Day: September 7, 2021

Carrefour City+ The Region’s First Check-Out Free Store

Carrefour City+ was inaugurated by H.E Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications along with Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim Holding and Hani Weiss, Chief Executive Officer at Majid Al Futtaim Retail.

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Sept. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In 2019, the Scotch Whisky industry attracted a record 2.16 million visitors. After a challenging eighteen months for the tourism and hospitality industry, Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Princes Street, the eight-storey new visitor experience for the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky, has today been launched in the heart of Scotland’s capital city.

Four and a half years in the making, Johnnie Walker Princes Street is the centrepiece of Diageo’s £185million pound investment in tourism in Scotland – the largest single investment programme of its kind ever seen. The programme aims to rebuild Scotch whisky tourism for the future. The investment includes the transformation of distillery visitor experiences around Scotland, including Glenkinchie, Clynelish, Cardhu and Caol Ila – the Lowland, Highland, Speyside and Island homes of Johnnie Walker, linked to Johnnie Walker Princes Street to form a world-class network of attractions the length and breadth of Scotland.

BACKGROUND INFO

To mark the opening, a Johnnie Walker flag was raised above the landmark building by Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive, Diageo, and Barbara Smith, Managing Director of Johnnie Walker Princes Street against the backdrop of Edinburgh’s iconic skyline, including the world-famous Edinburgh Castle.

Ivan Menezes, Chief Executive, Diageo said: “This is a proud day for everyone. Last year Johnnie Walker celebrated 200 years since founder John Walker opened the doors to his small grocery store and today represents the next chapter of the incredible story. Johnnie Walker Princes Street is a landmark investment in Scotch whisky and into Scotland and it sets a new standard for immersive visitor attractions. It celebrates Scotland’s remarkable heritage, our incredible skilled whisky-makers, and looks to the future by engaging new generations of consumers from around the world in the magic of Scotch whisky.”

Barbara Smith, Managing Director of Johnnie Walker Princes Street, said: “We’re thrilled to be opening the doors and helping to re-build the tourism and hospitality industry after a very difficult 18 months. The story of the world’s best-selling whisky has been brought to life with flair and imagination and we have built a team which includes some of the most talented individuals in their fields. We are now ready to welcome visitors and begin telling the next chapter of how we are woven into the fabric of Scotland’s history and communities.”

Facts about Johnnie Walker Princes Street visitor experience:

• Set over 71,500 sq ft, it takes the concept of personalisation to a scale never before seen in a global drinks visitor experience.
• Visitors on the Johnnie Walker Journey of Flavour tour will have their personal flavour preferences mapped with drinks tailored to their palate.
• With more than 800 flavour combinations available in the innovative dispensation systems, one person could visit Johnnie Walker Princes Street every day for more than two years and not have the same experience twice.
• Over 150 diverse and talented new employees, speaking 23 languages between them, will bring to life the 200-year story.
• The cellar has become a true whisky treasury with some of the most unique whisky casks in the world gently maturing and waiting to be sampled by guests.
• The building – formerly a traditional department store for almost 100 years – will contain a state-of-the-art experiential retail space where shoppers can select from rare and exclusive whiskies, fill their own bottles and have them personalised.
• Johnnie Walker Princes Street opens its doors with a Green Tourism Gold Award – the highest sustainability accolade for a visitor attraction. The building includes roof terrace planters to provide herbs for garnishes and infusions for drinks, a sedum roof covering and bird boxes to encourage biodiversity.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street is crowned by two world-class rooftop bars and a terrace with breath-taking views of the Edinburgh skyline, including the Explorer’s Bothy whisky bar stocked with 150 different whiskies, and the 1820 cocktail bar where drinks are paired with a carefully curated menu sourced from, and representing in culinary form, the four corners of Scotland.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street is also committed to contributing to the community by offering its award-winning hospitality training programme for unemployed people in its special Johnnie Walker Learning for Life academy. The building can also host events in its 200-capacity space.

Johnnie Walker Princes Street will open its doors to the public at 1pm on Monday 6th September. Tickets for tours start from £25 per person, including a 90-minute tour and three personalised Scotch whisky samples (all samples are provided with carefully controlled measures and non-alcoholic alternatives available to all guests).

To book and for more information visit www.johnniewalkerprincesstreet.com. For more information on Johnnie Walker please visit: www.johnniewalker.com

mark.jones@mediamarkbroadcast.com

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5263326d-5c2b-487c-937b-8590c7e2497c

Sustainability Hero of the Year Michael Tuohy appointed as Intelex VP of Environment and Sustainability and Steven Lavoie named Senior Product Manager of Environment

Toronto, Sept. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TORONTO, CANADA – September 7, 2021 – Intelex Technologies, ULC, a leading global provider of cloud-based Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality (EHSQ) management software, today announced the appointments of Michael Tuohy as its new Vice President of Environment and Sustainability and Steven Lavoie as its Senior Product Manager of Environment to drive rapid innovation within the environmental and sustainability sectors.

The Business Intelligence Group has also announced today that not only was Tuohy named its Sustainability Hero of the Year in its 2021 Sustainability Awards program, Intelex’s ESG Management Suite won product of the year. The Sustainability Awards honor those who have made sustainability an integral part of their business practice and who use their role to make a meaningful impact on the environment. Organizations of all sizes submitted nominations to reward team members and gain exposure for their organizations, their initiatives and the exemplary accomplishments of their leaders as they work to improve our environment for future generations.

“We are so proud to reward and recognize all of our winners and finalists, as they provide the leadership and vision needed to protect our environment,” said Maria Jimenez, Chief Nominations Officer, Business Intelligence Group.

With over a decade of diverse technology and industry experience, Tuohy will now oversee the strategic development and delivery of Intelex’s global environmental compliance and ESG solution suite. By significantly expanding capabilities and team size, Tuohy is helping to boost Intelex’s ESG profile and increasing the ability of Intelex’s solutions to meet and exceed the needs of today’s global market. With global regulators and financiers using ESG as a gauge for risk, and the industry seeing a drastic shift in focus rarely seen before, Intelex is uniquely positioned to guide its clients through the complex landscape so they can become the leading companies of the future.

“Intelex is a company that not only says it values ESG, but truly believes in the importance of it and takes actions that genuinely help our clients have positive global impacts,” said Tuohy. “It is an honor to be stepping into the role of Vice President of Environment and Sustainability, where I can continue to grow our innovative team that designs, builds and delivers the leading ESG Management Software solution.”

Steven Lavoie, who has been at Intelex for nine years, has a background in energy and the environment, including field work as an onsite geologist for oil and gas, stack testing for mining, refineries, waste and water treatment.

Lavoie has a deep and thorough understanding of the energy industry and its ESG concerns and will drive product innovation and investments in technologies and talent around environmental compliance and sustainability.

“Transitioning into the role of Senior Product Manager of Environment could not be any more exciting than it is now. With today’s fast-paced world, immediate and effective actions within the ESG field are what we need now more than ever, and I could not be more thrilled to be as involved in the process as I am” said Lavoie. “Working at Intelex, with other like-minded people who collaboratively have the same end goal of delivering out-of-the-box, efficient and effective ESG solutions, is an honor.”

Intelex Technologies, ULC is a global leader in environmental, health, safety and quality (EHSQ) management software. Since 1992, Intelex employees across the globe have been committed to innovating and enabling organizations to send their employees home safely every day, leaving behind a more sustainable world to the generations that follow, and manage quality so that only the safest and highest quality products make it to market.

Intelex’s scalable, web-based platform and applications have helped clients across all industries improve business performance, mitigate organization-wide risk, and ensure sustained compliance with internationally accepted standards (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001) and OSHAS 18001) and regulatory requirements. Almost 1,400 customers in 195 countries trust Intelex to power their EHSQ initiatives.

Headquartered in Toronto with regional offices and employees around the world, Intelex became an Industrial Scientific company in 2019. In 2020, Intelex acquired ehsAI, provider of a SaaS-based next-wave compliance automation solution that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. For more information about Intelex, visit www.intelex.com.

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• SUSTAINABILITY-2021

Sandy Smith
Intelex Technologies
2163750484
Sandy.Smith@intelex.com

New York, NY, Sept. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Launching this November, bzar is a patent pending, disruptive, immersive, metaverse leveraging Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, the most powerful real-time 3D creation tool, and partnering with SURREAL Events, a leading developer of multiplayer virtual experiences in Unreal. With multiplayer capabilities and gamified elements blended with virtual retail experiences or “brand worlds”, bzar offers brand safe environments, fosters brand love, and creates instantaneous transaction results.

Heavily rooted in entertainment, gaming, and celebrity brand sectors – allowing members to play and shop, providing an engaging shorthand between the influencer to consumer check out – bzar is a new paradigm for shareable, fun, and exciting shopping experiences.

bzar, pioneered by Scott Cullather, Co-founder and CEO of [INVNT GROUP] and Founder and CEO of bzar, will launch with a select group of brands that will debut their “brand worlds” in the bzar metaverse. bzar stands for a world which holds no limitations to creativity, love, inclusivity, fun, excitement, and the desire to connect with each other. Unbound by the restrictions of physical space, time, and distance, bzar invites modern brands to create their own brand worlds, and to tell their stories with imagination establishing an emotional connection between their brand and their most important consumers – Millennials and Gen Z.

Members create custom avatars equipped to discover, play, try on, and shop exclusive digital and physical products. Along with the ability to attend interactive live performances with virtually anyone in the entire bzar metaverse.

“We have been developing the bzar metaverse for over 18 months. When Mark Zuckerberg joins the narrative, you know you are onto something big. Our ideas of community start with people. Modern global consumers and brands want more than four walls and to scroll endlessly over flat boring images of products – which is what today’s brick and mortar, e-comm and omni-channel platforms offer.  Today, consumers and brands demand experience and innovation. bzar reimagines retail and experiential spaces in unimaginable virtual worlds, that help power modern, world-class brands. By bringing all those communities together, we hope to build the most powerful and exciting collective of brands, culture-shakers and makers on the planet.”  Scott Cullather, Founder and CEO, bzar

bzar speaks to a conscious consumer – they are authenticity focused and seek to be part of a community of firsts. Community is not created by bzar, it meets at bzar – empowering the audience to create the community and the culture.

bzar powers brands who seek to cultivate communities of the future.

For more on bzar – Xperience Shopping please visit: www.bzar.com

About INVNT GROUP

[INVNT GROUP] was established in 2020 with a vision to provide consistent, meaningful, well-articulated BrandStory across all platforms. With offices in New York, Dubai, London, Singapore, Sydney, Stockholm, and Detroit; headed up by President and CEO, Scott Cullather, [INVNT GROUP], THE GLOBAL BRANDSTORY PROJECT™ represents a growing portfolio of complementary disciplines designed to help forward-thinking organizations everywhere, impact the audiences that matter, anywhere. The GROUP consists of modern brand strategy firm, Folk Hero; creative-led culture consultancy, Meaning; branded content studio and content marketing agency, HEVĒ; collegiate events and experiences, INVNT Higher Education, and INVNT, the founding live brandstory telling agency. For more information about [INVNT GROUP], visit: www.invntgroup.com.

About SURREAL

SURREAL is a first-of-its-kind virtual event platform enabling audiences across industries to connect, collaborate and celebrate in entirely new ways. Web-based, hosted in the Cloud and pixel-streamed to participants, SURREAL provides a “digital twin” to physical events and experiences—bridging the possible and impossible in any virtual environment imaginable. Designed to be social-first, gamelike and avatar-based, SURREAL inspires organic meetings and real-world “collisions” in a variety of spaces and with intuitive tools that make it easy to converse and connect with colleagues. Visit www.surrealevents.com for more information.

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• bzar Xperience Shopping INVNT GROUP

Jhonathan Mendez de Leon
 [INVNT GROUP]™
jmendezdeleon@invnt.com