Jessica's Press Releases

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

U.S. Toy Industry Grows its Sales by 7 Percent in the First Half of 2018, Reports The NPD Group

The U.S. toy industry grew its dollar sales by 7 percent to $7.9 billion in the first half of 2018, according to global information company The NPD Group.* Over these six months, which included the beginning and end of the Toys"R"Us liquidation, there were a number of catalysts for growth.

Read all the latest news.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/us-lead-network-now-offering.html

"It is likely that the Toys"R"Us news has kept toys top-of-mind for parents and grandparents when shopping for kids in general, benefiting both consumers and the industry," said Juli Lennett, senior vice president and industry advisor, Toys, The NPD Group. "I am also convinced that the strong toy industry growth so far this year has been at least partially supported by the empathy that people felt towards losing a store like Toys"R"Us. I think it brought about an emotional response that resulted in parents buying more toys overall."

The strongest growth driver in the first half came from toys priced $5-19.99, and this was led by L.O.L Surprise!, Total Marvel, Fingerlings, Hatchimals, and Soft N Slo Squishes. The influence of these toy properties is also clear when looking at the toy industry's performance by supercategory.

Youth Electronics was the fastest growing supercategory in the market, up 43 percent, driven by Fingerlings, Star Wars, and Tamagotchi. According to NPD's new report, The Future of Toys, growth in Youth Electronics is expected to continue over the next year and a half, stemming mainly from robotic/interactive playmates, as manufacturers place heightened emphasis on technology to compete with tech products sold outside of the toy industry.

Sales in Dolls grew by 17 percent, led by L.OL. Surprise!, Hatchimals, and Barbie. These three toy properties alone captured over two-thirds of the supercategory's growth. While playset dolls and collectibles has been the star segment within Dolls, The Future of Toys highlights that fashion dolls, role play, and large dolls are expected to perform strongly starting in the second half of next year due to the expected positive effects of the November 2019 movie release of Frozen 2.

Be alert to the latest news.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/intouch-insight-launches-liacx-new_7.html

A notable turnaround to positive growth since last year primarily attributed to the Box Office, Action Figures and Accessories grew its sales by 16 percent. The supercategory was lifted by the movie release of Black Panther in February, Avengers Infinity War in April, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom at the end of June.

Dinosaur and pony/unicorn themed toys grew by 77 percent year-to-date through June, and NPD expects these themes to be trending this holiday season. Driving the dinosaur trend has primarily been Jurassic World, as well as Fingerlings and other dinosaur-related products. From makeup to Frappuccino's the unicorn trend has infiltrated many industries, and toys is no exception. While dinosaur toy sales are growing at a brisker pace, pony/unicorn represents a larger portion of toy sales.

Among the top 20 new items for June 2018 that are moving off shelves at the fastest rate where they are being sold, six have a dinosaur or unicorn theme. They are: Unicorn Sprinkler, Fingerlings Untamed Dino Stealth, Little Tikes Magical Unicorn Carriage, Jurassic World Roarivores Assortment, Mega Unicorn Island Inflatable, and Jurassic World Indoraptor Rampage at Lockwood Estate.**

Read this here.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-best-brain-toys-media-for-teachers.html

"From my point of view, the toy retail space has been bustling with activity, and this will continue through the end of 2018," said Lennett. "Existing toy retailers have announced they will be dedicating more space and will carry more toys this holiday season both in-store and online. We're also seeing new store formats emerge that are more experiential, and we will have new toy retailers entering the space. The industry has shown to be proactive in compensating for the dollars Toys"R"Us has left on the table, and more."

###

*Source: The NPD Group/ Retail Tracking Service, January-June 2018

**Based on data from NPD's Store-Level Enabled Retail Tracking; required a minimum of 15% distribution and zero sales in June 2017

Coinciding with the National Retail Federation calendar which includes an extra 53rd week in 2018, year-to-date dollar sales and trends have been adjusted to account for the extra week.

Data is representative of retailers that participate in The NPD Group's Retail Tracking Service. NPD's current estimate is that the Retail Tracking Service represents approximately 78 percent of the U.S. retail market for Toys.

About The NPD Group, Inc.
NPD is the leading global provider of market information and business solutions covering brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, and emerging channels in more than 20 industries. We combine our unique data assets with analytic solutions to help our clients measure performance, predict trends, and improve results, advising them to help drive successful growth. Practice areas include apparel, appliances, automotive, beauty, books, consumer electronics, diamonds, e-commerce, entertainment, fashion accessories, food consumption, foodservice, footwear, home, juvenile products, mobile, office supplies, retail, sports, technology, toys, travel retail, games, and watches / jewelry. For more information, visit npd.com and npdgroupblog.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npd_entertain

All information are taken from the news source. We do not promise anything nor take any responsibility for anything the news owner claim. We just share the news as is. You can contact news owner directly in the message for more information.

VetStem Biopharma CEO, Dr. Robert Harman, Contributed to Latest Volume of Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine Text Book

Dr. Robert Harman, CEO and founder of VetStem Biopharma, co-authored a chapter about stem cell therapy for zoo animals in Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine Current Therapy, Volume 9. Dr. Harman and many others consider Dr. Murray Fowler the "Father of Zoological Medicine" and thus it was a great privilege to be asked to contribute.

As the first company to provide adipose derived stem cell services to veterinarians across the United States and Canada, over 14,000 animals have been treated with VetStem Regenerative Cell Therapy. In addition to working with numerous equine and small animal veterinarians, Dr. Harman has worked with veterinarians from Zoological Parks, Marine Mammal Parks, and the United States Navy Marine Mammal Program.

Continue reading.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/urbane-cafes-latest-grand-opening.html

Dr. Harman co-authored the chapter entitled "Stem Cell Therapy in Zoo Medicine" with Dr. Matthew Kinney of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The topics covered include a description of stem cells and their mechanism of action, methods of stem cell collection, and stem cells in clinical medicine and zoo medicine. The chapter concludes that mesenchymal stem cell use in zoological medicine is in its infancy; however, with the combination of basic scientific research, domestic animal and human clinical trials, as well as initial work in zoologic animals there is great hope of broadening the potential applications of stem cell use as a therapeutic modality to improve the health of all animals.

Dr. Harman has been a leader in the field of regenerative medicine for over a decade and presents at both human and animal medicine conferences around the world. He most recently spoke in Costa Rica at the second annual International Regenerative Medicine Conference. He applies his biotechnology and veterinary experience in the clinical application of stem cell therapy for various types of injuries, illnesses, and other healing-promoting applications. Dr. Harman has authored 14 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including the chapter on stem cell therapy in zoo animals.

About VetStem Biopharma, Inc.
VetStem Biopharma is a veterinarian-lead Company that was formed in 2002 to bring regenerative medicine to the profession. This privately held biopharmaceutical enterprise, based near San Diego (California), currently offers veterinarians an autologous stem cell processing service (from patients' own fat tissue) among other regenerative modalities. With a unique expertise acquired over the past 16 years and 14,000 patients treated by veterinarians for joint, tendon or ligament issues, VetStem has made regenerative medicine applications a therapeutic reality beyond the realm of research. The VetStem team is focused on developing new clinically practical and affordable veterinary solutions that leverage the natural restorative abilities present in all living creatures. The Company's stated mission being "to extend and enhance the lives of animals by improving the quality of recovery in acute conditions, but also by unlocking ways to slow, stop and ultimately revert the course of chronic diseases." In addition to its' own portfolio of patents, VetStem holds exclusive global veterinary licenses to a portfolio of over 70 issued patents in the field of regenerative medicine.

Winkflash Announces Lifetime Fading Canvas Print Guarantee

Winkflash, the photo-printing, canvas and gifting site, announced canvas prints are now guaranteed against fading for 100 years or they will be reprinted at no charge. Read related news now.

"Our canvas, ink, and coatings are formulated to work together to provide the highest-quality, longest-lasting product available," says Fred H. Lerner, CEO. "The research-and-development process includes a test chamber which continually tests the materials to ensure color will stand the test of time and last as long or longer than any other available canvas prints."

Winkflash offers are a wide selection of canvas prints styles, included wrapped corner canvas, easel back canvas, floating frame canvas and lightweight canvas lites. These high-quality canvas prints are available in sizes from 4x6, 5x7, 8x10,10x10, 10x20, 11x14, 12x12, 12x16, 12x18, 16x16, 20x16, 16x24, 20x30, and 24x36. Prices vary by size ordered and by shipping option.

ABOUT WINKFLASH
Winkflash is the pre-eminent site for printing photos instantly at thousands of retailers from your phone app or PC and also offers convenient mail-to-home. Winkflash preserves photo memories as photo books, canvas, prints, cards, enlargements and other photo gift products. The service is seamlessly integrated to print your photos from any phone, device or computer. Winkflash offices are located in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Fred H. Lerner is the CEO of Winkflash, his latest startup. He previously founded Ritz Interactive, which included RitzCamera.com, WolfCamera.com and others. Fred also founded two imaging companies which were acquired by Kodak and became the CEO of Kodak Processing Labs. He is a United Nations' Hall of Fame recipient from the International Photographic Council and Past President of the Photo Marketing Association International.

Peter Tahmin, COO of Winkflash, was the former vice president at Ritz Camera & Image and co-founder, senior vice president and COO of the Ritz Interactive e-commerce network, which included RitzCamera.com, WolfCamera.com, BoatersWorld.com and others. He brings more than 25 years of e-commerce experience and a lifetime of imaging industry experience to Winkflash.

GSW Announces First Telnet Server for Windows Reseller in Kazakhstan

MSK Engineering is now an authorized reseller of the GSW Telnet Server for Windows, becoming the first GSW Reseller in Kazakhstan. Located in the Republic of Kazakhstan, MSK engineering is a group of companies specializing in the field of logistics automation and providing a full range of services for the automation of inventory management.

Read all the related news.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/rob-lowe-hosts-new-on-demand-segment-on.html

"We are engaged in the automation of warehouse logistic," said Nikolay Matveev of MSK Engineering. "We recommend the GSW Telnet Server to our customers."

The Georgia SoftWorks Telnet Server for Windows and SSH Server for Windows are industrial quality software designed for superior operation in the most demanding RF Terminal Environments, making them a great match for the services and solutions that MSK Engineering provides.

MSK Engineering Kazakhstan's main activities include implantation of projects based on the 1C product family, business B2B applications and mobile applications (iOS and Android). They offer 24/7 customer support to their customers and for Infor's customers.

"Adding MSK Engineering Kazakhstan to our reseller list gives us a strong platform to reach Kazakhstan with our software," said Steve Lindsey of Georgia SoftWorks. "We think that our software partnered with MSK Engineer's reputation and market experience will be a winning combination."

Georgia SoftWorks is a software development company located in Dawsonville, Georgia that has gained its worldwide recognition from the development of the GSW Telnet Server for Windows and SSH Server for Windows. Georgia SoftWork's industrial quality software is designed for the most rigorous commercial environments. The reliability, robustness and features of the Georgia SoftWorks Telnet Server for Windows and the secure SSH Server for Windows has led to its global demand, which has resulted in end users and resellers on every continent.

About Georgia SoftWorks:
Established in 1991, Georgia SoftWorks is a privately held software development company recognized for creating high performance data communications, system and telecommunications applications. Georgia SoftWorks has obtained a worldwide presence with its industrial SSH/Telnet Server for Microsoft Windows. GSW's long-term commitment to SSH/Telnet has led to the pioneering of major features such as Session Shadowing, Session Monitoring, Graceful Termination, Automatic Logon, Logon Scripting and Team Services technology which allows mobile device users to transfer, swap, share and recover mobile device sessions. Most recently, Georgia SoftWorks has launched their GSW ConnectBot, a SSH/Telnet Client for Android. The GSW ConnectBot is the most cryptographically secure, commercially supported SSH client for Android, only on par with the GSW SSH Client for Windows.

Cyara Closes Record Year, Adding Prestigious Customer Brands Across Financial Services, Technology, and Retail Sectors

Cyara, provider of the leading customer experience (CX) assurance platform, closed its 2018 fiscal year ending June 30 with 73-percent growth in new SaaS bookings and customer retention exceeding 97 percent. The continued growth in sales revenues was fueled by both new contracts and renewals with brands that include 1300 FLOWERS, [24]7.ai, GoDaddy, HomeServe, and Nelnet. Click here.

"With customer expectations ever increasing, brands are differentiating themselves with great customer experiences," said Alok Kulkarni, CEO and co-founder of Cyara. "We are partnering with many CX leaders across industries who are looking to drive digital transformation, adopt Agile and DevOps methodologies, and implement automation technology to help them win in this Experience Economy."

FY2018 Highlights

Customer wins
During the financial year that closed in June 2018, Cyara added several seven-figure annual contracts to its customer roster. Increased customer demand has been driven by growth in the technology, travel, and retail sectors, as well as a continued strength in the financial services, telecom, and insurance markets. Read all the latest news.

CX deployment trends
The mega trends of digital transformation and lean practices have motivated enterprises to apply successful Agile and DevOps methodologies to the front-line of customer service, where Cyara's automated testing platform supports these initiatives. At the same time, Cyara's SaaS business eclipsed on-premise installations as customers opted for the flexibility and cost savings of cloud technologies.

Platform statistics
As top brands automate the CX design and testing process to implement real-time detection of CX issues, usage of Cyara's platform rose dramatically: Cyara generated 3.5 billion seconds of synthetic traffic via its cloud platform over the course of the year. Cyara experienced increased demand from APAC-based call centers, and from customers requiring high-volume load testing as high as 20,000 concurrent calls.

Product updates
Over the course of the year, Cyara made significant updates to its product portfolio and launched Cyara Velocity, which was built to accelerate development and enable adoption of DevOps methodologies. Recent enhancements focused on expanded monitoring and incident management via dashboards that highlight quality issues in both voice and digital channels, along with automated troubleshooting. Cyara also expanded in-country dialing to include more than 65 countries, enhanced call and voice-quality testing capabilities, and added broader language support for transcription services used in its IVR Discovery and Expect-to-Hear fields.

Cyara Xchange
The company hosted its inaugural conference, where CX leaders from companies such as Macy's, Anthem, eBay, Capital Group, Genesys, and Airbnb convened to discuss trends in CX testing and development. Sessions covered Agile and DevOps transformation, effective test strategies, and CX innovation strategies.

Channel partners
Cyara signed agreements with new channel partners including Servion, DecisivEdge, High Availability, ContactScope, City Communications, and AGC Networks (North America); Exceed Global (Australia/New Zealand); and infinIT.cx GmbH (EMEA).

Industry recognition
Cyara received the 2018 CUSTOMER Magazine Product of the Year Award, the Red Herring 100 Global Award, and the Frost & Sullivan Excellence Award.

Cyara anticipates continued growth in the upcoming fiscal year, with plans to grow headcount by approximately 20 percent across technical, sales, and marketing roles globally; product enhancements to advance CX innovation across all channels; and a focus on identifying high-impact business CX issues. To learn more about job openings at Cyara, visit our careers page.

The Cyara CX Assurance Platform
The award-winning Cyara CX Assurance Platform helps companies accelerate CX development, increase quality across all digital and voice channels, and assure the quality of customer journeys end-to-end. Cyara Velocity's automation and collaborative environment helps organizations rapidly innovate their CX. Cyara Cruncher then puts CX systems through extensive performance and load-testing, ensuring systems work at scale. Finally, Cyara Pulse delivers real-time CX insights via desktop or mobile phone, enabling customers to identify any issues and troubleshoot problems. Cyara's customers include leading brands across a variety of consumer and business segments including technology, insurance, finance, travel, and retail.

About Cyara
As the world's leading CX Assurance platform provider, Cyara accelerates the delivery of flawless customer journeys across digital and voice channels while reducing the risk of customer-facing defects. Every day, the most recognizable brands in the world trust the Cyara Platform to deliver customer smiles at scale. For more information, please visit http://www.cyara.com.

Read all the related news.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/eat-2-win-sports-nutrition-app-fills.html

Monday, August 6, 2018

PIXACORE Nominated By MM&M As Mid-Size Healthcare Agency Of The Year

MM&M 2018 Top 100 Healthcare Agency PIXACORE selected as finalist for two 2018 MMM awards: Mid-size Agency of the Year and Use of Immersive Technology

This year's MM&M nominations affirm PIXACORE as a leading healthcare agency. Driven by innovation and passion, PIXACORE operates with purpose to transform healthcare marketing and to continuously raise the bar for staff and for clients.

Read this here.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/children-of-america-celebrates-teachers.html

PIXACORE continues to maintain its leadership position as the 4th fastest growing agency in 2017—landing its second consecutive inclusion in MM&M's Top 100 Healthcare Agencies. It has also seen a surge in new service growth by doubling the number of AOR accounts and attracting top talent in 2017.

"We feel extremely proud of the PIXACORE family," said PIXACORE Managing Director and President, Dhaval Parikh. "We attribute PIXACORE's success to our culture of constant innovation and strong relationships—a culture that everyone firmly believes in; and to how we work with our clients. But there is a lot more to creating a beneficial experience—it requires a thoughtful blending of strategy, technology, and creativity to have a positive impact. We call this beneficial intelligence, and we operate with this mindset every day." He continues, "This mindset is why we have seen significant organic growth. We are continuously gaining new business and keeping our current clients. We haven't lost a client in 10 years. Our beneficial intelligence culture is the reason our clients grow with us—and stay with us."

The MM&M award ceremony takes place on October 11, 2018 at Cipriani Wall Street.

Read all the related news.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/texas-fertility-center-and-ovation.html

ABOUT PIXACORE
PIXACORE—an independent, full-service agency based in New York City—is focused on healthcare, biotech, and pharmaceutical industries. With more than 15 years of brand strategy and multichannel expertise, along with a dedicated R&D staff, we're redefining what it means to be a strategic, creative, and data-insight–driven agency partner. Learn more about PIXACORE at PIXACORE.com.

Click here.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/codeweavers-partners-with-cyan-to-bring.html

[Previous News] [Next News]

Online School Returns To High Demand, Satisfied Parents

Nearly 2,500 Arizona students will start the new school year without ever having to leave the house. Arizona Connections Academy (ACA), a public online school that serves students statewide in kindergarten through 12th grade, will kick off the new year with a new school leader, hearty demand and highly satisfied parents.

Principal Heather Noto, a long time administrator at ACA, will lead the tuition-free school. Noto brings a wealth of online education experience to her new position, earned over the seven years she has served as ACA's assistant principal. Her broad professional background includes practical experience with issues ranging from Title I to special education to standards and state achievement requirements. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree in K-12 organizational leadership.

"Online school serves a unique population of students, and I'm grateful students throughout the state have an opportunity to choose what works best for them and their families," Heather Noto, Arizona Connections Academy principal, said. "We pride ourselves in helping our students reach and exceed their personal and academic goals, and I'm excited to continue serving our families in the year ahead."

ACA gives students the opportunity to work both independently and with teachers and peers in real-time online classroom sessions, at home or from anywhere with an Internet connection. The personalized learning process enables students to excel at their strengths while building the skills they need to prepare for success in a digital world. ACA's flexibility allows families to travel, students to work, and gives students the freedom needed to pursue outside activites such as sports or the arts.

"ACA has been amazing for our family-life balance," Marion Gillins, mom to two ACA students, said. "Elise and Gavin are dancers, so we are driving to and from lessons up to six times a week at multiple dance schools. They are also both science nuts, and deeply involved in their areas of interest. ACA allows us the flexibility to dance and enjoy a rigorous education adapted to their strengths." Be alert to the latest news.

The school's annual Parent Satisfaction Survey revealed that 51 percent of families considered ACA because they needed or wanted greater flexibility. Other parents cited a safe learning environment, or dissatisfaction with their local public school options, as reasons for considering the online school. Read this for more information.

The third-party survey also revealed high praise for the online school's teachers, its curriculum and its use of technology to engage students, with 94 percent of parents expressing satisfaction with the helpfulness of their child's teachers and 94 percent calling the school's curriculum 'high quality'.

Parents who are interested in Arizona Connections Academy are encouraged to enroll soon in order to secure their child's spot. Interested families can attend an information session to learn more about the online school program. For more information, visit http://www.ArizonaConnectionsAcademy.com.

More info here.:

https://jessicapressreleases.blogspot.com/2018/05/manscaped-and-bespoke-post-partner-on.html

About Arizona Connections Academy
Arizona Connections Academy (ACA) is a tuition-free, K–12 online public school serving students statewide. The online school provides students with the flexibility to learn from anywhere with an innovative curriculum that meets rigorous state education standards. Arizona Connections Academy is authorized by the Arizona State Board of Charter Schools and accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), an accrediting division of AdvancED. For more information, visit http://www.ArizonaConnectionsAcademy.com.