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Heritage Auctions Archives - Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources
Bill Watterson’s original artwork from his surprise guest stint in June on Pearls Before Swine sold at auction Friday for a combined $74,040, with the proceeds going to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
According to The Associated Press, Heritage Auctions sold the three comic strips to three collectors, who wished to remain anonymous. The Dallas auction house had expected the pieces to bring in more than $30,000 combined (the June 5 strip alone went for $35,840).
The three original comic strips from Bill Watterson’s surprise guest stint last month on Pearls Before Swine will be displayed this week at Comic-Con International before they’re sold at auction Aug. 8, with proceeds benefiting The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.
The collaboration, which came at the suggestion of the Calvin and Hobbes creator, marked Watterson’s return to the comics page after a 19-year absence. Pastis teased readers that the week’s storyline would “contain a mind-blowing surprise,” but didn’t reveal what it was. Nevertheless, some fans quickly uncovered clues that some of the strips were ghost-drawn by Watterson.
The original art for the very first appearance of Wolverine sold for $657,250 on Friday — tying the highest price ever for a single piece of American comic art.
The final page of Incredible Hulk #180, as drawn by Herb Trimpe and Jack Abel, featured a final panel that saw Wolverine crashing a fight between the Hulk and the villainous Wendigo. The page sold to an anonymous collector through Heritage Auctions in Dallas.
The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has teamed with Heritage Auctions to auction original art to benefit the nonprofit organization. Although Charlie Adlard’s contribution has already been snatched up, the rest of the inaugural lot — original art by Jim Lee and Paul Pope, and a letterpress broadsheet signed by Neil Gaiman — are up for bid through Saturday.
“CBLDF’s important work on behalf of the comics industry makes them an important organization to support,” Lon Allen, Heritage’s managing director for comics and comics art, said in a statement. “We’re proud to join the artists who donated these pieces by contributing our services to help the Fund reach our bidder community. We hope to make a meaningful impact on their work protecting comics!”
Last year at Comic-Con International, comixology teamed with The Hero Initiative for an event that drew in top industry names to create The Blank Page Project, a massive jam board filled with sketches and signatures, all to benefit the nonprofit organization. One source says the mural is 10 feet by 12 feet, and another says it’s 9 feet by 13 feet. Whatever the case, it’s big, and it’s now up for auction by Heritage Auctions.
Among the contributors to the piece are Tim Bradstreet, Jeffrey Brown, Mark Buckinham, Chris Burnham, Amanda Conner, Colleen Coover, Paul Cornell, Nick Dragotta, Kevin Eastman, Ulisies Farinas, Christos Gage, Sterling Gates, Dave Gibbons, Steven Grant, Lea Hernandez, Phil Jimenez, Denis Kitchen, Ron Marz, Bill Morrison, Jerry Ordway, Jimmy Palmiotti, George Perez, Nate Powell, Norm Rapmund, Stjepan Sejic, Walt Simonson, Bruce Timm, Paul Tobin and Mark Waid.
See the full piece below. Online bidding continues through May 15; the auction will be held May 15-17 in Dallas.
Long believed lost, the original page from 1974’s The Incredible Hulk #180 featuring the first appearance of Wolverine will be auctioned in May to benefit The Hero Initiative.
The Associated Press reports that Heritage Auctions was contacted by the owner, who said he has had the page since 1983, when it was given to him by artist Herb Trimpe. The auction house describes it as “one of the most significant pieces of original comic art to ever appear on the market.”
Humanoids has announced it bought the company’s long-missing original logo, hand-drawn in 1974 by co-founder Jean “Moebius” Giraud.
The inked piece, measuring 4.25 inches by 6 inches, was purchased Friday for $6,572.50 in the same Heritage Auctions sale that featured the earliest Superman cover art known to exist.
Moebius teamed with Jean-Pierre Dionnet, Philippe Druillet and Bernard Farkas in December 1974 to form the Paris art collective Les Humanoïdes Associés in order to publish Métal Hurlant, the revolutionary sci-fi anthology that spawned several foreign versions, including the U.S. magazine Heavy Metal.
Now called simply Humanoids, the graphic novel publisher relocated it headquarters last year to Los Angeles and opened an office in Tokyo.
Moebius, the enormously influential artist whose works included The Airtight Garage, The Incal and Blueberry, died in May 2012 at age 73.
Fred Guardineer’s cover for Action Comics #15 (dated August 1939), on the fifth cover appearance of the Man of Steel, depicts the superhero aiding a distressed U.S. submarine on the ocean floor. It was purchased by Richard Evans of Bedrock City Comic Company in Houston.
“Guardineer’s cover is the earliest Superman cover art in existence, and an absolute treasure of comics history,” Ed Jaster, senior vice president of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. “A price like this shows just how much collectors covet a rarity like this.”
A prolific Golden Age writer and artist, Guardineer created Zatara, whose first appearance in Action Comics #1 was overshadowed by the debut of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s Superman.
The Feb. 20-22 auction in New York City featured more than 1,200 lots, including the second part of the Don and Maggie Thompson collection. Highlights included: a near-mint copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, which sold for $191,200; Jack Kirby and Frank Giacola’s original cover art for Tales of Suspense #84, which fetched$167,300; and R. Crumb’s original art for the three-page story “Ducks Yas Yas” from Zap Comix #0, which went for $101,575.
Legal | Artist Al Plastino has asked a New York judge to order Heritage Auctions to reveal the name of the consignor who put up for sale his original art for the 10-page story “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy.” Heritage says the sale has been canceled and the art returned to the consignor, who bought it at a Sotheby’s auction a decade ago. The JFK story was originally scheduled to run in a DC comic dated November 1963, but it was quickly pulled when Kennedy was assassinated. The story was published the following year at the request of the Johnson administration. The last panel of the comic stated the artwork was to be donated to the Kennedy Library, and Plastino believed that to be the case until this fall, when he discovered it was being put up for auction. [Reuters]
Crime | Tokyo police say they have security camera footage of a suspicious man in a mask and gloves near a convenience store where a small amount of nicotine was found in a Kuroko’s Basketball-themed snack. The snacks were recalled after 7-Eleven and other convenience store chains received threatening letters, part of a barrage of threat letters that have been sent out to venues associated with the Kuroko’s Basketball manga and anime. The amount of nicotine found in the Kuroko’s Basketball wafers was well under a lethal dose. [Anime News Network]
Creators | Newsday picks up the story of Al Plastino’s original art for the John F. Kennedy comic that was canceled when the president was assassinated, and then published a few months later at the request of the Johnson administration. Plastino, now 91, had been told the artwork would be donated to the Kennedy Library, but last month at New York Comic Con he learned that a private individual had the art and was planning to sell it through Heritage Auctions, which now says it won’t move forward until the ownership question is resolved. Copyright lawyer Dale Cendall, former DC Comics President Paul Levitz and artist Neal Adams weigh in on the case. [Newsday]
Kickstarter | In the wake of the successful Fantagraphics Kickstarter campaign, Rob Salkowitz looks at the evolution of the crowdfunding platform from a way for individual creators to connect with their audiences to a pre-sale mechanism that eliminates a lot of the risk for smaller publishers. [ICv2]
Former Superman artist Al Plastino was startled to learn his original artwork for “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy” is up for auction — and not in the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, as he had been led to believe.
According to the New York Post, Plastino was at New York Comic Con when he learned another exhibitor had the artwork, and that Heritage Auctions was scheduled to sell it (with a starting bid of $20,000 per page) on Nov. 22, the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination. Plastino, who is 91 and has prostate cancer, posted a plea for help on his Facebook page, and the comics community quickly responded with offers of legal help.
Plastino drew the story “Superman’s Mission for President Kennedy” in 1963 to promote Kennedy’s physical fitness program, as part of a collaboration between DC and the Kennedy administration. The issue was scheduled to go on sale in late November, but editors quickly pulled it and substituted other material when Kennedy was assassinated. Shortly afterward, President Lyndon Johnson’s staff asked DC to go ahead and run the story, which they did, adding a special commemorative page showing Superman saluting a ghostly image of Kennedy.
Frank Miller’s original cover for Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #2 sold at auction last week for $478,000, The Associated Press reports. Initial expectations had placed the price at more than $500,000.
Although Heritage Auctions has sold other original art from the landmark 1986 DC Comics miniseries — a page from Issue 3, featuring Batman and Robin in mid-air, fetched a record $448,125 in 2011 — this was the first cover to ever appear at auction. It’s also the only one from the four-issue series to be rendered completely in pen and ink by Miller.
A near-mint copy of 1940′s Batman #1, featuring the first appearance of Catwoman and The Joker, went for $567,625 at the same auction. A similar copy sold for $850,000 in 2012.
The record price paid at auction for a comic is held by a near-mint copy of Action Comics #1, which fetched $2.16 million in 2011.
While Heritage Auctions has sold other original art from the landmark 1986 DC Comics miniseries — a page from Issue 3, featuring Batman and Robin in mid-air, fetched a record $448,125 in 2011 — this is the first cover to ever appear at auction. It’s also the only one from the four-issue series to be rendered completely in pen and ink by Miller, “with no significant painted elements or overlays.” Heritage characterizes it as “artistically the best of the four.”
“For fans of modern comics, this drawing is where everything really begins,” Heritage Vice President Todd Hignite tells The AP.“This moment defines Miller’s Dark Knight, and the modern day perception of Batman, like no other drawing.”
The auction also includes a 9.2 graded copy of 1940’s Batman #1, which marks the first appearance of Catwoman and The Joker. A similar copy sold for $850,000 in 2012.
The record price paid at auction for a comic is held by a near-mint copy of Action Comics #1, which fetched $2.16 million in 2011. Online bidding is expected to begin July 12, with the auction held Aug. 1-3 in Dallas.
— Dave Gibbons, responding with humor to the news that his original cover art for Watchmen #1 fetched $155,350 at auction on Friday, many times what he originally sold it for. (As the artist recently noted, the covers were included in an agreement for the original pages to all 12 issues of the landmark series.) “I thought I had a great deal. At the time,” he added in response to a tweet.
The original covers for the first three issues brought a total of $216,892.50 at the New York City auction. The covers for Watchmen #4-12 are expected to be put up for sale later this year.
Vintage comics and original comic art brought in $4.4 million over the weekend during a Heritage auction in New York City, Artinfo reports. Among the bigger sales were a CGC-graded 6.5 copy of Detective Comics #27, for $567,625, and John Romita Sr.’s original cover for The Amazing Spider-Man #121, which fetched $286,800.
As we noted on Friday, Dave Gibbons’ original cover art for Watchmen #1 sold for $155,350, with the first three covers going for a combined $216,892.50. John Higgins’ color guide for the first cover was bought for $7,767.50. The remaining covers for the 12-issue landmark series are expected to go up for auction later this year.
Wired.com delves into the history of the 12 covers, which were purchased at a Sotheby’s auction in 1993 by former Wizard Publisher Gareb Shamus for what’s been reported to be in the neighborhood of $26,000. The article doesn’t repeat that figure, but it does say what was paid was “a bargain price” (for instance, Higgins’ color guide for the cover of Watchmen #1 was picked up for $50, which was then five to 10 times the usual price).


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Foreign Military Finance Seminar provides Dayton businesses with unique opportunity to sell products to Israel
21 Oct 2019
This September, Dayton area businesses were invited to participate in a Foreign Military Finance Seminar that provided businesses with an opportunity to connect with the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD) and develop a business relationship with IMOD in the process.
The relationship between Dayton’s regional businesses and the Israeli Government has been strong for several years.
“DRITA is a long-term partnership between Dayton, the Dayton Development Coalition, and Montgomery County. Its real purpose is to build business opportunities through engagement with Israel businesses and Dayton regional businesses.” - Ford Weber (City of Dayton Economic Development Director)
DRITA has a mission to help local businesses connect with Israeli Ministry of Defense representatives to provide the best locally sourced products, services, and technologies. This includes helping local businesses and vendors connect with Israeli businesses overseas to complement their needs. This not only helps the Israel Government; it also helps Dayton’s economy, as well as the U.S. economy.
“DRITA provides a lot of opportunities for local businesses. As most folks know, we live in a global economy today and the ability to easily check into that global economy and Israel is probably the biggest advantage of DRITA.” - Steve Nutt (Senior Vice President of CityWide)
Why Israel? Each year, the Israeli Government spends over two billion dollars in the United States, purchasing products and services from U.S. based companies. This leaves a lot of opportunities for Dayton region businesses to sell their services and products to the Israel Ministry of Defense. The Foreign Military Finance Seminar was organized to inform local businesses on how to do business with the Israeli government through seminars and one-on-one sessions with IMOD representatives.
Target industries of interest to IMOD included aerospace, advanced manufacturing, software and IT technology, UAS/Drones, ground-based military vehicles and systems, and defense/security.
During the seminar on September 5, 2019, local businesses learned what types of products, services, and technologies are needed by the Israel Ministry of Defense. Businesses and vendors were also walked through the easy process to become a vendor with the Israel Government. The event provided a unique opportunity for businesses to spend some one-on-one time with Israel representatives to inquire about their product needs.
Dayton’s legacy of innovation has proven that there is a great opportunity to fulfill the needs of the Israel government while helping local Dayton regional businesses.
To learn more about the Foreign Military Seminar and the collaboration between local Dayton businesses and the Israel Ministry of Defense, click here.

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With factories and showrooms all closed since the middle of March, Dennis Automotive’s #GetBritainMovingAgain campaign aims to support the entire UK car industry by raising awareness of the cars and offers available to consumers as manufacturers and dealers start to think about re-opening.
Dennis Automotive’s brands will be making advertising space – across print, digital and social platforms - available to manufacturers free of charge during the month of May, for a message of their choice. The adverts will all feature the #GetBritainMovingAgain campaign logo, while existing advertisers will be offered the chance to amplify their messages at no extra cost. In total, advertising space worth more than £1million will be made available to the industry, say the publishers.
Editorial director of Dennis Automotive, Steve Fowler, commented: “The UK car industry is worth more than £80billion and employs more than 800,000 people, many of whom have been badly affected emotionally and financially during this crisis.
“We want to do something to support the industry and everyone who works in it by raising awareness of the incredible cars and the incredible deals that will be out there as and when the time is right to go car shopping once more.”
Car makers will be approached by Dennis Automotive’s sales team, offering them advertising space as they usually do, but this time without asking for any payment.
Speaking about the #GetBritainMovingCampaign, SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes commented: “A strong car market is fundamental to a healthy economy so we welcome this initiative and its support for this important sector.
“Mobility is crucial to our everyday lives so we need to see showrooms in the first wave of retail re-openings to drive manufacturing and economic recovery. When the time is right, manufacturers and dealers will be ready to help the UK get back to business and society moving once again.”


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The Variety Club facility at 6114 Broadway in Lancaster is the new home of the monthly sports card show presented by Bases Loaded Sports Collectibles and Bruce Brummitt Sportscards. The next event will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15.
The sports card and memorabilia show, which previously took place at the Leonard Post in Cheektowaga, is held from 3 to 8 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month.
Several vendors will take part in the event, and additional vendor tables are still available. All room rental fees will benefit Variety Club Charities.
For more information, please contact Jeff Szczesek at Bases Loaded Sports Collectibles in Cheektowaga at 656-0066 or firstname.lastname@example.org, or Bruce Brummitt at 649-2050.


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United Parcel Service Inc. UPS +0.08% United Parcel Service Inc. Cl B U.S.: NYSE $100.95 +0.08 +0.08% Dec. 12, 2013 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.29M AFTER HOURS $100.31 -0.64 -0.63% Dec. 12, 2013 7:22 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 15,615 P/E Ratio 64.30 Market Cap $93.64 Billion Dividend Yield 2.46% Rev. per Employee $137,955 12/09/13 Retailers Turn Store Clerks In... 12/02/13 A Bad Thanksgiving Weekend for... 11/24/13 Companies Prepare to Pass More... More quote details and news » said China's economic slowdown and sluggish conditions in Europe could restrain growth this year, though strong ecommerce shipments in the U.S. helped drive forecast-beating first-quarter profits.
Atlanta-based UPS and rivals including FedEx Corp. FDX -0.12% FedEx Corp. U.S.: NYSE $136.34 -0.17 -0.12% Dec. 12, 2013 4:03 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1.79M AFTER HOURS $136.33 -0.01 -0.01% Dec. 12, 2013 4:54 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 5,027 P/E Ratio 27.11 Market Cap $43.22 Billion Dividend Yield 0.44% Rev. per Employee $277,032 12/09/13 Retailers Turn Store Clerks In... 11/22/13 FedEx Settles Suit Alleging Ov... 11/15/13 Postal Service Records Seventh... More quote details and news » have wrestled with soft demand for Asian exports to the U.S. and Europe and competition from ocean shippers, spurring them to reduce flights to and from the region.
Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn said Thursday that "uncertainty has increased" in Asia in the wake of a relatively strong fourth quarter that spurred optimism that conditions were on an upswing. The region's economy "appears to have slowed a bit" now, he said.
He said in an interview that UPS is still seeing "decent growth" for small package shipments from Asia to both the U.S. and Europe but is concerned about it slackening.
UPS cut its first-quarter capacity on its Asia routes by 10% from a year ago, he said, with flying down 20% compared with two years ago.
The company's Asian export volume climbed 8% in the first quarter from the year-ago period, compared with a "midteens" percentage growth rate in the fourth quarter. Seasonal factors contributed to the sequential growth-rate decline, the company said.
Export volume growth out of Asia turned positive in the third quarter for the first time in several quarters.
U.S. domestic volume climbed 4.4% in the first-quarter quarter, buoyed by what UPS called a strong postholiday shopping spree by online consumers in January.
The company maintained its previous forecast for U.S. gross domestic product to rise 2% this year, with Mr. Kuehn describing the nation's economy to be "stable, if unexciting." UPS also reiterated its overall forecast for full-year profit growth.
UPS, FedEx and other big shippers are viewed as economic bellwethers because they transport everything from financial documents and pharmaceuticals to auto parts and electronic devices.
UPS said its first-quarter U.S. package revenue increased 3.4% as the unit's operating profit rose 9%. In the international-package segment, revenue was roughly flat while profit slid 14%. Average volume per day was up 1.8%.
The company said Europe daily exports grew about 3%, while U.S. exports expanded slightly.
UPS profits of $1.04 billion for the quarter compared with $970 million a year earlier, with per-share earnings rising to $1.08 from $1. The results included an after-tax gain of $36 million related to its failed acquisition of Dutch rival TNT Express TNTE.AE -1.68% TNT Express N.V. Netherlands: Amsterdam €6.14 -0.10 -1.68% Dec. 12, 2013 5:35 pm Volume : 2.77M P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap €3.40 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee €97,380.1 More quote details and news » NV. Excluding one-time items, per-share earnings were $1.04 and revenue rose 2.3% to $13.43 billion.
Separately, UPS said it would buy Hungary-based pharmaceutical-logistics company Cemelog Zrt for an undisclosed amount in a deal to strengthen its health-care business in Europe, giving it access to the increasingly important markets of Central and Eastern Europe.
FedEx has also made a series of bolt-on deals in Europe to expand its presence in competition with TNT and the DHL unit of Deutsche Post AG DPW.XE -0.02% Deutsche Post AG Germany: Xetra €24.89 -0.01 -0.02% Dec. 12, 2013 5:35 pm Volume : 3.56M P/E Ratio 16.17 Market Cap €30.10 Billion Dividend Yield 2.81% Rev. per Employee €116,480 12/09/13 Deutsche Post Tests Drone Deli... 11/20/13 EU Takes Germany to Court Over... 10/02/13 DHL Exec: Shutdown is Tougher ... More quote details and news » .
contributed to this article.
Write to Bob Sechler at email@example.com


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Honda announced it is bringing the CRF250M supermoto to Europe. We first heard about the supermoto version of the CRF250L in January, when it was announced for Thailand. Though nothing official was said, it seemed likely at the time Honda would introduce the CRF250M to other markets. American Honda has not yet announced whether it […]
2013 Honda CBR250R Gets Repsol Edition
American Honda announced a number of returning 2013 models with new color options but the most eye-catching of the new paint jobs is the Repsol-edition CBR250R.
Dressed to resemble Casey Stoner‘s and Dani Pedrosa‘s Honda RC213V MotoGP race bikes, the 2013 Repsol edition Honda CBR250R sports the Spanish petroleum company’s orange with red and white colors, the Honda Racing Corporation logo and the “One Heart” motto of Honda’s Indonesian joint venture which also sponsors the MotoGP team. Completing the look are the Repsol-orange wheels.
In addition to the Repsol edition, the 2013 CBR250R will also be available in either a Pearl White, Blue and Red version or Black or Red. All versions except the Repsol version will be available with ABS.
All models receive a new black exhaust cover while the non-Repsol versions also get black wheels.
The 2013 model is otherwise unchanged from last year. It is still powered by the fuel-injected 249cc DOHC single-cylinder engine that will also be powering the all-new 2013 Honda CRF250L. Pricing and availability have yet to be announced.


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As consumers cling to wallets, some analysts say it's permanent
The New Normal.
It's a phrase used in recent months by analysts who see slower growth and lower expectations for business for years to come.
But other observers reject that, saying the U.S. will see a strong recovery with few lingering effects from the recession. They point to the stock market's rebound as justification of that optimism.
What they do agree on is that this year's Christmas sales will be an early signpost for the future.
So far, it's been a tough year for retailers. People largely stopped buying in the spring and summer, but local shop owners are reporting that people are starting to relax a bit.
Dawson Grimsley, chief executive of Wichita's Davis-Moore Auto Group, has his own barometer of buyer anxiety: He sold two 425-horsepower Dodge Challengers one day last week.
That tells him there are a few people out there who aren't worried about the economy anymore.
As for the rest, it will take time, he said, but they will be back.
"It will take time to be back to normal," Grimsley said. "But when it does get back to normal, they will buy - they love cars, they love clothes, they love to eat out."
Consumer confidence really is hanging in the balance, said Michael Stead, Bank of the West's head economist and director of capital markets.
Overall, he's fairly optimistic that most indicators are moving up and that unemployment will start dropping soon.
But, he said, consumer spending is 70 percent of the economy. How much people spend this Christmas could say a lot about how the nation recovers next year.
"If I see another drop this Christmas, it will mean consumers are getting their debt levels down, and that puts a little damper on economic growth. ... My hope is that if we come in flat versus '08, we will continue to move forward in a reasonable manner."
One cannot make a prediction focusing only on today, this month, and next year. A new consumer generation is created with every college graduation. That means, every year. While the party might seem to be over, it cannot be an absolute analysis. The next boom cycle might be just around the corner. This could still be no more than a momentum contraction in consumption triggered by a recession. I'm not very optimistic, but just suggesting that at a slightest sign of prosperity - those who can might jump on the affordable opportunities presented to them by the recent slump.


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Cold weather hits 'super Saturday' Christmas shopping
There has been a sharp drop in the number of people at the shops as a result of the heavy snow, figures show.
Retail researchers Synovate found footfall across the UK on Saturday was down 24.3% compared with 2009.
The worst affected areas were the West Midlands and South East, down 30% year-on-year, with Scotland, badly hit the previous Saturday, down 4%.
The survey is based on a sample of 6,000 retail outlets, excluding supermarkets.
Synovate said that it expected numbers to increase on Sunday and beyond if there was no new major snowfall.
The worst affected regions were: West Midlands, down 33.1%; South East England, down 32%; London, down 28.6%.
The least affected regions were: East Midlands, down 3.1%; North East England, down 3.2%; Scotland, down 4.2%.
Comparing Saturday 18 December with the previous Saturday, Synovate said shoppers were down 20.5% overall.
Retailers reported a mixed picture on so-called super-Saturday, the name given to the last Saturday before Christmas.
The Brent Cross shopping centre in north London closed its doors early on safety grounds as wintry showers hit the capital.
But in Manchester's Trafford Centre, more than 20 tons of grit was used across the 150-acre site over 24 hours to make the roads and car parks accessible.
Retailers were reporting "buoyant" trade, director of operations Gordon McKinnon said.
On Sunday, John Lewis said sales at its 32 department stores across the UK were up 7% on a year ago at £120.3m for the seven days to Saturday, although they dipped slightly from the previous week's record.
The group's Waitrose supermarkets were also hit by the weather, with Saturday's sales down 11% on last year, although turnover for the week at £131m was up on 2009.
Meanwhile, thousands of extra postal deliveries were made on Sunday, and Royal Mail is starting evening deliveries to help clear the backlog caused by the bad weather.
Royal Mail said that it expects to make up to 14,000 extra delivery rounds, weather permitting, over the next four evenings.
Around two million homes should receive an evening delivery this week, the organisation said.


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NTB homework on internal tourism
KATHMANDU: Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) will start research and compile domestic tourism statistics that will reflect a true picture of the tourism industry. The research will be first of its kind as till date there is no such research done on domestic tourism industry, said Kashi Raj Bhandari, director of planning and monitoring at NTB.
One can get indication data from Tourism Satellite Accounting (TSA) annually but for an exact picture of the tourism industry, the overall data after research on domestic tourism will help make exact evaluation.
“To retrieve data and statistics about domestic tourism, NTB will start household surveys from Kathmandu, Pokhara and Chitwan regarding the domestic tourist scenario,” said Bhandari. He added that there is no statistical data on total domestic tourist movement in the country. “NTB is also trying to recognise domestic tourists as tourists in the Tourism Master Plan that will be prepared,” said nformed Bhandari. There are a number of destinations that are mainly visited by domestic tourists, not foreigners. “We will start data collection and do research on domestic tourism. We are hopeful of compiling the data by the end of the present fiscal year,” Bhandari added. Amongst the four main aims of Nepal Tourism Year 2011, development and promotion of domestic tourism is a priority.
Giving the example of New Zealand, Bhandari said that in the TSA report of New Zealand the tourism industry was worth $18 billion of which domestic tourism’s worth comprised $10 billion. “We are doing groundwork and will appoint researchers who will do research on domestic tourism,” he said.
According Emery Express Travels managing director Pramod Kumar Shrestha, there is no age barrier in domestic tourism. However, it is mainly the teenagers and students who travel as per school curriculum. Emery Express Travels has been working since 12 years on selling domestic holiday packages promoting internal tourism.
Shrestha said nowadays there is growth in domestic tourism. Major destinations for domestic tourists are Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan, Lumbini, Palpa, Makwanpur, Nagarkot and Dhulikhel. On an average, about 50,000 to 60,000 domestic tourists travel annually to Pokhara and Chitwan, Shrestha said. He added that private travel and tour operators should focus on promotion of domestic tourism with affordable domestic tour packages.
Domestic tourism, also called internal tourism, consists of staying in one’s own country but visiting a different city that one does not live in.
Not only foreign tourists, even many internal tourists also prefer to stay in the comfort of a homely environment away from the hustle-bustle of city life. The desire for such holidays has given rise to the concept of domestic tourism.


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The Chinese are becoming more and more fond of purchasing organic produce--but not so much for the health benefits but because it can help them hopefully avoid tainted foods.
With the passage of the Dodd-Frank legislation last year, U.S. electronics companies had to ensure their supply chains didn't include minerals produced in conflict mines. It's provided an opening for China, but it's also caused the Congolese government to make changes.
With the European Union agreeing to a plan to bolster the EuroZone and hopefully avoid massive economic meltdown, question turns to what does this deal really mean?
As the costs of doing business in China rise — both explicit and implied — analysts are suggesting more companies look at manufacturing back home in the United States.
Much of the actual construction of San Francisco's new Bay Bridge was actually done in China. The bridge was then shipped to San Francisco for assembly.
China has opened more than 300 Confucius Institutes around the globe, 21 of them in Africa, as they try to reform their image and build cultural ties with people all over the world.
The Chinese government issued $30 billion in credit last year to its top solar companies, more than 15 times what the US government provided to American solar manufacturers.
A proposed bill before the US Senate puts duties on goods from China that the US deems artificially cheap -- China says passage of the bill would trigger a trade war.
China's investment in Africa is vast and growing, but in Zambia many are critical of China's approach and are concerned that they're not benefiting from investments.
As Europe searches for a way out of the current financial crisis, some are looking to China. But any deal would come with strings attached.


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ValuEngine upgraded shares of HNI (NYSE:HNI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, July 25th.
Separately, Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of HNI from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. HNI presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $42.00.
Shares of HNI opened at $43.26 on Wednesday, according to MarketBeat.com. HNI has a 52 week low of $31.16 and a 52 week high of $45.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.96 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.23.
HNI (NYSE:HNI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.10. HNI had a net margin of 4.13% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company had revenue of $543.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $525.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. equities research analysts expect that HNI will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.295 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 16th. This represents a $1.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. HNI’s payout ratio is currently 59.90%.
In related news, CEO Stanley A. Askren sold 32,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.64, for a total value of $1,198,567.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 264,028 shares in the company, valued at $9,673,985.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Miguel M. Calado sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.56, for a total transaction of $42,560.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 67,547 shares of company stock worth $2,510,219. Insiders own 5.16% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in HNI by 9.2% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,558,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,252,000 after buying an additional 131,086 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in HNI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,863,000. Vident Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in HNI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of HNI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,061,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of HNI by 63.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 216,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,349,000 after purchasing an additional 83,889 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.
HNI Corporation manufactures and sells office furniture and hearth products in the United States, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Dubai, and Taiwan. The company's Office Furniture segment offers a range of metal and wood commercial and home office furniture, which include storage products, desks, credenzas, chairs, tables, bookcases, freestanding office partitions and panel systems, and other related products under the HON, Allsteel, Maxon, Gunlocke, HBF, OFM, basyx by HON, Lamex, and HNI India brands.
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Smart home appliances could become more common thanks to efforts by major companies including Lowe’s and Staples to make gadgets compatible.
Sunglasses made with nanoscale optical technology hint at a near future of inconspicuous head-mounted displays.
IBM says it will invest $1 billion in the computer system that won on Jeopardy! but has stumbled so far in the real world.
Companies have figured out that a smart watch can’t just be functional; it has to look good, too.
Typing in passwords on tablets and PCs could become a thing of the past.
A book-sized computer capable of driving a car could help the technology reach the mass market.
Controlled with gestures, these depth-sensing devices will appear in the second half of 2014.
Accessory promises gamers more realistic interactions with virtual characters.


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We all know that Australians are making big strides in providing true freedom to their citizens with regards to online casinos and gambling. This is great news for the local Aussie who wants to play a little online pokies for real money. We believe that online gambling has received a bad name for no good reason. Many companies out there are using the same techniques to create the same brain response in their games but they extract money from their clients through in-game purchases. At least at an online casino someone knows what they are getting themselves into before they sign up. These games that induce a GABA response and then ask their players for money without advertising ahead of time with warnings that money is requested of their players are just taking money from their clients through a back door. When you enter an online casino you know exactly what you are getting yourself into. Casinos make it very clear they are there for entertainment purposes only. There are very few big winners. A few hundred reals of online pokies (real money) roughly costs a player the amount of a movie ticket. On average it is cheaper to play online pokies than to go to your local arcade. While Australia is one of the most open countries to online gambling there are still those in government that would shut it down all together. While we believe in moderate regulation, completely banning a pastime that is already extremely popular in the country would drive people to risky unregulated businesses. The Australian Betting Organization at is a perfect example of an organization that balances the rights of people to gamble online, tries to help those who don’t have self control of their pastime, and follows Australias gambling laws. They have a great page about online pokies (real money) at http://www.australianbetting.org/gambling-online/online-pokies/.
There needs to be a balance. There shouldn’t be too many restrictions make on online casinos, bookmakers, and other online gambling companies throughout Australia. If too many restrictions occur that don’t provide an actual benefit to the citizens the industry will quickly go rogue. You’ll notice that rogue casinos already exist throughout the world and it is because the governments have made a market for them. Are we not already familiar what occurs with prohibition? It’s frustrating to see people who are so bent on their crusade that they end up hurting the people they pretend to protect.


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Wine Institute to spend $10M on “global branding” campaign
- Chris Rauber
The San Francisco-based Wine Institute, which represents more than 1,000 wineries and ancillary businesses, is spending $10 million worldwide to boost California’s global wine brand.
The Discover California Wines campaign includes a new “California Wines” logo, and will primarily target overseas markets “where we have active export marketing programs,” according to Wine Institute communications director Nancy Light.
It features images of “iconic” California landmarks, rural vistas, “seasonal cuisine” and active lifestyles to promote the Golden State’s wine wares to much of the globe. Examples include shots of the Golden Gate Bridge, Napa Valley, Sonoma County and Livermore Valley vineyards and wineries, whales, golf courses, weed-eating sheep and, of course, grapes, grapes, grapes.
The Institute oversees an export program that has marketing efforts in 27 nations and ships to 150 countries. All told, California is the world’s fourth largest wine producer, the Institute said, contributing 90 percent of U.S. wine exports.
Those exports totaled $912 million in 2009, and could reach $2 billion by 2022, said Robert Koch, the Wine Institute’s president and CEO. Or at least that's the Wine Institute's goal.
The Discover California Wines campaign will include international print ads, point of sale materials, wine region maps, trade show displays, a video presentation and a yet-to-be-launched digital/social media component, the Institute's Light says, with those tools made available for California wineries, importers, retailers and restaurateurs that want to participate.
Elements of the new branding campaign will debut at international wine trade shows such as Prowein, the London International Wine Fair, and Vinexpo, as well as California Wine Fairs in Canada and the California Wines European Spring Tour.
Chris Rauber covers health care, insurance and the wine industry for the San Francisco Business Times.
Contact him at email@example.com or (415) 288-4946.
Read his blog postings at Bay Area BizTalk.
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Europe’s beauty platform Douglas generated sales of 644 million euros in the third quarter, or a gain of 16.8 percent like-for-like. The company said, it was the first time that Douglas had boosted its quarterly sales on a like-for-like basis since the end of 2019 – the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In e-commerce, Douglas generated sales of 268 million euros, an increase of around 20 percent. The Group’s share of online sales from April to June totalled 42 percent. In Germany, the figure climbed to 69 percent.
Commenting on the third quarter trading, Tina Müller, CEO of the Douglas Group, said: “We are continuing to devote our full attention to the ongoing expansion of our e-commerce business. At the same time, we are delighted with how well our store business has bounced back since June.”
Online business boosts Q3 growth
Douglas is also focusing on a strong presence in Europe’s metropolitan regions. Stores in these major areas are being further upgraded, offering more advice, providing aesthetic and medical treatments, and offering spa-like experiences. In Düsseldorf, Douglas will be investing in two large-scale stores with special concepts and offers.
The company added that sales from store business in Europe climbed by 14.8 percent to 374 million euros on a like-for-like basis, suggesting a positive trend if the entire store network is allowed to remain open in the coming months.
In Germany, Douglas’ key core market, stores were allowed to open in June after being shut completely in April and May. Due to the continuing boom in e-commerce that fuelled an increase in sales of 18.6 percent to around 153 million euros, the overall decline in sales suffered by the company’s business in Germany totalled 3.5 percent to more than 221 million euros.
In France, ecommerce business generated a gain of 85.7 percent to 39 million euros.. This performance was complemented by continued gains in market share in France, Italy and Germany.
EBITDA for the quarter totalled 24 million euros, around 10 percent below the previous year’s level.


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2022 may be the biggest year so far for the Apple Watch since the original was shown in 2014, and released in 2015, Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman stated in his Power On newsletter on 27 February 2022.
This year Gurman thinks Apple has no less than three models in store for us, coming in autumn 2022:
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch SE, updated model
- A new Apple Watch “aimed at extreme sports”
As for the Apple Watch Series 3, which was first introduced in 2017 and thus turns five this year, it “May finally be retired”, according to Gurman.
This isn’t the first time Gurman has predicted three new watches – he also suggested that there would be three new Apple Watch models including one for extreme athletes in a PowerOn newsletter in December 2021. And Gurman has been discussing the robust, shock-resistant Apple Watch Sport in development at Apple since March 2021.
Nor is Gurman the only industry expert expecting an assortment of new Apple Watches. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also indicated in a note to investors in December 2021 that we will not only see the Apple Watch Series 8, but also a completely new Apple Watch model for extreme sports.
“The new Apple Watch in 2H22 includes Apple Watch 8, the new Apple Watch SE, and the extreme sports version,” wrote Kuo in that investor note on 8 December 2021.
Plans for Apple Watch 8
Gurman’s 27 February 2022 newsletter adds more details about what to expect from the Apple Watch 8 though. He says that this will be the “biggest update since the launch of the first Apple Watch.” Gurman does not expect any major changes in terms of which health sensors will come in the Series 8, but he notes that there may be a body temperature sensor. Major updates are expected in terms of how the watch tracks activities, as well as faster chips across the board.
According to Gurman, new, more powerful chips will also be installed. Thanks to this a large leap in performance is likely.
There are also rumours of sensors to measure blood sugar levels and a new design similar to the current iPhone models. We may also see a slightly larger watch in addition to the 41mm and 45mm models.
Read all the information about the 2022 Apple Watch.


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Voluntary Recall of Millions of Glucose Test Strips
On July 31, 2013, the FDA announced a voluntary recall of Nova Max Glucose Test Strips. It is estimated that approximately 62 million strips may be affected and are marketed under the brand names Nova Max Blood Glucose Test Strips and Nova Max Plus Glucose Meter Kits. The test strips, manufactured between December 2011 and April 2013, were contaminated with a chemical during the manufacturing process. This chemical causes false readings indicating a false, abnormally high blood glucose level. This could result in an insulin dosing error and the user will need immediate medical attention. “It is important that patients using these test strips discontinue their use immediately,” stated Alberto Gutierrez from the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. He further stated that a false reading could result in patient harm and delay in critical care. The strips are sold in retail stores an online to customers. The FDA is working with Nova to further investigate the problem and prevent future recurrence.
Manufacturers who are faced with recalls of this nature should work vigorously to inform the public, retailers and doctors to reduce the risk for future injury. From a litigation perspective, responding proactively and cooperating with the FDA will also help counter any potential claim for punitive damages. Moreover, getting the product off the market will reduce any potential plaintiff pool in what may very well be a multi-district litigation for people claiming injuries in connection with recalled products. Personal injury lawyers are already advertising on the internet for people who may have been injured through use of Nova Max Glucose Test Strips. Lastly, engaging science counsel at the outset to start developing the scientific and medical issues will allow the company to better assess, defend and resolve what could be a substantial number of claims.
More information available, click here


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Jack Mallers: Bitcoin Is Hope For Humanity
Zap CEO Jack Mallers believes Bitcoin is ‘the biggest thing that’s ever happened’ and ‘ultimately hope for humanity.’
Mallers who launched payments processor Strike, which recently announced it was partnering with Carolina Panthers star Russell Okung to process half of his $13 million NFL salary in Bitcoin (BTC).
Jack Mallers was speaking on tech news national broadcaster Cheddar, when the developer eloquently emphasized the merits of Bitcoin, claiming it’s set to usher in one of the greatest wealth transfers of all time.
‘I think Bitcoin is going to continue to make headlines,’ stressed Mallers. ‘It’s the biggest thing that’s ever happened while any of us have been alive. It’s a transformative technology and it’s ushering in one of the greatest wealth transfers of all time. And it’s ultimately hope for humanity.’
Mallers, who recently made the Forbes Under 30 class of 2021, spoke about Okung’s demand to be ‘paid in Bitcoin’, which the young developer pointed out inflation’s debilitating effect on anyone keeping their earnings in cash.
‘I think the real point is that the average individual is operating their life at a loss due to the rapid asset inflation here in the United States and all over the world. And inflation now is 15 to 20 percent. And if you’re not getting a 20 percent raise every single year, you’re operating your life at a loss.’
What Is Strike By Zap?
Strike enables its customers to send and receive money instantly with zero fees anywhere in the world. The payment firm recently launched its payday application which is the technology being used to process half of Russell Okung’s salary into Bitcoin.
Once it is fully rolled out it will allow users to make Bitcoin payments with US dollars, receive Bitcoin payments as US dollars, and process US dollar payroll as Bitcoin, and Mallers says the aim is to take the application globally.
Because it is built on Bitcoin and Lightning Network, it can do anything in the payment and finance space, cheaper and faster and more global than anything else.
Strike is available for iPhone, Android and Chrome and is one of the highest-rated financial apps on the App Store and Play Store.
Why Russell Okung Demanded To Be ‘Paid In Bitcoin’
The news that Russell Okung will earn half his salary in Bitcoin made headlines around the world. It has been an on going struggle for the Carolina Panthers star who sees Bitcoin as the safest place to park his hard earned salary.
Whether the Bitcoin price is at an all-time high, crashes 50% or goes to $1 million, Okung will automatically receive half of his salary in Bitcoin, because he sees it as the safest place to store his wealth.
To be clear, the Carolina Panthers franchise is not paying him in Bitcoin. Further, the NFL has dissociated itself from the announcement, but that is expected from a closed oligarchy of grey haired billionaires.
But why doesn’t Russell Okung just buy property, gold, stocks or bonds even?
Well, $6.5 million of his salary will remain in US dollars, and being a shrewd investor, the NFL star will no doubt invest it in other assets, but the fact that he’s opting to keep 50% in Bitcoin is telling.
And while gold is clearly less volatile and more “respected”, it lacks in many features necessary for money. How do you spend gold coins on small purchases?
Gold’s divisibility lacks Bitcoin’s among many other features, such as portability, trust, and even scarcity, and it’s clear in the digital age that Bitcoin is better than gold in almost every way.
Property is a good investment, but anyone buying properties to store wealth, can only live in one at a time. They have taxes, upkeep and security to pay on the others, so as an investment and store of value Bitcoin beats property.
As we know, stocks have been inflated by the printing press of the Federal Reserve, and who can stop the likes of Apple, Microsoft and any other company just printing more stocks? Nobody can, it’s standard policy.
Bonds? Why would any intelligent human being invest in something that guarantees a loss? Bonds are finished until interest rates rise, and that won’t be for a long time.
Bitcoin is seen as a peaceful protest, and Russell Okung realizes how we are all being shafted by the Fed’s monetary policy. So really, the NFL star’s decision to be paid in Bitcoin is actually the most logical.
Jack Mallers: Bitcoin’s Monetary Policy Is Set In Stone
The idea that Bitcoin being so “volatile” and not a reasonable option as a store of value was quickly shot down by Zap CEO Jack Mallers in the interview, who preferred to discuss the merits of Bitcoin’s monetary policy.
‘The volatility implied with Bitcoin is not as volatile as people say. The reason it’s appealing is because its monetary policy has been set in stone ever since its existence. It’s a network that you can trust and rely on. It’s an asset that cannot be inflated, said the Zap CEO’
‘I don’t care who you are, who you know, how strong you are. You will never be able to make another Bitcoin ever. And that is reliable and that’s a place to store your wealth.’
Russell Okung’s decision to be paid in Bitcoin is clearly the best decision he could make for his future. Bitcoin is the best and most secure network ever created, and it’s main application is hard money, which offers the perfect store of value.
And it is programmable money that allows for transactions without expensive third parties. Something Jack Mallers is taking advantage of and with it: giving ‘hope for humanity’.


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Korea-based Youngone Corporation, Welspun group and Gujarat-based Nandan Denim of Chiripal group have proposed to invest about Rs 2,450 crore in the newly inaugurated Kakatiya textile park in Warangal, among others.
Korea-based Youngone Corporation, Welspun group and Gujarat-based Nandan Denim of Chiripal group have proposed to invest about Rs 2,450 crore in the newly inaugurated Kakatiya textile park in Warangal, among others. While the Korean company has proposed to invest about Rs 1,000 crore, Welspun and Nandan Denim will be investing Rs 750 crore and Rs 700 crore, respectively. The state government has signed memorandum of understanding (MoUs) with 13 companies, which are going to invest in the Kakatiya Mega Textile Park, Warangal. These companies are going to invest a total of Rs 3,020 crore in the textile park. The investments will create 22,350 jobs through direct employment and 66,000 jobs indirectly.
Claimed to be the country’s largest textile park, the park is betting on the fibre-to-fashion concept. It is spread across 1,200 acres in its first phase and in total, 2000 acres at Shayampet, Chintapalli village. The park has plug-and-play factory sheds for production of clothes. An advanced level testing laboratory will be set up in the park. To control the pollution levels, the textile park will ensure zero liquid discharge facilities.
The companies which signed MoUs with the Telangana government include Suryavansi Spinning, Surya Uday Spinning Mills, Srinath Spinning Mills, Urbaknitt Fabs, Shivani Group, Ginni Filaments, The Swayamwar, Welspun Group, Yougone Corporation (overseas), Gokaldas Images, Nandan Denim (Chirpal Group), Shahi Exports, Jaycot Industries and GK Threads.
Meanwhile, eight other companies — Suryalatha Spinning Mills, Seetharam Textiles, Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills, Sri Ram Spinning Mills, GMR Spintex, Vijayalaxmi Spitex, Ashtalaksmi Spinning Mill and GTN Industries — have also signed MoUs to invest Rs 380 crore in other districts of Telangana. These eight companies are expected to create 1,450 jobs.


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Spanish banking group BBVA has added new functions to its mobile payment system by launching a new app that acts as a remote control for cards.
The app enables users to control the spending on each card, limit its use to ecommerce or take money out of an ATM, as well as temporarily block it if it is lost or reactivate it when the user finds it.
With this new version of BBVA Wallet, customers can turn the cards on or off based on their specific needs at any given time.It also provides users total control over their transactions, allowing them to set up alerts as well as allow them to manage their cards efficiently via smartphone.
Customers can also set up and limit the use of each card or even deactivate the card in the case of a trip abroad. The app provides customers with greater security and allows them to manage credit card transactions and make mobile payments via smartphone.
BBVA global payments systems head Mehmet Sezgin said: "The new version of BBVA Wallet turns our customers’ smartphones into a remote control to do whatever they want with each one of their cards.
"Personalizing cards up to now never meant more than choosing a photo to decorate them, but now BBVA’s customers have the ability to set up their own cards, cancel them and modify each one to meet their needs and circumstances," added Sezgin.
BBVA Wallet has achieved more than 570,000 downloads in Spain. The new app has been launched in Chile this year, with plans for roll out in other regions, such as the US and Mexico, shortly.


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Turbo Energy increases exports in the Italian and Moroccan photovoltaic markets thanks to Impretek and Solam
Turbo Energy, a leading manufacturer of residential self-consumption products with artificial intelligence, is accelerating its international expansion plan in the Italian and Moroccan markets with the help of specialised distributors Impretek and Solam.
The commercial alliance between Impretek and Turbo Energy, for the Italian market, aims to consolidate the penetration of the products in the country and boost sales of SunBox, the Spanish brand’s flagship plug&play product with artificial intelligence. Manuel Cercós, Business Development Manager of Turbo Energy, said that “despite having a strong presence in Italy, signing this alliance strengthens us as an option to take into account for the residential photovoltaic market with storage in the transalpine country”.
The Moroccan market has been entrusted to Solam due to its high geographical coverage, as well as its high technical support capacity. “We are grateful to Solam for the opportunity to grow together at a very interesting time for photovoltaics in Morocco. Our entire range of products and, in particular, the SunBox range have all the certifications required to legalise residential self-consumption installations in this country,” adds Manuel Cercós.
In line with its strategy, Turbo Energy is carrying out an ambitious international expansion plan that is currently allowing it to be present in seven countries. This agreement is undoubtedly a further step in its commitment to growth abroad.


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City will step out at Wembley in their claret and amber hoops.
The Bantams have confirmed that they will face Swansea in the Capital One Cup final wearing their home shirts.
A decision has to be made on shorts and socks but both are expected to be black to match the walk-out tops they will wear on to the pitch. That will mirror the colours originally worn by Manningham when the club were founded.
City scrapped plans for a special kit for the February 24 showpiece because the only design that producers Nike could offer in time was a standard all-claret outfit.
But fans will not be able to stock up with more replica shirts to take to Wembley because the original stock made for the club is running low following the unexpected heavy demand.
Director of operations David Baldwin said: “We asked Nike to produce a claret and amber specific shirt for us this season.
“The retailers Prosport had to place an order at the beginning of the season with a further one in the run-up to Christmas.
“Nobody could have foreseen the season that we’ve had. We’re in a position now where we’ve sold more shirts than ever and pretty much up to the semi-finals had done well on the stock levels.
“But what you can’t account for as a League Two club is a cup final at Wembley. There is no way more shirts could be manufactured and produced in time.”
City canvassed fans’ opinion over the weekend to decide whether they would prefer to switch to a new plain claret kit specifically for Wembley. But the response was a resounding thumbs down.
Baldwin said: “I wanted the fans to have their say. Either stick with traditional colours but be disappointed we can’t sell any more replica shirts or get stock kit shipped in but it was just plain claret?
“There was initially a big demand for a commemorative kit. But when people were aware of the options, it was very evident that when our players walk out on that pitch, the traditional claret and amber shirt is the key thing.
“Yes, we want our home shirt and we’d love to have more to sell. But we’re not just going to put out another shirt for commercial gain.”
The Football League will decide on other kit changes, with both Swansea and City wearing white shorts and socks.
Baldwin said: “For us, it’s much less of a compromise to change and it’s still a very impacted kit if we wear claret and amber, black shorts and black shorts.
“When you take into consideration that the players could be wearing black tops to walk out on the pitch, then it is a very strong look.”


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Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement ratification expedited
Some pending issues around the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement are being settled to ensure that the deal will be ratified early next year.
Participants at an EVFTA workshop in Brussels, September 7th, 2017.
The Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) is being struck with bilateral relations between Vietnam and the EU developing well, especially in economics and trade.
Under the agreement, the two sides will remove more than 99% of tariff lines and offer customs quotas or tariff reductions for other products.
The strong commitment to opening their markets is considered one of the agreement’s breakthroughs, particularly enhancing Vietnam-EU trade relations in garments, textiles, footwear, agricultural products, machinery, equipment, automobiles, and some EU farm produce.
The agreement will also create new market access opportunities in services and investment. Vietnam has agreed to a liberalization of trade in financial services, telecommunications, and postal and courier services. Vietnam will also remove or cut production restrictions in food, beverage, and non-food sectors for EU businesses.
With commitments to secure a more open investment and business environment, the deal will increase investment flows from the EU and other partners to Vietnam.
This could make Vietnam a transit hub connecting EU trade and investment activities to Southeast Asia.
Alann Bouvot, CEO of SODEX Sport Vietnam, which has done business in Nha Trang City since 1991, said “I’m quite optimistic about Vietnam’s investment environment. I have witnessed improvements in the local investment climate in 26 years investing there.
Since 2017 Sodex has invested in a new production facility covering an area of 15,000 m2. Our investment in Vietnam has brought us advantages in the entire Southeast Asian region. With a strategy to globalize our products, our presence in Vietnam is a key factor.”
At a recent workshop on the agreement in Brussels, Jean-Jacques Bouflet, a member of the EuroCham Executive Committee, said that to quickly realize the benefits of the deal, both sides should speed up negotiations in this decisive period.
Nguyen Hoang Long, Director of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Vietnam Foreign Ministry, said EU enterprises expect the deal to be signed soon and become an effective tool to protect them.
“The EU, represented by EU’s chief negotiator Mauro Petriccione, said that the early adoption of the EVFTA will be one of its priorities.
It will work closely with Vietnamese partners so that ratification in the European Parliament and negotiations with partners in the EU will soon be completed,” said Hoang Long.


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Amazon is making its AI-powered coding assistant free for individual developers, undercutting the $10 per month pricing of its Microsoft-made rival. In a post shared on Thursday, Amazon announced that its CodeWhisperer tool is now available to everyone who signs up to use it.
Amazon launched CodeWhisperer as a preview last year, which developers can use within various integrated development environments (IDEs), like Visual Studio Code, to generate lines of code based on a text-based prompt. While it was originally only made available to Amazon Web Services customers, the newly announced free tier should make it much more accessible to developers who don’t use AWS.
But this isn’t the only AI-related news Amazon announced. It’s also launching something called Bedrock, which helps companies build and scale generative AI apps. It comes with a variety of foundational models (FMs) that developers can build upon, including Anthropic’s Claude, Stable Diffusion, and Amazon Titan. This should make it easier for third parties to create AI-powered tools that generate text, answer questions, create summaries, and more.


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Want to implement a new cost containment measure? How about testing the technical proficiency of your outside counsel? As Kia Motors found out, you may be surprised with the results:
Kia Motors America corporate counsel, D. Casey Flaherty, tests a hypothesis that outside counsel are deficient in their use of technology, which results in unnecessary busywork and needless costs. Thus far, his audits have confirmed his thesis.


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Vietnam’s exports of wood (especially chips) and wood products in August 2019 continued to rise reaching $935 million, up 8.2% compared to July 2019, according to the General Department of Customs.
Exports of manufactured wood products totalled $671 million in August an almost 6% increase from July. Cumulative export earnings for the first 8 months of 2019 totalled around $6,613 billion, a 17% rise year-on-year, as ITTO reported.
The major export markets were the USA, Japan, China, South Korea and UK. The top 5 markets accounted for around 85% of total exports.


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English-Made Nissans At Center of Trade Fight
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE, Special to the New York Times
Published: November 7, 1988
PARIS, Nov. 6— Angry Japanese and British officials say foreign investors will be scared away from Europe unless France and Italy ease tough regulations that treat English-made Nissans as Japanese cars, subjecting them to strict import quotas. The British also fear that jobs will be lost.
Paris and Rome insist that Nissan's Bluebirds be regarded as Japanese and not European because less than 80 percent of the cars' components are made in Europe. London and Tokyo, however, declare that such insistence violates an understanding among members of the European Community.
This heated dispute illustrates the difficulties that the 12 Community members face in seeking to harmonize conflicting rules and remove internal trade barriers by the end of 1992. The Bluebird dispute pits Europe's free traders, like Britain and West Germany, against the two European nations - France and Italy -that are the most outspoken about maintaining trade barriers. Effect on U.S. Is Unclear
What is more, American officials worry that if the French and Italian position prevails, the cars that Japanese companies assemble in the United States might be subject to the same local-content rules. Honda cars assembled in Ohio, for instance, might be counted under the French quotas that limit Japanese cars to 3 percent of the French market.
''The E.C. needs investment from outside, including Japan, to revitalize its economy,'' Muneoki Data, Japan's Ambassador to the European Community, said in a speech Thursday. ''Such protective measures will not serve to encourage the necessary foreign direct investment.''
Toyota and Mitsubishi are considering whether to open plants in Europe. Japanese officials and automobile analysts say European protectionism is causing Japanese manufacturers to reconsider their plans.
''There are Japanese companies seeking to set up manufacturing facilities in France, but this dispute has put some of these decisions on the back burner,'' said Paul Capella, an automobile analyst with DRI Europe. Big Japanese Investment
The Bluebird dispute is being watched closely in Europe and overseas because the 2,000-employee Nissan plant at Sunderland, England, near Newcastle, represents the largest direct investment by the Japanese in Europe. When the plant expansion is finished in 1992, Nissan will have invested $1 billion there.
Sales in the European car market totaled about 10 million units last year. Nissan's British plant is expected to produce 60,000 cars this year and 200,000 in 1992.
Roger Faroux, France's Minister for Industry, defended the local-content requirement, saying it is important to prevent huge layoffs at big French companies like Peugeot and Renault. Automobile employment in France has fallen to 230,000, from 320,000 in 1980, and Nissan's plan to ship 5,000 Bluebirds a year to France will certainly not expand French employment.
Mr. Faroux said it was easy for Britain to take a more liberal attitude about trade because France's car industry plays a far greater role in the French economy than Britain's car industry does in the British economy. 'Not Japanese Imports'
''They seem to be saying they would like to treat our cars as part of the unofficial quota they apply against Japanese imports,'' said Ian Gibson, deputy managing director of Nissan Motor U.K. Ltd. ''Our cars are not Japanese imports.''
Mr. Gibson said that 70 percent of the Bluebirds' content is made in Britain or other Community countries and that Nissan plans to increase the content to 80 percent in 1990.
But executives of Fiat S.p.A. maintain that the local content of the Bluebird is less than 50 percent. Moreover, Italian officials have asked the European Commission, the European Community's executive branch, to rule on whether the Bluebirds should be considered European or Japanese. Until such a ruling is made, Italy intends to treat the cars as Japanese. Italy limits imports of Japanese cars to 3,500 units a year, which is less than 1 percent of the Italian market. The Bluebirds have begun to trickle into Italy and France.
The British and Japanese contend that if more than 60 percent of a car's content is made in the Community, it should be treated as European. Acclaim Model Is Cited
Six years ago Italy sought to keep out imports of the Acclaim, a car based on a Honda model but assembled in Britain. The European Commission persuaded Italy to accept the Acclaim because it had 60 percent European content, and the British now cite this as a precedent.
Americans are following the case. ''Some Japanese plants in the U.S. are talking about shipping cars to Europe,'' said one American trade official in Brussels. ''We have to see how they define Japanese cars in this case.''


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The UK Advertising Standards Authority has decided to censor an ad by gaming giant 888, taking down a web ad that promoted a game titled "Wild Gambler".
The offending ad was offered in a demo mode, and was objected to by a player who claimed that every other spin granted the player a huge win. The player questioned whether this accurately represented Wild Gambler's real gameplay.
888 parent company Cassava Enterprises responded to the objection, noting that the ad was just a basic game that was supposed to give punters the feel of what Wild Gambler would look and play like, and wasn't tied to any RNG or game algorithm like its real money games are.
The ASA ended up ruling that that the ad was misleading, noting that the game did not identify itself as a demo that served to showcase the graphics of the game, and did not reveal the odds of winning and losing.
The ad will now be pulled unless 888 can alter the spot to resolve the concerns by the ASA.


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THE MEDIA BUSINESS
THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Pulitzer to Sell Station
Published: August 17, 1989
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 16— The Pulitzer Publishing Company said today that it had agreed to sell its television station in Fort Wayne, Ind., to the Granite Broadcasting Corporation. The station, WPTA-TV, is an ABC affiliate. The sale price is $26.5 million in cash. Granite, a private company, owns NBC-affiliated television stations in Duluth, Minn., and Peoria, Ill. Pulitzer said it would receive a special tax consideration in the deal under Federal rules governing sales of broadcast properties to companies controlled by members of a minority.


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04 Nov Mobile Marketing News of the Week: October 29 – November 4
It is very hard to follow important news and updates on mobile marketing if you, as an indie developer or an app marketer, don’t have enough time within a week. This is why we started to bring all the important news of the week together for you.
If you missed what happened this week, here are the top stories in mobile marketing.
Google Announced Improved Detection and Filtering Systems
Google continues to trying to keep Play Store secure with enhancements. In order to prevent fake ratings, reviews, and fraudulent installs, they rolled out a system to prevent fraud and spam filters.
As Kazushi Nagayama and Andrew Ahn stated: “Our teams work every day to improve the quality of our discovery systems. These content discovery systems ensure that users can find and download apps they will love. From time to time, we observe instances of developers attempting to manipulate the placement of their apps through illegitimate means like fraudulent installs, fake reviews, and incentivized ratings. These attempts not only violate the Google Play Developer Policy, but also harm our community of developers by hindering their chances of being discovered or recommended through our systems. Ultimately, they put the end users at risk of making wrong decisions based on inaccurate, unauthentic information. Today we are rolling out improved detection and filtering systems to combat such manipulation attempts. If an install is conducted with the intention to manipulate an app’s placement on Google Play, our systems will detect and filter it. Furthermore, developers who continue to exhibit such behaviors could have their apps taken down from Google Play.”
Here is the announcement itself from Google for more detailed information.
A New Study Revealed That Apple Search Ads Are Driving Installs with High Retention Rates
As you know, Apple launched Search Ads to let apps be discovered in search results. Early results of Search ads, according to a report conducted by Appsflyer, shows that advertisers liked Search Ads and spending has increased by 2x since the beginning of October. The analysis also showed that developers saw an increase in retention rates of acquired users. According to the report, Apple Search Ads generate 6 in-app actions per install – the fourth highest ratio among top media sources.
Another finding of the analysis is about the search terms. The report says that 72% of search queries that resulted in an install were not based on the actual name of the app.
If you want to learn more about the results of the report, you can find it here.
Instagram Is Testing Photo Tags to Learn More About the Items
Instagram has become one of the most used platforms for shopping especially among women. They are aware of this fact and within this week they started to show iOS users in the US photo tags from 20 brands like Warby Parker, Michael Kors, and Abercrombie & Fitch.
There is a tap to view icon at the bottom left of the photos that shows a tag when tapped. If the customer wants to buy the item after seeing its details in the tag, he will click the Shop New link and go to the product’s page on the website.
If you want to learn more about the photo tags, you can read the announcement from here.
App Samurai is an AI-powered, secure mobile growth platform. Register, add your app and start driving high-quality users.
Blackstorm Launches a Game Studio
According to a news published in Techcrunch, Post-App Store developer platform Blackstorm launches a games studio in order to build high-fidelity games.
Ernestine Fu, co-founder of Blackstorm, says that “Native [apps] typically have downloads of hundreds of megabytes or more, we have to make sure we load instantly. The biggest thing to note in which why this is possible right now, this level of quality wasn’t possible until very recently. We’re really starting to see changes like iOS 9 and it got a lot better with iOS 10 as well. Really kind of pushing the limits of how we can build HTML5 to build very high quality games. In general, [HTML5 was] missing a lot of APIs which we’ve only seen recently emerged. Good offline, good networking, push, I think these are changes over the past year or two to really enable this to be the time for us to compete with native game studios.”
For more information, you can click here.
BONUS: FRIDAY READ
If you are in that moment where you start developing a mobile application, we are sure you already dream to the success that will come after you will upload it on app market.
Although you can handle very well the coding part of your app, this is great but, unfortunately, it is not enough. There are many variables that can influence the way users will receive your app. Whatever you do, don’t make the mistakes we covered in this blog post that will keep you far from the wanted victory.
Click here to read the full article.
Have a nice weekend. 🙂


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Minister of Economy Aryeh Deri and Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhan Yongxin met for the first time to discuss their countries’ mutual interest in free trade.
Minister of Economy Aryeh Deri met on Monday for the first time with Chinese Ambassador to Israel Zhan Yongxin in Jerusalem , where they discussed issues of mutual interest to the two countries and, specifically, the establishment of a free trade agreement.
Yongxin reiterated China’s commitment to begin negotiations for an agreement, as first announced by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang in March in his report to China’s National People’s Congress.
Both sides underscored their mutual desire to bolster economic ties and expand Chinese investments in Israel, which have so far reached $6 billion. They also agreed that a free trade deal could bring bilateral ties to a new level and result in meaningful economic benefit to both sides.
“The Israeli Ministry of Economy is concentrating efforts to promote and expand the trade ties between the two countries,” Deri stated.
To this end, the ministry operates various tools to support Israeli companies doing business in China, “such as dedicated funds for projects in the People’s Republic of China, supporting incoming and outgoing delegations and of course, our trade attachés posted across China,” he added.
The Economy Ministry’s Foreign Trade Administration, which is expected to lead the negotiations for free trade with China, is preparing for the talks by consulting trade and industry officials regarding Israel’s specific interests.
The Foreign Trade Administration operates five trade attachés across China. There are two in Beijing, including one who focuses on policy and regulation; one in Guangzhou; one in Shanghai and one in Hong Kong. There equals the number of attachés in the US, and the goal is to continue expanding the distribution of trade missions in China.
“China is Israel’s largest trading partner in Asia and fast becoming perhaps Israel’s largest trading partner period as we move into the future,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in May 2014. A year earlier, Netanyahu visited China to advance Israeli-Chinese relations.
By: United with Israel Staff
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Former New Orleans Saints and current Hamilton Tigercats Cornerback Delvin Breaux has signed a partnership deal with Louisiana’s rising beverage brand Hydra-Guard Sports Drink in early 2020. The company, that also counts elite athletes such Paul Millsap, Alex Mattison, Alexis Belton and Cedrick Wilson among its premier athletes, welcomes the CFL’s star as he takes on his new season.
The New Orleans native appeared in 10 games last season, registering 26 tackles, one sack, one interception and a forced fumble for the Tigercats. Breaux has appeared in 49 regular-season games over four seasons with Hamilton, recording 110 tackles, one sack, two interceptions and six forced fumbles. He also spent three seasons with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints (2015-17).
As many elite athletes, Delvin knows the importance of staying in perfect shape and maintaining a healthy lifestyle to better perform on the field day in and day out. “Staying Properly Hydrated can help you with your everyday lifestyle. Being Properly Hydrated with a product like Hydra-Guard helps to keep you cool, relaxed, while the nutrients and electrolytes are working in your body after a day of hard work,” says Delvin.
The quickly rising natural sports drink originally launched in 2017 and expanded its footprint in recent years. CEO Joseph Tucker says “Delvin is a hometown favorite that displays true resilience & perseverance throughout his career. Incredibly talented with an incredible future ahead of him both on and off the field. We that he has chosen Hydra-Guard as his source of hydration for optimum replenishment”


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- Apple to Release New Version of iOS to Fix Touch ID Fading Issue
- Logitech Revue Available and Promises with ‘New and Improved’ Android 3.1 Google TV
- View PDF File on iPad Using ReaddleDocs
- Bypass Megaupload Timer Limit and Word Verification to Download Files as Premium Member
- iPhone 5 is Coming in Q3 this Year [Report]
Good news for Apple product lovers. You will be able to purchase a new Apple device in next year. Apple is preparing to unveil a new device named “iWatch” in 2013. According to MacRumors, TGBus has reported that Apple will launch iWatch in the 1st half of next year. It will include 1.5-inch OLED display and Bluetooth support. TGBus has also reported that iWatch will be designed by Intel. Currently, Apple is working with Intel to manufacture this new device.
TGBus has reported that the display of iWatch will be manufactured by RiTdisplay. According to TGBus, iWatch is similar to Sony smart watch. If you are a big fan of Sony, then you might have heard about Sony smart watch. Recently Sony had launched this smart watch. Users can connect Sony smart watch with their Android smartphone, then they can read SMS and email using this watch. According to TGBus, iWatch will work in similar way. Users can connect their iPhone with iWatch, then they can read SMS and email on this watch. Users can also answer call using iWatch via Siri. This feature is not available in Sony smart watch. This feature will make iWatch more popular than Sony smart watch. It will be very interesting to use iWatch as it will allow users to answer call after connecting their iPhone.
Still no word from Apple regarding iWatch. If the report comes true, then Apple will launch iWatch in 2013 to compete with Sony smart watch. It is expected that iWatch will be a popular device just like iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Apple is also expected to unveil iPad mini 2 and iPhone 5S in next year. You have to wait until the 1st half of 2013 to buy iWatch. We are hoping Apple product lovers will definitely buy iWatch. Will you buy this new device?


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BUDGET 2017: Bittersweet reaction to Gordhan’s remarks on sugar tax
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s promises to have further consultations before the sugar tax is implemented has industry delighted.
At the same time the reduction in the proposed tax from 20% on all sugary drinks to 11% has sugar tax supporters disappointed.
Beverage SA executive director Mapule Ncanywa welcomed the promise of more collaboration.
“We believe that through collaboration with all the relevant role players‚ we can find ways to create a win-win for all South Africans‚ contribute positively to health outcomes and avoid any job losses.”
The beverage industry also said they will be creating more sugar-free drinks and reducing the calories in sugary drinks in response to calls for the tax.
The drink industry also wants another study on what South Africans eat and drink to prove sugary drinks should be targeted with a tax. Gordhan confirmed 100% fruit juice would be included even though this was left out of last’s year proposal for a sugar tax in the 2016 budget speech.
The Healthy Living Alliance that represents academics and those interested in the tax said it was pleased Gordhan has said the tax would be implemented in a year
But it was disappointed that the tax was lower and says it may not work.
The alliance said: “The proposed level of taxation has been reduced significantly and it might not be sufficiently high to deter consumption of these drinks. It appears from the Budget Review that the tax will be in the region of 11% instead of the 20% tax rate‚ based on a 330ml can‚ proposed in Treasury’s policy paper.”
Alliance coordinator Tracey Malawana said: “While there is no silver bullet that will slim down the nation‚ cutting sugar consumption is a non-negotiable public health measure. Sugary drinks are a major contributor to excessive sugar intake.”
Discovery Vitality welcomed the tax announcement. Dr Craig Nossel‚ Head of Vitality Wellness said: “We believe that action is required to reduce the intake of sugary drinks‚ and support the proposed sugar tax. From a health point of view‚ it is excellent news that sugar content will remain the base on which the tax is applied as this encourages reformulation and the availability of drinks with a lower sugar content.”


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One in five retailers say their future is "dependent" on how well they do over the holidays, but 57% had not started preparations for the season by August, according to a PayPal-commissioned survey of 1,000 small and mid-sized businesses. Respondents did indicate they had plans for what measures to take, though.
The majority of retailers (81%) said they are implementing safety measures to protect customers ahead of the holidays, almost half (46%) are rolling out curbside pickup, and about the same portion will require shoppers to wear masks and follow social distancing mandates.
Digital initiatives figure in plans this year, 34% of respondents with physical stores said they're introducing cashless payment options. Among fashion retailers, 39% are introducing virtual fitting room alternatives such as online fit and sizing tools, online showrooms and virtual stylists, per the survey, which was conducted by Netfluential in August.
It's not clear how much consumers will spend this holiday season, but PayPal suggests in its survey that retailers are offering products through multiple channels online to potentially offset the loss of in-store shoppers. Beyond their own websites, 39% of respondents to the survey said they plan to sell their products on digital marketplaces, and 31% will offer their goods through social media platforms.
The payments company, which recently added retailers like Walmart Canada and CVS to its roster, also noted that some merchants are introducing flexible payment options (PayPal operates its own installment service, Pay in 4) as a way to hedge against the economic uncertainty heading into this year's holiday season.
Some of the findings for how retailers are preparing already have evidence to support them. Major retailers and brands, including Neiman Marcus, Lululemon and BJ's Wholesale, have already implemented a curbside pickup service. Given the health and safety concerns spurred by COVID-19, and resulting changes in consumer behavior, retailers may be tied to the service even after the pandemic is over.
The instinct to offer products across multiple platforms could also be right on track. A September report from App Annie predicts that mobile commerce will surpass previous years given e-commerce events like Amazon's Prime Day and Alibaba's Singles Day working to extend the holiday season. For Singles Day, App Annie projects that sales will reach more than $45 billion.
Despite efforts to combat lower foot traffic, PayPal's research found that more than one in three retailers anticipate selling less in this upcoming holiday season compared to last year. Echoing a similar sentiment, Deloitte's annual estimate for 2020 projects that this year's holiday season will yield between 1% and 1.5% in sales growth compared to last year.