Paper shortage hits American retailers when they need it most (bloomberg)

1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. has announced its plans to hire more than 10,000 seasonal associates across its gourmet foods and gift brands for the upcoming holiday season. Hiring has commenced at Harry & David®, PersonalizationMall.com®, Cheryl's Cookies® and The Popcorn Factory® to fill critical roles to meet holiday peak demand and help customers connect with others as they navigate what is expected to be an unusual season ahead. As the company quadruples its workforce nationwide for the holiday period, it continues to prioritize the health and safety of its team members. Seasonal positions vary by brand and include full-time and part-time roles in key areas such as production, gift assembly, customer service, and distribution and fulfillment center operations, among others. The majority of these roles are being offered throughout Illinois, Ohio and Oregon, with some work-from-home positions available.

Midland Paper, Packaging & Supplies, a $1 Billion wholesale distribution company based in Chicago, IL, announced this week that Stan Hooker, the company’s long-time Chairman & CEO, has retired and sold his majority interest to his three partners, Ralph DeLetto, Mike Graves, and Jim O’Toole. This transition allows the company to continue its long tradition of being the leading independent paper and packaging distribution company in North America. Mr. Hooker said: “The timing of this transition is good for me personally, as my wife and I can devote more time to being with our friends and family, and the timing is good for Midland given the company’s strong financial position and its proven senior leadership team at the helm”. Mike Graves, the company's President and COO, will assume the role of CEO. Mr. Graves noted: “we are grateful to Stan for his longstanding leadership at Midland, and we look forward to continuing Midland’s legacy as an entrepreneurial, independent organization that strives to be the first choice for suppliers and customers alike”.

There’s a question that’s been asked since the early beginnings of digital communication over 30 years ago. That question has been the focus of many debates, discussions, articles and research papers, as well as arguments between billions of parents and their children all over the world. It’s preoccupied governments, academics, companies, organisations and brands, and will continue to do so for a long time to come. The question is simple: Is digital harming our health? The amount of digital information that’s being created, consumed and shared every day is staggering. In just one minute of an average day, Google receives over 4,000,000 search queries, YouTube users upload 72 hours of new video, Facebook users share 2,460,000 pieces of content, and Apple users download 48,000 apps. By the time you will have finished reading this article, those numbers will have increased further. All this content consumption brings with it a host of potential health issues for the user. Anxiety, depression, addiction, isolation, narcissism, all are becoming more and more common, particularly amongst the young. Click Read More below for additional information.