- by Owen Stuart
- November 29 2018
- consumer goods
Turning the Tables on the Furniture Industry
Long dominated by a single business model, the furniture market is getting shaken up by challengers using a variety of strategies to attract new customers. Three trends are disrupting the furniture industry, giving startups a chance to break into the market. However, established furniture manufacturers aren’t just couch potatoes – they’ve got some strategies of their own to compete in the rapidly changing retail space.
- by Chris Dyer
- October 19 2018
- e-shopping
- home
- online retail
Online Shopping Brings Bed & Bath Furnishings Closer to Home
The impact of online shopping on brick and mortar retailers is becoming more pronounced as consumers grow increasingly comfortable making purchases from the comfort of home – including purchases of bed and bath furnishings.
- by James Lacy
- October 17 2018
- Materials & Chemicals
Polypropylene Resin Continues to Improve Due to Reinforcements
Suppliers of polypropylene resins and compounds continue to invest in compounding and processing improvements to boost the resin’s competitiveness with alternative materials such as steel and aluminum. The addition of reinforcement materials (e.g., glass and carbon fibers) increase the resin’s impact resistance and strength, while also offering the weight reduction and corrosion resistance advantages plastics have over metals
- by Chris Dyer
- October 15 2018
- coal
- Energy & Resources
The Smoldering Remains of American Coal
Coal production in the US continues to fall year-over-year, despite the best efforts of the current administration to end the “war on coal” and efforts by industry insiders to maintain market share. Even with relaxed environmental standards, demand for coal is falling precipitously. If environmental regulations are not responsible for killing coal, what is?
- by Owen Stuart
- October 15 2018
- food
Canned Food Companies Reevaluate Strategies as Sales Stagnate
The canned food industry seems to have opened a can of worms. Long a staple of consumer diets, canned food has fallen out of favor with consumers, with more consumers valuing fresh, healthy food made without packaging. For example, several major canned food companies saw revenues decline in the first half of 2018. Furthermore, Campbell canned its CEO due to a precipitous drop in sales. So what happened? How did canned food get left off of consumers’ plates? And what are companies doing to respond?
- by Chris Dyer
- September 18 2018
- food
- gluten free
- grains
Mapping the Way to Better Bread
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Gluten has been in the news frequently in the past few years, and people increasingly avoid it due to allergies and various dietary trends that seek to limit gluten intake. A new breakthrough has been made in cracking the wheat genome – a code over five times more complex than the human genome. Can the development help fulfill consumer desires for better-tasting, better-for-you wheat products, including gluten-free options?
- by Owen Stuart
- September 18 2018
- food and beverage
- food labels
- GMOs
- Non-GMO
Food Fight: Businesses, Consumers, & Advocacy Groups Square Off Over GMO Labeling
The battle over the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the US food supply has raged on for years. The fight pits advocacy groups, such as Just Label It and The Center for Food Safety, against major crop and food producers such as Monsanto and PepsiCo. Advocacy groups argue that consumers have a right to know. Industry groups opine that two decades of research has suggested GMOs are safe and thus labels are unnecessary and will scare consumers.
- by Leon Mengri
- September 18 2018
- consumer goods
Toaster Ovens: The Small Kitchen Appliance That Could
Consumers showed an increasing preference for toaster ovens – not to be confused with toasters – over the 2007-2017 period due to the convenience they provide in meal preparation. The affordability of these products also supports sales, as does the wide variety of top rated products with useful features.
- by Leon Mengri
- September 18 2018
- services & miscellaneous
- technology
Mass Transit Investment Grows as High-Tech Solutions Fall Short
The 2007-2009 recession inflicted massive damage to state and local government budgets and hampered investments in mass transit across the US. At the same time, the launch of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber Technologies in 2010 and later Lyft, the potential of hyperloops, and promises of self-driving cars gave many public officials hope that the problems of urban transportation could be solved by technology. However, small and large hiccups along the way have shown that technological solutions could take much longer and deliver relatively limited solutions towards fixing the ailing transportation systems of many US cities.
- by Chris Dyer
- September 17 2018
- gambling
Are States Ready to Gamble on eSports?
With the recent federal decision to allow sports betting, states are leaping at the opportunity to seize their share of the legal take. eSports – the competitive play of video games – is set to be the next sports gambling opportunity. Are states and those in the gambling industry ready?