In another sign that fast fashion is dying off, Payless ShoeSource Inc. says it plans to close all of its 2,100 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. Two years ago, Payless declared bankruptcy during a wider wave of store closures throughout the country, something we’ve come to describe as the retail apocalypse. At the time, the company shuttered a number of its stores, which allowed it to eliminate hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, according to the Wall Street Journal. But none of this restructuring was able to save it from further collapse.
Category: News and Views
The Tight Labor Market is Benefit People with Disabilities | Small Business Trends
Disabled persons are entering the workforce as overall unemployment rates drop and companies consider an expanded pool of potential job applicants for entry-level and essential positions.
Persons with disabilities have long been sidelined and unable to find employment, due in part to stigma and from an inability to perform tasks as quickly or accurately as their able-bodied peers. That trend has steadily changed since 2011, marking a significant change in the makeup of the American labor force.
A tight economy with an extremely low unemployment rate is benefiting all workers, but especially workers with disabilities, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. The unemployment rate in the U.S. is currently 3.9 percent, the lowest reported rate since 1969, according to WSJ. Those unemployment numbers have allowed a large swath of disabled persons to seek and find work.
US shutdown looms as border talks stall ahead of deadline | BBC News
US congressional talks over a border security deal have stalled, raising the chances of another government shutdown.
Negotiators were hoping for a deal by Monday to give Congress time to pass legislation by Friday, when the federal funding agreement runs out.
They remain divided on how many undocumented immigrants can be detained and funding for President Trump’s promised border wall with Mexico.
How Ferguson and Black Lives Matter Inspired This St. Louis Family to Open a Kids’ Bookstore With a Mission | Inc.com
Jeffrey and Pamela Blair wanted their children to feel proud. Then they wanted all African-American children to feel proud.
The couple’s business, EyeSeeMe, is a 1,200-square foot storefront in the St. Louis suburb of University City. With shelves of bright-jacketed books and bold posters splashed across the walls it confronts–with defiance and love–the weight of history. The Blairs have curated close to 3,000 titles, ranging from Africa-themed alphabets to the lives of black inventors to hip-hop poetry. Collectively, they chronicle African-American lives, history, and culture.
EyeSeeMe says to its young customers: Do you see all these stories of achievement, of courage, of ingenuity, of fun? This is who you are.
Jeff Bezos: Amazon boss accuses National Enquirer of blackmail – BBC News
The world’s richest man, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, has accused the National Enquirer’s owner of trying to blackmail him over lewd pictures.
Mr Bezos said the magazine’s parent company American Media Inc (AMI) wanted him to drop an investigation into how it obtained his private messages.
Mr Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, said last month they were getting divorced.
Many popular iPhone apps secretly record your screen without asking | TechCrunch
Many major companies, like Air Canada, Hollister and Expedia, are recording every tap and swipe you make on their iPhone apps. In most cases you won’t even realize it. And they don’t need to ask for permission.
You can assume that most apps are collecting data on you. Some even monetize your data without your knowledge. But TechCrunch has found several popular iPhone apps, from hoteliers, travel sites, airlines, cell phone carriers, banks and financiers, that don’t ask or make it clear — if at all — that they know exactly how you’re using their apps.
Facebook’s Top PR Exec Is Leaving the Toughest Job in Tech | WIRED
FOLLOWING MORE THAN two years of constant turbulence for Facebook, the company’s vice president of communications, Caryn Marooney, is leaving the company, Facebook has confirmed. Marooney, who previously cofounded the technology communications firm The Outcast Agency, joined Facebook in 2011 as director of technology communications, after representing the company at Outcast. Most recently, she has been responsible for all global communications. Marooney’s final day is not yet set, but spokesperson Vanessa Chan said she would be staying on to bring her replacement on board.
Groundhog predicts early spring but Twitter refuses to believe it | Mashable
Punxsutawney Phil, the Pennsylvania groundhog we let decide our seasons for us, is officially predicting an early spring.
On Saturday morning, the famous groundhog awoke at sunrise to celebrate Groundhog Day and did not see his shadow. This, his male handlers in top hats dramatically said, signals an early start to spring and an end to winter. But don’t get too excited.
Amazon posts first $200 billion sales year, but growth is slowing | CNN
Amazon now finds itself in an elite group of companies whose annual revenue can be measured in the hundreds of billions.
The company said Thursday that its holiday quarter sales hit $72.4 billion, up 20% from the same period a year earlier and at the high end of its previous forecast. The strong end to the year pushed Amazon’s annual revenue to an impressive $232.9 billion.
But sales growth is slowing as Amazon (AMZN) runs up against the law of large numbers. Its 20% sales growth for the quarter was well below the 38% growth it saw in the same period a year earlier.
Cities should purchase from minority and women entrepreneurs | Fast Company
The population of Memphis, Tennessee is 63% black. Over half of the local businesses are black-owned; if you’re a black entrepreneur, it regularly tops the list of best places to start a businesses. But a 2012 study found that black-owned businesses take in less than 1% of all the money spent in the city. Women-owned businesses–particularly those owned by women of color–also struggle.
Part of the issue, says Joann Massey, a businesses consultant who now heads up the Memphis Office of Business Diversity and Compliance, is how Memphis spends its money. Cities contract with vendors for everything from paper and pencils to construction work and technology services. In Memphis, as in most cities, those vendors are typically run by white men.
