SBWire

Over the course of two decades, the number of global natural disasters had exceptionally tripled causing thousands of lives perished in a single blow. Back in the 80’s, there were around 120 large natural disasters per year. Fast forward today, this figure is multiplied by 5. In 2012, the world witnessed how Hurricane Sandy wiped away towns and cities amounting to a total loss of about $28.2 billion, combining private insurers and government-sponsored programs with approximately $65 billion worth of economic loss between the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. A year ago, about 84 percent of economic losses happened outside of the United States including Typhoon Haiyan, who demonstrated the real and ever-present potential for large-scale destruction, damaging the Philippines, Vietnam and China. Floods hitting India and Nepal in June resulted in 6,748 deaths, while an earthquake in Pakistan killed 825 individual in September. The most expensive event all year was a series of floods in Central Europe, which cost a total of $22 billion in economic losses. Extreme unpredictable weather conditions not only took lives but bore economic holes even to highly-developed nations with technologically advanced weather facilities.

Thanks to ongoing metro construction in large cities, vending registered a 12% increase in current value sales in 2013. This represents slightly higher growth than in 2012. Companies surveyed in this study state that vending machines are mostly located in metro stations, where huge flow of people and comparatively low operating costs contributed to growing popularity over the review period. For example, at the end of 2012, new metro lines, such as Line 14 in Beijing and Line 1 in Wuhan, were...

The current economic conditions in Belarus and the prolonged recession which followed the strong crisis year of 2011 have affected all segments of the economy in Belarus. Aside from the economic conditions, the development of retailing as a whole was hampered by the still low disposable incomes of the majority of the population after the devaluation of the national currency by almost three times in 2011. However, retailing in Belarus continues to develop rapidly due to the low per capita number...

2013 was an even more difficult year for every grocery retailers category in Hungary as previously passed unfavourable government regulations remained in effect, while new ones were passed. The higher taxes which were levied on retailers and the Plaza Stop Act remained in effect, while new higher rates of road tax made transportation more expensive as transportation companies were forced to meet the higher cost of this tax in proportion to the distance their respective fleets travel. Meanwhile,...

Returning consumer confidence led to the strong performance of non-grocery retailers in 2013 as sales continued to increase. The expansion of non-grocery retailers was not unexpected amongst retailers, whose firm belief in the market and sizeable investment in either the opening or renovation of outlets played a large part in the good performance of the area. Companies appear to be much more adapted to the new operating environment. In addition, the fact players are investing in increasing the...

The ongoing worsening economic situation brought certain changes to consumers' thinking and their shopping behaviour in relation to grocery retailers in the Czech Republic at the end of the review period. Firstly, as Czechs started to economise more and reduce their expenditure, they decreased their purchases of grocery products in volume terms. Due to more economical shopping for grocery products, sales began to decrease in volume terms in 2011 and this trend persisted into 2013 in the...

The government initiative to reduce the number of vending machines operating in Hungary without any contact details for the operators was successful towards the end of the review period. This campaign was a major step both for the operators of vending machines in the country and for consumers as it made vending more transparent in general and the operators in the channel more accountable.

Over the latter part of the review period Guatemala's economy recovered from the worldwide economic downturn and became more stable. Remittances from the United States increased, which is still the most important driver of wealth in the country. Consumer confidence also increased, along with disposable incomes, which ultimately are spent in the retail channel. Each of these factors resulted in surging retail value growth in retailing in 2013, which, given consumers' expanding purchasing power,...

In 2013, homeshopping continued to register a significant decline in current value sales, attributable mainly to increasingly-stronger competition from internet retailing and also partially from store-based retailing. Moreover, homeshopping also suffered from a reduction in consumer expenditure in reaction to the worsening economic situation in the country towards the end of the review period and also from the departure of some formerly-successful homeshopping retailers, such as Quelle spol and...

Save up to 45% on energy costs with Roman and Sons window replacements this spring. It’s never too late for homeowners to replace windows and protect their homes during the spring months. Fiberglass windows are a superior choice because of their durability and energy efficiency. Order fiberglass windows now in Willow Grove, Bucks County, Paoli, Blue Bell, and Richboro to save money, raise home value, and decrease environmental impact.

Struts has earlier launched its new set of 1920s fancy dress collection. The collection includes various dresses with different motifs such as molls, gangsters, flapper accessories and fancy costumes for men and children from that period.

Urban Outfitter, Inc. owns and runs more than 400 retail stores with 5 major retail brands, including Urban Outfitters, BHLDN, Anthropologie, Free People, and Terrain. Their clothing, footwear and accessories, and houseware product range has gradually evolved from classic and retro style to include designer collaborations and luxury brands.

Edinburgh based Kitchen & Bathroom specialists Fair Price Kitchens & Bathrooms today announced that they are set to extend their local showroom within the next few weeks and invite local residents along to their opening day due to be announced soon.

Countless online storefronts these days are offering clothing as well as accessories for both men as well as women. In order to find the best clothing stores online, individuals are highly recommended to indulge in some online research beforehand. Lifestylefashionstore.com is one of the most well-known and notable online stores that are now offering ethnic Indian dresses for women at the most reasonable prices.

Eyelashes can significantly enhance the beauty of a woman. This is the reason why there is a great demand of false eyelashes among the gorgeous women across the world. Now, one can choose from a great range of eyelash designs available with Love Biz. The leading eyelash extension supplier offers the best quality eyelashes made of 100% human hair and ships them to the global shoppers at cost-effective prices and with free shipping.

Work Style Magazine Italy is an international publication distributed in 35 countries. The publication selected and reviewed 150 of the world's leading necktie companies to determine who are the finest in the world. Over a few months, the ties were reviewed by a jury of executives and collaborators who narrowed the esteemed list to the top 18 in the world.

Bespoke Furniture, well-known for its designer and custom made furniture collection, enriched its products range further by introducing premium quality, handcrafted, custom built and 100% recycled Timber Furniture in Melbourne. Customers will find a variety of timber furniture in the best condition and every piece has a unique story, incident or history associated with it. At Bespoke Furniture’s recycled timber along with first-rate reclaimed hardwoods, assortment includes Ironbark, Abura, Black Heart Sassafras, Victorian Ash, Tasmanian Oak and Tasmanian Blackwood.

The popularity of shopping malls, which local consumers find more attractive than department stores, is due to their comfortable environment and wide choice of restaurants. Thus apparel and footwear specialist retailers expanded their distribution in shopping malls, while opening outlets in city centres. In 2013, sports retailers like Anta (China) Co Ltd and Li Ning Co Ltd continued to lose retail value shares. This was partly due to higher storage requirements, while fast fashion retailers...

Such rapid growth as recorded in the previous two years was not seen in 2013 as a result of stabilised economic improvement and an already relatively high basis from previous years. Growth in retailing is dependent on the economic situation in Estonia, which, in turn, depends on the European and global economic conditions. Retailers had to cope with the increase of operating costs, which was reflected in the prices. Therefore, consumers remained relatively cautious as they also face rising...

Health and beauty specialist retailers registered growth of 1% in current terms in 2013, which was a slight improvement on 2012 and similar to the review period current CAGR. Although Czech consumers continued in their restrained attitude towards shopping due to the ongoing economic difficulties in 2013, health and beauty specialist retailers benefited from the relatively-good performances of chemists/pharmacies and drugstores/parapharmacies in 2013, which both continued with current value...

MarketLine's Company Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Partnerships & Alliances and Investments reports offer a comprehensive breakdown of the organic and inorganic growth activity undertaken by an organization to sustain its competitive advantage.

In 2013, eight new companies received direct selling licenses from the government. Thus, the total number of direct sellers rose to 41 by the end of December. The new players are: Guangdong Jiuji Biotech Co Ltd; QuanJian Natural Medicine Science and Technology Development Co Ltd; Shenzhen Vigor Technology Group; Ten Fu Ten Max (Xiamen) Biotechnology Co Ltd; Synsun Health Industry Co Ltd; Tianjin Kangting Bioengineering Co Ltd; Shanghai Spring Town Biotechnology Co Ltd; and Merro International...

Canadean's, Music, Video and Entertainment Software Retailing in the United Kingdom: Databook to 2017 contains detailed historic and forecast retail sales values, segmented at a category level. The report takes into account macroeconomic indicators and industry-specific drivers to provide data that helps companies in the Retailing industry better understand the changes in their environment, seize opportunities and formulate crucial business strategies.

Electronics and appliance specialist retailers were the weakest-performing major category in 2013, with a value sales decrease of 5% in current terms. Besides the fact that Czech consumers reduced their purchases of non-essential and expensive products, this negative performance was also strongly influenced by the continuing shift of purchases of consumer electronics and appliance products from store-based outlets to internet shops in the Czech Republic in 2013. In addition, value sales of...

Canadean's, Sports and Leisure Equipment Retailing in Norway: Databook to 2017 contains detailed historic and forecast retail sales values, segmented at a category level. The report takes into account macroeconomic indicators and industry-specific drivers to provide data that helps companies in the Retailing industry better understand the changes in their environment, seize opportunities and formulate crucial business strategies.