Good morning!
Here are today’s highlights: The federal eviction moratorium is extended. There’s a new way to test the waters of retail. And Factory TikTok is a thing.
MARKETING
Advertisers get two more years to track third-party cookies: “Google delayed its plan to scrap a technology that tracks web-browsing habits amid regulatory scrutiny and concerns from privacy advocates and the advertising industry over the search giant’s approach to replacing the tool. On Thursday, the Alphabet Inc. unit said its Chrome internet browser will stop supporting a user-tracking technology called third-party cookies by late 2023, nearly two years later than its initial time frame of early 2022. Google said the delay would give it more time to get publishers, advertisers and regulators comfortable with the new technologies it is developing to enable targeted ads after cookies are phased out.”
“Paul Bannister, chief strategy officer at blog network CafeMedia, said that since the vast majority of digital advertising is powered by cookies, ‘it’s critical that the replacement technologies get things right. It’s also critical to make sure that even more money doesn’t go to the tech giants in the process.’’” READ MORE
REOPENING
Empty storefronts and declining commercial rents are making it easier to test business ideas: “When the Covid-19 pandemic hit New York last year, Mayan Rajendran found himself making daily trips to his corner deli in Chelsea for coffee. Now, he’s spending even more time there — or more specifically, at the vacant flower stand next door — where he sells his own line of clothing and other accessories. The Eighth Avenue pop-up, again&again, is part of a growing trend of temporary shops, with merchants around the country looking to ‘test the waters of retail’ as the world continues to open up following a 44-percent increase in U.S. e-commerce sales in 2020. A drop in New York City retail rents has also made it easier for new businesses looking for a storefront.” READ MORE
The federal eviction moratorium has been extended through July: “An extension is needed to prevent a wave of evictions before states and local governments can distribute about $47 billion of rental assistance authorized by Congress to cover unpaid back rent, administration officials said. Progress has been slow. The CDC said the move is intended to be the final extension of the moratorium.”
“It comes as the Supreme Court is weighing an emergency request by landlords and real-estate companies to clear the way for evictions after a federal judge in Washington ruled last month that the moratorium was legally unsupportable.”
“The judge who issued that ruling stayed the effect of the decision while litigation continues.”
“The delays have put added pressure on landlords who have gone months without back rent while continuing to be on the hook for taxes, insurance and maintenance costs tied to their properties even when their tenants aren’t paying rent.”
“‘A lot of [landlords] have had to decide whether to pay the mortgage on their house or on their investment property,’ she said. ‘They’re often in the same boat as the tenants.’” READ MORE
Canada is resisting calls to reopen its U.S. border: “Despite a sharp drop in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in Canada, and a significant ramp-up in vaccinations, the government said it would stick to a gradual approach, waiting for a significant majority of the population to be fully vaccinated. Officials remain cautious in part because of the spread of the highly transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant, and the possibility that fully vaccinated people could still carry and transmit the virus. But business groups, border-city mayors and some frequent cross-border travelers say they are growing impatient with what they perceive to be a go-slow approach from Canada.”
“Given the progress on the public-health front, they say it is urgent Canadian authorities allow the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors to start the task of rebuilding battered sales starting this summer, when activity tends to be busiest.”
“Jim Diodati, the mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario—across the river from Niagara Falls, N.Y.—said tourism from the U.S. is crucial for his community. “It’s right up there with oxygen,” he said.”
“He said he’s grown impatient with the Canadian government’s reluctance to offer a road map on reopening the border, or provide clear metrics on what thresholds the country needs to reach before tourists can return.” READ MORE
TAXES
Smaller businesses shouldn’t assume that a global minimum tax would have no affect on them: “Global Minimum Tax is good news for small businesses who compete with large corporate customers. The tax would level the playing field by eliminating an advantage derived through complex accounting only affordable to very large corporations. This is especially true in software and technology, where a startup business faces significant cash pressures compared to their public peers like Google, Facebook, and Apple.”
“Global Minimum Tax is bad news for small businesses who rely on large corporate customers. These small businesses face an acute demand risk as corporate profits shrink from increased taxes.”
“This is especially true for manufacturers and material suppliers for medical device companies, pharmaceuticals, and technology companies.’
“Small businesses who supply such corporations may not see orders disappear overnight, but they will face increasing cost and price pressure ... READ MORE
MANUFACTURING
Factory TikTok offers a glimpse into how mundane objects are made: “The #factory hashtag alone has over 930 million views on TikTok. Under that umbrella are viral videos of stuffed animals getting injected with white fluff, a clip of a bright orange wig being detangled by a plate of metal needles, and several accounts devoted exclusively to the niche subgenre of glove-dipping content. User 6902705342747 released their first video back in December and already has over 250,000 people following along. It’s hard to describe Factory TikTok as just one type of video, but each clip — in its own way — offers a strange glimpse into how mundane objects are made. It can be hypnotizing to peer into this industrial world, which is usually obfuscated by complex supply chains.”
“A handful of factory accounts are also from disparate parts of the world, like Pakistan, the Philippines, and Turkey.”
“But the more time I spent watching, the clearer it became that many of the trend’s most popular clips were filmed in Chinese factories.” READ MORE
THE 21 HATS PODCAST
Episode 65: This Is Where We Get Into Therapy: Once again this week, our business owners discuss things business owners don’t often talk about in public. Laura Zander says she feels guilty about taking vacations, about making more money than her employees, and about knowing that her husband is closer to their son than she is. Paul Downs says he recently reviewed 29 years of P&Ls and was reminded that he lost money in 18 of those years. He also explains why he routinely tells his employees (and us) precisely how much money he takes out of his business.
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