Global retailers exchange ideas amid e-commerce challenges
Over 800 companies from nearly 100 countries and regions gathered here for the annual expo of the U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF), which offers new ideas, perspectives and technologies to global industry insiders.
The NRF 2020 Vision: Retail's Big Show expects to see some 38,000 people, including exhibitors, industry visitors, experts and speakers, pouring into the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan on Jan. 12-14, according to the organizer.
The global retail industry is experiencing a major transformation driven by shoppers' growing expectations for convenience and personalization. As pioneers in reshaping the retail landscape, over a dozen Chinese companies, including Lenovo, Qingdao Hisense, Sumni Tech, and Wintec System, joined the grand show with high-quality hardware facilities and retail solutions designed to enhance modern user experience.
CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella and Kevin Johnson, president and CEO of Starbucks, are among the over 400 speakers invited by the NRF to share their insights and perspectives at more than 100 panels and speeches during the 2020 show.
The event comes at a time when the brick-and-mortar stores are facing mounting challenges due to the expansion of e-commerce. According to Coresight Research, Forever 21, Walgreens, GameStop, Gap and other chains closed over 9,300 stores in 2019, the biggest year ever for store shutdowns in the United States.
Lava and broad columns of ash illuminated by lightning spewed from a volcano south of the Philippine capital on Monday, grounding hundreds of flights as authorities warned of a possible "explosive eruption". Fine grit coated homes and streets across the region surrounding the Taal volcano, which burst to life on Sunday accompanied by a series of earthquakes, forcing at least 10,000 people to seek refuge in evacuation centres.
"You could not sleep anymore, because every time you closed your eyes the house would shake," restaurant owner Lia Monteverde told AFP, saying the quakes came minutes apart.
"All of us didn't sleep at all. We just prepared to leave."
Taal sits in a picturesque lake and is one of the most active volcanoes in a nation where earthquakes and eruptions are a frightening and destructive part of life.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where tectonic plates collide deep below the Earth's surface.
Schools in the region around Taal, some government offices in Manila and the Philippine Stock Exchange were closed as a precaution on Monday.
Dust masks sold out in stores as authorities warned locals that the ash could cause respiratory problems especially in the very young and those with preexisting lung conditions.
Limited flight operations resumed mid-Monday at Manila's main international airport, nearly a day after authorities halted them due to the safety risk volcanic ash poses to planes.
However, travellers booked on over 240 cancelled flights still faced delays at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
"I'm disappointed because this (delay) means additional expense for me and it's tiring to wait," said stranded traveller Joan Diocaras, a 28-year-old Filipino who works in Taiwan.
"But there's nothing we can do."
The eruption began with an explosion of superheated steam and rock, but by early Monday "fountains" of lava had been spotted on Taal, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.
Stunning lightning shows have periodically played out above the volcano in a little-understood phenomenon that is attributed to static electricity.
Authorities raised the volcano alert level to its second-highest on Sunday, saying an "explosive eruption" could happen in "hours to days".
Phivolcs chief Renato Solidum told AFP the lava was evidence of fresh movement in the volcano, but said it was unclear if Taal would "sustain its activity".
Government seismologists recorded magma moving towards the crater of Taal, which is located 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Manila.
Apart from the ash, some particles up to 6.4 centimetres (2.5 inches) in diameter, larger than a golf ball, had reportedly fallen in areas around the lake, Phivolcs said.