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Its been one of those weeks where business news managed to cover just about everything: food safety, trade drama, housing weirdness, mall nostalgia, layoffs, and even Taylor Swifts love life. Some stories hit directly at everyday lifelike whats in your fridge or how much you pay for a house. Others reminded us how fast global policies can change, or how a logo tweak can wipe millions off a companys market cap. A few themes cut through the noise: Consumers are holding on to what theyve got (whether thats jobs or houses), companies are scrambling to simplify, and global trade still feels as shaky as ever. But there were also signs of experimentationsuch as Delta literally letting customers choose its next destination. Oh, and in case you somehow missed it: The biggest celebrity engagement of the year came this week and brought some very big numbers along with it. Heres a look back at the weeks biggest business stories. Eggs Recalled After Salmonella Outbreak Sickens Nearly 100 A salmonella outbreak linked to Country Eggs LLC has infected at least 95 people, most of them in California. The company recalled its Sunshine Yolks large brown cage-free eggs, sold in California and Nevada. If you see code CA-7695 with sell-by dates through September 18 in your fridge, toss them or take them back. Japan Delays Trade Talks With the U.S. Japans top trade negotiator suddenly canceled a Washington trip meant to finalize tariff talks with the Trump administration. The issue? A messy disagreement over whether a new 15% tariff was applied correctly. Until its sorted, a promised $550 billion investment deal is on ice. New Homes Are Now Cheaper Than Old Ones The housing market has flipped: In June, brand-new homes cost 9% less than existing ones. Builders are cutting prices, shrinking floor plans, and offering incentives like lower mortgage rates. Meanwhile, homeowners with low mortgage rates are holding tight, keeping inventory scarce. Claires to Close Hundreds of Stores The tween jewelry and accessories chain is shutting down more than 230 Claires stores and 56 Icing stores after filing for bankruptcy again. Private equity owners plan to keep around 950 stores running, but mall staples like Claires are facing the same struggles as many other once-beloved retailers. Kroger Cutting 1,000 Corporate Jobs The grocery giant is laying off nearly 1,000 corporate employees, though store workers wont be touched. The move follows a failed $25 billion merger with Albertsons and news of 60 store closures. Kroger says its all about simplifying operations and reinvesting savings into pricing and growth. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelces Engagement Is Worth $1.65B Swift and Kelces engagement isnt just headline-makingits billionaire-making. Swift is worth about $1.6 billion, and Kelce around $52 million, for a combined total of $1.65 billion. Theyre rich, but still far behind mega-duos like Beyoncé and Jay-Z, who sit at $3.38 billion. Europe Hits Pause on U.S. Shipments Over Tariff Confusion Postal services in Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark have stopped shipping merchandise to the U.S., thanks to confusion over new tariffs. The U.S. ended its de minimis exemption, which let packages under $800 enter duty-free. Now, with new 15% tariffs, European postal services say they need more clarity before resuming. Cracker Barrels Logo Backlash Wipes Out $100M in Value Cracker Barrels attempt to modernize its logodropping the old-timey uncle on a barrel imagewent over poorly with fans. Social media called it bland, and investors reacted by wiping nearly $100 million off the stocks value. The company has since apologized and promised Uncle Herschel isnt going anywhere. Job Hopping Is Out, Job Hugging Is In Remember when changing jobs almost guaranteed a big raise? Not anymore. A new Bank of America report shows that pay bumps from job hopping have dropped to about 7%, down from double digits a few years ago. With layoffs and uncertainty rising, workersespecially Gen Zersare holding on to the jobs they have. Delta Lets Customers Pick Its Next Route Delta Air Lines is letting its customers pick its next summer destination. The airline launched a Route Race poll this week in which SkyMiles members and employees can vote on its next European destination: Sardinia, Malta, or Ibiza. The winning route will debut in summer 2026. Its a rare move for Delta, which usually relies on market data instead of customer polls to pick destinations.
Category:
E-Commerce
Everyone has an opinion on nepotism, although most of us probably wouldnt mind benefiting from it. In popular culture, the term nepo babies most often refers to well-connected Hollywood offspring pursuing entertainment careers of their own (shout-out to New York Magazine for helping cement this vernacular). But the term can be applied to the children of famous people in just about any field, from politics to sports. Enter Arch Manning, who appears to be a slightly different flavor of nepo babyone who has no doubt benefited from his impressive lineage and immense privilege but also has distance and a unique perspective on it. Ahead of his big debut as starting quarterback for the Texas Longhorns on August 30 (in other words, today), the stakes couldnt be higher for the 21-year-old. Lets break down his famous family, his journey to the University of Texas at Austin, and one sports reporters bold prediction before we discuss how to tune in to the big game. The Manning family tree Arch Manning is the son of Cooper Manning and Ellen Heidingsfelder. Cooper was a talented high school wide receiver whose future football aspirations were cut short when he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. Because of this, Arch knows how fragile an athletic career can be. Coopers brothers (Arch’s uncles) are renowned quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning. Peyton has two Super Bowl rings to his name, winning with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007 and with the Denver Broncos in 2016. Eli led the New York Giants to Super Bowl victory twice, earning his championship bling in 2008 and 2012. Archs grandfather, Archie Manning, played 14 seasons in the NFL. It’s safe to say theres something in the Manning DNA. Why the University of Texas at Austin? According to a Sports Illustrated interview with his parents, Arch is not seeking fame. He even turned down being interviewed directly. His parents didnt force football on him, instead opting to give him a well-rounded childhood. In the end, he naturally gravitated toward the sport anyway. Arch was a top-rated high school quarterback, and there was no shortage of college football programs vying for his attention, but he narrowed his choices to just three: the University of Georgia, the University of Alabama, and UT Austin. It was the prospect of playing for head coach Steve Sarkisian, who is also the teams offensive coordinator, that tipped the scales in Texass favor. Arch did play briefly as a true freshman in 2023, and was designated a redshirt freshman for the 2024 season, serving as the reserve quarterback. Quinn Ewerss early move to the NFL to play for the Miami Dolphins paved the way for Arch to take over as QB1 in 2025. What do sports pundits predict for Arch Manning? The hype around Arch Manning is loud, and the pressure cant be easy to take. He was already the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy before the season even started. Lets not forget the endorsement deals and the possibility of him declaring for the NFL draft. Pundits such as Manny Navarro of The Athletic believe this young athlete can live up to the expectationsand then some. “Manning throws for 3,500-plus yards, runs for 700 and tallies 50 touchdowns to lead the Longhorns to a 10-2 season,” Navarro predicted. “Texas beats Georgia in the SEC Championship Game rematch and finishes with the No. 3 seed.” These big feats could all start with todays game against the No. 3-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, the defending national champions. How to watch or stream Texas vs. Ohio State Despite losing to the Buckeyes in last seasons Cotton Bowl, the Longhorns come into the matchup with the No. 1 ranking, which is yet another reason todays game is so intriguing. Arch is ready for it. Im excited for this challenge, its going to be a big one, the young quarterback mused to reporters earlier in the week. Open up with the reigning champ, so what more could you ask for? Thats why you come to Texas.” The action begins at noon ET. Viewers with traditional cable subscriptions can tune into the Fox broadcast network for all the snaps, touchdowns, and tackles. If you have a pay-TV provider, you can also watch via the Fox Sports apps. If you cut the cord, live-television streaming services are here to help. Those include: YouTube TV Fubo Sling Hulu+Live TV Just make sure to double-check the regional differences as this impacts what networks are carried. Finally, remember that Fox is available over the air for free if you have an antenna and good reception.
Category:
E-Commerce
Much of author and Georgetown University computer science professor Cal Newports work is about preparation. His books Deep Work and Slow Productivity, among others, make the argument for intention around productivity, creativity, collaboration, innovation, rest, reflection, and recovery. In fact, Newports literary focus is to figure out the best circumstances and cadence for perpetuating creativity. Thats what allows him to do his own writing, maintain his coursework, and generally feel available for new ideas. Hes cultivated an empire of ideas, he says, which have helped him sell more than 1.5 million copies of Deep Work alone. Its also why much of what Newport writes about is so resonant for CEOs and college students alike. Even scheduling a call with Newport required a purposeful balance of timing. In the summer for a few weeks, Newport flees his home base in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C., to New England, where he writes, enjoys quiet, brainstorms, and spends more time in nature and with his family. I caught him one morning while he was in Vermont, post camp drop-off, baseball cap on, in full summer mode. My day is very seasonal. I believe in having variation throughout the year. The summertime: This is a period thats very idea-focused. In the summer, we go up north. My summer schedule prioritizes two things: long stretches for deep work (typically dedicated to writing), and relief from a busy calendar requiring me to jump rapidly between meetings and calls. To accomplish this, I try to dedicate every weekday morning, until lunch time, to uninterrupted writing. On Tuesday through Thursday, I’ll schedule meetings, interviews, and other appointments in the afternoon, but I leave Monday and Fridays, if possible, completely devoid of appointments, so I can ease back into the work week more gradually and have longer periods of deep work. These are, at best, targets I hope to hit, but often fall short. When I get to a busy part of the school year, during a semester Im teaching or taking care of administrative responsibilities, I try and keep the mornings free for ideas and writing, and know from midday to afternoon Im teaching class or in meetings. To think and write: Its the only thing I want in life. To me, its the most precious resource. What I do for a living is generate ideas. That is my top priority. Its what puts food on the table. That is No. 1: an empire of ideas. The spinning of a good idea; one that captures attention and generates positive impactIm building a craft to express ideas. The core hardest talent is ideas training. The secondary skills are to convey those ideas. The sense that temporarily slowing down requires permission, or is somehow negative, comes from our culture’s embrace of “pseudo-productivity.” This is a term I introduced in my book Slow Productivity that describes the common heuristic of using visible activity as a proxy for useful effort. We fall back on pseudo-productivity because it’s a shortcut for evaluating people that’s much easier than actually trying to understand what they are doing and why it’s useful. In a culture of pseudo-productivity, any move toward slowing down is read as unproductive and suspicious. The problem is that this measure is deeply flawed. In cognitive work, visible activity can be a poor predictor of how much value someone is actually producing in the long term. I was a good writer growing up and a precocious reader. I thought writing was hard, though, and being in computers made more sense to me. I went to college to study computer science and started writing in college. I sold my first book after my junior year, and thats where I said, Im going to grad school; its flexible enough that I can be writing at the same time. In fact, I wrote a New York Times op-ed about how I made that career decision. I knew at that point I was going to write and be a professor. I had a job offer in the tech industry, but I knew I wouldnt be able to write as much as I wanted. I love movies. Studying movies and trying to get into the details of how a particular movie was made and what makes it a classic . . . I find it a kind of creativity cross-training. When youre learning about a director none of those stresses are there. I can feel how hard that would have been. Its all abstract because it’s not in my field. I get a lot of benefit from studying other creative fields. You can operate creative risks. You can think about the writing process and editing process. I read all of the time; its an influx of raw material. I try to read five books a month as a general commitment to cognitive fitness. I mainly read nonfiction as it’s more directly useful to what I do as a writer. I often find inspiration in biographies of professional thinkers and creatives; you gain insight into their process. Just this morning, for example, I finished reading Alec Nevala-Lee’s biography of the Nobel Prize-winning physicist and polymath Luis Alvarez. It had some great material about how Alvarez sifted through potential ideas to find the few that might work. When you create ideas for a living, youre looking for what sticks. I dont use complicated idea tracking systems. I have notebooks. There are a lot of opportunities to try ideas out on the fly. You get a sense that it connects or seems interesting. If theres a spine tingle, thats a good one. I think, Theres something here. For idea generation, Ive got to be walking in nature. Thats by far my 10x. I have to be moving. I can clarify my thoughts better when Im moving. I dont want extraneous stimulation. If Im working on a book chapter, Ill drive over to the nearest parkRock Creek Park or whatever trail is nearby. For writing, though, Ive got to be quiet. I dont write with music. I have multiple offices. I have my podcast studio office/creative playhouse here. I have a library at my house, which we separate from the home office. There is no technology in my library. I have a small upstairs office where you go to, like, pay taxes. The library is analog. Theres a record player, a curated book collection in there. We had our desk custom made by a company in Maine. I have spent my entire adult life in academic libraries so I created a library just for writing. I like to test out new ideas on my newsletter and podcast to see if they have legs. This is partially about receiving audience feedback, but also partially about just seeing how I feel about the idea once I’ve had a chance to stretch it out and fill in the details. I have a pretty good sense, honed through experience, about what ideas in this seem promising and which are fools gold.
Category:
E-Commerce
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