Archive for the ‘Tucson Business News’ Category
December 15th, 2008 | 
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Tucson Entrepreneur Bill Acorn says his new venture, OakStreet Man, will offer “exceptional goods for the uncompromising man” via the Internet.
“Affluent males desire unique goods and services of exceptional quality and value,” says Acorn. “We’re creating an Internet shopping experience that will simplify their search and reward them with the best of the best. Our sophisticated website, which is in development at www.OakStreetMan.com, will offer an inviting ‘street’ full of shops, offering everything from selected jewelry and leather goods to the world’s finest cookware and sports gear; from fine art to custom motorcycles. We’ll also provide a wide range of intelligently organized lifestyle kits for the traveler, the newly divorced and the outdoorsman, for example, as well as global travel arrangements and full concierge services.”
The company’s full-blown retail site should be live in the Spring of 2009. Plans call for the first OakStreet Man brick-and-mortar store to follow in 2011 in a major luxury destination city.
As an accomplished businessman, Acorn knows first-hand there’s a need for a quality-assured site like the one he’s developing. “For business and pleasure,” he says, “I’ve traveled throughout the world, spending two months or more a year at destinations across Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas.” With his wife and five sons, Acorn indulges in a wide range of sports, including skiing on water and snow, scuba diving, hunting, hiking and weight lifting. He’s owned motorcycles all his adult life, and roams Tucson’s roads on either a BMW 1100 RS bike or a 2006 Corvette. His home is filled with fine art, wine and furnishings.
“OakStreet Man will reflect my personal taste, of course,” Acorn notes, “but we’ll also rely on the product recommendations of an impressive selection of named experts… a recognized chef who’ll select kitchen appliances, bar tools and cooking schools; an accomplished outdoorsman to pick the best camping gear, unique excursions and the best guides, and so on. Each of our experts will share their knowledge via text and video on our website.”
OakStreet Man is tapping into a particularly attractive market. The rich vastly prefer online shopping to in-store buying, according to an October 2008 study by Google. In a survey of 263 wealthy shoppers age 25 to 64, 95% said they made their last luxury purchase online. On average, they spend $211,267 on luxury goods annually.
Google defines millionaires as those earning at least $1 million a year, while ultra-affluents have net worths of $1 million+ and household incomes of $250,000+ a year for married couples and $175,000+ for singles.
“Wealthy shoppers today are more comfortable surfing the web and clearly appreciate the savings in valuable time that e-commerce provides, compared to in-store visits,” Acorn observes. “To this segment, time is more valuable than money.”
The Google study underscores an additional reason OakStreet Man will appeal to affluent shoppers: 91% of responding millionaires say they always or often look at reviews before buying luxury goods. “Our site will provide expert commentary on the reasons particular goods and services were selected for our collection,” says Acorn. “In video and text, a recognized chef will explain the merits of his picks for the perfect kitchen; a renowned outdoorsman will explain how he made his choice of the best fishing, hiking and boating gear; a master sommelier will show how she arrived at her selection of wine accessories. We’ll provide the best of the best, along with convincing reviews and gold-standard guarantees, assuring total satisfaction.”
The principal and founder of engineering firm Acorn Consulting Services, Acorn (59) has been involved for 35 years in the analysis and design of hundreds of projects, ranging from institutional laboratories to semiconductor cleanrooms. He’s been honored with numerous awards for technical excellence and is recognized for his achievements, innovation and foresight in the advanced technology industry. He’s an author, a sought-after industry lecturer, consultant on regulatory affairs, and frequent forensic engineering expert witness in courtroom settings. Acorn gives back to the community through academic appointments at Arizona State University in Phoenix and the University of Arizona in Tucson.
For information about OakStreet Man, submit an inquiry at www.OakStreetMan.com or call Bill Acorn at 866-99-OAKST.
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RADNOR, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Airgas, Inc., (NYSE:ARG) today announced it has acquired the assets and operations of Pima Welding Supply, Inc., an industrial gas and welding supply distributor in Tucson, AZ. Effective January 1, 2008, the business has been integrated into Airgas West, one of the regional companies within Airgas. Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMSI) today announced it will release its third quarter 2007 financial and operating results on Thursday, October 18, 2007 after the market closes.
Christopher Gleeson, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Lawrence Mehren, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call and webcast to discuss these results and Ventana’s future outlook on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. (ET). Read the rest of this entry »
TUSCON, AZ–(Marketwire – September 17, 2007) – National Retail Tenants Association – Virtual Premise, Inc. announced today many new enhancements to its Percent Rent management, calculation, processing and reconciliation functionality offered in the VP Retail Edition™.
Designed to meet the needs of its rapidly growing retail real estate customer base, Virtual Premise completely redesigned its Percent Rent functionality to accommodate complex retailer percent rent scenarios and to interface with customer Point of Sale and Accounting systems. Read the rest of this entry »
Tucson, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SION Power’s lithium sulfur (Li-S) battery, with the highest specific energy of any rechargeable battery available, enabled QinetiQ’s battery/solar powered Zephyr 6.1 High Altitude, Long Endurance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to beat the official world record for the longest duration unmanned flight. This flight is the culmination of a 4-year joint development effort.
The historic flight took place at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The Zephyr, an all-electric UAV with a wing span of 62 feet and a gross Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–High Throughput Genomics, Inc., a provider of novel microplate-based gene expression assay technology and services for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries, today announced a collaboration agreement with the University of California, San Diego, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism. Under the terms of the agreement, HTG and UCSD will collaborate to generate novel arrays using tissue samples from mice as well as various cell lysates to evaluate genes responsible for inflammation and insulin production using HTG’s qNPA™ quantitative Nuclease Protection Assay technology. Dr. Jerry Olefsky is the lead collaborator on the project for UCSD. Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cell Wireless Corporation (Pink Sheets:CLWL) announced today they had been awarded U.S. Media Team’s (47) SMS advertising platforms in the cellular phone arena by U.S. Media Team. U.S. Media Team (USMT) was one of only (11) companies chosen in the United States to participate in a two year national study and field testing program designed to determine the viability of cellular phones as the medium for advertising and marketing. Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ImaRx Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMRX) today announced it has received approval from the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) to proceed with the second dose cohort in its TUCSON (Transcranial Ultrasound in Clinical SONoLysis) Phase I/II dose escalation study evaluating SonoLysis + tPA therapy in patients with acute ischemic stroke. SonoLysis + tPA therapy combines the Company’s proprietary MRX-801 microbubbles, ultrasound and the thrombolytic drug tPA. Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ImaRx Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMRX) today announced it has received an approximately $950,000 Phase I STTR grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study changes in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier with targeted microbubbles and ultrasound over a two year period. Read the rest of this entry »
TUCSON, Ariz.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: VMSI), the global leader in tissue-based cancer diagnostics, today issued the following statement regarding Roche’s decision to once again extend its unsolicited tender offer to acquire all outstanding shares of Ventana for $75.00 in cash per common share:
“We remain steadfast in our position that Roche’s offer is wholly inadequate and our Board of Directors continues to recommend that Read the rest of this entry »
