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If you follow any Gen Zers on social media, you may know they seem to abide by one piece of sage wisdom: Go big or go home. That much is certainly true when it comes to their wild prom-posals and sometimes scary-extravagant gender-reveal parties. And apparently, it also holds true for their Valentine’s Day celebrations. According to a new survey from CouponFollow, on average, Americans in relationships plan to spend around $155 on the day of love this year. But Gen Z? Gen Z wouldn’t be satisfied unless they were going above and beyond. The generation that seems to enjoy flashy celebrations will spend far more on cards, chocolates, and stuffed animals, budgeting $235 to make their special someone feel even more special. (We’re gonna go out on a limb here and guess that some of their epic Valentine’s Day antics will probably make it to TikTok, too.) When it comes to the older generations, they’re seriously skimping on love’s biggest day, at least comparatively speaking. Millennials will shell out a solid $176, and Gen Xers will spend a respectable $95. But baby boomers? They’ll only cough up about $53 for L-O-V-E love. There’s not just a generational gap when it comes to Valentine’s Day spending, but also a gender gap. According to the report, men are about twice as likely as women to feel financial pressure around the holiday. And that adds up, considering women expect their partners to spend 25% more on them. Still, it’s not all about big spending. Sentimentality always goes a long way. The survey revealed that most people (38%) want a gift that speaks to their heart, such as something handmade or personal. That’s good news, because one budget-friendly trend is taking off this year on TikTok: User Fabiola Reyes demonstrated how she made an adorable gift basket for under $20 in a post that has 5.8 million views at present, and dozens of others have posted similar how-to’s since then. Clearly, gifts that come from the heart matter the most on Valentine’s Day. But still, if you want to avoid a spat, you’d better not show up on February 14 empty-handed: The biggest red flags on the holiday, according to the survey, were giving your partner a re-gifted present or nothing at all. So, while you don’t have to go all in (like Gen Z), if you don’t want to be single by February 15, maybe don’t forget to throw a few dollars at romance!
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E-Commerce
A driver drove a car into a labor union demonstration in central Munich on Thursday, injuring 30 people including children, authorities said. Officials said it was believed to be an attack. The suspect, an Afghan asylum-seeker, was arrested. The incident follows a series of attacks involving immigrants in recent months that have pushed migration to the forefront of the campaign for Germanys Feb. 23 election. Participants in a demonstration by the service workers union ver.di were walking along a street at about 10:30 a.m. when the suspect’s Mini Cooper overtook a police vehicle following the gathering, accelerated and plowed into the back of the group, police said. Officers arrested the suspect after firing a shot at the car, deputy police chief Christian Huber said. Some of the victims sustained serious injuries. The car, with a battered front and a shattered windshield, was lifted onto a tow truck late Thursday afternoon after investigators inspected it among debris including shoes. The suspect was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker, police said. Bavarias state interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said said officials believe the protest was likely targeted at random. The state’s justice minister, Georg Eisenreich, said a prosecutors department that investigates extremism and terror was looking into the case. Police said the man, who they added lived in Munich and had a valid residence permit, was known to authorities from investigations in which he had been a witness because of a former job as a store detective. We feel with the victims, we are praying for the victims we hope very much that they all make it,” Bavarian governor Markus Söder told reporters at the scene. It is suspected to be an attack a lot points to that,” Söder added. Mayor Dieter Reiter said that children were among those injured. A string of recent attacks The Munich incident comes three weeks after a 2-year-old boy and a man were killed in a knife attack in Aschaffenburg, also in Bavaria. An Afghan whose asylum application was rejected was the suspect in that attack, which propelled migration to the center of the German election campaign. The Aschaffenburg attack followed knife attacks in Mannheim and Solingen last year in which the suspects were immigrants from Afghanistan and Syria, respectively in the latter case, also a rejected asylum-seeker who was supposed to have left the country. In the December Christmas market car ramming in Magdeburg, the suspect was a Saudi doctor who previously had come to various regional authorities attention. Demands for political consequences Germany’s main opposition conservative bloc, in which Söder is a prominent figure, has demanded a tougher approach to irregular migration, calling for many more people to be turned back at the border and for an increase in deportations. Curbing migration is also a core issue for the far-right Alternative for Germany, which polls put in second place behind the conservatives. This is more evidence that we can’t go from attack to attack and show dismay, thank police for their deployment,” Söder said. This is not the first such act … We are determined that something must change in Germany, and quickly. Alternative for Germany’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, posted on social network X: Is this supposed to carry on forever? Migration turnaround now! Center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government said it already has done a lot to reduce irregular migration, and that the opposition’s plans are incompatible with German and European Union law. Scholz described the latest incident as a terrible attack. Anyone who commits crimes in Germany will not just be punished severely and have to go to prison, but must expect that he cannot continue his stay in Germany and that also goes for countries that it is very difficult to send people back to, he said. The chancellor noted that his government deported convicted criminals to Afghanistan on a flight in August and is working to do so again and not just once, but continually. Herrmann said the Munich suspect’s asylum application apparently had been rejected but it hadn’t been possible to deport him. The Bavarian capital will see heavy security in the coming days because the three-day Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of international foreign and security policy officials, opens on Friday. Herrmann said authorities do not believe the car ramming was connected to the conference, but they still need to determine the motive. Geir Moulson, Associated Press Stefanie Dazio contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
Denny’s Corporation (NASDAQ: DENN) told investors it is closing another 30 restaurants, for a total of 180 closures combined in 2024 and 2025, while reporting fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. (It had previously said it would close a total of 150 locations.) The move is part of the restaurant chain’s plan to jumpstart its waning growth. Denny’s, like many fast-food and casual-dining chains, has been struggling in recent years due to inflation, changing customer habits, and skyrocketing food prices. It’s just one of many major chains to announce store closures recently, a list that includes TGI Fridays, Shake Shack, and Wendy’s as well. But Denny’s told Fast Company that, regarding the restaurants that will be closing, it is “unable to provide specific location information at this time.” Shares of Denny’s were down nearly 2% in midday trading Thursday and closed nearly 25% lower yesterday after it missed earnings expectations. Denny’s reported operating revenue of $114.7 million, down from $115.4 million last quarter; $52.4 million in sales, down from $54.0 million last quarter, and a net income of $6.8 million. Overall, Denny’s stock is down about 50% since a year ago. In its fourth-quarter-earnings release, the Spartanburg, South Carolina-based company said it closed 88 locations in 2024 and will shut another 70 to 90 locations in 2025. According to the company, many of the locations marked for closure are less profitable, have leases that are expiring, or are too old to be remodeled. However, some good news: Denny’s opened 14 franchised restaurants and renovated 23 locations last year. “We have made significant progress in our strategy to enhance the overall health of our flagship brand by accelerating the closure of lower-volume restaurants and completing 23 remodels, and also opened a record number of Kekes Cafes while expanding into six new states,” CEO Kelli Valade said in an earnings statement. “Looking ahead to 2025, there is still work to be done within our brands, particularly as we navigate near-term-consumer sentiment that has been affected by macroeconomic factors.
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E-Commerce
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