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Are Tat’s Organic? Whole Foods Might Give Them a Whirl

After you do your organic produce shopping, is getting a tat on the way out the next thing on your mind? Whole Foods certainly hopes so.  The company is planning on launching new, smaller format stores – 365 by Whole Foods Markets, and they appear to be experimenting with some unique ideas.

Whole Foods has an entire website dedicated to these new 365 stores and is mulling over a potential “friends list” of businesses that might be interested in making a joint venture by setting up their shop inside the new 365 locations. Whole Foods appears to be pretty open about what they are willing to experiment with. The company is not limiting their “business friends” to food related businesses. Almost everything appears to be a possibility including body and hair care products, sandwich shops, music stores, even tattoo parlors!

While the company has yet to announce any hard and fast choices, company spokesperson Emily Wright states that they are not ruling out “lifestyles and services” as potential partners.

Whole Foods is facing some very steep competition as competitors such as Kroger offer customers more organic and fresher options. Trader Joe’s appears to have found their niche, offering customers organic or unique items at very low sale prices.

The new 365 stores are intended to bring in the younger consumer, who are often on a tighter budget, but still want quality, organic goods and produce. Some people, however, feel that opening up tattoo parlors inside Whole Foods is not compatible and might backfire. Most people think Whole Foods and health go hand in hand, tat’s and music stores? Not so much.

Perhaps Whole Foods would be better off taking on Peet’s, Starbucks, or The Tea and Leaf Company before they consider tattoo parlors. A coffee bar and organic teas sound much more compatible, not to mention profitable, than outside vendors pushing non-organic stuff on young consumers.

 

 

 

Source: Herald and News

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After you do your organic produce shopping, is getting a tat on the way out the next thing on your mind? Whole Foods certainly hopes so.  The company is planning on launching new, smaller format stores – 365 by Whole Foods Markets, and they appear to be experimenting with some unique ideas.

Whole Foods has an entire website dedicated to these new 365 stores and is mulling over a potential “friends list” of businesses that might be interested in making a joint venture by setting up their shop inside the new 365 locations. Whole Foods appears to be pretty open about what they are willing to experiment with. The company is not limiting their “business friends” to food related businesses. Almost everything appears to be a possibility including body and hair care products, sandwich shops, music stores, even tattoo parlors!

While the company has yet to announce any hard and fast choices, company spokesperson Emily Wright states that they are not ruling out “lifestyles and services” as potential partners.

History

Whole Foods is facing some very steep competition as competitors such as Kroger offer customers more organic and fresher options. Trader Joe’s appears to have found their niche, offering customers organic or unique items at very low sale prices.

The new 365 stores are intended to bring in the younger consumer, who are often on a tighter budget, but still want quality, organic goods and produce. Some people, however, feel that opening up tattoo parlors inside Whole Foods is not compatible and might backfire. Most people think Whole Foods and health go hand in hand, tat’s and music stores? Not so much.

Perhaps Whole Foods would be better off taking on Peet’s, Starbucks, or The Tea and Leaf Company before they consider tattoo parlors. A coffee bar and organic teas sound much more compatible, not to mention profitable, than outside vendors pushing non-organic stuff on young consumers.

 

 

 

Source: Herald and News

Snoop Dogg Introducing Burger King’s New Grilled Hot Dogs

Snoop Dogg, one of the top dogs of the Rap music industry, is expanding his horizons just about everywhere you look. Whether it’s acting in a blockbuster movie, making an appearance on your favorite television show, or giving out interviews to just about anyone, it seems as if Snoop is a one man entertainment center.

Now, the Doggfather of Rap has collaborated with Burger King  to make an instructional video for employees on how to correctly make the company’s new product, grilled hot dogs.

The video almost looks like a rap video, complete with catchy rhymes and employees acting as Snoop’s “dawgs”. In what was supposed to be an internal training video, it somehow was released on YouTube where it is racking up views; more than 1.2 million at last count.

Snoop goes on in the video to describe “buns so fresh and clean” and the toppings “so fresh and green”, this master entertainer makes the entire process fun as well as informative. It’s unknown if Burger King plans to use any of the video as a commercial or if they will hire Snoop to act in a commercial for their “dogs” but considering the popularity of this video, they might want to think this over.

Whether intentionally or not, Snoop ends his video by calling the hot dogs “The whopper of dogs”, which is a play, of course, on Burger King’s most popular hamburger, The Whopper.

Burger King is the second largest fast food burger chain in the world (Ticker:BKC) with revenue in 2014 of $8.6 billion. The company is releasing the new grilled hot dogs February 23rd. You might not see Snoop cooking them up for you in your local restaurant, but you can catch him hosting his own GGN show each week.

If you would like to see Snoop dish up the Doggs in this amusing video, click here.

 

 

 

Source: MusicTimes

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Snoop Dogg, one of the top dogs of the Rap music industry, is expanding his horizons just about everywhere you look. Whether it’s acting in a blockbuster movie, making an appearance on your favorite television show, or giving out interviews to just about anyone, it seems as if Snoop is a one man entertainment center.

Now, the Doggfather of Rap has collaborated with Burger King  to make an instructional video for employees on how to correctly make the company’s new product, grilled hot dogs.

The video almost looks like a rap video, complete with catchy rhymes and employees acting as Snoop’s “dawgs”. In what was supposed to be an internal training video, it somehow was released on YouTube where it is racking up views; more than 1.2 million at last count.

History

Snoop goes on in the video to describe “buns so fresh and clean” and the toppings “so fresh and green”, this master entertainer makes the entire process fun as well as informative. It’s unknown if Burger King plans to use any of the video as a commercial or if they will hire Snoop to act in a commercial for their “dogs” but considering the popularity of this video, they might want to think this over.

Whether intentionally or not, Snoop ends his video by calling the hot dogs “The whopper of dogs”, which is a play, of course, on Burger King’s most popular hamburger, The Whopper.

Burger King is the second largest fast food burger chain in the world (Ticker:BKC) with revenue in 2014 of $8.6 billion. The company is releasing the new grilled hot dogs February 23rd. You might not see Snoop cooking them up for you in your local restaurant, but you can catch him hosting his own GGN show each week.

If you would like to see Snoop dish up the Doggs in this amusing video, click here.

 

 

 

Source: MusicTimes

Tesla Goes Mainstream With Super Affordable New Model

It seems as if everyone wants a piece of Tesla but most people complain that it is out of their price range. Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to have listened and is going to give the people what they want.

At the last earnings call, Musk stated that their next electric car, Model 3, should be priced at about $35,000. The company will start taking orders in March 31 of 2016 in stores with a simple $1,000 deposit. Cars can also be ordered online April 1st. Bloomberg reported that a company spokesperson noted that the $35,000 price quote does not include incentives so the actual price could even fall below $29,000, which is comparable to other electric cars, such as the Toyota Prius.

Base incentives are $7500 in federal income tax credit and some states offer additional incentives for buying electric cars, such as Colorado, which currently offers an additional $6,000 credit.

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, posted a 4th quarter loss of $320.4 million or $2.44 per share. This loss is mostly due to higher operating costs. The company is still gained 11% in stock gains after posting a strong delivery target for 2016.

The company delivered about 17,478 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2015. Overall global deliveries were up about 76%. Tesla manufactures 2 all electric cars, the Model S and Model X. The new Model 3 should improve sales as the price is more in line with what consumers expect to pay for an electric car. Tesla has stated that they expect to achieve full profitability for the entire 2016 year.

Tesla has assured investors that the Model 3, which should roll out in late 2017, is on schedule. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) closed  Wednesday, February 10th, at $143.67, which is down about 3.09% or $4.58.

Tesla cars have been very popular with younger people who are not only interested in lessening their carbon footprint, but in the company’s technology, such as the autopilot feature, which allows the cars to drive, change lanes, look for parking and park themselves without driver input.

 

 

Source: RTT News

x

It seems as if everyone wants a piece of Tesla but most people complain that it is out of their price range. Tesla CEO Elon Musk appears to have listened and is going to give the people what they want.

At the last earnings call, Musk stated that their next electric car, Model 3, should be priced at about $35,000. The company will start taking orders in March 31 of 2016 in stores with a simple $1,000 deposit. Cars can also be ordered online April 1st. Bloomberg reported that a company spokesperson noted that the $35,000 price quote does not include incentives so the actual price could even fall below $29,000, which is comparable to other electric cars, such as the Toyota Prius.

Base incentives are $7500 in federal income tax credit and some states offer additional incentives for buying electric cars, such as Colorado, which currently offers an additional $6,000 credit.

History

Tesla, based in Palo Alto, California, posted a 4th quarter loss of $320.4 million or $2.44 per share. This loss is mostly due to higher operating costs. The company is still gained 11% in stock gains after posting a strong delivery target for 2016.

The company delivered about 17,478 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2015. Overall global deliveries were up about 76%. Tesla manufactures 2 all electric cars, the Model S and Model X. The new Model 3 should improve sales as the price is more in line with what consumers expect to pay for an electric car. Tesla has stated that they expect to achieve full profitability for the entire 2016 year.

Tesla has assured investors that the Model 3, which should roll out in late 2017, is on schedule. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) closed  Wednesday, February 10th, at $143.67, which is down about 3.09% or $4.58.

Tesla cars have been very popular with younger people who are not only interested in lessening their carbon footprint, but in the company’s technology, such as the autopilot feature, which allows the cars to drive, change lanes, look for parking and park themselves without driver input.

 

 

Source: RTT News

Dunkin’ Donuts Dipping into Customer’s Pockets Lawsuit Says

In a class action lawsuit filed Monday in state Superior Court in Hackensack, New Jersey, Dunkin’ Donuts is accused of ripping off their New Jersey customers by collecting sales tax on food items that should not be taxed, such as bottled water and pre-packaged coffee.

With more than 400 locations throughout New Jersey and New York, the lawyer who is representing a couple from the Fort Lee area states that Dunkin’ Donuts has overcharged customers to the tune of about $4 million. Lawyer Zachary Liszka and co-counselor Carl Mayer, have also filed a similar lawsuit in the state of New York. The lawsuit claims that, all charges combined from both states, totals about $14 million in illegal collection of fees over the past 3 years.

In an email statement from the company, Dunkin’ Donuts states that all of the approximately 1,000 stores in these two states are owned by franchisees, whom the company expects to comply with all federal and state regulations, including the collection of taxes. The company claims that they are trying to reach out to all of the franchisees in the light of this lawsuit to determine whether or not the proper taxes are being charged.

The lawsuit states that all of the locations continue to charge tax on these items, in spite of customer complaints and exposure in both the media and social media sites.

It appears that even though Dunkin’ Donuts has been made aware of these illegal tax collections, they continue to do so, sticking it to their customers and dipping into their collective pockets. This must certainly be leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many customers, some of whom state that they have been complaining about this for several years.

 

 

 

 

Source: Asbury Park Press

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In a class action lawsuit filed Monday in state Superior Court in Hackensack, New Jersey, Dunkin’ Donuts is accused of ripping off their New Jersey customers by collecting sales tax on food items that should not be taxed, such as bottled water and pre-packaged coffee.

With more than 400 locations throughout New Jersey and New York, the lawyer who is representing a couple from the Fort Lee area states that Dunkin’ Donuts has overcharged customers to the tune of about $4 million. Lawyer Zachary Liszka and co-counselor Carl Mayer, have also filed a similar lawsuit in the state of New York. The lawsuit claims that, all charges combined from both states, totals about $14 million in illegal collection of fees over the past 3 years.

In an email statement from the company, Dunkin’ Donuts states that all of the approximately 1,000 stores in these two states are owned by franchisees, whom the company expects to comply with all federal and state regulations, including the collection of taxes. The company claims that they are trying to reach out to all of the franchisees in the light of this lawsuit to determine whether or not the proper taxes are being charged.

History

The lawsuit states that all of the locations continue to charge tax on these items, in spite of customer complaints and exposure in both the media and social media sites.

It appears that even though Dunkin’ Donuts has been made aware of these illegal tax collections, they continue to do so, sticking it to their customers and dipping into their collective pockets. This must certainly be leaving a bad taste in the mouths of many customers, some of whom state that they have been complaining about this for several years.

 

 

 

 

Source: Asbury Park Press

Even the Power of the Force Can’t Help Disney

After Disney just posted their biggest profit ever, much of it thanks to their new “Star Wars” movie, you would think that Exec’s would be on top of the world. So why is has Disney stock dropped 4% in after hours trading? Imagine, if you will, these initals: ESPN.

This mega-entertainment company posted their numbers on Tuesday and they are impressive; $1.63 per share for the quarter that ended January 2, 2016. This is an incredible $2.9 billion and far above industry analysts expectations of $1.45 per share. Much of this, of course, is due to their movie The Force Awakens, which has grossed $2 billion around the world, not to mention revenue from merchandising and licensing. In fact this Burbank, California, based company made $1 billion in profit last year just in their movie division.

So what is dragging down Disney stock? It’s Disney’s television division, of which ESPN is king. Although Wall Street is aware that Disney earns about $6 for every cable subscriber, the channel is very expensive to maintain. It’s the cost of ESPN that has investors jumpy and has caused a 6% drop in profit at Disney’s television division, the only division in this mega-corporation to lose money this quarter.

It’s programming costs that make this channel so expensive. When you consider that NFL games cost $1.9 billion each year, NBA games run $1 billion, and college football a cool $470 million, it’s easy to see how those numbers add up. Add to these costs the fact that ESPN lost 3 million subscribers last year alone and this mega-channel doesn’t look quite as rosy.  Fewer subscribers means less revenue to pay for the games people want to see.

To get ESPN’s financial house back in order, Disney plans to get into less heavily bundled channel setups which many cable companies are now implementing. When cable customers want to cut costs, sports is often one of the first things that get sliced out of the family budget. The company is also considering offering their channel through internet based-TV channel companies such as Sling-TV and Apple TV.

Almost all cable companies, including Time Warner and Viacom, have been hammered lately as subscribers cut the cord and turn to other entertainment options such as Hulu and Netflix. Although Disney is one of the most diverse corporations in the world, with toys, movies, theme parks, merchandising, clothing, and television channels, Mickey is still viewed as a whole, not individual sectors. In this case, as ESPN goes, so goes Donald, Pluto, and the whole gang. Not even The Force can contend with Wall Street investors when they get the jitters.

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Time 

x

After Disney just posted their biggest profit ever, much of it thanks to their new “Star Wars” movie, you would think that Exec’s would be on top of the world. So why is has Disney stock dropped 4% in after hours trading? Imagine, if you will, these initals: ESPN.

This mega-entertainment company posted their numbers on Tuesday and they are impressive; $1.63 per share for the quarter that ended January 2, 2016. This is an incredible $2.9 billion and far above industry analysts expectations of $1.45 per share. Much of this, of course, is due to their movie The Force Awakens, which has grossed $2 billion around the world, not to mention revenue from merchandising and licensing. In fact this Burbank, California, based company made $1 billion in profit last year just in their movie division.

So what is dragging down Disney stock? It’s Disney’s television division, of which ESPN is king. Although Wall Street is aware that Disney earns about $6 for every cable subscriber, the channel is very expensive to maintain. It’s the cost of ESPN that has investors jumpy and has caused a 6% drop in profit at Disney’s television division, the only division in this mega-corporation to lose money this quarter.

History

It’s programming costs that make this channel so expensive. When you consider that NFL games cost $1.9 billion each year, NBA games run $1 billion, and college football a cool $470 million, it’s easy to see how those numbers add up. Add to these costs the fact that ESPN lost 3 million subscribers last year alone and this mega-channel doesn’t look quite as rosy.  Fewer subscribers means less revenue to pay for the games people want to see.

To get ESPN’s financial house back in order, Disney plans to get into less heavily bundled channel setups which many cable companies are now implementing. When cable customers want to cut costs, sports is often one of the first things that get sliced out of the family budget. The company is also considering offering their channel through internet based-TV channel companies such as Sling-TV and Apple TV.

Almost all cable companies, including Time Warner and Viacom, have been hammered lately as subscribers cut the cord and turn to other entertainment options such as Hulu and Netflix. Although Disney is one of the most diverse corporations in the world, with toys, movies, theme parks, merchandising, clothing, and television channels, Mickey is still viewed as a whole, not individual sectors. In this case, as ESPN goes, so goes Donald, Pluto, and the whole gang. Not even The Force can contend with Wall Street investors when they get the jitters.

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Time