Katie Bryan

My friend Charles from England has just go to page one on google.co.uk a few days ago for his beer website and it didn’t cost him anything to get there. But, now he’s in a 6 month contract where he is paying £400 a month to keep his rankings. Its a service offered by a company called re-route.co.uk. The £400 a month is pretty good value as far as i’m concerned. Most SEO companies will charge £200 a day with no guarantee of results. So you would probably pay a standard SEO company the same as you would pay re-route.co.uk for one year of being on page one. But with the standard SEO company, you would have no guarantee of ever getting there. Well done re-route.co.uk.

H&M has signed an agreement to acquire the privately owned Swedish fashion company Fabric Scandinavien AB that is running the store chains Weekday and Monki. The Group also designs and sells fashion through a number of own brands, such as Cheap Monday. The turnover for the ï¬nancial year 2007–8 is expected to reach approximately SKr 400 million. The company will be run as a stand-alone subsidiary within the H&M Group. 
   ‘We have been impressed by Fabric Scandinavien’s development for a long time and we see a potential to develop stores and concepts in other markets. By working together we can accelerate the growth further. We can also do it in a more efï¬cient manner by drawing on H&M’s experience and knowledge of, for example, production, logistics and establishment,’ says H&M CEO Rolf Eriksen.
   ‘H&M is a fantastic company and we have found that we share the same values. Together with H&M we will have better opportunities to truly develop our ideas within fashion and design. H&M’s knowledge of for instance production and international expansion will be extremely valuable to us,’ says Fabric Scandinavien CEO Lars Karlsson. 
    The subsidiary Weekday Brands designs, produces and runs wholesale selling of young fashion. Its largest own brand is Cheap Monday, primarily a denim line. The idea behind Cheap Monday is fashion at good prices, something that goes well with H&M’s business idea; fashion and quality at the best price. Cheap Monday is sold in more than 1,000 stores globally. Among the brands are also MTWTFSS Weekday and Sunday Sun. 
   The store chain Weekday is an urban unisex concept with a total of six stores in Stockholm, Uppsala, Göteborg and Malmö. In March the ï¬rst store will open outside Sweden in København, Denmark.
   Monki is a store concept and an own brand for young females. Since the start in Göteborg in 2006 Monki has expanded to Stockholm, Uppsala, Malmö, Karlstad, Sundsvall and Norrköping, amounting to a total of 12 stores.  
   H&M acquires 60 per cent of the shares in Fabric Scandinavien for SKr 564 million in cash. Sellers are the founders Adam Friberg, Lars Karlsson, Örjan Andersson and Linda Friberg. They will all continue to work within the company. In connection with the transaction the parties entered into agreement according to which H&M has the possibility or obligation to acquire the remaining shares in the company within three to ï¬ve years. The total turnover of the Group’s business was approximately SKr 250 million during the ï¬nancial year 2006–7, with an operating result of SKr 67 million. The expected turnover for the ï¬nancial year 2007–8 is approximately SKr 400 million with continued good proï¬tability. The employment conditions for the 300 employees will not change as a result of the transaction. 
   The transaction is conditioned by acceptance of relevant competition authorities. SEB Enskilda has acted as ï¬nancial adviser to H&M in connection with the acquisition. 

Some odds and ends from the last few weeks on the site that we might not have mentioned at ‘Insider’:

• Levi’s broadcasts in colour: the autumn–winter 2008 denim range;
• Sugarluxe’s high gloss: Chandra Michaels, the artist behind hot luxury brand Sugarluxe, held a trunk show at Austin’s beautiful Blanton Museum of Art;
• Talking Man to Man: for men and women, Man to Man is Wellington’s destination for Hugo Boss.

More updates to come …

With the reopening of the Elizabeth Arden flagship store on Thursday, the company is retailing its famous Eight-Hour Cream for US$5 for Friday and this weekend at that one location. Read more in our article, including Catherine Zeta-Jones’s ribbon-cutting—or head to 691 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York.

Trying to find a cool retail job, that suits your interests? Check out WorkInRetail.com, an online job board focused exclusively on connecting retail job seekers with job openings from the nation’s top retailers. Whether you are into furniture, cosmetics, cars, books or sporting goods, WorkInRetail.com has job options in your local area. It is easy to search for retail jobs, ranging from hourly to management to corporate positions. What’s even better is that you can apply to most of these jobs online in a matter of minutes, saving you valuable time.

Ruakaka is a small community North of Auckland in New Zealand. This article was printed by Marilyn Cox in the local Bream Bay News.  Ruakaka’s four Merry Widows have returned home just in time for Christmas after a 28 day trip to Vietnam and Cambodia.

“The flooding in Northern Vietnam made holidaying a little different but we coped very well and it can be fun wandering around a busy city in water up to your kneesâ€, said Merry Widow Maureen Moody

The flooded city was Hue in central Vietnam on the banks of the Hu’ong River. “We were taken on a tour of the citadel and forbidden city and got very wet, handbags the lot. Taxis wouldn’t take us (in this state) so we walked 20 minutes in the heavy rain back to the hotel. It was quite fun and really not cold,â€

Maureen said the trip had many highlights, but an overnight trip on a boat in Halong Bay in the north, going to the mountain top to see the views and the sunset by motorbike at Chau Doc near the border between Vietnam and Cambodia, travelling by boat up the Mekong Delta, and visiting the ancient temples of Angkor Watt were some of the most memorable.

Anne Hines, Maureen Moody, Margaret Heywood and Colleen Hogan, all members of Bream Bay’s 60s Up Club, teamed up three years ago for a trip to North America. Last year they went on safari in Africa.
Maureen said the four have no plans for 2008 yet although two of them are interested in a 60s Up trip visiting all the 60s Up clubs between Auckland and Invercargill in March.

I hit the big 40 a few week ago and decided it is finally time for this up tight Christian girl to get jiggy with it, so I went to my first swingers party where I broke the mould and did it on my first night. I went with my good girlfriend, Karen who was lucky enough to hook up with a hung stud. I’m hoping I can get my mits on him next time. Karen also recommended that if I want to loosen up sexually I should consider indulging in the pleasures of anal sex. She recommended I check out online sex toys specialist, Theatons Adult Toys. I was spoilt for choise by Theatons, but I ended up buying a 9 inch brute from their dildos range, a 7 inch vibrator and a sex swing. I think after a few more vists to Theatons I will be ready for my own swing party

Stay tuned for futher sexual endavours of Katie Bryan!

Stephen Hartshorne GoNOMAD Associate Editor  writes…  Read whole article

“Look at me, look at me, look at me now,” says The Cat in the Hat. “It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how.”

Designing a great tour requires a thorough knowledge of the country you’re visiting, its history, its traditions, its way of life, and what it is about it that makes people ‘click’.

You have to know where the best historic and cultural sites are, and the most enjoyable activities. And you have to know the best inns and restaurants and how to connect with the locals.

A truly great tour requires flexibility and there has to be a balance of scheduled activities and down time. And you have to know the tastes and preferences of your clientele.

But above all you need to know how to have fun, and as the Cat in the Hat points out, that takes an expert.

Ins and Outs

To learn some of the ins and outs of tour design, GoNOMAD spoke with one of the acknowleged masters of the art, Yolanta Barnes of Sights and Soul Travel.

Community Marketing Inc have finally done what few others have and identified the lesbian market as a market in its own right. I have argued for years that lesbian travellers require a different marketting approach and are often more comfortable being with women than with gay men.

Read more