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|By PR Newswire||
|November 26, 2012 12:44 PM EST||
LONDON, November 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
- Home retailer Littlewoods.com unveils the true cost of Christmas in 2012 -
- The hidden costs of Christmas shopping on the high street reveals petrol, car parking and impulse buys add a whopping £505.54 to the festive budget
- 68 per cent of British mums are worried about the cost of Christmas this year
- The average Christmas present budget is to be cut by £45.76 - 8 per cent reduction on 2011
- 98 per cent of mums to go without party clothes, hair do's and beauty treatments to ensure the family get what they want
- WARNING TO HUSBANDS AND BOYFRIENDS - You'll be the first left off the Christmas present list if someone has to budge!
The hidden cost of Christmas
Gifts, twinkly trees, turkeys and a few tipples: there are some costs that mums expect when Christmas comes. However, it would seem that they're just the tip of the iceberg, as new research from leading online retailer Littlewoods.com reveals millions of mums will rack up an additional £505.54 of hidden costs during their high street Christmas shopping sprees.
From filling-up the petrol tank to paying for car parking tickets, grabbing lunch and a trip to Santa's Grotto, Britain's mums are spending an average of £72.22 per shopping trip in hidden costs during the festive period. And with the majority of mums shopping 7 times during the joyous season, the cost of Christmas is getting very expensive indeed, before a present has even been bought.
The hidden costs of Christmas present shopping this season:
Food and drink - £178.78
Travel and transport - £133.70
Impulse buys - £110.67
Santa's Grotto - £45.50
Christmas donations - £36.89
Gary Kibble, Brand Director at Littlewoods.com said "With pennies stretched this year, it's more important than ever for mums to keep track of where their hard-earned cash is being spent. Additional extras can soon mount up without putting further strain on the gifting budget and with 32 days to go, the pressures of Christmas for the nation's mums is starting to be felt."
Tightening the spend on Christmas 2012
The economic hardship, stretches in income and job risks have forced Brits to re-consider their spending patterns more than ever before - a major reason why over two thirds of the nation's mums (68 per cent) are worried about the expense of Christmas indulgence and are cutting back on Christmas present spending this year.
Infact, the research revealed how, on average, belts are expected to tighten by £45.76 - down from £592.74 (2011) to £546.98 (predicted spend 2012).
With cutbacks planned, there's no surprise that 77 per cent of mums feel great pressure to get Christmas festivities right and ensure they're economising in the right areas.
WARNING: Who's crossed-off the Christmas present list
When quizzing Britain's mothers about who in the family would be the first to be left off the present list if push came to shove, it was surprising to see it's actually their partners (19 per cent) who'd be struck off in the first instance, behind uncles and aunties (12 per cent), their sisters (11 per cent) and cousins (10 per cent).
Interestingly, 96 per cent of mums said they wouldn't dream of leaving their in-laws off the list for fear of the arguments that could arise between them and their partners and the way they might be perceived as a result.
The same can be said for the kids. Despite reducing their overall Christmas present budget, the amount they spend on the kids is not expected to take the same drop. The research revealed that the average mother will spend £202.93 on the kids this year, only £1.54 short of what they said back in 2011 (£204.47) and £1.71 short on 2010 (£204.64).
Mum's go without
True to a mother's nature of putting their family first, 98 per cent of the 2,000 mums surveyed by Littlewoods.com said they would be going without treats, new party clothes and beauty treatments this Christmas to ensure that everyone else received what they wanted.
State of the Christmas Nation
The research was commissioned by online retailer Littlewoods.com to establish the 'state of the Christmas nation' and determine how the tough economic climate will effect families' Christmases in 2012.
Gary Kibble, Brand Director at Littlewoods.com commented on the research findings, "The research has shown us that despite it being a financially difficult time, Mums are doing what they can to make sure their families have the best Christmas possible. At Littlewoods.com we want to help our customers make Christmas as magical as possible with the ease and convenience of shopping from home and avoidance of hidden extras."
Notes to Editors:
 Research carried out on behalf of Littlewoods.com by One Poll; November 2012.
 The average mum will spend £72.22 in hidden costs per shopping trip and expects to go shopping 7 times during the festive period. Therefore, calculations would indicate that each UK mum will spend on average £505.54 in hidden costs.
 Christmas donations refer to donations to charities, carol singers, festive performers and homeless people during the festive period.
 The same survey was run during the same timeframe in November 2011, where 2,000 British mums surveyed. The average cost that British mums expected to spend on their Christmas presents was £592.74.
 A similar survey was run during the same timeframe in November 2010, where 2,000 British mums surveyed. The average cost that British mums expected to spend on their children at Christmas in 2010 was £204.64.
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‘One India’ as GST becomes reality
INDIA’s new GST from next year should see an overall reduction in taxes on goods and services as local and national levels of taxes and levies collapse into a single payment. Business is ecstatic as it looks forward to higher growth, more foreign investment, cost savings and a more competitive economy. The unified system should also reduce corruption – and throw new light on the nation’s black economy, currently estimated to be reaping US$1.4 trillion a year . . .

domain: news


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Constellation Brands has announced the sale of its Canadian wine business and is buying Charles Smith Wines, High West Distillery and a minority stake in Bardstown Bourbon Company.
Diageo, organisers of the World Class Bartender of the Year competition, is offering a once in a lifetime opportunity for a travel and drinks enthusiast to go on the ultimate cocktail adventure and host a new global travel show.
Dutch distillery brand Bols is inviting bartenders to compete in its next global bartending competition Bols Around the World: The Bols Genever Edition.
Matteo d’Imporzano has been appointed managing director of Codorníu in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Berlin Convent Berlin received record numbers of visitors this month, taking in 11,604 trade professionals over two days, an increase of 15% on last year.
Leaders of the global drinks industry assembled in Berlin on October 10 to discuss the future of the industry. Here is a selection of what was said.
Stock Spirits Group has bought three spirits brands from Bohemia Sekt for €5m/ CZK135 million (Czech Koruna).
Asahi Group Holdings has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Miller Brands UK and the formation of Asahi UK.
The English Wine Producers has announced that the harvest is now underway in the UK and growers are optimistic about the vintage.
Anheuser-Busch InBev has announced the completion of the deal to buy SABMiller.
Chivas Brothers, the scotch whisky and premium gin division of Pernod Ricard, has introduced two new expressions of Longmorn, its Speyside single malt.
The World's 50 Best Bars, which took place at Christ Church Spitafields yesterday (October 6th), saw nine awards presented to the best bars in the world.
Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grogg from New York has taken the title of World’s Best Bar 2016 at the annual World’s 50 Best Bars Awards in London.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association met with international partners in Canada, last week, as part of the FIVS Ottawa meetings for talks on developing post-Brexit trade agreements.


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Due to the second lockdown, boutiques will have to close their doors by December 13th. As a result, the winter season threatens to turn into a disaster after the summer season. In order to save a little before the winter sale arrives, Mode Unie (Unizo) asks the federal government to allow sales by agreement from December 1st. “A good thing for public health and the survival of our industry,” says director Isolde Delanghe.
The numbers don’t lie: 2020 will be an absolute disaster year for fashion stores. The summer season was already falling apart. September and October weren’t very good, although hopefully losses have been down a bit compared to last year. But now the independent boutiques are finally allowed to cross the winter season. “Allowing customers to pick up orders in-store is a small boost, but it is by no means enough to avoid red numbers. Nothing can be changed about that. But whether the numbers in the fashion sector turn red or dark red, the government can still do something about it, ”says the industry association of the Fashion Union.
As? “By allowing sales by agreement from December 1st,” says Isolde Delanghe. “Because if the boutiques are only allowed to reopen on December 13th, barely two weeks before Christmas and New Year’s Eve, there is a double problem. It’s going to be upside down in the shopping streets because everyone wants to buy packages quickly, with all the public health risks that come with it. On the flip side, the boutiques are missing out on two of the major sales weeks in the winter season and only two remain to be sold at full margin before winter sales begin on January 2nd. Margin that the boutiques now urgently need in order not to go bankrupt. “Mode Unie will shortly present its plan to the responsible ministers Clarinval (MR) and Verlinden (CD & V).


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Prices are fluctuating, water is wet.
CCP released their quarterly report on the economics of EVE Online recently.
The active subscriber base for CCP's space-based MMO Eve Online grew by 14 per cent between the third and fourth quarters of 2007, according to the latest quarterly economic newsletter from resident economist Dr Eyjólfur Guðmundsson.
Prompted by the release of Trinity, a large content upgrade added in December, the active player base hit 220,000 users, all co-existing in the same unsharded universe, and that's estimated to rise to 250,000 by the end of June 2008.
Read more at GamesIndustry.biz.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our EVE Online Game Page.


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22-year-old BA fashion design student Francesca Morgan has created a sustainable catwalk collection.
The student designed this collection with sustainability in mind so she used discarded and deadstock fabric, fabric from charity shops and more. She created this collection to be timeless so that the garments could be worn for years to come.
Morgan said in a statement: “As hard as it sounds to believe, an estimated 20 per cent of water pollution comes from textile dyeing and treatment. And these toxic chemicals can kill marine life, reduce biodiversity and pollute drinking water.
“So what’s needed is for the fashion industry to remove the use of these dyes in their designs altogether, so that they are no longer desirable for the consumer.”
Krystyna Kolowska, senior lecturer in fashion design at Nottingham Trent University, added: “Francesca has demonstrated how resourceful designers can be in helping minimise the footprint that fashion has on the planet.
“Her work highlights the importance of using dyes which do not damage waterways, and show how sustainable solutions can be stylish while also providing greater clothing longevity.”
The 22-year-old student’s work will feature at Nottingham Trent University’s art and design summer show, as part of an online exhibition on wearecreativesntu.art, along with other graduating artists and designers.


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According to new research the average woman gets 12 per cent of her daily energy from buns, cakes, crisps and chocolate.
The new findings, based on data from the National Diet & Nutrition Survey that questioned 1,000 men and women across the UK, found that cupboard raids are costing us an extra 200 calories per day or 1300 calories per week.
Nutritionist Fiona Hunter said: “Surveys show that we are a nation of snackers. Unfortunately snacks that people usually choose tend to be high in fat and sugar and so have unnecessary calories, which can lead to weight problems."
And with over half of us admitting we have absolutely no idea how many calories our snacks contain, it’s no wonder that as a nation, we are losing the battle of the bulge.
Three quarters of Brits think about snacking throughout the day and will go to extreme lengths to avoid the urge.
A fifth of us admit to drinking endless cups of tea and coffee in a bid to starve off hunger pangs, while others preferred to exercise or even have sex to keep their hunger at bay.
The extra calories can result in a hefty weight gain of one and half stone a year – that’s an increase of up to two dress sizes.
It’s bad new for the multi-taskers, which isn’t always an advantage. Housewives across the UK like nothing better than to blitz their home with a snack in one hand and a hoover in the other. One in ten eat while doing housework.
That's not ideal when you remember that to burn off just one croissant, you’d need to do 75 minutes of housework.
It’s not surprising that over half of us firmly believe snacking is the reason they fail to shake off those extra pounds.
We may be a nation brought up on elevenses and afternoon tea but the research shows that snack attacks are most likely to occur at 5pm - the official time when most Brits will have their hands in the biscuit tin.
With more of us working longer hours it’s not surprising that 29 per cent said they scoffed most of their calories at work. But 69 per cent of us admitted to raiding the fridge in the privacy of our own homes – the main snacking hotspot.
So what can we do to combat the urge to raid the fridge? The Food Standards Agency says skipping meals has become "alarmingly normal".
"Going hungry first thing means that, by mid-morning, your body is craving a pick-me-up - often found in crisps and sweets.
"This means that essential iron, calcium and vitamins that could have been grabbed at breakfast are being replaced with unhealthy fats and sugars."
They advise filling up with regular, healthy meals to maintain your energy levels throughout the day. Don't skip meals - going without food allows blood-sugar levels to dip.
And remember - healthy snacks will fill you up more than a bag of crisps. Try dipping carrot sticks, celery and peppers in low fat or homemade dip.
Or why not whizz up a smoothie for breakfast? Not only is it healthy and full of vitamins but you'll know exactly what's in it - so no hidden calories.


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CARMEL, Ind., May 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Conseco, Inc. (NYSE: CNO) today reported results for the first quarter of 2008.
"CNO set a new quarterly sales record with an increase of 10.7% over the same period last year," CEO Jim Prieur said. "This performance included an 11% increase at Bankers Life and a 22% increase in the core business (67% increase in total sales including new product offerings) of Colonial Penn. Conseco Insurance Group's sales declined 21%, but specified disease products, CIG's highest margin product, rose a significant 23%.
"We continued to make steady progress for the third consecutive quarter in our long-term care closed block of business, which showed a loss of $1.3 million, including amortization of intangibles of more than $5 million," Prieur said. "The financial results of our Bankers Life business decreased this quarter, primarily due to higher than expected claims in its long-term care business."
"The stability of our results improved considerably, with no
significant out-of-period adjustments in the quarter", said CFO Ed Bonach.
"Our profitability was impacted negatively by the impact of difficult
financial markets that similarly affected much of our industry, resulting
in net realized investment losses (net of related amortization and taxes)
of $26.5 million in the quarter. Gross realized losses (before amortization
and taxes) included $41.3 million from other-than-temporary impairments."
First quarter 2008 results:
-- Total New Annualized Premium ("NAP") (1): $148.5 million, up 11% from
1Q07 (and our highest quarter since our reorganization in 2003).
-- Income before net realized investment losses, corporate interest and
taxes ("EBIT") (2)
|SOURCE Conseco, Inc.|
Copyright©2008 PR Newswire.
All rights reserved


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As soon as it started, Tesla took a break in production at its factory in Grünheide. The workforce tends not to be happy.
Almost four months after the start, the Tesla car factory in Brandenburg is going into a two-week break in production on Monday. This was announced to the employees a long time ago, IG Metall said on Friday on request. Such vacations are not uncommon.
Union spokesman Markus Sievers nevertheless reported dissatisfaction among the workforce, despite a six percent wage increase announced by Tesla. The background is that newly hired employees now get more money than newcomers a few months ago. This in turn is due to increasing problems in finding skilled workers.
Production still under construction
Tesla boss Elon Musk’s only European factory was officially opened in March in Grünheide near Berlin. The company wants to produce 500,000 electric cars a year there with 12,000 employees. But the production is still under construction. Musk recently confirmed that 1,000 cars are being built a week. According to dpa information, there should be 5,000 by the first quarter of 2023. The two-week break in production should be used for maintenance at the factory, it said. The plant currently has around 5,000 employees.
Tesla has announced a 6 percent wage increase for its employees in August. The aim is to attract employees despite the lack of skilled workers, said IG Metall spokesman Sievers. But he criticized: “Even with this increase, Tesla remains well below the level of the collective agreement for the metal and electrical industry.” The increase at Tesla applies to all employees in production.
However, some of the employees were hired on different terms because recruitment was becoming increasingly difficult, explained the union spokesman. Nothing will change about these differences. “Active IG Metallers from the workforce tell us that there is still great dissatisfaction among the workforce,” explained Sievers.


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In an Uncertain Time, Chefs and Industry Professionals Move to the Predictability of a Set Menu
Last month’s panel discussion hosted in Chicago by Symrise and StarChefs featuring a group of StarChefs Rising Star award winners revealed the biggest challenge hospitality professional face today: uncertainty. Supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages and a constantly evolving public health crisis have the entire restaurant industry scrambling to adapt. Throughout the lively and candid discussion, the panelists articulated how the uncertainty of the current moment has changed every aspect of how they approach their business - from creating menus to setting schedules - and how achieving some measure of predictability has become the new goal. One method of achieving this goal: moving away from à la carte dining towards set menus.
The pandemic upended normal life for everyone in 2020 and 2021, and caused tremendous hardship for many. These months were particularly difficult for the hospitality industry that was among the first to shut down in 2020 and still, some 18 months later, is experiencing constant upheaval. Not only did the pandemic cause many restaurants to shut down completely for a time, the path to re-opening has been plagued by changing public health regulations, an unusual amount of turnover in staffing and difficulties sourcing ingredients. Restaurant owners have adjusted on the fly - creating outdoor dining spaces, moving to takeout and delivery, and setting new hours. Everyone is “trying to do more with less,” as panelist Bailey Sullivan said.
During the September 21 panel discussion, Symrise VP of Marketing and Consumer Insights Emmanuel Laroche asked the panelists many, far-reaching questions - from where they get the inspiration for a new dish to their latest ingredient obsessions. Yet the theme of uncertainty and the need for some measure of predictability bubbled to the surface no matter the question on the table.
For example, in discussing seasonal ingredients as a source of inspiration, pastry chef Genie Kwon pointed out that as chefs, they are at the mercy of their purveyors and their purveyors are at the mercy of Mother Nature. This year, for example, not only was the harvest poor, but there were not enough farm workers to harvest the crops. As a result, she has to narrow her menu based on what produce she could count on getting.
But it was when Laroche asked the panelists where they saw their industry evolving in the next two to three years that we learned the different ways that chefs are trying to make their business more predictable in an ever-changing environment. One trend that was already on the upswing before the pandemic, but has become even more compelling today is the tasting menu. Tasting menus allow chefs to create one set menu designed around the ingredients they have on hand, which guarantees that they do not end up developing a new dish only to have customers reject it or buy pricey ingredients for a dish that doesn’t sell. Moreover, a tasting menu gives chefs greater control over the amount of revenue each cover generates.
Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of the bakery and modern Filipino restaurant Kasama opened their business during the pandemic and, as a result, ended up jettisoning their entire business plan. Initially, they were counting on dinner - with its attendant alcohol sales - to underwrite the less profitable counter-service bakery business, but during the pandemic, their takeout business was what kept them afloat.
Today, given the challenges of finding staff, paying a living wage, and the rising costs of ingredients, an à la carte dinner menu no longer makes sense for small, independent restaurants like Kasama. “Moving forward, [the question is] how can we create more revenue with less people.” Flores explained. “That’s why we are moving toward a tasting menu at night because we can set a price and say ‘this is the cost.’” Part of the appeal of the tasting menu is psychological. Flores argued that guests are more willing to pay $150 or $160 for a multi-course tasting menu than $45 for one entrée.
Bailey Sullivan, the chef de cuisine at the award-winning Italian restaurant Monteverde echoed those sentiments. She noted that they were down to serving dinner four nights a week as a way to deal with staffing shortages and labor costs, yet they are are serving more guests than ever. Sullivan predicted that moving forward restaurants will either go more casual or rely on a set menu. Sullivan noted that her partner works at another high-end Chicago restaurant, Sepia, that prior to the pandemic offered both a tasting menu and à la carte options. But currently Sepia is only offering the tasting menu because it helps control the food costs at a moment when ingredient prices - particularly imported ingredients - are rising.
Another benefit to the tasting menu? Small increases in the price of the menu don’t spook the customer but can mean a lot to the restaurant. Genie Kwon put it this way. “If [customers] are willing to pay $150, they would pay $160 and that $10 makes a much bigger difference to us than it does to them.”
Fewer choices for the customer does create greater certainty and predictability for restaurants in a time when those are hard to come by. But will the customers balk at not being able to order exactly what they want, when they want, and possibly paying higher prices to boot? It will be interesting to see if customers embrace the tasting menu trend as much as restaurants hope that they will.


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Check out my new article for the AATC, on brands who are digital first: http://www.aatcc.org/pub/aatcc-news/newsletters/0715b-story2/
“Baby I was born this way…”
Craig Crawford Follow 1,637 1,027
Founder and CEO of CrawfordIT Previously @Burberry Inspiring you to love life through your mobile device
#Nationalreflectionday. Pause, remember & celebrate the lives of those we have lost during COVID, also #reflect on how wonderful you are & what you've learned during these past two years. Celebrate you and your loved ones. Everyday.
Spring has sprung at the Ivy Kensington Brasserie. Wearing his digitally printed floral bomber jacket, @_Love_hero Creative Director (& #MakingtheCut Amazon Prime Superstar) Joshua Scacheri met with me to discuss the changing fashion landscape. The conversation was inspiring!
Delighted and honoured to be part of the Inclusive Fashion conversation with London Represents' @SAMABULLOCK at @CNCollege on March 3.
Fashion MUST be inclusive to all!
#londonrepresents #cncollege #fashion #inclusion


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(Yicai Global) Oct. 14 -- Polestar, the performance electric vehicle startup owned by Volvo Cars and its Chinese parent company Zhejiang Geely Holding, is going after German rivals rather than Tesla, according to its chief executive.
“Polestar is a premium brand in competition with Mercedes, Audi and BMW,” Thomas Ingenlath told Yicai Global. The Sweden-based company is “definitely not in the same game as Tesla, reaching much more to the mass market.”
Ingenlath is visiting Polestar’s team in China to gain a better understanding of one of the world’s largest markets for new energy vehicles. He attended this year’s first auto show in Beijing two weeks ago after a 48-hour journey and a 14-day quarantine due to Covid-19 measures.
China’s auto market is the world’s biggest and is very competitive, with traditional car manufacturers such as Volkswagen on one side, and new energy startups like California-based Tesla and domestic players Nio and Xpeng on the other.
“We are combing the advantages of the startup and OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] into the Polestar brand,” Ingenlath said.
The three-year-old brand has the agility, innovation and speed of a small startup combined with a heritage of safety and high-quality from its parent company, he said in an interview on Oct. 12.
Polestar has two models for sale in its 23 global showrooms: the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid, which has annual production of 500, and the Polestar 2 dual-motor variant of the all-electric Polestar 2 priced at CNY418,000 (USD61,990). The Polestar 2 will have a single electric motor option from next year to make it more affordable, Ingenlath said.
Asked whether Polestar will follow Tesla’s lead in cutting prices, Ingenlath said it would not. “We will not enter into the price war that exists in the mass market.”
The cost of a China-made Tesla Model 3 has been lowered to CNY249,900 apiece from an initial CNY363,900 through seven rounds of price reductions.
Deliveries of Polestar’s vehicles will start this year, with good demand in Norway, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the UK, said Ingenlath. Deliveries in China and the US have started slowly but are expected to pick up and increase, he added.
Excerpts from the interview appear below.
Yicai Global: Tesla cut the price of its China-made Model 3 several times this year. Will Polestar follow? And will you be a niche brand or a brand targeted at the mass market?
Thomas Ingenlath: We are a premium electric car brand. We are definitely not in the same game as Tesla, reaching much more to the mass market, going into competition with brands like Volkswagen. Polestar is in competition with Mercedes, Audi and BMW.
We will definitely not be a kind of niche brand like Aston Martin, but will also not go into mass market competition like Volkswagen. You can compare Polestar to a certain brand like Porsche or Audi, though Audi has a large market share in China and it may take us years to have this kind of market.
We are a premium brand that will deliver product, convey our great design, great technology and our innovation. We will not enter into the price war that exists in the mass market.
YG: What are the advantages and disadvantages of Polestar compared with established carmakers like Volkswagen and new energy startups like Nio and Xpeng?
TI: You have the startup on one side and OEMs on the other side. We are combining the advantages of the startup and the advantage of the OEMs into the Polestar brand. We have the agility, innovation, the fast movement of a startup because we are a tiny startup company. But for the development of technology, we have history, safety, quality and experience with the background we have.
Being backed up by Volvo gives us incredible access to resources to get steps to quality and safety that are very difficult for a young fresh startup to have immediately available like we have it. So that is our competitive advantage.
On top of that, we want to be a fascinating brand with our design expertise, not just in China or in the US but in all three big markets. I think that's another very special thing about this European stand of Polestar.
YG: All Polestar 2 vehicles were recalled recently due to a software issue. What’s your take on that problem?
TI: I don’t think a safety recall is a special thing to electric cars. A safety recall, I think, is standard in this industry. We recalled 2,000 cars, and it is a relatively small number in the big world. This will be done very simply with a software update. And that’s how it works in all cars, cars with internal combustion engines or electric motors.
So the safety recall is, in my eyes, a very good news actually showing that we actually take very quick action and deliver quality products to our customers. That is where we really act very fast and get it right.
YG: Does Polestar have an IPO plan?
TI: As always, my answer is yes. The funding story of Polestar will develop, and you will see news about that within the coming 12 months. But this is something just like the growth that we talked about. Polestar as a company is not in a rush. We are not having to rush into an IPO.


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While many small retail stores have shuttered for the duration of the global COVID-19 pandemic, other locations have been designated essential businesses and remain open to meet the needs of those in their communities. Tabaccheria Pellegrino, a tobacco shop and Wish Local participating store, is one such small business that continues to serve customers in these uncertain times.
Located in Pescara, Italy, a coastal city on the Adriatic Sea, Tabaccheria Pellegrino has been family-owned and operated since 1962. Siblings Carla and Lino Pellegrino inherited the business from their mother in 1985 and sell tobacco products, lottery tickets, and mobile credit to locals. Pescara went into lockdown on March 9, 2020, and the Pellegrinos were informed their business was allowed to remain open as an essential service. Lino is grateful he can go out each day but feels the tremendous weight of the health risk these outings pose. “I am worried. In the event that I got sick, I know that I could be pose a threat to the health of my loved ones. Even though we adopted all of the precautionary measures, there’s always a risk.”
Since Italy has discontinued the lottery and other games that require individuals to linger inside shops, the Pellegrinos have had to adapt their business. They are selling more tobacco products than before, encouraging local residents to buy it in bulk to avoid more frequent outings. They also are seeing an increase in sales of bollettini postali. Citizens of Italy who do not have credit cards can pay their utility bills through the bollettini postali system, a program run by the postal service. During the current pandemic, locals are choosing to pay bollettini at local shops like Tabaccheria Pellegrino instead of at the post office. This is a win for both the store and public health. By avoiding long crowded lines at the post office, customers put themselves and others at a lower risk of contagion. Tabaccheria Pellegrino limits entry to only one customer at a time.
Before the pandemic, Tabaccheria Pellegrino was a Wish Local location, enjoying success as a pickup spot and taking advantage of the first wave of the Wish Wholesale program. “I had great results, selling the majority of the purchased items,” Pellegrino says. Lino estimates that 20% of Wish Local pickup customers went on to become regulars at their shop and that 40% of Wish shoppers bought from the store at the time of pick up. By advertising their Wish Local affiliation on social media using designs provided by Wish, the store felt a tangible boost in both foot traffic and sales.
In the face of uncertainty, Lino maintains his positive spirit by “thinking that all of this will be over soon, and [he’ll] be finally able to go out and keep [his] BACA mission.” (Pellegrino is a longstanding member of BACA, an international nonprofit group that aims to prevent child abuse.) He also gives this advice to fellow Wish Local participating businesses, “Never get discouraged and think that all of this will be over soon if everybody does their part.”


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Hey Will! Haha! Thanks man, right back at ya'! Look forward to seeing you at Bris, bro! Hope today's announcement makes you smile!
Okay, folks, I'll leave you to read our official Studio Press Release on this one...
"After a long(ish) period of enforced silence we are proud to finally announce that StudioBlinkTwice is back with a comic vengeance!
Working in conjunction with the mighty book publisher Random House, Robin and Lawrence have been studiously ferreting away on a number of brand new comic properties. These titles will be released as part of a brand new weekly comic, The DFC, which is currently due for release in May/June 2008.
The boys have also been working up material for release in The Guardian newspaper’s weekend supplement, The Comic, and we’re all proud here at SBT to announce that the first issue of their brand new series, ‘Monkey Nuts’, will hit the shelves of every newsagent/ supermarket/ garage/ fish & chip shop in the country on Saturday 23rd February (that’s THIS Saturday folks).
So, get ready to meet Sid and Rivet – a most unlikely crime busting, weirdness-fighting duo.
Their mission: to protect the tranquillity of the Bermudan paradise, the Isla de Monstera, from all manner of oddballs and criminals.
Your mission: to laugh at their hopeless endeavours.
See you Saturday!"


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Former Selling Sunset star Christine Quinn is gracing the front of Paper Magazine as their latest cover star. Honest about her future endeavors with Selling Sunset, the realtor vowed to not return to the series in a hilarious lie detector sketch.
Christine Quinn has taken the fashion industry by storm after marking her way in real estate. The popular realtor has been traveling around the world and attending the world’s most famous fashion events this year.
Earlier in May, the 33-year-old made her catwalk debut with the Spanish luxury house, Balenciaga. Over the past few months, fans of the reality star have been seeing her traveling around the globe.
Ending the month of October, Christine has now become the latest cover star of Paper Magazine. The mogul participated in a joke lie detector test and recreated an iconic scene from the classic Basic Instinct flick.
Christine Quinn is the cover star of PAPER magazine
On October 27, Christine took to her personal Instagram account to share the exciting news she had become the latest cover star of Paper Magazine.
The mother-of-one has been making some serious moves in the fashion industry, taking photos with fashion A-listers like Anna Wintour, and supermodel and close friend Bella Hadid.
Traveling around the world and attending Fashion Week, it was only a matter of time before she would grace the cover of another magazine.
Christine’s fans took over the comment section, leaving all sorts of congratulations to the TV personality for making such an “iconic” move.
“Icon status activated!!” one wrote.
Another said: “Queen staying booked and busy.”
A third penned: “You’re literally dominating the world!!”
“You are taking over!!!” followed one comment.
Christine vows she won’t be returning to Selling Sunset
If you thought becoming the first Selling Sunset star to grace the cover of Paper Magazine wasn’t iconic enough, the realtor also sat down to undergo a ‘lie detector test’, Halloween-themed. Although, it was a recreation of a famous movie scene and likely not a real test.
Before she began the series of questions, a sudden shot of an incoming call from ‘Selling Sunset‘ saw the reality star vowing she wasn’t returning to the hit series. Ever.
“Listen to me carefully, as I will only say this once. I’m never, ever, ever, coming back,” Christine said. The mogul also wore a similar outfit as the actress Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct.
Christine has been a cast regular on the hit Netflix series Selling Sunset since it began. Rumors the reality star would not appear in subsequent seasons began after tension between the co-stars increased, but at the time, the star never confirmed them.
After five seasons, Christine announced her departure to focus on her own real estate agency, RealOpen. Since then, she has been focusing on her business.
WATCH SELLING SUNSET SEASONS 1-5 ON NETFLIX NOW


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What’s the status of your back-to-school marketing plan? According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the average family will spend more freely on school and college supplies this year. It expects total spending for K-12 and college to reach $75.8 billion, up from last year’s $68 billion.
The annual NRF survey, conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, suggests that more than 50% of shoppers will start back-to-school shopping three weeks to one month before school starts, while 22% will start shopping with only one or two weeks left.
As we head toward September and into the final few weeks before students head back to school, Small Business Computing asked small-business owners to share details of their most successful back-to-school promotions and tips.
Be Helpful: Back to School is Stressful
Getting ready to head back to school can be stressful for your customers—both the parents and the students. Nicole Gardner, Dormify‘s COO, recommends that business owners personalize their back-to-school campaigns to their audience and to be helpful to their customers.
“Be helpful. It’s a stressful time for many parents and full of anxiety for students. Offer resources and accommodate customer requests where you can,” she advised. “Figure out if you’re speaking to the student or to the parent, and adjust your tone, your messaging and your offers accordingly. Use all the customer data you have and get hyper-targeted; we find email to be the most effective marketing channel for accomplishing this.”
Coupons & Discounts Attract Back-to-School Shoppers
Mike Catania, CTO of PromotionCode, works with 15,000 retailers, a third of which are small businesses that regularly compete against national brands and big-box retailers. When it comes to the back-to-school rush, Catania recommends coupons as a particularly effective marketing strategy for local businesses.
“Because they’re local, these businesses can tailor their offers not only to a specific school name (to build associative brand recognition), but they can also provide tiered offers based on different grade levels,” says Catania. “For example, a coupon offer that gives X% off storewide (where ‘X’ represents the grade level of the incoming student) has been an extremely popular offer.”
Celebrating students also creates a positive back-to-school promotion for retailers. Doug Messer, co-founder and CEO of University Beyond, said the company’s most successful back-to-school promotion was a holiday they created.
“We call it ‘National Student Discount Day,’ and last year, we had more than 100 brands participate,” said Messer. This year, “[A]ll participating brands will come together to promote our website via Twitter, drive a mass audience to view and use the available discounts, and sign up for our site. We already have major enterprise companies reaching out to participate again this year.”
Use Social to Talk up Back-to-School Promotions
Social media is a good way to cash in on local back-to-school shopping. “Local social media is far more influential than national. Posting that coupon to social media and tagging the school for which it applies will help move it along to parents who, in turn, can make it go locally viral with minimal advertising efforts on your part,” says PromotionCode’s Catania.
Daniela Arango, public relations specialist for DoItWiser, also supports using social media to boost back-to-school promotions. Arango says that small-business owners can create excitement around back-to-school sales on social media by launching a pre-sale ad campaign to generate expectations around your offers and products.
She also recommends offering online coupons or promotions to visitors and clients on your website in exchange for subscriptions to your mailing list or follows on social media. “Your customers get a discount on their back-to-school purchases, and you build a community around your brand.”
Arango suggests that businesses take advantage of user-generated content to show how your customers use your products at school. This gives your future clients a sense of closeness, trust and familiarity with your brand.
Back-to-School Promotions for B2B
B2B businesses also find success with back-to-school promotions by taking advantage of email campaigns, social feeds and good deals.
Marc Joseph, former CEO and president of DollarDays, a B2B business that sells 225,000 general merchandise products by the case at wholesale and closeout prices to entrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofit organizations, explains.
“Today, our banners feature office and school supplies, back-to-school clothing, accessories, writing instruments, and backpacks. All of these products tie together because we want to be the one-stop shop for all back-to-school needs,” says Joseph. “This also works with brick-and-mortar stores or online B2C sellers. Once a customer comes into your store, you don’t want them to leave. The best promotion is to offer everything they need.”
For example, DollarDays sells backpacks with a per-unit price starting at $3.19. Email campaigns and social media promote the item to draw people to the website. Once prospective customers land on the site for a backpack, they can see all the school supplies they need to fill the backpack—all in one place.
How to Promote Back-to-School Outside of Retail
Many back-to-school promotions center heavily on retail stores and online shops, but many small-business owners can capitalize on students and parents shopping for school-related deals. Ajmal Saleem, owner of Suprex Learning, a startup tutoring company, says the back-to-school promotion is especially important.
“Parents commonly seek our tutoring services during the summer to help their kids keep up their skills during the break; however, back-to-school is an excellent time to offer promotions, and parents are willing to spend the money if you can show them it’s a good investment,” says Saleem. “We offer bulk tutoring packages right before the school year starts. When a parent purchases more hours of tutoring, it not only provides us with sustained business, it helps parents keep their children’s momentum going.”
Even vCalc, a crowdsourced calculator-creation platform, offers back-to-school promotions. The vCalc platform invites people to use math knowledge to solve everyday challenges and to build and share free equations, algorithms, constants and collections.
Kurt Heckman, vCalc’s president, said they ran a student contest last fall that went so well that it’s now an annual back-to-school event. Called Coding for Community, this contest encourages students to use the vCalc platform to create free online calculators for the benefit of their communities. Prize money ranges from $25 for honorable mentions up to $1,000 for two grand-prize winners.
“The results have been surprising. Students have built free calculators that are now being used all over the world,” says Heckman. “This annual contest is a terrific way to get our product into the hands of more students every fall, and it’s now an ongoing part of our back-to-school promotion regimen.”
Check out another blog here: https://blog.dollardays.com/2021/06/21/ideas-for-starting-a-small-business/


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Nevada Gaming Commission Approve Golden Gaming and 888 Partnership
The Nevada Gaming Control Commission has given its approval to a proposed partnership between Golden Gaming, 888 and Treasure Island which would allow Golden Gaming to promote the other two companies poker operations to its customers.
Golden Gaming, the largest slots operator in Nevada, is planning to sign up online poker players at its three Pahrump casinos and its taverns, however, its slot locations are not part of the deal.
The company will not be operating the online gaming; however, they will take a revenue share of all players referred to 888’s poker site.
Both 888 and TI have been approved for online gaming in Nevada, and TI will be the first operator on 888’s “All American Poker Network.”
Golden Gaming’s attorney, Michael Alonso, said that the deal is “unique and allows Golden Gaming to market 888’s platform to its customers.” He went on to say that the partnership will go into effect once Treasure Island launches its online poker room.
The Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said, “This is a good example of new ideas coming to the marketplace. It’s an attempt to add further liquidity. I, for one, welcome it.”


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Ford made waves last week when it announced that it was splitting its business into two separate entities – Model e, which will focus on the EV side of its business, and Ford Blue, which is centered around ICE-powered vehicles. Most applauded this move, seeing it as an important first step toward competing with the likes of Tesla, though Wall Street does have some concerns about Ford’s goals related to the split. Regardless, frequent FoMoCo critic and Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares isn’t as impressed by the Ford reorganization plan, as he recently explained to The Detroit News.
“If you make this kind of breakdown from an ethical HR management, you have to explain to people who are working in the old world what is going to be their future,” Tavares said. “Their work is funding electrification, and you are clearly breaking down on two paths – one path that’s going to grow, hopefully profitably, and another path that is going to decrease and eventually disappear one day. So, from that perspective, I think that the management of this kind of breakdown is creating an HR challenge. I trust my teammates at Ford will be able to fix it. But I think it’s the question that we should be raising. Overall, it’s a nice play, but I think it’s not the important play for the consumers.”
Tavares has long been a critic of Ford’s decision to invest heavily in EVs and ramp up production of those vehicles significantly in the coming years, most recently complaining about the cost of EVs, as well as quality problems that might arise from speeding up development and production. At the same time, Stellantis announced its own major EV initiative last July, which involves investing $35.5 billion in electrification as it aims to boost its own EV lineup. The automaker also teased an electric version of its Ram pickup last summer, but it’s worth noting that no concept version of this vehicle has been revealed yet, and it’s not expected to launch until 2024 – two years after the Ford F-150 Lightning launches this summer.
In the meantime, the Ford Bronco and Ford Bronco Sport are both stealing more customers away from Stellantis brand Jeep than any other brand, while the latter crossover even beat the Wrangler in a recent comparison test. Regardless, that didn’t stop Jim Morrison, head of Jeep in North America, from poking fun at the Bronco recently.
We’ll have more on everything Ford’s competition is up to soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for 24/7 Ford news coverage.
Good point, I agree 100%. If Ford keeps going down it’s current path I predict Ram will take over the number one spot in the pickup world.
Especially if Model E bleeds Ford Blue of profits, and research and development funds, to fund their +$50 billion development and growth.
I agree with what he said. Now, as far as the names of the split are concerned, “Model e” is – in my view – a non-starter. Just more plays in “e” this and “e” that. It will be as dated as those badges on mid-80s cars bragging about having EFI, or the 1950s when the rear fenders of Buicks said “Dynaflow”, or Fords with “Fordomatic”.
Why not call the electric vehicle divison, “Mercury”? Your thoughts?
Oh, the IRONY!! This from a guy whose company plans to be all electric in five years!! Good luck with THAT!!
Exactly. His opinion here is a bit worthless.
His opinion is kinda moot. Stellantis can’t figure out what it wants to do with Dodge or Chrysler, let alone have room to criticize Ford.
The sad part is that Ford dealers are the ones who brought this change upon themselves. The combination of glorified ignorance on EV products and insane markups have made Ford bring down the hammer to compete in the EV space. Furthermore, Ford has been expanding the brand with it’s new products, not cannibalizing its own sales.
Regardless of what folks think, EVs and EV sales are not slowing down. Get. Over. It. Already.
“Regardless of what folks think, EVs and EV sales are not slowing down. Get. Over. It. Already.”
Their great-great grandfathers were grumbling when they went down to the Studebaker dealer, and found the first trucks; they couldn’t buy a horse-drawn wagon anymore. Why? Because Studebaker back then, like many auto makers today, evolved with the times.
Studebaker evolved again in the mid-1960s. How? They stopped making cars. They didn’t “go out of business”. They simply stopped making cars while continuing in industrial equipment (Worthington), petrochemicals (STP) and superchargers (Paxton), among other things.
Soon, Ford and others will no longer make ICE vehicles, just like Western Union stopped offering telegrams, Telex, and TWX. Just like American Express handled their last parcel decades ago, and GM stopped making home appliances.


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Silver price hits 8-year high as retail traders take aim
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Silver prices raced to the highest level since 2013 after retail traders targeted the market for the precious metal following last week’s successful attack against funds betting against retailer GameStop.
Prices for silver rose as much as 11 per cent to $30 per ounce on Monday in London, leaving the metal on course for its biggest one-day percentage gain since 2008. That followed a 6 per cent jump last week and a rally in the shares of some miners of the precious metal.
The world’s largest silver-backed exchange traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust, recorded almost $1bn in inflows on Friday, according to data from BlackRock, the fund’s sponsor.
The jolt of investments came as the subject percolated late last week on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets forum. One post urged people to buy shares and options to put a squeeze on banks.
The surge in the silver price on Monday, however, prompted a backlash among some members of the board who speculated that institutions such as hedge funds were attempting to tap into the retail fervour that has sent stocks such as GameStop and AMC flying higher in recent trading days.
“It's a fool’s errand, it's financial anarchy; somebody is going to get hurt,” said Ross Norman, a veteran precious metals trader.
Analysts said the move higher was likely triggered by retail investors as there were also reports of a shortage of silver bars. Ken Lewis, chief executive of the US precious metals retailer Apmex, said at the weekend that the company had been forced to stop selling silver due to a surge in demand.
“Once markets closed on Friday, we saw demand hit as much as six times a typical business day and more than 12 times a normal weekend day,” he said. “Combined with the extremely high demand levels, we are also seeing a surge in new customers.”
The iShares Silver Trust was among the top six most-traded equity securities among retail investors on Friday, according to VandaTrack, which collates data from US brokerages.
A user named TheHappyHawaiian last week said buying shares in the ETF would “force physical delivery of silver” into the fund’s vaults, thereby causing a “short squeeze” on the market, pushing up the silver price.
The user wrote on the forum that it would be “incredible” to make large banks active in the futures market “pay dearly” for what he alleged were bets that the silver price will fall. The rallying call echoed that of other r/WallStreetBets users who last week cheered their success in triggering large losses at Melvin Capital and other hedge funds.
The 37.05m increase in the number of shares of the iShares Silver Trust on Friday was the biggest one-day rise since the ETF started trading in April 2006, data from BlackRock showed. The ETF is backed by physical silver held in vaults, meaning it needs to purchase the precious metal when it receives new investments.
“To put this in context, [these inflows represent a] value of $950m in a total annual silver market size of $25bn, so is equivalent to two weeks of demand simply from ETFs in a single day,” said Colin Hamilton, analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
Shares in silver miners also rose on Monday, with London-listed Fresnillo up as much as 21 per cent and Hochschild Mining climbing more than 18 per cent.
The rush in to silver was reminiscent of a similar effort by oil barons William Herbert Hunt and Nelson Bunker Hunt, known as the Hunt brothers, who in 1979-80 bought billions of dollars worth of the metal in an attempt to corner the market. They were later sanctioned for market manipulation and went bankrupt after the silver price collapsed in an event dubbed “Silver Thursday.”
Analysts said it would be more difficult for retail investors to have a sizeable impact on the silver price, given the large off-exchange market for the precious metal, where banks trade on behalf of clients.
There was also not a single visible short position to target as there was in the case of GameStop, said Philip Newman, managing director at consultancy Metals Focus.
“There are shorts and some may close their position but is there that smoking gun they’re looking for? I don’t see it,” he said.
In addition, there were ample stocks of silver in warehouses on the CME Group’s futures exchange, available for delivery if those short silver closed their positions, he added.
Still, a supply squeeze could have real-word implications given that silver — unlike gold — has a number of industrial usages such as in photovoltaic cells used in solar appliances.
About $6bn worth of silver traded hands in the silver market in November, according to the latest statistics from the London Bullion Market Association. London’s vaults hold about 33,475 tonnes of silver, valued at $23.8bn, they said in January.
Mr Norman said the Reddit user’s post targeting large banks was misplaced, since the lenders used futures contracts to hedge their physical holdings of silver, meaning they were not speculating on the price falling.
“There is a misnomer here that banks are constantly running short positions, but from a price perspective they are neutral, they have a long and a short that cancels each other out,” he said.
Additional reporting by Neil Hume and Chris Flood in London


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Pure Gym muscles in on LA Fitness: Purchase means 43 new sites and 123,000 new customers
LA Fitness was restructured last year after being put into a company voluntary arrangement
Pure Gym has beefed up with the purchase of LA Fitness.
The health club chain, with 43 sites, was valued at about £80m and will now be converted to the Pure Gym brand and its 123,000 customers will be transferred to Pure Gym’s network.
LA Fitness was restructured last year after being put into a company voluntary arrangement where it closed loss-making clubs.
Competition in the gym sector has intensified as discounted rates tempt members to switch clubs.
Pure Gym, pictured, has 141 sites and plans to open 16 more this year. The group beat competition from Fitness First and Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct group for the chain.
Humphrey Cobbold, chief executive at Pure Gym, said: ‘Overall demand for affordable, high quality, and no-contract fitness centres is continuing to grow, served by a range of providers in a highly competitive market-place.’
Martin Long, chief executive of LA Fitness, said the firm is ‘pleased to have secured a new long-term owner in Pure Gym’.
The deal still needs approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.
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Snapchat maker Snap Inc. has acquired Placed, a six-year-old company that helps advertisers track real-world purchases and store visits.
The acquisition comes as Snap has been ramping up its ad tracking capabilities with products that can measure foot traffic tied to in-app campaigns.
Placed will continue to operate independently in Seattle. All employees will report to founder and CEO David Shim, and Shim will report to Snap CSO Imran Khan, who runs its ad business.
Terms of the deal haven’t been announced.
Placed called itself the leader in “location-based attribution” in a blog post announcing the acquisition on Monday, and noted that to date it has measured $US500 million in advertising spend related to store visits.
“By partnering with Snap, we will do even more,” Shim wrote. “Still working independently, Placed’s goal continues to be the adoption of a common yardstick that can measure the offline effectiveness of advertising across multiple platforms and publishers.”
This story is developing…
Get the latest Snap stock price here.


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Challenger bank OneSavings more than doubled its profits last year, yesterday reporting strong buy-to-let and small business lending.
Statutory pre-tax profits came in at £63.7m for 2014, up from £31.4m in 2013. That includes the £7.4m OneSavings spent on its stock market flotation last summer.
The bank is made up of several different units and brands, targetting niches across different markets.
Its Kent Reliance brand focuses on mortgages, largely in London and the south east. It also has small business specialist InterBay, secured loan firm Prestige Finance and its new development finance arm Heritable.
Chief executive Andy Golding said he plans growth of 20 per cent per year for the forseeable future, but will not let the firm become unmanageably large.
“I’m a bit of a control freak, I like the senior team to be able to keep their arms around the business,” he told City A.M.. “For example, for every loan above £1m, me, the finance director, the chief risk officer and chief credit officer meet to personally sanction it.”
OneSavings’ shares rose by 14.78 per cent yesterday.


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“Immigrant Small Business Owners: A Significant and Growing Part of the Economy” finds that nationwide, 18 percent of all small businesses are immigrant-owned and accounted for 30 percent of all small business growth. These immigrant-owned businesses employed 4.7 million people and generated $776 billion in receipts in 2007.
The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) joined its national partner the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) to release the new report.
“The FPI report reinforces MECEP findings on the growing beneficial influence of immigrant-owned businesses on our economy,” said MECEP Executive Director Garrett Martin. “Our research found that in 2007, Maine’s 1,043 Asian owned businesses had sales and receipts of $284 million and employed 2,543 people. In 2007 there were 979 Hispanic-owned businesses in Maine, generating $163 million in revenue. In communities throughout Maine, minorities, including immigrants, are opening new businesses, hiring new employees and making new investments that are contributing to and strengthening local economies.”
The FPI report documents the large and growing role that immigrant business owners have played in the U.S. economy over the past 20 years.
“Immigrants are playing a particularly important role in the kinds of businesses that bring people into downtown areas and help enliven neighborhoods,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, director of FPI’s Immigration Research Initiative and author of the report. “I don’t think immigrants are ‘super-entrepreneurs,’ but I do see that immigrants are playing an important and growing role across the American landscape. And it’s not just traditional immigrant gateways, it’s all around the country.”
The FPI report produced by its Immigration Research Initiative uses data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and Current Population Survey. It uses this data to look at people who own an incorporated business, and whose main job is to run that business. It also uses previously unpublished data from the Survey of Business Owners (administered by the Census Bureau every 5 years, most recently in 2007). Together, these data allow for the report to give a level of detail about immigrant business owners that has previously not been available.


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Starting a week today, people in Ontario will be able to legally buy marijuana at an online store that will deliver weed to customers anywhere in the province using Canada Post for a flat $5 delivery fee.
Officials with the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) held a technical briefing with reporters Wednesday, exactly one week before recreational cannabis use becomes legal in Canada.
Visitors to the site must first enter their birth date to confirm they’re older than 19.
Starting Wednesday, the OCS site will be the only legal way to buy recreational marijuana in Ontario.
The site will sell dried cannabis, capsules, oils and pre-rolled joints. Accessories such as bongs and grinders will also be sold on the site.
Product prices have not yet been set, but government says delivery time will be between one and three days.
The website says the products will be delivered by Canada Post in plain “child-resistant, tamper-evident containers and are received directly from licensed producers.”
The site also says OCS will only sell natural, not synthetic, cannabis and will take steps to ensure customers’ personal information is protected and that the transactions are kept private.
Customers who aren’t home when the weed arrives will get a slip to pick it up — in person — at a Canada Post outlet. Anyone who looks like they’re under 25 years old will have to produce identification.
Customers will be able to buy up to 30 grams (about one ounce) of dried recreational cannabis at one time for personal use.
The government plans to allow “tightly regulated” sales at retail stores set to launch in April, with OCS operating as the exclusive wholesaler to the stores. The Tories estimate their plan will see between 500 to 1,000 shops licensed a short time after legalization with no cap placed on licences.
For now, the OCS has launched a learning website which includes basic information about cannabis, including safe consumption practices and health risks, methods of consumption, cooking safely with cannabis and answers to legal questions.
The site also has a “frequently asked questions” section, covering everything from where you can legally consume cannabis to whether or not pot can have adverse effects when mixed with other medications.


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According to Forbes Africa, African women make up over 58% of the entrepreneurial population in Africa and contribute around 13% to the continent’s GDP. This statistic paints a clear picture of how determinism and ‘manifestations’ are not enough to scale a business – every big and successful business you know has a balanced diet of unique ideas, hard work, human resources, and most importantly capital. Without capital, the other elements barely move the needle.
Women-owned businesses are often at a disadvantage when it comes to getting the much needed funding to build and scale their businesses. Despite their proven resilience and ability to deliver results, statistics reveal that they receive significantly less financial support compared to their male counterparts. Globally, women-led businesses receive an average 5% of venture capital funding – in Africa, it’s about 3%. Imagine getting 3% of the pie and giving back 13% to the continent? That’s a clear indication that empowering women is not just a matter of equality; it’s a strategy for economic growth. Because if women are more financially empowered, the impact on the continent will be endless.
Since inception, Flutterwave has taken concrete steps to mitigate this challenge and support women entrepreneurs. In 2021, we launched an annual grant program that awarded seven women-led businesses with $2,500 each. The initiative also included training and mentorship programs to equip these women with the tools they need to expand their businesses. In 2022, we committed $50,000 to women-owned businesses across Africa, with the aim of helping them grow and scale into global enterprises.
This November, we are excited to partner with Femme Africa on ‘In Her Bag’. An accelerator program designed for young business women aged 18 to 35. The program will welcome businesses from various sectors, including fashion, beauty, retail, and other industries. Five female entrepreneurs will embark on a 5-day program featuring masterclasses in branding, storytelling, funding for scale, community building, and e-commerce.
Through this partnership, we are supporting women through a number of ways;
- ‘In Her Bag’ is fully powered by Flutterwave.
- Two of our Wavers, Yewande Akomolafe-Kalu, and Onyedikachim Nwankwo, will teach the young entrepreneurs about branding, storytelling and e-commerce marketing.
- We have also committed our full technology, PR, and media resources to making this partnership a success.
At Flutterwave, we strongly believe that empowering women is ultimately about building a foundation for a more inclusive and prosperous society. As we continue to support women entrepreneurs through initiatives like ‘In Her Bag,’ we envision a future where more women flourish in the economy, growing their wealth, and can boldly say, “I’m fully in my bag, and I’m thriving.”


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Where are we now in the midst of this pandemic? What does the future have in store for the global economy? These are just two of many questions we’re all asking as COVID-19 slowly dismantles the international hospitality sector. As we wrestle with the challenges, our trusted consultants guide us...
In the era of social media, zapping and ever-changing new trends, restaurant operators have a challenging time staying in vogue. Changing your décor, menu and vibe every other month to keep customers on their toes is a big ask for many venues and perhaps difficult to achieve for some. The growing trend of pop-up concepts, however, could be a way around the problem. Setting up a temporary restaurant may initially seem quite ambitious, given that it requires an upfront investment similar to what’s required for a permanent project, before closing down soon after. But don’t judge this book by its cover, as Nagi Morkos, managing partner at Hodema consulting services, explains
The topic of whether Dubai has yet to establish itself as a true food-destination city is one that prompts animated discussion within the industry. Some experts think independent restaurants are at risk of falling into the standardization trap and losing that all-important passion for food. Daniel During, principal and management director of Thomas Klein International, looks at the pitfalls and how to avoid them
According to Allegra’s World Coffee Portal, the only specialist information platform built for senior coffee industry leaders, the world entered the 5th Wave a few years back. This, saw greater influence exercised by high quality boutique chains adopting a more advanced set of business practices and delivering well-crafted artisan concepts at scale.
The hospitality industry continues to provide fertile ground for aspiring leaders, especially in the Middle East. The 2019 Hospitality News ME Careers & Education report looks at the trends taking place throughout the industry and the shifts that are truly making an impact…
As it stands, Lebanon has over 4,700 registered industrial firms, which exported products valued at USD 2.61 billion in 2017. One-quarter of these belong to the agro-food sub-sector, making it the country’s second biggest export
If you thought chocolate offerings were limited to dark, milk or white varieties, it’s time to think again; today’s alternatives are as diverse as they are delicious, encompassing a vast range of exotic ingredients and even a landmark, fourth Ruby variety. HN delves deeper into the latest developments on the cocoa bean scene


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Volkswagen is not selling its cars like hot cakes anymore, as the cheating scandal unsettled customers’ trust, VW’s top labor representative recently said.
Not so long ago, Volkswagen cars were on top of the customer list. But the recent events made prospective buyers less confident about the Group’s cars and it is easy to understand the reasons behind such hesitations. VW’s sales have not been so drastically affected by the illegal software scandal, but the people’s trust has been shaken even more after the automaker admitted last month it understated fuel usage and carbon dioxide emissions. Therefore, as a consequence of its deceiving actions, VW is facing slowing orders for new cars, according to VW’s top labor representative.
“There is caution in buying,” the German company’s works council chief Bernd Osterloh told reporters. “The CO2 issue has triggered a greater crisis of confidence (in VW products) than the nitrogen (emissions) issue.” The company said in the beginning of November it had manipulated the level of CO2 emissions in about 800,000 cars sold mainly in Europe, and it is expecting costs of at least 2 billion euros, including compensation payments to customers.
The disclosure did not stop for diesel cars, as just two weeks later, VW said the CO2 cheating affected more petrol-powered vehicles than previously admitted. Osterloh, who also sits on the VW supervisory board’s influential steering committee, said there could be risks to jobs should the decline in orders persist. “Employment is safe provided we are selling cars,” he said. “If we sell no cars, it will get relatively difficult. We will have to look at incoming orders of the next days, weeks and months,” he added.


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JAST USA’s 2022 Summer Sale is Underway
After enjoying the summer sun and the seaside, treat yourself to a number of titles discounted during JAST USA's 2022 Summer Sale.
JAST USA’s 2022 Golden Week Sale Has Begun
Enjoy Golden Week by splurging on your favorite titles during JAST USA's 2022 Golden Week Sale, running from April 29th until May 5th.
Denpasoft 2022 Valentine’s Day Sale Has Begun
Denpasoft's 2022 Valentine's Day Sale is now live, offering over 180 games at reduced prices to commemorate the season of love.
JAST USA is Holding a Short Forever Alone Sale
Treat your love interest to something special during JAST USA’s Forever Alone Sale, currently live until February 26th.
JAST USA 2022 Lunar New Year Sale is Here
Celebrate 2022's new lunar year with JAST USA by browsing the store’s new sale offerings, including over 200 titles at reduced prices.
Denpasoft's Yearly Lunar New Year Sale Has Begun
In commemoration of the year of the ambitious tiger, Denpasoft’s 2022 Lunar New Year Sale is now live, discounting several titles on Steam and Denpasoft.
Standalone Expansion Slobbish Dragon Princess LOVE + PLUS Now Available on Denpasoft and Steam
Follow Haru, Suzuka, and Dorami on three more adventures in Whirlpool’s Slobbish Dragon Princess LOVE + PLUS, a fan disc published by Sekai Project on Denpasoft


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The new adidas will span about 35,000 square feet over two levels. Further details on the concept store will be released soon as the brand prepares to start building what will be its largest store in Canada, by far. The addition of the new adidas store spells confidence in downtown Vancouver, with adidas also recently having reopened an expanded adidas Originals store on Granville Street.
Mario Negris and Martin Moriarty of Marcus & Millichap negotiated the lease deal on behalf of adidas. Morguard is the landlord of the building at 969 Robson Street where adidas will be located. Victoria’s Secret will be relocating into a retail space nearly 9,000 square feet at CF Pacific Centre, most recently occupied by Hollister which relocated in the mall.
The iconic heritage-designated Robson Central building at the northeast corner of Burrard and Robson Streets also houses a Shoppers Drug Mart and Clearly store, as well as Bell Media/CTV upstairs. The building was built in 1957 and was Vancouver’s main library branch from that year until 1995, when it was converted to a commercial building with a Virgin Megastore occupying the base and a Planet Hollywood upstairs. The Virgin store was converted to an HMV in 2005, where it operated until its closure in early 2012. Planet Hollywood shut in 1999 after the company’s bankruptcy.
In 1997, the upper levels were taken over by an independent television station, which was then taken over by CTV — various media productions take place in the space now.
Victoria’s Secret opened its 35,000 square foot store in late August 2013 in the building to considerable fanfare. Sales were said to be mediocre. Shoppers Drug Mart opened an 11,000 square foot store on the Burrard Street-facing side of the building in 2014.
adidas operates a network of stores across the country under various sub-banners. That includes adidas Originals, sport stores, outlet stores, and a new ‘halo store’ at CF Toronto Eaton Centre. The brand also wholesales in various multi-brand retailers across the country, ranging from sporting goods retailer to department stores depending on the collection.
The addition of the new adidas concept store is exciting news for downtown Vancouver. Various other retailers have been opening on Robson Street, with Esprit’s first Canadian store set to soon open on the north side of the 1000 block. Other changes include the closure of Brooks Brothers on Alberni Street, which is expected to be subdivided into three smaller retail spaces for high-end brands.
The 230,000 square foot Nordstrom space, currently vacant, is expected to see multiple tenants. A TikTok video from URBA Vancouver recently claimed that Quebec City-based retailer La Maison Simons would be taking over the top two levels of the former Nordstrom, making the store the largest in the chain at about 140,000 square feet. The video also claimed that Zara and Nike would occupy the main floor of the former Nordstrom, although that information is unconfirmed.
We’ll follow up with this story as details become available.


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- Noted April 14
The average U.S. price for fresh beef rose in February to its highest level since 1987 — $5.28 a pound — as cattle ranchers reduced their herds amid dry conditions and demand for beef increased in China and Japan, among other export destinations, The Associated Press reports. Prices are expected to stay high for a few years, at least.
Some shoppers are sucking up the price hike — 25 cents a pound in a month — or switching to cheaper cuts, while others are simply looking elsewhere for their protein. Some ranchers are nervous that people will permanently change their eating habits if prices stay high, even as all cattle ranchers are thrilled about getting more money for their wares.
As for restaurants, they're either passing on the higher costs to customers or, as some higher-end restaurants are, serving smaller steaks. So, bad time to go on the paleo diet, and good time to own a hamburger stand.- -
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PARIS — The country that gave us the words restaurant, bistro and cuisine is changing how it eats.
For the first time in France, fast food overtook traditional restaurant receipts as the economic crisis deepened, and the share of people who pack a lunch for work is rising faster by the year. Meanwhile, lurid reports of the increasing number of traditional restaurants resorting to frozen prepackaged meals to hold down their prices have shaken France’s sense of culinary identity.
French lawmakers have swung into action to protect their cuisine, which the government officially considers a matter of national pride — even to the point of persuading UNESCO in 2010 to put French cuisine on its World Heritage List.
“I don’t want chefs replaced by microwaves,” said Daniel Fasquelle, a lawmaker in the French Assembly who voted recently for a measure that would require restaurants to print “fait maison” — or homemade — on menus next to dishes that were created from scratch.
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Fasquelle said the legislation, which was approved in the lower house and goes to the Senate in the fall, is weaker than what he and other culinary warriors want but represents a step in the right direction. Fasquelle is part of a movement seeking to limit what can be called a “restaurant” to places where more than half the food is made in-house. The idea is to protect “true cuisine” and force the fakers — who would have to find a more appropriate word, such as “caterer” — to fess up.
Lunches that have traditionally run two hours or even three hours in the south are being cut short by the modern workday. According to a 2011 study, the French midday break is down to an average of 22 minutes, compared with nearly 90 minutes two decades ago. And a study this spring found that a fifth of French workers are bringing their food from home to eat at work — double the percentage just three years ago, according to a survey this spring from industry consultant Gira Conseil.
According to the study, fast-food expenditures have surpassed traditional restaurants for the first time, making up 54 percent of receipts.
But don’t think that French fast food means strictly McDonald’s, whose sales in France are slumping this year, according to their most recent quarterly results.
One of the biggest drivers of the fast-food trend are
boulangeries. In 1998, the word “boulangerie” was legally reserved for establishments that made breakfasts from scratch. These days they’ve become masters of serving up delicious quick meals for the price of a Big Mac and fries — and these come under the category of “fast food.”
For Estelle Levy, who opened a bakery two years ago in Paris, the choice was clear. A traditional French bakery has three producers: one to make bread, one to make pastries and cakes and a third to make breakfast fare like croissants. She decided to forgo the croissant specialist and hired a cook to serve quick meals instead.
“The day that I don’t make bread, my business is over,” she said, seated next to the espresso machine in her dining area. “But my bakery wouldn’t be viable if I didn’t serve food.”
More than a third of her income is from the lunches, she said. Most of her customers grab a sandwich, a pastry and a drink and take off. A few linger at the handful of tables she set up facing the display cases containing pasta, quiches and desserts. The bread is there, of course, but it’s tucked behind the counter.
While bakeries like Levy’s are cashing in on the fast-food trend, so are supermarkets. This spring Carrefour, the hypermarket chain, began offering a new line of what the French call “snacking” — because a meal on the run is considered just that.
Even so, French flavor demands remain unchanged, said Anne-Marie Ferrari, a Carrefour executive. In France, she said, “snacking also has to mean eating well.”
A small dessert is expected at even the most rushed of meals, and the idea of a meal eaten while walking or driving is anathema.
It all means traditional restaurants are getting squeezed and have been quietly reacting by turning to a pair of scissors and a microwave — reheating outsourced ready-made meals, said Fasquelle, the lawmaker. He thinks it’s a quick-fix solution that will create a long-term problem for the entire country.
“Forty percent of tourists come here for our cuisine,” he said. If food quality continues to deteriorate, he added, at some point jobs will be at stake. “France is not like other countries when it comes to cuisine. It’s the country of good food, good wine.”
What people in France eat when they dine out is of vital importance to national health as well as culture, said Denis Machuel, head of the unit of Sodexo that issues the majority of the country’s subsidized restaurant vouchers. In one of the company’s surveys, he said, nearly two-thirds of people said they needed a break at lunch because “it’s a moment to enjoy life.”
Alain Tortosa, who started a website and guide of restaurants that cook from scratch, is less sanguine.
“The French have to be among the most contradictory people in the world,” he said. “On one side you have what the French say, and on the other side you have what they do.”


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In nine U.S. states, Apple has announced the “Sales Tax Holiday” from the end of July through the first week of August 2022. The upcoming “Sales Tax Holiday” provides an opportunity for consumers in select states to purchase eligible Macs, iPads, iPhones, and other products without paying the state’s sales tax.
Here are the nine states participating in Apple’s Sale Tax Holiday 2022
For a limited time, consumers will be able to shop select Apple products in stores and online at lower prices.
Here are the nine states participating in Apple’s Sale Tax Holiday 2022 and their dates:
- Tennessee: July 29 to July 31
- Florida: July 25 to August 7
- Arkansas: August 6 to August 7
- Missouri: August 5 to August 7
- New Mexico: August 5 to August 7
- South Carolina: August 5 to August 7
- Virginia: August 5 to August 7
- West Virginia: August 5 to August 8
- Massachusetts: August 13 to August 14
The tech company requests that customers in select states browse eligible products in their states before shopping tax-free. It must be kept in mind that eligible products and discounted prices will vary from state to state.
Interested customers can easily access their state’s Department of Finance and Administration website through Apple.com. For example, the Arkansas notification reads:
Sales tax holiday period is August 6–7, 2022.
To qualify for the tax exemption, the purchase must be made during the sales tax holiday period by an individual for personal use. There is no sales price limit for the items listed below.
Please visit the State of Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration website for complete terms and conditions.
Eligible products include:
All iPad models
All iPhone models
Accessories: Keyboards, Mice, Apple Pencil, Displays
Furthermore, customers can also avail the company’s other offers in addition to the Sales Tax Holiday like back-to-school promotion, 3% cash back on purchases through Apple Card, and trade-in older device.


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The booming venture capital industry here is set to grow further in the coming months as new rules kick in to allow start-ups easier access to funding.
The slimmed-down and simpler framework outlined by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will allow venture capital (VC) funds to get a licence within weeks instead of the average of about 21/2 months under the existing process.
The proposed changes, which aim to cut red tape and lower compliance costs, will also relieve VC funds of having to do independent valuations and submit audited financial statements to the MAS.
The aim is to attract more VC managers here and spur them to play a greater role in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation. There are about 30 VC managers here now.
Mr Sam Phoen, co-founder of investment management firm Wateram Capital, welcomed the initiative, although he questioned why the proposals were limited to helping newly incorporated firms of five years or less.
"What we are seeing in Singapore is that companies in later stages of growth (roughly between the fourth and eighth year of incorporation) are facing a dearth of funding and financing options. This is the time when they need the most money to grow the company," he said. "Unfortunately they would be at a stage where they are not so small to appeal to VCs, but at the same time not large or profitable enough to get financing from financial institutions."
He said start-ups in successful VC markets such as the United States and China have good access to finance across the entire life cycle from seed funding right through to the IPO market.
"MAS should consider extending this relaxation to the entire funding value chain and simplify regulations to nurture the development of the entire value chain," Mr Phoen added.
He also suggested that VC firms be allowed to invest in other VC managers, much like a fund of VC funds. Mr Phoen said: "As long as funds eventually help the start-ups, it doesn't matter whether it is direct or indirect."
Currently, VC funds are restricted to accredited or institutional investors. Accredited investors are those with net personal assets exceeding $2 million or whose income was not less than $300,000 in the preceding 12 months.
While retail investors need additional protection, they are also restricted from participating in good long-term VC or private equity deals simply because they do not qualify as accredited investors.
Mr Phoen noted that just as accredited investors may not mean they are sophisticated enough to take care of themselves, being categorised as non-accredited investors does not mean they are financial illiterates.
"Opening up to retail investors will provide an additional source of investment diversification for retail investors, as well as additional funding support for start-ups," he added.
"Criteria that could be introduced before retail investors can participate might include suitability assessments and a limit to their total investment amounts to be no more than 20 per cent of their investable assets."


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Will Apple release a new 9.7 inch iPad in times for the holidays?
In addition to the rumored iPad mini, there has been talk about a refreshed "newer" iPad for the holidays. The reason being is that the Sharp's screen technology (IGZO) was not ready in time so Apple had to go with plan B. The new iPad was thicker and heavier than the iPad 2. The new iPad with a retina display with the iPad 2's thickness and lightness would be very interesting product, except for the fact that Apple risks alienating customers that bought the existing iPad and it does not follow their regular schedule.
But now that Apple is transitioning to the new connector. Why not! They are going to sell a bunch of those for the holiday season. Why not change it now and speed up the transition rather than have so many future customers on obsoleted technology. (They should update the iPad 2 to the new connector, well.) All the while they deliver the iPad that they always meant to deliver. Consider also the launch of Windows 8 and how strongly MS is going to push tablets. Why not put their best effort forth.
Plus there is also that A6 processor to look forward to in the spring.


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Apparently Tumblr CEO David Karp has overcome his distaste for ads, because he just announced that advertisers will be able to buy access to the dashboard’s “Tumblr Radar.”
About 45 minutes ago, Rex Sorgatz tweeted the following dispatch from AdAge Digital: “Karp just announced that the Featured spot on the Tumblr dashboard is going up for sale to advertisers.” Business Insider is reporting that the feature will go live as early as May 2.
Reached via email, Mr. Sorgatz provided more detail, telling Betabeat:
“It was the strangest ‘closing keynote’ speech I’ve ever seen. He was scheduled to talk for a half hour, but I think the whole thing lasted 7 minutes. He cited some growth numbers, mentioned how much he appreciates the creativity within the advertising community, and then broke the news that Tumblr would be opening up that spot to advertisers.”
Mr. Sorgatz continued: “He gave no specifics, other than that it launches May 2. He flashed his email address on the screens, took no questions, and then zipped out the building.”
Tumblr spokesperson Katherine Barna also told Business Insider that this new feature is “not an ‘ad unit’ per se, but a package of native promotion for the Tumblr post ― the most essential and versatile piece of our network.” We’ve reached out for clarification and will update as we soon as we learn more.
Regarding his earlier opposition to ads, Business Insider provides the following recantation from Mr. Karp: “I was probably being an idiot then.” He also informed the audience that 122,302 users signed up for the service yesterday alone. Just last week, Mr. Karp told AdAge that Tumblr could toss up Google AdSense and be profitable almost immediately, but called it “a complete last resort.”
At the time we took Mr. Karp’s comments to mean no ads at all, but apparently after five years and $125 million in venture capital, Tumblr now finds itself last resort-adjacent, to use Mr. Karp’s parlance. After some half-hearted attempts, it looks like the time to monetize is finally nigh and advertising will be the way.