Posts by theo@aacs.org.au

M&M’S Australia has unveiled its first local pop-up store at the Australian Open, to celebrate its new multi-year partnership. M&M’S Australia has unveiled a fun, national-first retail activation at the Australian Open (AO), celebrating the brand’s new multi-year partnership as the Official Confectionery Partner of the AO. Taking centre stage within the iconic precinct, M&M’S has launched Australia’s first-ever pop-up M&M’S store – the unofficial eighth store in the brand’s global portfolio. Working with Clemenger BBDO, the colourful, immersive experience has drawn design and creative inspiration from the iconic M&M’S flagship stores in New York, London, and Shanghai. The activation invites fans into a world of colour and fun, featuring interactive installations, limited-edition merchandise, and exclusive M&M’S customisation experiences. Fans can create a digital ‘Ace Shot’ photo, plus create their own personalised mix-and-match M&M’S tube of chocolates. “The Australian Open is the perfect stage for M&M’S to create moments of joy…

Drone deliveries might be going mainstream soon. Wing, a drone delivery venture owned by Google parent Alphabet, has been building its operations since 2012 and its drones have made more than 400,000 deliveries in the U.S., Europe and Australia, reported Yahoo! Finance. The company is “currently testing its services in Texas, Virginia and at a facility in California.” The drones are 4.9 feet wide and 4.3 feet long, fly at around 65 miles per hour and up to 150 feet high. “The fleet rests at charging stations called ‘nests,’ and one flies to a store when an order comes in. The drone, while hovering, lowers a tether so an employee can attach the product inside a box. Then the cord is reeled up and off the drone goes. The orders can be tracked by customers in real time, and the drone lowers its tether and unclips the item once it arrives,” wrote…

Fuel and forecourt retailer Applegreen has agreed a deal to sell its UK petrol filling business to EG On The Move, a UK operator of filling stations and convenience stores. The company said it use the proceeds from the deal to invest in its business in Ireland, the UK and the US. Applegreen’s UK petrol filling station business has 98 sites and employs 1,142 people. The company said that all of the staff employed by the business are expected to transfer to the new owners as part of the transaction, apart from a very small number of workers in functions where there is overlap with the new owner. These employees are either being redeployed or have been offered a redundancy programme. Applegreen said it has been in consultation will all the employees in question in recent weeks. Applegreen said today’s sale does not affect its Welcome Break business in the…

TOKYO — Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. expects its planned organizational restructuring to yield better results following the “turnaround year” of 2024, executives of 7-Eleven Inc.’s parent company shared during its recent earnings call. The international retailer expects to complete initiatives to streamline low-profit businesses and assets during the current fiscal year, setting it up for profit growth in 2025 and beyond as well as expansion in the North American c-store channel, according to Chief Financial Officer and Managing Executive Officer Yoshimichi Maruyama. In October, Seven & i announced it would split into two businesses: one focused on 7-Eleven, other convenience stores and gas stations, and one consisting of a collection of 31 less profitable retail operations. It also stated its intention to close 444 underperforming convenience stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico. “The optimization of the group structure aimed at maximizing corporate and shareholder value is steadily progressing,” Maruyama said.…

As we usher in the new year, businesses across the country face a significant shift in their payroll responsibilities. As of 1 January 2025, it is now a criminal offence for employers to intentionally underpay their employees. The changes have come into effect following the passage of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023 and the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024. Payroll management has been thrust into the spotlight and what may have been once considered an administrative oversight could now lead to significant consequences for employers including imprisonment, increased civil penalties, and reputational damage. This is a timely reminder for businesses to meticulously review their payroll practices and address any discrepancies to avoid breaching these new regulations. The offence Under the Closing Loopholes legislation, an offence will be committed where: It must be proven that the employer intentionally engaged in the conduct, and underpayments which are accidental,…

The balcony of Zuber Issa’s private meeting room offers views over a glassy expanse of water to snow-dusted hills in the distance. “When it’s like this, it’s Switzerland,” the billionaire entrepreneur said as he pointed out landmarks to The Sunday Times on Wednesday. “On a good, sunny day, it’s like the Middle East somewhere.” But this is not Zug or Dubai. It is Blackburn, with the Darwen Tower — built in 1898 to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee — visible across the Fishmoor reservoir, and the Blackpool Tower shrouded in winter mist. Perhaps more remarkable is that Zuber’s brother, Mohsin, works from the same building. After a shared boy-racer career of more than two decades, which took them from a single petrol station in Bury to a global forecourts empire and a debt-fuelled takeover of Asda, Zuber parted ways professionally from his elder sibling in June last year. Mohsin, described by…