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Changes loom as Pendleton Woolen Mills teams up with Meriwether Group
Another iconic Oregon company has teamed up with the Meriwether Group as it seeks to re-energize its brand.
Pendleton Woolen Mills on Wednesday said it hired Portland-based Meriwether to "provide strategic counsel" and "consider new paths for growth."
Portland-based Pendleton, founded in 1863, is known for its wool blankets. Its products are available in 70 U.S. retail stores.
Meriwether Group is known for its work with companies such as Stumptown Coffee, Dave's Killer Bread and the Bike Gallery. It seeks to maintain the integrity of companies while expanding sales.
"As a family-owned business operating in Oregon for 150 years, we have decades of history and brand equity from which to build," said Pendleton President C. M. (Mort) Bishop III, in a news release. "Meriwether brings a deep respect for the Pendleton legacy and a keen sense of our potential. We're looking forward to growing the brand at home and abroad in new and interesting ways."
Meriwether's efforts range from pairing up companies with private equity buyers (Dave's Killer Bread) to finding a like-minded strategic buyer (Bike Gallery) to opening up new sales channels without bringing in outside investors (Bishops Barbershops).
"The Pendleton wool label is synonymous with high quality apparel, blankets, home décor and gifts," said David Howitt, founder and CEO of Meriwether Group, in a news release. "Today, the Pendleton brand is relevant to a broad range of consumers, from surfers and skaters to cowboys and fashionistas. It’s an honor to work with an authentic company with so much history, and help them look for new ways to create touch points for the brand."
Pendleton recently added Stephen Babson, managing director of Endeavour Capital, and Steven Wynne, Moda Health executive vice president, to its board. Endeavour Capital is Portland's largest private equity firm.
In July, Bishop said there were no plans to seek private equity investors in Pendleton. Bishop and Babson are lifelong friends.
Babson, Wynne, and new Pendleton CEO Mark Korros were the first outside board members in the company's more than 150-year history.
Matthew Kish covers footwear, apparel and higher education.
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What do you get when you combine a unique and growing market – people who ride and rope – with a business owner who lies awake at night thinking up ways to meet their needs?
A little western store becomes a chain, then a mail-order catalog business. People have questions, so you build a training center. People have horses, so you sell trailers. Horses eat, so you add a feed store.
Eventually, you’ve got a world – NRS World.
David Isham’s business has grown from that little shop in Decatur into one of the nation’s largest retailers of all things western. The next phase is rising now, on a hilltop off U.S. 81/287 southeast of town.
Think Cowboy Cabela’s.
“I’ve always wanted to build a destination store,” Isham said. “It’s really a 25-year dream coming into being.”
NRS celebrated its 25th anniversary Feb. 1. By the time the next birthday rolls around, its 150 or so employees should be getting ready to move onto the new campus that will house a huge store, offices, a warehouse and fulfillment center along with a feed store and a hay barn.
It comes with a new entrance off 287 and plenty of parking for horse trailers.
The NRS empire is moving, not uptown, but out of town – onto the acreage where the NRS Training Center and NRS Trailers are already located.
“We’re going to bring people to an authentic, real-deal Texas ranch, where people come to rope or come to learn how to be a better horseman,” Isham said. “It’ll be a nice retail store for our customer, a more efficient mail-order warehouse for us and a new building for our staff.”
After breaking ground June 2, steel is now rising on the office and store. From that location, just 10 feet shy of being the highest point in Wise County, shoppers will be able to look out the back window down to the ranch.
Finally, Isham said, the home store will meet or exceed people’s expectations.
“When you looked at my catalog, visions of what the NRS Store might be didn’t match up with the reality,” he said. “It was still just the David’s Western Store in Decatur.”
That gap between expectation and reality widened when NRS began going to Las Vegas, renting a ballroom at the MGM Grand and setting up a 90,000-square-foot store for the two-week run of the National Finals Rodeo.
“Our customers who see us for the first time at Vegas, they come to Decatur and say, ‘Is this it? I thought it’d be a lot bigger …'”
By next spring, it will be.
Isham pointed out that the big outdoor retailers like Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops create an illusion in their stores – indoor mountains, streams, stuffed game animals – to make shoppers forget they’re on the side of the interstate.
“We don’t have to create an illusion,” he said. “There’s going to be big glass windows at the back, looking down on that arena where some of the best ropers and roping horses in the world are working – it’s all real, and it’s right there.”
START SMALL, DREAM BIG
Isham’s family moved to Decatur from an Arlington suburb when he was 10. He got into roping late in high school and continued to compete on the weekends while earning his accounting degree at Abilene Christian University. When he graduated, he went to work for a big accounting firm, but roping and the western lifestyle had become his passion.
So when Bryan’s Western Wear in Decatur went up for sale, he bought it. Before long, he was able to move it into the old Western Auto building at 1410 FM 51 South, which at 17,000 square feet was a big store.
“It’s been an awesome base of operations for the last 25 years,” he said.
Isham added stores in Weatherford and Granbury and began advertising in roping magazines, touting the toll-free number which is still 1-800-GO-ROPIN (467-6746).
He answered most of the calls himself – and quickly sensed that “David’s Western Store” wasn’t really getting the message across.
“I knew somebody in Colorado or California would see that ad, and they would just envision a store – no different from the mom-and-pop store in their town,” he said. “It didn’t conjure up a vision that said, ‘Man, that guy must have it.'”
So he came up with National Ropers Supply.
“It was one of those middle-of-the-night things,” he said.
To the 800 number, he added the catch phrase, “If it’s right for ropin’, it’s right here.” The phones blew up.
When folks called with an order, often they had a question, too.
“Do you have a catalog?”
Isham packed orders in boot boxes and sent them out the back door – but he also saved the names and addresses of his customers, building a database in a boot box. In the fall of 1994, NRS mailed its first catalog – a black-and-white affair with 40-something pages.
When the 20th NRS catalog comes out this fall, they will mail about 1.5 million.
Over the years, they expanded, creating a warehouse in the old Decatur Bowling Center located just behind the store. Isham said mail-order accounts for about 70 percent of the company’s business now.
Phone questions also led NRS into the training business, as callers were constantly picking Isham’s brain about roping.
He had no desire to add “coach” to his job description – but he did sense another opportunity.
“I knew if people enjoy roping more, they’re more successful at it, they’ll do it for a lifetime,” he noted. “If I can help them enjoy that, become better at it, eliminate the negative things that can happen – maybe that guy would be my customer for life.”
About 11 years ago, 260 acres off U.S. 81/287 southeast of town became available and Isham bought it. The first thing he did was build the NRS Training Center. Since then, they’ve hosted more than 4,500 students from all over the world.
The pavilion, which offers world-class training in barrel racing, horsemanship, roping and more, features a covered 150-by-300-foot arena, stalls, trailer hookups, a pro shop, a kitchen, custom bunkhouses – even a saddle shop and a restaurant.
ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS
Despite impressive growth, big buildings and big numbers, Isham’s focus remains exactly where it’s been since day one – personal relationships, with customers as well as his employees.
Mildred White, who was managing Bryan’s when Isham bought it, is a good example. At 88, she still works at the store.
“Mildred has been selling western wear in Decatur for 38 years now,” Isham said. “She loves coming to work, and everybody in town knows her. She’s a sweetheart.”
Isham is excited about providing loyal employees with a better working environment.
“Right now we have them stuck in closets all over the place,” he said. “We’re building a really nice set of offices that ought to be just a great collaborative work environment.”
If employees are family, you’d have to say Isham’s customers are cousins.
NRS is the official catalog of the United States Team Roping Association, the National High School Rodeo Association, the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and other groups that focus on rodeo or the western lifestyle.
They log a lot of miles maintaining those ties.
“Once you align yourselves with an association, you need to go meet that customer, get in front of them and create a relationship with them,” he said. “That kind of launched us into the road show piece of our business.”
Last week NRS had a rig in Rock Springs, Wyo., for the National High School Rodeo Finals, and they also set up stores for the National Junior High finals, the U.S. Team Roping Association finals and of course, the NFR.
“Roping has grown so much as a sport, and we’ve been right along with that,” Isham said. “It’s all about personal relationships and the kind of people you deal with.”
SHIFTING THE COWBOY CAPITAL TO WISE
Somewhere along that 25-year journey, Wise County became the mecca of roping and rodeo. It’s home to several world champions, Roy Cooper to Trevor Brazile to Brazilian bull riders like Silvano Alves and others.
Is it a coincidence that Decatur is also home to one of the nation’s top western retailers?
Probably not, Isham said.
“I know it’s luck, and timing, but I feel like we’ve played a role in that, too,” he said. “For 20 years we’ve been putting all this out – and Decatur, Texas, is on everything we ship.”
It’s an American success story.
And from the looks of what is rising out there on the hill, Decatur won’t be giving up the title of “Cowboy Capital” anytime soon.

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Beauty lovers get excited. Cult makeup brand Urban Decay is coming to Australia. For those who can’t get enough of the best selling Naked palettes, to the makeup aficionados who are obsessed with their intensely pigmented eyeshadows to their waterproof 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, you will be able to get your Urban Decay fix right on your doorstep.
Speaking about the news, Jo Horgan founder of Mecca said “I am delighted to be launching Urban Decay into our Mecca Maxima stores. It is one of the most in demand beauty brands in the world and we can’t wait to bring this to our customers.”
Luca Guillot Boschetti General Manager of L’Oréal Luxe Australia and New Zealand said of the launch, “We are very proud to be partnering with Mecca to launch Urban Decay in Australia. Urban Decay is all about beauty with an edge and we look forward to shaking up the industry with a brand that is made by makeup junkies for makeup junkies”.
To find out more or to register interest for Urban Decay please visit www.mecca.com.au/Urban-Decay.
Urban Decay will be available exclusively from Mecca Maxima stores and online at www.mecca.com.au from 27th March 2015.


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Alaska Airlines has tapped Seattle-based fashion designer Luly Yang for a new West Coast-inspired line of uniforms. At a fashion show this afternoon inside Alaska’s Sea-Tac hangar, employee models walked the runway, showcasing over 90 garments and accessories to thousands of employees. The designs, which has been more than two years in the making, will clad 19,000 Alaska, Virgin America, and Horizon Air uniformed employees starting in late 2019.
“Luly’s designs perfectly capture our fresh, West Coast vibe and we’re absolutely thrilled with the collection,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of marketing. “Like our refreshed brand, launched in early 2016, our new uniform collection includes bright pops of color, clean lines, and stunning finishes, creating a stylish yet approachable look.”
Echoing Woerner’s remarks was Justin Fitzgerald, a flight attendant who worked for Virgin America and now Alaska Airlines. “The Virgin America uniform has been such a sleek and modern look that I thought it would be so hard to top,” he said. “Seeing Luly’s designs brought to life has been super exciting! Ms. Yang has taken a lot of our input and has created a very cool, classic yet modern, West Coast vibe!”
“Working on the Alaska Airlines custom uniform program has been one of the most complex and rewarding challenges of my career,” said Yang. “With 45 sizes per style and 13 very distinct workgroups, this was the ultimate puzzle to solve. My hope is that employees feel that they were heard throughout this process, love the collection and wear their uniforms with pride.”
The uniforms will make their official debut next week, with 130 employee wear testers – flight attendants, pilots, customer service agents and lounge employees – putting the uniforms through their paces for the next 60 days.


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Earlier last week, reports started emerging that Apple was going to add a new color to the upcoming iPhone 5S. Major publications confirmed that Apple would indeed add the color Gold/Champagne to the iPhone 5S line. We saw some leaked pictures of the iPhone 5S casing in Gold as well. Now there are more pictures, this time being compared with the existing iPhone 5 in Black and White.
These new pictures come from a dealer Moumantai and were posted on the Japanese tech magazine blog ASCII Plus. Once again, this is the shell of the iPhone 5S in the so called Gold/Champagne color combo.
You can see the iPhone logo on this shell, but all the other markings are missing. This could well be a painted mock-up of the iPhone 5 shell, but you never know. Since so many major publications have pretty much confirmed that Apple will release a gold colored iPhone 5S, I believe it will happen. More pictures of the iPhone 5S shell below:
You can’t really tell any difference between the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5, but that’s the point. Apple will only be upgrading the internals of the iPhone, adding in a new processor, a better camera and maybe that fingerprint scanner. The iPhone 5S will look just like the iPhone 5, but will be overall much better.
Rumors state that Apple will be announcing the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C, the cheaper plastic iPhone, sometime early September and they’ll begin shipping September 20. We’re not sure if that’s going to happen, but it’s about time Apple announced a new iPhone. What do you think of the Gold/Champagne color combo? Let us know in the comments.


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Despite schools commencing for the Spring semester and upcoming Valentine’s Day, the distribution industry in Busan is struggling due to the new coronavirus scare.
According to the local distribution industry today, the number of customers visiting stores has decreased significantly due to the new coronavirus scare.
The decrease in visitors led to a decline in sales.
Lotte Department Store’s first weekend sales in February decreased by 20% compared to the same period last year. Since last year, the number of visitors has fallen by 25% compared to the weekend.
Department store officials explained that the number of customers visiting restaurants and movie theaters has decreased significantly.
Shinsegae Department Store Centum City branch also said earnings decreased by more than 4% compared to the same period last year from the 26th of last month to the 3rd of this month, with the number of visitors dropping by 20%.


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Sales for Galaxy Fold 5G begin in Korea todaySamsung Electronics said Sunday that it will start sales of the Galaxy Fold 5G in Korea starting Monday in online stores, mobile carriers and Samsung Digital Plazas.
The 5G-supported model of the Galaxy Fold, which has been available in limited volumes through advance orders at some online and offline venues, will be priced at 2.398 million won ($2,304.11) and comes in two colors: cosmos black and space silver.
The smartphone can be opened like a book to show a main organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen, which Samsung Electronics has dubbed the “Infinity Flex Display,” that measures 7.3 inches diagonally. When folded, the cover OLED display measures 4.6 inches diagonally.
The foldable smartphone without 5G capability has been released in 21 countries, including the United States, Germany, France and Korea.
By Ko Jun-tae


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Gran Turismo 5 coming Christmas (2009)
As if we needed any further proof that the full Gran Turismo experience on the PS3 is universally yearned for than looking at the sales of its prologue (2.33 million and counting), the number of predictions regarding GT5’s release date in forums should be some indication.
How about 2010?Â That seemed to be hinted at in the past. Is it still the current front-runner in the prediction stakes?
Well, you can stop guessing/prophesying as it appears the much sought after release date has been let out of the bag.
GTPlanet, your one stop shop for all things Gran Turismo, has reported that James Armstrong, Sonyâ€™s Chief Executive forÂ Southern Europe, spoke to Spanish newspaper El Financiero (The Financier, funnily enough) and spilled the following:
For next year, the chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment for southern Europe said that they are developing a new game thriller, in which the player may be designing their own history, and the new version of Gran Turismo, which will arrive at Christmas.
While we’re left scratching our heads wondering if the new history bending thriller mentioned is Heavy Rain, we can at least rest that GT5 seems now to be locked down to a period and we can start marking off the days in our calendars.


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Reserve Bank news stories
The biggest cyber-attacks of 2021 in New Zealand
It's been a bumper year for cyber incursion in Aotearoa New Zealand, with organisations big and small, public and private, falling victim to hackers from around the globe.
Reserve Bank welcomes submissions on future of New Zealand's money
“We’re seeking public input on how we should perform our role as steward of money and cash, and how we should assess the case for central bank money in a digital form alongside cash."
Privacy Commissioner issues compliance notice to Reserve Bank following 2020 cyber attack
"It is necessary to publicly acknowledge the steps being taken by the Bank, to provide assurance to the public that these issues are being addressed," says Commissioner.
UPDATED: RBNZ ascribes data breach to third-party file sharing service
“The nature and extent of information that has been potentially accessed is still being determined, but it may include some commercially and personally sensitive information,” says RBNZ Governor.
Knosys signs contract with ANZ Bank to migrate its data
The contract is part of ANZ’s effort to comply with Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) regulations.
Merchant choice routing: A process to significant savings for businesses
Merchant choice routing offers businesses the ability to override these defaults in the card and use the smarts in the terminal to process the transaction via the lowest cost network.
NZ emerging as top fintech hub across Asia Pacific
"New Zealand could become the gateway to Asia, with great connections in both Singapore and Hong Kong."
Cryptocurrency conundrum: Reserve Bank & IR fumble in the dark
Whether it's cryptocurrency salaries or a central digital currency, no agency is quite sure how to tackle this upcoming payment trend.
Small and Medium Enterprise / SME
Experts warning SMEs against borrowing against the family home
"Business owners looking to raise cheap money to fund their business should be cautioned to ensure they are raising the right type of debt for their business requirements."
Reserve Bank says 'not now' to the idea of official digital currency
"We couldn’t issue a digital currency if it might undermine financial stability, and there are considerable risks on this front."
Reserve Bank keeps watchful eye on security; steers away from prescriptive rules
The Reserve Bank is letting the finance sector, regulators and other authorities steer their own course through cyber issues and security.
NZ dollar falls after US data suggests labour market less weak
The New Zealand dollar fell after US economic data including job openings suggested the labour market in the world's biggest economy isn't as weak as
RBA keeps key rate at 2.25%, kiwi dollar retreats
The Reserve Bank of Australia held its cash rate unchanged at a record low, surprising market participants who had been betting on a further cut and d
NZ building consents fall for a third month in February
New Zealand residential building consents declined for a third month in February, as the pace of new home building slowed.
New Zealand's commercial property lending less risky now due to lower debt funding
The Reserve Bank said New Zealand's $180 billion commercial property sector has become less risky since the global financial crisis because a reduced
RBNZ looking at risk modelling, pricing to help boost returns
The Reserve Bank is looking at the way it models risk and pricing in respect to its own financial operations, which it hopes will allow it to generate
NZ dollar gains after RBNZ's Wheeler keeps rates uncanged, upbeat on local outlook
The New Zealand dollar gained after Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged, saying the local economy was in a
RBNZ reviewing 4.5% 'neutral' monetary policy setting
Work is underway to review what the central bank thinks is a neutral setting - where the OCR neither stimulates nor holds back economic growth.
NZ food prices decline in February, led by lower fruit, vegetable, meat prices
New Zealand food prices fell in February, led by seasonal declines in fruit and vegetables and lower meat prices.
Cheap oil to boost NZ national income by $2.4 bln a year, RBNZ says
New Zealand's national income is expected to get an annual boost of about $2.
Tepid inflation surprise raises spectre of lower interest rates
Any further downward surprises in New Zealand's already tepid pace of consumer inflation may warrant an interest rate cut, the Reserve Bank says.
RBNZ’s Wheeler keeps OCR on hold, no rate hikes ahead
The Reserve Bank has removed the prospect of future interest rate hikes from its forecast horizon as a strong kiwi dollar and cheap oil hold down infl
NZ central bank, in neutral, will weigh drought, higher TWI in revising forecasts
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will probably keep interest rates unchanged this week, reiterating that monetary policy is in neutral, while revising
Banks relieved as RBNZ drops '5-plus' test for home loans
The major banks are breathing a sigh of relief that the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has dropped proposals that would have deemed anyone owning five or


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CHONGQING, China, November 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — To October 31, 2022Smart China Expo Kaizhou Forum on Building Digital Government was held in Kaizhou District, chongqing. Experts, researchers and business representatives discussed how to build an effective digital government and how such a government would open new opportunities for the development of public services, rural areas and industries.
1. Public services continue to improve as digital government becomes the norm
According to Meng Qingguo, executive director of Tsinghua University’s National Governance Institute, building digital government requires a thorough reconstruction of the existing departmental-driven information model, where systems, platforms and data are decentralized. The government is now tasked with accelerating the establishment of a national, fully integrated big data system for all public affairs, with the multiple goals of further promoting the integration and exchange of data, improving existing ones and creating new data disclosure, Develop authorization and operational mechanisms, and set up digital governance that is both systematic and holistic.
Li Zonglei, director of the e-government office of the Chongqing City People’s Government, said that an integral part of the city’s efforts to build a digital government, Yukuaiban, the eGovernment Office’s integrated online government service platform, has digitized and created e-documents for each resident, including their ID, health, social security and health insurance information. The platform is divided into service areas for more than 100 use cases, covering housing, employment, tourism, entertainment and shopping, providing residents with easier access to authentication, medical treatment, transportation and other services. Next, the eGovernment Office will continue to improve the online delivery system for the full range of public services, making it more user-friendly and expanding the number of channels through which the services can be accessed.
Pu Binbin, Kaizhou District Party Secretary chongqingsaid the district will build digital government, digital and intelligent Kaizhou and digital villages based on actual conditions, aiming to promote quality development across the region with big data and intelligence, while bringing greater convenience to businesses and residents doing business and living in Kaizhou.
2. Digital villages facilitate the optimization of the rural digital governance system
According to Lei Xiaoling, deputy director of the Kaizhou District People’s Congress Standing Committee, more than 5,300 4G base stations, 1,500 5G base stations and six Internet cities have been built in the district, forming a strong network of agricultural big data and resources. With the establishment of the online big data platform, a large number of first-class and unique rural e-commerce brands will emerge, creating a thriving rural network culture and making the rural digital governance system more sophisticated.
Zhang Zhaoxin, a researcher at the Rural Economy Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, suggested using digital technologies to improve the IT infrastructure and network, revise the basic information collection system, accelerate the development of service systems, and build a system-wide service chain, enabling the transformation of the entire agricultural industrial chain and enabling the public and specialized service systems to better serve rural revitalization.
Wang Dacheng, deputy secretary of the National Remote Sensing Application Engineering Technology Research Center of the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said given where the world is in terms of the transition to the digital age is planning and control from Rural areas urgently need digital technologies. E-maps, satellite imagery, real-time street scene capture and other geographic information data, as well as portals where villagers can participate in interactive activities can provide the community with what is and should be expected of rural government.
3. The digital economy is the future as digital industries are booming
At the forum, Tan Jianrong, researcher at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor Zhejiang University, summarized five key steps that must be taken to achieve a digital economy and digital transformation: innovative design, process improvement, quality improvement, service expansion, and market expansion, all designed to drive and advance the digital transformation of all businesses in the region the quality development of a digital economy.
Zhao Kefeng, academic chairman of the Shenzhen Artificial Intelligence Industry Association, said there is a need to speed up the process of extracting value from the available data, promote the digital transformation of the real economy, increase the governance capacity of the digital economy strengthen, improve basic industrial skills and promote the open collaboration that will be the result of the creation of a digital economy.
Guo Linyuan, deputy secretary of the party committee and deputy general manager of Digital Chongqing Company, said so chongqing is driving forward the construction of Smart City 2.0, enhancing urban intelligence with big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other technologies, strengthening the underlying infrastructure, solving all data bottlenecks, and harnessing the value of data, while agglomeration and development promoted by industry and trade.
The forum was hosted by the Smart China Expo Organizing Committee and jointly organized by the Chongqing Big Data Application and Development Administration and the Chongqing Kaizhou District People’s Government.
SOURCE Xinhua Finance


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Legal high battle lines drawn
Opposing sides in the debate over where legal high sellers should be located in the city went head-to-head yesterday with warnings the city's vibrancy could rest on the outcome.
Hamilton City Council began a public hearing into its draft psychoactive substances policy with 525 submissions received by Monday's deadline.
The council's draft policy identifies Te Rapa and the central city as the options for where synthetic high dealers may be located.
At times every seat inside the council's chamber was filled as residents and business owners spoke of the damaging effects the sale of synthetic highs was having on their communities.
Incidents of intimidation, theft and verbal abuse were shared by submitters alarmed by the spike in anti-social behaviour since the passing of the Government's psychoactive substances act last year.
The legislation limits the supply and sale of these products but critics say an inadvertent effect has been to concentrate anti-social behaviour around the city's synthetic high outlets.
Garry Phillips, who owns a hair salon on Victoria St, said customers were regularly intimidated and abused by people frequenting a nearby puff shop.
Mr Phillips said his customers were too scared to use a bus stop outside the puff shop and would walk up to a block to avoid the area. "We'd prefer it [outlets] in an industrial area if it has to go somewhere . . . the CBD has become something of a ghetto," Mr Phillips said.
Some submitters requested the Waikato Times not photograph them at the hearing, fearing reprisals from synthetic high users.
Hamilton East resident Sarah Peterson said her submission was based on "a mother's point of view" and described the surge in anti-social behaviour linked to the opening of Grey St puff shop U njoY. A tearful Ms Peterson said trees and letterboxes in her street had been attacked and recalled being confronted on Grey St by two men demanding money.
Young children were warned to keep away from the Steele Park toilets because of drug users who congregated around the park.
"My family and I have been put in incredible danger because you didn't act swiftly to close down the [puff] shop," Ms Peterson told councillors.
Speaking in support of synthetic high dealers, Star Trust general manager Grant Hall said New Zealand was "leading the world" in its efforts to regulate the sale of legal highs. Star Trust is an industry body representing the majority of retailers licensed under the psychoactive substances act, including eight of the nine retailers in Hamilton.
Mr Hall said prohibition did not work and only 1 per cent of users of synthetic highs were genetically predisposed to react adversely to the product.
The debate over synthetic highs had been captured by journalists, Mr Hall said, and he preferred the products were referred to as "social tonics".
"We're talking about low-risk products. Social tonics is a term we'd like to bring into the vernacular because it doesn't carry all the negative connotations of some of the language used in the past," Mr Hall said.
"Drugs as a word comes with a lot of baggage and that's not helpful when you're trying to have a rational discussion."
Mr Hall said Hamilton's experience of anti-social behaviour linked to puff shops wasn't mirrored in larger cities such as Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland or centres such as Palmerston North.
He didn't favour imposing a bylaw to force a lawful synthetic high retailer to shift location.
The hearing resumes tomorrow.
February 18-22: Council hears presentations on submissions.
February 26: Council to make decisions on submissions.
February 27: Council to adopt psychoactive substances policy.


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Jan Hilbrink has been appointed as Managing Director for Loparex -- Europe, reporting to Michael Apperson, CEO. For the past 18 months, Jan has been leading the construction and start-up of Loparex's greenfield manufacturing site in Thailand.
The recently-completed first phase of the 50,000 square meter facility will produce solvent-based and solvent-free release liners to serve Loparex's fastest-growing markets in South East Asia and throughout the pan-Asian markets.
Prior to leading the Thailand start-up project, Jan previously served as Managing Director for Loparex -- Europe. ‘Jan has done an excellent job in leading the construction and successful start-up of our new flagship plant in Thailand’, states Apperson. ‘We are excited to have Jan back in Apeldoorn to again lead our European business and to drive organic growth – he knows the local markets and customers and has a proven track record of success.’ Apperson adds: ‘Jan will build upon his recent experiences in Thailand to leverage the recently-doubled capacity in Apeldoorn to drive new growth in Europe, and with our global account base.’ Jan will relocate back to The Netherlands in April.
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New York – Dell Computers increased its share of the U.S. PC market in the third quarter, while the newly combined Hewlett-Packard/Compaq and the remaining top selling PC companies continued to lose market share.
Overall the industry posted a gain in computer shipments for the quarter in the U.S. markets with Gartner Dataquest, San Jose, Calif., research showing an 8.6 percent gain on 11.9 million units shipped and International Data Corp., Framingham, Mass., indicating a 6.7 percent gain on 12.1 million units shipped. These are compared to the 2001 third quarter, during which sales suffered grievously due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The firms agreed that the top five PC vendors for the third quarter 2002 were Dell, HP, Gateway, IBM and Apple with all but Dell losing market share and shipping fewer computers. Interestingly, the ‘other’ category posted healthy gains of 11 percent on 4.3 million units shipped, Gartner, with IDC giving this category a 3.9 percent increase on 4.4 million units shipped.
IDC reported that Dell was first on the worldwide state shipping 5.2 million units and garnering 16 percent of the market with HP is a close second with a 15.5 percent share on just over 5 million units shipped. Gartner’s numbers were similar.
IBM, Fujitsu Siemens and NEC filled out the remainder of IDC’s top five sellers, with 6 percent, 4.3 percent and 3.3 percent market share, respectively. Gartner’s list is slightly different placing IBM, 6.1 percent, Toshiba, 3.2 percent and NEC, 3.2 percent in the top five.
Gartner Dataquest preliminary U.S. PC vendor unit shipments for Q3 2002 (thousands of units)
IDC preliminary U.S. PC vendor unit shipments for Q3 2002 (thousands of units)


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What seems great today, in two weeks is the worst idea ever." So says Loreta Garcia, head of the Zara Woman's Trend department, as she talks to Fortune about spotting new styles by following bloggers, visiting clubs, checking out street fashion, listening to customers--anything but going to designer fashion shows.
Speed is everything at Zara, owned by Inditex, the world's largest fashion retailer, with 6,000 stores in 85 countries. Zara follows the rule of refreshing stock twice every week, year in and year out, so inventory turns are high. Customers know that if they don't buy a style when they see it, it may not be there next time. That's a recipe for full-price retailing.
Even though Zara stores dot the globe (see map above), no store is more than 48 hours away from a shipment of the freshest fashion (Inditex intros 20,000 new items every year). Controlling the entire supply chain enables Zara to ensure quality and quantity in time to catch the wave of the latest style--and be ready to launch the next new look within days.
Can fashion get any faster?


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The service follows on the heels of the firm's rollout of a similar service, Orientation Costa Rica, that was launched last week.
Adopting the strategy for success that has proved lucrative for the likes of Yahoo, Excite, Lycos, and AltaVista, among others, international portal efforts are cropping up, as firms try to replicate the model of search, packed services, and localized directory assistance that nets eyeballs, ergo big advertisers.
Another international portal service, 24.com, based in South Africa just beefed up its offerings by signing on Northern Light's search. The search firm will provide 24.com's Internet gateway users with access to more than 5,000 publications that are included in queries with its "research engine."
24.com offers users guides to South African restaurants, music, and entertainment, among other search services.
Orientation Sri Lanka gives users access to a similar smorgasbord of local offerings. The service also provides access to local Usenet discussions, Sri Lankan IRC chat channels, news, and travel information powered by travel publisher Lonely Planet, among other features.
"Our goal is to make Orientation Sri Lanka the premier one-stop gateway to information on Sri Lanka," spokesperson Muditha Aghayagunawardhana said in a statement.
Orientation's services span from Asia and Africa to Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.


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LATHAM, N.Y. (Oct. 18, 3:30 p.m. ET) — Pepsi Beverages Co. will begin manufacturing plastic bottles at its Latham bottling plant. Pepsi will invest $10 million in a project to replace merchant-supplied plastic bottles with ones blow molded on-site.
Our analysts provide insight on business trends, foreign investment, top end markets and plastics processing activity. The report also provides important data on exports, production, employment and value of plastics products manufactured.
January 14, 2015 - January 14, 2015Plastics in Automotive
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Teo Technologies today announced a unified communications (UC) platform that relies on a Linux-based server to provide multiple applications, including voice mail, across a variety of devices.
Mukilteo, Wash.-based Teo, which has been making telecommunications equipment for 30 years, said the Teo UC relies on a single server, a single administrator's portal and a single user interface to track calls, e-mails, voice mails and more.
Teo didn't disclose pricing for a single server, but said the system averages about $500 per user for a setup with 200 users who each communicate using several different devices, such as smartphones, desk phones and laptops.
A single server will handle as many as 2,000 users, while a multiple-server system can handle up to 100,000 users, said Tom Beck, business strategy executive at Teo. The company said the Teo UC could cost 30% less than conventional systems, which tend to rely on many server boxes, each serving a single communications function.
Beck said the new offering supports many major UC applications, giving users access to features such as voice mail, voice conferencing, integrated presence and more on all of their devices. Teo UC does not include webconferencing.
The system includes an emergency 911 console view. With this feature, if an employee of an organization uses a business phone to place an emergency call, a central administrator can identify the location from which that call was placed. The emergency console also helps administrators track other information useful to emergency response crews.
Teo identified two beta customers that are using Teo UC: a real estate company and Proactive Marketing Group, a marketing firm based in Seattle.
Frank Rigsby, vice president of sales and marketing at Proactive, said that his company's eight-person sales force has found Teo UC to be especially helpful. With the system, salespeople who are out on the road can take calls as if they were at their desks.
Proactive has been using Teo UC for four months, said Rigsby, noting that the system makes it easy for him to use his BlackBerry to retrieve voice mail messages left on his desk phone, eliminating the need to call his office phone to retrieve messages. The messages are transferred to his BlackBerry as a WAV files.
"Teo creates a larger presence for us and helps us a lot because we don't have inside people manning the phones," Rigsby added. He wouldn't say how much Proactive spent on the system, but he did note that Teo UC cost less than some other products on the market.
Beck said Teo UC will compete mainly against systems from Shoretel Inc. and Australia's Mytel Voice & Data Pty., which target midsize businesses. Cisco Systems Inc., Avaya Inc. and IBM target larger companies.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen, or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His e-mail address is email@example.com.


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Friday, March 22, 2013, 10:06 AM ET|Posted by Will Richmond
I'm pleased to present the 172nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia. This week we first discuss Google Fiber, which Google announced this past Tuesday would roll out to a second city, Olathe, KS. Nonetheless, as we discuss, it still feels like Google Fiber is a hobby for Google, though its executives recently asserted otherwise. Neither Colin nor I quite understand what Google Fiber's actual market impact or game plan is, and we are skeptical that there's a business case to support its broader rollout.
We then turn our attention to another Google-related item, which is that YouTube announced this week it is now attracting 1 billion visitors/month, even as (according to my analysis), its U.S. online-only traffic has dropped by 32% year-over-year. But, because comScore doesn't measure mobile access, this isn't an accurate portrayal of YouTube's reach, which is clearly expanding. Colin has further data that adds color to the situation.
Separate, Colin has released his excellent new white paper, "Second-Screen Apps for TV" (free download here)
And a reminder to sign up for "Sizing Up Apple TV" a free video webinar on April 2nd featuring Brightcove's Jeremy Allaire and me.
Listen in to learn more!
(update - the correct pronunciation of Olathe, KS is "O lay the" (thanks Frank Hughes!).
Click here to listen to the podcast (18 minutes, 57 seconds)
Related Research Coverage
Video Research Around the Web
- U.S. Homes Adding SVOD Services Falls To 3.9% in 2Q, Kantar Reports B&C
- As streaming surges globally, Roku is falling behind abroad Protocol
- World-Wide Streaming Subscriptions Pass One Billion During Pandemic WSJ
- Cable Now Controls Nearly 70% of U.S. Fixed Broadband After Biggest Year Since 2008 Next TV
- Cord Cutting’s Worst Year Ever: Analyst B&C
- Disney Plus Will Surpass Netflix in Customers by 2026, Research Company Says Next TV
- Tubi Says Streaming Rose 58% In 2020, With Half Of Viewers Younger Than 35 Deadline
- U.S. SVOD Revenue Spiked 39% in Q3 to $5.5 Billion Next TV


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The UK Government has a long-term strategy to improve air quality across the country by discouraging the use of older, more polluting, vehicles. Its short-term goal is to reduce the number of areas where air...
The Government has announced that company car drivers choosing a pure electric vehicle will pay no benefit-in-kind tax in 2020/21.
Asset finance is a form of finance used by businesses to obtain a wide range of items necessary to operate efficiently and effectively within their sector.
If you're looking to invest in new or used equipment for your business then asset finance can help make it more affordable. We take a look at the different types of asset finance and when you should use them for your...
It was another successful night for White Oak UK at two award ceremonies in London and Chester last night.
The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) is increasing from £200k to £1m, giving small-medium businesses the chance to invest in equipment and technology with up to 100% offset against tax on business income.
White Oak UK, one of the UK’s largest alternative providers of SME finance, and Dallmeier, one of the world’s leading suppliers of network-based video surveillance systems, have today announced a new partnership...
On Monday, Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered his last pre-Brexit Autumn 2018 Budget, announcing a number of reliefs and spending pledges, largely welcomed by many of the UK’s business leaders.
There have been several new reports in the press recently highlighting some of the problems faced by smaller businesses in finding finance and surprisingly, it seems that some regions are faring worse than others.
If you’re not already exporting your goods and services, it can be a daunting prospect. But there are plenty of reasons why it's worth investing the time and resources.
We recently announced that we had passed the £1 billion mark in lending on our own book. But where did that billionth pound go?


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Operating income of 506 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2021 was “the result of steady efforts”, Toyota Motor Corporation told us on 6 November. This extraordinary news comes after strong performances by the Toyota brand in almost all regions, especially China, the US and Japan. The company simply has an uncanny genius for envisaging what models will make the most money and that includes not going too heavily into EVs.
Compared to similarly sized Volkswagen, TMC is almost a sceptic when it comes to electric cars. The company has no particular bias against them, it’s more than there has been almost a quarter of century’s investment in hybrids and these are highly profitable. EVs are coming in ever greater numbers though; it’s just that some of them are part of JVs and most electric Toyotas will be available mostly in markets where legislation demands so or buyers seem keen to embrace them.
There hasn’t been much in the way of PHEVs although that’s changing, while the Toyota brand remains an innovator in hydrogen fuel cells, the soon to be launched second generation Mirai already winning much praise for its advances in both technology and looks. That also proves that TMC is yet to decide which of many different approaches to propulsion systems will be the big winner in a decade’s time. Instead, bets have been placed on everything, and unlike most other large OEMs, this firm has the money to do that.
Toyota’s vast range of models never seems to contract, as even when some disappear there are always fresh entries in big segments as well as trials of niche vehicles that might go mainstream, which is how the likes of the Prius and long before it the RAV4 and even the original Camry started out. So what’s coming next?
Crossovers and SUVs
A special SUV for India was revealed in August and went on sale during September. There are small changes over the Vitara Brezza to create the Urban Cruiser, mostly tweaks at the front end, while the same 1.5-litre petrol engine features. The second generation is due in mid-2023, timed to arrive just after the next Brezza.
The 4Active model name is speculative but it’s a fact that Toyota will build an SUV at a plant currently under construction in Alabama. This factory, a joint venture with Mazda, will make 150,000 units a year of two related models, one for each brand. Initially, a Mazda SUV and the Toyota Corolla were due to be built there but plans changed and in July 2019 Toyota told the media that its model would be a new SUV.
Some sources believe that the 4Active (codename: 890B) could be the same vehicle as the Toyota Corolla Cross and that it may use that name too. There is also a hybrid version of that model. See PLDB for all the facts and figures.
The sixth generation 4Runner is likely to be revealed at the 2022 State Fair of Texas and enter production soon after. It should be new for North America’s 2023 model year. Like the current model, the next one will have a ladder frame chassis and be related to the Tundra pick-up.
The next Land Cruiser 200 is due to arrive in around a year’s time. It should once more have a body-on-frame construction, while the replacement for the Lexus LX 570 will be closely related, just as the current models are. Some sources have claimed that TMC’s 8GR-FXS, a 3.5-litre biturbo hybrid V6, will be available and in combination with a CVT: the powertrain from the Lexus LS 500h and LC 500h. The life cycle for the 700B Land Cruiser should be 10-12 years depending on what happens with emissions legislation in key markets.
The replacement for the even larger Sequoia, meanwhile, has been delayed and delayed again. In January, Toyota stated that it would end production of this model at Princeton, Indiana “by 2022”. The same media release noted that (a new generation of) the Sequoia would be manufactured at San Antonio, Texas from 2022. That adds to speculation that the next edition of this big SUV will use the same frame platform as the Tundra pick-up. San Antonio loses build of the Tacoma to make way for the 660B Sequoia. The 5.7-litre V8 will likely be dropped and replaced by a hybrid biturbo V6.
Details of architectures for Toyota’s global range of crossovers and SUVs can be found in PLDB: see link at the end of this report.
Minivans & MPVs
In March 2019, Suzuki and Toyota told the media about their plans to extend worldwide collaboration. As part of this extended agreement, the Ertiga (and Ciaz) would be supplied to Toyota’s Indian market dealers. This model and the Ciaz derivative will also be exported to certain African countries, as will Toyota-badged versions of the Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Suzuki Baleno. The model name of the Suzuki Ertiga-based MPV isn’t yet known. Production, which should last for three years (due to the Suzuki having been in existence since 2018) is expected to start by mid-2021.
As Toyota is said to be planning a major shake-up of its domestic market sales channels, the days of twinned models such as the Noah and Voxy are said to be numbered.
A new Noah as well as a new Noah Hybrid will reportedly be launched by year-end but there won’t be a Voxy or Voxy Hybrid: the Voxy name will become a trim level. The new model should be in production at Toyota Auto Body’s Fujimatsu plant for seven years with a mid-life restyle in mid-2024.
Revealed to the media online in May, North America’s latest Sienna is new for the 2021 model year. The outgoing model is also fairly successful as an import to China (500-1,000 per month) so Toyota will likely export the new one there from its giant Princeton (Alabama) factory. US market deliveries started this month. There should be a facelift for the 2026 model year and a decade-long production life.
Generation Four was designed at CALTY’s Newport Beach studio in California as well as at Ann Arbor in Michigan. The Avalon, Tacoma and Tundra were, are or will be the other models which are developed at the Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor. Toyota says the front end of this big vehicle is supposed to look like a Shinkansen, which it does.
Unlike previous Siennas, the new one comes solely in gasoline-electric form although it is not called Sienna Hybrid. The powertrain consists of a 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine and two motors, total power being stated as 243 hp. Front-wheel drive is standard and all-wheel drive optional. Drivers can tow up to a claimed 3,500 pounds.
The first examples of a Sienna Robo Taxi are due to be delivered to Uber for testing in 2021 as per an August 2018 agreement and media announcement. TMC stated at the same time that it would spend US$500m buying shares in Uber.
A tiny ‘City EV‘ is now only months away. This electric two-door, two-seat hatchback will be for Japan only, at least at first. Toyota announced it and revealed an image of a prototype at an event in June 2019. Four months later, a prototype was displayed at the Tokyo motor show. Expect a seven-year life cycle.
In July last year, TMC told the media that it had “signed an agreement for the joint development of battery electric vehicles (BEVs)” with BYD Company Ltd. The firms will “jointly develop sedans and low-floor SUVs as well as the onboard batteries for these vehicles and others with the aim to launch them in the Chinese market under the Toyota brand in the first half of the 2020s”. Further details of the specifics of the TMC-BYD EVs are awaited but given when the accord was announced, the first one should be released in 2022 or 2023.
Toyota and Subaru issued a media statement in June 2019 which announced the development of a dedicated architecture for battery-electric vehicles. This platform will be for models in the C, D, and E segments. The first of these will be all-wheel drive Compact SUVs for the Subaru and Toyota brands. Some believe the TMC will badge its model Evoltis. Neither company has confirmed any other models for this architecture, although Toyota at least might well create a Camry-sized electric car should the company see possible demand for such a vehicle.
Toyota revealed clay mock-ups of six proposed EVs at a presentation called Aiming to Popularize BEVs on 7 June 2019. The half dozen were a large SUV, a medium SUV, a medium crossover, a medium minivan, a medium sedan and a compact.
Some had suspected that the second generation Mirai may have been previewed by the Fine-Comfort Ride, a concept which debuted at the 2017 Tokyo motor show. This vehicle was claimed to have a range of up to 1,000 km from its supply of hydrogen, with refuelling taking just three minutes. Instead, the car was heralded by a 4,975 mm long concept of that name which premiered at the 2019 Tokyo show. This supremely elegant car was “…scheduled for launch starting in late 2020, initially in Japan, North America and Europe”. The model was subsequently revealed by Toyota Motor Europe in January at a special event. Production has just started although that fact is yet to be announced.
The follow up to the Mirai would be a five-seater, Yoshikazu Tanaka, the car’s chief engineer stated in a December 2019 interview (the first one had only four seats). There would also be more storage space for the hydrogen (and three tanks instead of two), allowing the range to be increased by around 30 percent to over 600 km. Another difference is rear-wheel drive with the motor mounted at the back of the car.
TMC executives have said they hope to see 30,000 units of the second generation Mirai sold over what is expected to be a production cycle that lasts until the fourth quarter of 2026.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future platform intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of GlobalData’s Automotive Intelligence Center. That includes multiple other Toyota vehicles not reported on above.
This is a first in a series of reports which highlight selected current and future models from TMC’s passenger vehicle divisions. Next comes the second chapter on the Toyota brand, which will concentrate on cars and pick-ups. After that, it’s Daihatsu and Perodua, with Lexus ending the series.


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As they look ahead to the rest of the year, it’s clear that warehouse and distribution managers have their eye on continuous improvement and operational efficiency. In assessing their roadmaps for 2020, 33% of companies say their top e-fulfilment/distribution goals will be to reduce errors in order processing while also improving order accuracy.
Twenty-nine percent want to improve picking and handling processes; 26% are focused on increasing profitability and reducing costs on a per-order basis; and 25% want to improve productivity as a way to solve labour challenges.
For one-fourth of survey respondents, the focus for 2020 will be on upgrading order picking technology or to get more out of their existing physical space. Other key areas of focus for the year ahead include reducing order fulfilment cycle times, gaining real-time inventory visibility across the supply chain, and meeting customers’ same-day/next-day delivery expectations.
Overall, picking and order processing appear to be the two biggest areas that organizations want to improve this year. Once improved, these functions all contribute to speedier and more accurate customer deliveries—the Holy Grail for ecommerce companies.
As ecommerce continues to grow, the pressures being exerted on the modern warehouse or distribution operation will only exacerbate. Concurrently, issues like low labour availability, the ongoing trade wars, higher freight costs, rising real estate costs, and aging facility infrastructure will continue to make life difficult for warehouse and logistics managers.
To keep up, companies are evaluating new technology solutions, implementing automated systems, and coming up with new ways to work more efficiently in any conditions.
With this growing interest in warehouse automation there will be more companies looking for ways to balance their growing ecommerce operations with changing customer demands. By augmenting their human workforces with automated equipment and software that helps them address these issues, smart companies are bracing themselves for long-term success in any economic or business conditions.
To learn more contact Kardex Remstar or download the full report at https://hubs.li/H0vsdhc0


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Viet Nam’s tourism sees brighter future
Holding onto the theme "Heritage Tourism" this year, Viet Nam's tourism industry is expected to experience an increase in tourist arrivals as well as a strong competition with other countries in the region, General Director of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Van Tuan has said.
The industry expects to welcome 6.5 million international tourists and 32 million local visitors in 2012, for an estimated turnover of VND 150 trillion (US $7.1 billion), the VNAT said.
The figure would help the industry realize targets of receiving 10-15 million foreign tourists and 47-48 million domestic tourists and obtaining total revenues of about US $18-19 billion, contributing from 6.5 – 7% of GDP by 2020.
The industry has set to continue to promote growth and sustainable development with an average yearly growth of 11.5-12% between 2011 and 2020.
Viet Nam welcomed about 681,850 foreign visitors in February, up 8.2% from January, bringing the total number of international tourists in the first two months to more than 1.31 million, a year-on-year increase of 27.1%.
Recent VNAT statistics show that air travelers to Viet Nam in the first two months of this year accounted for 87% of all arrivals and rose 31% compared to 2011. Sea arrivals increased by 42% and arrivals by road, 17%.
With such impressive results, the tourism sector has greatly contributed to the national economy, despite current difficulties.
Economists say the global tourism industry will face many difficulties in 2012, and the local tourism sector is no exception.
However, VNAT General Director Nguyen Van Tuan affirms that Viet Nam tourism will enjoy fruitful development as more and more tourists add Viet Nam to their must-see list.
According to a report “Tourism Viet Nam Industry Forecast to 2012”, the tourism sector of Việt Nam is projected to post a double-digit growth rate in near future, owing to a rise in the private sector’s investment. As the country attracts tourists from all over the world, majority of private players have started investing in the country’s hospitality sector.
The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism is said to help boost the country’s tourism market over the forecast period (2010-2013).
Viet Nam's travel sector was ranked 14th in the region last year and 80th overall, up nine places since the last assessment in 2009, according to the recent Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2011 from the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Viet Nam's higher position can be attributed to its rich cultural resources (ranked 36th), with several World Heritage cultural sites, international fairs and exhibitions, and its strong creative industries.
Another attraction is natural resources, which placed Viet Nam on the 24th position in terms of its World Heritage natural sites and diverse fauna. These attributes are reinforced by the country's price competitiveness (16th), the report stated.
In 2011, Viet Nam’s Hạ Long Bay has been voted one of the World’s Seven New Natural Wonders. Mr. Tuan says this will open up huge opportunity to boost the country’s tourism development. While many countries are experiencing political instability and natural disasters, Viet Nam is emerging as an attractive and safe destination, he adds.


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Joystiq is reporting that Sony is set to hold a live streaming PS Vita reveal event on March 9th. The Welcome! PlayStation Vita Game Heaven event will have Sony revealing unannounced Vita titles and new information on pending releases and existing services.
Speaking to some industry folk, we heard that apparently this event will be worth paying attention to as Sony is getting ready to reveal something big. It could all just be misconstrued hype but if I were you, I’d keep a close eye on the internet that day as I’m sure we’ll be hearing something worth taking notice of.
Stay tuned to the site as we’ll be sure to update you on whatever Sony has in store for us.


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Malaysia may be the undisputed regional leader for Islamic fintech; leading the Global Islamic Economy Indicator for the eighth consecutive year thanks to its strong Islamic finance initiatives and ecosystem. At the forefront of this burgeoning sector is pioneering Islamic fintech startup Ethis Group. Here’s a deeper dive into how Malaysia became an Islamic fintech hub.
Despite a tumultuous year, the COVID-19 pandemic has unexpectedly served as the fuel behind digital transformation and, hence, the accelerated growth of the global Islamic fintech ecosystem.
According to the 2021 Global Islamic Fintech Report, the estimated 2020 Islamic fintech transaction volume within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation countries is US$49 billion.
This figure represents 0.7% of the global fintech transaction volume, and Islamic fintechs are projected to grow to US$128 billion by 2025 at a 21% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)—a higher growth projection compared to conventional fintechs projected at 15% CAGR for the same period.
Malaysia is leading the global Islamic fintech boom
From the $49 billion figure, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Malaysia and Indonesia have the largest estimated transaction volume.
But Malaysia ranks first in the GIFT Index of 64 countries—a composite index of 32 indicators covering five categories: Islamic fintech market & ecosystem, talent, regulation, infrastructure & capital. Essentially, the GIFT Index measures the potential of a country as an Islamic fintech hub.
The global Islamic fintech ecosystem is expected to grow to US$128 billion by 2025, and Malaysia is expected to own a fair share of that growth. (Source: 2021 Global Islamic Fintech Report)
Not only that, but Malaysia also leads the Fintech Hubs Maturity Matrix, a measure of fintech growth based on market size against ecosystem conduciveness. This means Malaysia is the leading country when it comes to high growth and high conduciveness for Islamic fintechs, while Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, and Kuwait, are other exciting hubs that should be on investors’ horizons.
Finally, Malaysia also maintained its position as a top sukuk market. According to RAM, the sukuk market continues to be dominated by Malaysia with a market share of 39.2%, followed by Saudi Arabia (20.4%) and Indonesia (17.5%). Collectively, these markets contributed 77.1% of total global sukuk issuance. Malaysia also has one of the best halal standards globally.
All in all, it’s clear that Malaysia is a hub spot for Islamic fintech and finance and will only continue to grow further in the coming years.
At the forefront of Islamic fintech in Malaysia is Ethis, which operates regulated Shariah-compliant investment crowdfunding platforms in Indonesia and Malaysia and social finance platform GlobalSadaqah.
This Malaysian-headquartered Islamic fintech company focuses on sustainable and impact-focused crowd-investments, financing and donations. It operates regulated platforms in Malaysia and Indonesia and has also secured regulatory approvals in Dubai and Qatar.
We will dive deeper into Ethis and its business offerings later in this piece.
Breaking down the global Islamic fintech landscape
According to the Global Islamic Fintech Report by IFN Fintech, more than 240 Islamic fintechs currently operate globally, covering a wide range of customers and financial needs via several emerging technologies.
Raising funds, deposits and lending, wealth management, payments, and alternative finance are leading categories accounting for 77% of Islamic fintech firms.
Payments, deposits & lending and raising funds are expected to be the top growth segments in 2021, according to respondents of the Global Islamic Fintech Report.
Confidence in Islamic fintech appears to be so high that more than half, or 56% to be exact, of the surveyed Islamic fintechs from the Global Islamic Fintech Report, say they expect to raise an equity funding round of at least $5 million.
The growth of Islamic fintechs is so rapid that even traditional financial institutions have to either transform or team up with emerging technology companies to gain access to new markets and products and to garner greater efficiencies.
Despite this, there remain three core challenges facing the global Islamic fintech industry: lack of capital, consumer education, and finding talent.
Closer to home, Malaysia itself houses many Islamic fintechs. Based on Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s (MDEC) Islamic Fintech Report published last February, a total of 26 Islamic fintech providers were operating in Malaysia in 2019, higher than the UK (19), United Arab Emirates (16), Indonesia (12) and the US (10).
From a geographical distribution perspective, Asia dominated the scene with 41% of the ecosystem, followed by Europe (25%), Middle East (20.6%), the Americas (10.3%) and Africa (2.9%).
Two things are clear at this point—the global Islamic fintech scene is rapidly growing in both transaction volume and entities; hundreds of Islamic fintech startups now operate across the globe and many more may follow suit soon. Secondly, Malaysia is a clear leader in this industry; the country is home to at least 20 of these Islamic fintech startups.
Related: Blockchain in Islamic Finance
What is driving the growth of Islamic fintechs in Malaysia?
The biggest contributor to the accelerated growth of Islamic fintechs in Malaysia is the country’s existing status as an Islamic finance hub.
The country was recognised by Thomson Reuters as the most developed Islamic finance market globally for five consecutive years back in 2017, with their industry total assets reaching US$ 204.4 billion.
As MDEC points out, the country’s Islamic finance leadership is globally recognized—it houses a sophisticated legal and regulatory infrastructure and diverse community extending beyond “traditional” financial incumbents, including Islamic organizations such as zakat, Hajj and Islamic co-operatives (co-ops).
Furthermore, backed by a strong Islamic Digital Economy, Malaysia has the unique and competitive advantage to lead the regional and global Islamic digital marketplace.
A growing Muslim population in the ASEAN region has also led to increasing demand for the development of Islamic fintech in terms of Shariah-compliant investment-related products in Malaysia.
Strong government support for the digital economy
Without a solid backbone or base, it would be challenging for any government or economy to develop or establish an industrial framework.
Malaysia’s robust regulatory environment, comprehensive fintech landscape, the supportive Islamic finance community and the government’s commitment to champion the Islamic economy, has paved the way for Malaysia to be a global Islamic fintech hub, according to INCEIF’s Islamic Fintech in Malaysia Reality & Outlook report.
Now, regulators can easily set comprehensive regulatory guidelines and requirements needed for fintech players to operate their businesses, which will help startups that need to make investment decisions quickly and decisively as they scale up.
The presence of an already mature Islamic finance ecosystem also helped draw Islamic fintech players to Malaysia. Unlike in other markets, local fintech players can depend on various Shariah advisory firms to vet their products and services to ensure it is ultimately shariah-compliant. Similarly, Islamic banks can also provide these fintech players with comprehensive Islamic banking and finance services.
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s (MDEC) leading role in pushing the digital economy agenda has directly created a conducive ecosystem for which Islamic fintech can thrive.
“With our strong digital economy ecosystem within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member nations, we have a comparative advantage over others in providing Shariah-compliant Islamic finance and Fintech services globally,” said Surina Shukri, CEO of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
“Malaysia offers the perfect platform for Islamic Fintech companies to roll out their product offerings before tapping into other Muslim-majority countries,” she added.
On a macro level, the government of Malaysia has selected Islamic finance and the Islamic digital economy as Key Economic Growth Activities (KEGA) for the country. This further accelerates the digital economy agenda and helps increase investor confidence in supporting and funding local startups.
The digital economy’s contribution to Malaysia’s GDP has reached 20% in 2020, increasing from 19.1% or RM289 billion in 2019, according to Department Statistics of Malaysia.
Related: Islamic Fintech: Bubble or Boom?
Expanding the digital economy in Malaysia
But beyond a mature and supportive ecosystem for Islamic finance, the general rapid growth of fintech, which has entered the local mainstream financial sector, is also fueling the growth of Islamic fintech.
Naturally, analyzing how both Islamic and conventional fintechs synergize gives a clearer and more comprehensive view of the ecosystem.
A growing middle class in Malaysia is one of the biggest contributors to the fintech boom—77% of Malaysia’s population are urbanized and are growing in affluence. This leads to high mobile phone penetration rates, according to an International Monetary Fund analysis.
IMF states that it’s not uncommon today to see mobile wallets and electronic payments, crowdfunding and insurtech technologies appear among Malaysian businesses and are accepted by their consumers who appear increasingly ready to embrace the technology.
Malaysia’s growing Internet banking scene has also helped make fintech more operational, says IMF. Internet banking in the country has quadrupled in the last decade, topping a 90% usage rate in 2018.
The boom of mobile banking is another contributor to Islamic fintech; Malaysia is seeing a near-universal 4G network coverage, a rise in affordable data, and 5G is in the works soon. Malaysia was even ranked high among the 139 countries surveyed—ahead of Italy, China, and Chile—and first among countries in emerging and developing Asia in the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Network Readiness Index.
What’s next for Islamic fintechs in Malaysia?
The Islamic fintech ecosystem is still in its infancy in Malaysia, according to the same INCEIF report; and it still has great potential for rapid growth.
Multiple reports say that with strong support, continued high potential, and growing market demand, Islamic fintech startups in Malaysia are well-positioned to secure long-term growth prospects and to scale up exponentially to serve the global Islamic economy, which consists of almost 1.8 billion people around the world.
Furthermore, MDEC states Malaysia is strategically placed to serve as an Islamic fintech gateway to the wider ASEAN market, due to its conducive and cost-effective business environment as well as affordable living standards.
It’s not surprising to see financial technology or fintech in general, as it’s popularly known, gets the attention and support to flourish as a sector in Malaysia.
Due to its extraordinary potential to change lives and change economies, this new sector has the potential to uplift ordinary people and communities, especially those from the underserved markets, by giving them access to basic financial products securely and efficiently.
While the numbers appear bright and seem to position Malaysia as a global leader for Islamic fintech, much work still needs to be done to achieve these goals.
According to MDEC’s Islamic Fintech Report, Shariah technopreneurs have noted that other jurisdictions are more successful in attracting new Islamic fintech start-ups due to several factors: more welcoming regulatory environment, active engagement by regulators and government agencies to anchor operations in their respective markets, the availability of funding, ease and support in setting up operations.
By improving its fintech offerings for Islamic Finance, Malaysia could come much closer to its goal of becoming a higher-income nation: as roughly 19.5 million of Malaysia’s approximately 30.5 million people are Muslim, the vast majority of which own a cell phone, and two-thirds of which are unbanked.
Malaysia’s developed Shariah-compliant finance infrastructure and ecosystem give it the advantage to host and develop Islamic fintech startups and initiatives, as well as become a well-rounded regional hub that offers both conventional and Islamic fintech support.
Only time will tell if Malaysia lives up to its potential.
Ethis—leading Malaysia’s growth in Islamic fintech
Ethis is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field, having won numerous awards and accolades over the past few years. Founded as a private investment club in Singapore in 2014 before shifting to Malaysia, Ethis just recently—in late 2020—was awarded Malaysia’s first Shariah-compliant Equity Crowdfunding licence by Securities Commission Malaysia.
The majority of the group’s business is in Indonesia, where it obtained the much-coveted P2P financing registration approval from the Financial Services Authority in 2019. Ethis has been present in Indonesia since 2015 and has matched retail investors from more than 50 countries into impact-investment campaigns, initially focused on property development for social housing and more recently fundraising for highly popular SME supply-chain projects.
Ethis Group currently operates ethical and Islamic crowdfunding platforms both in Malaysia and Indonesia and soon in other countries. The group currently consists of Ethis Malaysia, Ethis Indonesia and GlobalSadaqah.
Ethis currently runs:
(i) Ethis Malaysia: A regulated equity crowdfunding platform that focuses on funding businesses and projects in the agriculture, property, social enterprise and waqf sectors (Malaysia)
As an equity crowdfunding platform, Ethis matches issuers (Malaysian companies) and investors. It charges Malaysian companies that raise funding on its platform a fee equivalent to 6%-10% of capital raised. Other miscellaneous fees apply for services such as registration, onboarding, and post-investment updates.
(ii) Ethis Indonesia: A regulated P2P platform, that provides SMEs with funding for short-term projects with healthy profit margins. In the past, it provided Shariah-compliant funding for property projects in Indonesia with social impact.
(iii) GlobalSadaqah: A charity, zakat and waqf platform
Driven by its mission to drive effective and impactful circulation of capital into the real economy, as well as its vision to uplift humanity through financial technology, the startup has crowdfunded an impressive more than 1910 investments into Indonesia and Malaysia from 47 countries.
Some of their noteworthy achievements include successfully raising RM4.6 million for an SME project in less than a day through Ethis Indonesia; averaging a crowdfunding volume of RM3 million each month; and building the world’s first Masjid using cryptos through their charity arm, GlobalSadaqah.
From 2016 to 2019, Ethis had raised $18million as bridging funds to build 9,700 houses worth a total of $146.3 million, benefitting 38,800 people as part of its focus on affordable social housing. Today the company mainly focuses on raising funds for SMEs.
In total, Ethis has crowdfunded 1910+ investments into Indonesia and Malaysia from 47 countries as well as facilitated 14k+ donations from 84 countries as part of its charity crowdfunding platform.
Our numbers tell a clearer story of our footprint so far. Join us on this journey to #CirculateGood


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YouTube videos stopping and starting? Spreadsheets taking an eternity to upload? Connections suddenly dropping?
Many of those Wi-Fi woes could soon come to an end.
An industry group this week began certifying products capable of running on a faster and more reliable wireless network technology. It marked the unofficial beginning of the next generation of Wi-Fi.
Contrary to popular belief, many of the connection problems that home users encounter are often not related to their broadband service but rather to the Wi-Fi routers.
The new technology — 802.11ac — has the potential to be up to four times as fast as the current standard 802.11n technology. Smartphones, computers and routers with the new technology are already hitting store shelves, though industry experts don’t expect average consumers to start picking up the devices until the holiday shopping season or early next year.
The technical improvements bring Wi-Fi up to par with the sweeping changes in the home entertainment industry. The number of Wi-Fi-connected devices in U.S. households has doubled during the last five years, according to Wakefield Research.
Smartphones, tablets and even appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines now compete with televisions, gaming consoles and laptops for a share of a finite network bandwidth. Increasingly, many of those devices are also displaying hours of video a day, putting incredible demand on the network.
The fifth generation of Wi-Fi tackles those problems by increasing speed limits and moving to a new highway, from the congested lanes of the 2.4-gigahertz frequency band to a more open 5-gigahertz spectrum.
The changes should mean that routers will be able to accommodate more devices at one time and provide better coverage throughout a home or office space. In apartments or areas crowded with other electronics, the new “highway” offers the promise of less interference, meaning connections shouldn’t randomly drop, particularly if the consumer is using a 2.4-gigahertz cordless phone.
“We expect that the users will see a significant increase in the performance of their applications,” said Greg Ennis, technical director of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
The trade association owns the Wi-Fi trademark, and it must say that a product works correctly with other Wi-Fi certified products before a device can carry the official Wi-Fi seal. Ennis said the start of the alliance’s certification process would unleash a flood of products onto the market capable of running 802.11ac.
But the improvements won’t come cheap, at least initially. Some uncertified routers that support the new technology are already available. Most of the 802.11ac routers cost more than $150, compared with $50 for an older device.
A second wave of “ac” routers should reach stores by early 2014, bringing the price of the earlier ones down. But the best time to buy might be the middle of next year when prices for the second batch are expected to drop to about $100. One of the key metrics consumers should look at is the number of simultaneous users a router can handle. Known by the acronym MU-MIMO, the technology allows a router to send data to multiple devices more efficiently.
Last week, Apple announced that its newest MacBook Air laptop would include the new Wi-Fi technology. The company’s AirPort Extreme Base Station and AirPort Time Capsule will also notch higher speeds. The base station comes with a new feature known as “beamforming,” which is an optional part of 802.11ac. Beamforming automatically optimizes a Wi-Fi signal’s path to deliver faster speeds to a particular device.
Everything that’s certified as 802.11ac will work with older gadgets. But to take advantage of the faster speeds and wider bandwidth, both ends of a transmission must have the new technology. Older computers can be upgraded using an 802.11ac USB adapter.
The last major Wi-Fi upgrade began in 2007, with the launch of the 802.11n technology. “N” was the successor to “a,” “b” and “g.” By the end of the year, the Wi-Fi Alliance expects to start certifying the more niche “ad” technology. Its optimal use is limited to small areas with dozens of devices connecting to a network, such as classrooms or a small, public hot spot.
Why are letters being doubled up now? The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, which oversees wireless standards, used “o” through “z” to denote minor technical changes since the launch of “n.”
Source: Los Angeles Times


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The trade ban by the US government on Huawei has been eased yet again by another three months, the third time this would be happening since the Chinese company was put on the Entity List back in May. With this temporary extension, Huawei is free to trade with American components as long as a threat is not posed to national security.
In a statement, US Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross said, “The Temporary General License extension will allow carriers to continue to service customers in some of the most remote areas of the United States who would otherwise be left in the dark. The Department will continue to rigorously monitor sensitive technology exports to ensure that our innovations are not harnessed by those who would threaten our national security.”
The Temporary General License extension enables Huawei to do business with American companies till February 16, 2020. Any business done involving exports, reexports or in-country transfers of items bound by the US Export Administration Regulations outside the scope of the extension will still require a license, if granted.
This is the latest episode from the Huawei ban but it is not expected to end here. Back in May, President Trump declared a ban on the Chinese tech giant after it was found guilty of violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).


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Well there has been much talk and news in recent weeks leading up to the release of the new Motorola Devour in March. It will hit Verizon with pricing of $150 after a $100 mail-in rebate. As with all Verizon smartphones, you will need a Nationwide Talk plan with $30 unlimited data package. Head on over to Engadget for a ton of photos as well as their initial thoughts on the Devour. They also do some comparisons to the Moto Droid for those of you who are wondering how they measure up against one another.
Looks like the Devour might just be a contender, but we will have to see how it measures up once everyone gets the 2.1 update. Anyhow, hope this satisfies your appetite a bit for some Devour news. Anyone waiting for the release to pick this one up? Or planning on switching to the Devour in hopes that it eats up your current phone? Let us know what you think about the Devour’s video debut.


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PARTNER NEWS: Chip maker AMS has sold its NFC and RFID reader product lines to STMicroelectronics. AMS will continue to retain ownership of its NFC/RFID tag business, including the AS3955 NFC interface chip (NFiC) which AMS unveiled in May 2015. More
PARTNER NEWS: Chip maker AMS has launched an NFC interface chip (NFiC) that offers “unique energy harvesting and data transfer capabilities” and can capture enough energy to power the device it is built into... More
“NFiC: A new, economical way to make a device NFC-compliant” has been produced by analog chip specialists AMS and is designed to help device makers understand the full range of options now available for adding NFC functionality to electronic products of all types. More
Feed for stories about NFiC.


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In an interesting move towards broadening the spectrum of plant-based food options, Umami United, a producer of plant-based eggs, has joined forces with one of Japan's major food manufacturers, KENKO Mayonnaise. The collaboration has spawned a unique product for the ready-to-eat category: the Marude Tamago Salad, a plant-based egg salad that represents a significant stride in alternative protein offerings.
The new product is part of KENKO's freshly launched plant-based food brand, HAPPY!! with VEGE, which is entirely vegan. This brand aligns with the burgeoning demand for plant-based food options, reflecting a wider global trend of shifting consumer preferences towards more sustainable and cruelty-free food choices.
The Marude Tamago Salad is more than just a novelty; it's a reflection of meticulous craftsmanship and innovation. It capitalizes on Umami United's realistic plant-based eggs, which replicate the taste, flavor, and texture of conventional eggs. This is achieved through the utilization of traditional Japanese ingredients like konjac flour and soy, which lend an egg-like texture and elasticity to the product. Moreover, a distinctive umami flavor is extracted from upcycled wood ear mushrooms through a proprietary fermentation process, further elevating the taste of the egg alternative.
This partnership comes at a time when the plant-based food market is witnessing a significant upswing. A recent outbreak of avian influenza in Japan has notably increased the wholesale price of eggs, prompting manufacturers to explore plant-based eggs as a viable solution to counter price fluctuations, egg allergies, and cater to vegan diets. The collaboration between Umami United and KENKO is not merely a business venture; it's a shared vision to create inclusive food options that everyone can enjoy at the same table, irrespective of dietary preferences or restrictions.
The joint venture leverages both technological and developmental expertise from both entities. By pooling resources, Umami United and KENKO aim to address the changing needs and expectations of consumers in the modern era, where plant-based diets are increasingly becoming mainstream.
In conclusion, the collaborative endeavor between Umami United and KENKO Mayonnaise is a commendable step towards fostering innovation in the plant-based food sector. The Marude Tamago Salad is not just a product; it's a symbol of the evolving food landscape that embraces diversity, sustainability, and the shared goal of creating a more inclusive food culture.


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According to Ghana's "Financial Times" report on May 10, Ghana imported a total of 343,000 tons of seafood products of US$290 million in 2021, and the main source of imports is the United States. With the easing of the epidemic in Ghana, the tourism industry is recovering, and the demand for imported seafood products is continuing to increase, while the development of local fisheries in Ghana is lagging behind, and the seafood market in the United States will continue to expand.
Red Lobster CEO Kelli Valade is resigning after just eight months at the helm of the Orlando-based seafood chain, a quick departure that one industry analyst called “very, very, very bad.”
The chilling moment a dolphin attacked a trainer at Miami Seaquarium has been captured on film.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP ), basa fish export to most major global markets have grown significantly. In the first two months of this year, the total export value of basa fish increased by 93.6% to US$384.8 million. At the end of February, the export of basa fish to the United States was 94.57 million US dollars, an increase of 119.7%.
After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia, arowana has not been exported to China so far. Unexpectedly, Russia and Ukraine went to war more than a month ago, which led to the suspension of orders from Europe and the United States, and the narrowing of sales channels, which made the breeding industry even worse.
In the first quarter of this year, Norway exported 399 tons of live king crab, a year-on-year decrease of 43%, and the export volume was 248 million Norwegian kroner, basically the same as that in the same period last year.
The artificial breeding of golden pomfret was successful.
Golden pomfret is one of the important economic fish in mariculture in China. According to statistics, in 2020, the aquaculture output of golden pomfret in China was 160,000 ~ 170,000 tons, and the total industrial output value was about 20 billion yuan. Historically, golden pomfret has only appeared on the table for more than 40 years.
The United States and many European countries have implemented several rounds of unilateral sanctions on Russia's military action against Ukraine, which has made the seafood industry in western countries complain endlessly. As the economic sanctions against Russia make it more difficult to obtain key seafood such as cod and crab, the seafood industry is coping with the adverse effects of rising prices, supply chain disruption and unemployment of processing plant workers. Experts warned that ordinary consumers will pay for the rise in product prices caused by sanctions.
As concerns swirl about the impact of the U.S. banning Russian seafood, a Massachusetts seafood industry leader says he’s confident that local prices won’t be hiked.


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DCD Rights acquires worldwide rights to ‘Liberty of London’ and secures pre-sales
International distributor DCD Rights announces that it has acquired worldwide distribution rights for the highly anticipated new documentary series Liberty of London (3x60'). Pre-sales deals for the series produced by Rize USA have already been signed with Foxtel for Australia and NRK for Norway with further deals to be announced soon.
Liberty of London goes behind the scenes at department store Liberty as it gears up for the make-or-break Christmas shopping season. Housed in an iconic half-timber building made from old battleships, Liberty has been drawing in shoppers for over 130 years with its eccentric and eclectic designs. With unprecedented access to the store, its staff and its customers, this series tells the everyday extraordinary stories of life within one of London's oldest department stores, following the race to get the Christmas shop open on time, via fashion weeks in London and Paris, VIP customer and celebrity visits, and the daily rituals at the heart of the store.
Nicky Davies Williams, CEO, DCD Rights, said: "We are thrilled to be distributing a series that holds such great sales potential off the back of the huge international success of similar shows including 'Inside Claridge's'. Broadcasters around the world have a real appetite for behind the scenes series of this type filled with wonderful characters and extraordinary every day stories".
Sheldon Lazarus, Creative Director, Rize USA, said: "We are pleased to be partnering again with DCD Rights, this time to offer audiences access to the universe of one of Britain's oldest department stores, in a series which we expect will attract much interest worldwide".
Liberty of London premieres tonight on Channel 4.