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The heat index in some Southern states topped 113 degrees over the July 26 weekend, but some retailers are already knee-deep in spooky season. Just as Christmas creep has kicked off the winter holiday shopping (and decorating) season as early as September in recent years, Halloween sales seem to be starting earlier and earlier these days. The Home Depot is looking to capitalize. The chain has unveiled its 2025 collection of animatronics and decorations to make your house the scariest on the block. Skelly, the company’s iconic 12-foot skeleton, will lead the charge once againand while inflation is on the rise and tariffs are looming, the Home Depot says its maintaining Skelly’s $299 price tag. Skellys got plenty of friends joining him at retail this year. The 2025 collection of larger-than-life ghouls includes a pair of 15-foot-tall animated scarecrows (Worricrow and Gally-Crow, to be precise), each with a 12.5-foot arm span. (Both are priced at $399.) Skelly will also have a few new pets, including a 5.5-foot sitting skeleton dog with LCD eyes ($249) and a 5-foot-tall skeleton cat. All the animatronics will go on sale on the Home Depot website (and app) on Monday, August 4. They’ll begin appearing in stores as Halloween draws closer. If you don’t have room for a 12-foot Skelly, the retailer would like to introduce you to Ultra-Skelly, a version roughly half the size of the original that can interact with passers-by via an app. Itll be priced at $279. “When trick-or-treaters approach the door, the 6.5-foot-tall skeleton can comment on each guests costume or greet them as they approach,” the company said in a press release. The animatronic will have five preset recordings and up to 30 seconds of custom recording with voice modulation. You can also interact with trick-or-treaters live by speaking through Ultra-Skelly via the app. Like the 12-foot model, it can be adapted for other holidays, if you’d like to go to war with your homeowners association and keep it up year-round. The Home Depot has collaborated with Universal Products and Experiences once again to introduce a new 3.5-foot animated Chucky doll, this time with his stitched-up look from Bride of Chucky. There will also be a 3.5-foot Tiffany Valentine (aka, the bride of Chucky from the same film) on offer. Both will cost $229. Other horror characters arriving in animatronic form are a 7-foot Frankenstein ($279), a 6-foot bride of Frankenstein ($279), a 5.5-foot Evil Queen from Snow White and a 6.5-foot Maleficent ($279 each). Jack Skellington and Sally make a return as well. All-new offerings include the Deadwater collection (featuring a 9.5-foot animated pirate ship for $399 and a 7-foot Megalodon zombie shark for $349) and the Gruesome Grounds collection, which, in addition to the 15-foot scarecrows, showcases an 8-foot dragon that’s about to take flight. Of course, you can always freak out the neighbors with a 9.5-foot LED spider. While consumers tend to get grouchy about December holidays arriving earlier and earlier each year, they dont seem to mind getting a head start on All Hallows Eve festivities. A recent study by RetailMeNot found that “Summerween” is something many consumers get excited about; some 27% of people surveyed were already planning for Halloween. Another harbinger of the seasonSpirit Halloween storeshas yet to appear, but the company said it expects to open more than 1,500 locations this year and is looking for 50,000 seasonal employees. Those stores are likely to open their doors in the coming weeks. There is, of course, a financial incentive for all this. People spent an estimated $11.6 billion on the holiday last yearand that’s likely to rise in 2025. If you do grab some new lawn decorations when they go on sale, however, you might want to wait until the temperatures fall a bit lower before you put them out in the yard.
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E-Commerce
Sun-soaked beaches, cocktails by the pool, and a rare break from Zoom: Its what we all want from a summer break. Yet, for millions of parents, the reality doesnt live up to the dream. With school out and schedules upended, working moms find themselves under increased pressure. They juggle deadlines, playdates, meetings, and household chores, all while trying to create core memories with their loved ones. For them, it isnt a vacationits another full-time job. Unsurprisingly, a survey from the Headway app found that 36% of workers admitted that balancing work, social life, and downtime during the summer season leaves them drained; 9% say theyre already suffering from sun-induced burnout. For working moms, the toll is even steeper: 81% reported experiencing burnout as they attempt to do it all. As someone who has balanced parenting with my role as a productivity coach at Headway, I know the exhaustion all too well. At times, theres the burning desire to quit. Theres also the guilt of putting work before family, and the misery of returning from vacation more tired than when you left. The toll summer takes on working moms For working moms, the pressure to manage everything often leads to chronic overworking, skipped breaks, and stress levels. Over time, this slowly chips away at their physical and mental well-being. Burnout isnt a buzzword. Its a precursor to anxiety, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and more. And, again, working parents are at greater risk. A 2022 Harris Poll data (commissioned by CVS) found that 42% of working parents admit they suffer from anxiety, depression, or both. Its not surprising that motherhood often coincides with women leaving the workforce. A journal article from Behavioral Sciences found that some 24% quit within the first year. And working mothers who choose to come back dont always receive support. Instead, they face skepticism. They face scrutiny from employers over their commitment and competencefurther stalling their career progression. Another journal article from Behavioral Sciences found that mothers were less likely to be interviewed, hired, promoted, or paid a fair wage. How to ask your employer for more summer support If youre struggling through summer with little support from your employer, here are some tips on how to make a compelling case that seasonal flexibility is a smart business decision that benefits all: Use data to support your case Unfortunately, the reality is that not all employers will care about your personal circumstances. Most, however, will care a great deal about your productivity. Headway research shows that 54% of workers have had their work routine disrupted by summer, while 46% are managing fewer than 30 productive hours each week. By supporting your request with data, youre showing how a lack of flexibility impacts the wider workforcewhether through reduced productivity, more sick days, or higher turnover. That way, it becomes less of a personal plea and more of a strategic business decision that benefits all. Ask for flexibility, not time off Your employer is paying for your time, so its unrealistic to expect additional time off at their expense. Instead of requesting an absence, ask for flexibility. For instance, rather than saying you cant work Wednesday morning, explain why you need that time off and when youll make it up. In this case, it might be when school (and normality) resumes. When you bring this up, stress that you arent asking to do less. Youre simply proposing a schedule that allows you to maintain your productivity while keeping on top of your summer responsibilities as a parent. Frame flexibility as a retention tool Turnover is an expensive problem for employers. Based on data from the Social Security Agency, the cost of replacing an employee can range from $33,000 to $50,000. Given the high quit rates among working moms, especially during high-pressure periods such as summer, retaining this talent can be a strategic solution. Present flexibility as a retention tool, and show how with a few adjustments, your employer can support your teams well-being while retaining talent, preserving knowledge, and saving costs in the process. Call on HR for support Your manager might not be all ears initially, but HR should be. After all, with data showing that working mothers shoulder a disproportionate share of the stress that comes with balancing work and caregiving responsibilities, this is an equality issue. In my experience, most employees want to be inclusive and supportive, but simply havent addressed the specific need yet. But your advocacy could be the spark that prompts upper management to implement broader policies that ease the burden on all caregivers across the organization. Highlight other companies’ successes While many companies are hesitant to disrupt the status quo, others have committed to supporting working parents and seen strong results. Patagonia, for instance, offers on-site childcare to all its employees, providing peace of mind over childcare during working hours and plenty of quality time with their little ones throughout the day. Likewise, HubSpot offers flexible work schedules and unlimited time off, prioritizing results over the number of hours an employee logs. These forward-thinking policies alleviate pressure on working parents while boosting loyalty, engagement, and retention. And its no coincidence that these companies are regularly voted among the best places to work. And thats something that should pique your employer’s interest, no matter what industry they come from.
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E-Commerce
On the morning of April 28, large parts of Spain, Portugal, and southern France went dark. A massive blackout left millions without power, halting trains mid-track, cutting mobile networks, and rattling the foundation of one of Europes most advanced energy grids. In the days that followed, experts and media outlets scrambled to explain what had happened. Was it a cyberattack? Human error? A structural failure? More than two months later, official investigations are ongoing. Early statements by the Spanish government confirmed that although no single cause has emerged, it wasnt a cyberattack. While the exact cause remains under review, one thing the energy industry agrees on is clear: This cant keep happening. “A relentless cycle of evolution” Power systems are not only extremely complex, they are also in a relentless cycle of evolutionwith new parts coming in and old ones going outall while remaining stable and dependable 24/7, says Richard Schomberg, special envoy for smart electrification at the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The problem is that many of todays systems werent built for this era of energy evolution. As traditional power plants go offline and renewables come online, grid stability becomes harder to guarantee. What once worked isnt working anymore. There are many causes for failure in an electric system, Schomberg notes, from design limitations to user error to cyberattack to a sudden uptick in use. The goal of a resilient grid, he says, should be to divide and conquerisolating failing parts of the network quickly to avoid destroying critical infrastructure. But in practice, this often results in brownouts or blackouts. The April event wasnt just a wake-up call for Europe. It was a warning for the world. And it echoed similar large-scale disruptions in the U.S. (notably in Texas in 2021), Pakistan, and parts of Africa, where fragile infrastructure, outdated protocols, or extreme weather have repeatedly revealed how brittle many modern grids remain. “It’s not just about having more power” According to energy experts, one of the biggest culprits in grid fragility isnt malicious intent; its poor planning. Anders Lindberg, president of Helsinki-based Wärtsilä Energy, points to the growing gap between ambition and infrastructure. As we bring more renewables online, were not replacing the stability that traditional power plants used to provide, he explains, noting that stability once served as a kind of shock absorber for the grid. When it disappears, even small disruptions can spiral into systemic failure. Wärtsiläs approach focuses on fast-ramping engines and hybrid systems that can stabilize the grid when the wind dies down or clouds roll in. In Scotland, for example, we partnered with Zenobe to deliver grid-forming batteries that can restart the system if it goes down, Lindberg says. Wärtsiläs systems also have black start capabilities, meaning they dont depend on external power to turn on. While large utilities play a role, startups are also part of the puzzle. Norway-based Heimdall Power uses sensor technology and AI to monitor grid infrastructure in real time. With our sensors, you get actual capacity data from the grid, not static limits based on weather or assumptions, CEO Jrgen Festervoll tells Fast Company. That kind of real-time visibility can mean the difference between targeted intervention and total system collapse. Conventional grid monitoring typically relies on fixed thermal limits and weather-based estimates, which often underrate the actual capacity of power lines. Heimdalls sensors measure real-time line temperature, current, and sagallowing operators to safely optimize capacity without overloading. Festervoll adds that events like the Iberian blackout are no longer rare anomalies; theyre signals of deeper grid instability. Its not just about having more power, he says. Its about knowing where that power is going and when things might go wrong. “You need storage that can scale with demand” For many experts, the grid of the future isnt centralized. Its flexible, distributed, and intelligent. This is where battery innovation comes in. While not part of the blackout investigation, companies like Morrow Batteries are positioning themselves to help solve the intermittency problem at scale. Morrow Batteries, which aims to reduce battery costs by 50% while cutting emissions, is building a factory in Norway with a target capacity of 43 gigawatt-hours focused on high-efficiency lithium-ion cells. CEO Lars Christian Bacher says scale and proximity are what make local solutions like Morrow important: You cant just have generationyou need storage that can scale with demand. According to the Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario of the International Energy Agency, grid-scale battery storage capacity needs to grow from around 16gigawatts in 2021 to 680gigawatts by 2030a roughly 44-fold increaseto align with net-zero targets agreed to at COP28, the 2023 U.N. climate summit in Dubai. But technology alone wont solve everything. The rules of the grid also need to change. Without systemic reform, even the best batteries cant deliver the results theyre built for. Many grid protocols were written for a world of centralized, fossil-fuel power, Wärtsiläs Lindberg says. They dont account for the unpredictability of wind or solar. You can have the best tech, but if the regulations dont allow it to respond fast enough, you still fail. Wärtsilä, for example, is working with regulators to modernize system response and ensure decentralized assetslike batteries and flexible enginescan step in when needed. The companys recent hybrid system agreement in Curaçao and its support for Texas grid resilience during the 2021 winter blackout are proof points. “We have the tools” Globally, the cost of blackouts is rising. The U.S. Department of Energy projects that by 2030 the United States could experience more than 800 hours of blackouts per year, up from just a handful today. If current infrastructure and resilience investments dont keep up, that reality could become grimmer. Add climate volatility to the equationwith more storms, heat waves, and energy demand surgesand the economic stakes grow even higher. Building for resilience doesnt only mean faster restoration. It means designing systems that can avoid outages in the first place. A 2024 study by the USC Price School emphasized that investments in power grid resilience are more cost-effective than repeated recovery efforts. The researchers found that a dollar spent on resilience tactics could avoid several dollars in future outage costs, particularly in regions prone to extreme weather or infrastructure failure. These tactics range from undergrounding power lines and strengthening substations to integrating decentralized energy systems. And resilience isnt only a matter of hardwareit includes coordination, visibility, and smarter protocols that can isolate, contain, and correct anomalies before they escalate. Yet theres hope. We have the tools. We have the technology, Lindberg says. What gives me hope is that countries are starting to take a more pragmatic view, focusing not just on cutting carbon but on building systems that can handle stress. IECs Schomberg agrees, stressing that standardization will be key: Energy designs and local constraints will vary, but all systems need technical solutions to monitor, optimize, and stabilize. Thats where IEC standards come in. The April blackout in the Iberian Peninsula was a flashpoint, but it shouldnt be the final word. If anything, it exposed just how fragile our energy systems are when ambition outruns readiness. The next question isnt whether there will be another blackout, but whether well be ready when it comes.
Category:
E-Commerce
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