MultiBriefs - Your source for industry specific News Briefs

Report: US job losses to China grow, as does trade deficit

Seth Sandronsky Civil & Government

The U.S. trade deficit with China has reduced sharply employment stateside since 2001, according to "The China Toll Deepens," a new report from the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. The finding from the EPI’s Robert E. Scott and Zane Mokhiber "examines the job impacts of trade by subtracting the job opportunities lost to imports from those gained through exports." Their thesis is simple. The bilateral trade deficit in goods between the planet’s two biggest economies is the main cause of the U.S. employment losses that are concentrated in the American manufacturing sector.

An ill wind blows: Hurricanes and supply chains don’t mix

Delany Martinez Distribution & Warehousing

Natural disasters are a huge headache for man-made systems — in addition to disrupting services like water and power on a residential level, they can also bring supply chains to a screeching halt. From flash flooding to outright facility damage, hurricane-proofing your supply chain is a challenge, but one well worth tackling. While you can't predict when and where a hurricane will completely shut down 3PL availability and reach, you can commit to frequent monitoring and communication throughout the storm.

Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville, Ohio, has the scoops

Connie Ulman Food & Beverage

Joe Baker, ice cream maker at Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl in Zanesville, Ohio, and an employee since 1977, gets up early every morning to bring guests the scoop; the many scoops of ice cream, that is. Baker is sole creator of the seasonal flavors and introduced many of the regular ice cream flavors you’ll find at Tom’s. He alone makes about 600 gallons of ice cream a week. Baker started with the company in 1977, as clerk, while still in high school. He then became assistant manager to Bill Sullivan, who also began his career at the store while in high school.

The online war on professional beauty products, and how to fight back

Elizabeth Donat Retail

Without many people taking notice, during the summer of 2017, Amazon drastically changed how it sells beauty brands to their millions of online shoppers. According to Kiri Masters of Forbes, Amazon no longer requires beauty brands to go through a strict approval process before being allowed to list on the site. Now, brands apply to be sold under one of three categories: luxury beauty, professional beauty, and indie beauty, once approved. This means, as spa professionals, we now have another major online retail outlet to compete with in terms of how we stay competitive in terms of sales of professional-grade skin care products.

Is the Toys R Us revival too little, too late?

Katherine Radin Retail

Given the number of long-standing retailers that have recently shuttered, the news of an almost-immediate revival for one has come as a surprise. Toys R Us has announced that it has risen from the grave — otherwise known as bankruptcy court. With plans for both Toys R Us and Babies R Us to be operated by the very debtors to which the company owed money, and to have the new moniker of "Geoffrey’s Toy Box," both questions and excitement have emerged for how the company will revive itself.

JUUL comes under federal scrutiny amid meteoric rise

Dr. Denise A. Valenti Civil & Government

JUUL Labs, whose product is an electronic smoking/vaping system, recently achieved the fastest "decacorn" valuation ever — over $10 billion in the first seven months of its first venture capital round. This is reported to have been four times faster than Facebook and five times faster than Snapchat. This comes at a time when the use of electronic cigarettes for inhaling nicotine and marijuana by teenagers is increasing at an alarming rate. The JUUL product has an appeal to adolescents and teenagers as it can be used without detection.

Is your small business making YouTube videos yet?

Mashaal Ryan Marketing

YouTube videos are a great way to get more traffic to your website and social media. If you have an online business, it will help show off your products and services easier, so that your customers are not quite as wary of buying online. If you have a local business, you can now create buzz for your company easier as well as adding the videos into your sales pitch. Are you still unsure of whether YouTube is a good idea? Let’s look at some examples of how successful some businesses can be on YouTube.

Advertising and the city: Are billboards a threat to public space?

Lucy Wallwork Facilities & Grounds

Places like Times Square in New York and the Shibuya in Tokyo are home to some of the most iconic scenes of urban space on the planet. We cannot imagine them without their iconic billboards and digital displays, which have become part of their visual identity. But the spilling out of corporate advertising into increasing areas of our public space is being resisted. Advertisers argue that billboards can bring a number of benefits to a city, but some activists and reformers are pushing their local governments to make their neighborhoods ad-free.

How the global fresh food market is evolving

Bambi Majumdar Food & Beverage

The emergence of online grocery services and the shift towards cleaner food has affected the growth of the global fresh food market. The recently published "Global Fresh Food Market 2018-2022" report by Research and Markets provides deep insight into this growing industry. The report shows that this market niche will grow at an annual rate of 3.71 percent through 2022. Fresh food is defined as food in its solid state that does not use any artificial process to extend its shelf life.

Negotiating commercial leases: Subletting your commercial space

Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield Retail

For many commercial tenants, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized salespeople. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate. Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your business, here are two money-saving tips.

Industries