One of the keys to staying in business - especially big business, where minor changes in profit margins can have a major impact - is noticing when the buying habits of your customers change. Tops Market seem not to have noticed the growing trend for shoppers to prefer locally sourced food, or the increase in vegetarian or vegan-only buyers. Without adjusting their product range, they were suddenly and sharply squeezed by their competition, and left with no option but to file for bankruptcy.
Filing for bankruptcy isn't always the end though, and if you live on the East Coast and know Tops, if your local store is still there it may survive a while longer. Bankruptcy has allowed Tops to freeze interest payments on its debts, which were previously costing the struggling firm $80m a year. With that weight off their backs they're finding it a little easier to breathe, and for now, the stores remain open.
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.