The things I do for Charity ……. Bitbuzz Movember !
During November myself and all the guys at Bitbuzz will be taking part in Movember. We will be donating a % of our Wi-Fi voucher sales to the great cause !
Here’s how it works
At the start of Movember guys register with a clean shaven face. The Movember participants known as Mo Bros then have the remainder of the month to grow and groom their Mo (slang for moustache) and along the way raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues – specifically prostate cancer.
Movember culminates at the end of the month at the Gala Partés. These glamorous and groomed events will see Tom Selleck, Hulk Hogan and Borat look-a-likes battle it out for their chance to take home the prestigious Man of Movember title.
While growing a Mo (moustache) is left to the guys, Mo Sistas (ladies who support their guys or love Mo’s!) form an important part of Movember by recruiting Mo Bros, helping to raise funds and attending the highly anticipated Gala Partés.
But it’s not all fun and games, so why the extreme behavior?
Which ever way we look at it, men are far less healthy than women. The average life expectancy for men is five years less than females.
The obvious question is why?
The answer is because men lack awareness about the very real health issue they face, have an attitude that they have to be tough – “a real man” and are reluctant to see a doctor about an illness or to go for regular medical checks.
The aim of Movember is to change these attitudes, make male health fun by putting the Mo (moustache) back on the face of fashion and in the process raise some serious funds for men’s health issues.
Now ! Anyone that knows me, knows I have the wierdest sparatic hair growing patterns so……… wish me luck !! Pics to follow !!
Russell
Oh Dear Kanye
Don’t think you are going to live this one down in a hurry Kanye, best think before you speak in future !
Drums please !
Its far to sunny to be thinking about sensible things to put on the blog this week, I have been working on some great events coming up soon…….
In the meantime, play it loud and play it proud………
Will Smith – Summertime !
I thought Wellworths closed down ….. Woolworths rebranding as Wellworths
If you grew up in Northern Ireland then you might be a bit confused at the news recently of an ex-woolworths store manager in England who rather than close her shop chose to re-brand it and set up her own business Wellworths ….
Wait a minute, I know this name ………… I grew up shopping in Wellworths ! For those of you that are slighty confused by what I am harping on about.
Wellworths (FA Wellworth & Co. Ltd.) was a supermarket owned by the Fitzwilton Group trading in Northern Ireland until 1997. Along with Stewarts/Crazy Prices it was one of the two main supermarkets in Northern Ireland until English-based retailers moved into the marketplace – Stewarts/Crazy Prices was acquired by Tesco while Sainsbury’s built nine new stores.
Wellworths was split in two. Smaller stores were wholly acquired by the Musgrave Group in 1997 and traded as Wellworths-Supervalu for a time. The Wellworths name was eventually dropped and these stores now trade as ‘Supervalu‘, part of an all-Ireland chain.
Larger Wellworths stores were acquired by Safeway Stores (Ireland), a joint venture between the Fitzwilton Group and Safeway. They operated from 1997 to 2005 under the Safeway name.
In March 2004, Safeway Stores (Ireland) was acquired by Morrisons when Morrisons bought Safeway. The Northern Ireland stores were not part of Morrisons’ long-term strategy and traded under the Morrison name for a limited time. Despite continuing to trade as Safeway, own-brand products and carrier bags were supplied by Morrisons. Safeway Stores (Ireland) was acquired by Asda in 2005 and now operates under the Asda name.
I have found memories of visiting Wellworths as a child and seeing someone in England opening a store with the same name brought back found memories.
But why has she done it ? Woolworth failed in a blaze of glory !! Well yes it did because nationally the business model did not work, but it Dorchester – there is no direct competitors so this store always turned a profit. Claire Robertson the ex store manager and new owner knows the staff and knows what the locals want, she is a general retailer like the old general stores of day’s gone by.
She is and this is what retailing is all about, good luck to her !
Retail Trouble in 2009 – the retailers that will face problems in 2009
I know I promised this post on 1st Jan, what can I say, its been a busy year so far !
Retail in 2009 is going to be one of the worst years in the history of retail. We have already seen the failure of big household brands like Zavvi, Woolworths, Whitards, Adams, Viyella, Waterford, Wedgewood and The Officers club.
I predict that the following companies will fall on hard time in 2009.
Arcadia Group – BHS, Topshop, Topman, D Perkins and Burtons. BHS has seen poor trading figures for 3 Decembers in a row now. Topshop, Topman, D Perkins and Burtons all sell what I consider to be ‘higher end’ clothes which people have almost stopped purchasing on a regular basis, opting for cheaper stores like primark and saving stores like Burton etc for that few and far between special occassion.
JJB Sports – Another company that has seen its fair share of problems over the years, with more people either buying online or holding off on new sports equipment, JJB could see further major problems in 2009. JJB has recently announced that in 2008 they made a loss of 10 Million – the writing is on the wall I fear !
The fashion chains Principles, Oasis, Karen Millen and Warehouse – all owned by Mosaic – have had an emergency restructuring team sent in from Deloitte. The stores employ about 5,000 staff whose jobs will be at risk unless a new lender is found to refinance the business.
Golf Retailers – These are usually independently ran, with a down turn in people spending money – I feel that existing golfers will ‘make do’ with their current clubs and new people to the sport, might not bother at all !
River Island, Again a high end retailer with people dropping down a budget rung, people may find River Islands pricing just abit to steep !
Marks and Spencer – Will have to fight hard to hold on to their current status this year with hostile take overs a huge possibility ! Click here for more on this.
Phones 4u – Sold in 2007 by John Caldwell for over £700 million to a group of hungry investors let by management – The American power house that turned Eircom upside down will be wondering if, when and how they are going to see a return, they have already removed around £4Million worth of management – more to come I fear !
Next, is another british institution but its another woolworths in the making – since 2005 it has struggled to keep its head above water with profit warning left and right. I don’t think this is a brand that will disappear but 2009 will definatly be a struggle with well paid staff, falling sales and high rent !
Thomas Cook – Package holidays are the last thing on people’s mind this year, with the bulk of job losses in England and the bulk of thomas cooks business in England – It all adds up to an unhealthy recipe !
But ….. Its not all doom and gloom, amounst the fear and loathing some retailer’s will actually do fantastically this year !
Primark – have just annouched fantastic trading figures, as have Lidl and Adli, these cheaper brands with just as much quality are all part of what money experts are promoting ! Drop down a budget level ! Very little people sell clothes as good as primark as cheaply as primark so it appears that being on the bottom rung of the ‘retail chain’ is definatly the best place to be !
Happy new year
I trust you all had a great Christmas and enjoy the passing of another year!
Happy New Year !!
Lets raise a glass to 2009 !!!
Irish Blog Awards
Nominations are now being taken for this years Irish Blog awards.
What else can I say ?
Rusky Links #1
Swiss Banks : Storing Natzi treasures since 1934
Registration for Blog Awards open
The UK are having a closing down sale
eXtremescouting.co.uk get a new blog
The Gardian recommends new sites for 2009
Gordon Brown claims he saved the world
Kai plays with createing HHO
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