Ellis, India country head at Espírito Santo Securities, says the Reserve Bank of India has taken the right steps to control India's inflation and the central bank has scope to ease interest rates.
Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at RBS, says China need to balance the need for growth with reining in credit demand.
Chatterley is CNBC’s European reporter covering key business and political events, as well as regular Eurogroup and EU leaders summits in Brussels.
Wilfred Frost is anchor of Worldwide Exchange, joining CNBC in 2014.
Seema Mody is a CNBC reporter and host of the "Trading the Twicker" segment on "Fast Money."


text:
US auto main Ford has made a U-turn on its electrical car (EVs) plan for India.
After exiting the Indian market in September 2021, it had made a shock re-entry, being chosen for prime minister Narendra Modi’s particular incentives programme to fabricate EVs.
Yesterday (May 12), nevertheless, got here the announcement that it’ll “no longer pursue EV manufacturing for exports from any of the Indian plants.”
“We remain grateful to the government for approving our proposal under the Production-Linked Incentives and for being supportive while we continued our exploration,” a Ford spokesperson advised Reuters.
Amid rising uncertainty round Tesla’s India debut, Ford’s determination could come as a setback to the nation’s nascent EV trade. All the extra so after latest incidents of hearth accidents involving electrical two-wheelers have made potential prospects within the nation jittery in regards to the section.
Why did Ford determine to drop its EV plans?
Earlier, whereas leaving India, Ford has stated it would restructure its India operations. Applying for the federal government’s incentive scheme was part of the revamp “…which allowed us to explore utilising one of the plants as a potential EV manufacturing base,” Ford’s spokesperson stated.
“Ford India’s previously announced business restructuring continues as planned, including exploring other alternatives for our manufacturing facilities. We continue to work closely with unions and other stakeholders to deliver an equitable and balanced plan to mitigate the impacts of restructuring,” the spokesperson added.
The firm now plans to renew compensation talks with its shocked employees.
Ford’s India unit has two crops within the nation—one in Gujarat’s Sanand and the opposite one in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The firm is reportedly promoting them each.
Tata Motors is eyeing the Sanand plant, whereas a number of firms, together with Softbank-backed Ola, are in talks with Ford for Chennai, based on Reuters.


text:
WASHINGTON (AP) Orders for durable goods rose last month by the largest amount in two years, as the manufacturing sector rebounded from the depths of the recession.
The Commerce Department said Wednesday that orders for goods expected to last at least three years increased 4.9% in July, the third rise in the past four months. Analysts expected a 3% increase. Orders for June were revised up to a 1.3% drop, from a 2.2% decline.
Orders for transportation equipment, which rose 18.4%, drove the overall increase. Commercial aircraft orders, a volatile category, more than doubled after falling 30% in June. Motor vehicle orders increased 0.9%.
Excluding transportation goods, orders rose 0.8%. That was the third straight increase, but just below analysts' expectations of a 0.9% rise.
Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a key measure of business investment, dropped 0.3%. Some economists expected that category to fall after rising in May and June.
Auto production improved last month as General Motors and Chrysler reopened many plants that were shut in May and June while the companies restructured and emerged from bankruptcy protection. The industry also benefited from the government's Cash for Clunkers program, which spurred thousands of people to trade in older vehicles for new cars.
Ford Motor earlier this month said its sales rose 2.4% in July from the same month last year, its first year-over-year increase since November 2007. Chrysler Group posted a smaller year-over-year sales drop compared with recent months, helped by clunkers deals. GM's sales fell 19.4%, a slower pace than earlier this year.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.


text:
JUST THE FACTS
Here’s what’s new in Saskatoon’s real estate world.
394 homes were purchased in May that number 6% lower than May 2015 when 419 homes were purchased. The average selling price was $353,197.00 that number 3.1% lower than May 2015 when the average was $364,338.00. The average price year to date is $346,671.00. 2.3% lower than in 2015 when the average was $354,824.00. The average number of days to sell a property in May was 45 days a typical selling time for this season. Unit sales year to date are 6% lower than 2015 while the number of units listed is up by 1.4%. REALTORS® listed 971 residential properties in May that number down from the 985 listings in May last year. Year to date listing numbers are 4,144 listings, 1.4% lower than the 4,201 listed in 2015. A certain percentage of these listings were previously listed properties that failed to sell as a result of being overpriced, which were then relisted at a lower price in order to bring them closer to market value. Home buyers had 2,035 homes to select from at the end of the month which calculates out to be approximately 5 months of inventory.
Residential sales activity in communities around Saskatoon was down from May 2015. 98 homes were purchased in May this year, down from the 147 being purchased in May 2015. The average selling price in May was down 5.3% at $300,792. At the end of May 2016 there were 1,191 active listings in these areas around Saskatoon, 3.6% higher than May 2015. Year to date the total number of unit sales was down 19.5% from the 482 units in 2015 to 388 units in 2016. The average sale price of $309,099 was a 2.6% decline when compared to the same five month period last year. Market activity in the area and communities surrounding Saskatoon appears to be slightly more challenged.
Jason Yochim the CEO of the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors has today released this YouTube media release: https://youtu.be/_xqIWEtv15s , June 2016 MLS Statistics.


text:
NEW YORK and ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nov. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ), a global technology company, and Verafin, an industry pioneer in anti-financial crime management solutions, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Nasdaq to acquire Verafin for US$2.75 billion in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The agreement will combine Verafin’s comprehensive suite of anti-financial crime management products with Nasdaq’s reach and established regulatory technology leadership to create a global SaaS leader in the fight against financial crime, a worldwide problem that demands innovative action.
Based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador and founded in 2003, Verafin provides more than 2,000 financial institutions in North America a cloud-based platform to help detect, investigate, and report money laundering and financial fraud. Verafin’s products are powered by intelligent analytics and leverage machine learning, robust shared data insights and powerful visualization and investigation tools to increase detection accuracy and reduce costs for clients. Verafin emphasizes a holistic approach to eradicating financial crime and its platform supports a consortium of several of the largest global banks as they collaborate to detect financial crimes to support law enforcement investigations. Read more…..
Chart of the Day
“Bloomberg Game Changers” profiles Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos. This program explores the story behind the founder of Amazon.com, the world’s most successful online retailer and examines key moments in his life.


text:
Major designer Dolce and Gabbana is selling fur products made from the skin of tortured animals, according to animal rights activists.
French animal rights group L214 has release photos from inside a farm that reportedly supplies the designer with ‘Orylag’ rabbit fur.
Orylag rabbits are a breed designed specially by humans for their soft dense fur.
Video footage obtained by activists
Photos from the farm show rows of filthy cages packed with hundreds of rabbits. The rabbits only have wire flooring to stand on, and do not have access to fresh air or daylight.
Speaking about L214’s investigation, animal rights charity PETA said: “The rabbits know only darkness and pain inside their tiny, decrepit prisons, where they were left for months to suffer from sores, dehydration, malnutrition, and other injuries and ailments.
“One in four rabbits observed died before they were scheduled to be killed. Those who survived were sent to a slaughterhouse and hung by their paws, and then workers slit their throats and drained the blood from their struggling bodies as they moved down the conveyor line.”


text:
Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world, with a fortune of over $90 billion, CNBC reported.
According to Forbes and Bloomberg, the Amazon CEO had a net worth of over $89 billion as of the close of markets Wednesday, while Bill Gates had a net worth of just over $90 billion.
Amazon's share price jumped by more than $15 a share overnight, and was recently trading near that level, while Microsoft is down slightly. If the stocks hold up today, Bezos will add more than $800 million to his fortune. That would put him past Gates, assuming the valuations of their non-stock holdings haven't changed.
Of course, Amazon stock could fall or Microsoft could rally. But even if Bezos doesn't end the day as the richest man, he will likely take the crown from Gates more permanently in the coming days and weeks.


text:
The amount of $13,5 million in funding at Revel Systems, an iPad point-of-sale platform maker was made by ROTH Capital Partners. The new capital brings the total funding of Revel Systems at 113,5 million dollars.
The company is planning to expand into international markets quickly, targeting European and Asian countries where some of its clients already have franchises. Its enterprise users have as many as 2.000 retail locations, but at the same time Revel Systems serves small and medium-sized businesses. The company now has around 15.000 terminals installed throughout the US and that amount is growing at about 1.000 terminals per month!


text:
Mattel has revealed a high profile apparel partnership with Tesco for Barbie.
This will be the first time that the two brands have collaborated on such a project. It will see a full range of Barbie licensed apparel available from Tesco online, with key products also on sale across the UK in-store.
The full range includes separate offerings for younger and older girls, all with iconic Barbie styling.
"This is the first time that Barbie has launched a licensed apparel line with Tesco, and we are really excited about the synergy of these strong brands," said Johanne Broadfield, senior licensing director at Mattel. "Tesco is an ideal home for this apparel range, which is modern, funky and designed to appeal to both younger and older Barbie girls."
The AW11 collection launches on October 24th. It will include tops, tracksuits and leggings featuring a variety of Barbie branding such as tiaras, princess crests and pets.


text:
Samsung’s first foray into the world of foldable phones didn’t exactly go as planned. Recall, the Galaxy Fold launch last year was delayed for a good few months after almost every review unit broke. The entire saga was embarrassing, to say the least, and cast a long shadow on the notion that foldable phones represented the wave of the future.
Personally, I’ve never seen the appeal of a foldable phone. From my vantage point, a foldable phone is similar to Google Glass insofar that it represents an intriguing concept without mainstream appeal. And while I can appreciate company’s like Samsung trying to come up with something original, a foldable phone strikes me as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
Having said that, we’re just about a week away from Samsung’s annual Unpacked event where we’ll get an up-close look at the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung’s new take on a foldable smartphone.
The overall design of the Galaxy Z Flip is clearly a step above what we saw with last year’s Galaxy Fold. And in case you missed it, a hands-on video of the Galaxy Z Flip in action surfaced on Twitter over the weekend. The Galaxy Fold was seemingly a joke from the jump, but I can’t lie, the Galaxy Z Flip has piqued my interest.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip – First Hands On Video pic.twitter.com/4b8Uzt5kRB
— Ben Geskin (@BenGeskin) February 2, 2020
In the wake of the video above making its way online, we now have some additional information about the Galaxy Z Flip after the device showed up on Geekbench. To that end, Samsung’s next-gen foldable smartphone will boast a Snapdragon 855 processor, 8GB of RAM, and will naturally run Android 10. We can also see that Samsung’s new foldable is nowhere near as powerful as 2020 flagship phones, which shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
As far as a release date is concerned, we’ve seen rumors suggesting that the Galaxy Z Flip will launch as early as February 14. Price-wise, the device may cost as much as $1,400, which would certainly make the device a niche product as opposed to a mainstream device capable of generating meaningful sales in the mainstream market.
Lastly, the Galaxy Z Flip will reportedly be far more durable than the Galaxy Fold. That’s certainly encouraging news, but that also doesn’t say too much given how flimsy and damage-prone the Fold was.


text:
Four years ago, natural skincare company Willa launched with products created specifically for girls. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the company recently pulled its products from more than 300 stores nationwide in favor of selling directly through Willa’s teen and “tween” customers.
New research from Harris Poll and commissioned by Direct Selling News found that among adults age 18 to 34, 54 percent of men and 42 percent of women have made a direct selling purchase in the past six months. However, adults are not the only ones interested in buying and selling through their own social circles. In addition to offering product tailored to young consumers, companies like Willa provide an opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to hone their skills.
Founder and CEO Christy Prunier says Willa was inspired by her then 8-year-old daughter, Willa Doss. Prunier founded the company following a fruitless search for safe and effective skincare products for young girls. Willa offers natural products to help girls combat the lasting skin damage that largely occurs before age 18.
Now, Willa is giving its customers the opportunity to sell the products as well. Called “Willagirls,” the young sales reps can market the product at get-togethers or one-on-one and receive 25 percent of total sales. Girls (or their families) can also receive a percentage of sales by hosting a party, and the company is developing software that will allow Willagirls to host “virtual” parties online.
Willa’s story is not unique among direct selling companies. At Origami Owl, a company founded by a 14-year-old girl, about a third of sales reps are younger than 24. Origami Owl also trains Owlettes, girls age 12 to 17 who can sign on with a parent or other trusted adult as a partner.


text:
Maruti Suzuki is probably the only come which commands such high waiting period on its cars. Things have gotten worse post the workers strike which uprooted production for 13 days in a row. Now, waiting period on the diesel variants of the Swift, Swift DZire and the SX4 has increased by another month. Earlier the aforementioned cars were delivered 1-4 months after being booked by the customer. It is quite ridiculous to notice customers ready to wait for upto 5 months in this hyper competitive age. Those who are waiting, we would love to know what makes you wait for 5 months, when you can flock to another dealership nearby and pick up as good a car from a rival automaker.
“We have extended the delivery period of diesel variants of Swift and DZiRE models from four months to five months now. Similarly, the delivery period of SX4 (diesel) has also been increased from two months at present to three months,” a spokesperson for a dealer said.


text:
ROCKY HILL, CT--(Marketwired - August 31, 2016) - FreeShipping.com, a popular savings program for savvy online shoppers, is celebrating Labor Day weekend by offering new and current members 20% cash back on their purchases at 30 of the most popular retailers in its vast cash-back network. The 20% cash-back offer starts at 12:00 a.m. ET on Friday, September 2, and lasts until 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, September 5.
FreeShipping.com members can earn double their standard 10% cash back for four straight days simply by shopping through the program at over two dozen of their favorite retailers, including Macy's, The Home Depot, L.L. Bean, Sephora, and JCPenney.
"Getting 20% cash back -- on top of any Labor Day deals offered by these stores -- will help members save on all of their autumn needs and interests," said Tom Caporaso, CEO of Clarus Commerce, which owns and operates FreeShipping.com. "Whether they're looking for last-minute back-to-school supplies; new clothes for the fall and winter; early-bird holiday gifts; or even end-of-summer clearance items, online shoppers can take advantage of 20% cash back and low prices at FreeShipping.com all weekend long."
In addition to 20% cash back at 30 popular retailers this Labor Day weekend, FreeShipping.com members enjoy year-round savings that include:
- Consistent 10% cash back, instant free shipping, and the latest coupon deals at over 1,000 retailers;
- Rebates for expedited shipping charges and for shipping fees on purchases that don't qualify for instant free shipping;
- Unlimited free return shipping, via FedEx Ground®, on every order they place through FreeShipping.com;
- Price protection guarantees if they find recent purchases advertised for less;
- Instant price comparisons on over 140 million items sold by participating cash-back stores.
FreeShipping.com is the recognized pioneer of cash-back and free shipping deals; no other program or retailer offers consistent 10% cash back and free delivery benefits on orders at over 1,000 retailers. To help members save even more throughout the year, the program also holds 20% cash-back promotions for Valentine's Day, the back-to-school shopping season, Thanksgiving weekend, Free Shipping Day, and other popular shopping periods.
Visit FreeShipping.com for a FREE trial.
About Clarus Commerce
Clarus Commerce introduced FreeShipping.com in 2002 and has continually enhanced the ways that consumers save when they shop online ever since. FreeShipping.com was the first program to offer free shipping on virtually every online purchase, and its 10% cash-back benefit is the industry leader in consistent cash-back offers. Clarus Commerce has built a wide range of customized subscription shopping programs that offer shoppers significant savings on their online orders. For more information, visit www.ClarusCommerce.com.
Follow Us On Social Media and Our Blog!
Clique Tips Blog
Clarus Commerce CEO Tom Caporaso is available for interviews.


text:
2014 oregon ducks white and green nike mach speed uniform, Check out this oregon ducks uniform for the 2013 season. our community of uniform critics gave it a rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars. view more photos and submit your own. Oregon ducks unveil 2014 nike pro combat 'mach speed' uniforms, The oregon ducks have unveiled two sets, white and black, of 2014 nike pro combat "mach speed" uniforms for the alamo bowl vs. texas.. 2014 oregon ducks black and yellow nike mach speed uniform, Heading into the 2014 football season, oregon will take the field wearing the latest nike pro combat “mach speed” uniform, the most innovative nike pro combat.
See oregon's new uniforms for the 2014 football season, No college football team gets more attention for their uniforms than the oregon ducks. that won't change in 2014. nike just released the new jerseys that. Oregon state unveils new baseball uniform for 2014, The oregon state beavers will add a new white-on-white baseball uniform to their ensemble this season.. Oregon ducks' quacky uniforms - photos - si.com, At the university of oregon, it seems the football uniforms are always changing -- even if the alteration is subtle. here's a look at the ducks' game garb.
Oregon basketball to wear new nike uniforms for feb. 23, Eugene -- oregon is one of seven schools set to wear new men's basketball uniforms in february, nike unveiled thursday morning, with the ducks slated to. Dennis uniform | school uniform manufacturer & retailer, School uniforms. includes company philosophy, store locations, and ordering information.. Nike, inc. - oregon continues tradition of innovation, Ducks debut new 2014 nike mach speed uniform—designed for maximum speed, ventilation and comfort..


text:
Green Li-ion receives investment from Petronas to aid U.S. expansion
PETRONAS Ventures, through its investment arm Twin Towers Ventures, has invested in Green Li-ion, becoming a strategic partner.
The strategic partnership marks TTV's first investment in lithium battery recycling technology. The undisclosed amount invested through the partnership will help scale the manufacturing of Green Li-ion's recycling units, containing their multi-cathode processor GLMC technology. The first working commercial operation is slated to start production in Q4 of 2023 at a plant operated by Aleon in Oklahoma.
"We welcome TTV as a strategic partner. This partnership is a vote of confidence in our technology, and an opportunity for Green Li-ion to tap into TTV's' extensive investor network" said Leon Farrant, CEO and co-founder of Green Li-ion. "The electrification of the global economy requires commercially viable lithium-ion battery re-manufacturing operations. We remain committed to empowering any manufacturer producing batteries to take greater control of their critical mineral supplies."
Green Li-ion provides modular battery recycling units that manufacturers and recyclers can integrate into existing on-site processes. Once installed, they can process four to six metric tons of end-of-life batteries per day (up to 20 EV batteries or 70,000 iPhone batteries) to instantly produce precursor cathode active material (pCAM) at battery grade. The company is expanding its presence in Southeast Asia, Europe, and North America.
"As the world is heading towards decarbonization and electrification of the mobility space, the value chain would not be complete without addressing the needs to recycle the lithium-ion battery effectively and efficiently. We are very proud to partner with Green Li-ion on this front in creating a just and responsible decarbonized world," said Fariz Ali, managing partner of TTV.


text:
HARTFORD — Frustrated TD Bank customers are saying they can’t access their accounts Friday morning.
They have taken to social media because they say they can’t get through to customer service.
A FOX61 viewer said customers aren’t getting their direct deposits, which is alarming because today is payday for lots of people. It is also the end of the month, when many have a mortgage or other loan payment to make. And, of course, it is the start of a holiday weekend.
Many customers are tweeting at the company expressing their anger.
The bank is tweeting them back, saying the company is aware of the issue and working on the problem.


text:
NIO Automobile announced that it has reached strategic cooperation with Intel’s autonomous driving technology company Mobileye. In the future, the two parties will build L4 level, autonomous driving models, based on NIO’s second-generation vehicle platform.
For the cooperation, Li Bin, founder, chairman, and CEO of NIO, said: “We are proud of our tireless pursuit of innovation and cutting-edge technology, which not only enhances our product competitiveness, but also NIO ’s Users create a happy lifestyle. We are looking forward to the strategic partnership established with Mobileye. The two parties will work together to improve the safety and driving performance of vehicles and strive to realize the vision of NIO to build the world’s first ‘user company.’
NIO introduced that the two parties will focus on the passenger car market and smart travel service areas, and will build L4 level autonomous driving smart electric models on the second generation platform of NIO. Mobileye is responsible for the Mobileye EyeQ system chip and related software provided, and NIO is responsible for the development, integration and mass production of vehicle-level automatic driving systems. In addition, on the basis of mass-produced auto-driving models in the future, Mobileye will create a special edition dedicated to smart mobility services, and Mobileye will purchase this model in batches.


text:
Dairy industry urged to revisit sexed semen
There must be an opportunity to address the lack of sexed semen in use, said chief operations officer at ABP Finbarr McDonnell.
Mr McDonnell said he believes there is a role there for sexed semen.
“There must be an opportunity in the industry to do something with sexed semen, it was looked at and it faded away, but I think it will come back,” he said.
The ICBF’s Dr Andrew Cromie predicted that sexed semen will kick in sometime in the next five to six years.
Teagasc’s Padraig French said if “sexed semen takes off”, there could be over a million beef X dairy calves.
Mr McDonnell, who launched new trial research showing an improved margin of €150 to €200 depending on the beef sire selected for dairy crosses, said market triggers will eventually influence dairy farmers to choose sires delivering good conformation for beef production.
“It will be like turning the Titanic, but why did they turn to Angus and Hereford?” he questioned. “Because they saw that the calf is going to be worth more money and they will have a market.
“I hate talking about the alternative but the alternative is Friesian calves, which are an animal welfare problem,” he said.


text:
Apple Today - 08/20/2015 (AAPL)seymour_greenz August 20th 2015 09:22:48 AM
Uh oh. NASDAQ Futures are down 26 with -31 Fair Value, Dow Futures are down 106 on a further China drop over 3%. Oil slides. Sears (SHLD) reports this morning and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) after the bell. Greece gets 1st new loan. Jobless claims edge up.
Yesterday, AAPL sold off at the open, reaching a low of just under 114.7 at 11:52am on moderate volume. AAPL failed to turn green all day, although there was a brief afternoon recovery up to 116.24 at 2:14pm on moderately high volume before sinking back down to 115 where yesterday's intra-day session closed. AAPL further weakened in after-hours, losing another 20 cents.
This morning in pre-market, AAPL opened up lower in conjunction with Futures, near 114.5 and quickly dropped to 114 on low volume before recovering back to 114.48 on moderate volume at 6:12am. AAPL then hit another pre-market low of 114.07at 8:28am on moderately high volume, seemingly alongside Futures. AAPL is currently down 79 cents at 114.22.
Classic max-pain is 118.
Futures and oil down:
Jobless claims up:
Greece gets 1st new bailout loan:
Oil's sticky situation continues:
Sears reports quarterly profit:
More on the upcoming Apple TV:
iPad Pro on the way?
Samsung Pay vs Apple Pay:
iOS gets WhatsApp:
LinkedIn's new app:
Sony launches SmartBand 2:
Audi invading Elon's turf?
Where do planets come from?
Nanotubes from thin air:
Mars rover selfie:
Today's Economic Calendar
8:30 Initial Jobless Claims
9:45 Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
10:00 Philly Fed Business Outlook
10:00 Existing Home Sales
10:00 Leading Indicators
10:30 EIA Natural Gas Inventory
4:30 Money Supply
4:30 Fed Balance Sheet
Notable earnings after today's close: TFM, HPQ, INTU, MRVL, ROST, CRM
And tomorrow before the open: DE, DSKY


text:
Aldi is launching the UK’s first, supermarket own-brand paper wine bottles. The Cambalala South African Shiraz (£7.99, 75cl) and Cambalala South African Sauvignon Blanc (£7.99, 75cl) will be available to buy in lightweight paper bottles, in stores from 18th March – which is Global Recycling Day.
Made from 94% recycled paperboard and lined with a food-grade pouch to contain the wine, the new bottles are fully recyclable and five times lighter than a standard glass bottle.
By replacing glass bottles with paper and stocking in stores nationwide, Aldi has generated a carbon footprint reduction that is equivalent to driving around the planet 5.8 times – giving eco-conscious wine lovers even more reason to say cheers this spring. Not only do Aldi’s new bottles deliver impressive green credentials, but the easy-to-carry, shatterproof bottles are a great option to take on the go and land just in time for picnic season!
Available for under £10, these South African wines from the Western Cape certainly get the green light.
With bright red fruit, blackberry and cherry flavours and spicy oak notes, the Cambalala South African Shiraz (£7.99, 75cl) is a full-flavoured, silky-smooth red. Perfect with pork, lamb, or beef dishes, it also matches well with foods that have a little spice.
For something a little fresher, the Cambalala South African Sauvignon Blanc (£7.99, 75cl) has notes of winter melon, green apple, and citrus. Offering a vibrant acidity that keeps the palate fresh, this well-balanced, elegant wine is perfect on its own, or enjoyed with chicken, seafood, and salads.
Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, says: “Shoppers are striving to become more sustainable in their everyday lives, looking for small ways to make a big difference for our planet.
Our Buying Teams are continuously thinking of how we can evolve our ranges to offer greater value and greener choices. We are proud to be the first supermarket to launch an own-brand paper bottle, helping to drive sustainable change.”
Aldi has worked with FrugalpacTM on the supermarket-first initiative. The Ipswich based company is on a mission reduce the impact of carbon on the planet through engineering sustainable packaging, using recycled paper, that is both light in weight and easy to recycle again.
Malcolm Waugh, CEO of FrugalpacTM, says: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Aldi on this landmark new line. Our ambition has always been to allow more people the opportunity to enjoy our paper Frugal Bottles, giving them greener choices. Launching in a major UK supermarket means more shoppers can now drink responsibly and sustainably and we are so pleased to be part of that journey.”
Alongside the paper bottles, Aldi is reducing the wine label size across its popular Grapevine range. Available on bottles in stores now, the labels are FSC certified and made from 100% recycled paper fibre. The initiative is due to roll out across all core lines by 2026.
Aldi’s NEW Cambalala South African Shiraz and Cambalala South African Sauvignon Blanc will be available in stores from 18th March, Global Recycling Day.
Aldi’s reduced-labelled Grapevine range is available in stores now.
Aldi has confirmed its opening times for the upcoming Bank Holiday in early May.
Normal opening hours will remain in place at Aldi’s more than 1,000 UK stores on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th May. Stores in England and Wales will then be open until 8pm on Monday 6th May, while in Scotland the closing time will be 10pm as usual.
Aldi has introduced new plastic-free packaging on its everyday own-label toothbrushes.
The UK’s fourth-largest supermarket has replaced the plastic and card packaging with a cardboard alternative, making it easier for customers to recycle at home without the need for separation.


text:
HTC Launches Viveport App Store To Showcase Diverse VR Experiences
HTC has launched its Viveport app store to showcase diverse VR experiences. The store was previously only available in China. Now, the tech company is expanding its market in more than 30 countries.
Viveport's general market is anything virtual reality. Gamers worldwide will enjoy their VR experience. However, HTC wants to focus more on a broader selection of VR. Viveport's President Rikard Steiber described it well. He said that that it will be a place where the journey of VR experiences starts.
According to Venture Beat, HTC is holding a sale for the store's promotion. The said 48-hour sale will let customers buy several hit titles for only $1. Among these titles are "theBlu," "Mars Odyssey" and "Firebird: La Peri."
Viveport As An Open Store
The Viveport app store will be an open one. Steiber said during an interview with GamesBeat. Apparently, they will not force developers to place their apps exclusively in the Viveport store. Viveport accepts titles from its rival stores and platforms. Steiber revealed that they are still waiting for the Oculus VR titles.
HTC does not mind the competition. Steiber shared that it's actually good for the ecosystem. VR should be successful on both game consoles and mobile. More consumers will be encouraged to experience the virtual reality experience.
He also commented on the upcoming launch of PlayStation VR headset. Steiber wishes their rival company good luck.
Viveport's VR Games
According to PC World, there are only 60 titles currently available. Steiber has estimated that there are 500 or 600 VR titles across the industry. Venture Beat further states that 90 percent of those are games. Among them are "Cloudlands: VR Minigolf," "Everest VR," "Fantastic Contraption" and "World Diving."
A Wide Array Of VR Experiences
A VR app store is never been this diverse. Steiber shared that it will have VR for art, creativity, education, museum, 360 videos and other categories. He said people will be able to experience immersive content in VR.
That includes the new "theBlu," "Google Spotlight Stories' Pearl," "The Music Room," "Stonehenge VR" and "Lifeliqe." It will be very educational for children. They will learn through virtual tours in planetariums and underwater.
The store's goal is not only the access of wide array VR experience. It also wants to empower content creators to be more engaged with their global VR audience.
Why The iPhone 7 Explosion Case Is Nothing To Worry About
A recent explosion case of the iPhone 7 has been reported. However, it could be an isolated case.
iPhone 7 And iPhone 7 Plus Global Release Dates: Turkey, Malaysia, Montenegro And More
More worldwide release of iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus is expected to start this October. South Korea, Malaysia and South Africa expect arrival of the Apple devices.
HP EliteBook Folio Review: Ultimate MacBook Pro 2016 Alternative
The HP EliteBook Folio is one of the best Windows laptop in the market. It could also be a good alternative for people looking to replace their MacBooks.
HTC Will Build Another Flagship Phone, Even After Billion-Dollar Deal with Google
HTC is showing signs of revival with the announcement of $1.1 billion smartphone business deal with Google.
Game Of Thrones, Don’t Die, Mr. Robot And Other Free Games On PlayStation Plus This July 2017; Check Them Out Here
Sony is again giving away several video games for free for PlayStation Plus subscribers this July. Among the titles are Game of Thrones, and Don’t Die, Mr. Robot.
MORE IN ITECHPOST
Best Ergonomic Keyboards for Students in 2020
Regardless of which grade a student is in, the computer is an integral part of every classroom. This makes keyboards one of the most important computer philepherals students need to pay attention to for comfort and good ergonomics.
How Do Personal Emergency Response Systems Work?
Personal emergency response systems, known as PERS for short, are systems that help people to raise the alarm and get immediate help when a medical or personal emergency occurs. They are ideal for older people and anyone with a mobility issue or an injury or illness that can cause falls.
The 9 Most Popular (And Fun) Internet Games of 2019
Are you bored of board games? What are the most popular internet games from this year? These nine are popular for a reason. Check 'em out!
Why your Company Needs a Comprehensive ERP Solution Like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Statista predicts that the whole ERP market's revenue will exceed $85 million in 2021. By that time, resource planning systems will be used by both SMEs and large businesses. Moreover, even today, it's pretty difficult to find a firm without at least basic ERP products that help to plan, organize, automate, and improve ongoing processes.


text:
On June 27, 10:00 (UTC+8), DigiFinex announced on its official website that DATx will be listed on the DigitFinex exchange platform. DATx trading officially goes live on June 28 at 15:00 (UTC+8).
To celebrate the listing, DigiFinex is launching a “Two Million DATx Candy Drop” rewards campaign. DFT token holders can participate in this campaign by exchanging or topping up DATx, sharing the candy drop campaign, and registering and sharing the event.
Crypto exchange DigiFinex is a Singapore based digital asset trading firm, providing global clients with digital trading services for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Through self-built digital currency exchanges, DigiFinex connects local currency exchanges with localized service capabilities with investors from around the world.
As of now, DATx is developing advertisement creation for advertisers with DATx token on the Avazu Private Exchange (APX) after having developed DATx payment support for publishers on the platform. Avazu is DATx’s closest strategic and technical partner. As a leading global ad platform, Avazu provides services for tech giants such as Facebook, Google, and Amazon, averaging 10 billion daily ad placements.
DATx is dedicated to establishing a mutualistic and user consent-based global digital advertising ecosystem through developing the DATxChain, the first public blockchain tailor made for the digital advertising industry. Driven by comprehensive user profiles, big data analysis and AI recommendation systems, the DATx ecosystem will establish a fairer and more sustainable digital advertising system. Recently DATx has announced plans for developing a native exchange on its platform to provide DATx token holders added value and ease of transactions.
DATx has never partnered with any third-party agencies for token sales. Any potential buyer of tokens will go through a strict KYC procedure. The DATx token sale is not open to the People's Republic of China, the United States of America, or any other countries and regions where such activities are prohibited.


text:
Jon did warn everyone to take this story cum grano salis some weeks ago when it first appeared, and when it comes to issues of adiposity he certainly knows his onions.
Peru's police chief has suspended a top investigator for saying he had caught a gang who were murdering people to sell their fat. Last month, top organised crime investigator Felix Murga said police had arrested four suspects who confessed to murdering up to 60 people. He said they were selling their fat for thousands of dollars a litre. But the macabre tale now appears to be nothing more than a tall story - or a big fat lie. see whole story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8389901.stm


text:
Restaurant and grocery food distributor Baldor Specialty Foods now offers a home delivery service to residents in D.C. and parts of the Maryland suburbs.
New York-based Baldor, which is adding residential delivery to help compensate for a drop in sales to restaurants, will deliver online orders in the District, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac and Takoma Park.
It has made more than 6,000 food items available to residential customers during the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers can sign up online for the temporary at-home delivery service.
It also delivers to residential customers in New York City, Long Island, Boston and Philadelphia.
“More than 30,000 consumers in other major cities have already signed up for the service in the last week alone,” said Baldor’s CEO TJ Murphy.
“That tells us one thing: We must continue to expand this service to other locations where we operate, to help the people there as well.”
Baldor’s home delivery includes grocery staples, meats, poultry, pasta, fresh produce and water.
Baldor, which typically sells in bulk, is making consumer-sized quantities available for home delivery but does require a minimum residential order of at least $250.


text:
Team17 announces 'strong start' to 2018
Yorkshire games developer Team17 says it has made a “strong start” to 2018 and expects to deliver full-year results in line with market expectations.
In providing an update for the six months to June 30th 2018, CEO Debbie Bestwick said: “We are pleased with our performance in the first half of our financial year and the ongoing success of both owned and label partner IP.
“The announcement of Overcooked 2 and early access launch of My Time At Portia provides further evidence of our commitment to building brands and collaborating with some of the most creative indie partners around the globe.
“We are delighted with the reaction received globally for our games at E3. We have also recently won the ‘Develop Publishing Hero’ Industry award for the second time, which is further testament to the high quality premium games we select and the hard work of all of our teams who I’d like to thank.
“We look forward to updating our shareholders on our progress over the coming months.”
The Wakefield-based company launched on London’s AIM market earlier this year with a market capitalisation of £217m.
This year Team17 has launched of a small number of new IP from label partners, including My Time At Portia by Pathea Games, Team17’s first indie partner in China.
And In June it announced the launch date of Overcooked 2, the sequel to the double BAFTA-winning game on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch™ and PC.
The game has been co-developed in partnership with indie developer Ghost Town Games. The game has seen strong traction with media ahead of the launch on August 7th 2018.


text:
The Federal Trade Commission is considering taking sworn testimony from Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg as part of its investigation into whether the social-media giant has violated U.S. antitrust laws, according to people familiar with the matter.
Top Facebook officials are preparing for potential depositions and some are worried about the possibility, a person familiar with the matter said. However, the company now is most immediately planning for Mr. Zuckerberg’s scheduled July 27 appearance before the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, where he and other top tech executives are expected to be grilled by lawmakers.
Walmart coupon: $20 off your $50+ order
Up to 50% off + extra 20% off sitewide - JCPenney promo code
Up to 15% off + free shipping at Wayfair
60% off running shoes and apparel at Nike
- The Home Depot:
$50 discount sitewide - Home Depot Coupon
Hotels.com September Deals - Save 20% or more


text:
Escondido-based Stone Brewing Co. persuaded a Boulder, Colo.-based craft brewery to change its name.
Owners of 10-month-old Kettle & Stone Brewing Co. told the Boulder Daily Camera last week they aren't ready to announce the new name and that it took three months of hard work to find unused words.
1999 Citracado Pkwy.
Escondido, CA 92029
Jan. 18, 2012 -- Greg Koch, co-founder and CEO of Stone Brewing Co., talks about his philosophy behind running his brewery and restaurant, and developing a worldwide presence.
Feb. 23, 2009 -- Greg Koch, chairman/CEO of Stone Brewing Company and a Transcript Top Influential, talks about growing interest in the craft beer industry.
Greg Koch, CEO of Stone Brewery Co., talked to business students at Cal State San Marcos on Jan. 30.


text:
Marking territory, from work wear to casual
Forty-year-old retailer Mark's has come a long way from its origins supplying industrial clothes to a booming oil town.
This article appears in the March/April 2017 issue of strategy.
Mark Blumes was unpractised at biting his tongue. He couldn’t do it in the late 1970s, when he was managing the bargain basement section in the Calgary Hudson’s Bay and felt the corporation wasn’t catering to the city’s blue-collar core. He got himself fired as a result and put his severance toward his own store where he could do things his way, creating a haven for the working man.
Forty years later, that store is a retail behemoth. After dropping the “Work Wearhouse” in a 2010 rebranding by McCann, Mark’s has 380 locations across the country and stands as an unrivalled depot for industrial and casual men’s wear.
The company’s namesake isn’t around for the 40th anniversary, though. Blumes’s divisive approach saw him pushed out in 1995 (“I created the reasons why I’m no longer there, by my lack of charm,” he told the Financial Post in 2001) and nearly bankrupt by the time Canadian Tire acquired Mark’s in 2001 for $116 million (he didn’t see a penny). He died the following year.
But the occasionally coarse founder, known for speaking his mind with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, left his mark. The store’s product innovation, omnichannel approach and blend of private-label and name brands are all legacies of Blumes.
The first Work Wearhouse opened in Calgary in 1977. Launched at the height of Alberta’s oil boom, the new stop for rugged apparel was an instant hit: Blumes grew the business to more than 40 stores by 1981.
Steve Bottoms worked with Blumes at HBC as a student, and would later join Mark’s Work Wearhouse as head of in-house creative agency Cooper Hayes before working on the brand’s account for two decades as CEO of Calgary’s Watermark Advertising Design.
“He was a genius, a bit of a mentor … an outrageous human being – the opposite of political correctness,” Bottoms says of Blumes. “But he had this big, big heart and this intense admiration and respect for the working guy. His love for the customer was so profound in comparison to the operational efficiency of the department store at the time.”
This original commitment to the blue-collar worker was tested early. The company’s expansion was perhaps too much too soon. It took on debt, leading it to go public in 1981 to raise money. Later that year, Alberta entered a recession, with unemployment reaching 11% as interest rates and inflation also rose. The working man suddenly wasn’t as desperate for new gear, and the store had to look beyond its base.
Rick White, who took over as Mark’s president last year, remembers how Calgary “basically shut down.” The company learned early that it would have to attract a larger demographic “in order to stabilize the business and not be held to the whims of what was happening in the oil patch and in the industrial world,” he says, a branding shift Mark’s is still undergoing today.
It met with some resistance as it tried to attract casual wear name brands, though. Some were reluctant to partner with a retailer called “Work Wearhouse,” not seeing it as the best place to position their products. “It forced us to go the route of the private label,” says VP of innovation, industrial and footwear Iain Summers, who has been with the retailer for 31 years.
Denver Hayes and Wind River were born, offering quality products exclusive to Mark’s. “That’s been our concept right from the start,” Summers says. “Innovation” became a buzzword decades later, but Mark’s started early. In the mid-1980s, the store offered non-shrinking flannel. The whole back page of a flyer told the story of how its buyers had searched the world for the material, which it found in Russia, Summers says.
Wrinkle-resistant khakis followed. A 1994 TV spot by Watermark put Denver Hayes against Dockers. A blindfolded woman compares the fabric on two men’s seemingly identical khakis before choosing the one she prefers: Denver Hayes, priced $10 below its competitor.
Another one from 1996 showed a blond woman in a black dress with a stopwatch in each hand, timing how long it takes two men in their underwear to get ready for a date: one with Denver Hayes wrinkle-resistant cotton pants, ready to throw on straight out of the dryer, one with another brand. “Other cotton pants can put a wrinkle in your plans,” she says, before heading off arm-in-arm with the Denver Hayes man.
Some innovations didn’t take off. “Pop-bottle jeans” in the early ’90s, made by reweaving the polyester from pop bottles into denim, failed to connect with consumers. “We were too far ahead for the customer to grasp it,” Summers says. “The whole environmental movement hadn’t kicked in.”
It wasn’t the last time Blumes, whom Summers hailed as “an idea guy,” was perhaps correct but early – a small consolation in the business world. By the mid-’90s, long before e-commerce had any traction, Blumes was convinced that retail was going omnichannel.
“He saw the future. He just saw it too early and he saw it too aggressively,” Bottoms says. “He made it a bit of a Waterloo moment, where he pushed himself to the edge and forced the board to either go his way or push him out.” They chose the latter option.
Perhaps more than a battle over e-commerce, the move marked a release in tension over the store’s direction. In a 2001 interview with the Financial Post, Blumes said, “This will sound self-serving, but my role was to protect the interests of the working man. The company went margin crazy. You can’t make the same margins selling work wear as you can selling ladies sweaters.”
The founder who had always catered to the blue-collar worker – he had even produced a country song in 1986 called “The Oil Patch and Me” – was gone, paving the way for more dramatic changes.
Mark’s bought competitor Work World in 1996, but the most significant moment came in 2001, when Canadian Tire purchased the company and its 325 stores. It was a natural fit: “It’s the same customer base and Canadian Tire didn’t do apparel in a big way,” White says.
A gradual shift in the nature of work had already been impacting the retailer. A decade of globalization meant fewer blue-collar jobs and less demand for work wear. Office clothing was also changing: casual Friday was colonizing the entire week, allowing Mark’s to pitch its innovative articles – wrinkle-resistant pants and shirts, stain-repellent khakis – to a broader segment.
“If you could get away with not wearing a tie to work, that fed into our wheelhouse,” Bottoms says.
And while the brand started selling women’s clothing in 1995, it didn’t start marketing it heavily until almost 10 years later. This picked up again in 2012 with a campaign using the tagline “Now welcoming women.”
All these developments laid the groundwork for the most dramatic moment in the brand’s evolution from blue-collar hub to top casual wear destination. In 2010, it dropped the “Work Wearhouse,” rebranding as Mark’s. It was time for younger Canadians to perceive it as more than “their dad’s store,” White says, and for the retailer to move from its reliable “Triple R” demographic (retired, reluctant to shop and reluctant to replace) to the “Triple C” (confident, casual Canadian) in the 30-to-50 range.
Customer research leading up to the rebranding showed the clothing and footwear industry valued at $24 billion in Canada, compared to $600 million for work wear and work footwear.
Mark’s brought in more casual brands, including Helly Hansen, Columbia and Merrell, which the “Triple C” segment cares about, and began highlighting them in its marketing. It moved from the long-time “Clothes That Work” tagline it had been using since the mid-’90s to “Smart Clothes. Everyday Living” in 2010, and then to “Ready For This” in 2013 from ad agency Sid Lee. (Mark’s replaced Watermark with McCann for the rebrand in 2010, then moved to Sid Lee but no longer has an AOR. It’s currently working with Huge and Direct Focus. “I’d rather work with specialists in different fields,” CMO David Lui says.)
Mark’s new target consumer isn’t a big shopper, preferring to be in and out of stores in 15 minutes, which has led to a “no-nonsense” marketing strategy, Lui says. “We talk to them directly, in plain language, with humour.”
Working with Touché, the brand has also increased its programmatic advertising, allowing it to target its casual and industrial segments with different messages, so as not to alienate the old base. “It is a fine balance. But the channels open to us allow us to speak and be very relevant based on their likes and dislikes,” Lui says.
Part of that communication shift has been the move from printed flyers to digital ones. Canadian Tire went digital with its flyers last year; Mark’s followed with a successful Facebook flyer pilot in October, and Lui says there’s “going to be a shift into a heavier digital spend.”
The brand is also focusing more on e-commerce after launching a new website last year. While transactional, Lui says the sites are also meant to “emotionally engage” consumers, to share some of the technical product innovations and drive traffic to stores.
Touchscreens and other digital engagement tools at the stores have helped tell the products’ stories. The Edmonton flagship debuted a “Winter Simulation” in 2009, a walk-in freezer to test coats at -40ºC. Other stores have used ramps to test Mark’s Tarantula Anti-Slip technology.
But if industrial wear takes up less space on the showroom floor, White says Mark’s commercial side that sells uniforms, hospital scrubs, and protective equipment like safety glasses and anti-slip footwear has continued to grow.
Still, all the changes would have been a lot for the founder to take in, from the name to the “ladies’ sweaters” (Mark’s declined to provide numbers on its women’s business, saying only “she plays a very important role”).
Bottoms says that if Blumes could see the brand he founded today, with its 380 stores, the most surprising thing would be “the loss of reverence around the working man.”
“The sales would prove what they’ve done is right and the customer rewarded them for the shift in focus. But I think he would be disappointed by that,” Bottoms says. “Growth isn’t always the best thing. Usually it’s what kills specialty retailers. Mark’s was a specialty retailer. It still is a specialty retailer but it’s trying to be a bunch of specialty retailers under one roof. I think he would have preferred to keep it focused as a specialty retailer aimed at the working man and his family.”
But Summers interprets the evolution differently. While Blumes likely wouldn’t be thrilled about the new name, Summers says the founder would be pleased that Mark’s is still a destination store, still an innovator (it’s now focused on moisture management and temperature regulating products), and that it’s maintained the marriage between private-label and name brands.
“He might be jealous that he’s not running it,” Summers says of Blumes. “That I know for sure.”


text:
Although the fingerprints of the pandemic are visible all over the New Zealand top 100 brands ranking for 2021 (derived from our Asia's Top 1000 brands research), it's not a simple matter of some brands benefiting from the situation and other suffering, according to in-market experts.
"2020 was a tale of two narratives in New Zealand, Rory Gallery, head of strategy at Special Group New Zealand, tells Campaign Asia-Pacific. "One where we stayed at home due to the pandemic and fostered a greater appreciation for brands like UberEats, NZ Couriers and Tegel. The other defined by the desperation to get out and enjoy ourselves, which is why a utility like Booking.com is now a brand we recall with fondness."
While it must be noted that UberEats is a Special Group client, the four brands Gallery mentioned are among the highest climbers in the top 100 for 2021. Our addition of a delivery services category for the first time clearly benefitted both NZ Couriers and UberEats, but the debut of the latter brand at a lofty 13th position clearly speaks to more than just pandemic-era convenience.
|Mitre 10 MEGA||35||64||29|
“The brands that are finding deeper resonance with Kiwi audiences are the ones positioning themselves around how people live now," says Ogilvy NZ’s head of strategy, Tom Sykes."Take food as a broad example. The winning brands understand that it’s not our tastes that have changed, it’s our entire lives that have changed around eating occasions. They’re operating at the intersection of aspiration and usefulness. Emotional connection and functional satisfaction. These are the brands using their product to prove their positioning. Not the other way around.”
Other food brands making big moves up this year include frozen foods brand McCain, Kellogg's and snack-maker Eta. Supermarket Countdown and Australia-based, online-focused pharmacy retailer Chemist Warehouse also enjoyed healthy bumps.
“People are looking for brands that have the products that exist at the intersection of aspiration (does this brand reflect what I value) and utility (does it neatly complement the ecosystem of my life)," Sykes continues. "Or put another way, people are after better brand experiences. In 2021, when brands do one without the other, they’re leaving money on the table.”
Another element that can't be discounted when assessing the brands that recorded strong advances: creative advertising.
"I think there’s two key things driving success for brands today, and that’s utility and storytelling," says Stevie Weber, GM of strategy at FCB Aotearoa. "When you deliver on both, it’s a relatively unsurpassable combination. Utility is about purposefulness—not to be confused with purpose—and creating experiences that solve a need or pain point in customers' everyday lives. Lives today are full of complexities and everything can feel like such a demand on people’s time, so anything focused on ease and hyper-convenience delivers quick, meaningful wins.
She points to UberEats and home-improvement retailer Mitre 10 as examples of brands that are high on the utility scale and also use storytelling—with the right tone—to cement themselves in the minds of consumers.
"Storytelling boils down to the ability we have to entertain people, which may sound superficial, but it’s what captures and holds attention," she says. "People today are inundated with so many messages, causes, world problems, personal issues—it’s sucking up all their compassion and empathy and energy—that another overly worthy and emotional story can feel exhausting. The brands that are performing well right now manage to balance 'feel good' with an entertaining, humorous story.
Mitre 10's recent 'With you all the way' platform is a service proposition which ultimately humanizes utility, she says.
Another brand hitting the right notes is a Japanese giant that made a very impressive gain.
“Toyota, through their Hilux campaign, reassured the nation of its unwavering bond with New Zealanders through thick and thin, and made us laugh along the way,” says Gallery.
Chemist Warehouse didn't do anything too spectacular with its advertising, but stressed its proposition—value for money and friendliness—by featuring well-known figures, says Melissa Woods, director at Woods Agency, a brand consultancy.
You can't really go wrong with a member of the national rugby team as an ambassador, and in 2020-2021, the brand ran a series of ads featuring retired All Blacks player Dan Carter. His wife Honor Carter—herself a well-known sports figure from her time with the Black Sticks field-hockey team, as well as a former marketing manager at DB Breweries—has also done work with the brand. It doesn't hurt that throughout its campaigns, the brand makes use of the 1982 Madness earworm 'Our House'.
The list of brands that dropped by the most in the 2021 New Zealand top 100 is quite a mixed bag, including global brands like Dove, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo-owned snack brand Bluebird, Louis Vuitton, Palmolive and Coca-Cola, but also local brands such as chocolatier Whittakers, Fonterra-owned Anchor, Healtheries, Sanitarium and Kiwibank.
|Johnson & Johnson||116||56||-60|
|Louis Vuitton (LV)||58||30||-28|
Most of our sources declined to comment on how these brands have let consumers down. However, citizens of Aotearoa place a high value on brands that are making their nation a better place (see "Close-knit New Zealand favours brands that are part of the social fabric").
Woods says awareness of health and sustainability plays a role in many of the biggest declines. For example, she says the following about Coca-Cola: "Too much plastic packaging, horrific impact on environment that everyone knows about. Also not a health drink, there is a plethora of new drinks in this category that are tasty and have added health benefits."
The top 10
While the top three brands remain unchanged, two MNC electronics brands gained ground, with LG's three-spot ascent especially impressive. Nike also ingratiated itself with Kiwis.
Crashing out of the top 10, Kraft Heinz-owned frozen and packaged food brand Watties dropped six slots—an apparent reflection of the rise of some of the food brands mentioned above, particularly McCain, which is more or less a direct competitor.