♥ Popeyes Stockpiles Chicken Meat Ahead of Nationwide Nugget Debut (Bloomberg): “The business … has been building its frozen-chicken inventory for more than six months … The company wants to be confident it has sufficient supplies when the nuggets roll out nationwide July 27 … Chicken prices for producers jumped to an all-time high in May, gaining 2.1% in the eighth straight monthly increase.”
♥ Suddenly It’s Bare Season (The New York Times): “People … are running around half-naked … Bralettes, itty-bitty bandeaus and crocheted bikinis are everywhere. So, too, are Daisy Dukes cut high enough to expose buttocks curvature.”
♥ An ‘Airbnb for Pools’ Is Making a Splash This Summer (The Wall Street Journal): “Swimply said its pool owners have made about 122,000 bookings since the start of 2020. Business began picking up before the Covid-19 pandemic, but it boomed during the health crisis as public pools closed and people sought to make extra cash or safely gather after months of lockdown.”
♥ Facebook Helps Zara Owner Sell Clothes Using Video Games (Bloomberg): “Spain’s Inditex SA is responding to the shift from physical stores to online sales by teaming up with Facebook and Instagram to develop ‘Pacific Game’ to attract younger buyers to its Pull & Bear brand. It’s not about clinching a direct sale but building a relationship with younger customers. E-commerce brought a third of Inditex’s revenue last year and a chunk of the $3 billion it’s earmarked for new investments will go to making sure the digital boom doesn’t run out of steam.”
♥ ‘The Market Is Insane’: Cars Are Sold Even Before They Hit the Lot (The New York Times): “In showrooms across the country, Americans are buying most makes and models almost as fast as they can be made or resold. The frenzy for new and used vehicles is being fed by two related forces: Automakers are struggling to increase production because of a shortage of computer chips caused in large part by the pandemic. And a strong economic recovery, low interest rates, high savings and government stimulus payments have boosted demand … Dealers said virtually everything was selling, from luxury vehicles and sports cars that cost more than $100,000 to basic used cars that many parents buy for teenagers.”
♥ Cuyana’s Archive Shop is currently open, and it’s a sale worth browsing. My picks:
♥ The Real Reason No One Can Get a Couch or Table Right Now (Slate): “It has rarely been so hard to get your hands on a bar cart, love seat, or dining room table. Extended delivery windows for furniture have become common as the global economy has begun to shake off its pandemic sleepies, with kinks emerging up and down the supply chain.”
♥ The Year of Purchasing and Purging (The New York Times): People want to create art that reflects how they see the world and themselves, but in our modern society, most people do not have jobs that allow for self-expression … that work in a consumer society gets done by buying … The pandemic increased our need for self-expression and, in turn, our spending habits … Later, it forced people to re-examine how their belongings reflected their identities.
♥ China’s Vast Network of Gray-Market Shoppers Grounded by the Pandemic (Bloomberg): “This army of gray-market surrogate shoppers has long been a feature of China’s retail sector, serving consumers who crave items that aren’t available locally or are sometimes significantly more expensive in the country. Despite the government’s best efforts to kill off the tax-evading trade through stricter customs checks and eased taxation rules for legitimate cross-border e-commerce channels, it grew to $40 billion in revenue in 2019 … Then came Covid-19 … About 60% of Chinese consumers last year used cross-border e-commerce platforms, led by Tmall International and JD International … Those online retailers had import sales of more than 200 billion yuan in 2020, and their sales should grow about 30% annually over the next two years, even as the pandemic eases.”
♥ In a Post-Sneaker World Will We All Wear…Loafers? (The Wall Street Journal): “… loafer market has a ceiling … Loafers are just less collectible than sneakers, which generally cost less and are more distinctive. No two Nike Dunks look the same, while, unless you really scrutinize them, most loafers appear quite similar.”
♥ The Louvre’s Art Sleuth Is on the Hunt for Looted Paintings (The New York Times): “The key to … discovering the provenance of works that suspiciously changed hands during the Nazi Occupation was to follow the money. France has faced criticism that it lags behind countries like Germany and the United States in identifying and returning artworks looted during the war years, and, recently, the Louvre has sought to turn its image around. Its goal is to find and encourage the descendants of the works’ original owners to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.”
♥ Olympic Fame Used to Fade Quickly, But Instagram Changed That (Bloomberg): “Much like other athletes, Liukin experienced how fleeting Olympic stardom can be. It’s especially difficult for standouts in sports that really only break through into the mainstream every four years during the games. But an increasing number are staying relevant long after becoming national heroes by parlaying their fame through social media.”
♥ They Waited, They Worried, They Stalled. This Week, They Got the Shot. (The New York Times): “The people being vaccinated now … occupy a middle ground: For months, they have been unwilling to receive a coronavirus vaccine, until something or someone — a persistent family member, a work requirement, a growing sense that the shot was safe — convinced them otherwise … About 68.7 percent of American adults have received at least one shot … Despite the lagging vaccination effort, there are signs that alarming headlines about a new surge in coronavirus cases and the highly infectious Delta variant could be pushing more Americans to consider vaccination.”
♥ Who Is Lisa, and Why Is She Saying ‘Gah’? (The Cut): “… gah [is] … the noise Lisa Bühler used to make whenever she found an exciting new designer … In 2015, when Bühler ventured out on her own at the age of 28, she wanted a fun, unpretentious name for her new business — something that embodied the “I NEED THAT” feeling … Not coincidentally, Lisa Says Gah’s rise happened at a time when shoppers were interested in moving away from office-friendly, Cos-style minimalism … the era of less is more might be coming to an end.”
♥ “Don’t You Work With Old People?”: Many Elder-Care Workers Still Refuse to Get COVID-19 Vaccine (ProPublica): “… seven months after the first vaccines became available to medical professionals, only 59% of staff at the nation’s nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are fully or partially vaccinated — with eight states reporting an average rate of less than half … Twenty-three individual facilities had vaccination rates of under 1% … Certified nursing assistants make up the largest group of employees working in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, providing roughly 90 percent of direct patient care. They are typically overworked and underpaid, most earning about $13 per hour and receiving no paid sick leave or other benefits … The thornier issue, though, is whether the facilities can risk losing staff when they’re already short-handed. Many workers have vowed to quit rather than be forced into vaccinations.”
♥ Why Everyone Has the Worst Summer Cold Ever (The New York Times): “Infectious disease experts say there are a number of factors fueling this hot, sneezy summer … our immune systems missed the daily workout of being exposed to a multitude of microbes back when we commuted on subways, spent time at the office, gathered with friends and sent children to day care and school. Although your immune system is likely as strong as it always was, if it hasn’t been alerted to a microbial intruder in a while, it may take a bit longer to get revved up when challenged by a pathogen again … And while some viral exposures in our past have conferred lasting immunity, other illnesses may have given us only transient immunity that waned as we were isolating at home.”
♥ Recently purchased: Ann Taylor Geo Shirred Flare Dress, Haellun Wool Blend Plaid Shacket, Reformation Darla Floral Dress, Vince Merino Wool Blend Longline Cardigan, Everlane Mary Jane Espadrille, J. Crew Printed Side Scrunchie, and ASTR Tiered Short Sleeve Dress.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!
