 |
|
|
|||||
Christmas went on the auction block this week in Pennsylvania farm country, and there was no shortage of bidders.About 50,000 Christmas trees and enough wreaths, crafts and other seasonal items to fill an airplane hangar were bought and sold by lots and on consignment at the annual two-day event put on at the Buffalo Valley Produce Auction in Mifflinburg.Buyers from across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic were there to supply garden stores, corner lots and other retail outlets for the coming rush of customers eager to bring home a tree most commonly a Fraser fir or to deck the halls with miles of greenery.Bundled-up buyers were out in chilly temperatures to hear auctioneers hawk boxes of ornaments, bunches of winterberry, cotton branches, icicle lights, grave blankets, red bows and tree stands. It was nearly everything you would need for Christmas except the food and the presents.Americans’ Christmas tree buying habits have been evolving for many years. These days homes are less likely than in years past to have a tree at all, and those that do have trees are more likely to opt for an artificial tree over the natural type, said Marsha Gray with the Howell, Michigan-based Real Christmas Tree Board, a national trade group of Christmas tree farmers.Cory Stephens was back for a second year at the auction after his customers raved about the holiday decor he purchased there last year for A.A. Co. Farm, Lawn & Garden, his store a three-hour drive away in Pasadena, Maryland. He spent nearly $5,000 on Thursday.“It’s incredible, it’s changed our whole world,” Stephens said. “If you know what you’re looking for, it’s very hard to beat the quality.”Ryan Marshall spent about $8,000 on various decorations for resale at Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, Massachusetts. Among his purchases were three skids of wreaths at $29 per wreath and he expected to double his money.“The quality’s good, and it’s a place that you can pick it out yourself,” he said.Gray said her group’s research shows the main reason people pick a real tree over an artificial tree “is the scent. They want the fresh scent of a real Christmas tree in their home.” Having children in the house also tends to correlate with picking a farm-grown tree, she said.An August survey by the Real Christmas Tree Board found that 84% of growers did not expect wholesale prices to increase this season.Buffalo Valley auction manager Neil Courtney said farm-grown tree prices seem to have stabilized, and he sees hope that the trend toward artificial trees can be reversed.“Long story short we’ll be back on top of the game shortly,” Courtney said. “The live tree puts the real Christmas in your house.”A survey by a trade group, the National Christmas Tree Association, found that more than 21 million farm-grown Christmas trees were sold in 2023, with median price of $75. About a quarter of them were purchased at a “choose-and-cut” farm, one in five from a chain store, and most of the rest from nurseries, retail lots, nonprofit sales and online. Mark Scolforo, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
Universal Pictures two-part Wicked gamble continues to defy gravity at the box office. Just a year after part one brought droves of audiences to movie theaters around the country, even more people bought opening weekend tickets to see the epic conclusion, Wicked: For Good. According to studio estimates on Sunday, Wicked: For Good earned $150 million from North American theaters in its first days in theaters and $226 million globally. Not only is it the biggest opening ever for a Broadway musical adaptation, unseating the record set by the first films $112 million launch, its also the second biggest debut of the year behind A Minecraft Movies $162 million. The results are just fantastic, said Jim Orr, who heads domestic distribution for Universal. Some films can deliver a false positive when tickets go on sale early but these results speak for themselves.” Universal began rolling out Wicked: For Good in theaters earlier this week, with previews on Monday ($6.1 million from 1,050 theaters) and Wednesday ($6.5 million from 2,300 theaters). By Friday, it was playing in 4,115 North American locations and had raked in $68.6 million. IMAX showings accounted for $15.5 million, or 11%, of its domestic haula November record for the company. IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said in a statement that the strong market share shows, our momentum carries into demos and genres beyond our traditional core, including families. As with the first film, women powered the opening weekend, making up around 71% of ticket buyers according to PostTrak exit polls. Critics were somewhat mixed on the final chapter, but audiences werent: An overwhelming 83% of audiences said it was one they would definitely recommend to friends. As far as foot traffic is concerned, the box office tracker EntTelligence estimates that about two million more people came out for Wicked: For Good‘s first weekend than for Wicked‘s.” Jon M. Chu directed both Wicked films, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The first film made over $758.7 million worldwide and received 10 Oscar nominations (winning two, for costume and production design). The question is how high Wicked: For Good can soar. Combined, the two films cost around $300 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs. The first film paved the way, Orr said. It’s really become a cultural event I think audiences are going to be flocking to theaters for quite some time to come. Two other films also opened in wide release this weekend, but further down on the charts behind a buffet of holdovers. Searchlight Pictures opened its Brendan Fraser film Rental Family in 1,925 theaters, where it earned $3.3 million. The Finnish action film Sisu: Road to Revenge, a Sony release, also played in 2,222 theaters. It earned an estimated $2.6 million. Second place went to Now You See Me: Now You Dont with $9.1 million in its second weekend, followed by Predator: Badlands with $6.3 million in weekend three. The Running Man followed in fourth place with $5.8 million, down 65% from its debut last weekend. Although this weekend the box office was more of a winner takes all scenario, Wicked: For Goods success is vitally important for the exhibition industry as a whole as it enters the final weeks of the year. It sets up a very strong final homestretch of the year, said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscores head of marketplace trends. After the slow fall season, the Thanksgiving blockbusters could not arrive soon enough. Early next week, Zootopia 2 enters the mix and is also expected to drive big crowds to the cineplex over the holiday break. Thanksgiving is often one of the biggest moviegoing frames of the year, Dergarabedian said, and both Wicked 2 and Zootopia 2 will benefit. Last year Wicked, Moana 2, and Gladiator II helped power a record five-day frame. The running domestic box office is currently hovering around $7.5 billion, according to Comscore. Before the pandemic, the annual box office would regularly hit $11 billion, but the post-pandemic goal has lessened to $9 billion. The big question now is whether titles like Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2, and Avatar: Fire and Ash can push the industry over that threshold. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. Wicked: For Good, $150 million. 2. Now You See Me: Now You Dont, $9.1 million. 3. Predator: Badlands, $6.3 million. 4. The Running Man, $5.8 million. 5. Rental Family, $3.3 million. 6. Sisu: Road to Revenge, $2.6 million. 7. Regretting You, $1.5 million. 8. Nuremberg, $1.2 million. 9. Black Phone 2, $1 million. 10. Sarahs Oil, $711,542. Lindsey Bahr, AP film writer
Category:
E-Commerce
Novo Nordisk’s closely-watched Alzheimer’s trials of an older oral version of its semaglutide drug failed to help slow the progression of the brain-wasting disease, the firm said on Monday, a blow to the obesity drug giant that sent its shares sliding. The trials, which Novo had previously called a “lottery ticket” to underline its highly uncertain outcome, were testing whether the medicine could slow cognitive decline in patients. The setback scuppers hopes for Novo that Alzheimer’s could open a major new market for GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide, as it faces rising competition to its blockbuster drugs in its core treatment areas of obesity and diabetes. Erik Berg-Johnsen, portfolio manager at Novo shareholder Storebrand Asset Management, told Reuters that the trial failure was likely “a nail in the coffin” for using its products against Alzheimer’s. “The fact that the study was discontinued after two years, despite a planned third year extension, suggests that semaglutide offers virtually no benefit in slowing Alzheimer’s progression.” Novo’s trial was being closely watched as an indication about whether GLP-1 drugs – used by millions for diabetes and weight loss – might slow disease progress. The drug tested was Rybelsus, a pill approved only for type 2 diabetes. Like Novo’s blockbusters Ozempic and Wegovy, it contains semaglutide. ‘LOTTERY TICKET’ LOSES OUT The company’s Executive Vice President for Product and Portfolio Strategy, Ludovic Helfgott, had described the Alzheimer’s trials as a “lottery ticket” in September, referring to its uncertain prospects yet huge potential. Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias affect more than 55 million people globally. There is no cure. “While semaglutide did not demonstrate efficacy in slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, the extensive body of evidence supporting semaglutide continues to provide benefits for individuals with type 2 diabetes, obesity, and related comorbidities,” Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange said in a statement. The results from the two trials of early-stage patients, called EVOKE and EVOKE+, are another setback for the Danish drugmaker and new CEO Mike Doustdar, which had seen booming success, driven by Ozempic and Wegovy, before slowing sales growth and a tumbling share price prompted a CEO change and mass layoffs. The setback reinforces analyst scepticism about Novo’s Alzheimer’s ambitions, with UBS having estimated just a 10% probability of success. Henrik Hallengreen Laustsen, Jyske Bank analyst, said however that a 10% share price fall on Monday looked like an “overreaction”. Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen said that the failure was not a surprise for Novo, which has had a tough year with slowing sales of its key weight-loss drugs, management overhaul and rising competition from U.S. peer Eli Lilly . “The share’s reaction is probably more due to the bad sentiment around the Novo Nordisk shares and the negative news flow over the past year – perhaps there was hope for a little tailwind from this study.” PARTICIPANTS AGED 55 TO 85 Shares of Biogen jumped about 5% premarket following news of Novo’s Alzheimer’s trial failure. Biogen and partner Eisai’s Leqembi and rival Eli Lilly’s Kisunla are the only approved treatments for Alzheimer’s in the United States. Both drugs require infusions or injections and can cause significant side effects. “There was some fear that Ozempic might reduce the opportunity for Leqembi and other Alzheimer’s drugs by preventing progression of disease. So these data lift a potential competitive overhang,” said Cantor analyst Eric Schmidt. The Rybelsus trials, covering a combined 3,808 patients, were the first large trials for patients with early stage Alzheimer’s. The trials used a ratings system to assess clinical changes in areas such as memory and how patients were able to care for themselves over a two-year period. The studies aimed for a 20% slowing of cognitive decline, trial details show. Wall Street analysts viewed the trials as high-risk, high-reward, and had said the data would determine if Novo’s Alzheimer’s programme could become a future growth driver. Stine Jacobsen, Maggie Fick and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Reuters
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||