Tag Archives: business

The Christmas ad for Britain’s John Lewis department store chain is always big news and pundits love to find metaphors for current events. This year is no different. The Guardian reports: In theory, the intention was admirable. But this year has been such a domino stack of heartbreaking disappointment that John Lewis wouldn’t have had to do much to make …

The Toronto Star reports: Investors who want a piece of the Trump name may now have their chance. The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto is likely to hit the market as the owner of debt on the property seeks a sale. JCF Capital ULC, a closely held firm, recently bought the construction loan on the 65-story hotel and …

Good news for Hillary in the final days of the campaign. MarketWatch reports: The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in two years, aided by a surge in exports and a rebound in the size of inventories companies keep on hand for sale. The government said gross domestic product, the official scorecard for the economy, …

The BBC reports: Tourism agency VisitScotland has suspended the five-star status of an Aberdeen hotel following the owner’s homophobic comments. Stewart Spence used a derogatory term about homosexuals at The Marcliffe Hotel during a Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland event last week. Mr Spence later said he wanted to “sincerely apologise”. VisitScotland said the Marcliffe had been removed it from …

The Guardian reports: Catholics are forbidden from keeping the ashes of cremated loved ones at home, scattering them, dividing them between family members or turning them into mementoes, the Vatican has ruled. Ashes must be stored in a sacred place, such as a cemetery, according to instructions disclosed at a press conference in Rome on Tuesday. Acknowledging that an increasing …

The Charlotte Observer reports: Over the last year, when companies announced plans to grow their footprints in North Carolina, state leaders have presented them with an unusual gift: An oak bowl carved from wood from the state capitol grounds. So when PayPal unceremoniously canceled its plans for an expansion in Charlotte over opposition to House Bill 2, state officials did …

The BBC reports: The Christian owners of a Northern Ireland bakery have lost their appeal against a ruling that their refusal to make a “gay cake” was discriminatory. Appeal court judges said that, under law, the bakers were not allowed to provide a service only to people who agreed with their religious beliefs. Two years ago, the family-run firm refused …

The New York Times reports: AT&T has agreed to buy Time Warner for more than $80 billion, a person briefed on the matter said on Saturday, a move that would create a new colossus in the worlds of media and telecommunications. Putting together AT&T, a sprawling video and internet empire that encompasses cellphone and cable service along with DirecTV, and …

Travel & Leisure reports: Amidst reports that occupancy rates at Trump Hotels have slipped this election season, the company has announced that new brand hotels will no longer bear the Trump name. The newest line of luxury hotels, geared towards millennials, will be called Scion, the company said. “We wanted a name that would be a nod to the Trump …

Via press release: Wells Fargo & Company announced today that Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf has informed the Company’s Board of Directors that he is retiring from the Company and the Board, effective immediately. The Board has elected Tim Sloan, the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, to succeed him as CEO, and Stephen Sanger, its Lead Director, …

Reuters reports: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd scrapped its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone on Tuesday less than two months after its launch, dealing a huge blow to its reputation and outlook after failing to resolve safety concerns. Samsung announced the recall of 2.5 million Note 7s in early September following numerous reports of the phones catching fire and on Tuesday …

USA Today reports: The Trump Taj Mahal, an iconic casino hotel on the Atlantic City boardwalk, ceased operations Monday after hemorrhaging losses for years and negotiations with employees’ union broke down, according to its owner, billionaire investor Carl Icahn. The shutdown, which leaves 3,000 employees out of work, was widely expected after its management announced the planned closure in August. …

Via AdWeek: “The idea of asking where did the American dream go was not to show that it went away,” explained Leslie Stone, director of strategic services for Ogilvy, the shop behind the creative work, “but that people are living it every day in diverse ways.” Literal diversity also figures big. One of the print ads shows two gay men …

The Hill reports: Hillary Clinton ripped Donald Trump over the report in The New York Times that he may have turned a nearly $1 billion loss into 18 years of not owing taxes, saying he was “taking from America with both hands, leaving the rest of us with the bill.” The tax story was the centerpiece of Clinton’s argument on …

Back in May, we had quite a conversation about an Infiniti car commercial that satirized (or paid tribute to, depending on your perspective) a young man coming out to his father. JMG reader Bill today tips us to a new ad which is on the same theme, but is for a website that is somewhat more on point. Watch below.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports: Gov. John Bel Edwards is suing Attorney General Jeff Landry for blocking state legal contracts over language meant to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in the workplace. Edwards filed the lawsuit in a Baton Rouge state court Friday (Sept. 30), following a meeting with Landry in which the two officials were …

Talking Points Memo reports: The New York attorney general’s investigation of the Donald J. Trump Foundation appears to have broadened to include new allegations of self-dealing by Trump that surfaced after the probe began, TPM has learned. The town of Palm Beach, Florida, has provided documents to the New York Attorney General’s Office as part of the probe, a lawyer …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Donald Trump wanted only the pretty ones, his employees said. After the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes opened for play in 2005, its world-famous owner didn’t stop by more than a few times a year to visit the course hugging the coast of the Pacific. When Trump did visit, the club’s managers …

South Florida Gay News reports: Bobby Blair’s dream to build an international media enterprise has apparently come crashing to a halt this week. SFGN has received information that the staff of Multimedia Platforms, which includes the Florida Agenda and Next Magazine in New York, has been let go, and there will be no print editions this week. Frontiers in LA, …

Newsweek reports: A company controlled by Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president, secretly conducted business in Communist Cuba during Fidel Castro’s presidency despite strict American trade bans that made such undertakings illegal, according to interviews with former Trump executives, internal company records and court filings. Documents show that the Trump company spent a minimum of $68,000 for its 1998 …