January 29, 2008
Finnish banks offer option invested in women-led firms only
HELSINKI (AFP) - Two Finnish banks on Wednesday announced the creation of a new index option invested solely in companies headed by women, pointing out that recent studies indicate such firms are more profitable.
Aalandsbanken and Tapiola banks jointly launched "Top Women," an option invested in a bouquet of 15 multi-national companies "selected for their strong profitability and large number of women in high-level positions."
"Companies with both women and men in leading positions are more profitable than those led solely by men," the banks said in a statement, referring to several recent studies.
One of the studies, conducted by international consultancy McKinsey last year and titled "Women Matter", found that companies with more gender-balanced boardrooms are on average 10 percent more profitable than their peers in the same sector.
"Women making most of the household purchasing decisions and women-led companies are good at picking up on customer needs," the banks explained, adding that women leaders also offer alternative and fresh approaches to business deals.
Among the companies included in the Top Women option are cereal maker Kellogg's and cosmetics firm Avon from the United States, British energy company Centrica, Swedish banks SEB and Swedbank and Norwegian oil giant StatoilHydro.
The option is open between January 28 and February 15 and requires a minimum investment guarantee of 1,000 euros (1,460 dollars).
Posted by ronnie at 08:11 AM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2007
Restaurant chain Hooters is heading for Holy Land
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. restaurant chain Hooters, known for waitresses in low-cut blouses and short skirts, will open its first branch in Israel this summer, in the Mediterranean seaside city of Tel Aviv.
"I strongly believe that the Hooters concept is something that Israelis are looking for," Ofer Ahiraz, who bought the Hooters franchise for Israel, told Reuters on Monday. "Hooters can suit the Israeli entertainment culture."
At Hooters, scantily clad waitresses the company calls Hooters Girls serve spicy chicken wings, sandwiches, seafood and drinks.
Ahiraz said a specific location in Tel Aviv, Israel's most cosmopolitan city, had yet to be chosen, but he said it would not open restaurants near large religious populations, and they would not be kosher.
He said his plan was to open as many as five Hooters restaurants in the next few years, including one in the southern resort city of Eilat.
The Tel Aviv version of Hooters is expected to mimic most of the chain's other 430 restaurants in the United States and in 23 countries including China, Switzerland, Australia and Brazil.
Ahiraz said, however, he expected some minor modifications to meet Israeli tastes since U.S. chains have had a mixed response in Israel.
Food chains such as Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Hard Rock Cafe failed, Kentucky Fried Chicken closed many locations, while others such as Burger King and McDonalds have thrived by altering their offerings to suit the Israeli market.
"It shows that if you are flexible and listen to your customers you can be a success story," Ahiraz said.
The opening of Hooters in Israel is part of the chain's global expansion. Privately held Hooters said it planned to open 17 restaurants in Colombia, Dubai, Guam, New Zealand and India in the next two years.
"International expansion is a major focus for our company, and we are very excited to add Israel to our family," John Weber, executive vice president of franchise operations for Hooters of America, said in a statement.
Posted by ronnie at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2006
French maids lure diners to cartoon-inspired cafe
TORONTO, Dec 15 (Reuters Life!) - A tiny eatery decorated almost completely in black and white is creating a big buzz in Toronto but it's not the decor getting attention -- it's the servers, who all wear French maid outfits.
With servers in black mini-skirts, long socks and white aprons, the cafe is believed to be the first in Canada to mimic the cartoon-inspired restaurants devoted to "costume play", or cosplay, that first appeared in Japan a few years ago.
Owner Aaron Wang, 24, who opened the iMaid Cafe this summer, got the idea for the theme after seeing a piece about a maid cosplay restaurant on the television news in China.
"I call them maids not waitresses," said Wang, who moved to Canada from Beijing six years ago.
"They smile a lot and they are cute. I want somebody cute like the characters from cartoons -- big eyes, long hair and young."
Cosplay, which originated in Japan, is a combination of the words "costume" and "play". In cosplay, people dress as characters from Japanese animation, as well as graphic manga novels and video games. Cosplay can also refer to someone simply wearing a costume.
Wang wanted to open a restaurant that would be different from other traditional Hong Kong and Chinese restaurants in Toronto, a cosmopolitan city where two million of the 4.6 million people are foreign born. The largest minority group is the Chinese population, which is 410,000.
He ordered the costumes from Japan at a cost of about C$200 (89 pounds) each.
"I want people to come to the restaurant and to feel like home," he said, adding that about 70 percent of his clientele is Asian.
The iMaid Cafe, which serves a mix of Hong Kong, Taiwanese and Western food, is situated in Toronto's Scarborough suburb about a 30 minute drive from Toronto's city centre.
Waitress Cindy Wang -- who is not related to the owner -- has worked at the cafe since it opened and has encountered only positive reactions from customers.
"I like it here because the uniform is lovely," she said.
Tania Andrade, 17, and her friend Benjamin Coutinho, 17, who are regulars at the iMaid Cafe and enjoy the atmosphere and the server's outfits.
"A lot of people may tip them more for how they dress," said Coutinho.
Posted by ronnie at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
December 09, 2006
Ariz. waitresses dress as naughty nurses
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Heart Attack Grill — a theme restaurant whose specialties include the Quadruple Bypass Burger and Flatliner Fries, cooked in pure lard, is making health care professionals' blood pressure rise, and not because of the menu.
It is because of the waitresses' naughty nurse uniforms.
The waitresses wear skimpy, cleavage-baring outfits, high heels and thigh-high stockings — a male fantasy that some nursing organizations say is an insult to the profession.
Several nurses have complained to the Arizona attorney general's office, and a national nursing group has repeatedly asked Heart Attack Grill owner Jon Basso to stop using the outfits.
"Nurses are the most sexually fantasized-about profession," said Sandy Summers, executive director of the Center for Nursing Advocacy, based in Baltimore. "We're asking people, if they're going to have these fantasies, please don't make it so public. Move these sexual fantasies to other professions."
Basso shrugs off Summers' complaints, and refers to her and her supporters as prudes, cranks and lunatics.
"If anything, I think it glorifies nurses to be thought of as a physically attractive and desirable individual," Basso said. "There's a Faye Dunaway, Florence Nightingale hipness to it. Nobody wants to think of themselves as some old battle ax who changes bedpans for a living."
The most serious complaint Basso has faced was made to the Arizona attorney general's office by the state Board of Nursing. In September, the attorney general's office wrote Basso a letter informing him that he is illegally using the word "nurse" at his restaurant and on his Web site. Citing Arizona Statute A.R.S. 32-1636, the attorney general said only someone who has a valid nursing license can use the title "nurse."
Basso refused to remove "nurse" from his Web site but inserted an asterisk next to every nurse reference and included the following disclaimer:
"The use of the word `nurse' above is only intended as a parody. None of the women pictured on our Web site actually have any medical training, nor do they attempt to provide any real medical services. It should be made clear that the Heart Attack Grill and its employees do NOT offer any therapeutic treatments (aside from laughter) whatsoever."
Basso said the complaints have been good for business, "all they've done is ensure there's going to be a gajillion of these all over the country."
The Heart Attack Grill opened a year ago with a Hooters-like formula of red meat and sexy waitresses. Diners choose from among four cheeseburgers: the Single, Double, Triple and Quadruple Bypass. The Quadruple is a towering monstrosity with four half-pound beef patties, four pieces of cheese and a mound of bacon.
"Essentially, it's nutritional pornography. It's so bad for you it's shocking," Basso said.
If "patients," as customers are called, finish a triple or quadruple bypass, waitresses will push them out to their cars in wheelchairs at no additional charge.
"The service is fantastic," Steve Koebensky of Scottsdale said with a snicker. "But they're overly dressed."
Phoenix resident Amanda Price, one of the few women customers at the restaurant, said the outfits did not offend her. "You don't hear nuns complaining about pregnant nun costumes, and that's more disgraceful than sexy nurses," she said.
But Scottsdale nurse Kira Wilder, who contributed to the letter-writing campaign against the Heart Attack Grill, complained: "Why do they have to denigrate the nursing profession and sexualize nursing? It's just not necessary."
Courtney Chapman, a 20-year-old waitress at the grill, said she found nothing wrong with the uniform or the stares she gets.
"They definitely look at us, but they're guys," she said. "If our butts are coming out the bottom of our skirts, and our boobs are coming out the top of our shirts, we're kind of asking for it."
Posted by ronnie at 03:20 PM | Comments (0)