trend

Camper vans are a thing of the past. The new trend is to convert buses into chalets with wheels

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Who hasn’t dreamed of going to school on Otto’s bus? Yes, that yellow school bus that picked up Bart and Lisa Simpson at the front door and took him a brainless Friendly and fully trained driver. Go to school… or live an adventure. Because in the United States and Canada there is a new movement in the camper world. It’s about taking a school bus, transforming its entire interior and camperizing it. Or rather than camperizing it, we should say… transforming it into a complete home on wheels. With wheels it’s already crazy The trend is called skoolie and has gained strength in North America, our colleagues explain to us. Motorpassion. The system is simple: take a school bus that was in the scrapyard and transform it into a caravan. With the difference that camperizing this type of automobile means converting them into authentic mini chalets with wheels. The result is what is shown to us, for example, by the Instagram account known as @time_to_go_adventure. Its protagonists are specialized in these school bus conversions in small homes. and the photographs (and the videos you can see at this link) They are spectacular. The movement has its own specialized places on the network. in this forumFor example, users explain their projects and present their new developments. The result is vehicles with huge kitchens (with stoves included), sofa, closets and even a bedroom. The space is so wide that, as in the case of this videothe possibilities are enormous. Click on the image to go to the original post The companions of MotorpassionThey even give us some of the favorite projects running on the network. From the Bumpin Bus until the Trebventurepassing through Bluenose Bus either The Hive Drive. In all cases you have the Instagram or YouTube account linked in the names. And in all cases you will see that they are projects that could compete for a place in some interior design magazines. The projects They are very varied. There are those who cook it and eat it themselves and there are, of course, those who prefer to order it from a company and let someone else get their hands dirty. For example, there is the case of Live Simply either The Mayes Teamcompanies that transform the interior of vehicles by completely customizing them and, in some cases, even searching for them themselves. Click on the image to go to the original post The project, yes, is not cheap. Entering the process does not cost much because if you dive through the houses of american auctions You can find very damaged vehicles for a few thousand dollars. Between 3,500 and 6,000 dollars it is possible to find some and if the problems are inside, there is no problem because the idea is to empty them completely. From here, things get complicated. Least expensive in money is, obviously, using recycled materials and doing it yourself. The most convenient, simple and expensive thing is to order it or opt for new, custom-made materials. In that case we can go for more than 60,000 dollars. As with any hobby, there is always something you can continue spending your money on. There is another advantage for this trend to have spread. And the license to access these vehicles is relatively simple. In Europe to drive vehicles with a mass greater than 3,500 kg we have to forget about the driving license but in the United States the standard license It allows you to handle vehicles that weigh more than 11,000 kg. As this camper bus has no commercial purpose and is empty of seats, no additional license is needed. Photo | Denise Leon and Simon Maisch In Xataka | The camper market is more alive than ever. And China has a weapon to break it: very low prices

the new trend that promises to be safer and more elegant

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For decades, iron bars became popular as an effective solution against theft and intrusions, especially on ground floors or in houses with windows accessible from the street. Although there is nothing written for tastes, the truth is that today it is not usually the most attractive remedy for the eyes (nor the most elegant). Happens the same with the gotelé (despite its benefits). That image of bars on facades is beginning to be left behind and more and more homeowners are opting for systems that offer similar, or even greater, protection, without giving up light, aesthetics or comfort. And precisely one of the options that is growing the most is laminated safety glass. What is laminated safety glass Laminated glass is a set formed by two or more sheets of glass joined together by one or several layers of an intermediate plastic material, usually polyvinyl butyral (PVB). This film acts as a kind of resistant “glue” that holds glass fragments together If the glass breaks, as they explain from Guardian Sun. That is precisely the key to its operation. And it is not an unbreakable glass, but a glass that, even if it cracks, does not come off or leave an open gap. The inner sheet holds the pieces in place, so that the window continues to act as a barrier and anyone trying to sneak in will take much longer to get through the window, when they do manage to do so. Image: Aluminios Garcilaso How to protect against theft Unlike conventional glass, which a burglar can break and break through in a matter of seconds, laminated glass significantly delays any forced entry attempt. “Laminated glass stands out for its ability to resist impacts, since it consists of several layers that hold the pieces together in case of breakage,” they count from Cerrajero Valencia. That extra time can make a difference, as most home burglary attempts last only a few minutes. In this sense, laminated glass does not completely eliminate the risk, but acts as a fairly effective deterrentespecially when combined with other reinforcements, such as multi-point locks or alarm systems. A regulation that measures its real resistance It should be noted that not all laminated glass offers the same level of protection. In Europe there is a specific standard, EN 356which classifies security glass according to its ability to resist manual attacks, whether accidental knocks, acts of vandalism or attempted theft with tools. This classification ranges from the lowest levels, designed for accidental knocks, to the highest levels, designed to resist burglary attempts with tools such as hammers or crowbars. The greater the number of glass layers and PVB sheets, the greater the thickness of the assembly and, therefore, its resistance. Therefore, before installing glass of this type It is important to define what level of protection is neededsince a window in an inaccessible attic does not require the same resistance as one on a ground floor with easy access from the street. Light, silence and less maintenance The good thing is that, since it is transparent glass, the house retains all the light. It’s not that the bars completely block the passage of light, but they do limit it a little. Furthermore, laminated glass hardly requires maintenancecompared to the iron of the bars, which if we want to keep it in perfect condition we have to paint it and take care of it against corrosion. Another clear advantage is acoustic insulation.. And the combination of layers of glass and PVB reduces the noise from filtering through the window, a plus for those apartments in very central areas with a lot of traffic and outside noise. Besides, glass reduces the risk of cuts in case the glass breakssince the fragments remain adhered to the sheet instead of spreading on the ground. How to install One of the most common questions is whether switching to laminated glass requires replacing the entire window. This is not always the case, since in many cases it is possible to maintain the existing frame and replace only the glass, as long as the carpentry allows it and is in good condition. This can reduce the cost considerablysince you don’t need to change the entire window. But to know whether or not it is necessary to change the window, it is best for a professional to take a look and assess whether the current frame is compatible with the weight and thickness of safety glass, which is usually greater than that of conventional glass. Cover image | mdreza jalali and Cabanyero In Xataka | France is suffocating at 40°C and without blinds: its desperate solution is to cover the windows with aluminum foil

What science says about the bedroom hacking trend

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When there is a problem at bedtimewe try to do anything to get a restful sleep with the goal of being able to perform well throughout the day. Given this situation, on the Internet there are a large number of tricks almost miraculous that they promise us to sleep in a different way, such as the use of red lightswhite noise machines or even pillow sprays. The perspective. All this sounds good, almost like a biological hack within the reach of a purchase click, but the reality is that when we look at the scientific evidence that supports these tricks, we find a much less magical and much more boring reality. Most of these tricks do not induce sleep, and in the best cases the evidence points to a weak correlation at best. The red light. He using this type of light to sleepthe reality is that it is one of the most widespread practices or advice that is normally given in social circles. And the reality is that we are facing a scientific truth that has been misinterpreted until it has become a marketing claim. What we do know is that the blue light emitted by our cool LED lampshades and bulbs It is deeply harmful before sleeping because it stops the secretion of melatonin, the hormone that regulates our circadian clock, in its tracks. Given this, clinical guidelines explain that dim red light has a wavelength that has a much smaller impact on our circadian rhythm. You have a problem. Just because red light doesn’t ‘suppress melatonin’ doesn’t mean it ‘induces sleep’. Here various studies on the circadian response to light exposure conclude that red light does not have a hypnotic effect. That is, turning on a red light in your room is not going to magically make you sleepy, but rather the medically defensible use of red light is like a harm reduction mechanism. What we must stay with is that if we absolutely need to have a light on at night (to read a little or go to the bathroom), the red one is the one that will least destabilize the brain. But to sleep well, it is best not to have any type of light in the room. The white noise. This is the other great pillar that makes up the ideal sleeping environment. The premise here is that a constant sound like that of an untuned television or a waterfall helps relax the brain, but the reality is that we must be quite careful with this. Here is a compelling review published in Sleep Medicine analyzed the evidence behind the use of white noise as a sleep aid and was able to conclude that there is great heterogeneity between studies, so the evidence we have to say that this practice is good for sleep is very weak. In fact, the results ranged from people whose sleep improved slightly to people who slept worse because of the continuous noise. And there is more. A second study pointed to nocturnal auditory stimulation in order to have a better quality of sleep, but the reality is that, although there are small studies with positive results, there is no strong evidence to generally recommend the use of white or pink noise. The only truly defensible use of white noise is not as a “brain relaxant,” but as an acoustic masker. And if, for example, you live next to a road or have noisy neighbors, white noise creates a flat sound barrier that prevents the brain from registering those sudden noise peaks, which are what cause the hated awakenings. But using continuous white noise in an already quiet room not only lacks scientific support, but some specialists warn of possible long-term adverse effects on hearing and sleep architecture. The smells. Regarding pillow sprays, which generally have a lavender or chamomile base, we fully enter the field of aromatherapy. In this case it is logical that a pleasant smell can have a relaxing effect, but there is no clinical evidence that points to it affecting sleep architecture in any way. The best advice. What has been proven is that you should always be in a room with absolute darkness, no noise of any kind, and a cool temperature. Everything else is accessories for which there is still no sufficiently reliable evidence. Images | Pars Sahin In Xataka | We thought that sleeping was only good for rest. It actually helps us build new muscle.

In the Middle Ages there was a very expensive culinary trend that today would make your food inedible: they bathed it in spices

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For tastes, colors. But if you were the guest of a landowner from the Middle Ages, a wealthy count or baron who wanted to impress his diners with a sumptuous banquet of fish, meat, wine and sweets, it would be best if your tastes leaned towards hyper-spicy food. After all, it was not unreasonable that on the table you would find a tray of pheasant swimming in a sauce made with 17 different spicesso many that its flavor would hardly please today’s palates. Maybe that expectation seems unappetizing to you, but for medieval diners it made perfect sense. Better with spices. Medieval diners liked spices. A lot. So much so that their banquets were an authentic display of dressings of ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg or saffron, among a long and well seasoned etc. As an example, Michael Delahoydefrom Washington State University, explains that a meat sauce could contain about 17 different spices. In another recent example The Country spoke of recipes up to 15 and plenty of sugar. Everything on the same plate. Combined. Forming a mixture of flavors that would make the foods that gave luster to the great banquets of medieval nobles hardly edible for 21st century diners. And that (culinary ironies) has never been as easy to find spices as it is today: it comes with entering any supermarket to find full shelves. A gastronomic window. If we know what and how medieval nobles ate, it is thanks to the work of historians and works such as ‘The Book of Sent Soví’a manuscript that stands out for several reasons: it is the oldest recipe book of its type in the Iberian Peninsula and for a few days it has been starring an exhibition about medieval food in Valencia. The work contains 72 recipes and dates back to the 15th century, although experts are convinced that the work is based on a previous original, now lost, that was written in 1324. The work is interesting not only because of its recipes. It is also because it tells us about what the diners of the Late Middle Ages were like, perhaps somewhat different from us in tastes, but not in terms of attitude. In addition to appreciating the good taste of the dishes, they liked to show off, using gastronomy as a status symbol. They appreciated kitchens with large stoves, the carvers who cut and distributed the meat among the diners, spices and sugar. Cooking and marketing (medieval). “We all have to eat, every day, but in the Middle Ages they did not have the ways of distinguishing themselves that we have. They turned food into a liturgy, a ritual in which they demonstrated their wealth and that was seen even outside because they gave leftovers to the poorest classes. It was a way of demonstrating status,” comment to The Country Juan Vicente García Marsilla, professor of Medieval History and curator of the exhibition. The 15th century recipe book preserved in Valencia has much of that pomp and prestige that was sought among kitchens and pantries. In its prologue it slips that the original work was prepared some time ago by commission from an English kingbut the recipes speak of another reality: an author probably Valencian or Catalan accustomed to the gastronomic tradition of the Mediterranean. “Marketing hype of the time”, summarizes García. By attributing the work to a foreign and ancient chef, the recipe book sought to imbue itself with exoticism and prestige. Why so many spices? Partly because of the above. Status. Today we may find them in any Mercadona, but spices or sugar centuries ago They were luxuries that were not within reach of all the tables. “Spices were a sign of luxury and opulence. They denoted prestige,” comments Delahoydewho reflects on the peculiar value of medieval cookbooks: probably not all cooks knew how to read and the recipe books were not used in the kitchen either, but rather were kept in private collections. Therefore… Were they useful for those responsible for provisions? Were they a sign of status? A way to learn about the exotic ingredients in each dish, garnishes that might otherwise go unnoticed by diners? In search of flavors… and names. Analida Braeger slips some interesting reflections in Medievalist.neta platform founded in 2008 and specialized in medieval history. In a comprehensive article On the subject, he points out that the medieval palate became accustomed to foods heavily seasoned with spices, a symbol of power increased in part by its exotic origin and the imports from the East. In the extensive list included cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, pepper, saffron, mace, cardamom or galangal. insatiable demand. “Europe’s insatiable demand for spices in the late Middle Ages is a notable example of a drastic historical shift brought about by consumer preferences,” pointed out in 2012 Paul Freedman in an article published in ‘The Oxford Handbook of Food History’. The result is recipes like chicken with sugar which we can read in the 15th century manuscript preserved in Valencia. Furthermore, spices were not only used in cooking, they also had medical applications. There is who assures that despite their limited availability and high cost, a very high percentage of the recipes in cookbooks from the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries include spices and that at least some works cite up to 40 different types. In any case, it must be clear that the cuisine of the aristocracy and that widespread among the popular classes are not the same. Among the latter it was not strange that cold food for a matter of costs. Revisiting old topics. As happens often With everything related to the Middle Ages, the use of spices is overshadowed by clichés and prejudices that are not always accurate. Delahoyde remembers the “common myth” that cooks of the time relied heavily on seasonings to mask the taste of spoiled meat. After all, there were no refrigerators or freezers to keep meat fresh, right? Why not season it well? It is not likely that … Read more

LIDL has joined the latest trend to make lots of money: setting up your own low-cost operator

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Lidl is at the doors of launch a low-cost mobile phone serviceeven more competition for a Spanish MVNO market that is beginning to become saturated and in which it seems practically impossible to surpass the current king: Digi. The LIDL plan. Grupo Schwarz, owner of LIDL, has acquired 9.9% of the communications provider 1Global, currently operating in Spain under the Orange network. The plan is to create a virtual mobile operator (OMV) to offer low-cost telephone services, wanting to expand the proposal throughout Spain and 30 more countries. The how. The service will be offered through LIDL’s nerve center for the smartphone: LIDL Plus. The application will allow the contracting and management of the service, ensuring the executive of the hypermarket chain that it will offer “simple connectivity.” LIDL has an important advantage over the rest of its rivals: physical presence throughout the entire Spanish territory and a potential customer in search of low prices. It is not the first in its sector: Eroski and Carrefour They were among the first in Spain to offer this service. {“videoId”:”x85jqs5″,”autoplay”:false,”title”:”DIGI TV Ad: "Enjoy with DIGI the advantages of going it alone"”, “tag”:”mobile”, “duration”:”40″} The electrical phenomenon. The MVNO market is beginning to become saturated with more and more companies outside the sector. The keys? Low operating costs and high margins. The most recent example is PcComponentes, which overnight became an operator with the help of Likes Telecom, a Spanish company focused on the creation of telecommunications brands. We also have recent examples in Revolut, Klarna or N26, players in the financial sector introduced into the world of telecommunications. A simple way to diversify sources of income and build customer loyalty through applications they already use. In Xataka Digi is dropping prices to attract more and more customers in Spain. The problem is that he still doesn’t make any money. Yes, but. None of these players are fighting to win the telecommunications market, where the king is simply unbeatable. DIGI is not only the low-cost operator with the largest volume of clients in Spain: it is the only one that can face giants like Telefónica, MásOrange or Vodafone (whom to pretend to surprise in the coming months). In Xataka | Digi wants to become one of the largest teleoperators in Spain. And that is why it has gone from 4,000 to 10,000 workers. (function() { window._JS_MODULES = window._JS_MODULES || {}; var headElement = document.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)(0); if (_JS_MODULES.instagram) { var instagramScript = document.createElement(‘script’); instagramScript.src=”https://platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js”; instagramScript.async = true; instagramScript.defer = true; headElement.appendChild(instagramScript); – The news LIDL has joined the latest trend to make lots of money: setting up your own low-cost operator was originally published in Xataka by Ricardo Aguilar .

the dangerous TikTok trend of chewing food with plastic that camouflages an eating disorder

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Eating something that we love very much, but without adding a single calorie to the diet, seems like something that resembles a true miracle, but the reality is that in China social networks are being flooded with a method that promises this. And we are not dealing with something revolutionary to trick the brain, but rather eating food wrapped in plastic. Something that has been baptized like ‘plastic eating’ as El País has reported. How it started. This trend has been with us for a short time, and the origin is in Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Here the videos showed young people placing a piece of plastic wrap over your mouth or wrapping food in plastic and then chewing and spitting it out. The goal here is to taste high-calorie foods without swallowing them so as not to gain weight. Extended. The algorithm worked its usual magic, and the trend has quickly spread to other countries, even reaching TikTok, where this new challenge has been replicated. And when you start with this trigger in a new population, logically you have to take into account the risks of replicating it and turning it into something viral. Especially focused on adolescents, who may be more vulnerable in these situations. Its consequence. Beyond how bizarre it is to put plastic in your mouth to enjoy the flavor, but not have the effect of the calories, the more immediate physical damage must be considered. One of the most striking, related to repeatedly chewing a packaging that has not been designed for human consumption, carries a very high risk of suffocation and also dental damage. But we must not forget that we are chewing plastic here, so there is a risk of ingesting toxins. Different medical and scientific sources warn that these practices can expose us to the consumption of microplastics, which we have already been able to talk a lot about, as they are present in some important organs such as the placenta or testicles. Something that little by little is being related to hormonal disruption. Psychological risks. Without a doubt, it is another of the most important risks that we must take into account here, since what the networks sell as a trick to reduce the cravings we have throughout the day, is actually a classic symptom of eating disorders or eating disorders. In the clinical setting, it is known as ‘chewing and spitting’, which is a very common compensatory behavior in the diagnosis of anorexia and bulimia. It is not a new idea, since the iconic designer Karl Lagerfeld popularized and defended publicly this technique years ago after losing between 30 and 40 kilos. However, science denies that it has real benefits, since different studies suggest that when we chew food, the body prepares for digestion and increases the levels of ghrelin, which is the hunger hormone. But in reality, by not receiving food, hunger and anxiety are triggered, causing a severe loss of control, metabolic alterations and malnutrition. Social networks. The proliferation of these types of trends puts the role of social networks in the mental health of young people back on the table. Scientific data provided by recent studies indicate, for example, that exposure to content that promotes anorexia on TikTok significantly decreases body satisfaction in a matter of minutes, increasing the internalization of “thin ideals.” It has also been proven that 73% of young users with moderate or high risk of suffering from an ED show symptoms directly related to their interaction on TikTok. Images | Clown World In Xataka | We believed that extreme thinness was a fashion that had happily been overcome. What is happening on networks contradicts us

We have been hearing talk for days about the “storm of the century”, this is what AEMET says about it (and about the trend of fattening meteorological headlines)

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It’s curious. A “storm of the century” concept has been around for days and, in the last hoursa date has even been set: February 25 would be the moment in which the storm would reach the country’s coasts. And I say that all this is curious because, in short, it is inaccurate, a ‘journalistic hook’: a lie after all. This 25th changes time, yes. But what the models describe is more like an Atlantic front (with rain in Galicia and some instability in the Canary Islands), than a truly exceptional episode. But let’s take a look because there are more things to take into account. What do the models say? That is the big question: AEMET and the rest of the specialized media draw a very different scenario. Galicia stands out with relevant accumulations (we are talking about 20–40 l/m² in the area from A Coruña to Pontevedra), but little else: in the rest of the areas where it rains, the quantities are much more discreet. In most places, almost testimonials. On the other hand, it is also possible that it will rain in the Canary Islands, but (unlike the peninsula) it will be a DANA in Morocco. And then? So, nothing. We won’t have big announcements; neither by winds, nor by rain, nor by coastal problems. AEMET is worriedYeah; but due to the persistent rainfall that may accumulate in the northwest. For the rest, if there is any news on the table, it is that a phenomenon that has been somewhat missing is going to return: the haze. There will be no “storm of the century” and that, of course, is excellent news. After all, we come from a winter that has been nothing more than a huge chain of storms. This has led to a whole process of social desensitization that is forcing popular meteorological information to raise the threshold until it borders on (or settles into) sensationalism. And it’s not the best time to do it: as AEMET itself points outit is possible that we are approaching a new era of precipitation in Spain. Climate change is increasing precipitation extremes globally. It doesn’t seem like a good idea to play ‘Peter and the Wolf’ just when things are starting to change. Image | Torsten Dederichs In Xataka | We already know exactly how much climate change was to blame for DANA in Valencia (and the figures are devastating)

the dangerous viral trend that turns a common medicine into a lethal Russian roulette

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Something that may be quite internalized in society is that taking too much of a medication Anyone can have a very harmful effect on the body, and logically we avoid taking a lot of ibuprofen or paracetamol at once. But social networks have taken this as a new challenge which consists of taking paracetamol pills in a group to see who can achieve spend more time admitted in the hospital due to the liver failure it generates. Crazy. What has been dubbed the “paracetamol challenge” on social media is becoming a real nightmare for emergency and toxicology services. And it is no wonder, since behind the false sense of security that an over-the-counter medication such as paracetamol gives, hides a mechanism of implacable toxicity capable of destroying the liver of a teenager in a matter of hours. At an international level. The phenomenon is not new, but it has raised alarm bells internationally due to its recent outbreaks. In the United Kingdom, newspapers such as The Independent have been echoed of police warnings after registering cases of teenagers intentionally intoxicated in Soutampaton due to this challenge. And, although the first thing you might think is that it is a suicide attempt, since paracetamol is one of the ways used to do it, the reality is that they do it because of a challenge seen on TikTok. This too has reached countries like Belgiumwhere health authorities have had to launch a strong alert about videos that encourage people to overdose on this medication. In Spain. Has not been left behind our country, which has also reported cases of adolescents who have followed this challenge. But to such an extent that in Malaga There have been two hospital admissions due to liver failure due to a drug overdose. The paracetamol trap. Although it is a medication that can be found over the counter, in the case of Spain, generally the dose is 500 mg, the truth is that it has a great danger behind it, since paracetamol overdose is one of the most frequent and potentially lethal pharmacological poisonings. But the great deception of this challenge is that symptoms of poisoning do not occur in the first hoursbut a teenager can ingest several grams of acetaminophen and feel at most mild nausea or vomiting. In this way, while the young man thinks that “nothing has happened” and that he has won the challenge to his friends, the liver is silently collapsing. In days. International clinical guidelines place special emphasis on this: late liver deterioration, since the symptoms of severe liver failure appear only three days after taking the paracetamol overdose. And here on many occasions it is too late to act from medicine, which causes the death of the patient. The mechanism. Playing the “paracetamol challenge” is, in medical terms, playing Russian roulette, since massive intake of this drug saturates the metabolic pathways of the liver, generating a highly toxic metabolite called NAPQI that destroys liver cells when in large doses. With a normal and scheduled intake, this metabolite is produced, but the liver can control it by transforming it into another product that it quickly discards. But when the amount is very high, the liver literally has no capacity to process it into something less harmful. The treatment. Right now, the only thing that has shown a reversal of liver damage from acetaminophen overdose is N-acetylcysteine. However, the effect decreases as time passes, and it is ideal to administer it in the first eight hours after an overdose with paracetamol. The problem is that the teenager can hide that he is beginning to feel bad because he has a feeling of guilt or even fear of the consequences that his actions may have on his parents. This is why it may be the case that you arrive late to a hospital to receive treatment and that the window available to do a stomach lavage or even for a liver transplant to arrive is very small. Raise awareness. The “paracetamol challenge” is not just another Internet hoax, but rather it is a direct fight against the biology of the human body in which the prize for “lasting longer in the hospital” can be multiple organ failure or ending up on the waiting list to receive a transplant. In this way, the most important thing is always to make minors aware of how serious it can be to take too much paracetamol, since it is possible that they do not know that something that a priori ‘cures’ their fever or discomfort can end up killing them. Images | danilo.alvesd In Xataka | Ozempic not only eliminates hunger, it is rewriting the supermarket ticket: goodbye to ultra-processed foods and spending on snacks

IKEA has had to close seven large stores in China. It is the symptom of a much more important trend

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The real estate market was the great economic engine in China, but currently it is plunged into a deep crisis from which it does not seem that it will come out soon. Houses are not sold and, consequently, not as much furniture is sold either. If we add to this an increasingly strong online market and competitors with very aggressive prices, it is not surprising that IKEA is not doing very well. Seven fewer stores. IKEA China has announced which will close seven of its stores on February 2. These are seven large stores, known as ‘blue box’, located in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Nantong, Xuzhou, Ningbo and Zhejiang. After the closure, there will be 34 more operational stores in the country. Change of strategy. IKEA emphasizes that “we will move from large-scale expansion to focused development.” Its strategy is to move away from large stores and focus on local commerce. They plan to open ten small stores in the next two years, starting with the Dongguan store scheduled for next February. This strategy contrasts with the one they are following in other countries like the United Kingdom either USAwhere what they are closing are some small stores opened after the pandemic. Competence. As we said, the Chinese real estate crisis is one of the reasons why sales have fallen, but not the only one. The Swedish giant faces other difficulties, such as the emergence of new local competitors that offer Much lower prices and much faster deliveries. In this context, it makes sense that IKEA wants to focus on small stores and strengthen its online channel. In fact, recently They opened a store on JD.com. Online presence. In statements to South China Morning Posteconomist Fan Xinyu, attributes the closure to “a highly developed online sales market in China, a trend that has reduced the survival margin of physical points of sale.” It is estimated that in 2024 in China They delivered 5,400 packets per secondmaking it the largest online marketplace in the world. In this sense, we can say that in China it is more common to place an order online than to go to a large store such as IKEA. IKEA China. The Swedish company opened its doors in China in 1998 and went on to open 41 large stores. The company has not published financial data, but China continues to be among the ten markets where they sell the most. According to ReutersChina accounts for 3.5% of all IKEA global sales. Image | Wikipedia In Xataka | The founder of Ikea was one of the richest men on the planet, but his most famous trick is available to everyone

There are restaurants charging their customers 15 euros when they do not appear in a reservation. And it is a trend that is going more

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“There are people who accept it and people who don’t. Let them make an effort so that we can make it to the end of the month,” comments Danitza Gabriela, Executive Chef of the Manifiesto 13 restaurant, with a laugh, in a video on the channel ‘The Xef in Kitchen‘. It refers to the charging of a fee if someone does not attend a reservation at your restaurant, But although it may seem drastic, it is not a problem that should be laughed at. It is a whole phenomenon baptized as ‘no show‘, and there are already restaurants that are taking measures. For example, charge 15 euros if you don’t show up. He no-show. Also known as ‘ghost reserve’, it is one of the nightmares of the restoration. The name is quite revealing: it is a reservation for a table that, without warning, does not show up at the agreed time. There the restaurant fills its gap, but there are times when it is not possible, leaving holes of hundreds of euros depending on the case. There are situations in which it is inevitable not to show up, even others of greater cause in which the last thing we think about is calling to say that we will not be able to go, but unfortunately it is becoming common in certain cities. Spread booking. Another Anglicism that is easy to understand. In large cities, there are diners who adopt the strategy of making reservations in several restaurants at the same time. This may seem like nonsense, but it makes “sense”: they secure all the options they like and then decide on the fly which one they prefer, not canceling, or not canceling early enough, on the discarded options. Freak. How often this occurs depends on the city. TheFork platform carried out a study on phantom reservations and, according to their analysis, between January and July of this year, there was not a single month in which no-shows accounted for more than 3.4% of the total. Then, it depends on the regions and, as we say, the city. Others studies They point out that, in large cities in the United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand, the absence rate is around 15%. In the United States and Canada, 20%. 15 euros. According to that same study by The Fork, of the total number of diners who do not attend the reservation, only 38% do so due to last-minute unforeseen events that have prevented them from calling the restaurant. 7% say that they do not notify because they are embarrassed to call and 55% say that they get lost or forget that they had made the reservation. That is precisely what is leading restaurants to take action. We mentioned the words of Danitza, from the Manifiesto 13 restaurant, at the beginning of the article, and the amount they charge for not appearing is 15 euros. He explains it at minute 8:10 of this video: “Every day we call to reconfirm the reservation. We are applying a cancellation policy, only on weekends, because those are the days when we have the most occupancy. It is 15 euros, just so that people have that bit of respect.” Danitza continues by pointing out that “it’s very hard when you’re starting out. If you don’t have a lot of fuss and the table doesn’t come to you, you’ve already prepared… and it’s complicated. There are people who accept it and people who don’t.” At Gordon Ramsay’s, if you don’t cancel at least 48 hours in advance, it’s 150 pounds. Impact. Manifesto 13 is not the only restaurant that applies this. A couple of years ago, Amelia, a restaurant in San Sebastián with two Michelin stars, charged 510 euros for a service not provided to three diners who did not show up. It was a case that came to court after a complaint from one of the customers, and the result was the ruling in favor of the restaurant. Studies indicate that losses due to no-shows can suppose between 5% and 20%, depending on the type of business, and this is what has motivated locals to move tab. For example, with card number like warranty and deposits, as are done in other forms of entertainment and consumption. It has even come to pose the expulsion from the reservation system of clients who accumulate several. Images | Hitesh Dewasi In Xataka | The restaurant with the longest waiting list in the world is not a Michelin star: it is in Bristol and costs €40

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