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2025-04-21 22:00:00| Fast Company

The Lyrid meteor shower is one of the most well-known stellar displays, occurring once a year in April. It’s also one of the oldest meteor showers that we know of, with records dating back to 687 BCE from Chinese astronomers. Unlike many meteor showers, the Lyrids are relatively short: In 2025, the event runs a little more than a week, from April 17 to April 26. It will peak in the nighttime hours of April 21 to 22. Typically, you can expect to see 10 to 20 meteors per hour at the peak, though the Lyrids have been known to outperform and deliver up to 100 meteors per hour. If you’d like to catch the show this year, here’s what to know about the 2025 Lyrids meteor shower peak. What’s the best time to see the Lyrid meteor shower peak? The Lyrids will be most visible after midnight and before the dawn hours. That’s as the moon will be relatively dim in its waning crescent phase and wont rise until the early morning hours, around 3 a.m. local time. It’s best to target this window of time between midnight and 3 a.m. Where should I look to see the Lyrids? The Lyrids are viewable from the Northern Hemisphere. To see them, find the bright star Vega, which is a bluish white star that will rise in the northeast in the evening hours. Its one of the brightest stars in the night sky and is easily visible, even from light polluted areas (aka, excessive artificial lighting). Vega is located in the constellation Lyra. Lyra is the radiant of the meteor shower, which means that the meteors will appear to originate from this constellation (hence the name, the Lyrids). To get the best view of the meteor shower, try to avoid areas with lots of light pollution. What causes the meteor shower? The Lyrid meteor shower may look to us like it originates from the constellation Lyra, but it’s actually the product of Earth passing through the trail of the comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which takes 415 years to orbit the sun. As the comet proceeds through the solar system, it leaves dust and debris in its wake. When Earth intersects this trail, thats what produces the meteor shower.

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 21:30:00| Fast Company

Restaurant delivery in New York is not like restaurant delivery in any other part of the country. The city has a long history with food delivery thanks to its dense population and copious restaurants (roughly 25,000 at last count). It even had its own delivery brand, Seamless, launched over a quarter-century ago as SeamlessWeb in the city. Now, after a brief fall from public view, Seamless is back in New York. Seamless has operated under the thumb of a much larger brand for years. It merged with Grubhub in 2013, but retained its own branding in the biggest and arguably most important delivery market in the country. But when Grubhub got a new, foreign owner in 2020Amsterdam-based Just Eat Takeaway (JET)its new leaders moved to more or less erase Seamlesss branding. Grubhub would benefit from optimized marketing and streamline network effects, JETs CEO said.  Just as pandemic shutdowns boosted the delivery business, Grubhub effectively ditched a brand that appealed to its largest market, opening the door to eager competition from national brands like Uber Eats and DoorDash. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/Expedite-Icon-E-white-background.jpg.jpg","headline":"Expedite","description":"Restaurant technology and the big ideas shaping the future of hospitality, by Kristen Hawley. To learn more visit expedite.news","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.expedite.news\/","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}} In hindsight, this was a mistake, one that Grubhubs new, New York City-based owners want to correct. Wonder, the so-called mealtime superapp led by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore, bought Grubhub for $650 million in January. Lore hasnt offered many details about Grubhubs future, but it clearly sees value in the New York market.  Its interesting to think that there would be nostalgia around one of these digital-first delivery brands, says Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. I think people might be happy to hear that this brand is back and look at it as bringing backand reconnecting withan old friend.  If that friend were a person, theyre old enough to order a cocktail. Seamless debuted in New York in 1999, well over a decade before upstart competitors would challenge its dominance. (At the time, two of DoorDashs three founders were under age 10.) Back then, orders placed online often arrived at restaurants by fax, an almost quaint precursor to the high-tech networks that route these orders today.   Now, the stakes are even higher. Grubhubs share of the restaurant delivery market has fallen to a distant third behind DoorDash and Uber Eats. Per recent reporting in Bloomberg, Grubhub controls just 5% of the delivery market nationwide, according to data from Bloomberg Second Measure. In New York, Bloomberg reports, numbers from YipitData suggest that Grubhub controls about a fifth of the delivery market. In an interview, Grubhub CEO Howard Migdal disputed this, saying Grubhubs data shows it controls a significantly higher portion. Even with a slight tailwind, reviving the legacy brand will take work. The most important thing for Grubhub to do, Calkins says, is to highlight what makes Seamless different.  There is something about being a local brand, a New York brand, that could be a differentiator, he says.  That seems to be Grubhubs plan. In a statement, the company praised Seamless for consistently speaking to and delivering on the nuances of living in the city that only New Yorkers could appreciatea.k.a. the type of if-you-know-you-know nod that plays well in local ads plastered on bus shelters and inside subway cars.  Of course, getting New Yorkers attention is just part of the contest. The challenge then, Calkins says, is you have to get people to care. {"blockType":"creator-network-promo","data":{"mediaUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2025\/03\/Expedite-Icon-E-white-background.jpg.jpg","headline":"Expedite","description":"Restaurant technology and the big ideas shaping the future of hospitality, by Kristen Hawley. To learn more visit expedite.news","substackDomain":"https:\/\/www.expedite.news\/","colorTheme":"salmon","redirectUrl":""}}

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 21:06:18| Fast Company

Hackers linked to Russia’s government launched a cyberattack last spring against municipal water plants in rural Texas. At one plant in Muleshoe, population 5,000, water began to overflow. Officials had to unplug the system and run the plant manually. The hackers weren’t trying to taint the water supply. They didn’t ask for a ransom. Authorities determined the intrusion was designed to test the vulnerabilities of America’s public infrastructure. It was also a warning: In the 21st century, it takes more than oceans and an army to keep the United States safe. A year later, countries around the world are preparing for greater digital conflict as increasing global tensions and a looming trade war have raised the stakes and the chances that a cyberattack could cause significant economic damage, disrupt vital public systems, reveal sensitive business or government secrets, or even escalate into military confrontation. The confluence of events has national security and cyber experts warning of heightened cyberthreats and a growing digital arms race as countries look to defend themselves. At the same time, President Donald Trump has upended Americas digital defenses by firing the four-star general who led the National Security Agency, shrinking cybersecurity agencies and slashing election cybersecurity initiatives. Businesses now are increasingly concerned about cyberattacks, and governments have moved to a war footing, according to a report this month by NCC Group, a British cybersecurity firm. The geopolitical dust is still settling, said Verona Johnstone-Hulse, a London-based expert on government cybersecurity polices and the report’s co-author. What the new normal looks like is still not yet set. Many in the U.S. are already calling for a more muscular approach to protecting the digital frontier. Hybrid war is here to stay, said Tom Kellermann, senior vice president of cyberstrategy at Contrast Security. We need to stop playing defense its time to make them play defense. Digital life means more targets for hackers Vulnerabilities have grown as people and businesses use connected devices to count steps, manage finances and operate facilities such as water plants and ports. Each network and connection is a potential target for foreign governments or the hacking groups that sometimes do their bidding. Espionage is one motive, demonstrated in a recent incursion linked to hackers in China. The campaign known as Salt Typhoon sought to crack the phones of officials, including Trump, before the 2024 election. These operations seek entry to sensitive corporate or government systems to steal secrets or monitor personal communications. Such information can be hugely valuable by providing advantages in trade negotiations or military planning. These hackers try to remain hidden for as long as possible. More obvious intrusions can serve as a warning or deterrent, such as the cyberattacks targeting the Texas water plants. Iran also has shown a willingness to use cyberattacks to make political points. The cyberattacks that frighten experts the most burrow deeply into telephone or computer networks, inserting backdoors or malware for later use. National security experts say this was the motivation behind a recent attack from China called Volt Typhoon that compromised telephone networks in the U.S. in an effort to gain access to an unknown number of critical systems. China could potentially use these connections to disable key infrastructure power plants, communication networks, pipelines, hospitals, financial systems as part of a larger conflict or before an invasion of Taiwan, national security experts said. They can position their implants to be activated at a date and time in the future, said Sonu Shankar, a former researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory who is now chief strategy officer at Phosphorus Cybersecurity. National security officials will not discuss details, but experts interviewed by The Associated Press said the U.S. no doubt has developed similar offensive capabilities. China has rejected U.S. allegations of hacking, accusing America of trying to  smear  Beijing while conducting its own cyberattacks. Global tensions tick up Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Trade disputes. Shifting alliances. The risk of cyberattacks goes up in times of global tension, and experts say that risk is now at a high. U.S. adversaries China, Russia, Iran and North Korea also have shown signs of cybercooperation as they forge tighter economic, military and political relationships. Speaking to Congress, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard noted that Iran has supplied drones in exchange for Russian intelligence and cybercapabilities. Russia has been the catalyst for much of this expanded cooperation, driven heavily by the support it has needed for its war effort against Ukraine, Gabbard told lawmakers. Amid global fears of a trade war after the tariffs that Trump has imposed, supply chains could be targeted in retaliation. While larger companies may have a robust cyberteam, small suppliers that lack those resources can give intruders easy access. And any tit-for-tat cycles of cyberconflict, in which one country hacks into a sensitive system as retaliation for an earlier attack, come with great risk for all involved, Shankar said. It would put them on the path to military conflict.” The Trump effect At a time when national security and cybersecurity experts say the U.S. should be bolstering its defenses, Trump has called for reductions in staffing and other changes to the agencies that protect American interests in cyberspace. For example, Trump recently fired Gen. Timothy Haugh, who oversaw the NSA and the Pentagons Cyber Command. The U.S. faces unprecedented cyber threats, said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He has asked the White House to explain Haughs departure. How does firing him make Americans any safer?” Warner said. Also under Trump, the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency placed on leave staffers who worked on election security and cut millions of dollars in funding for cybersecurity programs for local and state elections. His administration eliminated the State Departments Global Engagement Center, which tracked and exposed foreign disinformation online. The CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies also have seen reductions in staffing. The administration faced more questions over how seriously it takes cybersecurity after senior officials used the popular messaging app Signal to discuss sensitive information about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. Gabbard later called the episode a mistake. The officials in charge of America’s cybersecurity insist Trump’s changes will make the U.S. safer, while getting rid of wasteful spending and confusing regulations. The Pentagon, for instance, has invested in efforts to harness artificial intelligence to improve cyberdefenses, according to a report provided to Congress by Lt. Gen. William J. Hartman, acting commander of the NSA and Cyber Command. The changes at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency come as its leaders consider how best to execute their mission in alignment with the administration’s priorities, a CISA statement said. As Americas Cyber Defense Agency, we remain steadfast in our mission to safeguard the nations critical infrastructure against all cyber and physical threats, the statement read. “We will continue to collaborate with our partners across government, industry, and with international allies to strengthen global cybersecurity efforts and protect the American people from foreign adversaries, cybercriminals, and other emerging threats. Representatives for Gabbard’s office and the NSA didn’t respond to questions about how Trump’s changes will affect cybersecurity. Signs of progress? Despite shifting alliances, a growing consensus about cyberthreats could prompt greater global cooperation. More than 20 nations recently signed on to an international framework on the use of commercial spyware. The U.S. has signaled it will join the nonbinding agreement. There’s also broad bipartisan agreement in the U.S. about the need to help private industry bolster defenses. Federal estimates say the cybersecurity industry needs to hire an additional 500,000 professionals to meet the challenge, said Dean Gefen, former chief of cybertraining for Israel’s Defense Intelligence Technological Unit. He’s now the CEO of NukuDo, a cybersecurity training company. Companies need effective guidance from the government a playbook,” Gefen said. What to do, what not to do. David Klepper, Associated Press

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 20:51:22| Fast Company

Josh Cochran worked deep in the coal mines of West Virginia since he was 22 years old, pulling a six-figure salary that allowed him to buy a home with his wife Stephanie and hunt and fish in his spare time. That ended two years ago when, at the age of 43, he was diagnosed with advanced black lung disease. Hes now waiting for a lung transplant, breathes with the help of an oxygen tank, and needs help from his wife to do basic tasks around the house. His saving grace, he says, is that he can still earn a living. A federal program run by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health called Part 90 meant he was relocated from underground when he got his diagnosis to a desk job dispatching coal trucks to the same company, retaining his pay. “Part 90 – that’s only the thing you got,” he told Reuters while signing a stack of documents needed for the transplant, a simple task that left him winded. “You can come out from underground, make what you made, and then they can’t just get rid of you.” That program, which relocates coal miners diagnosed with black lung to safer jobs at the same pay – along with a handful of others intended to protect the nations coal miners from the resurgence of black lung – is grinding to a halt due to mass layoffs and office closures imposed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, according to Reuters reporting. Reuters interviews with more than a dozen people involved in medical programs serving the coal industry, and a review of internal documents from NIOSH, show that at least three such federal programs have stopped their work in recent weeks. A decades-old program operated by NIOSH to detect lung disease in coal miners, for example, has been suspended. Related programs to provide x-rays and lung tests at mine sites have also shut down and it is now unclear who will enforce safety regulations like new limits on silica dust exposure after nearly half of the offices of MSHA are under review to have their leases terminated. The details about the black lung programs halted by the government’s mass layoffs and funding cuts have not previously been reported. “Its going to be devastating to miners,” said Anita Wolfe, a 40-year NIOSH veteran who remains in touch with the agency. “Nobody is going to be monitoring the mines.” The cuts come as Trump voices support for the domestic coal industry, a group that historically has supported the president. At a White House ceremony flanked by coal workers in hard hats earlier this month, Trump signed executive orders meant to boost the industry, including by prolonging the life of aging coal-fired power plants. “For too long, coal has been a dirty word that most are afraid to speak about,” said Jeff Crowe, who Trump identified as a West Virginia miner. Crowe is the superintendent of American Consolidated Natural Resources, successor to Murray Energy. “We’re going to put the miners back to work,” Trump said during the ceremony. “They are great people, with great families, and come from areas of the country that we love and we really respect.” Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees NIOSH, said that streamlining government will better position HHS to carry out its Congressionally mandated work protecting Americans. Courtney Parella, a spokesperson for the Department of Labor said MSHA inspectors “continue to carry out their core mission to protect the health and safety of Americas miners.” Black lung has been on the rise over the last two decades, and has increasingly been reported by young workers in their 30s and 40s despite declining coal production. NIOSH estimates that 20% of coal miners in Central Appalachia now suffer from some form of black lung disease, the highest rate that has been detected in 25 years, as workers in the aging mines blast through rock to reach diminishing coal seams. Around 43,000 people are employed by the coal industry, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. More mining, more risk Around 875 of NIOSHs roughly 1,000-strong workforce across the country were terminated amid sweeping job cuts announced by HHS this month, according to three sources who worked for NIOSH. Thats put the departments flagship black lung program, the Coal Workers Health Surveillance Program, on hold, according to an internal NIOSH email dated April 4. “We will continue to process everything we currently have for as long as we can. We have no further information about the future of CWHSP at this time,” the email says. The CWHSP’s regular black lung screenings, which deploy mobile trailers to coal mines to test coal miners on site have ended too, because theres no money to fuel the vehicles or epidemiologists to review the on-site x-rays or lung tests, according to sources familiar with the program. For many miners, this program is the sole provider of medical checkups, according to NIOSH veteran Wolfe. The loss of staff at NIOSH has also crippled black lung-afflicted miners’ ability to get relocated with pay as part of the Part 90 program. Miners can only become eligible for the Part 90 benefit by submitting lung x-rays to NIOSH that show black lung. But all NIOSH epidemiologists in West Virginia required to review the x-rays were laid off, according to Scott Laney, who lost his job as an epidemiologist. Laney told Reuters he and his fellow laid-off team have been working in an informal “war room” in his living room to try to draw attention to the issue among Washington lawmakers. “I want to make sure that if there are more men who are going into the mines as a result of an executive order, or whatever the mechanism, they should be protected when they do their work,” he said. Sam Petsonk, a West Virginia attorney who represents black lung patients, said relocating sick miners is crucial because the risks of continuing to work in dust-heavy areas while ill are so severe. “It gets to the point that days and months matter for this program,” he said. Silica threat Last year, MSHA finalized a new regulation that would cut by half the permissible exposure limit to crystalline silica for miners and other workers an attempt to combat the rising rates of black lung. Enforcing that rule, which comes into force in August after being pushed back from April by the Trump administration, may prove difficult given the staff cuts and planned office closures at MSHA, said Chris Williamson, a former Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health under the Biden administration. He told Reuters that before he left MSHA in January, there were 20 mine inspector positions unfilled. A pipeline of 90 people that had already secured MSHA inspector job offers, meanwhile, had their offers rescinded after Trump took office, and around 120 other people took buyouts. Mine inspectors are meant to uphold safety standards that reduce injuries, deaths and illnesses at the mines. That loss of staff and resources raises the likelihood that black lung could become even more pervasive among Appalachian coal miners particularly if mining activity inceases, said Drew Harris, a black lung specialist in southern Virginia. “As someone who sees hundreds of miners with this devastating disease it’s hard for me to swallow cutting back on the resources meant to prevent it,” he said. Kevin Weikle, a 35-year-old miner in West Virginia who was diagnosed with advanced black lung disease during a screening in 2023, said the cuts make no sense at a time the administration wants to see coal output rise and will set back safety standards by decades. “Don’t get me wrong, I mean, I’m Republican,” Weikle said. “But I think there are smarter ways to produce more coal and not gut safety.” Valerie Volcovici, Reuters

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 20:15:18| Fast Company

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Monday sued Uber Technologies, accusing it of signing up some Uber One subscribers without their knowledge and making deceptive claims about the service. The service costs $9.99 a month and offers discounts on fees associated with Uber’s ride-hailing and food-delivery apps. Uber falsely claimed that users would save about $25 a month through the service and deceived them about how easy it was to cancel, the FTC said in the lawsuit filed in San Francisco. “Americans are tired of getting signed up for unwanted subscriptions that seem impossible to cancel,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said. “The Trump-Vance FTC is fighting back on behalf of the American people.” Uber spokesperson Noah Edwardsen said the company does not sign up or charge customers without their consent. “We are disappointed that the FTC chose to move forward with this action, but are confident that the courts will agree with what we already know: Uber One’s sign-up and cancellation processes are clear, simple, and follow the letter and spirit of the law,” he said. Uber has tangled with the FTC several times in the past. In 2017 the ride-hailing company settled the FTC’s allegations it had made deceptive privacy and data security claims. The following year it agreed to pay $20 million to settle the FTC’s claims it exaggerated prospective earnings in seeking to recruit drivers. The company fended off criminal charges in 2022 in a settlement where it admitted that its employees had failed to notify the FTC about a 2016 data breach that affected 57 million passengers and drivers. Jody Godoy, Reuters

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 20:10:15| Fast Company

Remember the viral Ice Bucket Challenge of 2014? Over a decade later, its backbut this time, the focus is mental health. If you were living under a rock in 2014, the challenge involved participants pouring ice water over themselves, posting the video to social media, and nominating others to join in, all while raising awareness for a cause. The campaign raised millions for ALS research. Now, it’s making a comebackthis time to support Active Minds, a nonprofit promoting mental health awareness and education for students. The Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) clubs #SpeakYourMIND campaign launched on Instagram in March, started by a group of students at the University of South Carolina. According to a 2024 U.S. News survey, about 70% of students have struggled with mental health since starting college. Wade Jefferson, a USC junior, told NBC News he founded the MIND club after losing two friends to suicide. He hopes the campaign will help normalize conversations around mental health. Initially setting a fundraising goal of $500, he didnt expect the challenge to go viral again. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $189,056 in donations and drawn participation from high-profile figures like TODAYs Jenna Bush Hager, who nominated stars like Blake Shelton and Scarlett Johansson to keep the trend alive. Its also earned a nod from the challenges original creators. Were thrilled to see the spirit of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge live on in new forms of activism, the ALS Association said in a statement to NBC News. At its peak, the original challenge saw everyone from former President George W. Bush to Oprah Winfrey joining in. I think fundraising professionals and nonprofits and causes have sat around tables for years trying to say, Whats going to be our ice bucket challenge, Brett Curtis, director of community fundraising and events at Active Minds, told NBC News. I do think theres a little irony in that it is just the ice bucket challenge again, this time to talk about mental health.

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 20:00:00| Fast Company

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a health alert for a pre-cooked, frozen pork carnitas product sold at Aldi grocery stores that “may be contaminated with foreign material, specifically pieces of metal.” Cargill Meat Solutions manufactures the product for Aldi exclusively, so it was only sold at Aldi stores. According to the USDA, the product was shipped to Aldi stores nationwide, so the alert applies to all U.S. locations. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? To be clear, the USDA’s Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert, not a recall, “because this product is no longer available for sale in commerce.” The problem was discovered during routine maintenance when Cargill found equipment damage may have contaminated the carnitas product with metal pieces. There have been no confirmed reports of injury due to consumption of these products. (Anyone concerned about an injury should contact a healthcare provider.) How do I know if I bought the affected pork product? The fully cooked, sleeved tray packages were produced from April 1 to 2, 2025. The health alert applies to products with the following details: Name: Pork Carnitas Seasoned & Seared Pork with Juices Slow Cooked with Citrus Size: 16-oz tray Use-by dates: June 30, 2025 or July 1, 2025 Establishment number: 46049 What should I do if I bought the pork product? Consumers who have purchased the affected products should thrown them away or return them to Aldi. Although this product is no longer available for sale, FSIS is concerned that some product may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers can contact Cargill’s Consumer Hotline at 844-419-1574 with any questions. Those with food safety questions can contact the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline by calling the toll-free number 888-674-6854, or via email here.

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 19:30:00| Fast Company

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. National home prices have risen by 1.2% year-over-year from March 2024 to March 2025, according to the Zillow Home Value Index, a decelerated rate from the 4.6% year-over-year rate last spring. However, not every housing market is seeing rising home prices. Among the nation’s 300 largest metro-area housing markets, 60 markets are seeing falling home prices on a year-over-year basis. Thats up from 42 markets in February and 31 markets in January. While home prices continue to rise in regions with tight inventorysuch as much of the Northeast and Midwestmany housing markets in states like Arizona, Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, where inventory has now surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels, are experiencing modest home price corrections, according to ResiClubs latest analysis. These year-over-year declines are evident in major metros such as Austin (-4.6%); Tampa (-4.5%); San Antonio (-2.7%); Phoenix (-2.5%); Dallas (-2.4%); Jacksonville, Florida (-2.3%); Orlando (-2.2%); New Orleans (-1.9%); Atlanta (-1.8%); and Miami (-1.5%). !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); The markets seeing the most softness, where homebuyers are gaining leverage, are primarily located in Sun Belt regions, particularly the Gulf Coast and Mountain West. These areas saw major price surges during the pandemic housing boom, with home price growth outpacing local income levels. As pandemic-driven migration slowed and mortgage rates rose, markets like Tampa and Austin faced challenges, relying on local income levels to support frothy home prices. This softening trend is further compounded by an abundance of new home supply in the Sun Belt. Builders are often willing to lower prices or offer affordability incentives to maintain sales, which also has a cooling effect on the resale market. Some buyers, who would have previously considered existing homes, are now opting for new homes with more favorable deals. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); Will this softening continue this year? It looks like it. A key indicator to watch will be active inventory levels. If weaker markets like Tampa continue to see substantial increases in active inventoryalready above pre-pandemic levelsit may signal ongoing softening, potentially creating more opportunities for homebuyers.

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 19:25:01| Fast Company

Fast Company is the official media partner of Summit Detroit. Summit is an organization that hosts global ideas conferences and immersive experiences. And the programming is always grounded by six core pillars: thought leadership, health and happiness, performance arts, culinary arts, fine art, and impactall with the express intention to inspire deep attendee presence and build long-term connections both professionally and personally.  Many of our Summit community members are building and running large high-profile companies, managing teams, and are surrounded by people and things to do. But our business leaders often feel incredibly lonely in their pursuits, says Jody Levy, CEO and global director of Summit. There’s an impact to a Summit gathering that invites commonality and allows these types of high-octane doers the chance to meet one another, relate to one another, and forge lifelong professional and personal friendships. This June 5-8, Summit lands in Detroit with an array of speakers, teachers, and artists who will bring their unique perspectives to Summits programming pillars. Thought leadership and impact Summit community members will be immersed in thoughtful discussions with prolific business and technology leaders including Ev Williams, co-founder of Twitter, Medium, and Mozi; Franz von Holzhausen, chief designer at Tesla; Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Rocket Companies; Tim Urban, cofounder of the podcast Wait But Why; futurist Pablos Holman; and many more.  For those steeped in social justice, impact, and the humanities, Summit is curating a series of special sessions with influential leaders including Dr. Bernice A. King; Ashley Bell, founder and CEO of fintech platform Ready Life; and former NFL linebacker Dhani Jones discussing his investment in Holladay Bank & Trust, which will become the first Black-owned commercial bank through acquisition.  Throughout Summits programming are sessions that pull from the past to help illustrate the future. For example, Eames Demetrios will take the stage to discuss the legacy of his grandparents, Charles and Ray Eameswidely considered among the most influential American designers of the 20th centuryand their longstanding connection to Detroit and their manufacturing innovations born out of wartime.  There’s such a direct correlation to this moment that we are in, Levy says. Theres an opportunity to reinvent not just how we do things but the materials we use, the manufacturing methods we have access to, and how we will reinvent to sustain a complex manufacturing future.  Health and happiness Summits lineup within its health and happiness pillar includes author and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb; medical diagnostic entrepreneur and cofounder and CEO of Function Health, Jonathan Swerdlin; integrative medicine practitioner Dr. Linda Lancaster; and death expert Elena Brower. There will also be movement modalities and interactive workshops with Primal Moves from Ibiza, Spain; an African- and Caribbean-inspired dance workshop led by Stacy Letrice; and fitness and yoga sessions with acclaimed instructors including Melissa Levy, Jacey Cunningham, Kim Strother, and Ally Bogard.  Performing and fine arts Underscoring Summits focus on fine art and the importance of live performance are immersive experiences including a conversation on the art of resilience from legendary choreographer and director Bill T. Jones; evening comedy sets from Ben Gleib (yes, he does roast the entrepreneurs, Levy promises); and live performances by The Wailers, Aluna, Coco & Breezy, LP Giobbi, Moodymann, and Tony Touch, as well as a popup experience with vinyl listening bar Dante’s HiFi. Culinary arts And it wouldnt be a Summit event without a culinary track, more specifically one that centers Detroits culinary renaissance. Featured this year are Javier Bardauil, chef and owner of Barda and Puma Detroit, specializing in Argentinian cuisine; Brad Greenhill, executive chef and co-owner of Takoi, a popular Thai-inspired eatery; Warda Bouguettaya, owner of the James Beard Award-winning bakery Warda Pâtisserie; Alexandra Clark, founder and head chocolatier of Bon Bon Bon Chocolate; and Hamisi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere, owners of the East African restaurants Waka and Baobab Fare.Despite the structure of Summits programming pillars, Levy notes no one has to stick to one track or interest. A typical day at Summit can take on a variety of explorations. Our community doesn’t come to sit in a space and be a voyeur at a talk. Theyre in it, in flow, they get to participate, let their curiosity lead, and the true lessons and connections often happen in the in-betweens, before and after sessions, on walks to venues, meetups, mixers, in line for lattes, she says. We get to create an environment for our people to have the choose-your-own-adventure that makes each Summit so unique.Adding to what makes this Summit event distinctive is its host city of Detroit. Detroit, at this moment, in this time, is thriving, Levy says. There are so many people that have come in from around the world: artists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, founders, investors, chefs from all over the globe, musical talent, explorers. There is this thriving creator economy in Detroit that matches the curious and experimental spirit of Summit.Learn more about Summit and apply to attend Summit Detroit this June 5-8, 2025. Tickets start at $4,750.

Category: E-Commerce
 

2025-04-21 18:30:00| Fast Company

At a time when many fast-casual chains are struggling to get customers in the door, and rethinking their next moves both at home and internationally due to Trump’s trade wars, Chipotle Mexican Grill is expanding. The fast-casual restaurant announced on Monday that it signed a development agreement with Alsea to open its first location in Mexico early next year. Alsea operates the Latin American and European locations of a number of food and beverage chains, including Starbucks, Dominos Pizza, and Burger King, according to CNBC. Chipotle also indicated plans to explore additional expansion markets in the region, signaling further locations in Latin America. “We are confident that our responsibly sourced, classically cooked real food will resonate with guests in Mexico,” Nate Lawton, chief business development officer at Chipotle, said in a statement. “The country’s familiarity with our ingredients and affinity for fresh food make it an attractive growth market for our company.” The fast-casual chain, which currently operates more than 3,700 restaurants, also reiterated its plans to open between 315 and 345 new restaurants this year, with a long-term target of operating 7,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The popular chain opened 304 new restaurants in 2024, its most openings in a single year. (In 2023, it opened 271 locations, and in 2022, 200 restaurants.) And this is not Chipotle’s first foray beyond the U.S. borders. It operates 58 locations in Canada, 20 in the United Kingdom, six in France, and two in Germany. In 2023, it signed its first international development agreement with Alshaya Group to open restaurants in the Middle East; as a result, it now operates three restaurants in Kuwait and two in the United Arab Emirates. Last year, many beloved U.S. fast-casual and restaurant chains struggled to stay afloat, while many others shut down or filed for bankruptcy. The majority of Wahlburgers locations shut down in January, and fast-casual chain Roti has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as have both Red Lobster and Buca di Beppo.

Category: E-Commerce
 

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