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☆ Struggling sneaker brand Vans is trying to lure millennials away from Nike and other brands with nostalgia, high heat collabs, and better arch support
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Danni Santana | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But Harrer, who joined Vans from Dollar Shave Club in April 2021, noted that Vans wasn't reminding people about those classic shoes. Vans stopped marketing its classic sneakers for some time before resuming earlier this year with the "Classic Since Forever" campaign. "Our top-tier limited-distribution footwear, which you may know as Vans Vault, has previously met the needs of influential footwear-trend accounts in the past," he said. With Vans Vault, the company takes classic shoes and collaborates with popular designers and boutiques on new colorways. Vans Vault releases compete with Nike, Adidas, Converse, and others for the general sneaker lover.

☆ I'm the guy behind 'Pizza Rat.' The 7-year-old viral video still makes me money, got me my current job, and may even pay for my future home.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Andrew Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Matt Little is a creative director from New York whose "Pizza Rat" video went viral in 2015. He says going viral didn't change his financial situation completely, but it makes him money today. A clip of "Pizza Rat" on the move, from Little's 2015 YouTube video. If you've seen Pizza Rat on late-night TV, ads, or events, it's likely been legally signed off by a licensing firm and me. Jukin helps find requests I get for the Pizza Rat video and brand, handles unlicensed usage, and helps ensure essential negotiation specifics are in deals.

☆ Cutting Costs, Not Jobs, Is Focus for Many CFOs Facing Slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Kristin Broughton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

At the same time, many employers are looking for workers, with job openings well above the number of job seekers. That leaves some finance chiefs scouting for savings that don’t involve job cuts, or that supplement layoffs, advisers and analysts said. Other ways to cut costs include exiting leases, reducing the number of suppliers, automating tasks, trimming software spending and finding less expensive components, advisers said. Many companies over the past year have raised prices to keep up with escalating input costs, in addition to trimming expenses. Still, the company’s restaurant-level profit margin during the quarter ended Oct. 2 fell to 16.2% from 20.1% a year earlier.

☆ King Charles III releases first Christmas card of his reign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

NOT FOR USE AFTER 31 DECEMBER, 2021, WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION FROM KENSINGTON PALACE). All other requests for use should be directed to the Press Office at Kensington Palace in writing. In this image released today Friday, December 10, 2021, Princess Charlotte, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Louis and Prince George are pictured in Jordan earlier this year. MANDATORY CREDIT: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge/Handout/Getty Images

☆ Kanye West's Yeezy Apparel fashion company owes $600,000 in unpaid tax to California with notices dating back two years, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The state of California has issued multiple tax notices to Yeezy Apparel, according to NBC News. Yeezy Apparel previously paid the LA district attorney a $950,000 settlement for false advertising. Over the last two years, the state has issued multiple tax liens – legal claims for unpaid debts – against Yeezy Apparel, NBC reported. Yeezy Apparel is a fashion design and merchandising business which started in 2017, according to public business records. But tax-law experts told NBC that the tax notices indicate big problems at Yeezy Apparel.

☆ Cigarette companies ordered to display health warning signs at retailers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Major cigarette companies will soon be required to post signs at retail locations warning of the health effects of smoking, the Justice Department announced. It resulted in a ruling that the cigarette companies were defrauding consumers about the health dangers associated with cigarette smoking. As part of earlier court orders, similar health warning statements in 2017 began appearing in newspaper and TV ads, on cigarette packages and on the companies' websites. The retail signs were the subject of several appeals before an agreement on them was reached this past May, the Justice Department said. The order will apply to about 200,000 U.S. retail locations that have merchandising agreements with the cigarette companies, according to the department.

☆ Fanatics Hits $31 Billion Valuation in Latest Funding Round
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Miriam Gottfried | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fanatics expects to complete an IPO but plans to wait until some of its newer business lines are more established. Fanatics Inc. has raised about $700 million from a group of investors, pushing the sports-merchandising company’s valuation to $31 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. About two-thirds of the new money came from parties that hadn’t previously invested in the company, including private-equity firm Clearlake Capital Group LP, which led the round, and investment bank LionTree LLC, the people said. Prior Fanatics investors such as Silver Lake, Fidelity Management & Research Co. and SoftBank Group Corp. were also among the participants, they said.

☆ United Furniture Industries owner reportedly has vanished and is staying silent after laying off 2,700 staffers right before Thanksgiving
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Bethany Biron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

United Furniture Industries founder David Belford has remained silent and unreachable since firing 2,700 employees last week. Belford allegedly shut down a plan to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy days before the layoffs, the New York Post reported. Staffers were terminated in late-night emails and texts sent right before Thanksgiving. In the messages, sent just before midnight, UFI said it was laying off "all employees" due to "unforeseen business circumstances." "Belford said, 'We are not going forward with a Chapter 11,'" Hearn told the New York Post.

☆ Black Friday was better than feared for retail stocks — Two potential big winners
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Black Friday was better than expected for retailers this year, with discount names Walmart and Costco poised to be among the season's winners, according to Bank of America. The big-box retailer made significant price investments to offer deeper discounts and traffic appeared very strong in stores, Ohmes noted. "Specialty retailers appeared to be relative winners while we observed decent trends across the discounters and department stores," said analyst Krisztina Katai. Morgan Stanley also called out strong traffic results for Lululemon and American Eagle, as well as Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria's Secret. "These strong traffic results were achieved despite 1) similar or lower y/y discounting levels, & /or 2) discounting activity below total sector averages.

☆ Fanatics, Nike take sports merchandise model global in deal with Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most popular baseball team
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Riley De León | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A woman browses a merchandise shop in Tokyo Dome ahead of the Japan Central League baseball match between Yomiuri Giants and Hiroshima Carp on October 14, 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Sports commerce platform Fanatics is expanding a recently signed long-term partnership with Nike to include manufacturing and distribution of merchandise for the Yomiuri Giants, Japan's most successful and popular baseball team. Nike will become the official uniform supplier of the Yomiuri Giants. Fanatics is also creating autograph and collectible products for fans of the Yomiuri Giants. The Yomiuri Giants are the first sports team outside the U.S. to adopt this Nike-Fanatics model for on-field and sports merchandise.

☆ I'm a Chicago school teacher making hundreds per week doing nails as a side hustle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Rasha Aly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I'm a Chicago public-school teacher, focusing on middle-school special education. My side hustle is working as a nail technician, and I'm certified to teach cosmetology. I want to get out of working in the classroom, but I'm not sure of my next move. I'm a teacher at Chicago's John W. Cooke Elementary, a public school on the city's South Side. I've also partnered with someone and become certified to teach cosmetology in Illinois.

☆ Trumpflation causes MAGA products to skyrocket in price
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump presidential campaign merchandise used to be a lot less expensive. Prices of some MAGA staples — t-shirts, bumper stickers — have nearly doubled in seven years. The prices of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign staples have skyrocketed when compared to what his 2016 presidential committee was charging. DonaldTrump.comAnd a pair of Trump bumper stickers that would have cost $5 during the waning days of the Obama administration are now $9 in President Joe Biden's economy. DonaldJTrump.com via Internet Archive Wayback MachineA pair of Trump bumper stickers sell for $9 on Trump's 2024 campaign website.

CHICAGO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Cooks may have to put away their oversized platters for serving turkey this Thanksgiving. If a farm has an outbreak, producers must disinfect their barns after culling turkeys and wait about six months before restocking. The National Turkey Federation acknowledged that cooks in some geographic areas could see limited supplies of big turkeys. On the U.S. East Coast, Baldor sees a shortage of the bigger sizes as large Thanksgiving celebrations make a comeback, Lindgren said. Shoppers are resuming traditional purchases of turkeys around 18 pounds, after downsizing their birds for smaller gatherings over the last two years, he said.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond's stock falls as retailer plans to issue shares to pay off some debt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Bed Bath & Beyond said Monday it would issue shares to some of its bondholders in exchange for paying off a small portion of its roughly $1 billion debt load. Bed Bath & Beyond's shares fell more than 8% at about $3.60 on Monday following the announcement of its stock dilution. Bed Bath & Beyond has more than $1 billion in unsecured notes with maturity dates spread across 2024, 2034 and 2044. In August, Bed Bath & Beyond announced new debt funding that was expected to give it some breath room, especially with suppliers. Meanwhile, its chief accounting officer resigned and the company eliminated the chief operating officer and chief stores officer roles.

☆ Gyms and at-home fitness battle for prominence this holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Michael Loccisano | Getty ImagesThe fitness industry appears headed for a strong holiday season, but not everyone will see a boost. Now inflationary pressures and a post-lockdown reset look poised to benefit traditional gyms and trade-down options — threatening connected at-home fitness equipment like the products made by Peloton and Lululemon -owned Mirror. Tarlowe, who covers Planet Fitness and Lululemon, said fitness spending remains steady, even among lower-income, inflation-squeezed consumers. People are trading down and shifting more toward value, he said, "and that bodes well for Planet Fitness." Planet Fitness CEO Chris Rondeau said members are exercising more, too: six times a month versus five times a month when Planet Fitness went public in 2015.

☆ Gap Inc. launches its store on Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNNBusiness —Gap announced Thursday that it has officially launched its store on Amazon. While shoppers were able to buy Gap merchandise on Amazon previously through third-party sellers, the new partnership with Amazon Fashion marks the first time that Gap itself is selling its products on the online marketplace. The items, available for purchase beginning today on Amazon US and Amazon Canada, include the basics that Gap is known for — hoodies, T-shirts, denim, socks, underwear and sleepwear for adults, kids and infants. Gap (GPS) Inc. said its Amazon store will also include Baby Gap (GPS)-branded items such as nursery furniture, strollers, bassinets and cribs. None of the Gap items are exclusive to Amazon (AMZN), however, and will also be available for purchase in Gap stores and on Gap.com.

☆ Nike execs have become some of the hottest hires in sportswear, triggering a talent war among rivals like Lululemon, North Face, and Columbia — and raising fears of a brain drain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Nike alums lead numerous brands, including Lululemon, Allbirds, Columbia Sportswear, and The North Face. Tim Sheerin, the senior vice president of global wholesale at Columbia Sportswear, at an investor day event this year. The trend has accelerated in recent years, with competing sportswear companies including Lululemon and Allbirds opening offices in Portland, Oregon. While sportswear companies are a natural fit for former Nike executives, nonathleticwear companies also have hired from Nike's top ranks. Crocs, which named the former Nike vice president Emma Minto the senior vice president of the Americas in 2020, also has been on a hot streak.

☆ A Walmart-backed fintech has been making changes to an online bank it acquired. Long-standing customers are getting fed up.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Carter Johnson | Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

But once the Walmart-backed fintech venture Hazel acquired One and adopted its moniker in January, some of the features that drew Gastley to the bank disappeared. The page has become, in some cases, the first place customers turn to for information about product changes. (Like most neobanks, One has partnered with a sponsor bank, the Washington-based Coastal Community Bank, to provide financial services.) But then One customers received an email from the bank on May 12: It would be closing current credit lines, effective immediately. That's not the only change to Pockets for which Joseph, who has dozens of the virtual bank accounts, didn't receive a notification about, he said.

☆ How a creator economy startup that invests up to $2 million in individual influencers decides who to work with
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Amanda Perelli | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Payment startup Creative Juice invests directly in YouTubers in exchange for a cut of their ad revenue. Some YouTube creators are ditching traditional banks and turning to creator economy startups for capital. Rather than getting a loan from his local bank, he turned to creator economy startup Creative Juice. She told Insider that receiving investment from Creative Juice allowed her to make that jump and establish industry relationships. Creative Juice picks which influencers to work with based on a list of metrics, including historical and estimated future revenue, engagement, and views per video.

☆ The founder of a baby-services startup that just launched in Walmart shares her tips for working with the retail giant
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Tot Squad began selling services at Walmart stores nationwide and on Walmart.com in February. After being "relentless" and pitching to many different people at the company, Tot Squad finally signed a contract with Walmart in August 2019, Saxton said. It wouldn't be until February 2022 that Tot Squad would officially launch in Walmart. Customers choose between video consultation or personal installation by a Tot Squad expert technician for an extra $40 or $80, respectively. For example, she said Angi — formerly known as Angie's List — is the home-services partner for Walmart, and Tot Squad is the retail giant's baby-services provider.

☆ Charity clothing stores turn to Depop and Instagram as they head upmarket with vintage and designer items
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Britain's charity shops are changing how they look and trying to appeal to Gen Z customers. They're selling more designer and vintage items, creating listings on Depop, and carefully curating their social-media profiles — all targeted mainly at appealing to the growing number of Gen Z shoppers. The managers told Insider their retro and vintage stores were largely in urban areas with large student populations. Non-essential retail stores had to shut their doors for months during the pandemic, which the Charity Retail Association estimates cost UK charity shops about £28 million ($32 million) a month. But, as the aisles of charity shops across the UK show, a lot of people do choose to donate them.

BANGKOK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A Thai celebrity media tycoon, transgender rights advocate and new owner of the Miss Universe beauty pageant wants to use the event to inspire women like her and boost tourism. She bought the Miss Universe Organisation on Wednesday for $20 million, marking the first time the beauty pageant organiser has been owned by a woman, her company said. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha 1 2 3 4She said Miss Universe can promote Thailand's Five F-factors tourism campaign, boosting fighting (Thai boxing), film, festival, fashion and food. “Every country - not just Thailand - will get tourism income when you are the (pageant) host country,” Jakapong said. Other plans for Miss Universe include licensing and merchandising opportunities, including integration with JKN’s own businesses like fashion, beverages and cosmetics.

☆ How startup Hilma raised a $3 million seed round from backers, including a former Nike exec and a Bonobos cofounder, to make running shoes more inclusive for women
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Matthew Kish | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The problem: Running shoes historically have been based off the shape of a man's foot. Hilma's shoes are made in varying shapes and widths in order to provide the perfect fit for every runner, regardless of foot shape or ability. Woman in Hilma running shoes. Hilma's launch follows Lululemon's footwear launch, which similarly prioritized female consumers and continues to exceed the company's expectations. Hilma's shoes are made in China and warehoused in the US before shipping to consumers.

☆ Ben Feigin, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ executive producer, dies at 47
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Ben Feigin, an award-winning producer on “Schitt’s Creek” and founder and CEO of Equation Unlimited, LLC, died Monday of pancreatic cancer. Feigin served as executive producer on “Schitt’s Creek,” serving as a key force in the series’ development and launch. For the final season of “Schitt’s Creek,” Feigin received an Emmy for outstanding comedy series, a Producers Guild Awards for outstanding producer of episodic television for a comedy and a Golden Globe for best musical or comedy television series. Feigin also received a GLAAD Media Award for best comedy series in 2020 and 2021. Feigin joined Anonymous Content in 2006, founding their comedy and enterprise divisions, in addition to continuing work as a producer.

☆ Thai businesswoman buys Miss Universe pageant for $20 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BANGKOK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A Thai celebrity media tycoon and transgender rights advocate has bought the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million, marking the first time the beauty pageant organiser will be owned by a woman, her company said on Wednesday. She has been outspoken about her experience as a transgender woman and also set up the Life Inspired For Thailand Foundation to advocate for the rights to dignity and opportunities for transgender people. The acquisition is "a strong, strategic addition to our portfolio," said Jakapong, adding that Miss Universe, with its content, licensing and merchandising opportunities, plans to expand in Asia. JKN produces its own shows and distributes content in Thailand from abroad including documentaries and Bollywood dramas. The annual beauty contest run by the Miss Universe Organisation, which was co-owned by Donald Trump between 1996 and 2002, is broadcast in 165 countries and has been running for 71 years.

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