Q&As

The Canadian government is ordering Canada Post to protect rural mail delivery and maintain a fund that subsidizes postage for Canadian magazines, according to wire service reports.

Air Miles, a U.K.-based loyalty program, has named Fiona Leslie regional marketing manager for the Middle East.

The Dial Corp. is boosting its upcoming tie-in with The Apprentice with sampling efforts and other promotions around two new product launches.

Corona has gone Hollywood.

The beer brand is making an appearance in the upcoming film From Mexico with Love, a boxing drama. Corona signage will dress bar scenes and banners will be used in pivotal fights in the film.

Today we meet Steven Keats, vice president at Macromark Inc., a broker who’s immersed the business opportunity, health and seminars markets.

Lan Services L.L.C. has acquired www.smarterdeals.com, an online comparison-shopping service in US and Canada.

U.S. retail sales through mail order and electronic avenues totaled $24 million in November, an increase from $21.8 million in the prior-year period, according to the Commerce Department.

Going through with a deal to buy Advo Inc. for $1.3 billion would dilute the stakes of its shareholders, Valassis Communications Inc. chief financial officer Robert Recchia testified Wednesday, according to wire service reports.

Shari Fitzpatrick, who founded Sacramento, CA-based cataloger/retailer Shari’s Berries in 1989, launched another online store, the Berry Factory.

The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to the memory of writer/director/actor Adrienne Shelly, has launched its new Web site at www.AdrienneShellyFoundation.org.