Philip Morris signs deal with vape maker from South Korea

Philip Morris International Inc. PM, -0.04% announced an agreement with a South Korean manufacturer of vaporizer equipment Tuesday evening that will allow it to distribute the company’s products outside of South Korea. KT&G sells products that vaporize traditional tobacco as well as e-liquid under the brand name "Lil" in South Korea. Philip Morris said Tuesday that it will expand the products – which include Lil Mini, Lil Plus and Lil Vapor – to other countries, but it does not currently plan to commercialize the products in the U.S. Philip Morris sells the IQOS brand of vapes in the U.S., while rival Altria Inc. MO, +0.80%has invested in U.S. vape startup Juul Labs Inc.

Tim Hortons halts sales of Beyond Meat products in Canada, report says

Restaurant Brands International Inc. QSR, -1.23% subsidiary Tim Hortons has stopped selling Beyond Meat Inc. BYND, -3.71% products at its shops in Ontario and British Columbia, according to a report by Bloomberg News late Tuesday. Beyond Meat stock fell 2.2% in the extended session. Tim Hortons started selling the products across Canada in June but scaled back the offerings to Ontario and B.C. in September, according to Bloomberg. "We introduced Beyond Meat as a limited time offer. We are always listening to our guests and testing new products that align to our core menu offerings. We may offer Beyond Meat again in the future," Tim Hortons said in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg. Beyond Meat closed down 3.7% during the regular session Tuesday as the S&P 500 index SPX, +1.01% rose 1%.

Netflix Lays Off About 15 In Marketing Division

Netflix has laid off roughly 15 employees in its marketing division, according to a source close to the streaming giant. The exits confirmed Tuesday are part of longer-term structural tweaks in the department that we hear has has been ongoing since the arrival of its new chief marketing officer, former BBC Studios exec Jackie Lee-Joe.

Lee-Joe, who began in September and relocated to Los Angeles, arrived amid a crucial period in the streaming space, given specifically Netflix’s ambitious international growth plan and push into awards season (it has the most Oscar nominations of any company this year), in addition to increasing competition.

In addition to rivals Amazon and Hulu, Disney+ and Apple TV+ services have launched, with AT&T’s HBO Max and Comcast’s Peacock still to come.

Deadline hears that despite the layoffs, Netflix will continue to do title marketing.

The latest news comes after Netflix reported fourth-quarter earnings last week that blew past estimates with revenue at $5.47 billion and earnings per share of $1.30. It said it added 8.76 million global paid subscribers during the quarter, bringing its total to 167.1 million, a number that beat expectations overall but was still soft on U.S. additions.

Netflix had seen subdued growth in domestic subscribers versus international even before the glut of new entrants.

US citizen describes fleeing Wuhan, China

Hong Kong (CNN Business)Hong Kong stocks tumbled Wednesday as investors returned from a four-day holiday to weigh the consequences of an escalating coronavirus outbreak.

The city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index (HSI) dropped 3% at market open and was last down 2.7% — its first day of trading after the Lunar New Year holiday celebrations.
The virus originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and has now spread across Asia and the rest of the world. Chinese officials say 131 people have died in mainland China, and there are more than 5,500 cases around the world — the vast majority of which are also in mainland China.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 (N225) and South Korea’s Kospi (KOSPI)both rebounded a little from losses earlier this week. The indexes were last up 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively.
This is a developing story.

Japanese fashion house Kenzo is opening a new store in Soho

The Japanese fashion house Kenzo is opening a new store in Soho at the southwest corner of Grand and Mercer streets.

Kenzo has leased 3,000 square feet at 107 Grand St., which is less than half the former 7,000-square-foot Ted Baker space.

The store includes nearly all of the red building’s frontage along Grand and wraps around the corner onto Mercer. The remaining 4,000-square-foot space is available with the address of 32 Mercer.

The owner had previously held out hope for one large retailer, but Ted Baker had moved out in 2016 just as online buying made a dent in stores’ bottom lines and a series of pop-up stores took its place.

City property tax charges also leaped from $265,000 for 2016-2017 to $401,800 for 2019-2020.

“The landlord was very patient and wanted a tenant to rent the balance of the space that would add the appropriate cachet,” said Christopher Owles of Sinvin Real Estate, which represents the building along with Jeff Yuan of Urban Stone Realty.

Joel Isaacs and Josh Lewin of Isaacs and Company represented the LVMH-owned brand.

The retail asking rent was $325 per square foot and there are some available office floors above.

Neighboring stores include the recently opened Scandi-cool Ganni, edgy Alexander Wang and men’s retailer Zadig & Voltaire.

“It’s become an exciting intersection for fashion,” says Owles.

25 Really Weird Lawsuits You Wouldn’t Believe Were Ever Filed

Remember Stella Liebeck who was burned by a hot McDonald’s coffee and was awarded $2.9 million? For a long time, she was the poster girl for ridiculous lawsuits. The case shocked the world at the time, but frivolous lawsuits have become common since then.

In today’s litigious environment, some cases stand out because they are so absurd. 24/7 Tempo searched online archives of various news sites to find 25 examples.

Living in a country with a well-established judicial system offers an opportunity to use the courts to achieve justice for whatever wrongs people see. While most cases have merit, sometimes the wrongs being sued are not what most people would consider to be unjust. The downside is that some such lawsuits end up being material for late-night comedians.

From a kidnapper suing his victims for failing to help him escape the authorities to people suing for being misled that a sugary snack has a lot of sugar, there are many bizarre lawsuits that many may not believe are real. You be the judge of whether they have merit.

Click here for 25 of the most bizarre lawsuits in recent history.

Methodology

To identify some of the weirdest lawsuits filed in recent history, 24/7 Tempo searched online news archives of various sites, including CNN, Reuters, and NBC. We selected lawsuits that stemmed from what most people would describe as minor inconveniences. Some of the cases on the list concern marketing claims that have been taken either out of context or too literally. Others are just bizarre, and most people would think they are not even real.