 29 Mar 2010 |
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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
RetailCPI falls to 5.7% in FebruaryThe Consumer Price Index for February fell to 5.7%, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) announced today, Wednesday, 24 March 2010. Read more >>Advertisement:  Household expenditure rises in fourth quarterHousehold expenditure in the last quarter of 2009 rose by 1.4%, said the Reserve Bank. Read more >>Banking & FinanceSpar, Standard Bank, make money transfers mobile A new service, Instant Money from Standard Bank, will use Spar's 850-store footprint to reach communities in some of the most remote parts of the country. The service allows money to be sent and received at supermarket outlets using a cellphone to transfer information. Read more >>MPC reduces repo rate to 6.5%The Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.5% to the delight of many South Africans. Read more >>Interest rates to remain steady at 7% - economistsEconomists predict that the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Committee will keep the interest rates unchanged at 7%. Read more >>Brand newsBlackBerry ramps upThe South Africa Fashion Week 2010 core team all use BlackBerry smartphones and its recently launched enterprise server express to manage every aspect of the upcoming season. Consequently, the brand has been named the official handset for the 2010 show to ensure interactivity as well effective and efficient communication leading up to and during this year's event. Read more >>Fulfilling new Shiraz from Allesverloren Swartland wine estate, Allesverloren has just released the 2009 vintage of its full blooded Shiraz. Read more >>McCain has new website for SA One of South Africa's largest frozen chip, vegetables and ready-made meals manufacturer, McCain Foods (SA), has announced that its new-look website is now live. This is its first South African website. Read more >>Guinness trials new black lager in MalaysiaBELFAST, IRELAND: Guinness is trialling a new black lager on its home turf in Northern Ireland and in Malaysia, its parent company Diageo said. Read more >>Woolworths ‘Play the World' winter range launches today In celebrating South Africa's passion and energy, Woolworths has enlisted some top local and international names to showcase its winter 2010 range, themed 'Play the World' launched today Wednesday 24 March 2010. It features a number of instantly recognisable faces, including model Alek Wek, singer Lira, and football legends Luis Figo and Lucas Radebe shot by world-renowned photographer and creative director, Oliviero Toscani. Read more >>New slice of cheese market for Laughing Cow [ActivRetail] Fromageries Bel has introduced a new slice format to The Laughing Cow brand to complement its current range of cheeses, which includes the spreadable Wedges, Cheez Dippers, Belcubes and a Cheese Tub. Read more >>Clothing & TextilesNo glamour at Fashion Week[Zenoyise Madikwa] South African Fashion Week, which started with an off-site show at The Firs in Rosebank on Thursday, 25 March 2010, was a bit flat this year. The wow effect that the show is known for was absent. Read more >>Corporate Social InvestmentSpreading the lunch love Margarine brand Rama has joined hands with Lunch Buddies in a mission to provide underprivileged school children with a nutritious sandwich for lunch everyday of the school week. Lunch Buddies is a programme run by FoodBank South Africa with support from the Global FoodBank Network. Read more >>Shoprite soup trucks roll out again The Shoprite soup truck programme will continue its national feeding programme in 2010. It has two mobile soup kitchens in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal and one in each of the rest of the provinces. It helps improve the nutritional status of people, especially children and senior citizens, as well as the thousands of people affected by job losses. Read more >>e-CommerceNewcomer sets online trend Newly launched fashion boutique label www.ruthanne.com is set to revolutionise the way South African women buy clothes. Read more >>PayPal comes to SA, via FNB [Issa Sikiti da Silva] History was made on Thursday, 24 March 2010, in South Africa when First National Bank (FNB) launched PayPal to bring global e-commerce in the country, a move that should ease unnecessary complications around online international payments. Read more >>Online designer shopping sales launched On 29 March 2010, 36boutiques, a private event retailer and luxury-shopping concept in South Africa, launches its first online designer boutique sale, featuring both men and women's wear. Read more >>ExhibitionsMen's show comes to Cape TownFirst there was the Women's Show. Now, there's The Men Show. Presented by XCO Events and Exhibitions, it will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) 26-28 November 2010 and comes to Johannesburg in early 2011. Read more >>Wacky wine weekend in winter The Robertson Wine Valley's biggest annual wine festival, Wacky Wine Weekend takes place from 3 - 6 June 2010 and offers visitors a myriad of key attractions, both old favourites and novel delights for a R70 passport. This includes a tasting glass, free 25ml wine-tasting samples, a bottle of mineral water, goodie bag with some great surprises, as well as the programme highlighting some special offers. Read more >>Restyled Easter entertainment at the Rand Show 2010 With the Rand Show once again owned by Johannesburg Expo Centre, in partnership with Dogan Trading, and with new management it has shrugged off its flea market/rock concert image, which crept in over the past decade and is set to offer 11 days of entertainment. Read more >>Health & SafetyPepsiCo to cut fat, sugar in nutrition initiativeWASHINGTON, USA: US soft drink and snacks giant PepsiCo unveiled plans on Monday, 22 March 2010, to cut sugar, fat and sodium in its products as part of a broad initiative to address health, nutrition and environmental concerns. Read more >>HospitalityThe 2010 accommodation price scorecard JOHANNESBURG: Research shows that 74% of all accommodation establishments in the country (South Africa) are charging reasonable prices, said Minister of Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Friday, 26 March 2010. Read more >>Vida e caffè expands to hospitality trade market The success of vida e caffè around the country got the company thinking, “What about vida in hotels and restaurants?” It is now offering a turnkey solution to restaurateurs and hoteliers that come fully loaded with vida magic. Read more >>Fashion, food, fun at Legacy Corner Maximillien restaurant in Legacy Corner Mall, Sandton, will host monthly catwalk fashion shows, featuring couturier goods from the surrounding stores, including Donatello Rufrano, Geri, Aldo Brue, Giovanni Uomo, Moda Braza, Moloko Fashions, The Vault, Mana Boutique, Mari Pippo, 312 Couture, Zifferelli, Royal Jewels and Adam & Eve. Read more >>LogisticsGateway offers mini units The R350 million N4 Gateway light industrial park will launch its mini- and midi-units in June 2010 from a 46-hectare park offering accessibility to the N1, N4, Hans Strydom Drive and Bronkhorstspruit Roads, making it a natural choice for operations that service the Pretoria, Mpumalanga and Limpopo markets. Read more >>ManufacturingBrewers drink to Sedibeng[Adele Shevel] The R3.5-billion Sedibeng Brewery south of Johannesburg was officially launched on Thursday, 25 March 2010, with senior global executives from major shareholders present. Read more >>Car makers worried about electricity, steel prices[Artwell Dlamini] Car makers warned late last week that high costs threatened SA's position as an automotive manufacturing base, with electricity hikes kicking in from 1 April 2010 and the dispute involving ArcelorMittal SA hanging in the balance. Read more >>Volkswagen Golf wins Car of the Year The South African Guild of Motoring Journalists (SAGMJ) / WesBank Car of the Year competition, now in its 25th year, seeks to reward automotive excellence and this year the award goes to the Volkswagen Golf VI 1.4 TSI 90 kW Comfortline. The announcement was made during a gala banquet hosted by WesBank at the Gallagher Convention Centre, Midrand late last week. Read more >>PackagingBeer war now in ‘premium pass-arounds'[Michael Bleby] The beer battle brewing between SAB and its rival Brandhouse will happen in green 660ml bottles. Read more >>RegulatoryFree online analyst briefing on DTI's IPAP2To offer decision makers a clear perspective on South Africa's industrial policy, Frost & Sullivan will be hosting a free online analyst briefing on Tuesday 6 April 2010 at 3:00pm CAT. The briefing will provide an overview of the key sectors affected by DTI's Industrial Policy Framework Action Plan (IPAP2) and the opportunities it presents. Read more >>Dubai puts alcohol back on the menuDUBAI: The Dubai municipality has retracted a decision to ban restaurants from using alcohol in the preparation of dishes, The National daily reported on Tuesday, 23 March 2010. Read more >>Tribunal to proceed with SAB case[Michael Bleby] The Competition Tribunal this week rejected a bid by South African Breweries (SAB) to throw out charges of anticompetitive behaviour brought against it by the Competition Commission. Read more >>EU court backs Google in Louis Vuitton caseLUXEMBOURG: Europe's top court largely backed Google on Tuesday, 23 March 2010, in its battle against French luxury product maker Louis Vuitton and others which argued trademarks are being violated by the US Internet giant. Read more >>ResearchMore submissions invited to NGO survey on Lottery, NDA fundingA Lotto survey has been attracting a good response but more feedback is encouraged from civil society. Read more >>MasterCard reveals South African online shopping habits MasterCard Worldwide has released the results of its 2009 survey on South African online shopping habits, showing a 3% decline from the 2008 survey - now 77% of South Africans who have access to the Internet are shopping online and have done so in the past three months. Read more >>January income from food, beverages industry increase Income generated by the food and beverage industry in South Africa rose 3.7% year-on-year (y/y) to 2.797 billion rand in January, after declining 7.0% y/y in December 2009, according to data released by Statistics South Africa on Tuesday, 23 March 2010. Read more >>Cautious optimism for 2010 from EconometrixDr Azar Jammine, director and chief economist at Econometrix, painted a cautiously optimistic picture for 2010 at a recent function jointly hosted by the MediaShop and the Newspaper Advertising Bureau (NAB), for MediaShop clients. Read more >>Retail marketingBushmills competition to make your own whiskey Entries have opened for the ‘Make it at Bushmills' competition which will see one person spend 30 days at Bushmills in Northern Ireland and be the first person outside of the distillery to create their own blend of Bushmills Irish Whiskey. The competition closes on 30 June 2010. Read more >>Here's a swoosh for Cell C The Cell C Nike Football+ starter pack, launched on 21 March 2010 at a retail price of R3.99, opens access to Nike Football+, a digital coaching programme to help players improve their skills with insights and instruction from top players and coaches, including Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta of Barcelona, Liverpool star Fernando Torres and leading Italian club Juventus FC. Read more >>RetailersBritish retail sales jump in FebruaryLONDON, UK: Retail sales in Britain soared 2.1% in February, rebounding after a sharper-than-expected slump in January, official data showed on Thursday, 25 March 2010. Read more >>Shipping & TransportContainer shipping industry in 'fragile' stateSINGAPORE: The global container shipping industry remains in a "very fragile" state due to weak demand and a glut of ships, the world's largest shipping company said on Wednesday, 24 March 2010. Read more >>Supply chainSpringing genetically modified crops[Shannon Sherry] The planting of genetically modified (GM) crops in SA and the rest of the world is surging ahead, the latest annual figures show. But an anti-GM organisation has blasted the figures as irrelevant, poorly sourced and “half baked”. Read more >>SAPICS education awards announcedEarlier this month, SAPICS (The Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa) announced its 2009 awards for Supply Chain Education Excellence at a gala dinner in Melrose Arch. Read more >>TechnologyDownloading music, online libraries coming[Abe Sibiya] Legal music downloads are fast becoming the new way forward in the way consumers want to buy and listen to their music and this is not just restricted to consumers but music and media production houses too. Throughout the creative industries, from music to film, entertainment, advertising and publishing, content is being sliced and diced, personalised and downloaded. Read more >>Nintendo to launch 3D portable game consoleTOKYO, JAPAN: Nintendo has unveiled plans to launch a handheld 3D video game console that does not require special glasses, seeking to harness surging interest in images that appear to jump out of the screen. Read more >>TrainingIt's the pre-Apprentice The TDM-Powered Pre-apprentice orientation programme officially launched in KwaThema, Springs and Eldorado Park yesterday, 25 March 2010. Behind this launch is the National Tooling Initiative (NTI), which aims to address the skills shortage in the South African tool, die and mouldmaking (TDM) sector. Read more >>
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Bounce The Bounty Hunter RETAIL [Zeenat Ebrahim] Please don't waste your time with this movie. If Jennifer Aniston was hoping to make a ‘come-back' it definitely isn't going to be with The Bounty Hunter. It reminds me a bit of ‘Did you hear about the Morgans?' except that ‘Did you hear about the Morgans?' is actually entertaining. TASTE was quite a meal RETAIL [Daphne Cooper] The Rhodes High School fields are just down the road from my house and I'd noticed the big white tents being erected in preparation for the TASTE festival, as well as the clogging up of little roads nearby with traffic. So last night I felt quite smug just walking the few metres to get to TASTE. In fact the parking was very well organised and there was lots of room on the school fields. In fact, the whole festival was well organised. Music Exchange 2011 on the cards RETAIL [Sindy Peters] Martin Myers, co-organiser of the 2010 Music Exchange in Cape Town, ended the conference on 23 March with thankful sentiments to all involved in adding value to this year's event. He announced that Music Exchange 2011 is definitely on the cards with Charles Goldstuck, president and CEO of TouchTunes Interactive Networks hoping to be back next year. Choose your team wisely - Music Exchange 2010 RETAIL [Sindy Peters] The third and final panel of day two at the 2010 Music Exchange in Cape Town, comprising a number of experienced professionals in the music industry, were put a number of questions by Martin Myers, co-organiser of the second annual conference. The event took place at the Protea Hotel Victoria Junction from 22 - 24 March 2010. Music journos dish advice at Music Exchange 2010 RETAIL [Sindy Peters] A panel of music journalist veterans was lined up on day two of the 2010 Music Exchange conference, 23 March 2010, to discuss whether it's more important for musicians to have a visible online presence or if traditional media is a better way to go. The second annual event was held in Cape Town at the Protea Hotel Victoria Junction from 22 - 24 March. Online marketing in the music business RETAIL [Sindy Peters] Brian Currin, a web marketing consultant with a passion for the South African music industry, addressed the physical side of digital and how artists can create a cost effective web presence on day two at the 2010 Music Exchange conference, 23 March 2010. His advice applies to all genres and most of the platforms he discussed are currently free of charge. Audience-pleaser deluxe - from the word Grease RETAIL [Debbie Hathway] You have to be a triple threat to land a part in Grease - one of Broadway's longest-running shows and probably the only hit musical from this theatre district ever to be composed completely on guitar. That means, if you can't sing, dance and act, don't bother to audition.
"If you are not taking care of your customer, your competitor will." - Bob Hooey "A brand is a living entity - and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures." - Michael Eisner "A bargain is something you can't use at a price you can't resist." - Franklin P. Jones "If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance." - Abraham Lincoln Print - Print any item in this newsletter. Email - Email any item in this newsletter. Comment - Comment on any item in this newsletter.  | Advertisement:
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