Tausi Insider

Shopify president Harley Finkelstein at the the company's headquarters in Ottawa, on Dec. 8. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press When Kim Kardashian unveiled her beauty line SKKN with a Los Angeles mall pop-up in November, the world took note of her minimalist store, where concrete tissue boxes sold for US$89 and spheres of eye cream went for US$105. But 4,500 kilometres away in Ottawa, the buzz around the shop had nothing to do with it being blanketed in muted tones or selling luxurious, vegan wares and everything to do with the Shopify Inc. SHOP-T system Kardashian used to process orders. The tech giant’s president Harley Finkelstein tweeted store photos and video of Kardashian playing cashier, writing, “We aren’t just the ecommerce company – we are the retail everywhere company.” But as the company recently learned, “everywhere” isn’t everything. When the COVID-19 pandemic began and brick-and-mortar stores closed, big-name brands – Remy Cointreau, Crayola and Glossier – and pan...

The iron mine of Swedish state-owned company LKAB, in Kiruna, Sweden, on Jan. 12. JONAS EKSTROMER/AFP/Getty Images The beginning of the end of Europe’s dependency on China for precious rare earth materials may lie buried deep under the rugged reaches of northern Sweden, well above the Arctic Circle. Sweden’s iron-ore miner LKAB said Thursday it has identified “significant deposits” in Lapland of rare earth elements that are essential for the manufacture of smartphones, electric vehicles and wind turbines. The government-owned company that mines iron ore at Kiruna, almost 1,000 kilometres (nearly 600 miles) north of Stockholm, said there are more than one million tons of rare earth oxides. According to LKAB, it’s the largest known deposit of its kind in Europe. But the company warned that it could take at least a decade before mining starts. Swedish Industry Minister Ebba Busch called Sweden “a gold mine” following the discovery. Her announcement came as the EU’s executive Commission ...

Shopify president Harley Finkelstein at the the company's headquarters in Ottawa, on Dec. 8. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press When Kim Kardashian unveiled her beauty line SKKN with a Los Angeles mall pop-up in November, the world took note of her minimalist store, where concrete tissue boxes sold for US$89 and spheres of eye cream went for US$105. But 4,500 kilometres away in Ottawa, the buzz around the shop had nothing to do with it being blanketed in muted tones or selling luxurious, vegan wares and everything to do with the Shopify Inc. SHOP-T system Kardashian used to process orders. The tech giant’s president Harley Finkelstein tweeted store photos and video of Kardashian playing cashier, writing, “We aren’t just the ecommerce company – we are the retail everywhere company.” But as the company recently learned, “everywhere” isn’t everything. When the COVID-19 pandemic began and brick-and-mortar stores closed, big-name brands – Remy Cointreau, Crayola and Glossier – and pan...