Market Newsdesk

HOUSTON, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Conn’s, Inc. (NASDAQ: CONN), specialty retailer of furniture, mattresses, home appliances and consumer electronics, announces expansion into the Tampa market, opening two new area Conn’s HomePlus showrooms this year.

Located in Tampa’s Horizon Park shopping center at 3908 W. Hillsborough Avenue and in Bradenton’sCortez Plaza shopping center at 4495 14th Street W., both stores will open doors to shoppers on Friday, Feb. 5, with a grand opening event celebration scheduled for this spring. The two stores mark Florida’s second and third Conn’s HomePlus showrooms, bringing total operating units to 149 locations across 15 states. The Florida expansion continues with the opening of the Lakeland distribution center this January.

“As we expand the Conn’s HomePlus footprint, we are excited to increase our presence in the Sunshine State,” said Norm Miller, Conn’s HomePlus Chairman and CEO. “The expansion planned throughout the state will open more opportunities to positively impact the customers and communities we serve, while solidifying our commitment in Florida.”

Offering area-residents an alternative for affordable home goods shopping, the new Conn’s HomePlus™ showrooms boast more than 87,000 square feet combined and showcase a variety of furniture, mattresses, top-of-the-line appliances, consumer electronics and home office products. Shoppers can also take advantage of the Conn’s Low Payment Finder, offering flexible payment plans tailored to individual needs. Whether customers have good credit, no credit or are working toward a specific credit goal, they can Make it Happen with Conn’s HomePlus.

For more information on Conn’s HomePlus, please visit http://www.conns.com.

About Conn’s, Inc.

Conn’s HomePlus is a specialty retailer currently operating 145+ retail locations in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

The Company’s primary product categories include:

• Furniture and mattress, including furniture and related accessories for the living room, dining room and bedroom, as well as traditional and specialty mattresses;
• Home appliance, including refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, dishwashers and ranges;
• Consumer electronics, including LED, OLED, QLED, Ultra HD, and internet-ready televisions, gaming consoles, home theater and portable audio equipment;
• Home office, including computers, printers and accessories; and
• At-home fitness equipment, including treadmills, ellipticals and studio cycles.

Additionally, Conn’s HomePlus offers a variety of products on a seasonal basis. Unlike many of its competitors, Conn’s HomePlus provides flexible in-house credit options for its customers in addition to third-party financing programs and third-party lease-to-own payment plans.

The Zimmerman Agency
[email protected], 850-668-2222

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SOURCE Conn’s HomePlus

NEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Last year brought unprecedented changes to Americans’ daily lives, with large gatherings restricted, travel plans on hold and more time spent at home than ever before. The question at hand; how will these changes impact consumer food habits in both the short and long term?

Today, HUNTER, a leading food and beverage public relations and marketing communications consultancy, issues findings from Wave Two of its Food Study Special Report which was fielded in December 2020. It follows Wave One, released in April 2020, which explored how these new circumstances were beginning to impact Americans’ food preferences and behaviors.

This second wave study assesses how attitudes and behaviors regarding purchasing, preparing and consuming food have evolved nine months into the pandemic (December 2020) as compared to at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis (April 2020), giving us a lens into which of these habits are likely to continue into the new year and beyond. For the HUNTER Food Study Special Report Wave Two: America Keeps on Cooking, two proprietary custom surveys were fielded, each to 1032 American adults¹  with basic information captured in part one and deeper underlying motivations explored in part two. 

Now nine months further into pandemic conditions, many of the findings in Wave Two are consistent with the April learnings, while some patterns have intensified and others have begun to moderate back toward pre-COVID levels. Few findings from Wave One shifted in an entirely different direction. These results offer a glimpse into the consumer behaviors that are likely to persist in the future, as well as those that were short-term changes in direct response to the pandemic environment.

“The study results gave us some interesting data to consider as we enter into a new year and endeavor to predict how it will unfold,” said Heddy DeMaria, chief insights officer at HUNTER. “As restrictions from the pandemic remain in place, it’s inspiring to see how resilient Americans have become. They continue to channel their energies into the kitchen, adopting habits that bring joy, spark creativity and strengthen family bonds. As we eagerly look forward to a post-COVID era, the data suggests these new habits will stick around and become part of our new normal.”

Top findings include:

Bubbling Over: Americans Continue Cooking More, Leading to Increased Confidence and Creativity in the Kitchen
Nine months in to the COVID-19 pandemic, results from the Hunter Food Study Special Report Wave Two: America Keeps on Cooking, show that Americans are continuing to cook more (51%) and bake more (41%) than they did at the same time last year. Plus, the vast majority (71%) of those who are cooking more intend to continue doing so after the pandemic ends, a 20-point increase since April 2020. When asked, respondents continue to cite saving money (67%), eating healthier (56%) and feeling good (56%) as leading motivators for their at-home cooking habit. Those cooking more at home also report increased confidence in their abilities (50%) while another quarter of consumers say they are learning more and building greater confidence. As home cooks get more comfortable in the kitchen, they’re also getting more creative. An increasing number of respondents report branching out to try new ingredients (47%), brands and products (52%) and many continue to rediscover old favorites (24% ingredients, 16% brands and products).

Steady Simmer: The Joy of Preparing and Sharing Meals Persists
Despite anecdotal evidence of pandemic cooking fatigue and baking burnout, Wave Two of the HUNTER Food Study Special Report demonstrates that these activities remain a source of joy for consumers. More than three quarters of survey respondents that are cooking more say that they find enjoyment in cooking (81%), an eight-point increase over the Wave One / April 2020 findings. From artisan breads to Christmas cookies, baking is also a source of pleasure, with 51% of those surveyed claiming they enjoy the activity now more than ever before. As many cooks can attest and the data shows, home cooking also helps brings families together. 45% of consumers report eating together more as a family and the number climbs to 55% among households with kids.

Flashes in the Pan: Food Waste Prevention and Propensities for both Healthy and Indulgent Foods Still High but Swing Slightly Back Towards Pre-Pandemic Levels
While the pandemic has impacted many consumer habits, it appears not all will continue with sustained intensity in a post COVID-19 world. Data shows that while many Americans are wasting less food (42%) than pre COVID-19, this number is significantly down (-16 points) since April, which may be attributed to American’s response to the decreased threat of food shortages. A similar shift took place with regard to consumers’ consumption patterns. Although, one third of Americans claim to be eating more healthy foods and about the same claim to be eating more indulgent foods as compared to the same time last year (December 2019), more than half of respondents (56%) report that their healthy/indulgent food consumption is similar to pre-COVID levels, a 14-point increase since April which suggests we are moderating over time back to pre-COVID consumption patterns.

Table for One: Snacks and Spirits Consumption on the Rise in Single Member Households
Wave One / April 2020 learnings suggested households with kids were initially the most challenged with change – showing the greatest increase in snacking, drinking alcoholic beverages and gaining the most weight.  Latest learnings, however, suggest this has reversed, as these households are starting to moderate back to pre-COVID levels, while single member households are starting to show the biggest uptick in all of these factors.  It appears, single member households are most likely to be navigating increasingly stressful circumstances, as 35% claim money is tighter than ever before (vs. 30% average), 16% are likely to have someone in their household lose a job (vs. 13% average) and 14% have moved to a new home (vs. 10% average). At the same time, this group reports snacking more (43%), consuming more alcohol (20%) and gaining more weight (38%).

Can I Get A Box for That? Takeout and Delivery See Major Surge After April Decline
With the restaurant industry facing perhaps its most challenging year ever, it may be heartening to learn that takeout and delivery orders are up significantly when compared to the onset of the pandemic.  Forty percent of Americans are now claiming to order more takeout and delivery versus the same time last year and only 20% are doing so less, resulting in a net increase of 20% (versus a net decline of 8% in Wave One / April 2020).

For the full Hunter Food Study Special Report Wave Two: America Keeps on Cooking and additional information about the annual Hunter Food News Study, visit www.hunterpr.com/news.

ABOUT HUNTER

Founded in 1989, HUNTER is an award-winning consumer marketing communications firm with primary offices in New York and London and a footprint across North America. Beginning with research-driven consumer insights, HUNTER executes strategic, integrated programs that build brand equity, increase engagement, and drive measurable business results for consumer products and services. The 150-person firm employs a powerful blend of marketing solutions including strategic planning, social and digital media, talent and influencer engagement, media relations, experiential, multicultural, and content creation and distribution for all platforms and channels to earn consumer attention on behalf of some of the world’s best known and most beloved brands. The agency is a member of MDC Partners Inc. (NASDAQ: MDCA; TSX: MDZ.A).

ABOUT THE STUDY

The Hunter Food Study Special Report: America Keeps On Cooking provides a comparative perspective on consumers’ meal preparation and consumption behaviors and attitudes now versus prior to the coronavirus pandemic. HUNTER fielded two proprietary custom surveys using the demographically and geographically representative national panel and insight platform, SUZY.  The survey was fielded in two parts, with basic information captured in part 1 and deeper underlying motivations explored in part 2.  The online survey was fielded on December 7, 2020 to Americans ages 18-73 years old.  The 1,032 respondents to each survey were mutually exclusive and evenly split between males and females.

Links:     

Visit HUNTER for Study Results: www.hunterpr.com/news
Follow HUNTER on Facebook: @HunterPR
Follow HUNTER on Twitter: @hunterpr
Follow HUNTER on Instagram: @hunterprny

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SOURCE Hunter PR

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE: HLF), a premier global nutrition company, announced today that its innovation and manufacturing facilities in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Lake Forest, California have earned the ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Standard from NSF-ISR, a recognition of the company’s achievements in protecting employee health and safety.

This is the third certification from NSF International, an independent global laboratory, for both facilities which operate in accordance to U.S. Good Manufacturing Practices and regulatory standards for dietary supplements, acidified foods and food products. The GMP registration demonstrates the company follows industry best practices for product content and labeling accuracy. The company’s quality control laboratory also maintains the highly regarded ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation through the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation.

“The ISO certification process is demanding so each team member must be dedicated to the pursuit of quality and safety,” said Mark Schissel, executive vice president of Worldwide Operations. “By achieving ISO 45001 certification, we demonstrate our continued commitment to excellence and best practices to support a healthy and safer work environment.”

Herbalife Nutrition operates five Herbalife Innovation and Manufacturing facilities around the globe and more than twelve working labs where research, quality assurance, or product testing occur.

The company’s first innovation and manufacturing facility, Lake Forest, is home to a proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer and gene sequencer, state-of-the-art instruments used to analyze the identity and composition of ingredients and usually only found in research facilities.

The Winston Salem facility, opened in 2014, is an 800,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in North Carolina that is roughly the size of 14 football fields, with more than 750 team members who produce approximately 400,000 units per day.

In addition to certifications for its facilities and laboratory procedures, the company also holds certifications for many of its products, including the NSF/ANSI 173 standard, the only American National Standard for dietary supplements, and for the NSF’s Certified for Sport® program, which verifies that products do not contain unsafe levels of contaminants, prohibited substances or masking agents.

For more information, please visit IAmHerbalifeNutrition.com. Herbalife Nutrition also encourages investors to visit its investor relations website at ir.herbalife.com as financial and other information is updated, and new information is posted.

About Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.
The Company is a global company that has been changing people’s lives with great nutrition products and a proven business opportunity for its independent distributors since 1980. The Company offers high-quality, science-backed products, sold in over 90 countries by entrepreneurial distributors who provide one-on-one coaching and a supportive community that inspires their customers to embrace a healthier, more active lifestyle. Through the Company’s global campaign to eradicate hunger, the Company is also committed to bringing nutrition and education to communities around the world.

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SOURCE Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE: HLF)

IRVING, Texas, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Atos SE (CAC40: ATO) and RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG), a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications, collaboration, video meetings, and contact center solutions, today announced the first release of Unify Office (UO) in the United States. A Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS), UO enables businesses to communicate and collaborate with ease using industry-leading voice, video, and team messaging capabilities from anywhere and on any device via a single enterprise solution.

“Customers seek communication and collaboration solutions that interact with their preferred business applications and provide future-proofed capabilities for businesses of all sizes. With Unify Office customers can leverage the unique combination of message, video, and enterprise phone system capabilities together in a single application,” saidOliver Coste, Head of Unified Communications, Atos North America. “Atos has a rich history of delivering leading edge communication and collaboration platforms in North America. Since the days of ROLM, Atos Unify solutions have supported a wide variety of customers, from the federal government, states and municipalities to manufacturers, hospitals, utilities and more. We’re excited to bring the innovative combination of RingCentral’s leading UCaaS product together with Atos’ deep system integrator capabilities to the United States. Together we have capabilities to build deeply integrated and managed digital workplaces that end users need to be competitive.”

Unify Office offers several benefits to customers, including:

• Seamless migration: Customers can migrate at their own pace from traditional on-premise telephony systems to Unify Office by RingCentral. They can also continue to use their existing Atos Unify OpenScape CP Desk phones with Unify Office.
• Simplicity: One vendor, One offer, One solution. Whether a customer’s need is big or small we can support them with a simplified landscape to cover all their communication and collaboration needs, wherever their teams are working in the new normal.
• Open Platform and Integrations: Easily integrate Unify Office with existing business applications, when using applications such as Salesforce, Microsoft, and Google productivity suites through 200+ pre-built integrations or with help of Atos to develop integrations for specific custom workflow.
• Enhanced user experience: Unify Office will now offer dark theme for easier viewing, integration with Microsoft Office 365 and Google contacts for easy communication, and desktop phone updates for better navigation. 
• New call features: Will enable users to switch from a voice call to a video call with a single click, pick-up authorized calls that are directed to another user’s extension, and setup queue overflow to extensions so that more calls are answered rather than getting routed to voicemail. 
• Enhanced video meeting experience and security: Unify Office will include admin, host, and moderator controls, and password protection.  
• Also, participants will now have the ability to switch their view of the video gallery to one of two new layouts: Film Strip and Active Speaker. This will provide an improved user experience so if users choose, they can focus on who is speaking or presenting without distraction from other users. 
• Integrated team messaging: With built-in messaging, users can get more done before, during, and after meetings. Using task management, users can pin action items for easy follow-up and keep teams accountable.

“At RingCentral, we’re focused on bringing the benefits of cloud communications to businesses everywhere,” said Anand Eswaran, RingCentral’s president and chief operating officer. “With Atos Unify now available in the US, more of Atos’ customers will have access to a single, secure, and trusted business communications solution with integrated team messaging, video meetings, and an enterprise cloud phone system, enabling people and teams to be productive and efficient.” 

For more information, please visit Unify Office by RingCentral online.

About Atos
Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with 110,000 employees and annual revenue of € 12 billion. European number one in cybersecurity, cloud and high performance computing, the group provides tailored end-to-end solutions for all industries in 73 countries. A pioneer in decarbonization services and products, Atos is committed to a secure and decarbonized digital for its clients. Atos operates under the brands Atos and Atos|Syntel. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.

The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education and research in a multicultural approach and contribute to the development of scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the group enables its customers and employees, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably, in a safe and secure information space.

Atos UCC (Unified Communications and Collaboration) refers to the former Unify Division  
Atos Unify refers to the product family of former Unify products and partner program.  

About RingCentral  
RingCentral, Inc. (NYSE: RNG) is a leading provider of business cloud communications and contact center solutions based on its powerful Message Video Phone™(MVP™) platform. More flexible and cost effective than legacy on-premise PBX and video conferencing systems that it replaces, RingCentral empowers modern mobile and distributed workforces to communicate, collaborate, and connect via any mode, any device, and any location. RingCentral offers three key products in its portfolio including RingCentral Office®, a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform including team messaging, video meetings, and a cloud phone system, Glip®the company’s free video meetings solution with team messaging that enables  Smart Video Meetings™, and RingCentral cloud Contact Center solutions. RingCentral’s open platform integrates with leading third party business applications and enables customers to easily customize business workflows. RingCentral is headquartered in Belmont, California, and has offices around the world.

© 2021 RingCentral, Inc. All rights reserved. RingCentral, Message Video Phone, MVP, RingCentral Office and the RingCentral logo are trademarks of RingCentral, Inc.

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SOURCE Atos

TORONTO, Jan. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Engine Media’s (TSX-V: GAME; OTCQB: MLLLF) gaming live streaming data analytics and analysis experts Stream Hatchet have highlighted the ever-expanding popularity of esports streaming in 2020 – maintaining growth despite the return of traditional sports in the second half of the year.

Stream Hatchet has released its 2020 industry trend report, highlighting the esports market’s continued growth, which rode an initial wave in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

VIEW REPORT:


http://enginemediainc.com/Stream_Hatchet_Report_Q4_2020



DOWNLOAD REPORT:

http://enginemediainc.com/Stream_Hatchet_Report_Q4_2020_Download

The report also highlighted how politics became a key subject on the gaming streaming platforms in 2020:

• Twitch launched a dedicated politics category in Feb 2020. Viewers on Twitch watched 2.8 million hours of political live streams.
• Stream Hatchet tracked 80 million hours watched on Twitch and YouTube across the election season (Election Night, Presidential Debate #2, VP Debate, & Supreme Court Hearing).
• NBC lead Election Night coverage with 11 million watch hours on YouTube.
• Steven Crowder, a conservative influencer, generated 3.1 million watch hours and Hasan Piker (HasanAbi) a liberal Twitch influencer generated 2.5 million watch hours.

“Traditional TV networks continued to expand their streaming efforts on gaming platforms in 2020. These news channels with older audiences are seeking to reach interested younger viewers who have turned away from traditional networks,” said Tom Rogers, Executive Chairman, Engine Media.

Stream Hatchet measures gaming live streaming data across all platforms and provides valuable data insight for esports teams, gaming studios, and major brands invested in gaming.

According to Stream Hatchet’s data, the pandemic’s onset in Q1 2020 caused esports streaming numbers to rise dramatically in Q2. As the year ticked on and live entertainment sports options returned, the trend continued despite the increase in online and on TV entertainment options. Stream Hatchet data showed that activity levels remained high and by year-end had increased 69% over 2019 and 81% over 2018.

Other highlights of the Stream Hatchet 2020 report include:

• Twitch, the market leader of western streaming platforms, doubled its watch hours from Q4 2019 to Q4 2020 to 5.4 billion.
• Mobile gaming continues to grow on western streaming sites as both PUBG Mobile and Garena Free Fire landed in the top five most-watched games.
• Riot Games is the only publisher to produce two of the top 10 games due to the incredibly successful release of VALORANT in April of 2020.
• Stream Hatchet has identified the top esports streamers for 2020 and honed in specifically on the top five female streamers of the year, tracking their increasing popularity.
• As brands and advertisers recognize the opportunity to reach the millennial male audience via streaming, Stream Hatchet tallied 355 million hours of sponsored live streams in 2020. The report shares the top sponsored streams of the year and the brands that supported them.
• Live streaming sites have been steadily pushing content boundaries past video games and esports events to include concerts, debates, professional sports, and much more.

“Stream Hatchet’s data has confirmed that video games and esports have taken a huge step in popular culture. When much of the live entertainment world went dark, streaming platforms were able to captivate audiences through remote esports tournaments and exciting live streams,” says Eduard Montserrat, CEO of Stream Hatchet.

“During one of the most closely monitored election cycles in US history, younger generations turned to these platforms, and their respective influencers, to learn about the political discourse informing their decisions at the poll booths. We’re fascinated with the data points and larger media trends that are contained within this report, and are confident that 2021 will yield even more compelling insights.”

About Engine Media Holdings, Inc.
Engine Media is focused on accelerating new, live, immersive esports and interactive gaming experiences for consumers through its partnerships with traditional and emerging media companies. The company was formed through the combination of Torque Esports Corp., Frankly Inc., and WinView, Inc. and trades publicly under the ticker symbol (TSX-V: GAME) (OTCQB: MLLLF). Engine Media will generate revenue through a combination of: direct-to-consumer and subscription fees; streaming technology and data SaaS-based offerings; programmatic advertising and sponsorships; as well as intellectual property licensing fees.  To date, the combined companies have served clients comprising more than 1,200 television, print and radio brands including CNN, ESPN, Discovery / Eurosport, Fox, Vice, Newsweek and Cumulus; dozens of gaming and technology companies including EA, Activision, Blizzard, Take-Two Interactive, Microsoft, Google, Twitch and Ubisoft; and have connectivity into hundreds of millions of homes around the world through their content, distribution and technology.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Engine to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “estimates”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved.  In respect of the forward-looking information contained herein, Engine has provided such statements and information in reliance on certain assumptions that management believed to be reasonable at the time, including assumptions as to obtaining required regulatory approvals. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements stated herein to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks.  Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained in this news release.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Engine does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf, except as required by applicable law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

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SOURCE Engine Media Holdings, Inc.