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Elise Hacking Carr is senior production editor for Print & Promo Marketing magazine, and managing editor for PRINTING United Journal.

Kyle A. Richardson is the editorial director of Promo Marketing. He joined the company in 2006 brings more than a decade of publishing, marketing and media experience to the magazine. If you see him, buy him a drink.

China devalued its yuan currency for a second day running on Wednesday. It could have an effect on American consumers and investors. Here's how.

Cheaper imports, more expensive exports:

If you like your goods made in China, a weakened yuan is your friend. When the yuan falls in value, goods imported to the U.S. from China become cheaper. And China makes a lot of things, from cars and computers to clothing and furniture. Conversely, American businesses will find it more expensive to sell their goods to China.

Individualized packaging seems to be the latest trend for beverage giants, like Diet Coke and Absolut, and now Bud Light is getting in on the action and bringing it to the U.S. The beer behemoth created 200,000 different cans, variations on 31 designs, using vertical-printing technology from HP.

Starting today, the cans will be available to attendees of the Mad Decent Block Party, a music festival that will hit cities across the U.S. and Canada over the next few weeks and run through September.

 

 

Alibaba Group’s unexpected purchase of a big stake in Zulily heartened investors in the challenged moms-oriented, flash-sales site, and prompted speculation of growing Western ambitions for the Chinese online retail behemoth.

But Alibaba’s three-day Zulily shopping spree, unveiled in securities filings Friday, probably does not herald an all-out invasion of the Seattle tech scene or a change of its China-first policy, experts say.

Alibaba’s “global ambitions right now are connecting brands and sellers in the U.S. with Chinese consumers,” a market where it reigns supreme, said Porter Erisman, a former Alibaba executive.

U.S. retail sales perked up in November, as cheaper gas and an improving job market fueled a promising start to the holiday shopping season. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent, the most in eight months, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Excluding gas stations, sales climbed a healthy 0.9 percent. Spending on motor vehicles accelerated 1.7 percent, while purchases at clothiers, online retailers, electronics stores and department stores all expanded. Nonstore retailers, which include online and mail order outlets, rose 1 percent.

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