Health is the Name of the Startup Game: Freshii Seeks Same

September 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Freshii is looking to invest in companies that target health, fitness and food. The fast-casual chain has partnered with investment firm Kinetic Café to launch the Fresh Startups campaign. The program will fund businesses with missions that align with Freshii’s vision to make it easy and affordable for customers to maintain a healthful lifestyle. They’re accepting applications until October 4th. Read the full article here.

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations, Opportunities Tagged With: ,

Indie Food Service “Mouth” Founder Speaks of Concept, Success

September 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Craig Kanarick speaks with the New York Times about his “aha” moment  and his company in a profile published today.

Shopping at Marlow & Daughters in Williamsburg was the impetus for his start-up, Mouth, a web-marketplace for indie food products nationwide.

“They make a bunch of products — spice nuts, beef jerky — under their own label. And I remember thinking it was strange that in today’s world, their Web site was just a map to their store,” Mr. Kanarick said. “No products. Nothing.”

Read the full article here.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Operations

Heading in a Healthy Direction With Your Concept

September 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Planning to open a nutrition-led outlet? Anita Jones-Mueller, M.P.H., president and founder of Healthy Dining, a nutrition-related marketing and consulting firm, interviews Marley Hodgson, CEO and co-founder of MAD Greens, on growing a health-focused concept, on NRN.

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: ,

Raw Food and Juice as Art

September 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

We are intrigued by Chantal Bacon and her shop, Moon Juice, the cold-pressed juice company she started two years ago in Venice, California, which is now opening a second location in Silver Lake.

Chantal sees the food as art, and the shop as more of a boutique where people happen to buy food and keep healthy. Read the full feature here.

Filed Under: Operations, Uncategorized

Charging for Bags on the Docket for NYC

August 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

A bill was unveiled this week by NYC lawmakers to impose a ten cent charge on grocery bags in New York City that businesses give customers, eliciting immediate opposition from some business owners, politicians, and many citizens.

The bill is favored by environmental groups looking to reduce the 100,000 tons of plastic bags that the city sends to landfills each year, following the paths of cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, and San Francisco.

The story has been widely covered this week:

The Gothamist runs with great City Hall photos.

Crain’s New York

The Daily News

NBC New York

 

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: ,

On Pinterest and Retail: A Statistics Roundup

August 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We’re big fans of Pinterest for retailers, and were amazed to see these stats that Digiday compiled, citing them as the  “belle of the social media ball for some retailers.”
Are you pinning? If so, please share your link in the comments below — we’d love to see!
Read the full article here.
As of February, Pinterest has 25 million users. (Business Insider)Sephora’s Pinterest followers spend 15 times more that its Facebook fans. (Venture Beat)In fashion and retail, 18 percent of content engagement on Pinterest is driven by brands, 82 percent by community. (Digitas)The best time for retailers and fashion brands to pin is Friday at 3pm ET. (Digitas)70 percent of brand engagement on Pinterest is generated by users, not brands. (Digitas)

Top brands in the fashion/retail space average 46 repins on every pin, proving that those who have a presence on Pinterest, are establishing an engaged following. (Digitas)

Pinterest shoppers are spending significantly more per checkout averaging between $140-$180 per order compared with consistent $80 and $60 orders for Facebook and Twitter shoppers, respectively. (Rich Relevance)

Pinterest’s share of referrals is highest in home and furnishings, accounting for up to 60 percent of all social traffic. (Rich Relevance)

U.S. consumers who use Pinterest follow an average of 9.3 retailers on the site. (Shop.org)

Pinterest pins that include prices receive 36 percent more likes than those that do not. (Shopify)

Moms are 61 percent more likely to visit Pinterest than the average American. (Nielsen)

81 percent of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from Pinterest. (BlogHer)

U.S. Pinterest users are more likely to live in midwestern states than other social media users. (Internet Marketing)

Pinterest accounts for 25 percent of retail referral traffic. (Rich Relevance)

Average activity of popular pinners is 2,757 pins; 35 boards; following 355. (Repinly)

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: ,

50 Ways Ordinary People Reached World-Class

August 20, 2013 by 1 Comment
  1. Know what you want. Clarity is power. And vague goals promote vague results.
  2. Remember that every problem has a solution. Maybe you just can’t see it. Yet.
  3. In this Age of Dramatic Distraction, the performer who focuses the best wins the most.
  4. Before someone will help you, you need to help them.
  5. Become the most passionate person you know. It’ll be contagious.
  6. Know more about your craft/the work you do than anyone who has ever done the work you do…in the history of the world.
  7. Join The 5 am Club. Your most valuable hours are 5am-8am. They have the least interruptions.
  8. Devote yourself to learning something new about your field of mastery every day. Success belongs to the relentless learners. Because as you know more, you can achieve more.
  9. Remember that when you transform your fitness, you’ll transform your business.
  10. Don’t check your mobile when you’re meeting with another person. It’s rude. And rude people don’t reach world-class.
  11. Every time you do what scares you, you take back the power that you gave to the thing that scared you. And so you become more powerful.
  12. A problem is only a problem if you make the choice to see it as a problem.
  13. Stop being a victim. Your business and personal life was made by you. No one else is responsible. To make it better, make better choices. And new decisions.
  14. You can lead without a title. Don’t wait to get a position to stand for excellence, peak quality and overdelivery on every expectation.
  15. Find your own style. Be an original. Every superstar differentiated themselves from The Herd. And marched to their own drumbeat.
  16. Understand that when you play small with your success, you betray your potential. And the birthright you were born under.
  17. Eat less food and you’ll get more done.
  18. As you become more successful, stay really really hungry. Nothing fails like success. Because when you’re successful, it’s easy to stop outlearning+outOverDelivering+outthinking and outexecuting everyone around you. (Success is Beautiful. And dangerous).
  19. If you’re not overprepared, you’re underprepared.
  20. The only level of great manners to play at is “Exceedingly Polite”. In our world, this alone will make you a standout. And differentiate you in your marketplace.
  21. Remember that the moment you think you’re a Master, you lose your Mastery. And the minute you think you know everything, you know nothing.
  22. To double your results, double your level of execution.
  23. Invest in your personal and pro development. All superstars do.
  24. You don’t get lucky. You create lucky.
  25. When you push through a difficult project, you don’t get to the other side. You reach The Next Level.
  26. Smile. And remember to inform your face.
  27. Spend time in solitude every day. Your best ideas live there.
  28. Debrief on how you lived out your day every night in a journal. This will not only record your personal history, it will make you uber-clear on what you’re doing right and what needs to be improved.
  29. If you’re not being criticized a lot, you’re not doing very much. Ridicule is the price of ambition.
  30. Develop a monomaniacal focus on just a few things. The secret to productivity is simplicity.
  31. To get the results very few people have, be strong enough to do what very few people are willing to do.
  32. Rest. Recover. It’ll make you stronger.
  33. Buy a smaller TV and build a larger library.
  34. Remember that the bigger the goal, the stronger a person you must become to achieve that goal. So goal-achieving is a superb practice for character-building.
  35. Food fuels your body. Learning feeds your mind.
  36. Don’t ask for respect. Earn it.
  37. Finish what you start. And always end strong.
  38. Breathe.
  39. In business, don’t play to survive. Play to win.
  40. Protect your good name. It’s your best asset.
  41. Remember that words have power. Use the language of leadership versus the vocabulary of a victim.
  42. Give more than you take. The marketplace rewards generosity.
  43. Know that if it’s not messy, you’re not making progress.
  44. Be a hero to a kid.
  45. In business, aim for iconic. Go for legendary. Make history by how awesome you are at what you do.
  46. Please don’t confuse activity with productivity. Many many people are simply busy being busy.
  47. Your doubts are liars. Your fears are traitors. Stop buying the goods they are attempting to sell you.
  48. The best anti-aging remedy in the world is working really hard.
  49. World-Class performers have no plan B. Failure just isn’t an option.
  50. You have the power to change the world—one brave act and one person at a time. Please use it.
Filed Under: Operations

Cold Facts About Ice Machines

August 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment

In the heat of summer, you really appreciate your ice machine. It’s also a top target for health department inspections.

Restaurant Hospitality’s Dan Belman has written extensively on the subject here and here.

As he writes, if you choose the right ice maker for your restaurant, then do a few things to take care of it, this key piece of equipment should last easily 10 years.

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With:

Expansion: Calexico Signs Franchise Deal

August 9, 2013 by Leave a Comment

There’s a continued growth spurt underway for Calexico, the NYC-based Mexican fast casual. With the popularity of their trucks, standalone shops, and concessions, their success has seen them sign their third multi-unit franchise deal of 2013. The new deal is a 10-unit deal for Long Island and Queens, neighboring the brand’s home market of Manhattan.

Read the full story at FastCasual.

Filed Under: Local Market Buzz, Operations Tagged With: , ,

Restaurant Hospitality Lists Top 25 Smaller Multiconcept Operators

August 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Restaurant Hospitality, with the help of Technomic and its list of the Top 200 Leading Multiconcept Operators, has examined and established a list of the smaller players in the game— 25 of them –  ones who are creating, in their opinion, the most exciting restaurant concepts that others can’t wait to copy. The “Supercool” 25.

Read the list and get a closer look at each group, here.

Filed Under: Global Market Buzz, Operations, Shopbuzz Tagged With: ,
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