If you’re a cocktail drinker in Denver, you’ve likely tried a libation with a dash of creativity from Alex Jump and Stuart Jensen.
Jump spent four years as the bar manager for Death & Co. in Denver before starting a consulting business and emerging as a leader in the low- and non-alcoholic beverage movement. Jensen is co-owner of local drinkeries Curio and Roger’s Liquid Oasis, and was part of the ownership group at the now-defunct Brass Tacks in LoDo.
Together Jump and Jensen, who got married earlier this year, are a cocktail power couple shaking up the local scene, and in 2025, they’ll debut their first concept together.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it—LVMH is in trouble. The French giant’s third-quarter revenue fell by 3%, slipping below analyst forecasts and punctuating the state of the luxury industry.
LVMH, home to well-known brands such as Christian Dior and Celine, noted sluggish demand from shoppers at various points this year.
While the company’s fate isn’t nearly as dire as some rivals like Kering, which issued a profit warning earlier this year, trailing sales in LVMH’s fashion, leather, and wine and spirits segments aren’t a good sign.
But the company shrugged off the idea of drawing customers like other regular retail companies would: with more discounts.
LVMH’s CFO Jean-Jacques Guiony said that the company wouldn’t “change strategies” just to offset the lukewarm demand in luxury now during LVMH’s earnings call earlier this week.
Another strategy that simply won’t fit the company? Offering a range of affordable products.
“I think it would be a mistake,” Guiony said in a call. “We still keep on the idea that we should stay faithful to what has been the recipe of our success over the years.”
The French conglomerate run by Bernard Arnault is home to a slew of high-end jewelry, fashion, and spirits brands. Many of its products, including those under the eponymous Louis Vuitton brand, retail for well above $1,000, making them a tough sell for aspirational buyers.
However, the company has long operated in the high-end retail market and argues that going the discount route would dilute its offerings.
There have been recent cases of brands’ implementing such a strategy going wrong. Take Kate Spade, for example. It decided to lean heavily on promotions until Coach finally acquired it for $2.4 billion in 2017.
Many luxury goods have been forced into the mark-down pile from brands like Versace and Burberry, which cater to entry-level luxury buyers. The reason? Shoppers have gone from spending generously to becoming reluctant about high-end purchases amid tough macroeconomic conditions.
Economic policies, which have also prompted consumers to pull their purse strings right, have had ripple effects on the luxury industry. For instance, when China indicated upcoming stimulus measures to help revive its economy, LVMH and other luxury players saw their shares rise in the hopes that it would end shoppers’ hesitation. But when those promises failed to deliver, the same companies saw their shares fall.
LVMH CEO Arnault’s wealth has also ebbed and flowed with every major news event—from China’s stimulus to the company’s quarterly earnings.
While it’s still uncertain how long a recovery might take, LVMH is sure it won’t change its approach too dramatically just to be relevant in the short term, even if that means a few more months or years of sluggish sales ahead.
Home Depot Inc. will begin requiring corporate employees to work a full day at one of its stores every quarter, a move the company said is aimed at supporting its retail staff.
Employees, including senior management and remote workers, will have to complete an eight-hour shift beginning in the fourth quarter of this year, according to a memo seen by Bloomberg News.
“We need to stay connected to the core of our business, so we can truly understand the challenges and opportunities our store associates face every day,” Chief Executive Officer Ted Decker said in the memo introducing the program.
A company spokesperson said it’s been the company’s longstanding practice to ask staff to spend time in stores, with this new program being its latest initiative.
Home Depot, one of the largest US retailers with more than $150 billion in annual revenue and 450,000 employees, has been enduring a rough stretch. After splurging on their homes during the pandemic, Americans shifted spending to other sectors and caused a sales slump at the chain.
The move by Decker to require everyone at the company to take a shift is unusual in the sector and comes amid rising activism in the labor force. That includes both Home Depot, which faced a small unionization effort in 2022, and other retailers.
Sporadic schedules, physical labor and low pay have historically made working in stores tough. The job has become harder in recent years due to store theft and unruly customer behavior, and operators are introducing new benefits and raising pay to improve retention.
Tsai didn’t mention Pinduoduo by name, but from its beginnings, the shopping platform has never made the merchant its focus like Alibaba did: It has always prioritized getting the user the lowest price online.
“In retail ecommerce, price wars are continuous and will never stop,” says Zhuang Shuai, retail analyst and founder of Bailian Consulting. “They’re effective in the short term but not a long-term effective way to compete.”
Pinduoduo has even instated policies that favor customers to the detriment of merchants. Since 2021, Pinduoduo has allowed consumers to get refunds without returning the item, if what they got didn’t match the seller’s description. The Chinese counterpart to Tiktok, Douyin introduced a similar policy in September 2023, as did Taobao and JD at year end.
The platform is also edging into territory traditionally occupied by its competitors by welcoming dealers for established brands like Apple and Louis Vuitton.
Competitors like JD, which banked on being the destination for quality products and fast logistics, are at risk of their users being stolen. “JD is worried it can’t retain its existing users, and also won’t be able to attract price-sensitive users,” says one former mid-level JD manager, who asked for anonymity because of potential professional repercussions, about Pinduoduo’s rise. On its app homepage, JD has begun aping Pinduoduo by emphasizing discounts.
Pinduoduo has also made international expansion a priority by launching Temu for international markets, a step that many retail Chinese companies haven’t taken. It used to be fine for a Chinese brand to stay within the Chinese market—after all, the consumer base is huge. Rather than make international expansion a side thought, Pinduoduo spent a reported $21 million on ads at the SuperBowl earlier this year; The Wall Street Journal also reported that Temu was Meta’s single biggest advertiser in 2023, racking up $2 billion in spend. That push has paid off; in the first half of this year, Temu spent more days ranked first for downloads on both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store in the US than any other app.
The company is facing headwinds, though. In addition to the potential US curbs on cheap shipments, other countries and regions are moving in a similar protective direction. Brazil passed a law levying a 20 percent tax on purchases up to $50 in June. The EU has considered scrapping its $150 duty-free threshold. In August, South Africa announced it would introduce a value-added tax on imported low-value goods, which had previously enjoyed a concession.
Managing director of CTR Market Research Jason Yu says it’s “very likely” that Temu would take a hit if the US goes through with it. “Competing on lower price will not be a sustainable strategy for companies like Temu or Shein in the long run,” he says. “With the change of law, their advantage in price will be less obvious.”
It all adds up to “a gloomy outlook for cross-border online shopping in 2025,” says Tendolkar, the research analyst.
At least on the surface, Pinduoduo isn’t worried. A Pinduoduo spokesperson tells WIRED, “If their [policy change is] fair, we believe they won’t tilt the competitive landscape.”
OAKLAND — A Whole Foods store property in Oakland that a decade ago was a magnet for protests and vandalizations has now enticed a real estate buyer to invest in the East Bay’s largest city.
An unidentified buyer has paid $44.4 million for the Whole Foods site, according to JLL, a commercial real estate firm that arranged the property deal.
The Whole Foods store is at 230 Bay Place on the edge of downtown Oakland.
In 2011, the store was vandalized and its windows were broken as part of the Occupy Oakland and Oakland General Strike protests directed against Corporate America, the government and other large organizations.
Yet the store has remained open and generates enough revenue and attracts sufficient customers that it has landed a buyer for the property.
JLL Commerical real estate brokers Eric Kathrein, Geoff Tranchina, Gleb Lvovich and Warren McClean arranged the transaction.
“We love bright spots to the Oakland story, and this investor was able to understand the quality of this location and make a great strategic bet,” said Kathrein, a JLL managing director.
The Whole Foods Bay Place totals 57,200 square feet. The existing Whole Foods lease runs for more than a decade.
“This Whole Foods ranks top among its 22 locations throughout the Bay Area and with 12 years of lease term is a great acquisition with irreplaceable credit,” said Tranchina, a JLL managing director.
The healthy and organic foods market occupies a 2.2-acre site on a lot at the corner of Bay Place and 27th Street. This gives the store high visibility.
“The immediate area surrounding Whole Foods is densely populated being home to more than 289,000 residents within a three-mile radius,” JLL stated. “Given its location in downtown Oakland, the property is walkable to numerous multi-housing communities and is served by public transport nearby, including BART.”
A sale of Washington Prime Group’s struggling Westminster Mall is expected to move forward.
The deal could close in the next 45 to 60 days, according to an update from Morningstar Credit Analytics. That’s after an $85 million loan on the 1.4 million-square-foot Orange County mall headed to special servicing in February, with Columbus, Ohio-based Washington Prime later receiving a six-month extension to work out a sale.
Washington Prime declined to comment.
The shopping center investor secured its loan for the mall from JPMorgan Chase in 2014, when the property was appraised at $171 million. Its valuation has since dropped 39 percent to $104 million, according to Morningstar’s update.
Macy’s, JCPenney and Target anchor the property.
In 2022, Irvine-based real estate firm Shopoff Realty Investments bought the mall’s fourth anchor space, once occupied by Sears, in addition to the neighboring parking lot. Shopoff also acquired the Macy’s building and adjacent parking, leasing the space back to the department store retailer.
In all, Shopoff owns 26 acres of the mall with plans to redevelop the property by creating a mixed-use community called Bolsa Pacific at Westminster.
A spokesperson for the company declined to confirm the timeline for Shopoff’s plans or if it holds an option to buy the remainder of the property.
The developer revealed plans last year for its parcels, which would include over 1,000 rental units, about 100 townhomes for sale, a 175-room hotel, a 2.5-acre park and about 25,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. Shopoff estimated at the time that a groundbreaking on the project would occur in 2025.
Read more
Washington Prime faces default of $85M loan on Westminster Mall
Shopoff looks to build 250 homes and hotel in Huntington Beach
Shopoff plans to add 1,200 homes to Westminster Mall
Nearly 138,000 platform beds sold at major retailers including Amazon and Walmart are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada because they can collapse, posing fall and injury risks.
Utah-based importer CVB Inc. is recalling the Lucid-branded platform beds with upholstered square tufted headboards. According to Thursday notices from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, the beds can sag, break or collapse during use.
To date, there have been 245 incidents of this occurring in the U.S., resulting in 18 related injuries such as contusions and bruises, the CPSC said. An additional 11 reports of “bed failures” have been reported in Canada, with no further injuries.
People who have the recalled beds are urged to stop using them immediately and contact Lucid for a free replacement frame.
According to Lucid, the recall covers a discontinued version of its platform beds, which the company says were manufactured between 2019 and 2021.
While manufacturing ended several years ago, the now-recalled beds continued to be sold at major retailers through April 2024, the CPSC said. In addition to Amazon, Walmart and Lucid’s website, consumers may have also purchased the beds at Bed Bath & Beyond, eBay, Home Depot, Macys, Target.com, Wayfair and other retailers.
About 137,000 of the recalled beds were sold in the U.S. and 890 in Canada, the CPSC said.
The beds — which were made in Malaysia and come in twin, full, queen, king and cal-king sizes — can be identified with a white law label found on the back of the headboard. “Made For: CVB INC, 1525 W 2960 S, LOGAN, UT 84321” should be printed on it.
People who have the recalled beds are urged to stop using them immediately and contact Lucid for a free replacement frame.
Consumers will have to write the word “recalled” on the bed’s support rails with a permanent marker and send photos to Lucid. More information about getting a replacement can be found on Lucid’s recall page.
Americans spent a bit more at retailers last month, providing a small boost to the economy just as the Federal Reserve considers how much to cut its key interest rate.
Retail sales ticked up 0.1% from July to August, after jumping the most in a year and a half the previous month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Online retailers, sporting goods stores, and home and garden stores all reported higher sales.
The data indicate that consumers are still able and willing to spend more despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and the higher interest rates intended to combat those rising prices. Average paychecks, particularly for lower-income Americans, have also risen sharply since the pandemic, which has allowed many Americans to continue spending even as many necessities became more expensive.
The impact of inflation and consumers’ health has been an ongoing issue in the presidential campaign, with former President Donald Trump blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the post-pandemic jump in prices. Vice President Kamala Harris has, in turn, charged that Trump’s claim that he will slap 10% to 20% tariffs on all imports would amount to a “Trump tax” that will raise prices further.
A slowdown in hiring and a recent rise in the unemployment rate have fueled concerns the economy is sputtering, yet steady spending should boost growth. The Federal Reserve’s Atlanta branch estimates that the economy grew at a solid 2.5% annual rate in the third quarter.
“With consumption still very healthy, for now, recession fears appear overblown,” Olivia Cross, North America economist at Capital Economics, said.
Fed rate cuts a big question
The Fed could provide a further boost to consumers and the economy by lowering borrowing costs. It is likely to reduce its key rate at its meetings in November and December as well as Wednesday. Such cuts should, over time, lower rates for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards. Average mortgage rates have already fallen in anticipation of the Fed’s actions.
Consumers have been showing signs of stress, with credit-card debt rising and savings rates falling.
Sales jumped 1.4% for online retailers in August and rose 0.7% at health and personal care outlets. Yet they were flat for restaurants and bars, a sign that consumers are holding back from some discretionary spending.
Gas stations reported a 1.2% drop in sales, which mostly reflected a decline in prices last month. Auto sales also ticked lower.
On Wednesday, Fed policymakers will decide whether to cut their key interest rate by a typical quarter-point or a larger-than-usual half-point, from its current level of about 5.3%, a 23-year high.
Wall Street is increasingly expecting a reduction of a half-point. With inflation headed back to the Fed’s 2% target, many economists also argue that the central bank does not need to keep rates that high. At the same time, some Fed policymakers who worry that inflation could remain stuck at its current level of 2.5% may not want to cut rates that fast. They could point to solid retail sales as evidence that there is no need to rush rate cuts.
One reason inflation has fallen from a four-decade high of 9.1% in June 2022 has been consumers’ reluctance to pay some of the higher prices they’ve encountered at grocery stores, restaurants, and clothing stores. Instead, shoppers have traded down to store brands, sought out deals or spent more at discount retailers. Some packaged food makers, fast-food restaurants, and retailers such as Target have responded by cutting prices or offering deals to entice shoppers.
Lawyers for Washington state will have past grocery chain mergers – and their negative consequences – in mind when they go to court to block a proposed merger between Albertsons and Kroger.
The case is one of three challenging the $24.6 billion deal, which was announced nearly two years ago. The Federal Trade Commission is currently fighting the merger in federal court in Oregon, where closing arguments are expected Tuesday. Colorado has also sued to block the merger.
But if the merger goes through, Washington residents would feel the impact more than the people of any other state. Albertsons and Kroger own more than 300 grocery stores in the state and control more than half of grocery sales there.
Under a plan to ease regulators’ concerns, Kroger and Albertsons would sell 579 overlapping stores, 124 of them in Washington, if the merger goes through. That’s the highest number among the 19 states with stores on the list. The state attorney general’s office says the proposed buyer, C&S Wholesale Grocers, has little experience running stores or pharmacies.
Washington seeks to avoid the situation it found itself in a decade ago, when Albertsons bought the Safeway chain. To satisfy regulators concerned about that deal’s potential impact on supermarket competition and consumers, Albertsons sold 146 stores to Haggen, a small grocery chain based in Bellingham, Washington.
But Haggen struggled with the expansion. Within six months, it had closed 127 stores — including 14 in Washington — and laid off thousands of workers. Haggen sold its remaining stores to Albertsons in 2016. Now, 10 Haggen stores in Washington are on the list to be sold if the merger happens.
“It’s pretty terrifying,” said Tina McKim, a founding member of Birchwood Food Desert Fighters, a group that sprang up in 2016 after Albertsons closed a store in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a Democrat who is running for governor, wants to block the merger not just in the state but nationwide. In its complaint, filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle, Washington says eliminating the “robust competition” that exists between Albertsons and Kroger would lead to higher prices, lower quality and, most likely, store closures.
Albertsons and Kroger say the merger would help them better compete with growing rivals like Walmart and Costco. They are trying to get the case dismissed, arguing a state court isn’t the proper venue to consider a nationwide ban.
“Under our federalist system, Washington cannot wield its antitrust law to dictate merger policy for the rest of the country,” Albertsons and Kroger said in a court filing.
Brad Weber, a Dallas-based partner with the law firm Locke Lord who specializes in antitrust issues, said the Superior Court judge could decide to halt the merger nationwide or limit his ruling to Washington. Judge Marshall Ferguson might also order the companies to make changes to their plans to divest stores to preserve competition.
Ferguson may also decide to delay the case until there’s a ruling from the U.S. District Court in Oregon. Weber said. In that case, the Federal Trade Commission has asked a judge to temporarily block the merger until it is considered by an in-house judge at the FTC.
Albertsons and Kroger insist that their plan, including the sale of stores to C&S, will lower grocery prices and preserve competition. But Washington residents like McKim remain skeptical.
In 2016, Albertsons acquired a Haggen supermarket and then promptly closed an Albertsons store about a mile away in Birchwood. When it sold its former store two years later, Albertsons included a restriction: for the next 20 years, no grocery store could open in the Birchwood shopping plaza.
Albertsons says these types of restrictions — occasionally used when there is a store in close proximity to the store that’s closing — can help grocery companies stay competitive.
But it was a huge blow to the community, McKim said. For 35 years, the Birchwood store had served older adults, students, people with disabilities and lower-income residents who suddenly had no easy access to fresh food.
“We were all really shocked by that. How is it possible to deny food access to a neighborhood?” McKim said. “It made it really hard for anyone without a car to be able to go to another grocery store.”
McKim’s group tries to fill the void by collecting food donations and bringing in produce from local farms, but “it’s nowhere near the level of access people need,” she said.
This summer, after an investigation by Washington’s attorney general, Albertsons removed the restriction on the shopping plaza. A Big Lots that moved into the former grocery store is closing soon, McKim said, and she hopes the space will attract another supermarket. But even if it does, the community may never get back the unionized jobs it lost when Albertsons shut its doors, she said.
McKim said her area does have a Walmart, but it’s even further away from Birchwood than the Albertsons-run Haggen store, which is on the list of stores that would be sold to C&S. She’s also not convinced Kroger and Albertsons need to merge to compete with Walmart.
“This city is growing so quickly, the need for food is absolutely critical everywhere,” McKim said. “When you see other stores succeed, it’s because they curate to the neighborhood’s needs.”
Detroit will soon welcome Michigan’s first Savage X Fenty store, the globally renowned lingerie and apparel brand by singer and businesswoman Rihanna known for “championing inclusivity, fearlessness, and confidence.”
The new store will be located at 1442 Woodward Ave. in Detroit, a space owned by Bedrock, near other downtown shopping spots like H&M, Nike, and Lululemon.
First announced in 2022, the store was originally planned to open in 2023. While late, it’s now finally time. Savage X Fenty is hosting a grand opening celebration on Friday, Aug. 30, starting at 10 a.m., featuring special giveaways, a live DJ, and light refreshments.
The store will offer a range of styles made for all, including lingerie, lounge, sleepwear, and sport, with sizes ranging from XS-4X.
“Through accessibility and convenience, we want to ensure that Savage X Fenty’s customers can shop and explore the brand on their own terms,” Vanessa Wallace, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer, said in a press release. “With our new store, we hope to reach all of Detroit and provide more opportunities to engage with our products firsthand.”
The Detroit location will be the third Savage X Fenty store to feature the brand’s new rebrand design concept. By the end of 2024, Savage X Fenty will have a total of 14 stores across the U.S.
“The addition of Savage X Fenty to the Bedrock portfolio is an important step in our ongoing mission to cultivate a vibrant downtown for Detroit residents and visitors, full of destination shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences,” Bedrock COO Ivy Greaner said. “Detroit is a city known for its culture, experience, and art, so it makes perfect sense why a cutting-edge brand such as Savage X Fenty chose downtown Detroit for its first Michigan storefront; both the globally recognized brand and our city are known for bold fashion, ingenuity, and creativity.”
Denver’s first cannabis spa is almost ready to start serving locals R&R – as in reefer and relaxation.
When it opens on Sept. 14, Pure Elevations Canna-Spa & Salon (185 S. Santa Fe Drive) will be among the city’s first public consumption spaces, where guests who book a massage or pedicure will be able to smoke weed onsite before or after their appointment. The business will sell marijuana products from a small dispensary counter in its salon for guests to consume on the outdoor patio, and it will also integrate topicals into its services and treatments. That means THC- and CBD-infused massages for anyone who wants to get extra chill.
Owner Rebecca Marroquin’s unique concept was inspired by her own experience using cannabis lotions to help with pain. In 2011, Marroquin was preparing to finish school and become a massage therapist when she was involved in a car crash that broke her neck. Four months of using infused topicals had her back on track to graduate.
Mike Tyson is releasing a new cannabis product exclusively for Colorado consumers, and the reason why might come as a surprise.
Mike’s Knockout Gummies, launched Aug. 20, are THC-infused edibles shaped like little boxing gloves. They’re the first gummies the boxer has been able to sell here even if he’s had others available throughout the U.S.
In 2022, Tyson released his first line of edibles, Mike Bites, featuring gummies shaped like ears with a missing piece of cartilage at the top – a nod to Tyson’s infamous 1997 fight against Evander Holyfield. Clever, right? Well, not according to state law.
I love to drive, which is good, because I get a lot of opportunities to review gadgets for drivers.
This week I’m looking at a handful of useful things to make your drive safer or more comfortable.
You’ll notice I have included two air inflators. I like them both and they each have their advantages. Pricing included is retail price, but you may find them cheaper.
The Laxon DR-6000 Vehicle Air Massage Seat. (Laxon/TNS)
Dr Well Laxon DR-6000 Vehicle Air Massage Seat
As I get older, a comfortable place to sit is becoming more important. I love driving long distances, but my hips and back start to get sore after about 90 minutes in my driver’s seat.
The Laxon DR-6000 Vehicle Air Massage Seat ($399.99, Laxon.us or Amazon.com) is designed to sit on top of your seat. It straps to the headrest and around the back of the seat.
The DR-6000 uses a small air compressor to quickly fill air chambers strategically placed on the back and bottom of the seat. There are different massage modes that provide differing levels of massage. I’m a big guy, so I liked the more aggressive settings.
The compressor is housed in a small pouch that hangs down under your knees. It is quiet and fills the air chambers quickly.
The DR-6000 also has a seat heater that I didn’t need in Texas this summer, but I’m sure it’ll be handy this winter.
The massage and heat levels are controlled from a small wired remote that tucks into a pocket by the compressor.
The TopdonV2200Plus. (Topdon/TNS)
Topdon V2200Plus Jump Starter
A small, battery-powered jump starter has replaced jumper cables in my vehicles for the last few years.
The Topdon V2200Plus ($149.99, topdon.us) can jumpstart your vehicle up to 35 times on a full charge.
It can jump up to 8-liter gas or 6-liter diesel engines, delivering up to 2,200 amps of peak current.
The clamps are smart enough to prevent you from doing damage to your vehicle or the jump starter if you’ve got them on the wrong posts.
The V2200Plus also has Bluetooth that can talk to an app on your phone that will give you a report on the health of your vehicle’s battery.
It also has an LED flashlight (handy) and it can charge your phone or other USB-powered devices.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve helped with a portable jump starter. This is a good one.
HOTO Air Pump Master
Having a leaky tire is no fun. We’ve all been there. You see a little yellow low tire warning light on your dash and now you have to figure out which tire is low.
I also dislike hunting for a working air pump at a gas station, much less one that doesn’t require a credit card.
The HOTO Air Pump Master ($169.99, hototools.com) is a cigar-box sized compressor with a slick LED screen in its control wheel.
It’s easy to set your desired air pressure and let the pump do its job. It’ll stop when the target pressure is reached.
The Air Pump Master has two hoses that attach for filling everything you’d want to inflate, from car and bike tires to air mattresses, inflatable tents, kayaks and paddleboards and sports balls.
The interface is really easy to use and the inflation is quick. It takes about a minute to inflate a car tire or kayak.
The rechargeable 7,500 milliamp-hour battery can get the job done, or you can plug into your car’s 12v port for working all day. HOTO says you can inflate up to 16 car tires on a charge.
It has a built-in LED light to make using it easy at night and the internal battery recharges through its USB-C port.
It includes a nice sturdy storage bag to keep the inflator and all the hoses and filler tips organized and ready to go.
The Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 Qi2. (Pitaka/TNS)
Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 Qi2
Everyone seems to have a phone mount in their car these days, and if you’re smart you have a charger built into that mount to keep your phone’s battery full.
The Pitaka MagEZ Car Mount Pro 2 Qi2 ($59.99, ipitaka.com) is a 15-watt wireless fast charger for your compatible iPhone or Android phone. Your phone can charge from zero to 100 percent in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
Connect the included USB-C cable to the MagEZ and your phone’s battery will stay full as you navigate down the road.
This mount comes in two models, one for cars with horizontal or vertical air vents and one for Tesla Model3/Y.
It uses the Qi2 charging standard, adopted by Apple and various Android phone manufacturers. Its magnet is strong enough to keep your phone steady on the bumpiest roads.
If your phone doesn’t have a magnet in the back like my iPhone, you’ll need a compatible case to help your phone stick to the charger. Pitaka sells cases, but you can get them from other places as well.
The MagEZ has one interesting feature that is unusual. It has a three-position switch that activate NFC shortcuts.
Once you set it up the NFC, you can have your favorite music or navigation app launch automatically when the phone is placed in the charger. Slick feature.
The MagEZ uses a 17mm universal swivel ball mount, so if you don’t want to use the included vent mount, you can get a different mount to attach it to your dash or a window or whatever type you like.
The Syncwire Portable Inflator Air Pump. (Syncwire/TNS)
Syncwire Portable Inflator Air Pump
This is a tiny inflator that anyone can carry. I’d even recommend this one for e-bike riders or motorcyclists.
The Syncwire Portable Inflator ($79.99, syncwire.com) is about the size of a soft drink can and it can inflate car, motorcycle and bike tires or items like sports balls, air mattresses and inflatables. It has a maximum fill capacity of 150 psi.
The interface is quite simple. Press the power button, select the fill mode, set your desired pressure with the + and – buttons and attach the hose to whatever you want to fill. When connected, the display will show you the current pressure.
Pressing the power button starts the inflation and the compressor will stop when it reaches the desired pressure.
It has a 5,200mAh rechargeable battery that charges from a USB-C cable.
There is also a USB-A port that can charge your phone.
I tested this on my SUV. I deflated my tires down to 25 psi and it took about two and a half minutes to inflate them to 33 psi. I did note the inflator gets pretty warm during use, but it was manageable.
This inflator is inexpensive, easy to use and super convenient to stow in its included carry bag. It’ll fit in any trunk, saddle bag or toolbox.
BOSTON — Package store owners are urging Gov. Maura Healey to close a “loophole” in a 2015 law authorizing direct shipments of wine, which critics say is allowing “ghost” retailers to engage in “modern-day bootlegging.”
In a letter to Healey, Massachusetts Package Store Association Executive Director Rob Mellion called on her to sign into a law a bill that limits licenses for direct wine shipments only to companies that sell under a brand name owned or exclusively licensed to the winery.
The measure was approved by the state Legislature last week before lawmakers recessed after formal sessions ended.
Third-party retailers are engaging in “modern day bootlegging” by exploiting a loophole in the law that allows them to get licenses to ship directly to consumers, Mellion said.
“They operate outside of the regulatory framework by means of an unintended loophole that has inadvertently allowed for a technical mechanism to obtain a license when they masquerade as a winery,” he wrote. “This misrepresentation is costing Massachusetts millions of dollars annually in unreported sales and lost excise taxes. It also substantially increases the risk of underage access to alcohol beverages.”
Mellion cited data from the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission showing compliance checks conducted in 2022 by state regulators found 96% of out-of-state shippers of alcohol beverages didn’t verify the age of consumers buying the booze.
In 2014, Massachusetts joined 40 other states in legalizing winery direct-to-consumer shipping after then-Gov. Deval Patrick signed a budget package that included language legalizing direct shipping in the state. The law went into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.
That law was prompted in part by a 2008 federal court ruling that struck down a previous limit on direct-to-consumer sales. Out-of-state wineries — led by former Patriot quarterback star Drew Bledsoe, who owns a vineyard in Washington — argued that the restriction gave wine-sellers in Massachusetts an unfair competitive advantage.
Out-of-state wineries and alcohol distributors are required to get permits for $300, allowing them to ship up to 12 cases a year to each customer in Massachusetts. They must label packages as containing alcohol and indicate that they must be delivered to someone of legal drinking age. Massachusetts taxes must be applied to the sale, as well.
But Mellion said the new law would ensure that wine shipments to Massachusetts residents would come direct from the licensed winery. He said retailers have lobbied to defeat the measure.
“It has been very hard to stop these large and extremely well-financed corporate interests who use their influence to undermine three-tier regulations,” he wrote. “That is why it has taken three consecutive legislative sessions to stop the bootlegging.”
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com
Costco’s crackdown on membership-sharing is taking things to the next level. The retailer has announced plans to add card scanners at the entrances of its warehouse stores in the coming months, with members required to scan in before they start shopping.
Don’t have a card or using an expired membership to get a cheap rotisserie chicken? An employee at the door will steer you to the customer-service desk so you can sign up or renew your account. And all guests will need to be accompanied by a valid member.
“Over the coming months, membership scanning devices will be used at the entrance door of your local warehouse,” the company said on its customer service website. “Once deployed, prior to entering, all members must scan their physical or digital membership card by placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner.”
The only exceptions to the entry rule are people who are visiting the pharmacy or who have an appointment with an in-house optometrist (though you’ll need a membership if you plan to purchase glasses or contacts there).
Costco began experimenting with card scanners (instead of the long-standing practice of just flashing a card at the store employee on duty) in January. A post on Reddit at the time noted that once members scanned their card, a display would show the face on file for the employee to check. If the cardholder was obviously not the member, they could be turned away.
The use of the facial scanners did not replace the photo ID verification at check-out at those locations testing them.
Costco has been adamant about cracking down on membership-sharing, saying in a statement to media last June: “We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members. Costco is able to keep our prices as low as possible because our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee and structure important to us.”
Last month, Costco announced it was increasing the price of membership by $5, raising the price of a basic Gold Star card to $65 per year.
Legacy Southern California mall developer and investor Macerich Company might still be working out details of a refinance of a Victor Valley property and something more complicated at the Santa Monica Place, but it’s definitely out of a major retail center in Phoenix.
The Santa Monica-based retail REIT tapped Red Development, a regular partner on several developments, to buy out its 50 percent stake in Biltmore Fashion Park, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.
Publicly traded Macerich announced the deal on its recent quarterly earnings call, suggesting a $110 million price and estimating that much would go toward paying down debt. Macerich has earlier said it plans to trim $2 billion in overall debt as it seeks to regain a solid footing on its finances.
Mike Ebert, a managing partner in Red Development, said the investor plans to renovate Biltmore Fashion Park, calling it “one of the state’s most important and historical” developments and crowing that it’s now “a locally owned and operated landmark.”
The shopping center’s tenant roster at 2502 East Camelback Road includes Saks Fifth Avenue, Anthropologie, Macy’s and Life Time Fitness, among others. Plans are in the works to add an office tower on the site. Jack Hsieh, recently appointed CEO of Macerich, said the company took advantage of recent strategic planning for the Arizona property.
“That project had entitlements to increase office density on the project. As you know, we added a new Life Time Fitness into that location. Over time that was going to have a more balanced retail mixed use component to that overall project,” Hsieh said on the earnings call. “In our judgment, we felt like that was a good way to raise liquidity. It’s good for our partner.”
Hsieh said Macerich now expects to lower its outstanding debt to somewhere between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion by the end of the year.
Macerich recently indicated it plans to hold onto a mid-market retail center in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, while the outlook for Santa Monica Place in the real estate investment trust’s hometown coastal resort remains uncertain.
It’s good the Capistrano swallows don’t shift their schedule as much as the developers of River Street Marketplace.
The 60,000-square-foot retail hub and food hall — situated just down the street from the San Juan Capistrano Mission famous for the little birds that return to nest in its Spanish colonial arches every spring — has again delayed its debut. It’s the third time the date has been moved back, the Orange County Register reports.
Developer Dan Almquist attributed the delays — the opening was first set for January and then July — to a prolonged and heavy rainy season. Plans now call for Almquist Developers to open the center sometime in September, though no specific date is set.
The project at 31801 Paseo Adelanto got approvals for construction in 2019. It has taken shape with contemporary architecture and a central open area next to the Los Rios Historic District, another tourist draw in the South Orange County city.
The prospects of the new shopping center promise to boost for San Juan Capistrano based on the lift similar projects by Almquist have given other cities in Southern California. Almquist led the development of Rodeo 39 Public Market in Stanton in Central Orange County, the Uptown Commons in Long Beach and the New Haven Marketplace in the Inland Empire city of Ontario.
The River Street Marketplace stands to further enhance San Juan Capistrano’s reputation as a favorite of foodies. It has a roster of tenants for its opening, ranging from Paraná Empanadas to new brands such as the Fermentation Farm and 70-year-old McConnell’s Ice Cream.
Retailers with slots leased at the center reflect the surf-meets-cow country feel of San Juan Capistrano, with bootmaker Tecovas and Hobie Surf shop among the non-food tenants lined up.
Rite Aid’s closure on West 65th, like other pharmacies throughout Cleveland, have rippling effects on nearby residents.
When the Rite Aid off West 65th St. and Franklin Boulevard announced earlier this summer it would be closing, a small wave of disappointment fell over Christina Keim and Mark Galit.
Filing and picking up prescriptions would be a bit harder. Grabbing a few pantry items or cleaning supplies would require a 10-minute drive or a 20-minute ride on the 71 bus.
Not, as it’d been for years, a quick dash down the block.
“I mean, I can’t tell you the times I walked over there just to grab something like milk, you know,” Keim, 46, a dental hygienist, told Scene from Galit’s porch off West 65th. “Just anything that we needed at that specific time, you know, that you can’t get from Amazon.”
But reality is soon to set in. That Rite Aid, like two others in Cleveland and others across Northeast Ohio, will close by the end of September, leaving a void and vacant building where thousands of customers once shopped on the regular.
“It’s just sad in general,” Keim said.
This is the result, on the ground level, of Pharmaggeddon. Since last fall, big name drug stores—Rite Aid, CVS and Walgreens—have opted to deal with so-called underperforming stores, or bankruptcy in Rite Aid’s case, by pulling out of neighborhoods that apparently couldn’t make profits. Stores mostly in low-income communities.
In Cleveland, where 20% of residents don’t own a car, the implications of corporate slashing have rippling effects on residents who’ve long relied on them for medications, toiletries or a weekend snack run. Especially for seniors and the disabled.
“It’s a huge equity issue,” Ward 15 Councilwoman Jenny Spencer, whose ward includes the Franklin Rite Aid, wrote in a statement. “It signals that we’re no longer a fully walkable neighborhood—in a community where many households don’t have access to cars.”
José Miranda, who’s lived in Detroit-Shoreway for the better part of the past 30 years, said Rite Aid’s departure will throw off his usual errand running.
And the probability that another chain will come in to scoop up the empty drug store buildings isn’t very high — the closed CVS on Madison, for example, has sat vacant for years. More are about to join the market.
“It’s hard, because Cleveland’s not really a growth market,” Ryan Fisher, senior vice president of CRESCO, told Scene. Fisher chalked the exodus up to plain capitalist decisions. Pharmacies are “simply saying, this location doesn’t work for me. I’m either going to not continue on or I’m going to go dark, finish off my lease, and then that will be it.”
With six-figure rents at most locations, it would take financial help from the city or some kind of landlord subsidy to get a replacement in most cases.
“Finding somebody else to replace place that rent at that number in Cleveland,” Fisher said, “has been difficult.”
But the constraints and cold truths of big business mean little to neighbors in the blocks surrounding the Franklin Blvd. Rite Aid, which, as of Thursday, was covered in yellow signs announcing its eminent closure.
The consensus was apparent: certain items purchased after a walk could be bought elsewhere, via prescription delivery services, via Amazon, via other stores. But for many, there’s the issue of transportation and access. The nearest pharmacies lie either miles away on Clark or on 117th.
“It’s not as convenient anymore,” David Heil, 70, said from his front door several houses west of Rite Aid. They have lingering questions: What do we do in a minor emergency? Will there be problems with my medical insurance? “TKTK,” he said.
In statements to Scene, the big three pharmacies pointed to economic conditions stemming from the pandemic as reasons for pulling out of selected blocks over the past three, four years.
The three CVS closures in Cuyahoga County this year were, a spokesperson said, due to a reassessment of store needs, of “population shifts, consumer buying patterns, a community’s store density.” A spokesperson for Walgreens said that a quarter of its 6,500 stores nationwide will close in the next three years because they are “not contributing to our long-term strategy.”
And Rite Aid, which confirmed its three recent closures—Clark Ave.’s on August 3, Franklin’s on September 8 and Chester Ave.’s on September 15—blamed the same macro issues.
“While we have had to make difficult business decisions over the past several months to improve our business and optimize our retail footprint,” a statement to Scene read, “we are committed to becoming financially and operationally healthy.”
Amazon failed to adequately alert more than 300,000 customers to serious risks—including death and electrocution—that US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) testing found with more than 400,000 products that third parties sold on its platform.
The CPSC unanimously voted to hold Amazon legally responsible for third-party sellers’ defective products. Now, Amazon must make a CPSC-approved plan to properly recall the dangerous products—including highly flammable children’s pajamas, faulty carbon monoxide detectors, and unsafe hair dryers that could cause electrocution—which the CPSC fears may still be widely used in homes across America.
While Amazon scrambles to devise a plan, the CPSC summarized the ongoing risks to consumers:
If the [products] remain in consumers’ possession, children will continue to wear sleepwear garments that could ignite and result in injury or death; consumers will unwittingly rely on defective [carbon monoxide] detectors that will never alert them to the presence of deadly carbon monoxide in their homes; and consumers will use the hair dryers they purchased, which lack immersion protection, in the bathroom near water, leaving them vulnerable to electrocution.
Instead of recalling the products, which were sold between 2018 and 2021, Amazon sent messages to customers that the CPSC said “downplayed the severity” of hazards.
In these messages—”despite conclusive testing that the products were hazardous” by the CPSC—Amazon only warned customers that the products “may fail” to meet federal safety standards and only “potentially” posed risks of “burn injuries to children,” “electric shock,” or “exposure to potentially dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.”
Typically, a distributor would be required to specifically use the word “recall” in the subject line of these kinds of messages, but Amazon dodged using that language entirely. Instead, Amazon opted to use much less alarming subject lines that said, “Attention: Important safety notice about your past Amazon order” or “Important safety notice about your past Amazon order.”
Amazon then left it up to customers to destroy products and explicitly discouraged them from making returns. The ecommerce giant also gave every affected customer a gift card without requiring proof of destruction or adequately providing public notice or informing customers of actual hazards, as can be required by law to ensure public safety.
Further, Amazon’s messages did not include photos of the defective products, as required by law, and provided no way for customers to respond. The commission found that Amazon “made no effort” to track how many items were destroyed or even do the minimum of monitoring the “number of messages that were opened.”
Amazon still thinks these messages were appropriate remedies, though. An Amazon spokesperson told Ars that Amazon plans to appeal the ruling.
“We are disappointed by the CPSC’s decision,” Amazon’s spokesperson said. “We plan to appeal the decision and look forward to presenting our case in court. When we were initially notified by the CPSC three years ago about potential safety issues with a small number of third-party products at the center of this lawsuit, we swiftly notified customers, instructed them to stop using the products, and refunded them.”
Amazon’s “Sidestepped” Safety Obligations
The CPSC has additional concerns about Amazon’s “insufficient” remedies. It is particularly concerned that anyone who received the products as a gift or bought them on the secondary market likely was not informed of serious known hazards. The CPSC found that Amazon resold faulty hair dryers and carbon monoxide detectors, proving that secondary markets for these products exist.
“Amazon has made no direct attempt to reach consumers who obtained the hazardous products as gifts, hand-me-downs, donations, or on the secondary market,” the CPSC said.
