As the founder of World Central Kitchen, renowned chef and humanitarian José Andrés has truly mastered the art of leading through crisis. Andrés shares insights from his new book, Change the Recipea candid collection of personal stories that doubles as a playbook for navigating uncertainty, breaking rules, and leading with heart. José also explores how AI is poised to reshape the food industry and more.
This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with todays top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode.
One of the book’s key themes is adaptability, right?
Yeah.
For many people, especially today, things feel very volatile. There can be panic, there could be paralysis. How do you center yourself in those moments and how much do you think adaptability is about temperament versus something we can learn?
I think the human DNA of who we are, we are a species that we are highly adaptable. We are not adaptable with our bodies, meaning evolution happens over hundreds of thousands, millions of years, but our brain can and our heart can. Once you find out what something is, your heart adapts and we change.
You talk in the book about breaking rules and that you need to break rules to make progress.
Yeah. Obviously, that one can be used in many ways because you could argue that rules are being broken right now in our government.
I want to ask you because you’re in favor of rule-breaking sometimes to get certain things done, right?
Let me tell you: It’s like when you show up somewhere and somebody comes and tells you that you are not needed here and you’re looking around and you are only seeing hunger, destruction. I’m sorry, but I want to be respectful, but if I see that there’s need, we’re going to stay here because our mission is not going to be following your guidance. It’s going to be following what the people are telling us.
And so this is a way of breaking rules. We were told sometimes in some hurricanes in America that some schools, we couldn’t use the kitchens, and the school kitchen was the best kitchen in many kilometers around and was complicated to navigate through roads and destruction, and even we were told we couldn’t use that kitchen. We used that kitchen. We got in trouble. We got in trouble until, “Oh, you are feeding 2,000 people every day?” I think that’s a rule that I will not mind to pay a penalty or even be sent to jail.
Right. You’re okay if you pay a penalty for breaking those rules because the goal is important enough.
That’s what breaking the rules means. Sometimes the rules are in your own brain. It’s breaking the chains of the own rules that you set on your own that don’t allow you to do the extra step to make something happen.
Sometimes they’re rules then, they’re not really rules. You’ve just taken them as rules. I want to ask you, there’s something else you write about in the book, the difference between thinking like software and thinking like hardware. Can you explain what that is?
Yeah. Well, obviously, this is one that in emergencies I learned a long time ago. Very often in emergencies, you can hear presidents, “We are positioning military or helicopters or boats or food or armories or water or ambulances.” Okay. All of that is hardware. The hardware are tools, things that will allow you to have a good response. Everybody’s going to be working on bringing the hardware to ground zero.
A week later, two weeks later, you are still in the business of being a transportation company, trying to move hardware from point A to ground zero. All of a sudden, you forgot who you were. Who you were: a feeding organization.
Software will allow you to respond to your main mission, which is feeding people on day one. What software is, what do you have around to feed people? What is at your finger points today? Ain’t going to be perfect. Ain’t going to be pretty. You’re not going to have logos. It’s not going to be perfect. Maybe tamales in a banana leaf because it’s the only thing we have. We don’t even have forks and knives, but that allows you to give to somebody a piece of food that actually you can be holding in your hands and you are feeding day one in the heart of Puerto Rico with nothing.
So that’s the hardware versus software. Never forget your mission, never forget what you’re there for. Every organization has to be clear what your mission is to the most simplistic, smaller phrase possible, and never let anybody forget that. If not, your mission becomes something else. Concentrating on the software will always allow you to be faster and quicker.
As you’re talking about technology, I recently did an episode with Marc Lore, the founder of Wonder, the food delivery app. I know you’ve collaborated with Wonder. And Marc talked about how he uses AI to pick all of his meals, like every meal, and he thinks one day everybody’s going to do that and you’re even going to use it at a restaurant to pick your meals for you. Has he talked to you about this? Have you tried it? Do you think this is a good thing?
Anything Marc says, I will support because Marc is one of those amazing brains. Obviously, he’s working on taxis that will lift up in the middle of the cities, planes that will fly us away. And obviously, Wonder I know very well. I’m on their board.
The big thing for me and AI is when I tell AI, “What are the food problems and food solutions in America and planet Earth?” And AI right now, the best it can do is give you a very good glimpse of all the different situations food is a problem and can be a solution . . . Things people don’t even imagine. But food is everything. Food is national security, food is defense, food is immigration, food is science, food is health, food is the economy.
Food is very much in everything, and we don’t even realize. We only have food on planet Earth for around six, seven weeks, no more; 90 days is the total food that we have stored to feed the eight billion people on planet Earth. If a major thing will happen at once, and it’s been glimpses in the past that we had back-to-back hurricanes in high productive food areas of America, Central America, tornadoes, droughts, pests wiping out food production, wiping out cattle, wiping out eggs, wiping out chickens. Imagine if the perfect storm happens.
We have enough food to eat on planet Earth. Why are we not finding the way to make sure that those people that are really poor, we distribute that excess of food through better distribution, et cetera? That’s the problem now. We have enough, but not everybody is receiving the food, and we should be solving this problem. I believe it’s highly solvable.
So obviously, if Marc is saying, “This is the way,” I will listen to Marc because we need more brains like Marc solving prolems, and it doesn’t seem we have the people or the experts concentrated in what can become a very big problem not too far away from today.
Fans of Big Lots who were devastated when the embattled retailer filed for bankruptcy last year will be happy to learn that more than 200 locations are expected to reopen by summer.
The discount chain, which had initially been expected to close every store, struck a deal in December with Variety Wholesalers, parent company of Roses and other bargain shopping chains, which agreed to take over hundreds of leases and operate the stores under the Big Lots brand. Here’s what you need to know:
When are the Big Lots store reopening?
The stores are having their soft openings in four “waves,” with the first wave of nine stores having already opened earlier this month, as Fast Company previously reported.
A second wave of about 54 stores are expected to reopen in early May, a Variety spokesperson told Fast Company. All four waves of openings are expected to be complete by early June.
Are these actually new stores, though?
All of the locations were previously Big Lots stores whose leases have been taken over by Variety Wholesalers. The stores held going-out-of-business sales and, according to Variety, need to close for several weeks while they are remodeled and stocked with merchandise.
Big Lots is in many ways a new company now, as Variety has an established way of operating and is likely to put its own spin on things. A Variety spokesperson told Fast Company in March that it plans to sell “new categories of merchandise.”
Where are the new Big Lots stores located?
The list of stores includes 219 Big Lots locations across 15 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, according to data provided by Variety.
North Carolina, where Variety is headquartered, will see the most Big Lots locations reopen, with more than 50 stores planned for the state. South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia will also see large numbers of stores.
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The full list of planned Big Lots reopenings appears below and in the interactive map above.
Alabama
Wave 2
5363 Hwy 90 W Ste C, Mobile, AL 36619
603 US Hwy 72 W, Athens, AL 35611
1820 6th Ave SE, Decatur, AL 35601
Wave 3
14228 US Highway 431, Guntersville, AL, 35976
5510 McFarland Blvd, Northport, AL, 35476
1100 Hwy 78 W, Jasper, AL, 35501
2821 Montgomery Highway, Dothan, AL, 36303
Florida
Wave 3
4700 Highway 90, Marianna, FL, 32446
225 S Tyndall Pkwy, Panama City, FL, 32404
9119 Merrill Rd Ste 50, Jacksonville, FL, 32225
122 S Nova Rd, Ormond Beach, FL, 32174
146 SE US Highway 19, Crystal River, FL, 34429
Wave 4
6247 Highway 90, Milton, FL 32570
2384 Commercial Way, Spring Hill, FL 34606
3401 13th St Ste 100, St. Cloud, FL 34769
843 W Bloomingdale Ave, Brandon, FL 33511
3048 E College Ave, Ruskin, FL 33570
13970 N Cleveland Ave, North Ft. Myers, FL 33903
4901 Palm Beach Blvd Ste 230, Fort Myers, FL 33905
Georgia
Wave 2
558 Battlefield Pkwy, Fort Oglethorpe, GA 30742
323 Habersham Village Cir, Cornelia, GA 30531
110 E Northside Dr, Valdosta, GA 31602
2708 Peach Orchard Rd, Augusta, GA 30906
Wave 3
260 Merchants Square, Dallas, GA, 30132
2932 Canton Rd Ste 210, Marietta, GA, 30066
3791 S Cobb Dr SE Ste G, Smyrna, GA, 30080
4125 Highway 20, Ste A-2, Buford, GA, 30518
2305 E 1st St, Vidalia, GA, 30474
1803 Knight Ave Ste A2, Waycross, GA, 31501
4420 Altama Ave Ste C2, Brunswick, GA, 31520
Wave 4
127 Commerce Ave, LaGrange, GA 30241
3111 Highway 278 NW, Covington, GA 30014
13 Lester Rd Ste C, Statesboro, GA 30458
Louisiana
Wave 1
755 Veterans Memorial Blvd, Metairie, LA, 70005
Michigan
Wave 2
4157 E. Court Street, Burton, MI 48509
5112 Miller Rd, Flint, MI 48507
7651 23 Mile Rd, Shelby Township, MI 48316
Wave 3
659 24th St, Port Huron, MI, 48060
14333 Eureka Rd, Southgate, MI, 48195
Mississippi
Wave 1
2605 W Main St, Tupelo, MS, 38801
5778 Hwy 80 E, Pearl, MS, 39208
Wave 3
875 Main St, Southaven, MS, 38671
Ohio
Wave 2
4331 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren, OH 44483
7100 South Ave, Boardman, OH 44512
1965 W State St, Alliance, OH 44601
498 Cadiz Rd, Wintersville, OH 43953
56104 National Rd, Bridgeport, OH 43912
6300 E Livingston Ave, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Wave 3
3946 W Alexis Rd, Toledo, OH, 43623
1800 E State St, Fremont, OH, 43420
825 Cleveland St, Elyria, OH, 44035
408 Bluebell Dr NW, New Philadelphia, OH, 44663
2837 Winchester Pike, Columbus, OH, 43232
4260 West Broad St, Columbus, OH, 43228
3961 Hoover Rd, Grove City, OH, 43123
2050 E Dorothy Ln, Kettering, OH, 45420
1700 E Main St, Lancaster, OH, 43130
Wave 4
8489 Market St, Mentor, OH 44060
12588 Rockside Rd, Cleveland, OH 44125
1890 W Market St, Akron, OH 44313
405 Howe Ave, Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44221
241 W Wooster Rd, Barberton, OH 44203
426 East Waterloo Rd, Akron, OH 44319
1336 Whipple Ave NW, Canton, OH 44708
10560 Harrison Ave, Harrison, OH 45030
3640 Werk Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45248
110 S 7th St, Marietta, OH 45750
9025 Ohio River Rd, Wheelersburg, OH 45694
400 Silver Bridge Plz, Gallipolis, OH 45631
367 County Rd 406 Ste B, South Point, OH 45680
Pennsylvania
Wave 2
866 Scranton Carbondale Hwy, Archbald, PA 18403
1010 O’Neill Hwy, Dunmore, PA 18512
7405 Westbranch Hwy, Lewisburg, PA 17837
Wave 3
2215 W 12th St, Erie, PA, 16505
820 Water St, Meadville, PA, 16335
697 Allegheny Blvd, Franklin, PA, 16323
2611 Ellwood Rd, New Castle, PA, 16101
5522 Shaffer Rd Unit 7, Du Bois, PA, 15801
2431 Columbia Blvd, Bloomsburg, PA, 17815
156 Eagles Glen Plz Ste 190, East Stroudsburg, PA, 18301
1241 Blakeslee Boulevard Dr E, Lehighton, PA, 18235
3437 Simpson Ferry Rd, Camp Hill, PA, 17011
467 W Penn Ave, Cleona, PA, 17042
Wave 4
750 Ohio River Blvd, Rochester, PA 15074
4717 McKnight Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
2444 Philadelphia St, Indiana, PA 15701
11628 Penn Hills Dr, Pittsburgh, PA 15235
254 Oak Spring Rd, Washington, PA 15301
6041 State Route 30 Ste 20, Greensburg, PA 15601
1425 Scalp Ave Ste 130, Johnstown, PA 15904
389 N Reading Rd, Ephrata, PA 17522
500 Lincoln Hwy Ste 4, Fairless Hills, PA 19030
2140 White St, York, PA 17404
1150 Carlisle St, Hanover, PA 17331
Kentucky
Wave 1
1342 Indian Mound Drive, Mount Sterling, KY 40353
Wave 2
200 Sycamore St Ste 151, Elizabethtown, KY 42701
472 Eastern Byp, Richmond, KY 40475
1714 Perryville Rd Ste 400, Danville, KY 40422
942 Happy Valley Rd, Glasgow, KY 42141
Wave 3
400 Campbellsville Byp, Campbellsville, KY, 42718
294 Village Ln, Hazard, KY, 41701
845 S Main St, London, KY, 40741
102 N 12th St, Middlesboro, KY, 40965
345 N Hwy 27 Ste 5, Somerset, KY, 42503
Wave 4
3000 Scottsville Rd, Bowling Green, KY 42104
Indiana
Wave 2
195 S US Hwy 231, Jasper, IN 47546
North Carolina
Wave 1
1432 E Dixie Dr, Asheboro, NC, 27203
Wave 2
1504 N Bridge St, Elkin, NC 28621
1826 W US Hwy 421 Ste K, Wilkesboro, NC 28697
526c US Highway 70 SW, Hickory, NC 28602
2587 W Franklin Blvd, Gastonia, NC 28052
1328 Carter St, Mount Airy, NC 27030
1063 Yadkinville Rd, Mocksville, NC 27028
100 Westwood Village Dr, Clemmons, NC 27012
12295 Capital Blvd, Wake Forest, NC 27587
1110 Julian R Allsbrook Hwy, Roanoke Rapids, NC 27870
955 N Wesleyan Blvd, Rocky Mount, NC 27804
4956 Long Beach Rd SE Ste 8, Southport, NC 28461
2407 N Herritage St Ste E, Kinston, NC 28501
Wave 3
685 S Hughes Blvd, Elizabeth City, NC, 27909
2725 Northwest Blvd, Newton, NC, 28658
1020 Crossroads Dr, Statesville, NC, 28625
376 West Plaza Drive, Mooresville, NC, 28117
403 N Generals Blvd, Lincolnton, NC, 28092
1728 E Dixon Blvd, Shelby, NC, 28152
601 Park St, Belmont, NC, 28012
3718 Battleground Ave, Greensboro, NC, 27410
1811 S Church St, Burlington, NC, 27215
838 Winston Rd, Lexington, NC, 27295
1700 Raleigh Rd Pkwy W Ste 104, Wilson, NC, 27896
609 Greenville Blvd SE, Greenville, NC, 27858
1403 S Pollock St, Selma, NC, 27576
1140 W Broad St, Dunn, NC, 28334
3915 Ramsey Street, Fayetteville, NC, 28311
3910 Raeford Rd, Fayetteville, NC, 28304
Wave 4
125 Weaver Blvd, Weaverville, NC 28787
273 Franklin Plaza Dr, Franklin, NC 28734
1176 Russ Ave, Waynesville, NC 28786
1639 US Highway 74A Byp, Spindale, NC 28160
1450 Andrews Rd, Murphy, NC 28906
1251 Burkemont Ave, Morganton, NC 28655
711 E Innes St, Salisbury, NC 28144
280 Concord Pkwy N, Concord, NC 28027
720 NC 24 27 Byp E, Albemarle, NC 28001
950 S Cannon Blvd Ste A, Kannapolis, NC 28083
1677 Westchester Dr, High Point, NC 27262
2531 Eastchester Dr, High Point, NC 27265
630 Lakestone Commons Ave, Fuquay Varina, NC 27526
2950 S Horner Blvd, Sanford, NC 27332
1371 N Sandhills Blvd, Aberdeen, NC 28315
1664 S Main St Ste B, Laurinburg, NC 28352
520 Berne Sq, New Bern, NC 28562
2750C N Roberts Ave, Lumberton, NC 28358
1110 Western Blvd, Jacksonville, NC 28540
2900 Arendell St Ste 19, Morehead City, NC 28557
6832 F Market St, Wilmington, NC 28405
4600 Main St Ste 1, Shallotte, NC 28470
South Carolina
Wave 2
2349 Cherry Rd Ste 79, Rock Hill, SC 29732
1000 N Pine St, Spartanburg, SC 29303
915 S St Ste A, Simpsonville, SC 29681
1023A S Pendleton St, Easley, SC 29642
Wave 3
207 Oconee Square Dr, Seneca, SC, 29678
339 Bypass 72 NW, Greenwood, SC, 29649
421 Columbia Ave, Lexington, SC, 29072
3230 Augusta Rd, West Columbia, SC, 29170
Wave 4
1206 Highway 9 Bypass W, Lancaster, SC 29720
9221 Two Notch Rd Ste 30, Columbia, SC 29223
6169 St. Andrews Rd, Columbia, SC 29212
1641 Church St, Conway, SC 29526
710 Hwy 17 S Ste D, North Myrtle Beach, SC 29582
1370 S Kings Hwy, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577
1013 Old Highway 52, Moncks Corner, SC 29461
431 Saint James Ave Unit G, Goose Creek, SC 29445
10150 Dorchester Rd Unit 227, Summerville, SC 29485
328 Robert Smalls Pkwy, Beaufort, SC 29906
Tennessee
Wave 1
1041 S Riverside Dr, Clarksville, TN, 37040
744 Nashville Pike, Gallatin, TN, 37066
220 Dickson Plaza Dr, Dickson, TN, 37055
Wave 2
1262 NW Broad St, Murfreesboro, TN 37129
4825 N Broadway St, Knoxville, TN 37918
420 Park Blvd, Rogersville, TN 37857
840 25th St NW, Cleveland, TN 37311
Wave 3
3110 E Oakland Ave, Johnson City, TN, 37601
2342 E Andrew Johnson Hwy, Morristown, TN, 37814
1475 E Andrew Johnson Hwy, Greeneville, TN, 37745
116 S Hall Rd, Alcoa, TN, 37701
201 Forks of the River Parkway, Sevierville, TN, 37862
264 E Broadway Blvd, Jefferson City, TN, 37760
Wave 4
633 S Jefferson Ave, Cookeville, TN 38501
1301 S James Campbell Blvd, Columbia, TN 38401
1913 Sherwood Rd, Kingsport, TN 37664
3901 Hixson Pike Ste 157, Chattanooga, TN 37415
1426 N Gateway Ave, Rockwood, TN 37854
Virginia
Wave 1
2911 Hershberger Rd NW, Roanoke, VA, 24017
Wave 2
1090 Millwood Pike, Winchester, VA 22602
2715 W Main St, Waynesboro, VA 22980
4300 Portsmouth Blvd, Chesapeake, VA 23321
2646 Greensboro Rd, Martinsville, VA 24112
Wave 3
260 Remount Rd, Front Royal, VA, 22630
10611 Courthouse Rd, Fredericksburg, VA, 22407
10001 Hull Street Rd, North Chesterfield, VA, 23236
2660 Weir Place, Chester, VA, 23831
5260 Oaklawn Blvd, North Prince George, VA, 23860
4318 George Washington Mem Hwy, Yorktown, VA, 23692
Wave 4
180 Kents Ridge Rd, Richlands, VA 24641
1090 Bypass Rd, Vinton, VA 24179
6610 Mooretown Rd, Williamsburg, VA 23188
2318 W Mercury Blvd, Hampton, VA 23666
1851 E Little Creek Rd, Norfolk, VA 23518
1971 S Military Hwy, Chesapeake, VA 23320
West Virginia
Wave 2
1228 Country Club Rd, Fairmont, WV 26554
104 Thompson Dr, Bridgeport, WV 26330
710 Beverly Pike, Elkins, WV 26241
118 Hills Plz, Charleston, WV 25312
110 Eagle School Rd, Martinsburg, WV 25404
7200 Mccorkle Ave SE, Charleston, WV 25304
Wave 3
291 Mall Rd, Oak Hill, WV, 25901
4522 Robert C Byrd Dr, Beckley, WV, 25801
1350 Stafford Dr, Princeton, WV, 24740
Artificial intelligence has rapidly started finding its place in the workplace, but this year will be remembered as the moment when companies pushed past simply experimenting with AI and started building around it, Microsoft said in a blog post accompanying its annual Work Trend Index report.
As part of this shift, Microsoft is dubbing 2025 the year of the “Frontier Firm.”
“Like the digital native companies of a generation ago, they understand the power of pairing irreplaceable human insight with AI and agents to unlock outsized value,” Jared Spataro, CMO of AI at Work at Microsoft, said in the post.
These so-called Frontier Firms will be built around “on-demand intelligence and powered by ‘hybrid’ teams of humans + agents, these companies scale rapidly, operate with agility, and generate value faster,” according to the report. Microsoft argued that within the next two to five years, every company will be on the journey to becoming one.
Microsoft said that 82% of leaders responded that this is a “pivotal” year to rethink key strategy and operations, while 81% said they expect agents to be “moderately or extensively” integrated into their AI strategies in the next 12 to 18 months.
The results are a culmination of survey data from 31,000 workers across 31 countries, LinkedIn hiring and labor market trends, trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals, and conversations with experts, and AI-native startups.
Microsoft expects the transition to the Frontier Firm to play out in three phases. The first, it said, is that AI will act as an assistant to streamline work tasks. Second is the addition of AI agents as “digital colleagues,” which can take on specific tasks. The third step calls for a lot more freedom: it’s when humans set direction for agents that run entire business processes and workflows, with the human checking in as needed.
It gives the example of a supply chain role. Agents can handle end-to-end logistics, while humans can guide the agents, resolve exceptions, and manage supplier relationships.
AI agents are still in the early days, but companies are placing big bets that agentic AI represents the next major frontier and are rapidly innovating. OpenAI recently released Operator, a tool that automates web-based tasks, along with Deep Research, which it says can gather information from across the web and summarize it into digestible reports. Amazon launched a model designed to take over a users web browser and perform simple tasks. Anthropic, the creator of Claude, and Google have also introduced AI agents.
“This shift is multifacetedevery industry and role will evolve differently as the technology diffuses across business and society,” the report said. “Just as the internet era created billions of new knowledge jobsfrom social media managers to UX designersthe AI era is already giving rise to new roles, with many more to come.”
Want more housing market stories from Lance Lamberts ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter.
The 2025 spring selling season isnt shaping up the way publicly traded homebuilders had hoped. KB Home, a giant homebuilder, told investors on March 24th that the traditionally strong spring buying window was off to a weaker-than-anticipated start. Just days earlier, Lennar, the nations second-largest builder, had offered a similar readout on its March 21 earnings call.
Now, D.R. Hortonthe largest homebuilder in the U.S. and No. 120 on the Fortune 500is adding its voice to the chorus.
This years spring selling season started slower than expected as potential homebuyers have been more cautious due to continued affordability constraints and declining consumer confidence, D.R. Horton CEO Paul Romanowski told investors last week.
In response, the company has leaned more heavily on concessions in regions where for-sale housing inventory has risen most.
So were still dealing with a lot of the markets where weve seen the much written and talked about buildup in inventory,” Romanowski said. “Weve had to add a little more concessions in the process, dependingagain, similar to our wholesale marketon the competitive environment, market by market. But we still feel pretty good about that business.”
Despite macroeconomic factors like high mortgage rates and inflation concerns continuing to weigh on buyer confidence, Romanowski pointed to rising inventory levels in the housing market as the primary challenge facing D.R. Horton this spring.
I would say that the macro environment hasnt done a lot to change either the pace or the concessions as much as its been the availability of inventory in the market. We are moving through that inventory in a lot of the markets and the starts pace has been down,” he said.
The impact is evident in D.R. Hortons numbers: Net new orders are down 15% year-over-year. The companys South Central (which includes Texas), Southwest, and Southeast (which includes Florida) divisions posted the steepest year-over-year declines in new orders.
I think you look at our concentration in Texas and through Florida, and certainly when those markets are a little softer, its going to cause us to have fewer starts in those markets in response to market conditions, Romanowski told investors on April 17th.
As ResiClub has covered in great detail, the balance of power in many pockets of Florida and Texas has shifted from sellers to buyers as active housing inventory for sale there has climbed back above pre-pandemic 2019 inventory levels.
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Still, not all of D.R. Hortons markets are weak, particularly those places where active inventory remains well below pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
We have expanded our geographic footprint and have some newer markets that are seeing good stable activity without much supply and were expecting some of those markets to grow potentially beyond our expectations. So it really is a balance, but it is market to market and community to community across our platform, Romanowski said.
As D.R. Horton navigates a choppy 2025 housing landscape, its focus remains on managing inventory, adapting pricing strategies, and finding growth in less inventory saturated markets.
Go here to view all of ResiClubs six main takeaways from D.R. Hortons recent earnings.
Microsoft released its annual Work Trend Index report on Tuesday, which argued that 2025 is the year that companies stop simply experimenting with AI and start building it into key missions.
As part of its release, Microsoft put together a glossary that it says is comprised of “new terms to know for a new world of work.”
Here’s the list:
Agent: An AI-powered system that can reason, plan, and act to complete tasks or entire workflows autonomously, with human oversight at key moments.
Agent boss: A human manager of one or more agents.
Capacity gap: The deficit between business demands and the maximum capacity of humans alone to meet them.
Digital labor: AI or agents that can be purchased on demand to scale workforce capacity.
Frontier Firm: A company powered by intelligence on tap, human-agent teams, and a new role for everyone: agent boss.
Human-agent ratio: A new business metric that optimizes the balance of human oversight with agent efficiency on human-agent teams.
Intelligence resources: A function dedicated to managing digital labor on an organizational levelthink of it as a blend of IT and HR.
Work Chart: The next org chart, structured not around functional expertise but around jobs that need to be done.
The World Economic Forum, which runs an annual gathering of elites in Davos, Switzerland, says its board has given its unanimous support for an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct by founder Klaus Schwab.The statement from the Geneva-based think tank and event organizer late on Tuesday came after a report published in the Wall Street Journal cited a whistleblower letter alleging financial and ethical misconduct by Schwab, 87, and his wife Hilde.The newspaper reported that the allegations were sent in an anonymous letter to the board last week and included claims that the Schwab family mixed their personal affairs with Forum resources.In a statement sent to the Associated Press, the Forum said its boardwhich includes former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Jordan’s Queen Rania, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as membersagreed to a decision by its risk and audit committee to open the probe.“While the Forum takes these allegations seriously, it emphasizes that they remain unproven, and will await the outcome of the investigation to comment further,” the statement said.The AP was not immediately able to reach Schwab or a contact person for him.The allegations emerged two days after the WEF announced Schwab had retired “with immediate effect” as chairman, and that former Nestlé Chairman and CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe was taking over as interim chairman.For decades, the Forum’s annual gathering in Davos has hosted top business executives, government leaders, academics, international organizations, cultural figures, sports legends, and celebrities to discuss government policy, deal-making, and current affairs.
Associated Press
Global shares mostly rose Wednesday, with markets showing relief after President Donald Trump indicated he won’t dismiss the head of the U.S. Federal Reserve.France’s CAC 40 jumped 2.1% in early trading to 7,480.99, while Germany’s DAX rose 2.5% to 21,820.14. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.6% to 8,461.24. U.S. shares were set to drift higher with Dow futures up 1.5% at 39,960.00. S&P 500 futures rose 2.0% to 5,421.75.In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.9% to finish at 34,868.63. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 surged 1.3% to 7,920.50. South Korea’s Kospi gained 1.6% to 2,525.56. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 2.4% to 222,072.62, while the Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1% to 3,296.36.Trump had previously said he could fire Fed chair Jerome Powell after the Fed paused cuts to short-term interest rates. But Trump told reporters Tuesday, “I have no intention of firing him.”Investors were also cheered by comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in a Tuesday speech. He said the ongoing tariffs showdown with China is unsustainable and he expects a “de-escalation” in the trade war.“Of course, markets will continue to listen out for the latest White House rhetoric on tariffs and any hints of upcoming trade deals. As such, market direction will more likely than not continue to be dictated by Trump’s latest whims regarding tariffs and trade,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.The only prediction many Wall Street strategists are willing to make is that financial markets will likely continue to veer up and down as hopes rise and fall that Trump may negotiate deals with other countries to lower his tariffs. If no such deals come quickly enough, many investors expect the economy to fall into a recession.The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its forecast for global economic growth this year to 2.8%, down from 3.3%. A suite of better-than-expected profit reports from big U.S. companies, meanwhile, helped drive U.S. stocks higher.Also helping market sentiment was the announcement from Elon Musk that he will spend less time in Washington and more time running Tesla after his electric vehicle company reported a big drop in profits. Its results have been hurt by vandalism, widespread protests and calls for a consumer boycott amid a backlash to Musk’s oversight of cost-cutting efforts for the U.S. government.Tesla reported earnings after U.S. trading closed. Tesla’s quarterly profits fell from $1.39 billion to $409 million, far below analyst estimates.In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 80 cents to $64.47 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard added 81 cents to $68.25 a barrel.In currency trading, the U.S. dollar declined to 141.87 Japanese yen from 142.37 yen. The euro cost $1.1390, up from $1.1379. _AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.
Yuri Kageyama, AP Business Writer
Thanksgiving may not arrive until November, but you wouldnt know it from perusing Donald Trumps social media feeds. Hes been giving thanks quite a lot lately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! is how the president has been closing some of his recent online dispatches.
Its a weirdly stiff expression. It carries the bureaucratic heft of an HR email about which snacks are now forbidden in the break room, or that of a lawyer signing off an email about a pressing document that wont e-sign itself. Given the source, though, it feels more like the boss reading all of America the riot act.
At least 10 of Trumps Truth Social posts in the past two months have ended this way, alternately confounding and delighting those who come upon them. Hes deployed the idiom so much, in fact, and in such unusual contexts, its now found a second life as a viral meme and multipurpose catchphrase.
me: *posts the longest, least-disciplined paragraph of rambling bullshit you have ever seen in your life*
also me: "thank you for your attention to this matter"— e.w. niedermeyer (@niedermeyer.online) April 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Based on the lack of respect you people have shown me, I am hereby raising the Tariff charge on my free mix videos to 125%, effective immediately.Thank you for your attention to this matter! pic.twitter.com/UHNoyDPZKW— DJ Mek (@DeeJayMek) April 10, 2025
Although Trumps fondness for the expression, abbreviated from here on out as TYFYATTM, goes back at least as far as a 2019 Twitter rant about China, hes only recently cemented it as a Trumpism. Theres no obvious rhyme or reason for which posts he chooses to grace with a TYFYATTM. Its popped up when Trump makes an announcement (like the extension of TikToks grace period to find a new buyer), when he makes an ultimatum (like the demand for an apology from Maine Governor Janet Mills, which went unrequited), and when he makes his scathing opinion known about a person, place, or thing (like he did most recently in an April 16 screed about Harvard).
The purpose of “Thank you for your attention to this matter!” is open to interpretation, but there are hints in Trumps posts about what he might mean by it.
Please let this notification serve to represent that the Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and all other Law Enforcement Agencies within our Country have been so notified, he wrote in a Truth Social post in March about Venezuela, before adding a TYFYATTM. Perhaps the same disclaimer is implied for all other posts that end this way, a reminder that if Trump felt compelled to do so, he could cancel a companys contract via tweet, as he once did with Boeing.
The cold formality of TYFYATTM seems meant to distinguish one of Trumps many daily dispatches as Official Business, something to be considered with utmost seriousness. It doesnt always get the job done. In one instance, Trump dropped a TYFYATTM after merely mentioning that hed had a conversation with Canadian PM Mark Carney, perhaps out of habit. (Although its certainly possible that Trumps team uses the strange phrase when posting on his behalf, now that its become a signature line.)
TYFYATTM fuses together formality with urgency, conveying that something must be done! Whether he intends to or not, by addressing readers directly, Trump involves them. TYFYATTM brings them into breaking news, like when late-night talk show hosts precede a monologue joke with, Did you hear about this? Some readers might even feel deputized by the phraseeven if all they have to do is hate Harvard a little more than before. On the other hand, Trump may just understand that people like being thankedeven when they havent done anything.
In any case, whether through marketing prowess or sheer force of will and repetition, Trump has quickly lodged his new catchphrase within the cultural vernacular.
People on X and Bluesky have been using it as a goofy mock-signoff for decidedly unofficial proclamations.
QUITE ENJOYED THIS BUILDINGS PROPORTIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! pic.twitter.com/BPDxcTC69j— Harry Wilkin$ (@hs_wilkins) April 10, 2025
Hard pass. Thank you for your attention to this matter.— Jen Jennings (@jenjennings.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T15:27:20.318Z
My prices will continue to be whatever I feel like charging whenever I feel like charging it.Thank you for your attention in this matter.All hail The Queen of Rats.— Tengushee (@Tengushee) April 15, 2025
And of course, plenty of others have been using it just to mock the president outright.
My understanding is that while we were not clear on OpSec over the weekend, we are now. Thank you for your attention to this matter.— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T14:43:33.665Z
[ the dumbest shit you've ever read in your life ] Thank you for your attention to this matter!— Ian Boudreau (@ianboudreau.com) 2025-04-16T17:29:16.132Z
Thank you for your attention to this matter!— Mark Harris (@markharris.bsky.social) 2025-04-21T20:47:30.278Z
During Trumps first term, he minted a Duolingo lessons worth of catchphrases on Twitter that were similarly mocked and imitated into ubiquity. Considering it is somehow still less than 100 days into round two, there are likely many such cases still to come.
Unfortunately for Trump, he doesnt get any originality points for “Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Snarky expressions of gratitude invoking the president are kind of old hat by now. (Thanks, Obama!)
Struggling pharmacy chain Rite Aid may be preparing to file for a second bankruptcy and sell itself in pieces, according to a new report. The plans would come just a year after Rite Aid emerged from its prior bankruptcy proceedings. Heres what you need to know.
Whats happened?
A report from Bloomberg yesterday said that the pharmacy chain Rite Aid was preparing to file for a second bankruptcy. Rite Aid previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, from which it emerged last year in 2024.
But now Bloombergs report suggests that Rite Aid’s reorganization in that bankruptcy wasnt enough to help the retailer put its struggles behind it.
Rite Aid is reportedly “running low on cash” reserves, according to Bloomberg, and heading towards another bankruptcy. This time, the pharmacy chain will reportedly sell itself in pieces as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
Bloomberg said Rite Aid is strapped for liquidity and will pursue a debtor-in-possession (DIP) loan to keep itself funded during the bankruptcy process. The publication cited people with knowledge of the situation as the source of the bankruptcy news.
Fast Company has reached out to Rite Aid for comment on the report. We also asked whether more store closures are planned and whether the pharmacy has any guidance for customers who get their medication at Rite Aid. We will update this story if we hear back.
As part of its second bankruptcy, Rite Aid will reportedly sell certain locations to bidders, while others will be closed permanently.
Rite Aid store closures in 2025
As part of its first bankruptcy two years ago, Rite Aid closed hundreds of stores in order to help restructure its business and get its finances in order. That bankruptcy was fueled by numerous financial woes, including declining revenue, more competition, and the costs associated with fighting opioid lawsuits.
But emerging from the previous Chapter 11 now appears not to have done enough to help the companys financial footing. Bloomberg says that like many retailers, including Joann and Party City, Rite Aid has still struggled with customers who are cutting back on their spending as well as higher interest rates.
As of now, Rite Aid has not publicly confirmed its second bankruptcy plans or announced any swath of store closures.
However, over the past several weeks, a number of local media outlets have reported on individual Rite Aid store closings in their area.
For example, the Asbury Park Press on Tuesday reported that the Rite Aid at South Main Street in Neptune Township, New Jersey, would be closing effective today, April 23. A Rite Aid representative confirmed the closure to the outlet, stating, While we have had to make difficult business decisions over the past several months to improve our business and optimize our retail footprint, we are committed to becoming financially and operationally healthy.
Similarly, the Santa Monica Daily Press reported on April 17 that the Rite Aid at 14th and Wilshire in Santa Monica, California, would be closing in May. A sign posted to the door of that Rite Aid store said, Thank you for trusting us with your health. On May 29th we will be moving your prescription to CVS on 1411 Lincoln Blvd.
A day earlier, on April 16, the Central Oregon Daily News reported that Rite Aid would be closing its south-side store in Bend, Oregon. The outlet said Rite Aid employees confirmed the store would be closed and its inventory merged with Bends only other Rite Aid on the north side of the city. The closure was reported to be part of a company-wide consolidation effort.
How many Rite Aid stores are left in 2025?
According to Rite Aids store location listings, the pharmacy chain has 1,247 Rite Aids left in the United States.
Those stores span 15 states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.
However, as of this writing, the three stores reported to be closing above are still listed, and there is no indication in online listings that the stores have been marked for closure.
What that means is that Rite Aid will soon have less than its currently listed 1,247 in the United States. Just how many Rite Aids will remain if the reports of its second bankruptcy plans are accurate remains to be seen.
Welcome to Pressing Questions, Fast Companys mini-advice column. Every week, deputy editor Kathleen Davis, host of The New Way We Work podcast, will answer the biggest and most pressing workplace questions.
Q: What should I do about a coworker who dresses inappropriately at work? A: My first instinct is to advise you to keep it to yourself. Commenting on someones appearance is fraught and how someone dresses or styles their hair, etc. very often falls into the category of none of your business.But, there are nuances and circumstances where something is actually inappropriate. Before you say anything, run though these checks:
Does your workplace have an official dress code policy?
Not all workplaces do, and many are unhelpfully vague. (After all, who actually knows what business casual means?) If there is a policy and it states a guideline that your coworker is very clearly violating, you can bring the issue to the persons manager or HR to handle.
Consider what is truly ‘inappropriate’
Just because you think sweatpants are unprofessional doesnt mean you need to police others clothing choices. Issues with appearance usually only rise to the level of intervention in a few scenarios.
For example, if someone is in a client- or customer-facing role and there is an expectation to dress formally when meeting a client, or to dress in a way that respects the culture in the place you are doing business. Or if there is a need to dress safely for workplace hazards (like closed-toe shoes on a construction site, for example).
Among internal colleagues, the only reason to intervene is if their appearance is causing a legitimate issue in a workplace. Clothing with political messages or graphic images likely falls in the same bucket as displaying similar content at your deskif its not allowed there, its not allowed on your body.As for inappropriate in the context of “too revealing,” tread very lightly and ask yourself if its more of a you problem than a them problem. Theres a long sexist history of rules around womens appearance at workfrom requiring things like high heels and skirts to punishing women for dressing in a way that distracts men. If you truly think that someones appearance is holding them back from getting a promotion or being taken seriously, you can have a conversation with them where you dont blame or shame them.Want some more advice on dress codes at work? Here you go:
This is why we need to end dress codes for work
How to dress for every stage of your career
Managers, this is how to encourage new employees to adopt a more formal dress code
Do dress codes at the office work?
