All four brands of SMCP, the Chinese-owned French fashion company, are now entirely fur-free. As more and more consumers look for fashion that is sustainable, kind, and responsible, fur, leather, and animal byproducts are falling out of favor. Claudie Pierlot is the last of the ready-to-wear brand to cease the use of fur in its… Continue Reading
For all our modern-day advances, in every field and realm, industry and business still thrive on, and in, brick-and-mortar buildings. That is why commercial leaders are taking an aggressive approach to drive real estate out of the Stone Age, literally. Commercial Observer held its first-ever Innovators Forum in early December 2019 at the Sheraton New York… Continue Reading
New York’s independently owned shops took part in “Small Business Saturday” on November 30, 2019. This annual event, on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, was created to give level the competitive holiday retail field for small businesses. This year marks the 10th anniversary of “Shop Small” and thousands of Manhattan businesses offered sales and discounts throughout… Continue Reading
The French luxury group LVMH has bought the Tiffany & Co jewelry company for $16.2 billion. LVMH is the world’s biggest luxury group and has 75 different brands, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Bulgari. For LVMH, Tiffany — which faced financial and public image struggles recently — is a sensible transformational project. Tiffany will… Continue Reading
On the weekend of November 7-10, New York City was busy with the inaugural BlockchainWeekend NYC 2019. In partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), BlockchainWeekend highlighted projects from a variety of NY based companies, startups, and entrepreneurs. More than 50 events took place across all five boroughs, creating a networked platform for decentralized… Continue Reading
Five campuses of the City University of New York (CUNY) network are now offering more technology courses, bolstered faculty, and internship opportunities at local tech companies. This initiative is part of the city’s effort to double the number of CUNY alumni employed in the tech industry by 2022. New York’s Department of Small Business Services… Continue Reading
The Starbucks coffee chain has announced plans to open the first Starbucks Pickup point in Penn Station. This coffee shop is being designed as a streamlined store experience for customers who order and pay with the Starbucks app. The process of ordering involves downloading the app, selecting Pickup-Penn Station as the location, and placing an order.… Continue Reading
New York City is building a database of vacant storefronts to help small business owners find appropriate spaces. The city’s rising rents and recent trends favoring online shopping have resulted in a vacancy crisis. The five bills passed in July 2019 as part of this effort require yearly reporting on storefront vacancies, updates on the… Continue Reading
The City of Scottsdale was recognized as the Global Business City of the Year at the 2019 Global Chamber “Grow Globally Fair.” Now in its 12th year, The Fair was founded to acknowledge and applaud businesses that are leading, exceling, and pushing the boundaries in international business. The Global Chamber is networked in 195 countries and more… Continue Reading
In today’s world, the old saying “money talks” is truer than ever. But sometimes it really isn’t that easy to understand. International business opportunities have long been hindered by language barriers. When people and platforms struggle to communicate, it is no surprise that they can’t do business with each other. Thankfully, this problem is being… Continue Reading