The G r e e n
After the US presidential election top NYTimes columnist Tom Friedman wrote the key to future US success was for President Biden to deliver real stimulus that enables all Americans to realize their full potential. Moreover, to make sure that the $1.9Tn relief package; and his coming $3Tn green/infrastructure proposal actually deliver as promised.
Zoooooming
As corporations plan to bring workers back to the office, interior design experts Perkins+Will expect expanded gathering spaces and fewer personal workstations. The #BeyondCovid scenarios look uncannily like collaborative workspaces from progressives in the 90's
New York's new
Remote work is here to stay. Manhattan may never be the same. NYC, long buoyed by a fantastic flow of commuters into towering office buildings, faces a cataclysmic challenge, even when Covid concludes. A new mobile 'office is where you are', 'decentralized age' has dawned. This case study by NYTimes' Matthew Haag is convincing....
Boxed up ready
Boxed, an online retailer of home & business supplies in bulk, is in talks to go public through a merger with Seven Oaks Acquisition Corp., a blank-check firm (no biz plan). After several failed attempts to sell for $1Bn is this an exit strategy?
Retail recession?
Retail has been in retreat for many years with the fall of the malls even pre-Covid. Now we are seeing ecommerce king Amazon add physical stores as symbolic showrooms; and retailers adding services to build destination and increase ticket value. We explore the successful case studies...
Dell dealer drives
Wakefield (UK) based Dell partner, probably the UK's fastest growing managed solutions provider, increased revenues 6X to £42m in 2020. Highlighted as a Rising Star by CRN, Doug Woodburn interviews the ceo about plans to reach £100m in 2021
Depot denies
ODP Corp. (aka Office Depot-OfficeMax) and Sycamore Partners owned Staples continue to dance around the #SPLODGE merger saga. We can't help feeling Sycamore should just make a realistic offer for their bleeding retail assets and quit before Amazon kills the distracted duo
Direct to User
Technology has provided tools for original brand makers to transform & nurture direct customer relationships e.g. HP & 3M. This was accelerated by the Covid disruption and disintermediation of normal trading relationships. We explore D2C trends and highlight successful examples and probable weaknesses....
China champions
China's digital transformation would have once seemed unthinkable. For the first time anywhere, a majority of retail sales for an entire country will transact online. EMarketer forecasts that 52.1% of China’s retail will come from ecommerce in 2021. Moreover, new powerful players are emerging to challenge leaders JD.com & Alibaba
Bezos' $10Bn
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos plans to spend the $10Bn he invested in the Bezos Earth Fund by 2030, the fund's new CEO Andrew Steer said on Tuesday. Since Bezos announced the fund in February 2020, little has been revealed until now
Imperial makes
Bain Capital owned Imperial Dade, a leading US hygiene & food service distributor announced the acquisition of another South East jan-san specialist based in Miami (FL). The race to consolidate the US hygiene and packaging market is on with Bunzl, FEMSA, Brady and Imperial acquiring regional players almost monthly
DocuSign of
Docusign, the leading electronic signature system provider, reported blockbuster sales in Q4'21. CEO Dan Springer (pic left) believes "we are just scratching the surface & increasingly becoming an essential cloud-software platform for organizations of all sizes"
Paper retailers'
Paper Source is the latest stationery & greeting card retailer to file for bankruptcy. In recent years Paperchase, Papyrus and Paper Store have all crashed and failed. So what is the future for the greeting card industry? We explore latest trends in consumers' stationery buying behaviour...
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