Last week, a crowd of Los Angeles fashion influencers and curious shoppers attended the opening of what they thought would be a new luxury shoe retailer. Surrounded by stilettos on pedestals and golden sneakers, the onlookers marveled at the work of an Italian designer named Bruno Palessi. “I would pay $400, $500. People are going to be like, ‘Where did you get those? Those are amazing,’” said a woman as she tried on a pair of leopard print tennis shoes. Continue reading
A couple of years ago, a pair of video game developers received a deeply worrying email from the British Red Cross. “It has been brought to our attention that in your game ‘Prison Architect’ a red cross emblem is displayed on vehicles,” read the email. “Those responsible may be unaware that use of the red cross emblem is restricted under the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of War Victims.” Little did the two developers know, but their placement of a Continue reading
Last year, the price of bitcoin nearly reached $20,000, leading some optimistic analysts to label the cryptocurrency as the future of money. According to them, the value of the decentralized currency could only go up since it was free of manipulation from any single government or institution. Soon after reaching this peak in late 2017, however, bitcoin began a steady drop that continued throughout the year. In fact, on Monday the price of the cryptocurrency fell below $3,650, Continue reading
Last week retailers kicked off the holiday shopping season with Black Friday, a day once known for “door-busting” deals that sent consumers into a frenzy. And while companies still offer all sorts of markdowns and discounts on the big day, there are noticeably fewer news reports featuring crowds of angry people fighting over televisions. Not only have many Black Friday shoppers started digging for deals online, but also the event itself isn’t as special as it used to be. After Continue reading
Last year, Amazon announced that it would build a second headquarters somewhere in the United States. Known as “HQ2,” the project generated instant interest among dozens of cities that wanted to attract the e-commerce giant to their communities. After all, Amazon said the headquarters would bring in at least 50,000 high-paying tech jobs, which could have a significant economic impact anywhere in the country. Cities then offered generous benefits and tax breaks in an effort to woo the company. While Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago, more than 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout to protest the search giant’s handling of sexual harassment claims. Along with demands to improve the process for reporting harassment, the protesters also called for Google to end forced employee arbitration. This controversial tactic requires staffers to settle any legal disputes out of court, usually through an independent arbitrator rather than a judge and jury.
Critics of the policy say that this system protects serial harassers by Continue reading
With about 6,700 hotels operating under 30 brands in more than a hundred countries, Marriott International is by far the world’s largest hotel chain. Last year the company earned profits totaling $1.37 billion as guests from around the globe checked in and out of properties like Sheraton, Ritz-Carlton, and Westin. Over the last few weeks, however, 23 hotels owned by Marriott have not been operating as usual. That’s because since October 8th the employees at these locations have been on Continue reading
The Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo has steadily grown into an international brand known for its inexpensive but stylish designs. As you might expect, maintaining this image requires the company to strike a delicate balance between creating interesting products and keeping costs low. That’s why Uniqlo recently announced that robots have replaced 90 percent of the staff at one of its warehouses.
Along with drastically cutting costs, the company’s newly automated warehouse will also be able to operate 24 hours a Continue reading
Over the next few weeks, a new crop of TV shows will premiere across the major networks. But not all of these shows will stay on the air for a full season. That’s because broadcasters have long used the fall as a testing ground for new programming. If a show premieres to high ratings and audience acclaim, network executives will likely order more episodes of it. If few people decide to tune in, however, a new show might last one Continue reading