Category: business

Change in Prices at Disney

Posted on by Scott Hodges
Bad news for those of you who love going to Disney. Walt Disney Co. is raising the admission price for all of its theme parks by as much as $5 for some of the single-day tickets.
Now, a single-day pass to the Magic Kingdom will cost between $107 and $124 depending on the time of year. Last year, Disney started to use a three-tier system charging more during the peak period to try to spread out the crowds.
Now, the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim will have a single-day price ranging from $97 to $124. 
The price hikes aren’t a surprise, as they have become an annual activity for the Disney parks.

Luxottica and Essilor Merging

Posted on by Scott Hodges
In a fascinating move worth watching, Italy’s Luxottica and France’s Essilor have agreed to a merger deal worth 46 billion euro ($49 billion). This deal should create a powerhouse in the eyewear world and should bring in revenues of more than 15 billion euros.
With this merger, Leonardo Del Vecchio, who started Luxottica, will have a stake of between 31-38% in the merged group. This will make him the biggest stakeholder in the company. Del Vecchio will be the CEO and the executive chairman of the company when it’s merged. The new company will be called EssilorLuxottica and be listed in Paris.

Whipped Topic Crisis Looms As Holidays Approach

Posted on by Scott Hodges
For many, this will be no laughing matter. The ready-made whipped cream that you’re used to getting on top of your hot chocolate or specialty coffee drink may not be there for you this holiday season. That’s because the whipped topping is in short supply after an explosion at an Airgas Inc. facility in August actually shook up the supply of nitrous oxide.
As Stephanie McVaugh, VP of Natural Dairy Products Corporation, said, “The timing is really unfortunate.” She explained that the company actually had no supplies for a few months. The expectation this year was that the whipped cream market would reach $505.3 million in 2016 according to research firm Euromonitor International.
Many true chefs, however, don’t see the problem. The problem is only if you buy manufactured whipped cream, not if you make it from scratch.
But for those who are in a panic, Airgas has reassured consumers that it will make “all possible efforts to remedy the situation as quickly as possible.” And while you may not have your holiday treat, you should have that whipped topic back in full supply by February. Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Black Friday Didn’t Bring in More Green

Posted on by Scott Hodges

While stores were certainly hoping for a major holiday shopping weekend, the National Retail Federation is reporting that shoppers spent, on average, 3.5% less than a year ago. The NRF surveyed 4330 consumers on Friday and Saturday and found that shoppers spent $289.19 during the four-day weekend. This was compared to $299.60 last year.

Interestingly, they found that more people made purchases this year. It’s possible that the downturn is a result of the holiday season expanding. Black Friday is no longer the kickoff period for the sales, since more retailers are starting their holiday promotions as early as October.

The NRF Chief Executive Officer Matt Shay said, “Consumers know they can get good deals throughout the season and these opportunities are not a one-day or one-weekend phenomenon and that has showed up in shopping plans.” Shay pointed out that a fourth of consumers haven’t even started shopping yet for the season, so those sales are yet to happen.

San Francisco Soda Tax Passes

Posted on by Scott Hodges
Voters in San Francisco, California have passed a tax on sugary beverages. The goal to target soda in order to stem the rise in obesity and diabetes has been gathering support.
The World Health Organization has recently recommended that governments introduce taxes of this sort in a bid against obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases.
Those who oppose these taxes argue that they really hit the lower income populations the hardest. Certainly, the soda companies are fighting the taxes as soda consumption is falling. The San Francisco measure passed with 62% to 38%.
Learn more about these initiatives and others like them around the country.

Amblin Partners & Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. Joins Forces

Posted on by Scott Hodges

In an interesting move towards partnership, Steven Spieldberg’s Amblin Partners is joining forces with Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd., the film studio section of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. They plan to co-produce and finance films for both global and Chinese audiences.

In a joint statement, they also said that they plan to collaborate on the marketing, distribution and merchandising of Amblin Partner films in China.

Alibaba Pictures has not, yet, released any films. But if they join with Amblin Partners, which creates films, television and digital content under the Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures and Participant Media brands.

Alibaba Pictures has actually invested already in some Hollywood films including “Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation” and “Star Trek Beyond.”

GlaxoSmithKline Selects New Chief Executive

Posted on by Scott Hodges

GlaxoSmithKline has chosen Emma Walmsley, head of consumer healthcare, as its new chief executive. Both internal and external candidates were considered for the position. Walmsley first joined GlaxoSmithKline in 2010 from L’Oreal and will replace Andrew Witty. As Chairman Philip Hampton said,


“Under Andrew’s leadership, GSK has successfully developed into a company with market-leading positions in pharmaceuticals, vaccines and consumer healthcare.  These provide excellent platforms for sustainable, long-term growth, and we are confident Emma will successfully build on these strengths.”

Boost for Back-to-School Sales

Posted on by Scott Hodges

The back-to-school supply sales this year have been the fastest growing in four years. This is the second most important season for retailers, after the Thanksgiving season, and the back to school period spans from July to September. It includes clothes, shoes, electronics, backpacks and more.

The good weather has also helped to bring shoppers into the stores, rather than just to online superstores like Amazon.  The total back-to-school sales rose 2% in July, as compared to the 1% growth in 2015 and 2014 according to payment technology company First Data.

The prediction is that back-to-school and college spending will get to $75.8 billion this year according to retail association National Retail Federation’s survey each year.

Interestingly, schools have been asking students to save their work on USB drives, and this has boosted the sale for small devices. Best Buy has been tempting students with special coupons for laptops, headphones, small refrigerators and more. J.C. Penny has also done many promotions just as their “Penney Day” which offers many back-to-school staples at discounts on Saturday during the season.
It’s interesting to note that customers are flocking to the less expensive stores, rather than looking for the fancier name brands. As RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Tunick explained, stores like Old Navy, TJ Maxx and Kohl’s are the top picks for 2016.

AIG Selling Their Mortgage-Guaranty Unit

Posted on by Scott Hodges

The American International Group Inc. (AIG) has said that they will sell their mortgage-guaranty unit to Arch Capital Group Ltd. for approximately $3.4 billion. They believe they will get $2.2 billion in cash, $250 million in Arch Capital’s perpetual preferred stock and $975 million in non-voting common-equivalent preferred stock from selling United Guaranty Corp.
AIG promised shareholders a massive overhaul and they are now following through. They are spinning off the mortgage insurance unit, cutting jobs and selling their broker-dealer network. 

Learn the full details to find out more.

Shake Ups in the Online Gaming World

Posted on by Scott Hodges

Apparently online gaming is the place to be, if this recent acquisition gives a hint about popularity of such activities. A Chinese consortium that includes Shanghai Giant Network Technology Co. Ltd. and Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma have agreed to acquire Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc.’s online games unit. They are paying $4.4 billion in cash for this acquisition.

China has the world’s largest online gaming market at the moment. They are now looking to expand out of this bubble. Recently, for example, Tencent Holdings Ltd., China’s largest gaming group, agreed to purchase a majority stake in Supercell from SoftBank Group Corp. This deal was worth $8.6 billion. 

Learn more about these deals and the plans that Chinese companies have for expansion.