 7 Dec 2009 |
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Connecting for the cause
Meanwhile, in Copenhagen, the UN is looking to save the world as the Climate Change Summit opens today. The fact that there are 34 000 people looking to attend the opening session in a venue that can accommodate only 15 000 seems ironically fitting... If the committee can't agree on any sustainable plans to curb global warming, we'll be running out of a lot more than just space. 2010 fever hit Cape Town in a massive way on Friday as fans flocked to Long Street to be near the Final Draw action. If the festivities are any indicator of the party madness that will descend on the country during the FIFA World Cup, then the hospitality industry will definitely have its work cut out for it! [See the photo gallery here.] Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor Please send retail news to: retailnews@bizcommunity.com Responses to this column welcomed in our new online editor's column archive. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net and Danilo Rizzuti. Top stories
RetailSeven tips to survive recession[Lester Smith] There are clear signs that the global economy is in a deep recession but I believe there are seven lessons to assist SMEs prosper, recession or no recession. As small business owners, we are all feeling the economic crunch and must take action to survive. Read more >>Severe pressure from Eskom on consumersDuggan Matthews, an investment professional at Marriott Asset Management examines the likely consequences of the Eskom tariff proposal of 35% per year for the next three years. Read more >>First Terra Madre day in South Africa The first worldwide Terra Madre day, to celebrate locally produced food that is good, clean and fair, will be held internationally on Thursday 10 December 2009. The event is organised by Slow Food, a 20-year-old organisation started in opposition to mass-produced fast food. Read more >>Pharmacy council sets fees The professional fees that pharmacists may charge in 2010 have been published, the SA Pharmacy Council said on Wednesday, 2 December 2009. Read more >>New vehicle sales still in reverseNew vehicle sales figures for November released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) don't continue the positive trend shown over the last two consecutive months, and indicate that hopes of an improving market are still some way off. Read more >>Sales set to soar on 5 DecemberA global rush for tickets is expected the day after the final draw (4 December), when the third ticketing sales phase kicks off. Read more >>Fairtrade kudos for fair Cape The South African wine industry won the UK trade publication, The Drinks Business', Ethical Award for 2009 and many trophies and prizes in the Fairtrade Wine Committee's competition for best wines of the year, held in London within the past few weeks. Read more >>Stable food prices to boost PioneerA more stable food price environment is expected to contribute to an improved operational performance for the full year, though upward cost pressures persist, said food and beverage group Pioneer Foods on Monday, 30 November 2009. Read more >>Measuring electricity consumption during the Draw periodThe Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) has given Eskom permission to install 36 meters and modems from 30 November to 7 December 2009 to monitor the centre's energy consumption in real time. This data will be translated into environmental information, made accessible for viewing via an online energy dashboard and updated every 60 seconds. Read more >>AssociationsSaccawu to strike against Sun InternationalThe SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union is planning to embark on a nationwide strike against Sun International following a wage dispute, the company said on Thursday, 3 December 2009. Read more >>Banking & FinanceFNB Innovators awards R4m First National Bank (FNB) has awarded R4 million in 2009 to winning ideas through its FNB Innovators initiative, in a bid to improve its service delivery and at the same time motivate staff to higher levels of excellence, it announced late last week. Read more >>Brand newsWildlife game for Christmas, 2010 Play and Learn is a newly released educational trump card game that encourages players to become experts on 40 of the more common larger land mammals most likely to be encountered during a visit to a game park in Southern Africa. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Read more >>Food on the Move changes lanesThe business partners of Food on the Move, Arnold Tanzer and Rudie Stoop, will be pursuing separate careers from January 2010. The amicable decision sees Tanzer remaining in the kitchen, along with his WACS (World Association of Chef Societies) and Global Pizza Challenge responsibilities. Stoop will be consulting, mainly in the eventing and décor arena, on a national basis and is planning an exciting launch for the New Year.Elchim offers salon style at home Established in Italy in 1945, Elchim Hairdryers are reputed to have been the first blow stylers manufactured exclusively for the professional hairdressing industry and now Elchim South Africa, is introducing the superior product range to South Africa. Read more >>Clothing & TextilesQueen takes over reins of SeardelStuart Queen has taken over the reins as group chief executive officer of Seardel Investment Corporation from Walter Simeoni who has retired. Read more >>Real Madrid to launch lingerie lineMADRID, SPAIN: Spanish giants Real Madrid, the world's richest football club in terms of income, will launch its first lingerie line for women next year, sports daily Marca reported on Wednesday, 2 December 2009. Read more >>New fashion label with message for youth [Canaan Mdletshe] With World Aids Day having arrived, Ukhozi FM radio personality Phumlani Dube is setting a new fashion trend in an educational way. Read more >>David Tlale launches a designer shoe collection "Animal prints, bling, sequins and vivid colours are essential when adding accessories to complement that special little black dress," says designer David Tlale, explaining why he's brought out his own collection. Read more >>Commercial propertyKing's Court, King's Mall to be auctioned[Sbongile Dimbaza and Yolandé Stander] Assets of the beleaguered developers of two plush multi-million-rand shopping centre developments in the Eastern Cape have started going under the hammer. Read more >>Trade Route expansion complete The Trade Route Mall in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, which opened three years ago, has completed Phase Two of its expansion on 3 December 2009. Read more >>Corporate Social InvestmentLacing up against AIDS [Moipone Malefane] Sportswear manufacturer Nike has roped in Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and U2 frontman Bono to promote the sale of special red laces under the banner of "Lace Up, Save Lives". Read more >>e-CommerceShoppers mean business on Cyber Monday Online shoppers spent more money on Cyber Monday than they did last year, according to research firm Coremetrics. However, they spent less time wandering the virtual isles. Multi-page and browsing session times both fell by a few percentage points, and bounce rates, which show how quickly visitors leave a page, shot up by almost 18% year over year. Read more >>It's a Kalahari ChristmasIn preparation for the festive season, the online retailer kalahari.net has increased its product range significantly and consumers will benefit from new ranges in the electronics, appliances, photographic, toys, watch and jewellery shops. This is in addition to the extensive books, music, DVD and games offering. Read more >>Strong e-tail Black Friday bodes well for Cyber Monday [Katherine Noyes] Black Friday is the day shoppers line up around the block to take advantage of special sales at brick-and-mortar retail stores, but this year, e-commerce saw a healthy boost. That could mean sales on Cyber Monday - the day e-tailers have come to expect more shoppers online - will be better than originally expected. Read more >>FranchisingThird News Café for KZN “Since the closing of our Gateway store, News Cafe has been actively investigating potential sites and the new News Cafe Umhlanga Rocks will once again ensure a strong brand presence in the Umhlanga area,” said Alan van der Westhuizen, News Cafe GM Restaurant Division, on the launch. Read more >>Green sustainabilityClimate Change summit kicks off [Chris Bathembu] Thousands of delegates are this morning, 7 December 2009, gathering in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, for the opening ceremony of the crucial United Nations (UN) Climate Change Summit. Read more >>Primedia goes green New supporters have joined the Climate Change Leadership Awards (CCLA), which were launched in October 2009 and will be presented in March 2010. Read more >>Health & SafetyFood advisory seminars highlight food safety for 2010Following the first of a series of Food Advisory Day seminars, which started on 28 October 2009, the seminars have been extended to Cape Town and Johannesburg as well. Hosted by eThekwini municipality's health department in KwaZulu-Natal, the seminar addressed measures that seek to improve the level of food safety and to ensure that the formal food sector complies with the regulations and the requirement related to food safety. Read more >>Coca-Cola Israel recalls products 'with tainted gas'JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: Coca-Cola Israel announced on Tuesday, 1 December 2009, it was recalling several products because of "quality problems". Read more >>HospitalityNew Braza at Emperors The new Braza restaurant opened on Wednesday, 2 December 2009, at Emperors Palace, coinciding with the redesign of its menus, which were launched at all Braza restaurants early in December. Read more >>International chef at new wine estate restaurant Burgundian chef Grégory Czarnecki, with a decade's wealth of experience from working in some of the finest Michelin star restaurants in France, is the chef at the newly opened Waterkloof Wine Estate's restaurant. Read more >>Calling professional chefs to a bake-off Said to be the first of its kind in South Africa, the national Bake-Off Competition has been launched by Pillsbury Bakeries and Foodservice Division and is open to anyone working in the food service industry. Read more >>Import/ExportSA, Switzerland in trade talksInternational Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim will today, Monday 7 December 2009, co-chair the 2nd South Africa-Switzerland Annual Consultations with the State Secretary of the Confederation of Switzerland, Michael Ambühl. Read more >>Damco opens in MaputoDamco, the new combined brand of the A P Moller - Maersk Group's logistics activities, will open an office in Maputo, Mozambique on 15 December 2009 to improve presence and service levels in South East Africa. It has been operating for the past eighteen months from its existing office in Beira, providing support to exporters and importers in the land-locked countries of Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. Read more >>China says pork import ban liftedBEIJING, CHINA: China on Tuesday, 1 December 2009, announced it had lifted a ban on pork imports from countries including the United States, following through on a pledge made at high-level Sino-US trade talks in October. Read more >>Instore mediaEco-friendly materials for festive display Cape Union Mart stores across South Africa selected Xanita's X-Board for its festive season visual displays primarily based on the fact that the boards are a fully printable, eco-friendly alternative to the traditional vinyl and PVC used in signage and point of sale displays. Read more >>PackagingNew packaging for Meadowlands Meadowlands Classique Multi-Purpose Cream and Meadowlands Delight Confectionery Topping have been re-launched by Unilever Foodsolutions in a fresh, bright new slimline pack with a twist top. Read more >>Long life milk in plastic bottles [ActivRetail] The official opening of the Bloemfontein based Homsek Dairy's UHT (Long Life Milk) factory comes as a culmination of a true partnership between Homsek Dairy, Woolworths and packaging company Nampak Liquid. Read more >>RegulatoryMilk case goes to court[Kgomotso Mathe] Milk producers Milkwood Dairy and Woodlands Dairy are in court today, 7 December 2009, in a move that will further delay any resolution of a probe into anticompetitive behaviour that started almost five years ago. Read more >>BAT in high court bid for right to market cigarettes[Michael Bleby] British American Tobacco (BAT) SA is fighting for its constitutional right to market cigarettes. Read more >>Nokia fires price-fixing lawsuits at suppliers[Matti Huuhtanen] Nokia, the world's largest manufacturer of cellphones, has sued some of its suppliers, claiming they participated in price-fixing activities. At least eight major companies have been named in the suits, filed in both the US and UK. A spokesperson declined to say how much Nokia was claiming in compensation but said the sums involved were "not insignificant." Read more >>Act riles second-hand book dealers [Sarah Hudleston] Second-hand book dealers are protesting that the speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, has turned a deaf ear to their complaint that incorrect procedures followed by the portfolio committee on safety and security resulted in second-hand books being erroneously included in the Second-Hand Goods Act. Read more >>French court fines eBay for perfume salesPARIS, FRANCE: A French court on Monday, 30 November 2009, ordered online auction site eBay to pay €1.7 million (US$2.5 million) to luxury goods maker LVMH for unauthorised selling of its perfumes, the companies said. Read more >>ResearchSkill shortages in critical industriesCareerJunction's latest research reveals major skills shortages in the online labour market for various professions and aims to provide an in-depth snapshot of online labour dynamics and recruitment solutions within the various sectors based on the Q3 of 2009. Read more >>Retail marketingNew Simba competition Simba is launching a new competition, ‘What's Your Lekker Flavour?', where contestants send their lekker flavour suggestion and the inspiration for the flavour along with their name, address and contact details. The winner gets R200 000 in cash and 1% of sales of the winning flavour. Entries close on the 28 February 2010. Read more >>Hansa Festival tour winners Following over 93 000 entries to the Hansa World Festival Tour competition, five winners were announced at Summer Place in Hyde Park late last month. Based on the brand's ‘Stepping out of the Ordinary' campaign, the tour provides the winners and their partners with a once in a lifetime experience at renowned festivals around the world. Read more >>Not Fashionista, Sandtonista Sandton City has a blog site, Sandtonista.co.za, which allows viewers to find out what's hot and trendy at what is seen as the most fashionable shopping centre in South Africa. Read more >>Brand promotion drives ROI [ActivRetail] Brand activation specialists, Zinto Marketing Group, presented the Baby Soft toilet tissue Win-a-Car promotion as an in-mall activation in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town during October and November. Read more >>Retail servicesBeefing up meat knowledge The Red Meat Industry Forum of South Africa (RMIF), which represents all 12 role-player organisations within the red meat industry, has launched a single, easily accessible one-stop website for consumers and industry alike. Read more >>RetailersIn with old, out with the new [Jacquie Myburgh] The fashion world is used to coming up with something new - it's what those people do every season anyway, to keep you and me coming back to the malls. Read more >>Online retailers pin hopes on 'Cyber Monday'WASHINGTON, US: After a modest start to the US holiday shopping season with "Black Friday", online retailers are looking to "Cyber Monday" for a boost in sales. Read more >>SecurityPublic warned against card skimming The public should be on the look-out for card skimming as well as other forms of fraudulent activities this Christmas. Read more >>TechnologyNew Vodafone world zonesFrom 1 December 2009, Vodacom has simplified its Vodafone world roaming service, by introducing three simple world zones with a fixed rate for voice, data and SMS in each zone. These predictable and transparent rates will now enable users to know exactly what to expect on their bill. Read more >>Embedded SIM cellphone deters theft, lowers costsMi-Fone has announced the launch of innovative embedded SIM mobile handset, done in conjunction with an unnamed African GSM Operator. The state-of-the-art handset has a SIM card embedded at factory level, protecting the GSM carriers from people unlocking the phone, as well as enabling cost savings on expensive SIM card packaging. The phone number is also conveniently located on the box and enables efficient logistics and supply chain inventory management. Additionally the Embedded SIM initiative guarantees no more lost or stolen SIMs. Read more >>TrainingFirst graduate for Guild's protégé programme The Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Programme, funded by the Nedbank CWG Development Trust, has its first graduate. Howard Booysen, the first aspiring winemaker to be selected for the programme, has just completed his three-year internship, honing his skills and knowledge of the wine industry under the guidance of some of the country's top winemakers. Read more >>
Retail servicesHertz candidates come out tops at Unitrans Group Graduate Management Awards - Hertz Rent a CarAt the recent awards ceremony for the Unitrans Group Graduate Management Trainee Program, two of the eight graduates from the gruelling 18-month programme were Hertz employees - Ntokozo Sikobi and Wanda Mnqenta. Read more >>
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Zimfest Cape Town set for Jan 2010 RETAIL [Sindy Peters] Overtone, organisers of Zimfest Cape Town announced in early November that Zimfest, originally planned for 19 - 21 November 2009 at the De Heuvel Olive and Wine Estate in Tulbagh, had to be postponed due to unpredictable weather conditions. According to Magdalena Zukowski, general manager of Overtone SA, Zimfest is definitely still on for early January 2010, but a set date is still to be confirmed. Simo gets in to the synergy of things RETAIL [Simo Adams] Wow! What a way to get introduced to the BizLounge team - a road and camping trip to Synergy Live in Franschhoek - talk about getting thrust into the deep end. But I'm a professional partier and held my own up fairly well, if I do say so myself, maintaining much longer than most of my colleagues. And all the while trying to brave giant hooks on the dance floor seemingly specially designed to catch innocent Simos (ok, maybe not so innocent), countless kidnapping attempts, wobbly bare bottoms and some overly amorous ladies. Albert Frost wins Doritos Be Heard Competition RETAIL South African guitarist, Albert Frost, has won the South African leg of the Doritos Be Heard competition. Frost wins the grand prize of R200 000. Synergy, can I get a hell yeah! RETAIL [Sindy Peters] Synergy, hell yeah! You heard of famous last words, but these were famous first words for Simo Adams - newest member of the BizLounge team. He had a rocking time and so did we. Synergy made a great comeback this year after leaving fans high...and dry for seven years straight. There are plenty of festivals to trek off to all year round in the Cape Town region, and Synergy Live is one of the hottest. BizLounge and Simo raffle it up at Synergy Live RETAIL [Sindy Peters] Bizcommunity.com's BizLounge entertainment portal hosted a raffle at the relaunched Synergy Live Music Festival at the Boschendal Wine Estate in Franschhoek, Cape Town. After braving the heat-wave togged in terrific T's and armed with, Simo, sweets, stickers and Apple Sours we arrived back in Cape Town with an ample total to hand over to the good folk of Nazareth House.
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