Scuttlebutt Pipeline

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Retail jobs are on the rise. Retail is one of the largest industry segments today, estimated to currently employ 12 percent of the workforce according to the US Census Bureau. Additionally the retail workforce is growing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the retail workforce is expected to grow by 10 percent over a 10-year span to a total population of 11 million (2004 – 2014). This growth indicates vast opportunities in retail jobs, including retail management jobs, retail sales jobs, retail customer service jobs, retail loss prevention jobs and the list of retail jobs goes on. With all the growth in the retail industry, job seekers who are considering a retail job have the benefit of choice when it comes to the type of store to work in as well as the job. If you or someone you know are looking for a job in retail, check out www.RetailFit.com, an online job board focused exclusively on retail jobs ranging from management, hourly and part time positions from the nation’s top retailers.

Let’s say you have a network of customers, associates, or perhaps a list of other interested people that you desperately want to inform of a new product or promotion that is going on. You could always send them an email. But not everyone has an email address (odd I know), or they didn’t wish to provide an email account to be contacted at. In which case, what do you do then? Even if the email goes through you’ve probably got about a 50-50 chance it might wind up in the spam box or they don’t see it in enough time, if it’s time sensitive.

So email isn’t very reliable, what about doing it the old fashioned way? Well, to be frank, that’s an even riskier option. Sadly enough, the United States Postal Service is not the most reliable. Your mail might get there on time, it might not. It might make it in one piece, and it might not even make it at all. Your odds are probably less than 50-50 here. That’s not even taking into consideration the cost of packaging and mailing your information either. So how does one get their information delivered to interested parties in a manner that conveys the message accurately and will actually reach the intended?

If you’ve found yourself puzzling over these questions you might want to give Vontoo voice messaging a shot. Have no fear, this isn’t a tele-marketing scam. Vonto is a permission-based, voice messaging system that allows you to send audio messages to any home or cell phone number in the United States.

Does this work? Well just ask the Steve and Lisa Roberts of the weekly Plan B Sundays at Belvedere night club in Houston, TX who partnered with the sixth season American Idol Finalist LaKisha Jones to promote their event. Jones, who had quite the Gospel and R&B fanbase in Houston, recorded a voice message for them that was sent out to interested persons. Needless to say, it was a hit. You can read more about this success and others on their site.

NEW YORK - Leona Helmsley, the cutthroat hotel magnate whose title as the “queen of mean” was sealed during a tax evasion case in which she was quoted as snarling “only little people pay taxes,” died Monday at age 87.

Helmsley died of heart failure at her summer home in Greenwich, Conn., said her publicist, Howard Rubenstein.

Already experienced in real estate before her marriage, Helmsley helped her husband Harry run a $5 billion empire that included managing the Empire State Building. She became a household name in 1989 when she was tried for tax evasion. The sensational trial included testimony from disgruntled employees who said she terrorized both the menial and the executive help at her homes and hotels.

That image of Helmsley as the “queen of mean” was sealed when a former housekeeper testified that she heard Helmsley say: “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.”

(Full Article)

Okay, so she wasn’t the nicest of people, that’s a given. But she was still an ideal role model for women of all ages. Why? Because during a time when women were still considered chattel this woman made a name in the finance world. And unlike Ivana Trump, she didn’t do it with her husband’s name and power either, she did this on her own. You have to respect that about her. You may not love Leona Helmsley, hell not many did, but she had a brass pair.

Hey it might take some truly genius (or just really nerdy) people to explain what EMI Shielding and why it is necessary to the unknowing in a manner that anyone can grasp but it’s a no brainer that Europeans and Americans just have to be in on the latest fashions. And in places where labor and materials are cheap it’s a now wonder other countries are cashing in on greedy fashion enthusiasts.

AVISSAWELLA, Sri Lanka (AFP) - The denims look tattered and frayed, but shoppers in Europe and the United States are prepared to pay good money for “distressed” jeans and Sri Lanka is cashing in.

In the industrial town of Avissawella east of the capital Colombo, it takes workers around 13 minutes to cut and sew basic five-pocket denims.

They then spend another four days torturing the pants by dying, bleaching, and sandpapering them to get a “distressed” look.

“Each garment is dyed or dipped around 16 and sometimes as many as 30 times to achieve the proper torn, tattered look,” explains Indrajith Kumarasiri, chief executive of Sri Lanka’s Brandix Denim.

“We earn more money by making denims look dirty and torn, the classic clean look doesn’t bring us much,” Kumarasiri told AFP during a visit to the 10-million dollar plant, which can make over three million pairs of jeans a year.

Basic denim jeans cost around six dollars to make, but the shabbier “premium” ones cost twice as much.

“In many ways, premium denims are replacing the little black dress as the wear-anywhere fashion staple,” he said.

(Full Article)

Hey, I love my jeans. If I can get away with it you can expect to see me in jeans or cargos, that’s a fact of life. But maybe it’s because I can get my jeans faded, ripped, and worn without breaking a sweat, but I’ve never understood the point of shelling out a bucketload of cash for jeans that look “distressed” or “worn”. What the hell for? Give me a pair of jeans and I can get that look for you with no effort what so ever. That said, if I can buy a pair of $16 jeans and rip, fade, stitch, patch, or whatever them myself why would I go and pay $40 for a similar effect? It makes no sense to me which is why I got a kick out of this article. Why did I laugh when I read this? Simple. These people are cashing in on the stupidity of the fashion conscious!