Latest news with #Reeboks
Miami Herald
02-08-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Iconic sneaker brand quietly closed 140 stores
Some brands have been around so long they feel like staples. There was a period where it seemed like every woman in American owned a pair of Keds and every man with a tennis racket had at least one pair of all-white Reeboks. Other brands like Converse have come in and out of mainstream popularity while maintaining a cult base. The sneakers never quite go away, but they have periods where they appeal to a niche audience rather than a mainstream one. Related: Popular furniture retailer faces bankruptcy filing, liquidation Vans has always felt closer to Converse than Nike. It's a skater brand at heart and that audience has kept the sneaker company relevant even when it has faded out as a mainstream option. The sneaker company traces its history back to 1966 when Brothers Paul Van Doren and Jim Van Doren along with partners Gordon Lee and Serge Delia opened The Van Doren Rubber Company, Anaheim, Calif., for business on March 16. That was also when the Vans #44 Deck Shoes, now known as "The Authentic" was launched. Vans hit its stride, however, in 1976 when "the Vans #95, now known as the Era, with a padded collar and different color combinations, is designed by Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta and becomes the shoe of choice for a generation of skateboarders," the company shared on its website. The company actually struggled in the 1980s and it filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1984. "Although the core Vans shoes are selling well, the wide range of products that Vans offers have drained company resources and Vans is not able to overcome debt," Vans recovered and ultimately was sold to VF Corp. (VFC) in 2004. Vans parent company, VF Corp., has been struggling but CEO Bracken P. Darrell says that things are improving. "We improved our top line trend to negative 2% in constant dollars and flat and reported. A year ago, only 10% of our business by revenue was growing. And today, that number is almost 60%. We also delivered a much stronger bottom line, a loss of $56 million in our seasonally low Q1, about $50 million ahead of the high end of our guidance and ahead of last year," he shared during the company's first-quarter earnings call. More Retail: Supermarket inflation: Beef prices soar as egg prices fallLevi's shares plan to beat tariffs, keep holiday prices downAmazon's quiet pricing twist on tariffs stuns shoppers He noted that Vans has been a problem, but he sees it as an opportunity. "We're going to bring Vans back to growth. We don't like the numbers on Vans any more than you, down 15% in Q1. About 40% of the decline can be attributed to channel rationalization actions, as you know. Excluding these, if you look at the underlying trends, Vans is running down high single digits, but we're seeing some bright spots. We'll get Vans back to flat and then to healthy growth as fast as we can," he shared. Vans has lost market share to new competitors Hoka and NoBull, while Nike remains popular in the skater space. VF has been working to right-size its retail portfolio and figure out proper distribution for Vans. "In DTC (direct-to-consumer), over the last two years, we closed about 140 stores, about 20% of our global network. While it's tough medicine affecting revenue, it's improved our profitability," Darrell shared. To get Vans back on track, Darrell has brought in Sun Choe to lead Vans. "This team's freedom to innovate will be less and less constrained by the practicalities of the old product creation process as each quarter passes. So you'll see more and more ahead. But there are already positive signals in the Pinnacle side of the business. We had a 50% increase in appointment bookings at Paris Fashion Week in June, including new accounts and accounts who have delisted Vans in recent years coming back," he shared. Part of the company's strategy will be moving sales away from its closed stores to new retail partners. Darrell also believes that Vans will have a future in a market that's very different from its core audience. "Premium today is a small part of Vans, but this shows how sensitive this business is to new products. We don't have enough new products in the premium or the mainline yet, but Sun and the team, she is assembling our new product machines. New products are coming. With the recent changes in our supply chain, we're starting to accelerate our pace to market too," he added. Th company, however, is not giving up on stores. It is changing how they display shoes. "We've also now reoriented about 90% of our full-price Americas stores to provide greater gender clarity and we'll continue to change the format to show more newness and footwear focus in our visual merchandising," the CEO shared. Related: Popular shoe brand files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, liquidating The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
China's coal heartland fighting for a greener future
Deep in the recesses of an underground cavern, covered in dust and soot, Xu Xiaobo wondered why, having recently graduated with a degree in mechanics, he was on his hands and knees sifting through layers of coal sludge. But there was no time to ponder the ancestral forces that had brought him down into one of his province's oldest mines. There was coal to dig for. New to the job, keeping up with colleagues was challenging. As he tried to crawl at speed under a conveyor belt of coal, he landed badly and sprained his wrist. He still can't rotate it properly. Xu was desperate to leave the mine. He applied for scores of jobs, but along with millions of other young people who graduated during the pandemic, he discovered that few places were hiring. One company offered him a job on the other side of the country but it was too far from his family. 'When I first graduated, I had big dreams, maybe a bit too ambitious,' the 26-year-old said, sitting outside the coal mine in the ancient city of Datong, Shanxi province, where he still works. Eventually he managed to transfer to a job in administration. 'I hate the job of coal digging,' he said, his gleaming white Reeboks testament to the fact that he is now able to work above ground. Now, though, as China charges down the path of modernisation and away from the coal mines that powered the first few millennia of the country's rise, Xu has found what he thinks is a brighter future in his home province of Shanxi. He's finding part-time work as a tour guide. 'I truly love my hometown and hope that more people can see it – not just as a place full of coal dust and heavy pollution,' Xu said. Xu's personal journey is one that Shanxi, China's top coal producing province, wants to mimic on a grand scale. But the challenge is immense. With the lowest GDP growth in the country and a local economy that is heavily reliant on China's most polluting resource, Shanxi's fate in China's green future is uncertain. China has pledged to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Many experts believe that, thanks to the rapid growth of clean energy systems, China's emissions will peak ahead of schedule, possibly as soon as this year. Now, as China's policymakers develop the 15th five year plan, the economic and planning document that will lay out the priorities for the period between 2026 and 2030, analysts are watching closely to see how China's green agenda will be balanced against social and economic concerns. In April, Xi Jinping, China's leader, said: 'No matter how the international situation changes, China will not slow down its efforts to address climate change'. He also spoke of the need for a 'fair transition'. That question is of particular importance to the 35 million people of Shanxi. Shanxi is at the heart of a transition that will have global, existential ramifications. In 2024, it produced 1.27bn tonnes of coal, more than India. If Shanxi was a country, it would be the second-biggest coal producer in the world, after China. That coal was dug up to feed a country whose energy demands are growing rapidly each year – at a pace that, until recently, the increases in renewable capacity have struggled to keep up with. Coal is by far the largest source of CO2 emissions from fuel in China. According to the World Bank, the transition from coal to clean energy is 'the most important climate change mitigation action in the world.' In recent years, China's build-up of renewable energy has accelerated at a rate that has stunned even the most optimistic environmentalists. China is building more wind and solar power than the rest of the world combined, and in April its wind and solar power generation capacity surged to nearly 1,500 GW, exceeding fossil-fuel power for the first time. Recent analysis suggests that China's CO2 emissions are in decline, at least for now. But China's leaders have pledged, repeatedly, that coal will continue to have a supporting role in China's energy system. And when it comes to actual power generation in China's energy mix, coal still accounts for nearly 60%, according to data from Ember, an energy think tank. This year's government work report pledged to 'increase coal production and supply capacity', something that many in China's system see as essential to ensuring energy security. The spectre of blackouts, which paralysed parts of China in 2021 and 2022, haunt local officials. A lack of air conditioning in China's scorching summers can be fatal to the elderly and vulnerable, while industry grinds to a halt without electricity. People familiar with the conversations happening inside China's planning offices say that the recent power outages in Iberia were pointed to as an example of the perils of over-reliance on seasonally unstable renewable energy. The government has not announced a clear timeline for coal phase out. 'In every document on realising the dual carbon goals, and realising the energy transition, there is some kind of role or carveout for the coal industry,' said Lauri Myllyvirta, the co-founder of Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a think tank. Nevertheless, with improvements in battery storage technology and power grid modernisation, the direction of travel away from coal seems clear. Prices are already in decline, as are coal imports. 'As soon as China starts to reduce its coal reliance, Shanxi province is going to be more directly hit,' said Tom Wang, a Shanxi native and climate activist. He fears the consequences of mass unemployment. 'A machine can sit around getting rusty. But a person will have to be fed. A person will have a family to support … It's about survival. It's about how you can live with dignity'. Everywhere you look in Shanxi, there is coal. Mines dot the arid landscape. Lumbering coal trucks share the highways with sleek new electric vehicles. In Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital, there is even a coal-themed cafe, selling coal-inspired drinks and cutesy anthropomorphised lumps of coal. 'It represents Shanxi,' explains the young barista. 'As long as the rest of the country needs it, we will provide it'. Around one in ten people in the province are employed in coal and related industries. 'My grandfather, my father, my maternal grandmother, and even my aunt – they all work in the coal industry. They don't want to see the coal enterprises shut down,' Xu said. The world is littered with communities that have been left behind by modernisation. When towns in the Appalachian mountain range in the US lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the 1990s and 2000s – a process which accelerated when China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 – opioid-related deaths increased significantly. And China has its own examples, too. The provinces of north-east China, known collectively as Dongbei, saw widespread factory closures in the 1990s when China shifted from a planned to a market economy. Millions of workers lost their jobs, and crime rates rose. Even today, the region, which has struggled to recover, is known as China's Rust Belt. Local officials are well aware of this problem. Shanxi's provincial work report for this year said that getting rid of the 'excessive dependency' on coal 'still requires hard work'. More than 1.7m coal-related jobs are expected to vanish by the end of the decade, creating an economic time bomb for local officials. One strategy has been to develop Shanxi's tourism industry. Young entrepreneurs like Xu are at the forefront of that drive. He wants his home city of Datong to avoid the fate of rust belt cities, such as Hegang, a mining city in Dongbei's Heilongjiang province that is now one of the poorest places in China. 'It's also a resource-depleted city,' Xu said. 'So perhaps one day, our city, Datong, might end up like Hegang. But where we're stronger than Hegang is that Datong has a deep cultural and historical heritage. So maybe when that time comes, young people will start leaving, but if I start working early in the tourism industry here in Datong – in the cultural tourism sector – then maybe I won't have to leave when that time comes.' ***** As with its rich reserves of coal, Shanxi has abundant cultural resources – it just hasn't quite figured out how to use them. Nowhere is this more apparent than Linfen, a small town of just 90,000 people and a few ancient temples. During last year's National Day holiday, its population briefly doubled when 91,000 tourists flocked to the town, a year-on-year tourism increase of 335%, according to local authorities. The sudden rush of tourists to two previously little known temples deep in China's coallands is thanks in part to the viral popularity of a Chinese video game, Black Myth: Wukong, which was released last year. Based on classic Chinese mythology, the game includes intricate reconstructions of temples including Xiaoxitian and Guangsheng in Linfen. Both sites have since rapidly plastered themselves with Black Myth merchandise. Guangsheng erected a 7ft statue of the Destined One, the game's staff-wielding monkey hero, at the entrance to the prayer halls. But the transformation into a tourist hotspot hasn't been a totally smooth one. Some visitors grumbled that the car park at Xiaoxitian was hard to navigate. The nearby accommodation options are limited. A 43-year-old photographer surnamed Li said that visiting Xiaoxitian felt 'immersive' after playing the Black Myth video game. But sometimes, he said, ruminating on the fake cultural relics that have been built in nearby towns, 'you feel they have spent their money in the wrong place'. Wang Xiaoqi and Yu Peishi, tourists at Guangsheng temple, agreed. Aged 72, they have not played the Black Myth video game. But Shanxi has not learned how to tell its own story, they said. Take London's Big Ben as an example, Wang said. It is 'much, much younger' than the relics in Shanxi, 'but its fame is much, much greater'. The UK has a better public relations strategy, Yu chimed in, resting with his puppy in a rucksack on his lap. 'Everyone in the world knows about it. It's about cultural influence. Here, it's more regional, lacking in that kind of vision and global reach'. Shanxi isn't just betting on tourism. It is also trying to incorporate China's nationwide renewables boom into the local economy. By the end of last year Shanxi's total installed capacity of clean energy reached 61.89 GW, roughly the same as the UK's. More than half of that came from solar, which reached 34.8 GW last year. In 2022, one of China's biggest solar companies, LONGi, opened a solar panel factory in Datong, which now employs over 160 people. More than half of the workers come from the coal industry, the company said. Other companies from Shanxi's coal-dominated economy are hoping to reinvent themselves as part of China's 'clean coal' future. Meijin Energy, based in Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital, is one of China's biggest private coke companies. Founded in 1981, the company has the capacity to process more than 6m tonnes of coal each year, and 11m tonnes of coke. Its headquarters is a sprawling factory complex on the outskirts of the city. According to the company's chairperson Yao Junlian, Shanxi is the 'vanguard of the national energy revolution'. A desire to be part of this revolution led the company to start developing a hydrogen fuel in 2016, turning a byproduct of the coking process into clean fuel for vehicles. Sitting in the offices of the shiny new hydrogen division of the Taiyan compound, Ma Kai, a general manager, explained: 'In the past, during the coking process, we might have just burned off or discharged the coke oven gas directly. First, that caused air pollution and had a negative environmental impact. Second, it meant we weren't fully realizing the value of the resources.' 'Now, we extract and turn all the valuable components contained in the coking process into usable products. This not only maximizes the value of the raw materials and improves our overall efficiency, but also plays a crucial role in environmental protection.' Meijin's site in Taiyuan has an annual production capacity of more than 1,500 tonnes of hydrogen. Much of this goes back into the coal eco-system. Shanxi's highways are loaded with lane after lane of towering coal trucks, some 500,000 in total, according to Ma. As Shanxi tries to decarbonise its transport sector, hundreds of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, many made by Meijin, have started to join their ranks. But experts are sceptical about the benefits of this kind of coal-to-chemical processing in the green transition. Even Ma acknowledged that it was a 'contradiction' that the production of this clean fuel required digging up and burning one of the dirtiest resources. 'There is no explanation that I know of about why the coal-to-chemical industry would be part of the clean utilisation of coal,' Myllyvirta said. The concept of 'clean coal' is 'the way that the policymakers hedge between clean energy and coal to ensure that the coal industry has a role to play in the transition.' And the numbers so far are tiny. Meijin employs over ten thousand people in Shanxi, with fewer than 100 in the hydrogen sector. Hydrogen accounts for less than 5% of the company's revenue. Last year, the company recorded a loss of more than 1.1bn yuan, which it attributed to plummeting coke prices amid an economic downturn. Wang, the activist, believes that the answer to such economic challenges is to move away from coal entirely. 'I'm not really a believer in the existence of the coal industry, because as soon as you dig it out, there are greenhouse gas emissions'. Instead, Wang believes Shanxi has the potential to build a thriving economy, powered by its massive installations of clean energy, that can sustain the province without the need for coal. But Shanxi's fate isn't entirely in its hands. Two-thirds of the coal mined in Shanxi is exported to other provinces. Shanxi is 'the heart of the entire country,' said Xu, the former miner, 'continuously sending out energy and fresh blood to the rest of China'. Additional research by Lillian Yang
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
China's coal heartland fighting for a greener future
Deep in the recesses of an underground cavern, covered in dust and soot, Xu Xiaobo wondered why, having recently graduated with a degree in mechanics, he was on his hands and knees sifting through layers of coal sludge. But there was no time to ponder the ancestral forces that had brought him down into one of his province's oldest mines. There was coal to dig for. New to the job, keeping up with colleagues was challenging. As he tried to crawl at speed under a conveyor belt of coal, he landed badly and sprained his wrist. He still can't rotate it properly. Xu was desperate to leave the mine. He applied for scores of jobs, but along with millions of other young people who graduated during the pandemic, he discovered that few places were hiring. One company offered him a job on the other side of the country but it was too far from his family. 'When I first graduated, I had big dreams, maybe a bit too ambitious,' the 26-year-old said, sitting outside the coal mine in the ancient city of Datong, Shanxi province, where he still works. Eventually he managed to transfer to a job in administration. 'I hate the job of coal digging,' he said, his gleaming white Reeboks testament to the fact that he is now able to work above ground. Now, though, as China charges down the path of modernisation and away from the coal mines that powered the first few millennia of the country's rise, Xu has found what he thinks is a brighter future in his home province of Shanxi. He's finding part-time work as a tour guide. 'I truly love my hometown and hope that more people can see it – not just as a place full of coal dust and heavy pollution,' Xu said. Xu's personal journey is one that Shanxi, China's top coal producing province, wants to mimic on a grand scale. But the challenge is immense. With the lowest GDP growth in the country and a local economy that is heavily reliant on China's most polluting resource, Shanxi's fate in China's green future is uncertain. China has pledged to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Many experts believe that, thanks to the rapid growth of clean energy systems, China's emissions will peak ahead of schedule, possibly as soon as this year. Now, as China's policymakers develop the 15th five year plan, the economic and planning document that will lay out the priorities for the period between 2026 and 2030, analysts are watching closely to see how China's green agenda will be balanced against social and economic concerns. In April, Xi Jinping, China's leader, said: 'No matter how the international situation changes, China will not slow down its efforts to address climate change'. He also spoke of the need for a 'fair transition'. That question is of particular importance to the 35 million people of Shanxi. Shanxi is at the heart of a transition that will have global, existential ramifications. In 2024, it produced 1.27bn tonnes of coal, more than India. If Shanxi was a country, it would be the second-biggest coal producer in the world, after China. That coal was dug up to feed a country whose energy demands are growing rapidly each year – at a pace that, until recently, the increases in renewable capacity have struggled to keep up with. Coal is by far the largest source of CO2 emissions from fuel in China. According to the World Bank, the transition from coal to clean energy is 'the most important climate change mitigation action in the world.' In recent years, China's build-up of renewable energy has accelerated at a rate that has stunned even the most optimistic environmentalists. China is building more wind and solar power than the rest of the world combined, and in April its wind and solar power generation capacity surged to nearly 1,500 GW, exceeding fossil-fuel power for the first time. Recent analysis suggests that China's CO2 emissions are in decline, at least for now. But China's leaders have pledged, repeatedly, that coal will continue to have a supporting role in China's energy system. And when it comes to actual power generation in China's energy mix, coal still accounts for nearly 60%, according to data from Ember, an energy think tank. This year's government work report pledged to 'increase coal production and supply capacity', something that many in China's system see as essential to ensuring energy security. The spectre of blackouts, which paralysed parts of China in 2021 and 2022, haunt local officials. A lack of air conditioning in China's scorching summers can be fatal to the elderly and vulnerable, while industry grinds to a halt without electricity. People familiar with the conversations happening inside China's planning offices say that the recent power outages in Iberia were pointed to as an example of the perils of over-reliance on seasonally unstable renewable energy. The government has not announced a clear timeline for coal phase out. 'In every document on realising the dual carbon goals, and realising the energy transition, there is some kind of role or carveout for the coal industry,' said Lauri Myllyvirta, the co-founder of Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a think tank. Nevertheless, with improvements in battery storage technology and power grid modernisation, the direction of travel away from coal seems clear. Prices are already in decline, as are coal imports. 'As soon as China starts to reduce its coal reliance, Shanxi province is going to be more directly hit,' said Tom Wang, a Shanxi native and climate activist. He fears the consequences of mass unemployment. 'A machine can sit around getting rusty. But a person will have to be fed. A person will have a family to support … It's about survival. It's about how you can live with dignity'. Everywhere you look in Shanxi, there is coal. Mines dot the arid landscape. Lumbering coal trucks share the highways with sleek new electric vehicles. In Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital, there is even a coal-themed cafe, selling coal-inspired drinks and cutesy anthropomorphised lumps of coal. 'It represents Shanxi,' explains the young barista. 'As long as the rest of the country needs it, we will provide it'. Around one in ten people in the province are employed in coal and related industries. 'My grandfather, my father, my maternal grandmother, and even my aunt – they all work in the coal industry. They don't want to see the coal enterprises shut down,' Xu said. The world is littered with communities that have been left behind by modernisation. When towns in the Appalachian mountain range in the US lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs in the 1990s and 2000s – a process which accelerated when China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001 – opioid-related deaths increased significantly. And China has its own examples, too. The provinces of north-east China, known collectively as Dongbei, saw widespread factory closures in the 1990s when China shifted from a planned to a market economy. Millions of workers lost their jobs, and crime rates rose. Even today, the region, which has struggled to recover, is known as China's Rust Belt. Local officials are well aware of this problem. Shanxi's provincial work report for this year said that getting rid of the 'excessive dependency' on coal 'still requires hard work'. More than 1.7m coal-related jobs are expected to vanish by the end of the decade, creating an economic time bomb for local officials. One strategy has been to develop Shanxi's tourism industry. Young entrepreneurs like Xu are at the forefront of that drive. He wants his home city of Datong to avoid the fate of rust belt cities, such as Hegang, a mining city in Dongbei's Heilongjiang province that is now one of the poorest places in China. 'It's also a resource-depleted city,' Xu said. 'So perhaps one day, our city, Datong, might end up like Hegang. But where we're stronger than Hegang is that Datong has a deep cultural and historical heritage. So maybe when that time comes, young people will start leaving, but if I start working early in the tourism industry here in Datong – in the cultural tourism sector – then maybe I won't have to leave when that time comes.' ***** As with its rich reserves of coal, Shanxi has abundant cultural resources – it just hasn't quite figured out how to use them. Nowhere is this more apparent than Linfen, a small town of just 90,000 people and a few ancient temples. During last year's National Day holiday, its population briefly doubled when 91,000 tourists flocked to the town, a year-on-year tourism increase of 335%, according to local authorities. The sudden rush of tourists to two previously little known temples deep in China's coallands is thanks in part to the viral popularity of a Chinese video game, Black Myth: Wukong, which was released last year. Based on classic Chinese mythology, the game includes intricate reconstructions of temples including Xiaoxitian and Guangsheng in Linfen. Both sites have since rapidly plastered themselves with Black Myth merchandise. Guangsheng erected a 7ft statue of the Destined One, the game's staff-wielding monkey hero, at the entrance to the prayer halls. But the transformation into a tourist hotspot hasn't been a totally smooth one. Some visitors grumbled that the car park at Xiaoxitian was hard to navigate. The nearby accommodation options are limited. A 43-year-old photographer surnamed Li said that visiting Xiaoxitian felt 'immersive' after playing the Black Myth video game. But sometimes, he said, ruminating on the fake cultural relics that have been built in nearby towns, 'you feel they have spent their money in the wrong place'. Wang Xiaoqi and Yu Peishi, tourists at Guangsheng temple, agreed. Aged 72, they have not played the Black Myth video game. But Shanxi has not learned how to tell its own story, they said. Take London's Big Ben as an example, Wang said. It is 'much, much younger' than the relics in Shanxi, 'but its fame is much, much greater'. The UK has a better public relations strategy, Yu chimed in, resting with his puppy in a rucksack on his lap. 'Everyone in the world knows about it. It's about cultural influence. Here, it's more regional, lacking in that kind of vision and global reach'. Shanxi isn't just betting on tourism. It is also trying to incorporate China's nationwide renewables boom into the local economy. By the end of last year Shanxi's total installed capacity of clean energy reached 61.89 GW, roughly the same as the UK's. More than half of that came from solar, which reached 34.8 GW last year. In 2022, one of China's biggest solar companies, LONGi, opened a solar panel factory in Datong, which now employs over 160 people. More than half of the workers come from the coal industry, the company said. Other companies from Shanxi's coal-dominated economy are hoping to reinvent themselves as part of China's 'clean coal' future. Meijin Energy, based in Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital, is one of China's biggest private coke companies. Founded in 1981, the company has the capacity to process more than 6m tonnes of coal each year, and 11m tonnes of coke. Its headquarters is a sprawling factory complex on the outskirts of the city. According to the company's chairperson Yao Junlian, Shanxi is the 'vanguard of the national energy revolution'. A desire to be part of this revolution led the company to start developing a hydrogen fuel in 2016, turning a byproduct of the coking process into clean fuel for vehicles. Sitting in the offices of the shiny new hydrogen division of the Taiyan compound, Ma Kai, a general manager, explained: 'In the past, during the coking process, we might have just burned off or discharged the coke oven gas directly. First, that caused air pollution and had a negative environmental impact. Second, it meant we weren't fully realizing the value of the resources.' 'Now, we extract and turn all the valuable components contained in the coking process into usable products. This not only maximizes the value of the raw materials and improves our overall efficiency, but also plays a crucial role in environmental protection.' Meijin's site in Taiyuan has an annual production capacity of more than 1,500 tonnes of hydrogen. Much of this goes back into the coal eco-system. Shanxi's highways are loaded with lane after lane of towering coal trucks, some 500,000 in total, according to Ma. As Shanxi tries to decarbonise its transport sector, hundreds of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles, many made by Meijin, have started to join their ranks. But experts are sceptical about the benefits of this kind of coal-to-chemical processing in the green transition. Even Ma acknowledged that it was a 'contradiction' that the production of this clean fuel required digging up and burning one of the dirtiest resources. 'There is no explanation that I know of about why the coal-to-chemical industry would be part of the clean utilisation of coal,' Myllyvirta said. The concept of 'clean coal' is 'the way that the policymakers hedge between clean energy and coal to ensure that the coal industry has a role to play in the transition.' And the numbers so far are tiny. Meijin employs over ten thousand people in Shanxi, with fewer than 100 in the hydrogen sector. Hydrogen accounts for less than 5% of the company's revenue. Last year, the company recorded a loss of more than 1.3bn yuan, which it attributed to plummeting coke prices amid an economic downturn. Wang, the activist, believes that the answer to such economic challenges is to move away from coal entirely. 'I'm not really a believer in the existence of the coal industry, because as soon as you dig it out, there are greenhouse gas emissions'. Instead, Wang believes Shanxi has the potential to build a thriving economy, powered by its massive installations of clean energy, that can sustain the province without the need for coal. But Shanxi's fate isn't entirely in its hands. Two-thirds of the coal mined in Shanxi is exported to other provinces. Shanxi is 'the heart of the entire country,' said Xu, the former miner, 'continuously sending out energy and fresh blood to the rest of China'. Additional research by Lillian Yang
Black America Web
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
6 Cool Kicks You Need For Your Spring/Summer Wardrobe
Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS Looking for stylish and affordable spring sneakers? Check out WSS's wide selection of trendy footwear for men, women, and kids. They have everything from retro-style high-tops and classic silhouettes to eye-catching metallics and bright colors. WSS has the perfect sneakers for the whole family at a price you'll love. Let's get into some of the picks I would *add to cart* with ease. Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS A timeless icon reimagined for the streets. The Adidas Sambas OG blends classic soccer heritage with everyday style. With a sleek leather upper, suede toe cap, and gum rubber sole, this staple pairs effortlessly with anything from track pants to denim. Clean, versatile, and always in rotation. The girlies have been gravitating towards this silhouette so it's a must have. Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS The OG of all OGs, the Chuck Taylor Hi is a symbol of self-expression with its canvas upper, durable rubber sole, and signature ankle patch. Whether you're keeping it classic or customizing your look, these kicks are as timeless as they come. You can easily couple this shoe with a maxi dress or a graphic tee and jeans. Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS Retro never looked so fresh. The Reebok Club C 85 brings back '80s court style with a clean leather upper and vintage details. Low-key and laid-back, this silhouette is perfect for everyday wear with just the right touch of throwback cool. Reeboks are making a comeback so you might want to hop on the wave now. Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS Where Y2K vibes meet all-day comfort, the New Balance 530 mixes techy design with lifestyle flair, featuring breathable mesh, synthetic overlays, and ABZORB cushioning. A go-to sneaker for athleisure looks, errands, or just making nostalgia look good. The New Balance is the quintessential cool girl shoe and luckily they are also ultra comfy. Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS Inspired by motorsport legends, the Puma Speedcat OG is built low, sleek, and fast-looking. Premium suede and minimalist detailing make it a bold, fashion-forward pick. Streetwear with a racetrack soul—these turn heads and corners. Source: Courtesy of WSS / Courtesy of WSS The sneaker that started it all—elevated for her. The Air Jordan 1 High OG combines heritage design with premium materials and iconic color blocking. A true statement piece with street cred to match, these sneakers bring legacy and luxury together in every step. SEE ALSO 6 Cool Kicks You Need For Your Spring/Summer Wardrobe was originally published on Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
"After that, I never saw my Iversons again" - Bow Wow recalls his unfortunate first meeting with MJ
American rapper Shad Gregory "Bow Wow" Moss is known for his role in the 2002 film "Like Mike." In that movie, Moss plays Calvin Cambridge, a 13-year-old orphan who became an NBA superstar after acquiring Michael Jordan's skills from wearing an old pair of sneakers that once belonged to Mike. In real life, however, it was different. Although he grew up close to MJ's son Marcus, Bow Wow resonated with Philadelphia 76ers superstar Allen Iverson mainly because of A.I.'s diminutive stature and hip-hop persona. That got Shad in trouble during his first meeting with Mr. Jordan. "I wore Reeboks at the house. I wore some Iversons. That was my guy. After Marcus' dad retired, A.I. was my man. The tatt, the braid, I just saw me. So I'm in the house of the Iversons," said Moss during his recent appearance on "Club Shay Shay." Bow Wow started his entertainment career at the age of six when he was discovered by Snoop Dogg. As "Li'l Bow Wow," he released his first album at the age of 13 in 2000. A year later, Moss became the featured performer of the "Scream Tour," which ran every summer from 2001-2012. Every time the tour hit Chicago, Bow would hit up with Marcus and he would stay at the Jordan's 56,000-square foot mansion in Highland Park. Unfortunately, his buddy did not give him the memo on what footwear is allowed in MJ's presence. "And so me and Marcus, in his room, we wake up in the morning," recalled Bow Wow. "I can see that door crack open like a father, like a real dad. "Hey, whose bullsh** is this?" And Marcus was like, 'I don't know, you already know it, don't even look at me.' I'm on the floor sleeping, and I'm like, "Huh?" He like, 'This yours, Bow?' and I'm like, 'Yeah.' Sh** is going in the trash...'Michael, man, get this little man some kicks.' Man, after that, I never saw my Iversons again. Threw my Iversons away, gone." Bow Wow was not the only one who lost his beloved pair of shoes inside the hallowed halls of the Jordan residence. Mike's footwear rule applied to everyone who stepped inside his abode, including his children. "His Airness" did not even make an exception for the Jordan princess - his only daughter Jasmine, who once told the story of her dad trashing her favorite Skechers shoes. "It didn't matter what pair they were. It didn't matter who bought them. If they were in his house and they were on my feet, by the next day, they were in the trash," said Jasmine. "I used to beg him, 'Please, let me get the light-up Skechers!' Or the shoes with the wheels. He would let me wear them for a day, then the next day they would end up in the trash." The Air Jordan shoe isn't just the most successful basketball shoe of all time. It's part of the Jordan mystique. And for MJ, no other shoe or brand deserves to take a single step inside his property. That policy is non-negotiable.
