Source: Fast Company, Lance Lambert
Photo: Getty Images

America’s second-largest homebuilder Lennar spent the equivalent of 13% of home sales on buyer incentives last quarter. For a $400,000 home, that translates to $52,000 in incentives.

Lennar—the nation’s second-largest homebuilder—told investors on Friday that their spring selling season is off to a soft start.

“We do not see the seasonal pickup typically associated with the beginning of the spring selling season. So we continue to lean into our machine focusing on converting leads and appointments and adjusting incentives as needed to maintain sales pace. These adjustments came in the form of mortgage rate buydowns, price reductions, and closing cost assistance,” Jon Jaffe, co-CEO of Lennar, said on the Friday earnings call.

In addition to Lennar acknowledging a soft start to the spring season, here are six other key takeaways from its Q1 2025 earnings report, covering the period from December 1 to February 28.

1. Lennar continues to see weakness in Florida and Texas

As ResiClub as reported, many markets in those states, particularly San Antonio in Texas and Cape Coral and Punta Gorda in Southwest Florida, have seen active inventory rise well above pre-pandemic levels and home prices decline amid weakened housing demand.

“In general, homebuyers in Florida and Texas, our two highest volume states, needed more help than most other markets around the country,” Jon Jaffe, co-CEO of Lennar, said on the Friday earnings call. “We needed more incentives in Florida and Texas markets to assist buyers achieve mortgage payments they can afford as well as to offset both a slowing in migration environment and increased inventory. All markets around the country require incentives to assist buyers in the current home buying environment.”

2. Lennar is deploying bigger sales incentives—especially in Florida and Texas

Lennar’s average sales price, net of incentives, declined 1% from $413,000 in Q1 2024 to $408,000 in Q1 2025.

Last quarter, Lennar spent the equivalent of 13% of the final sales price on sales incentives, such as mortgage rate buydowns. For a $400,000 home, that translates to $52,000 in incentives.

According to John Burns Research and Consulting, that’s the highest incentive level Lennar has offered since 2009—and it’s significantly higher than Lennar’s cycle low in Q2 2022, when it spent 1.5% of the final sales price on sales incentives. (See historical chart here.)

Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller said on Friday that: “These are outsized [incentives] for the moment and normalized incentives should be around 5% to 6%.”

In other words, where and when needed—like pockets of Florida and Texas where active housing inventory has bounced back and buyers have gained leverage—Lennar is cutting net effective prices through larger incentives to find the market and keep sales rolling.

That said, a homebuilder’s average sales price can also be skewed by changes in home size. To at least some degree, this is the case for Lennar, which has introduced more smaller home offerings over the past few years.

3. More margin compression

During the pandemic housing boom, publicly-traded homebuilders achieved record profit margins as home prices soared and buyer demand ran red hot. Once the national housing demand boom fizzled out in the summer of 2022, many large homebuilders made affordability adjustments where and when needed to maintain their sales pace. Despite some profit margin compression, almost every major homebuilder entered 2024 with gross margins still above pre-pandemic 2019 levels. However, in recent quarters, margin compression has returned.

During Lennar’s December 2024 earnings call, CFO Diane Bessette stated that they anticipate further margin compression, with gross margins expected to range between 19% and 19.25% for Q1 2025. Lennar’s Q1 2025 gross margin ended up being 18.7%—its lowest in over a decade.

On the March 2025 earnings call, Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller said he expects the company’s Q2 2025 gross margin to be 18% and that they “expect to continue to see margin pressure on deliveries that will be sold during the quarter.”

4. Lennar chooses volume over margins

Last year, when it became clear that Lennar would have to choose between offering greater incentives in 2025 (i.e., smaller margins) or lower volume, the builder made it clear it would choose the former.

“We’re going to adjust to market. We’re going to maintain [sales] volume,” Lennar co-CEO Stuart Miller said in December.

That’s exactly what it did. It’s also why net new orders in Q1 2025 (18,355) were essentially flat compared to Q1 2024 (18,130) despite the choppier sales environment.

5. No impact from tariffs—yet

Given that Lennar is America’s second-largest homebuilder, it serves as a good proxy to figure out how Trump administration policy could be impacting homebuilders.

On Friday, Lennar executives stated that tariff policy has not yet impacted their business.

“We’ve been in discussions regarding the potential impacts of tariffs with our supply chain,” Lennar co-CEO Jon Jaffe told investors on Friday. “These discussions all start with a review of margin reductions Lennar has already taken. This leads to a constructive effort to identify alternative sourcing and material strategies. Additionally, we prepare our trade partners to absorb potential increases to their supply chain costs in the event of tariffs . . . To date, we have had no impact to our cost from tariffs and we will work closely with all our trade partners that further tariffs present themselves to mitigate offset cost impacts.”

6. No impact from immigration policy—yet

While it’s unclear how many undocumented immigrants work in construction, we know it’s a chunk. In 2016, Pew Research Center estimated that 13% of the U.S. construction workforce is undocumented. In 2021, the Center for American Progress estimated that 23% of construction laborers are undocumented (see the full breakdown above).

While undocumented workers are more likely to be employed by subcontractors rather than the builder, business disruptions due to deportations, if they are to occur, would still be noticed by general contractors and homebuilders.

So far, Lennar hasn’t seen disruptions caused by changes in immigration policy.

“With respect to potential labor disruptions that could derive from immigration policy enforcement, our consistent high volume makes our construction a priority for our trade partners,” Lennar co-CEO Jon Jaffe told investors on Friday. “To date, there has been no shortage of labor or impact to cycle time. Again, our strategic trade partners appreciate the financial impact to our margins of maintaining our consistent high volume and we expect to be as well-positioned as possible should any disruptions present themselves.”

The final deadline for Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators Awards is this Friday, March 28, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lance Lambert is the co-founder and editor of ResiClub, a media and research company dedicated to in-depth tracking, reporting, and analysis of regional housing markets. He has been publishing his reporting in Fast Company since 2023.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91304658/housing-market-florida-texas-are-so-choppy-that-lennars-incentives-hit-highest-since-2009

Source: Fast Company, Grace Snelling
Photo: A home damaged by Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida, 2019 (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

AccuWeather expects 7 to 10 hurricanes during the Atlantic hurricane season, which starts on June 1.

This week, AccuWeather released its prediction for the Atlantic hurricane season. The weather service found that after last year’s Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton, 2025 will likely be another supercharged year for tropical storms.

AccuWeather expects the Atlantic hurricane season, which starts on June 1, to yield 13 to 18 named storms, including 7 to 10 hurricanes. Of those, three and six are expected to have direct U.S. impacts, with the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Canada, the Carolinas, and northwestern Caribbean at the highest risk.

Meanwhile, as climate change and record-warm ocean temperatures usher the U.S. into yet another intense storm season, the Trump administration has signaled that it may be working to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Here’s what to know:

Why does hurricane season keep getting worse?

According to AccuWeather lead hurricane expert Alex DaSilva, one of the main factors driving the company’s prediction is elevated water temperatures. Across the ocean’s surface, including in the Gulf and Caribbean, temperatures aren’t just well above historical averages, the warm waters also extend to deeper depths than usual. Warm water fuels storms by evaporating quickly, causing rising columns of moist air to feed developing hurricanes—meaning that an abundance of warm water can make hurricanes develop both more quickly and more intensely.

“A rapid intensification of storms will likely be a major story yet again this year as sea-surface temperatures and ocean heat content (OHC) across most of the basin are forecast to be well above average,” DaSilva said in a news release.

Last year, high OHC supercharged intense storms, including Hurricane Beryl and Hurricane Milton. In an article for The Conversation that summer, expert Brian Tang noted, “The peak intensification rates of hurricanes increased by an average of 25% to 30% when comparing hurricane data between 1971-1990 and 2001-2020.”

Experts believe that as climate change continues to worsen and ocean temperatures rise, it’s likely that hurricane season will only become more extreme and more dangerous.

What’s going on with FEMA?

As more information about the upcoming hurricane season comes to light, it appears that the Trump administration may be gearing up to shutter the government’s largest disaster aid group.

On Monday, Kristi Noem, secetary of Homeland Security, reportedly said that her department planned to “eliminate” FEMA. On Tuesday, CNN reported that top officials from FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security met to discuss FEMA’s future and options for shutting it down. According to CNN, the agency is currently in a state of disarray as more than $100 billion in disaster assistance and grant money is frozen and hiring is largely stalled.

The elimination of FEMA could have major consequences for the future of disaster relief in the U.S. In January, Samantha Montano, an emergency management professor at Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told Fast Company that abolishing FEMA would result in “a less effective, less efficient, and less equitable emergency management system, which means it makes all of us less safe. Without question, we would see higher death tolls, greater physical damage, and immense economic impacts.”

Currently, aid from FEMA is provided only after local jurisdictions have depleted their own resources and the agency’s intervention is approved by Congress. In 2023, the agency spent $30 billion aiding in the aftermath of fires, floods, landslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter storms across the country. In 2024, FEMA workers went door-to-door providing aid after Hurricane Helene struck. Now, though, when the agency should be prepping for the upcoming hurricane season, staffers tell CNN that they’ve had to pause their operations.

“March is typically when we’re finalizing hurricane plans. A lot of that got paused,” one anonymous source shared. “So, it’s already having an impact, which is that we’re not preparing.”

The final deadline for Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators Awards is TODAY, Friday, March 28, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Grace Snelling is an editorial assistant for Fast Company with a focus on product design, branding, art, and all things Gen Z. Her stories have included an exploration into the wacky world of Duolingo’s famous mascot, an interview with the New Yorker’s art editor about the scramble to prepare a cover image of Donald Trump post-2024 election, and an analysis of how the pineapple became the ultimate sex symbol.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91306634/trump-wants-to-dismantle-fema-at-the-same-time-that-experts-are-predicting-a-brutal-hurricane-season

Source: The Hill, Filip Timotija
Photo: Greenland

Less than 1 in 5 Americans favor the U.S. annexing Canada and semiautonomous island Greenland, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that 17 percent of U.S. adults favor Canada becoming the 51st state of the U.S., an idea President Trump has brought up several times since winning the 2024 presidential election. More than half of the respondents, 57 percent, are opposed to the potential expansion of the U.S.’s territory, while 26 percent said they were unsure.

Similar figures were discovered when respondents were asked about the possibility of Washington annexing Greenland, a foreign policy goal Trump talked about in his first term and has reiterated in the past few months. About 19 percent of Americans are in favor of the U.S. annexing Greenland, a mineral-rich island whose foreign policy and defense are overseen by Denmark. Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, are opposed to the idea, while another third, 32 percent, were unsure, according to the survey.

Vice President Vance said he will travel to Greenland on Friday, a decision that came after officials in both Denmark and Greenland said they viewed the scheduled visit of his wife, second lady Usha Vance, as a provocation and part of Trump’s push to overtake the Arctic island.

“There was so much excitement around Usha’s visit to Greenland this Friday, that I decided that I didn’t want her to have all that fun by herself, and so I’m going to join her,” the vice president said Tuesday.

Usha Vance was set to travel with other U.S. officials as part of Washington’s delegation, and Greenland Prime Minister Múte Bourup Egede said it is a part of a “very aggressive” pressure campaign “against Greenlandic society.”

Voters were split when asked if Trump has prioritized the most important issues in the first two months of his second term in the Oval Office: About 43 percent said the president has focused on the country’s “most important problems,” while 45 percent of Americans said the commander in chief has focused on issues “that aren’t very important.” Some 12 percent were not sure, according to the survey.

The poll was conducted March 20-24 among 1,677 U.S. adults. The margin of error was 2.7 percent.

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5214199-less-than-1-in-5-favor-us-annexing-canada-greenland-survey

Source: Fast Company, Grace Snelling
Investigators look over the scene at a Tesla Collision Center after an individual used incendiary devices to set several vehicles on fire on March 18, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Analysts warn that vandalism of Tesla vehicles could lead insurance companies to raise premiums—or stop covering Tesla vehicles altogether.

By most accounts, it’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad month for Elon Musk’s Tesla—and it might be about to get worse.

Tesla shares surged to their highest-ever peak after the 2024 election, but since mid-December, they’ve been on a sharp decline. (The company lost 15% of its total value in just one day last week.) The EV brand is facing a number of headwinds: Sales have plummeted in Europe and China; the war against Chinese competitor BYD is heating up; and Tesla showrooms across the U.S. are facing an influx of protests and vandalism in response to Musk’s draconian cuts to the federal government.

To top it off, some analysts are now warning that the increased risk of vandalism against Tesla vehicles could result in inflated insurance prices for drivers.

“Kia Challenge” 2025 version

According to a March 2025 analysis by Bankrate, the average cost of full-coverage car insurance for a Tesla Model 3 is $3,495 a year, compared to the national average of $2,678. To put the number in context, an Audi Q5 cost $3,023 to insure, while a Ford F-150 cost just $2,608.

To be fair, car insurance rates are rising across the board, in no small part because of increased damage from climate change-induced extreme weather events. And according to a 2024 report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, EVs are typically 20% more expensive to insure than gas-powered cars, a gap that Bankrate attributes to steeper repair costs due to specialized parts. Still, Tesla vehicles tend to be pricier to insure than other EVs: In an interview with Newsweek, Insurify data journalist Matt Brannon confirmed that the Tesla Model 3, Model Y, and Model X are the most expensive EVs to insure as of February 2025. (In 2023, Tesla even launched its own insurance provider, called Tesla Insurance, as a response to the high premiums—but that initiative came with a slate of its own problems.)

Tesla insurance rates could be set to soar even higher. In the same Newsweek piece, Bankrate insurance analyst Shannon Martin explained that vandalism is one factor insurance companies consider when setting premiums. While frequent vandalism isn’t as much of a concern as high-collision rates—which Teslas have also historically struggled with—she says it can factor into how insurance companies set their prices.

A recent example of insurance company backlash against a problematic vehicle can be found in 2023’s “Kia Challenge,” where TikTok users shared a simple “hack” that made it easy to steal certain models of Kia and Hyundai vehicles. The trend led to multiple class-action lawsuits and caused State Farm, Allstate, and Progressive to restrict coverage of the models altogether. In an interview with WCNC Charlotte at the time, Bankrate senior analyst Ted Rossman said that the thefts were driving up available insurance rates by as much as 17%.

Now, Tesla may be facing a problem that’s nearing those Kia and Hyundai proportions. Vehicles at Tesla showrooms, charging stations, and privately owned cars have been burned, painted, and defaced with swastikas. Reports of vandalism against Tesla have become so frequent in recent months that President Trump threatened to call the occurrences acts of domestic terrorism and, in a transparent effort to boost the brand’s reputation, held what was essentially a Tesla infomercial on the White House lawn.

Time will tell whether insurance companies see this trend as enough justification to raise prices or refuse coverage to Tesla owners altogether. In the meantime, this might be the push that regretful Tesla owners needed to give up on disguising their vehicles and trade them in instead.

The final deadline for Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators Awards is this Friday, March 28, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Grace Snelling is an editorial assistant for Fast Company with a focus on product design, branding, art, and all things Gen Z. Her stories have included an exploration into the wacky world of Duolingo’s famous mascot, an interview with the New Yorker’s art editor about the scramble to prepare a cover image of Donald Trump post-2024 election, and an analysis of how the pineapple became the ultimate sex symbol.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91301432/why-insurance-on-teslas-is-about-to-get-way-more-expensive

Source: Studyfinds.org
Photo: Conceptual image of a man walking on the street with his smartphone being charged by his hoodie. (AI-generated image created by StudyFinds)

In a nutshell

Scientists finally cracked the code on making fabric that can generate electricity from body heat by creating a special polymer coating for silk that stays stable for over a year—previously, similar materials would degrade within days when exposed to air.

This isn’t just lab-perfect technology—the coated silk yarn can survive through seven rounds in the washing machine while still keeping most of its electrical properties, and it can stretch quite a bit without breaking.

While we’re not charging smartphones with our t-shirts just yet (the power output is still very low), this breakthrough could realistically power small sensors embedded in clothing, like health monitors that wouldn’t need battery changes or charging.

Forget to bring your charger with you on vacation? What if your clothing could generate electricity from the heat your body naturally produces? This futuristic concept is now approaching reality thanks to scientists at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and Linköping University.

Researchers say the remarkable new textile technology converts body heat into electricity through thermoelectric effects, potentially powering wearable devices from your clothing. The innovation, described in an Advanced Science paper, centers on a newly developed polymer called poly(benzodifurandione), or PBFDO, which serves as a coating for ordinary silk yarn.

“The polymers that we use are bendable, lightweight and are easy to use in both liquid and solid form. They are also non-toxic,” says study first author Mariavittoria Craighero, a doctoral student at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers, in a statement.

Unlike previous attempts at creating thermoelectric textiles, this breakthrough addresses a critical barrier that has long hampered progress: the lack of air-stable n-type polymers. These materials are characterized by their ability to move negative charges and are essential counterparts to the more common p-type polymers in creating efficient thermoelectric devices.

“We found the missing piece of the puzzle to make an optimal thread – a type of polymer that had recently been discovered. It has outstanding performance stability in contact with air, while at the same time having a very good ability to conduct electricity. By using polymers, we don’t need any rare earth metals, which are common in electronics,” explains Craighero.

How Thermoelectric Textiles Work

Thermoelectric generators work by converting temperature differences into electrical energy. When one side of a thermoelectric material is warmer than the other, electrons move from the hot side to the cold side, generating an electrical current. The human body continuously generates heat, creating natural temperature gradients between the skin and the surrounding environment.

For efficient thermoelectric generation, both p-type (positive) and n-type (negative) materials must work together. While p-type materials have been well-established in previous research, creating stable n-type materials has been a persistent challenge. Most n-type organic materials degrade rapidly when exposed to oxygen in the air, often becoming ineffective within days.

What makes this development particularly exciting is the remarkable stability of PBFDO-coated silk. Unlike similar materials that degrade within days when exposed to air, these new thermoelectric yarns maintain their performance for over 14 months under normal conditions without any protective coating. The researchers project a half-life of 3.2 years for these materials – an unprecedented achievement for this type of organic conductor.

Beyond electrical performance, the mechanical properties of the PBFDO-coated silk are equally impressive. The coated yarn can stretch up to 14% before breaking and, more importantly for everyday use, it can withstand machine washing.

“After seven washes, the thread retained two-thirds of its conducting properties. This is a very good result, although it needs to be improved significantly before it becomes commercially interesting,” states Craighero.

The material also demonstrates remarkable temperature resilience. During testing, the researchers found that PBFDO remains flexible even when cooled with liquid nitrogen to extremely low temperatures. This exceptional mechanical stability allows the material to withstand various environmental conditions and physical stresses that would be encountered in real-world use.

The Future of Daily Wear?

To showcase the technology’s potential, the research team created two different thermoelectric textile devices: a thermoelectric button and a larger textile generator with multiple thermoelectric legs.

The thermoelectric button demonstrated an output of about 6 millivolts at a temperature difference of 30 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, the larger textile generator achieved an open-circuit voltage of 17 millivolts at a temperature difference of 70 degrees Celsius.

With a voltage converter, this could help power ultra-low-energy devices, such as certain types of sensors. However, the current power output—0.67 microWatts at a 70-degree temperature difference—is far below what would be required for USB charging of standard electronics.

While these power outputs mark a major step forward in thermoelectric textiles, it’s important to note that the temperature differences used in lab tests—up to 70 degrees Celsius—are significantly higher than what would typically be experienced in everyday clothing. This means real-world performance may be lower than laboratory results suggest.

Potential Uses in Healthcare and Wearable Tech

Despite current limitations in power output, the technology shows particular promise for healthcare applications. Small sensors that monitor vital signs like heart rate, body temperature, or movement patterns could potentially operate using this technology, eliminating the need for battery changes or recharging.

For patients with chronic conditions requiring continuous monitoring, self-powered sensors embedded in clothing could provide valuable data without the hassle of managing battery life. Similarly, fitness enthusiasts could benefit from wearables that never need charging, seamlessly tracking performance metrics during activities.

Beyond health monitoring, the technology could eventually support other low-power functions in smart clothing, such as environmental sensing, location tracking, or simple LED indicators. As power conversion efficiency improves, applications could expand to include more power-hungry features.

The Challenges Ahead

Currently, the production process is time-intensive and not suitable for commercial manufacturing, with the demonstrated fabric requiring four days of manual needlework to produce.

“We have now shown that it is possible to produce conductive organic materials that can meet the functions and properties that these textiles require. This is an important step forward. There are fantastic opportunities in thermoelectric textiles and this research can be of great benefit to society,” says Christian Müller, Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and research leader of the study.

One key challenge identified through computer simulations is the electrical contact resistance between components. Reducing this resistance could potentially increase power output by three times or more. The researchers also investigated how factors like thermoelectric leg length and thread count affect performance, providing valuable insights for future designs.

Interest in these types of conducting polymers has grown significantly in recent years. They have a chemical structure that allows them to conduct electricity similar to silicon while maintaining the physical properties of plastic materials, making them flexible. Research on conducting polymers is ongoing in many areas such as solar cells, Internet of Things devices, augmented reality, robotics, and various types of portable electronics.

Looking Forward

What’s clear is that there is a viable pathway toward practical thermoelectric textiles that can function reliably in everyday conditions. By addressing both the electrical and mechanical requirements for textile integration, this work bridges the gap between laboratory demonstrations and potential real-world applications.

The development of these polymers also aligns with sustainability goals by eliminating the need for rare earth metals commonly used in electronics. With further refinement and scaling of the manufacturing process, this technology could eventually lead to clothing that powers our devices using nothing but our body heat.

For widespread adoption, researchers will need to develop automated production methods that can efficiently coat and assemble the thermoelectric textiles at scale. Additionally, improving power output while maintaining stability remains a critical goal for future research.

Methodology

The researchers coated ordinary silk thread with PBFDO polymer by dipping it into a specially formulated ink and drying it multiple times. They constructed two test devices: a button sewn onto wool fabric and a larger generator with 16 thermoelectric legs sewn through felt wool. Performance was measured by placing these devices between surfaces of different temperatures and recording the electricity generated.

Results

The PBFDO-coated silk achieved impressive stability, maintaining conductivity for over 14 months in normal conditions with a projected half-life of 3.2 years. It withstood stretching up to 14% and survived seven machine washings while retaining two-thirds of its conductivity. The larger textile generator produced 0.67 microwatts at a 70K temperature difference, while computer simulations suggested that optimizing electrical contacts could significantly boost performance.

Limitations

Power output remains low, suitable only for very low-power devices. Lab testing used temperature differences (up to 70K) much higher than typical real-world conditions, meaning actual performance would likely be lower. Production is currently time-intensive, requiring four days of manual work for a single demonstration piece. While stability is impressive compared to other similar materials, some degradation still occurs over time, particularly after washing.

Discussion and Takeaways

This research represents a breakthrough in creating stable n-type materials for thermoelectric textiles, potentially enabling practical applications in wearable technology. The work provides valuable insights for optimizing future designs, particularly regarding electrical contact resistance. By eliminating the need for rare earth metals, these organic materials also support sustainability goals. While commercial products are still years away, this development represents a significant step toward self-powered electronic textiles.

Funding and Disclosures

The research was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program (Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant), the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the European Research Council, the Swedish Research Council, and Linköping University. Author Simone Fabiano is disclosed as a co-founder and chief scientific officer of n-ink, a company with potential interests in the technology.

Publication Information

Published in Advanced Science (2024) as “Poly(benzodifurandione) Coated Silk Yarn for Thermoelectric Textiles” by researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, Linköping University, and Chung-Ang University. Available as an open-access paper under Creative Commons Attribution License.

https://studyfinds.org/your-clothes-could-soon-charge-your-phone-new-thermoelectric-yarn

Source: ModernRetail, Melissa Daniels and Mitchell Parton
Photo: Ivy Liu

This year, more customers are taking action with their wallets as major retailers like Target and Amazon are facing multiple, simultaneous boycotts — actions that could shake up the retail outlook for the year.

Boycotts as a response to retailers’ pullback of some diversity, equity and inclusion policies have made headlines in 2025. On Feb. 28, a group calling itself The People’s Union USA organized “Economic Blackout Day,” which encouraged shoppers to not spend at all, or only spend locally if they had to. Target is now facing a 40-day strike, or “Target Fast,” as a way to protest the retailer ending some of its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Running concurrently with the Lent period, that boycott has been organized by the Rev. Jamal Bryant, senior pastor of Atlanta’s New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, and other faith and civil rights leaders, per the Associated Press.

Additionally, roughly 9% of shoppers said they planned to participate in The People’s Union USA’s weeklong Amazon boycott this week, per a Numerator survey. The organization is also planning a Nestlé boycott from March 21-28, a Walmart boycott from April 7-14 and another one-day blackout on April 18.

“In the retail industry, we often say that consumers vote with their feet. But I don’t think we’ve ever meant it to the degree we do now,” said Lisa Wagner, longtime retail expert and asset manager with The Outlet Resource Group.

Early data showed that the Feb. 28 one-day economic blackout did not have much of an impact on traffic and sales. But a week-long or 40-day boycott could have more teeth.

Still, the more pressing issue is that no brand or retailer is completely immune to punitive action from a segment of consumers who are increasingly spending money according to their social and political values. For retailers, these boycotts pose an existential threat in a year when they’re also trying to figure out how to deal with macroeconomic challenges like tariffs and inflations. These actions may also have unintended consequences, hurting small businesses from diverse owners and founders on the shelves.

An existential threat for some brands

Black brand owners and founders had previously warned that if customers boycott retailers like Target that have pulled back on DEI initiatives, it could jeopardize their sales and, in turn, harm brands’ standing with retailers. That fear is starting to look more real.

Some smaller brands at retailers such as Target are feeling pressure from boycotts, Dwight Allen O’Neal and Karess Rosemé, co-founders and co-CEOs of the Rose Neal Collective — an agency that works with Black beauty founders — told Modern Retail.

O’Neal said the agency noticed some brands who would typically see a spike in sales at retailers during Black History Month instead saw the opposite, adding that the DEI moves could also impact people with disabilities and veterans. One brand he works with could potentially lose shelf space or go out of business because of a huge decline in February sales, he said.

“It’s so unfortunate that because of Target’s decision, they are having to suffer and they are being punished,” he said. “When you have to have those fierce conversations with someone, where they put their all into creating this brand and now it may no longer exist, that’s a heavy conversation to have, and that’s the reality of where we are.”

For brands, this is yet another worry as they are focused on managing relationships with retailers and potentially pivoting their suppliers to those from other countries due to tariff threats. “Brands are worried about everything,” Rosemé said, also noting that smaller brands often don’t have the same financial flexibility as others to absorb the impact of even a short drop-off in sales.

O’Neal said some brand owners or founders who also have DTC businesses, distribute more widely or are newer to the shelves may be less impacted, but that this could be especially detrimental for brands particularly reliant on a store like Target.

“We’re really encouraging [brands] to partner with our merchants and buyers and find out exactly what direction Target, their competitors and whoever else are actually going in,” O’Neal said. “We’re really trying to make sure they’re not making emotional decisions, but practical ones, and that they’re looking at the long-term effect of what their decisions now can mean for their business.”

Another headache for major retailers

Fueled by social media sharing, economic boycotts have become a frequent tool for shoppers to wield their opinions on company policies, partnerships or perceived values. Sometimes this comes from voters’ perception of companies being too “woke” — like in 2023, when Bud Light saw sales drop after working with influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a trans woman. Back in 2018, Nike was boycotted after working with Colin Kaepernick who had become derided for his support of Black Lives Matter.

But boycotts or protests are equally deployed by left-leaning shoppers, who have long avoided places like Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby because of their ownership’s religious beliefs and political leanings. For example, activists in the United Kingdom convinced a landlord not to extend Chick-fil-A’s lease in a shopping center in 2019, according to the BBC. And shoppers called for a boycott of Hobby Lobby in 2020 over reproductive rights and the company’s reopening stores in states with stay-at-home mandates during the pandemic, per Business Insider.

Yet for all these actions, companies still thrive. Hobby Lobby has over 1,000 stores, while competitors like Joann file for bankruptcy. Chick-fil-A has over 3,000 stores and is undertaking an international expansion. Bud Light owner AB InBev ended 2024 with a 2.7% revenue boost.

So far in 2025, consumers are already pulling back spending because of the combination of inflation, tariff policies and fears of a recession. Combined with targeted consumer actions, it could prove to be a potent concoction of challenges that puts brands and retailers on thin ice and even out of business.

“If it were just consumers reacting to a perceived value misalignment — or, on the other hand, alignment — that would be important, but not necessarily as significant as what we’re seeing,” Wagner from TORG said. “Consumers are savvy and understand they have a voice. They have choices.”

The retail industry isn’t a stranger to navigating consumer behavior shifts or recessions. But as Wagner explained, if consumer actions pair with broader economic pressures and market fluctuations, it can cause a perfect storm that would impact retailers.

“We, as an industry, are anticipating some level of carnage, frankly,” she said. “The industry, this time, is trying to be prepared.”

For retailers, boycotts are just another complicating factor during already challenging times, said Mickey Chadha, a retail analyst and vp of corporate finance for Moody’s Ratings. Anything that impacts traffic impacts performance, he said.

Some early numbers suggest the Feb. 28 boycott may have had some measurable effect across retailers — Target saw visits that day drop by 10.7% compared to the average traffic over the previous five Fridays, and 4.1% compared to the daily average of visits year-to-date, per Placer.ai, which uses cellphone data to measure retail foot traffic. However, correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, the firm cautioned. Target said it expects a drop in first-quarter profits due to consumer uncertainty, soft February sales and tariffs, CNBC reported.

Target’s actions on DEI were especially surprising and shocking to customers because the retailer had historically positioned itself in a different way than others, O’Neal said. “We as consumers, myself included, hold them to an entirely different caliber than Walmart.” In 2021, Target pledged to add products from more than 500 Black-owned brands to its shelves and spend more than $2 billion with other Black-owned businesses, such as marketing agencies, construction companies and facilities maintenance firms. It had also sponsored a Pride festival in Minnesota and had promoted LGBTQ+-themed merchandise in a 2023 Pride Month initiative that led to backlash from conservative-aligned groups and legal threats. The retailer scaled back its collection a year later.

Rosemé said her and O’Neal’s agency is telling brands to lean into authenticity as people seek safety and comfort.

“As individuals are being selective with what they’re spending — whether it’s through boycotting or if it’s through saving — and wanting to spend money on just essential items or very specific luxury items, they want to do so in a way where they feel their dollar is being spent on something they value, and also something that [reflects] their values,” she said.

Looking ahead, Chadha said retailers can address customers with better communication around why they have made certain decisions or what they’re doing to encourage all customers to come to the stores. “Overall, these issues are best dealt with by communication — and better communication than just reacting to it,” he said.

But ultimately, Chadha said behemoths like Target and Walmart are well-positioned to weather temporary phenomena like boycotts. That may not be the case for small businesses, however.

“These retailers [Target and Walmart] have enough capacity to absorb these temporary blips in their performance, and so I don’t expect a major impact on the longer term for profitability or traffic,” he said. “These boycotts have happened in the past and will continue to happen in the future, but these companies are quite strong, and they can withstand these boycotts.”

https://www.modernretail.co/operations/how-a-surge-in-boycotts-could-upend-the-retail-industry-this-year

Source: CNBC, Hugh Son
Photo: The Walmart logo is displayed outside their store near Bloomsburg. (Paul Weaver, Lightrocket, Getty Images)

Key Points

Swedish fintech firm Klarna will be the exclusive provider of buy now, pay later loans for Walmart, taking a coveted partnership away from rival Affirm, CNBC has learned.

Klarna, which just disclosed its intention to go public in the U.S., will provide loans to Walmart customers in stores and online through the retailer’s majority-owned fintech startup OnePay, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

OnePay, which updated its brand name this month, will handle the user experience via its app, while Klarna will make underwriting decisions for loans ranging from three months to 36 months in length.

Klarna, which just disclosed its intention to go public in the U.S., will provide loans to Walmart customers in stores and online through the retailer’s majority-owned fintech startup OnePay, according to people with knowledge of the situation who declined to be identified speaking about the partnership.

OnePay, which updated its brand name from One this month, will handle the user experience via its app, while Klarna will make underwriting decisions for loans ranging from three months to 36 months in length, and with annual interest rates from 10% to 36%, said the people.

The new product will be launched in the coming weeks and will be scaled to all Walmart channels by the holiday season, likely leaving it the retailer’s only buy now, pay later option by year-end.

The move heightens the rivalry between Affirm and Klarna, two of the world’s biggest BNPL players, just as Klarna is set to go public. Although both companies claim to offer a better alternative for borrowers than credit cards, Affirm is more U.S.-centric and has been public since 2021, while Klarna’s network is more global.

Shares of Affirm dropped 4.2% Monday after falling as much as 14% earlier in the session.

Deal sweetener

The deal comes at an opportune time for Klarna as it readies one of the year’s most highly anticipated initial public offerings. After a dearth of big tech listings in the U.S. since 2021, the Klarna IPO will be a key test for the industry. The firm’s private market valuation has been a roller coaster: It soared to $46 billion in 2021, then crashed by 85% the next year amid the broader decline of high-flying fintech firms.

CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has worked to improve Klarna’s prospects, including touting its use of generative artificial intelligence to slash expenses and headcount. The company returned to profitability in 2023, and its valuation is now roughly $15 billion, according to analysts, nearly matching the public market value of Affirm.

The OnePay deal is a “game changer” for Klarna, Siemiatkowski said in a release confirming the pact.

“Millions of people in the U.S. shop at Walmart every day — and now they can shop smarter with OnePay installment loans powered by Klarna,” he said. “We look forward to helping redefine checkout at the world’s largest retailer — both online and in stores.”

As part of the deal, OnePay can take a position in Klarna. In its F-1 filing, Klarna said it entered into a “commercial agreement with a global partner” in which it is giving warrants to purchase more than 15 million shares for an average price of $34 each. OnePay is the partner, people with knowledge of the deal confirmed.

For Affirm, the move is likely to be seen as a blow at a time when tech stocks are particularly vulnerable. Run by CEO Max Levchin, a PayPal co-founder, the company’s stock has surged and fallen since its 2021 IPO. The lender’s shares have dipped 18% this year before Monday.

Affirm executives frequently mention their partnerships with big merchants as a key driver of purchase volumes and customer acquisition. In November, Affirm’s chief revenue officer, Wayne Pommen, referred to Walmart and other tie-ups including those with Amazon, Shopify and Target as its “crown jewel partnerships.”

An Affirm spokesman had this statement: “We win business when merchants want superior performance and maximum value, given our underwriting and capital markets advantages. We will continue our long-term strategy of competing on our products and entering into sustainable partnerships.”

Everything app

The deal is no less consequential to Walmart’s OnePay, which has surged to a $2.5 billion pre-money valuation just two years after rolling out a suite of products to its customers.

The startup now has more than 3 million active customers and is generating revenue at an annual run rate of more than $200 million.

As part of its push to penetrate areas adjacent to its core business, Walmart executives have touted OnePay’s potential to become a one-stop shop for Americans underserved by traditional banks.

Walmart is the world’s largest retailer and says it has 255 million weekly customers, giving the startup — which is a separate company backed by Walmart and Ribbit Capital — a key advantage in acquiring new customers.

Last year, the Walmart-backed fintech began offering BNPL loans in the aisles and on checkout pages of Walmart, CNBC reported at the time. That led to speculation that it would ultimately displace Affirm, which had been the exclusive provider for BNPL loans for Walmart since 2019.

OnePay’s move to partner with Klarna rather than going it alone shows the company saw an advantage in going with a seasoned, at-scale provider versus using its own solution.

OnePay’s push into consumer lending is expected to accelerate its conversion of Walmart customers into fintech app users. Cash-strapped consumers are increasingly relying on loans to meet their needs, and the installment loan is seen as a wedge to also offer users the banking, savings and payments features that OnePay has already built.

Americans held a record $1.21 trillion in credit card debt in the fourth quarter of last year, about $441 billion higher than balances in 2021, according to Federal Reserve Bank of New York data.

“It’s never been more important to give consumers simple and convenient ways to access fair credit at the point of sale,” said OnePay CEO Omer Ismail. “That’s especially true for the millions of people who turn to Walmart every week for everything.”

Next up is likely a OnePay-branded credit card offered with the help of a new banking partner after Walmart successfully exited its partnership with Capital One

“We’re looking forward to going down this new path where not only can they provide installment credit … but also revolving credit,” Walmart CFO John David Rainey told investors in June.

— CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos and Melissa Repko contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/17/walmart-klarna-nearing-ipo-wins-fintech-partnership-from-affirm

Source: Fast Company, Grace Snelling
Photo: Alstrom

The fifth generation TGV Inoui is both beautiful and high-tech—and it’s making us wish America would embrace a rail travel renaissance already.

France just unveiled its charming new TGV Inoui trains, and they’re a jealousy-inducing reminder that America’s rail travel renaissance can’t come fast enough.

The TGV Inoui is a high-speed rail system, running at around 200 miles per hour, that connects France’s major cities as well as providing connections into Italy, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. This Tuesday, the manufacturing company Alstom and the TGV’s operator, SNCF Voyageurs, revealed the brand-new fifth generation TGV Inoui interior design at Paris’s Gare de Lyon.

The new train, which is slated to hit the rails in 2026, includes a delightfully colorful aesthetic, an ultra-sleek bar car, and expanded accommodations for wheelchair users—and its further proof that, for now, America’s rail system might as well be in the dark ages.

According to Alstom, a team of more than 2,000 designers started entirely from scratch to create the new TGV Inoui cars, which are constructed in a modular format that allows them to be reconfigured in less than a day to suit the particular needs of each trip. The trains are made from 97% recyclable materials, have a 20% higher seating capacity than previous iterations (up to 740 passengers), and are 20% more energy-efficient than the fourth generation trains.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91297387/frances-high-speed-trains-tgv-makeover

Source: The Guardian, Richard Luscombe
Photo: Donald Trump from Palm Beach international airport in Florida after landing in Air Force One, on 14 February 2025. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The president, who derided Barack Obama for golfing while in office, even makes money off his Mar-a-Lago weekends

It has become a familiar routine for the Palm Beach county sheriff, Ric Bradshaw, and his deputies. Almost every Tuesday in recent weeks, the Federal Aviation Administration has posted to its website a formal “notice to airmen” advising of upcoming flight restrictions over south Florida, signaling once again to those who must protect him that Donald Trump is on his way to Mar-a-Lago for another weekend of golf.

The president is at his waterfront mansion again this weekend, his sixth visit to Florida and the beloved golf courses he owns since his 20 January inauguration.

His increasingly frequent and disruptive trips home are fast becoming a drain on county resources, obligating Bradshaw to put helicopters in the air, extra manpower on the ground, and boats on both sides of Trump’s opulent mansion sandwiched between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway almost continuously.

The demands from the Secret Service to help them protect Trump, and the president’s family and entourage, are “substantial”, the sheriff told county commissioners last month, just before the president flew in for an extended six-day visit.

“They request it, and then we provide it. It’s expensive, but we don’t really have a choice,” Bradshaw said.

The sheriff’s office declined to immediately provide the Guardian with a detailed breakdown of its expenditure, but the daily overtime bill alone has previously been reported to be $240,000.

Commissioners approved Bradshaw’s “urgent request” of $45m to provide security for Trump’s visits through November, an invoice he said was certain to rise.

“We’ve already heard some information where he may be spending more time here than in Washington,” Bradshaw said.

“Definitely you’re going to see him bringing in leaders from the world. That is a significant shift in the cost for security.”

The Palm Beach bill, high as it is, pales against the federal costs of indulging the commander-in-chief’s wanderlust. That’s included his multimillion-dollar trip to the Super Bowl in New Orleans last month, and an appearance at Nascar’s Daytona 500 weeks later, which critics saw as little more than an extravagant and expensive photo op.

Whenever he wishes to roam, the presidential jet Air Force One is fueled up and fully staffed, racking up an hourly operational cost approaching $200,000, according to a 2022 air force assessment.

With a roughly two-hour flight time from Washington DC, each visit to and from Palm Beach international airport costs taxpayers about a million dollars just in travel, once an additional cargo flight carrying the presidential motorcade is factored in, as well as ferrying Trump from the White House to Joint Base Andrews on the Marine One helicopter.

The most recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, meanwhile, calculated in 2019 that federal agencies spent an average of $13.6m on each of four Trump odysseys to Mar-a-Lago that it audited during his first term in office, with a chunk of that money going straight into Trump’s pocket.

In 2017, he spent four of the first seven weekends immediately after his inauguration golfing in Florida; this year the tally is already at six.

Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew), which tallied more than 500 first-term visits by Trump to properties he owned, said the pattern was already repeating itself.

“We start with the clear principle that presidents are entitled to Secret Service protection wherever they go, and have their transportation covered. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that when he does any of the things he does,” he said.

“However, there are serious issues. One is that he maintained ownership of his businesses, so this is not a question of going to the president’s house; it’s going to the president’s business where payment is made directly to a business that benefits the president.

“We want the presidency to be the main focus of the president. That’s not to say presidents don’t have time to recharge and take a break like everybody else, but when you go to your own business property it moves the focus, at least potentially, from your official duties to promoting and attending to your business.

“And that is a different kind of problem than taking more weekends off than we’d like, or how often a president plays golf, or anything like that.”

Robert Weissman, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said he had similar concerns, pointing to evidence of Trump overcharging the Secret Service to stay at his properties during his first administration.

“As much as the waste of taxpayer resources for excessive vacationing is, there’s the self-enrichment from the payments made to Mar-a-Lago by agents who were there to provide security,” he said.

“Of course, Trump famously ran the first time complaining about the amount of golf that Barack Obama played, which was more or less local and didn’t require plane travel. Our strong preference is that Trump flies to Florida, and stays there for full-time retirement.”

Ultimately, Palm Beach county expects to be reimbursed with federal funds for what it spends protecting the president. But that is little consolation to residents who are now footing the bill while enduring numerous road closures and other inconveniences every weekend.

Trump’s constant visits to Mar-a-Lago, which he calls his “winter White House”, were examined by the journalist Victoria De Cardenas last month during a news segment titled Wa$te Watch on Palm Beach television station CBS12.

“We do think it’s worth considering whether, for the benefit of taxpayers and commuters who have been caught up in the freeway shutdowns during Friday night rush hour more than once lately, maybe he could spend the weekend in the real White House a little more often,” she said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/09/trump-golf-trips

Source: Fast Company, Hunter Schwarz
Photo: Silver Cross

The Lamborghini of strollers is literally a Lamborghini.

Luxury carmaker Automobili Lamborghini is getting into baby gear by partnering with the British nursery brand Silver Cross for a limited-edition stroller called the Reef AL Arancio. Just 500 of the strollers will be made and each comes with a numbered edition plaque. Silver Cross calls it a “super stroller,” and it retails for about $5,000.

The stroller’s design borrows from the Lamborghini’s foundations, Silver Cross says, with an automotive-inspired brake pedal, hand-finished handlebar, and high-performance suede with Italian leather details. It comes with a high-gloss polycarbonate carry cot, full suspension wheels, and a cup holder. Lamborghini badging uses the Italian company’s script wordmark, and its bull-and-shield logo is incorporated throughout.

The design process for the Reef AL Arancio took more than two years and included meetings with the Automobile Lamborghini design and licensing teams and visits to Lamborghini showrooms to draw inspiration. The finished product is designed “to mirror the intricacy and faceted nature of the vehicles,” Silver Cross says.

https://www.fastcompany.com/91294547/lamborghini-just-made-a-5000-stroller