Last February e-commerce company Shopify Inc. replaced the “Ottawa, Canada” dateline that began its press releases and earnings reports with a strange new one: “Internet, Everywhere.” The geographical shift came at the insistence of Shopify’s founder and chief executive officer, Tobi Lütke, who tends to view such matters through the prism of cold, hard logic. In May 2020, only a few months into the pandemic, he’d made the early, seemingly rash decision to...
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Today's Times shares that Amazon is hiding behind “sellers privacy” and section 230 to help fuel its books sales—even if it creates chaos in its marketplace, higher prices, and even fake books.
During this holiday season, does one want to tell their family and friends that they sell knock offs--or that they help Main Street? I'd vote for the latter. Yet, a new service is trying to sell knock offs and eat in to retailers' lunches.
For the last few years, retailers have been having a hard time of it: they are increasingly circumvented by the brands. With the advent of the e-commerce websites and social media, brands are pitching their wares directly to consumers and ...
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Retailers have had a difficult time in recent years, as brands have increasingly circumvented them. With the advent of e-commerce websites and social media, brands are pitching their wares directly to consumers and cutting out retailers.
I’ve sometimes wondered: What if the factory decides to do the same and cut out the brands? If the retailers don’t like it, how will the brands? Some businesses are now trying this. Services like Italic allow a consumer to bypass...
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Did you know there is a connection between the NYC marathon and 41 Madison? 41 Madison, home of the New York Tabletop Show, is owned by the Rudin family, and the family helped start the NYC Marathon. The Times shared this history in an article recently. Excerpt:
"...In 1976 when George Spitz, a civil servant and runner, proposed a marathon through all five boroughs, the time seemed almost right — if daunting. “A race like that could cost $15,000,” Mr. Lebow ...
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Nice to see this 1780s antique by Wedgwood advertised in today’s Times. Wedgwood continues today as a brand in the Fiskars family and is a Smart Brand partner.
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We were happy to read the book review for Josiah Wedgwood's new biography. Wedgwood is still produced today (250 years later) and is a Smart Brand member. I always find it fun to be reminded that Josiah's grandson was Charles Darwin.
"Are you happy?” That’s a question you may ask yourself. Your parents and friends also likely inquire (I hope!). While it may seem flaky to say, happiness is important. This topic was the subject of Dr. Edward Diener, who passed away in April of this year. Dr. Diener, who studied happiness and earned the moniker “Dr. Happiness,” reported that happiness often correlates with social relationships, being with others, and not being alone.
The Times ran a massive 8-page section of Wilkes-Barre, PA’s downtown. The insert, one continuous piece (4-full pages each side), showed a Main Street in flux. Even with rent averaging $9/square foot, many stores are teetering on survival.
The only entities that seem to be growing in the area are universities and government agencies.
Trivia: Planters Peanuts was started here and used to have its office on this strip.
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Beatriz Ball revisits classicism—with a contemporary twist--in the VIDA Charleston Collection in luxury melamine. Think elegantly simple classic forms, distilled to the essential, enhanced with rich and lively surfaces with the look of fine ceramics—all presented in a cool and classic blue tone.
Standouts include this large blue rectangular platter featuring a textured surface, notched corners, and a gently raised border. The Charleston forms fit seamlessly with your lifestyle, ...
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The Times shares that the FTC will have a new leader that is knowledgable about Amazon.
Excerpts:
In her new role, Ms. Khan will lead efforts to regulate the kind of behavior highlighted for years by critics of Amazon, Facebook, Google and Apple. She told a Senate committee in April that she was worried about the way tech companies could use their power to dominate new markets. The agency is investigating Amazon, which Ms. Khan has been highly critical of, and filed an antitrust lawsuit ...
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The Times shares insights in to Amazon's desire to become a profitable company, including increasing employee turn over.
Excerpt:
In his drive to create the world’s most efficient company, Jeff Bezos discovered what he thought was another inefficiency worth eliminating: hourly employees who spent years working for the same company.
Longtime employees expected to receive raises. They also became less enthusiastic about the work, Amazon’s data suggested. And they were a ...
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While we’re hiring, some of our customers are still struggling within the retail environment. One client, Cathy Hulgan Designs, is closing because the new landlord wanted to double the rent and asked for a long-term lease. Cathy was a big proponent of ours. I am saddened by her store's closing. I’ll miss her.
I’ll note that her situation did bring to mind the merit of offering digital services and Bridge’s business model. Unlike a rental retail space in a strip mall, ...
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I’d like to see publications across the country running stories like this.
Ps-The Times has a weekly shopping section in which it lists five products. Often the majority of items shown have a link suggesting the reader purchase the item at amazon.com. I’d like to see the Times update its reporting in this weekly article to suggest buying from indie stores.
Companies with deep pockets and big connections to Wall St. have teamed up to make the Internet a dirtier place. Legislation is pending to make large sellers of new goods have to reveal the true seller of the good. The goal of the federal bill is to curtail the sale of fake and stolen goods through online marketplaces. This sounds logical. But not to: eBay, Poshmark, Mercari, and Etsy.
These businesses have hundreds of millions of dollars at stake from banks, investors, and rich people. They ...
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