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Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.儲存M.Aug. 20--The family of two teenage girls from the Navajo reservation who were killed in a 2010 Santa Fe wreck caused by a repeat DWI violator has settled its civil claims against many of those the family sued after the fatal crash.According to court documents, the family of Del Lynn Peshlakai, 19, and her sister Deshauna, 17, of Naschitti, has reached a settlement with the operators of the Blue Corn Cafe, where drunken-driver James Ruiz was served alcohol before he rammed a truck into the rear of the Peshlakai family's car on Cerrillos Road.The sisters were killed and their parents were injured. The Peshlakais were in Santa Fe for a basketball tournament.The family also has accepted insurance coverage available to Ruiz and his drinking buddy Gilbert Mendoza -- who gave Ruiz the keys to the truck Ruiz was driving when he plowed into the Peshlakai's car -- to settle claims against them.The documents available in the Peshlakais' wrongful death suit do not disclose the dollar amounts of the settlements with the Blue Corn Cafe and its parent companies, nor the insurance payouts for Ruiz or Mendoza.Despite the settlements, the lawsuit remains alive. The operators of the Applebee's Neighborhood Bar and Grill at 4246 Cerrillos -- where Ruiz himself says he first got drunk before heading to the nearby Blue Corn Cafe with Mendoza to continue drinking -- have not reached any agreement with the Peshlakais.Last week, Applebee's International Inc. and an associated corporation moved the case from state District Court to federal court. That provoked a swift response from the Peshlakais' attorneys, who have filed an "emergency motion" asking a federal judge to send the case back to state District Court Judge Stephen Pfeffer in Santa Fe.The move to federal court is "a thinly veiled attempt to delay the state court proceedings" where a trial is scheduled for November and where the plaintiffs are seeking sanctions against Applebee's over pre-trial discovery issues,新蒲崗迷你倉the Peshlakai lawyers maintain.Applebee's, in its notice of removal to federal court last Wednesday, maintained that the Peshlakai plaintiffs had the insurance policy settlement offer from Mendoza and Ruiz on the table for some time before accepting it, and delayed removing Mendoza and Ruiz from the case until Aug. 1 as a stalling tactic to keep Applebee's from meeting a deadline for taking the case to federal court.It wasn't until all the other defendants had settled -- Blue Corn Cafe and the Peshlakai plaintiffs reached their deal in 2011 -- that the necessary "diversity" among the defendants was created and allowed Applebee's to remove the case to federal court, the filing by Applebee's attorneys says.Peshlakai attorney Zackeree Kelin of Albuquerque, in his filing, says Applebee's presented no evidence to back up its claims that Mendoza and Ruiz were kept in the suit as a matter of "bad faith."Federal District Judge James O. Browning held a hearing on the matter Friday. Browning heard from the attorneys and scheduled another hearing for Aug. 27.Ruiz's lawsuitRuiz, a repeat drunken driver who was out on bond on his fifth DWI arrest when he caused the crash that killed the Peshlakai sisters, is serving a 40-year prison sentence after entering a guilty plea in 2011.In March, he filed from prison his own lawsuit in the case, seeking monetary damages from the Blue Corn Cafe and Applebee's for allegedly overserving him, and also from Mendoza for giving him the truck keys and letting him drive the night of the crash.That case is still pending. At least some defendants have been dismissed from the litigation by a judge.Santa Fe Dining, the Blue Corn Cafe's parent company that operates several Santa Fe restaurants, changed its alcohol serving rules after the Ruiz crash, imposing new limits on customers.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at .abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage

　　第四屆立法會會期最後一日，文件倉行政長官崔世安出席立法會全體會議回應議員問詢時曾談及本澳教育發展。行政長官認為，特區成立後向來重視教育發展，在公平教育上取得一定進步，未來焦點將轉移至「質」的發展。政府未來將持續投入更多資源和政策支持，特別支持非高等教育、回歸教育、高等教育和持續進修發展，培養本地社會經濟發展需要的人才。從現實來看，隨著本澳近年來在教育方面的投入逐漸加大，一般學識教育已經取得相當成果。但不可忽視的是職業教育在本澳仍然未有得到足夠重視，而職業教育所培養的具備專業技能人才卻正是本澳最為缺乏。因此加快本澳職業教育的發展已經迫在眉睫。　　職業教育是對受教育者施以從事某種職業所必需的知識，技能的。此職業教育亦稱職業技術教育。職業教育是與基礎教育、高等教育和成人教育地位平行的四大教育類型之一。　　回顧本澳的職業教育發展，有研究學者指，澳門開埠四百多年以來，由於經濟上長期處於落後狀態，又因為在過去的歲月中，澳門政府對教育不重視，沒有承擔起開辦學校、扶持教育的責任，因此，澳門教育事業的發展一直比較緩慢。雖然其後隨著經濟和社會文化的進步，澳門教育事業開始出現轉機，但是作為澳門教育重要組成部分的職業教育，起步卻相當遲晚。70年代，當澳門的經濟發展以後，首先需要的就是大批有專業技術的人才。由於教育事業長期處在一種落後狀態，結果導致澳門具有一定專業技能的人才明顯缺乏。這使得當時的政府深深感到培養人才，特別是培養具有一定專業技能的人才的緊迫和重要，因此職業教育受到重視才順理成章。1983年，政府為適應經濟發展的需求，在經濟司設立了職業培訓中心，開設了打字、電腦、會計、財務、行政、秘書、出口業務等工商業的課程，為在職青年和待業青年提供了技能培訓的機會和場所。80年代初期，自職業培訓中心成立以後，澳門的職業教育開始進入高潮，學生人數不斷增加，每年均能保持在3萬人以上。隨著職業教育的發展和需要，成人職業教育的辦學機構也在不斷增多，除了澳門政府外，還有澳門教區、慈善機構、私人企業、合作團體、社會經濟和文化組織等，也都投資創辦了成人職業教育學校。　　其後，到特區政府成立初期，面對經濟持續不景氣，失業率高的嚴重局面，採取多項措施挽救經濟，其中一項是特區政府投入4億澳門元推出「失業者培訓計畫」幫助失業者提高就業競爭力，儲備能量，創造再就業的機會。「失業者培訓計畫」由政府主導，安排三間公立大學承擔共4000人的培訓任務。同時也透過資助民間社團開展失業者培訓計畫。至2003年後，隨著經濟復蘇，失業率下降，該項計畫隨之結束。受培訓的學員，基本上已獲就業或升學的機會。再到後來，隨著博彩業的開放，本澳的職業培訓和教育開存倉主要面向博彩業，同時聯合民間社團開展其他行業所需的人才培訓。有效舒緩了社會上人力資源的緊缺。由此可見，作為使受教育者獲得某種職業或生產勞動所需要的職業知識、技能和職業道德的教育方式，職業教育在過往本澳經濟社會發展過程中起到了不可忽視的作用。　　但是，隨著社會的發展，職業教育亦面對新的挑戰。除了對專業技能要求的變化外，隨著近年來澳門基礎教育的普及，亦在青少年中讓職業教育邊緣化。其所產生的影響亦越來越體現出來，正如有議員所指，現時的基礎教育主要側重培養知識型人才，整體並未因應學生的個人素質或興趣分流，這種單一取向最終造成本澳缺乏技術型人才，亦難以面對未來社會、尤其是區域競爭的需要。專業技術人才的短缺，企業必然會要求大量輸入外地雇員，從而使得原本屬於本地人的技術工作崗位被搶奪，造成社會矛盾。　　另一方面，由於職業教育對社會和各行業急需的人才不能有效供應，因此有部分機構便轉到向原本就不多的職業學校求取人才，最好的選擇當然是學校的師資隊伍。這樣就造成了職校教師人才的大量流失，職業教育的發展便的更加舉步維艱。　　要推動本澳的職業教育，首先要讓市民對職業教育有更正確的認識。社會上普遍對職業學校的理解仍停留在工業職業學校，畢業以後只是做一個低級技工的思維，令到職業學校被先入為主的標籤化，但實際上以高中的職業技術課程為例，除了工藝，旅遊、中葡翻譯、各類設計課程以及商務會計等都已經被列入課程內容，且職業中學一樣具備升學條件，只是與普通中學課程內容有所則重點的不同。希望可以透過向市民宣傳職業學校的學習內容以及前景，讓市民家長多點瞭解。　　其次，優化目前的職業教育資源。在努力提供更多選擇的同時，對現有的職業技術學校、職業培訓課程進行優化，以實行社會的變化。尤其是對1996年起設立的學徒制課程，放寬修讀者年齡上限，並且對現時的職業教育體系進行完善，做好升學的銜接，確保各類課程對青少年升學及就業都有足夠的保障。　　在做好本澳內部資源調配之外，我們亦應重視對外部資源的運用。尤其是在區域合作逐漸深化的有利條件下，有效運用周邊城市的職業教育資源，對澳門本地的勞動力進行有針對性的培訓，不僅可以增強其職業技能，更可以為注入如會議展覽、文化創意、電腦和網路技能、金融等本澳新興和弱勢的產業快速提供一批急需的人才。特別是內地的不少行業的技術工作已經走向標準化、規範化，建立了持證上崗制度，本澳可以通過強化兩地的合作，實現上崗證兩地通用，推動澳門本地的職業認證制度。　　在具體方式上，除了鼓勵本澳居民，尤其是青少年到鄰近地區參加職業教育外，亦可以採取多種形式的合作，將周邊地區的優秀職業教育資源和經驗引入本澳，促進本地職業教育的發展。自存倉

對中國人來說，自存倉難以逾越的語言、文化鴻溝似乎是前往澳大利亞、美洲、歐洲出國旅遊、移民或置業的最大障礙之一，從而亞洲、尤其是東南亞地區成為國人的上選。東南亞不但沒有因距離產生的時差問題，更因為文化上的同源而令國人有種“猶未離矣”的感受。其中馬來西亞房地產市場近年來始終持穩發展，政府大力推行的“MM2H第二家園計劃”一直積極推動馬來西亞成為東南亞熱門的投資置業地區，成為國人優先考慮的目的地。那麼，如何選擇既安全又理想的投資型物業?新浪海外地產借你一對“火眼金睛”。天時地利人和入市上佳時機中國人買房講究天時地利人和，馬來西亞雲頂項目“玖霄雲閣”日前利好消息頻傳，入市正是上佳時機。日前，知名的酒店物業品牌“美國最佳西方國際酒店管理集團(Best Western)”作為玖霄雲閣酒店式公寓指定的運營商與NCT舉辦了簽約儀式。Best Western是在全球100多個國家擁有4000家酒店、有著豐富的酒店管理和服務經驗的管理公司，在項目合作的選擇上具有系統嚴密的要求，對項目本身的規劃、周邊的租賃環境和房地產發展前景都進行綜合考察。此番合作意味著Best Western同樣認可玖霄雲閣所占據的優越地理位置及周邊優質的租賃市場，將為業主即時提供優質的物業管理服務、解決跨國持有的後顧之憂，一步到位實現高效的資產管理。開發商NCT則在購房條件以及業主利益上給予了充分的優惠:首付僅3%，業主每年享受10天的免費居住使玖霄雲閣在�多物業競爭中脫穎而出，跨國的置業行為因為較低投資門檻和現金流要求大大降低了風險。雙重優勢可以幫助中國客戶真正實現輕鬆便利的海外置業和物業持有。在2013年度吉隆坡亞太獎評選中，馬來西亞當地知名地產商NCT集團開發的玖霄雲閣一舉拿下“最受好評獎”、“最受好評住宅發展獎”、“馬來西亞最受好評公寓獎”、“馬來西亞最佳休閒發展獎”四大獎項，來自中國內地、新加坡、中國香港、中國台灣等地區的客戶已經消化了第一階段75%的房源，目前玖霄雲閣已經全面開始動工。雲頂擴建翻新投資升溫熱地海外投資除了視乎個人需求以外，必須準確評估當地的整體經濟環境、政府穩定程度和置業環境，好的地段和區位環境、規劃尤其是保證物業品質的直接因素。雲頂不僅是馬來西亞獨一無二的旅遊度假區，更吸引亞洲乃至世界的遊客。雲頂位於首都吉隆坡東北50余公里,一處1800多米的高峰，常溫卻保持在15攝氏度，是避暑的好去處。它的吸引力在於是東南亞久負盛名的生態風景區和高原避暑旅遊勝地，這裡不但建有龐大的、世間少有的高山娛樂設施,還有聞名於世的馬來西亞娛樂城，是適合家庭旅遊度假的勝地，一到公休日更是遊客蜂擁而至，最多時雲頂同時容納五六萬人，每年都要接待1000多萬遊客，酒店平均入住率高達85%，旅遊旺季一房難求。據7月26日的報道顯示，馬來西亞雲頂集團將耗資4億令吉(約合人民幣8億元)與2迷你倉新蒲崗世紀福克斯公司在雲頂娛樂城打造全球第一家20世紀福克斯主題樂園，該主題樂園占地約10公頃，預計在2016年投入運作。分析人士表示，“雲頂地區酒店本身的高入住率早已引起地產商的關注，而雲頂大馬與20世紀福克斯的合作，將積極拓展其山頂度假村經營，將使在附近擁有土地的產業發展受惠。”這也意味著當前入市雲頂市場，將享有未來該區域的發展空間。馬來西亞經濟文化優勢據2012年12月中國信用評級機構大公國際決定，維持馬來西亞本、外幣信用等級A+，評級展望為穩定。分析認為，跟蹤期內馬來西亞政局保持穩定，經濟增長勢頭良好，金融體系維持穩健，國際儲備充裕，聯邦政府赤字收窄，但債務依然處於較高水平，現有級別能夠反映其償債能力。大公國際稱，強勁的消費需求和投資將繼續支撐馬來西亞經濟穩定發展，預計2013年馬來西亞經濟增長率為4.8%。此外，作為東南亞重要的熱帶國家，馬來西亞旅遊資源豐富、氣候宜人、環境清新健康，其多民族融合，華語通行，並盛行中國文化，是華人樂於選擇的聚居之地。這些因素為中國客戶置業馬來西亞奠定了良好的基礎條件。雲頂———亞洲的度假聖地“凡到馬來西亞旅遊的人，如果不來雲頂一游，就不能算到了馬來西亞。”雲頂高原原名“珍丁高原”，亦叫“任珍高原”，位於彭亨州西南吉保山脈中段東坡，吉隆坡東北約50公里處。是東南亞最大的高原避暑地之一。由於山中雲霧縹緲，令人有身在山中猶如置身雲上的感受，故改為現名。這裡山巒重疊，林木蒼翠，花草繁茂，空氣清新宜人。在這裡可以飽覽雲海變幻莫測的奇觀。晴空萬里時，視野遼闊，夜間西觀可欣賞吉隆坡輝煌的燈火;凌晨東眺，雲海晨曦，絢麗無比。這裡不但有自然美景，更有人工奇景。為了吸引遊客，雲頂集團在這裡大興土木，塑造了很多人工娛樂奇跡，如面積4公頃的人工湖，據說這個戶內大湖比真實的湖還要美麗，在湖中泛舟有種說不出的別樣滋味;環湖還有兒童火車，可以帶你領略大湖全景;最重要的，雲頂還有很多免費體驗的娛樂設施，旋轉飛艇、海盜船、碰碰船、沖天箭。這裡的過山車，據說是全馬唯一的雙圈摩天輪，可上升及旋轉至90英尺的高空，相當刺激。此外，弗羅斯大轉輪，雖然看起來起眼，但當大轉輪轉到最高處時，是可以俯瞰巍峨壯觀的雲頂第一城的。另一個主題樂園是水上樂園，試想在海拔6000英尺以上的地方體驗炙熱的水上玩樂，包括波浪泳池、活動河流、巨桶、旋風滑道，這種奇妙的感覺真是不枉此生了。最重要的一點，為了吸引遊客，雲頂娛樂城的門票相當便宜，僅相當于人民幣100多元，未來主題樂園的門票預計在200元人民幣。如此看來，雲頂樂園每年有如此多的遊客就不足為奇，相信隨著20世紀福克斯主題樂園的開工，後續紛至遝來的遊客一定能迅速帶動酒店的入住率。8月24日14:00-16:30，閘北區廣延路383號4樓玖霄雲閣推介會限額20位預約報名!報名電話:400-000-2323迷你倉出租

Lavender is one of the prettiest spices; even when the plant is dried, the colour remains, although it's not nearly as vivid as when the flowers are fresh.儲存 The flavour and scent of the leaves and flowers are distinctive, pervasive and powerful. This is good if you're using lavender for aromatherapy - it's said to relax the mind, reduce stress, cure insomnia and soothe skin problems. But for almost everything else - including as a scent or to flavour food - it should be used sparingly. If you're cooking with lavender, make sure the flowers haven't been sprayed with pesticide; buy it from tea shops that sell loose tea leaves, flowers and herbs.Lavender is grown in Provence, so it's little surprise that it's of新蒲崗迷你倉en used in the cuisine of southeast France. It's usually one of the ingredients in the herbes de Provence dried spice blend, which can also include oregano, thyme, savory and tarragon. This can be mixed with olive oil and rubbed over chicken before roasting, added to the poaching liquid for fish, or mixed into ratatouille.Because of its calming qualities, lavender is often mixed with other dried ingredients and used to make a tisane. At the famous French tea emporium, Mariage Freres, it's used in several blends: mixed, for example, with green tea leaves, berries and rose petals, or verbena, camomile, orange zest and cornflowers; while Earl Grey gets a Provencal touch with the addition of wild lavender flowers.mini storage

澳門經濟財政司司長譚伯源較早前表示，mini storage會於2015 及2016 年重新考慮博彩公司續牌事宜，引起市場關注到會否增發賭牌。銀河娛樂（0027）主席呂志和表示，不會評論傳聞及揣測，他們反而會增加非博彩元素，吸引多些客人。呂志和指出，澳門是否開放賭牌，作為業界不會評論，相信到時政府的政策便會清楚。他認為，過去10 至20 年澳門由「梳打埠」晉身國際，中國更將澳門定位發展旅遊會展，他相信澳門的賭業可以發揚光大之餘self storage銀娛會致力發展非博彩項目予以配合。副主席呂耀東補充，現有六家博彩經營商表現出色，將來銀娛會盡力更加貼近政府的多元化政策發展。他相信，政府開放賭牌前，需要考慮到人力資源、土地供應方面的問題。至於曾經競投澳門賭牌未成的雲頂曾經示意，若澳門再增發賭牌，他們有意進軍澳門市場。對於雲頂這個潛在進入澳門市場的博彩公司，呂耀東稱，銀娛作為市場內市值排名第二大的博彩公司，有足夠資金自行發展項目，目前沒有想法與其他人合作。迷你倉

A MAN wanted for stabbing three children to death and injuring 12 others on a bus in central China’s Henan Province was caught by police yesterday.迷你倉新蒲崗Zhou Jiangbo, a 24-year-old ex-convict, was recognized by members of the public from a wanted poster as he was buying a watermelon, China News Service reported. He was still wearing clothes stained with the victims’ blood.Zhou was caught after police were alerted in a town about 35 kilometers from downtown Anyang where the attack occurred.Both DNA tests and fingerprints confirmed his identity, Anyang police said. Zhou pulled off the lethal stabbings to vent his anger following a family dispute, China Central Television reported, citing the provincial police department.According to the People’s Daily website, he stabbed three people during the dispute on Sunday.The bus attack happened at around 3:05pm on Monday.Witnesses told the Beijing Times that Zhou, his breath smelling strongly of alcohol, rushed toward the driver as soon as he got on the bus from the rear door.“I saw the man threatening the driver and trying to control the steering wheel. The driver put up a fierce fight and the man stabbed him in the arm,” one of the passengers, surnamed Yuan, said.As Zhou walked back along the bus and the driver was slowing down to stop at the roadside, local media reported, he began attacking the passengers.Fifteen people were injured.Two boys,迷你倉出租aged 10 and 17, died on their way to hospital. A 10-month-old baby girl died in hospital yesterday morning.Among the severely injured, the oldest was 67 and the youngest an 18-year-old girl who had just received a letter of admission to university.“One passenger was stabbed on head,” a witness said.A woman had a serious wound on her back.“There was blood everywhere. She told me that she couldn’t feel anything below the waist,” a doctor from Anyang County No. 2 People’s Hospital told reporters. She was very likely to be paralyzed in her lower limbs, the doctor said.When the bus stopped, passengers rushed to escape and the man, with blood all over his clothes, ran into a cornfield, quickly disappearing among the tall corn stalks, Yuan said.More than 400 policemen were mobilized to hunt for the suspect.Anyang police published an artist’s sketch of the suspect and appealed for help to track him down. He was described as 1.65 meters tall, with a crew cut.Police had offered a reward of 100,000 yuan (US$16,323) for his capture.China News Service said  Zhou, who used to be a teacher but was offered early retirement, had opened an extracurricular training center. His wife kept strict control of his finances, leaving him with not enough money even for cigarettes. His wife was also said to have splashed sulphuric acid on his face during a fight between the couple, CNS said. 儲存倉

　　8月20日晚，文件倉歷時10天的首屆中國太原國際啤酒節正在中國煤炭交易中心上演。當地市民除了可以品嘗到來自世界各地美酒以外，也可以吃到中國各地的風味小吃。標簽：中國 太原 美酒 小吃 風味

Source : Monetary Authority of Macao According to the statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the proportion of international business in the local banking sector increased further in the second quarter of 2013.迷你倉沙田 At end-June 2013, the share of international assets in total banking assets expanded to 84.8% from 84.2% at end-March 2013, while the share of international liabilities in total banking liabilities also advanced to 81.2% from 80.8%.Foreign currencies were the dominant denomination in international banking transactions. At end-June 2013, the shares of Pataca (MOP) in total international assets and total international liabilities were 0.5% and 3.1% respectively. Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Other Foreign Currencies (OFCs) accounted for 35.5% and 64.1% of total international assets as well as 46.9% and 50.0% of total international liabilities respectively.International Banking Assets At end-June 2013, total international assets expanded by 6.1% from a quarter ago or 25.5% from a year earlier to MOP766.4 billion (USD95.9 billion). Within this total, external assets grew by 29.0% year-on-year to MOP602.8 billion while local assets in foreign currencies increased by 14.0% to MOP163.6 billion. As a major component of international assets, external loans & deposits advanced by 28.4% to MOP561.0 billion. In particular, cross-border non-bank loans went up by 32.3%.International Banking Liabilities Total international liabilities increased by迷你倉價錢6.1% from three months ago or 24.9% year-on-year to MOP734.5 billion (USD91.9 billion). Of this total, external liabilities and local liabilities in foreign currencies grew year-on-year by 21.2% to MOP383.5 billion and 29.2% to MOP351.0 billion respectively. Foreign currency deposits held by residents and the MSAR government continued to form a major component of international liabilities. This type of deposits grew by 29.4% to MOP329.3 billion at end-June 2013 from MOP254.6 billion at end-June 2012.Breakdown of External Banking Assets and Liabilities by Region The majority of external assets and liabilities were related to the regions of Asia and Europe. At end-June 2013, claims on Hong Kong and Mainland China occupied 32.3% and 29.3% of total external assets correspondingly, while claims on Portugal, Luxembourg and Germany took up 9.9%, 2.6% and 1.3% respectively. On external liabilities, Hong Kong and Mainland China accounted for 47.7% and 20.9% of the total respectively while Portugal, France and Luxembourg took up respective shares of 4.6%, 4.4% and 1.9%.The compilation of International Banking Statistics follows the methodology advocated by the Bank for International Settlements in order to facilitate Macao SAR’s participation in the “Locational International Banking Statistics” project of the international organisation.For enquiry, please contact: Research and Statistics Department, Monetary Authority of Macao (Tel：8395 2532; Fax：2835 3042) -- The End --迷你倉庫

未能提供文字內容。.儲存scmp.com/property/international/article/1298081/empty-offices-dubai-dont-deter-plan-worlds-tallest-office

Source: Tampa Tribune, Fla.迷你倉沙田Aug. 19--When retail and restaurant developers gathered this week in Orlando, perhaps no word was whispered more often or with such caution than "Millennial."This ultramobile and ultradigital generation of 22- to 33-year-olds are already giving fits to many retailers who are seeing them shift more of their buying online to places like Dollar Shave Club and Etsy and ModCloth. Understanding exactly why is at the top of the wish list for retail and restaurant developers lately."The only thing is, it's less than clear what Millenials are thinking," said Paul Rutledge, executive vice president of operations for the southeast division of development firm CASTO. "But it's very exciting."Will they all abandon Publix and switch to Amazon.com for their groceries? Will they continue to "showroom" at stores by scanning for items, only to buy them online? Will they ever buy the traditional three-bedroom house in the suburbs and shop at the regional mall nearby?That's far from clear, but just the prospect is enough to already reshape some of the state's largest and most interesting developments, and drive which retailers open where. Walgreen's officials, for instance, say more of their new stores will look like the one just built in South Tampa on Henderson Boulevard -- with everything from prescriptions and candy to fresh groceries and mini-health clinics. Discount grocer Aldi plans more sites in Florida as well, as does the upscale grocer Fresh Market -- reflecting the often bipolar mindset of today's shopper.More new developments will be in the urban core of cities, and built as mixed use with retail, residential and office all packed into one place, just like Millennials like.Meanwhile, some areas of the state are picking up gains faster than others, but overall, 2013 is "shaping up to be a positive year," according to a report published this week by real estate services giant CBRE. That's thanks to a steadily improving economy, with rising home prices, improving employment numbers and consumer confidence that's reached where it stood before the recession."During the recession, people were working hard, but not making anything happen," said John Crossman, president of the commercial real estate brokerage Crossman & Company. "Now they're working hard, and finally making something happen."But anyone who's shopped at the mall or through Amazon.com knows shopping isn't what it was five years ago. Brick-and-mortar stores still count for more than 90 percent of all retail sales, but Internet sales are exploding, and half of sales begin when people "showroom" at stores to check out the look and feel of something before buying it online. "The challenge for retailers is to make sure that they provide the proper迷你倉價錢experience that people can't get on the Internet," said Ron Wheeler, CEO of the development firm Sembler, "and to make sure that they can integrate their Internet and their bricks-and-mortar sales, and vice versa."Personifying this are Generation Y millennials, the pack of people now 22 to 33, and they're not only shopping like mad online, but reversing three generations of migration. Instead of moving to the suburbs like the past three generations have, Millenials are moving into the cities, often into vacant condo projects originally meant for wealthy empty nesters and urban executives. That's hit the big-box retailers hard, and even the giants like Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot and BestBuy are shifting to much smaller spaces.That's helping drive a slew of urban apartment towers in Tampa, plus neighborhood-sized redevelopment projects like The Heights along the river downtown.Even larger, Miami is seeing a massive $1.05 billion Brickell CityCentre mixed-use development that will stretch 5 million square feet -- roughly two or three times the size of a major city shopping mall -- complete with 520,000 square feet of retail space and hundreds of condos, apartments and office spaces.The catchwords remain "cautiously optimistic" in Tampa Bay. There are some interesting new projects, and lots of companies scouting locations, but there has been no all-out riot of development in the area. That's left vacancy rates at 8.4 percent, barely up from 8.2 percent the same time last year.In retail, this means value-focused shops are left as the fastest builders, like TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Wawa, O'Reilly Auto Parts and Rainbow USA. The rare exceptions being very high end projects like the new Life Time Fitness center going into International Plaza, or remarkably large developments like Bass Pro Shops and Top Golf in Brandon.In restaurants, the Westshore area is a microcosm, with lots of new fast-casual places like Lime Fresh and McAlister's, but also several high-end restaurants like Cooper's Hawk and Eddie V's -- all opened within the 12 months.Officials with the International Council of Shopping Centers, which organized this week's trade show in Orlando, say direct attendance is one reflection of the growing action. More than 3,400 people showed up this year, which is 15 percent higher than last year.Whether the current economy continues to support such new projects is yet to be seen, but the sentiment among thousands of retail officials in Orlando this week was that this year is a heck of a lot better than years before.rmullins@tampatrib.com813-259-7919Twitter: @DailyDeadlineCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) Visit the Tampa Tribune (Tampa, Fla.) at .tampatrib.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉庫

Spungry, a homegrown F&B deal-shopping concept offers consumers and merchants risk-free deals, reports JASLENE PANGJOE Augustin, who is more well-known as a radio deejay, has become the "chef" - meaning "chief" in French - at Spungry, a homegrown F&B deal-shopping concept which sets out to give its customers super savings through group buying, and the merchants, better business.迷你倉價錢He explains his month-old venture: "Consumers who like a deal can book it for just $1, then pay the full amount to the merchant when they purchase the food later."This means consumers and merchants can participate in the deals market at no risk. If the meal doesn't shape up to expectations, Spungry has a simple refund policy."For the consumer, there is hardly any risk involved at all. For merchants who work with us, unlike most of the other deal sites, they will never need to wait for their money."Deal sites such as Groupon, an American company, traditionally collect payment for the purchase from the consumers, and then pay a ratio of that to the merchants later, depending on the contract which they signed with the merchants, Mr Augustin says. This arrangement favours the deal sites first, followed by the consumer, and then finally, the merchants, he adds. Spungry's "win-win-win" situation for all three parties is an attempt to balance things out and help the merchants, "so we decided to do it our way and make a little money from the site as well". Spungry now has about 800 participating F&B merchants on its database.Hiroyuki Kiga, another of Spungry's founders and its vice-president in charge of the company's strategy, fully expects Spungry to go places: "We believe Spungry can be the next Internet giant in just a few years, with tremendous revenue returns . . . And it's made in Singapore!"The business now operates out of Singapore and Japan, but, as Mr Augustin says, it is "just waiting to come alive" in other countries. He says: "If today, Spungry detects that we have 60 deals in Los Angeles, Spungry becomes alive. It is the same everywhere else."The founders trawl Spungry's Facebook page for hints on how people are reacting to the posts or advertisements there. Mr Augustin says: "We look at the number of 'Likes' for each post or advertisement and ask ourselves: 'Does this advertisement really communicate? Why doesn't something catch on as quickly as we thought it would?' From there, we learn and don't repeat our mistakes."The feedback from consumers has been very encouraging because consumers understand our concept just from the limited amount of stuff we put up. This means this is a 'gettable' concept, and if people understand it, they can share it with their friends."Merchants have also contacted me. This shows that the market gets that it is different and is interested in our concept."Mr Augustin has parlayed his celebrity status as a popular deejay to make a personal connection with those who drop in on Spungry's Facebook page. He says: "People who don't make the connection see Spungry as an anonymous new entity trying to introduce itself. But I've learnt that a more personal approach works better: I am getting more responses on my personal Facebook page about Spungry."He believes in the power of word of mouth in shaping how successful a business is going to be. "Facebook, Twitter - they are just tools that people use to spread news. The question is, how do we empower merchants and consumers to spread the word迷你倉庫 We have spent lots of time and money to do research to see if the business is viable and sustainable, but all that pales in comparison to the task at hand right now - which is getting the market to understand what is going on."But, as much as Spungry's founders want to get the word out, they are taking it slow and steady. They don't believe in spamming potential customers and badgering them to book the offered deals from its stable of merchants for all of $1."We would like to have a relationship that starts off with people saying: 'I want this'. We are going to be socially driven. It's deciding to do it right by the audience, so that they don't resent or hate you."Ours is a business designed to go international and we want to keep our reputation in all countries. Some people have the experience of receiving random e-mail and trying out the deals, only to have a bad experience."We choose to completely rework the idea and ask ourselves how we can take the pain from merchants and consumers away, and maybe make some money and make a difference?" But nobody said it was going to be easy having a social conscience."Our decision means that it is going to be tough for us, because the market that we are going into is already so developed. But, you know what, we want to take that on. We are here to change it all and it's going to be a hard fight, but let's do it."News reports have put the number of notable group-buying businesses in Singapore at about a dozen now.Mr Augustin discloses that there are already three generations of Spungry in the pipeline. "We'll give you a hint about our secret ingredient: imagine scrolling through the profiles of other diners and spotting a familiar face. You can buy her a deal and include a short message. If she accepts, it's a great way to reconnect in real life. If she doesn't, it's just $1 spent."The crystal ball for the world of social media can be pretty murky though. The Spungry crew doesn't know what the trend will be in three to five years. It is just that, for now, they don't want to pass up the chance to "ride the wave of opportunity".The key to the future is to continuously obtain feedback from the market and focus on being relevant, says Mr Augustin. "What's important is to be different, but to stay relevant. Difference sets us apart, but without relevance, we're merely rebels without a cause."Explaining how Spungry can give a leg up to smaller merchants, he says that such small-time businesses drive the economy, but "sometimes find themselves in a situation which doesn't really work for them".Spungry connects them to potential customers attracted by the e-coupons on offer. Smaller merchants thus get a chance to develop their business, regardless of their size.Of Spungry's social mission, he says: "Every now and then, you think about something that would really make a big difference. This could really make that big difference, because what we are doing is that we are returning power to a group of people who need a lot of help."When I think about it, it is quite mind-boggling. That's how we want to make a big change."HAVE an interesting story on an SME to share? Drop us a note on why you think the company should be featured in our weekly SME Inc pages, with details such as how the company has grown and its expansion plans. Send your e-mail to Felda Chay at feldac@sph.com.sg with the subject head: "Feature this SME"; and you might read about the company in BT.儲存

Source: Detroit Free PressAug.迷你倉庫 17--There are classic American books that are required reading."Lee Daniels' The Butler," the powerful new film that opens Friday, should be required viewing.It is a reflection on love so strong that relationships wait for it -- and a nation can embrace it decades after being shamed by its absence."The Butler" was inspired by a news article written in 2008 by Wil Haygood, the incomparable American journalist and cultural historian whose articles have appeared in the Washington Post since 1991.The film is a study of the American civil rights movement with graphic looks at attacks on blacks demonstrating for equal rights. It reminds us that the movement was led mostly by young men and women, some of them students whose heroic exploits caused their parents to fear for their lives. But the central story belongs to a character named Cecil Gaines, a butler at the White House for more than three decades. He is a man for whom dignity is not a characteristic but a way of life, a man who served seven presidents, a man who fought in his own way for change.Besides its powerful storytelling, "The Butler" does something else very important: It displays all that is holy about what journalism can do, what movies should do and what most filmmakers aspire to and rarely achieve. And it uses the American civil rights movement not just as backdrop but as a supporting character, showing the breadth, depth and pain of being treated unequally and what years of suffering look like -- even in silence."It was a black 'Forrest Gump,' " said Daniels, who directed from a Danny Strong script and fought to ensure that the film, unlike other genre treatments, remained centered on the butler and his life through those times. "It was our history. It was American history, and to me, American history is the civil rights movement."Daniels said the cast of A-list actors (including Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Vanessa Redgrave, John Cusack, Robin Williams and Liev Schrieber) didn't do the job for the money.They "are not just actors, celebrities," Daniels said. "They're also political activists in their own way, so they know the truth."And in one of the best seasons for films starring African-American men and African-American stories ("Fruitvale Station," "42," "Black Nativity," "12 Years in Slavery"), "The Butler" is a cut above. I have not and do not expect to see a film this year that is better.The film reflects a series of unearthings.First, Haygood unearthed Eugene Allen, the butler who served eight presidents in the White House, away from the limelight and history. Haygood, in an interview, recalled covering then-Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 and seeing three white girls in tears at a North Carolina stop. "Their fathers did not like that they were supporting this black man, and they said they were defiant," he said. "So they had ultimately judged the man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin. ... I knew he was going to win, and I was determined to find somebody from the era of segregation to tell the story on the day that he won ... a plumber, a painter, somebody dealing with the curtains." Sixty-seven phone calls later, he found Allen. The day after the story was published, 15 movie producers called.Second, Forest Whitaker unearthed a performance that is as spellbinding as it is astonishing, transcending his own existence to live in the bones of the butler. Whitaker told me privately that he ranked this role as his best, just above his Academy Award-winning performance as Idi Amin in "Last King of Scotland," as saxophonist Charlie (Bird) Parker and as a hit man in "Ghost Dog." "There is an intimacy between the president and the butler that is very unique," he said. "People were not allowed to speak about anything that was going on. When you have men of power who have insecurities ... they need to be able to turn to somebody they know won't hurt them. I tried to talk to the butler for so long to get intimate details, and it was the strictest code of any group I've found. I had to go through all these chains. ... Luckily I was able to talk confidentially to a few people. But they see the way the president and his wife discipline their children. They know when the two of them are arguing ... and when the president is making a decision."Third, there is Daniels' stellar charting of the civil rights movement through the eyes of a man who served with dignity, gra儲存e and an ability to bear the transgressions of an America learning to love its whole self. Through his eyes, we watch Lyndon Johnson fighting for voting rights, Richard Nixon battling the very Black Panthers that Gaines' son Louis had joined. Father and son take divergent paths to progress -- Gaines through tradition and Louis through revolution. The real butler, Allen, entered the White House in 1952 as a "pantry man" but became a butler and later maitre d'. The character, beautifully drawn by writer Strong, watches the struggles of black folks while serving the white folks sometimes responsible for those travails.As I sat with a Florida audience at the recent National Association of Black Journalists convention, I sobbed and wondered why I never asked my grandmother: Did someone ever spit on you? She wouldn't have said. She, too, suffered with dignity while making life better for two generations of children.Epic films recount the history of an event, a choice, a war. Others explore the history of a single person. But rarely, if ever, has a film done both so well. The way "Born on the Fourth of July" told the story of a life through war, "The Butler" tells the story of a life through the movement. Unlike "Fourth," I remember every character in "The Butler." Oprah Winfrey is a revelation, no hint of wealth or talk show visible. Cuba Gooding Jr. finally has a role worthy of his talent. What Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave do with essentially walk-on parts is stunning.One of Daniels' great challenges was to make sure that minor characters didn't overshadow the butler or the times. It was easier for him, he said, because it was his life, too."The inside of the Gaines home is all in my head from my grandmother's home and my parents' home, so I sort of knew instinctively what images were on the walls," he said.But Daniels also had to make people relive -- or some, live for the first time -- the hatred of the movement."The hardest scene to shoot was the scene on the bus," he said of an attack on a Freedom Riders bus that is central to the film. "It's always a movie. For me it's not real, it's make believe and cut and action. ... But on the bus we were on a bridge that blacks actually hung from. That was a real place. We're on a bus on a bridge, and I'm inside of the bus with the actors because I like to be close to the actors when I'm working. It's hot in the bus because the bus is old and it doesn't have air-conditioning, and I yell action and all these white hoods come from out of the blue with crosses and Nazis and swastikas and we get intense and they start rocking the bus and shaking the bus and spitting on the bus, and I yell 'Cut!' And they keep going. They keep going because they can't hear me because I'm in the bus. They can't hear me and for a millisecond, just for a millisecond, I thought, 'Oh my God, I know what these kids went through.' I broke down crying."Daniels said he has not spent time watching the film,.but watching people watch the film, including President George Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, who asked him to screen the film for them in Maine."Mrs. Bush was crying ... when they watched some of the atrocities that took place. It was so powerful. Both of them hung their heads, and that was a gift for me, knowing that they felt, and they knew. That was a gift for me."Daniels said that the work -- and the finished product -- also had a profound effect on his own family."Nobody's rougher on me than my family," he said. "I have a 91-year-old uncle, Billy Allison. He was the first pediatric surgeon of color in America. And when he saw this movie, I can't explain to you what it was like. ... I'm watching through his eyes, and it was the biggest gift. He cried from the beginning until the end. He laughed from the beginning until the end. It's his story."At the Florida screening, young people so far removed from Jim Crow laws that they barely study them in school seemed stunned. Two stood at film's end, asking what they could do. Here's an idea: Know that it happened. The movement, the hatred, the deaths, happened. Don't ever forget.And don't let anyone else forget either.The man from Haygood's story and Whitaker's performance and Daniels' direction was real. What is most important is that he lived, and what he lived happened. And it should never happen again.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 Detroit Free Press Visit the Detroit Free Press at .freep.com Distributed by MCT Information Services新蒲崗迷你倉