The Detroit News: Joel Fisher made selling toothpaste, antacids and toilet paper at discount prices popular when he started F&M Distributors with family members in the 1960s. Now he’s tapping into another discount market with organic foods, natural products and alternative treatments. Fisher opened Natural Food Patch, a 5,200-square-foot health food store on West Nine Mile in Ferndale, in 1999. […]
Organic Products
Parking Space
Iconoculture: Reservations and convenience services widen the range of possibilities for those who use pedal power. Why fight the crowd at the bike rack? Clancy Systems International’s Bicycle Parking Network allows bikers to use their cellphones to reserve and pay for bike storage. Users locate available lockers online and then use their cells to reserve space and retrieve access codes […]
Online Tutoring
BizReport: When students in Leslie Chernila’s English class at the Art Institute of Washington write an essay about the work of Garrison Keillor, she has them send it off to a critic halfway across the country before turning it in. The paper soon returns, complete with comments about structure and word choice. The service, offered by District-based Smarthinking Inc., is […]
Fast Network
Entrepreneur: At a speed-dating event last summer, Melissa English walked away with more business contacts for her sister Sonia’s web design company than she did phone numbers for herself. At the same time, Sonia attended a business-networking event hosted by the local chamber of commerce and walked away with nothing. Sensing a perfect match between speed dating and networking mixers, […]
CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter Issue 22
CoolBusinessIdeas Newsletter Issue 22: 01/08/05 – 17/08/05 New Business Ideas/Opportunities Featured In This Issue: TECHNOLOGY Tech Pets Gen-pets, by Canadian sculptor Adam Brandejs are mass produced bio-engineered life. Jerk-O-Meter Ever wonder if that spouse, friend or co-worker on the other end of the phone is really paying attention? The “Jerk-O-Meter” may hold the answer. DESIGN Cool Designs The latest from […]
Whole New Cereal
TheCerealBowl.com: The Cereal Bowl is a new breed of café fusing an old time favorite, with a new and exciting twist. Guests will be able to make their own cereal creations or pick from one of many unique combinations created by The Cereal Bowl Team. With over 35 cereals both hot and cold as well as 50 toppings the possibilities […]
Jerk-O-Meter
USAToday.com: Ever wonder if that spouse, friend or co-worker on the other end of the phone is really paying attention? The “Jerk-O-Meter” may hold the answer. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing software for cell phones that would analyze speech patterns and voice tones to rate people — on a scale of 0 to 100% — on […]
Treadmill Therapy
TrendCentral: An LA psychiatrist and a DC therapist are trying to ease the formal doctor-patient relationship with… treadmills? With the knowledge that people are often uninhibited about their personal lives and thus very close with their personal trainers, Wayne Sandler (LA) and Jane Cibel (DC) are incorporating exercise into their sessions. Sandler has two treadmills in his office where he […]
Trendy Life
TrendBlog: Realizing that Generation X has been busy (re)producing Generation Y and Z and beyond; the inventive European entrepreneurs behind d-i-r-t-y.com have come up with an idea that will no doubt make parents, children and young-at-heart designers happy. Dubbed “Babydisco,” this trendy toddler hangout is bound to leave an impression on the fashionistas and taste-makers of tomorrow. The crew behind […]
On The Go Coffee
Entrepreneur: When Candy Palmer-Steele’s goddaughter went away to music camp for the summer, she remarked how much she would miss the local coffee shops she frequented with her friends. That comment inspired Palmer-Steele to send her a care package–with a twist. Palmer-Steele bought 100 percent Arabica beans, filtered water through the grounds and squeezed out the concentrate a little at […]