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The cost of Shein’s fast fashion disruption | Fashion Industry News

The cost of Shein’s fast fashion disruption | Fashion Industry News

Shein is one of the most successful start-ups in the world, and the fast fashion company’s rise parallels the global spread of the shopping holiday Black Friday. It has reportedly been valued at $100bn and it has been ranked the top shopping app in dozens of countries. But Shein is still full of unknowns, including big questions about its working conditions and its materials. So what we know about its success – and what we don’t – tell us about the future of fast fashion.

In this episode: 

  • Terry Nguyen (@terrygtnguyen), journalist at Dirt Newsletter
  • Sheng Lu (@shenglu27), professor at the University of Delaware

Connect with us:

@AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

Full episode transcript:

This transcript was created using AI. It’s been reviewed by humans, but it might contain errors. Please let us know if you have any corrections or questions, our email is TheTake@aljazeera.net. 

Halla Mohieddeen: It’s one of the most successful start-ups in the world, and for many young shoppers, it’s become a household name: Shein, the biggest new name in fast fashion.

Newsreel: It’s a Chinese company called Shein. 

Newsreel: This is a 100 billion online company.

Newsreel: It was the number one shopping app in 56 countries.

Newsreel: It overtook Amazon as the most downloaded shopping app in the iOS app store. 

Halla Mohieddeen: It flew under the radar for a long time. But by the time Shein’s success fully emerged, it had surpassed big brands like Zara and H&M. And it’s reinventing the industry in the process. But Shein is still full of unknowns.

Newsreel: Shein is a very secretive company and shares little publicly about its origins.

Halla Mohieddeen: Today, we’re taking a look at what we know about Shein’s success, what we don’t, and what that means for all of us. I’m Halla Mohieddeen and this is The Take.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING] [PACKAGES OPENING]

Halla Mohieddeen: If you type your favourite brand into YouTube or TikTok, you’ll find many videos like these. Shoppers posting their hauls of packages and displaying the newest products they’ve bought, usually online. And at Shein, their money goes far.

Haul video: We are doing a $600 Shein haul. As you can tell, it’s a huge package.

Haul video: I’m back at it again with a massive haul from Shein. Man, you see the box.

Haul video: Shein always has a sale and always has coupons.

Haul video: I love it. I love this. 10 out of 10. Love.

Terry Nguyen: I saw a tweet that you can create a year’s worth of outfits with $280 on Shein. You can just essentially buy an entire outfit, accessories, and shoes for under $30.

Halla Mohieddeen: That’s journalist Terry Nguyen from Dirt Newsletter.

Terry Nguyen: I am a reporter covering culture and entertainment at Dirt, and I was formerly covering consumerism and the internet at Vox.

Halla Mohieddeen: In Terry’s reporting, she described herself as haunted by Shein. And if you’ve experienced ads for a certain item of clothing following you around, from Facebook to Instagram to your internet ads, you’ll know what she means. For Terry, the item haunting her most recently was an exercise dress, not just from Shein, but from many different brands.

Terry Nguyen: This exercise dress that originally was from, I think this athleisure brand, called Outdoor Voices, but I’ve seen so many replications of that from a variety of brands. And I’ve just kind of had to tell myself, no, there’s too many exercise dresses in the world. I see them everywhere in New York. I can’t buy one.

Halla Mohieddeen: Back in 2019, it wasn’t just a Shein product following Terry, but the brand itself. Shein was founded back in 2012, but it wasn’t really until 2019 or 2020 that it really began to take off.

Terry Nguyen: When I went on TikTok and started using it a lot during the pandemic, I sort of noticed my awareness of Shein kind of rapidly increased just because there was so much content. Whether it be, you know, people sharing their hauls or like what cute trending tops they got from Shein, it just felt quite ubiquitous.

Halla Mohieddeen: Terry covers the consumer side of fast fashion. But we also wanted to hear about the supply, so we spoke to Professor Sheng Lu at the University of Delaware.

Sheng Lu: I think I’m one of the very few economists working in a fashion department. I have to admit I’m one of the very, you know, least fashionable faculty. I probably need to take my colleagues’ classes.

Halla Mohieddeen: But Sheng said he does learn from his students. That’s how he heard about Shein.

Sheng Lu: My students are now Generation Z, and they shop a lot. And I just notice, maybe during the class break and they check their iPhone, their iPad and just visit an app called Shein.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Halla Mohieddeen: So Sheng dug into how Shein beat so many fast fashion companies at their own game. The biggest difference that consumers notice is the price. Shein’s prices are so low, it can be hard to believe them.

Sheng Lu: Shein’s price is even 70 percent to 60 percent lower than what Zara and H&M can offer to consumers. So, this makes Shein very different, very different to me.

Halla Mohieddeen: Terry shared some of the numbers she’s seen.

Terry Nguyen: You can definitely find deals for, you know, simple tank tops or shirts from anywhere as low as, like, $3 to $5. And if it’s a more complicated top, like a halter top, it might be a little more like around, like, $10 to $13, and that sort of coupled with free shipping makes it really appealing to shoppers who might not have a lot of income.

Halla Mohieddeen: And one of many ways that Shein keeps those prices low is through its lack of physical stores. Even with the rise of online shopping, most major fashion brands still have an offline presence. But not Shein – they only do temporary pop-ups.

Sheng Lu: Shein doesn’t have any physical store. So, that’s number one and a second is about the kind of product you can find.

Halla Mohieddeen: The number of styles on Shein’s website or its apps seems endless. Back when the industry was first disrupted by fast fashion, it was radical to have new styles every month or every week of the year.

Newsreel: H&M changes its merchandise all the time, and the turnover keeps customers coming in.

Newsreel: Chains like Zara are so fast, they can design and manufacture clothing and get it on store shelves in a month.

Halla Mohieddeen: But that’s a trickle compared to the firehose from Shein.

Sheng Lu: According to my research, say Zara and H&M, they offer about 25,000 or 20,000 different styles of products to market in a year. Shein can launch as many as 1.3 million.

Halla Mohieddeen: One point three million new styles every year. It’s this sheer volume that is changing the entire industry. Terry says it’s technology on a whole new level that Shein has pioneered, software it developed that collects feedback at a rapid pace about what’s selling and what’s not, and what might sell next.

Terry Nguyen: Shein has managed to use technology and develop technology that kind of anticipates what sort of styles would be trending. And it’s allowed them to really expedite their supply chain compared to their competitors.

Halla Mohieddeen: A brand like Zara might measure its turnaround time from design to sale in weeks. Shein measures in days. And as Sheng says, Shein is able to react much better to trends.

Sheng Lu: Fast fashion brands, they try not to predict what markets may like. They try to follow the popular trends already in a market. And then through their very sophisticated or efficient supply chain try to make these products available in the market.

Halla Mohieddeen: And that’s where the synergy with social media comes in. It all started with TikTok.

TikTok video: I have three tops, all black, all give off Western vibes. 

TikTok video: Little top is giving schoolgirl.  

TikTok video: So I have a bunch of clothes that is going to be office appropriate, internship appropriate. 

Terry Nguyen: I think there is a lot of synergy, in that Shein is a China-based company and TikTok is also a Chinese product. And I think Shein definitely had an edge over its more Western competitors. And it sort of had the forethought to realise that it might be the next big thing to reach more customers.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Halla Mohieddeen: Terry explains it works by creating very small orders at factories.

Terry Nguyen: Say for example, they’re creating a new top, and they want to place, like, a hundred iterations of that top to be made. And then they put that on the site and they wait to see how quickly that sells out. Compared to maybe an ultra-fast fashion retailer, like Boohoo or Fashion Nova, they might have to order about 300 to 500 units for Shein. And they can essentially make more designs and even sell less tops, but still manage to kind of inundate their website with a variety of styles. And whichever ones go viral on TikTok overnight, they’ll be able to ramp up production on the garment, like almost instantaneously, depending on demand.

Newsreel: Real time retail. Companies disrupting the status quo produce clothes in as little as three days.

Newsreel: It sells clothing at pocket money prices, adding 30,000 new items a day. 

Halla Mohieddeen: So, say Shein detects that cargo pants are making a comeback for fall. Shein can try them in highlighter colours, in zebra print, in chequerboard, with pockets, without, just ordering a few dozen of each item from their suppliers and seeing what sells. If the zebra print does well, they can order more. If the chequered print flops – well, they’re already onto something else.

Sheng Lu: It doesn’t really have to care. It just keeps launching new products to the market and then excites the consumers.

Halla Mohieddeen: Shein’s been compared to the Uber of the fast fashion industry, and that’s because of its on-demand order system.

Terry Nguyen: An analyst kind of described it to me as every new design is kind of a bet, but it’s able to take more bets than its other fast fashion competitors by virtue of their unique relationship to factories in China, and within that sort of, like, commercial region.

Halla Mohieddeen: That relationship comes partly from Shein being based in the same country as its factories. Many fast fashion companies subcontract their orders out to the point where they may not necessarily even know all the steps in their supply chain.

Newsreel: There’s always business in subcontracting, even if it means putting the finishing touches and garments before they’re shipped out.

Halla Mohieddeen: There still is a lot that we don’t know about Shein’s supply chain. An investigation by the outlet Rest of World found it works with about 6,000 Chinese clothing factories, and it appears that they do have more direct relationships with many of the workshops producing items.

Newsreel: The company’s reputation for making timely payments to suppliers, a rarity in the industry, meant factories that would normally accept orders of a minimum quantity were eager to take on Shein’s orders

Halla Mohieddeen: But when the clothes just keep coming, and the prices are so low, it raises one question after another. How are the workers treated? What is the quality of the materials? And how long do the clothes last? We’ll talk about the efforts to get answers to those questions in a moment.

Sheng Lu: I have to admit there’s still many unanswered questions regarding Shein’s supply chain.

Halla Mohieddeen: And it’s hard to get answers from Shein. The company didn’t reply to our request for comment for this episode.

Halla Mohieddeen: It was ranked in 2021 as one of the least transparent major fashion companies in the world. A lot is still a mystery, especially surrounding the workers making the garments. One Swiss NGO’s investigation of workers at six different factories in the Chinese city of Guangzhou found long hours, no fire exits in the factories, and even barred windows.

Terry Nguyen: The company has not publicly disclosed workers’ wages or their hours, or essentially even the conditions.

Halla Mohieddeen: And Sheng said that’s running up against a trend in the industry toward more supply chain transparency, not less.

Sheng Lu: Which means not only do we want to know who finally assembled the finished products. Like if you look at the product label, it will tell you it’s made in China, it’s made in India, made in Vietnam, but that label only reflects the last stage of production that is which country assembled the finished garments, but who makes the fabrics okay, who makes the yarn, who made the fibre. This information is not available.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Halla Mohieddeen: And that’s a concern because much of the world’s cotton comes from Xinjiang province in China, where human rights groups have uncovered evidence of forced labour. The US has targeted Xinjiang cotton for an import ban, but it’s almost impossible to sort out where raw cotton comes from. So, if Shein or any other brand is using it, it’s easy to get lost in the supply chain. Sheng says some brands are trying to use new technology to make this information accessible.

Sheng Lu: And I think Shein, you know, probably should also do the same. But I assume that to do that will be a lot more challenging because they’re selling so many different kinds of products.

Halla Mohieddeen: So, Shein has changed the game for fast fashion production, but what’s happening now is it’s also changing the habits of consumers, especially in the US.

Newsreel: Americans buy about five times more clothing than they did back in 1980, and one study suggests we wear each item, an average of – just listen to this – seven times.

Halla Mohieddeen: So now, if you can buy a year’s worth of clothes for a few hundred dollars, for the people posting their new outfits on social media, it starts to redefine what a year’s worth of clothes looks like.

Newsreel: People wear clothes for just, like, two weeks and then just discard them. 

Newsreel: There’s still a stigma associated with outfit repeating. You see some products and it’s just garbage. You sort of fold it up and you think, yeah, you’re gonna wear it Saturday night to your party. And then it’s literally gonna fall apart.

Sheng Lu: So, in the past I will wear clothing at least for like a half a year, for example. But now I can really spend less than $10 to purchase two units of clothing while I have to wear so many times. Or I can probably simply change my lifestyle or change my shopping behaviour for clothing.

Halla Mohieddeen: It’s behaviour with drastic environmental consequences. Once you’re done with that year’s worth of clothes, where does it go? All fast fashion is more disposable by nature, but as Sheng said, Shein’s business model takes it to another level. And that means textile waste, already a huge pollutant across the world, is only going to get worse.

Newsreel: Millions of discarded garments make their way overseas and they’re causing an environmental disaster.

Newsreel: The US leads the world in exporting used textiles. More than 1.5 billion pounds are shipped out of the country every year.

Newsreel: In Ghana, 70 tonnes of fabric a day ends up in landfills, presenting an ecological disaster.

Terry Nguyen: I think people need to realise that if even if you’re donating clothes, a lot of the times those clothes don’t make it onto resale racks. And they’re essentially shipped overseas to developing countries, where the trash is essentially burned.

Halla Mohieddeen: Shein has made some minor moves toward sustainability, including donating $15m to an organisation in Ghana, one of the world’s largest markets for secondhand clothing. Critics have labelled it an empty gesture. But Sheng does say that the responsiveness of Shein’s supply chain could become a force for good.

Sheng Lu: Many products, you know, they’re simply not welcome, are not needed, not wanted by the consumer. They’re forecasted by fashion companies, but you know, they’re kind of wrong judges. But if Shein can really, you know, leverage their big data to really produce or launch products wanted by the consumer, I think that’s a great thing for the entire industry.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Halla Mohieddeen: Among Sheng’s fashion students at the university where he teaches, he said they’re split on the company, and that reflects its polarising place in the industry.

Sheng Lu: Half of them are very excited about this company. They like all the different kind of choice they can find from the website or from their app. But also many students, they’re concerned about the environmental impact of Shein.

Halla Mohieddeen: When digging into the story behind Shein’s success, it made Terry look at those ads in her social feeds a bit differently. Not just about the ethics behind the brand, but what is driving her choices in the first place.

Terry Nguyen: It kind of leads me to think more critically about the styles that I see and like why I choose certain types of clothes and whether that’s manufactured. If it’s a coincidence or if it’s part of this greater fast fashion machine, that’s just trying to get me to buy into whatever’s trendy.

Halla Mohieddeen: And when forecasting the next trend, the question for all of us is what could disrupt Shein?

Terry Nguyen: Shein’s price point speaks for itself and it will be a very fierce competitor depending on who wants to emerge next, because really, like, how much lower can you go?

Halla Mohieddeen: And that’s The Take. This episode was produced by Alexandra Locke with Chloe K. Li, Ruby Zaman, Amy Walters, Negin Owliaei, Ashish Malhotra, and me Halla Mohieddeen. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. We’ll be back.

Episode credits:

This episode was produced by Alexandra Locke with Chloe K. Li, Ruby Zaman, Amy Walters, Negin Owliaei, Ashish Malhotra, and Halla Mohieddeen. Aya Elmileik and Adam Abou-Gad are our engagement producers. Alex Roldan is our sound designer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

Wellbeing Devices, Affected individual Care Impacted By Growing Claim Denial Prices

Modern Healthcare attracts attention to a “important” rise in denied coverage promises in excess of the previous year, which has enhanced administrative operate, lessened hospital money move, and delayed individual treatment. Independently, Axios stories on how health-related inflation is impacting huge businesses.

Extra on the value of coverage —


Stat:
The Scenario For Common Oral Wellbeing Coverage, In accordance To The WHO

On Friday, oral well being advocates across the globe acquired an early getaway present from their longtime wish lists. They had been waiting around their complete careers — for some STAT spoke with, up to approximately 50 {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} a century — for oral well being to be folded into conversations calling for well being treatment accessibility for all. The Earth Health Organization’s new World Oral Health Status report took that 1st phase. (Castillo, 11/21)

In other wellness care business information —


Contemporary Health care:
Providence Closes 27 Southern California Retail Clinics

Renton, Washington-based Providence closed all 27 of its Providence ExpressCare services on Nov. 17 after the Southern California retail clinics posted “unprecedented operating losses” amid labor shortages, inflation, source chain disruption, reduce-than-predicted volumes and a extra aggressive retail clinic sector, the spokesperson mentioned. (Kacik, 11/21)


Stat:
Can Telehealth Enable Hospitals Mitigate The Local weather Crisis? 

As the globe stares down the barrel of weather alter, the health care technique — which is liable for about 9{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of all U.S. greenhouse fuel emissions — is eventually beginning to consider action. Hospitals, in specific, are functioning to stem their impression, and have held up telehealth as a primary approach to lower down on carbon, by getting rid of thousands and thousands of miles of vacation to and from health care facilities. (Palmer, 11/22)


Fashionable Healthcare:
Atrium Overall health Hosts Yearly Expertise Exhibit For Workers

Atrium Health and fitness employees search for to place their skills on exhibit at function and on the stage. Each yr, the Charlotte, North Carolina-primarily based nonprofit health procedure invites its 70,000 personnel associates to take part in a expertise display, “Atrium Wellness Has Talent.” Clinicians, administrative staff members, leadership and other workforce members occur together from throughout the 40-hospital technique to showcase their competencies. (Berryman, 11/22)

In authorized news —


The New York Times:
A Botched Most cancers Exam, a Countrywide Scandal, and an Irish Hero

A subsequent formal inquiry revealed that at minimum 220 other Irish girls experienced also developed cervical cancer following getting unfavorable outcomes for point out-operate Pap smears that, a later evaluate showed, must have been flagged as most likely favourable. According to 221+, an advocacy group established by Vicky Phelan and other influenced women and their survivors, all around 30 of these women have since died. (O’Loughlin, 11/17)

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Linklaters’ Five Key Takeaways from The Luxury Law Summit Americas on “Fashion’s Distinguishing Digital Assets: More Technologies Being Woven into the Fashion Scene through M&A” | News

Linklaters’ Five Key Takeaways from The Luxury Law Summit Americas on “Fashion’s Distinguishing Digital Assets: More Technologies Being Woven into the Fashion Scene through M&A” | News

Recently, Linklaters attorneys Joshua Ashley Klayman, U.S. Head of Fintech, and Pierre-Emmanuel Perais, M&A Partner, spoke at The Luxurious Law Summit Americas on “Fashion’s Distinguishing Digital Property: Far more Systems Staying Woven into the Style Scene by means of M&A” in New York Metropolis on November 2, 2022. The panel reviewed how a manufacturer personalizes with electronic resources to increase purchaser conversation, boost functions, payments and sustainability, as properly as issues for building these technologies in-dwelling or buying tech specializations by way of M&A endeavors. Linklaters’ M&A and tech teams are energetic in the sector, doing work closely with manufacturers and sector contributors on their most urgent difficulties.

Five key takeaways from the panel can be found below.

  1. Know and forecast your client – as fintech and electronic property continue to turn out to be woven into luxury manufacturers, it is vital that these brands anticipate their customers’ choices and know where to seize new clients – the two today and in the long term.
  2. Assess challenges in electronic belongings – specified digital belongings may possibly be deemed securities, with huge legal and regulatory implications, and the electronic asset area can be far more exposed to regulatory challenges than brand names may well be snug with – or even be knowledgeable of.
  3. Strategize M&A for a speedy tech growth – M&A will keep on to participate in an oversized position in the evolution of luxury brands’ incorporation and deployment of electronic property and systems in their model tactics.
  4. Prepare for the M&A transaction involving startups – commit in early conversations with founders and evidently established anticipations on their involvement article-closing. Take a look at different buildings at the onset (generate out? work arrangement? consulting?) to minimize threats of negotiations stalling or founders strolling away.
  5. Harness systems to greatly enhance the purchaser expertise – the use of applications and other systems help makes to superior market their products and solutions and initiatives on a international scale instead than only by the far more localized, regular implies of advertising, these as billboards, storefronts and publications. Even so, by gathering essential client functions and facts, acquisitions of tech remedies may well also expose brand names to new regulatory worries such as overseas expense management and info privateness and protection.
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Latest Stock Market News Today: Stocks surge as inflation eases, 10-year Treasury below 4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in freefall. | November 10, 2022

Latest Stock Market News Today: Stocks surge as inflation eases, 10-year Treasury below 4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in freefall. | November 10, 2022
Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
I:DJI $33,715.37 1,201.43 3.70
CRM $155.87 13.80 9.72
HD $312.04 25.29 8.82
NKE $99.57 7.47 8.11
AMGN $291.19 1.54 0.53
MCD $276.06 -1.73 -0.62

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared over a 1,201 points after October’s inflation data
eased slightly, a sign that could suggest rising prices are peaking. In response, the 10-year Treasury yield fell below 4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in the sharpest reversal since March 2009.

Salesforce.com, Home Depot and Nike topped the leader board, while Amgen and Nike lagged.

Nasdaq Composite Index.

$

11114.146834

The Nasdaq Composite surged over 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} the best performance ever following the CPI data.

LegalZoom.com beats Wall Street expectations

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
LZ $9.46 1.26 15.37

LegalZoom.com is higher in after-hours trading. The online platform for legal and compliance solutions topped Wall Street revenue and profit expectations.

Third quarter revenue rose 4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to $154.4 million, higher than the estimate of $149.9 million. Subscription revenue was $91.4 million, compared to $73.3 million in 2021, an increase of 25{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} year-over-year.

The net loss for the three months ended September 30 was $10.1 million for the quarter, or 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of revenue, compared to $39.7 million or 27{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of revenue in 2021.

The basic and diluted non-GAAP net income per share was 5 cents for the quarter in 2022, better than the estimate of 4 cents.

Musk tells Twitter staff: Bankruptcy isn’t out of the question — report

Twitter owner Elon Musk told employees on Thursday that he is not sure how much run rate the company has and that bankruptcy is not out of the question, the Managing Editor of tech newsletter Platformer tweeted.

Musk is participating in an all-hands meeting with Twitter employees, a source told Reuters.

Twitter did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment from Reuters.

TWITTER TURMOIL CONTINUES UNDER MUSK, TRIGGERING FTC WARNING

Homebuilder Beazer Homes tops Wall Street estimates

Beazer Homes Usa Inc.

$

12.51

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
BZH $12.53 1.54 14.01

Beazer Homes is higher in extended trading. The homebuilder beat Wall Street revenue and profit estimates.

Third quarter revenue rose to $827.67 million, up from $590.94 million a year ago.

Net income for the three months ended September 30 was $86.82 million, up from $48.36 million.

Diluted income per share came in at $2.82, topping the estimate of $2.06.

Chair and CEO Allan Merrill said the company is responding to a challenging homebuilding environment by increasing incentives and reduced base prices in most of communities.

“In the quarters ahead we will continue to adjust the included features, size, and pricing of our homes to compete for sales. At the same time, we expect to benefit from lower construction costs and shorter cycle times, as lower new home construction activity relieves some of the commodity, building product and labor constraints that have contributed to a significant increase in the cost of new homes,” Merrill said.

Vaping company Juul cuts 400 jobs amid growing setbacks

Embattled vaping company Juul Labs announced hundreds of layoffs Thursday as the company weathers lawsuits, government bans and increasing competition for its electronic cigarettes.

Juul said it has obtained new financing to stay in business and continue operations, which includes challenging plans by the Food and Drug Administration to ban its products.

The layoffs include 400 staffers and are part of a cost-saving plan to immediately cut Juul’s operating budget by 30{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to 40{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, according to a person familiar with the plan who requested anonymity to discuss its details. The new cash infusion came from two early Juul investors: Nicholas Pritzker, head of Hyatt Hotels, and Riaz Valani, a private equity specialist based in San Francisco, according to the same person.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news Thursday morning.

White House: ‘Cryptocurrencies risk harming everyday Americans’

The White House says it’s closely monitoring the chaos in cryptocurrencies.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said cryptocurrencies are something the Biden Administration sees as an important issue.

“The most recent news further underscores these concerns and highlights why prudent regulation of cryptocurrencies is indeed needed,” Jean-Pierre said.

“The administration has consistently maintained that without proper oversight, cryptocurrencies risk harming everyday Americans.”

Cryptocurrencies fell into turmoil after crypto exchange Binance backed out of a deal to buy rival FTX.

FTX is looking to raise $9.4 billion, Reuters reported.

DC AG sues Washington Commanders, Dan Snyder, NFL over ‘toxic workplace culture’

Washington, D.C. attorney general Karl Racine announced a new lawsuit
against the Washington Commanders, team owner Dan Snyder, the National Football League, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The complaint accuses the parties of colluding to deceive District residents—Commanders’ core fans—about an investigation into toxic workplace culture and allegations of sexual assault to maintain a strong fanbase and increase profits.

The complaint seeks financial penalties and a court order forcing the NFL to release the findings from a 10-month independent investigation into the Commanders’ workplace culture, to give the fans and the public the truth and information they expected.

Keurig Dr Pepper CEO out over alleged code of conduct violations

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
KDP $37.92 0.35 0.94

The CEO of Keurig Dr Pepper has resigned due to violations of the company’s code of conduct. The alleged transgressions were unrelated to strategy, operations or financial reporting, the company said.

Ozan Dokmecioglu was replaced by Bob Gamgort, the Keurig Dr Pepper’s current executive chair and former CEO.

Gamgort will continue his role as chair.Dokmecioglu was promoted to CEO from CFO, effective July 29.

AstraZeneca no longer pursuing US approval for COVID vaccine

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
AZN $64.25 3.21 5.25

AstraZeneca is no longer pursuing U.S. approval of its COVID-19 vaccine, Chief Executive Pascal Soriot said in a media call on Thursday.

Demand for vaccines in the country is declining and the market is well served by the mRNA shots, he said.

Facebook dials back the freebies

Facebook parent Meta is curbing a slew of company perks after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced 11,000 employees would lose their jobs.

Meta Platforms Inc.

$

109.17

Nike’s Phil Knight says Kyrie relationship likely finished

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
NKE $98.62 6.52 7.08

Kyrie Irving’s comments may have cost the Brooklyn Net’s all-star has partnership with Nike.

Nike co-founder Phil Knight told CNBC: “I would doubt that we go back. But I don’t know for sure.”

Irving signed with Nike in 2011 and has had a signature line with the athletic apparel maker since 2014. His annual endorsement deal is said to be worth around $11 million.

Department store chain Dillard’s tops Wall Street expectations

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
DDS $326.11 12.81 4.09

Dillard’s is higher in Thursday trading. The department store operator topped Wall Street revenue and profit estimates.

Third quarter revenue rose 4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to $1.57 billion from a year ago; analysts expected $1.48 billion. Comparable store sales increased 8{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

Net income for the three months ended October 29 was $187.9 million, down from $197.3 million.

Quarterly adjusted earnings of $10.96​​ per share for the quarter ended in October. The mean expectation of four analysts for the quarter was for earnings of $5.86 per share.

Dillard’s Chief Executive Officer William T. Dillard, II stated, “Inventory control remains a priority as we have seen its powerful effects on our business. To date this year, our net income is up 11{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} over last year’s strong performance and earnings per share is up 32{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

Developing Story

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried in crisis mode

Billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is fighting for survival as his FTX cryptocurrency exchange spirals.

Airlines make changes as Tropical Storm Nicole disrupts air travel

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
AAL $14.83 0.85 6.08
DAL $35.69 2.23 6.66
JBLU $7.94 0.62 8.51
LUV $39.02 1.82 4.89
UAL $44.30 1.93 4.56

Airlines are scrambling to reroute passengers as Tropical Storm Nicole disrupts flights and closes airports.

More than 1,200 flights in, out of and across the United States were canceled as of 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday as the storm brought strong winds and heavy rain, according to data from flight-tracking website FlightAware. 

Over 1,000 flights have been delayed.

Tether freezes $46M FTX wallet followiing law-enforcement request — report

Tether has reportedly frozen $46 million of USDT tokens, CoinDesk reported. The move came at the request of law enforcement.

A Tether executive told CoinDesk the stablecoin issuer was receiving requests by law enforcement to temporarily freeze assets.

Tron block explorer Tronscan said FTX owns the frozen wallet, the report said.

FTX reopened withdrawals Thursday, CoinDesk reported, citing on-chain data provided by analytics firm Nansen.

The company’s website, however, still displayed an earlier message that said it was unable to process withdrawals.

FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried has launched an urgent push to raise funds to save his firm as the crypto exchange looks to plug a reported $8 billion hole in its finances, according to tweets and a memo to employees.

A spokesperson for the company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Theme park operator Six Flags agrees to allow larger investment by H Partners

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
SIX $21.86 2.72 14.21

Six Flags Entertainment is higher in Thursday trading. The world’s largest regional theme park company agreed to permit H Partners to increase its beneficial ownership of Six Flags common stock to 19.9{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, up from a cap of 14.9{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in the original agreement, a regulatory filing said.

Separately, the largest operator of waterparks in North America reported third-quarter earnings of $115.8 million.

The Arlington, Texas-based company said it had net income of $1.39 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.65 per share.

The amusement park operator posted revenue of $504.8 million in the period, which also missed Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $565.4 million.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mortgage rates are back above 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}

Symbol Price Change {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}Change
FMCC $0.48 0.00 0.02
RDFN $4.46 1.20 36.54
COMP $2.26 0.41 22.16

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate returned to the 20-year highs of two weeks ago when rates breached 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} for the first time since 2002.

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate rose to 7.08{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} from 6.95{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} last week. A year ago the average rate was 2.98{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

The rate for a 15-year mortgage, popular with those refinancing their homes, climbed to 6.38{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} from 6.29{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} last week. It was 2.27{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} one year ago.

“As the housing market adjusts to rapidly tightening monetary policy, mortgage rates again surpassed seven percent,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “The housing market is the most interest-rate sensitive segment of the economy, and the impact rates have on homebuyers continues to evolve. Home sales have declined significantly and, as we approach year-end, they are not expected to improve.”

The latest numbers come after the Labor Department reported Thursday that the consumer inflation rose 0.4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in October from the previous month. Prices climbed 7.7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} on an annual basis.

INFLATION HOLDS GRIP ON US ECONOMY IN OCTOBER AS PRICES REMAIN STUBBORNLY HIGH

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Elon Musk to Twitter workers…

Elon Musk tells Twitter workers the work from home trend may be coming to an end, according to reports.

Breaking News

October’s CPI

Inflation for October at the consumer level eased a bit but remains near a 40-year high.

Cryptocurrencies stabilize after FTX deal turmoil

Cryptocurrency prices stabilized Thursday morning after a tumultuous couple of days sparked by news surrounding the collapse of a deal involving FTX Trading.

Crypto exchange Binance announced it was pulling out of a deal to purchase the failing rival.

The turmoil sent cryptocurrencies reeling.

The price of bitcoin plunged more than 15{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} on Wednesday to $15,840, according to CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency fell for four straight days, dropping more than 26{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} during that time.

Bitcoin was trading around $16,000 Thursday morning.

Ethereum was trading around $1,200, after dropping more than 15{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in the past week.

Dogecoin was trading around 8 cents, after losing 37{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} in the past week.

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Gasoline price slips slightly

The nationwide price for a gallon of gasoline slipped Thursday to $3.803, according to AAA.

The average price of a gallon of gasoline on Wednesday was $3.805.  

One week ago, a gallon of gasoline cost $3.778. A month ago, that same gallon of gasoline cost $3.919.

Gas hit an all-time high of $5.016 on June 14.

Diesel gained to $5.362.

Oil whipsaws ahead of inflation report

Oil prices bounced around Thursday, following three days of declines as the impact of renewed COVID curbs in China weighed and traders await U.S. inflation data that may give direction on further interest rate increases.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading around $85.00 a barrel.

Brent crude futures traded around $92.00 a barrel.

WTI is down more than 7{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} this week.

Brent prices have dropped more than 6{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

Consumer price index (CPI) data for the United States will be released later on Thursday that is expected to show a slowdown in the inflation rate for both the monthly and yearly core numbers. 

That may have an impact on the size of futures interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Oil prices were also under pressure after a big build in U.S. crude inventories reported on Wednesday.

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‘Do something you love and do it well’: NDIAS artist-in-residence Thom Browne speaks to Notre Dame community | News | Notre Dame News

‘Do something you love and do it well’: NDIAS artist-in-residence Thom Browne speaks to Notre Dame community | News | Notre Dame News
“The Making of Thom Browne,” a conversation between Browne and Michael Hainey. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)
“The Earning of Thom Browne,” a discussion involving Browne and Michael Hainey. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

Like good artists in the course of heritage, Thom Browne has targeted on using some thing ordinary or mundane and creating other people see it in a distinctive way.

In Browne’s situation, that item is the vintage gray suit, and his reimagining of it has fashioned the basis for a environment-renowned fashion empire.

Browne, a Notre Dame graduate from the class of 1988, returned to the College this week as an artist-in-residence at the Notre Dame Institute for Superior Examine. And on Tuesday evening, he spoke to an audience of additional than 200 people in Washington Hall, encouraging today’s Notre Dame pupils to stick to their goals — and to be open to observing issues from a new standpoint.

“Fashion is a crucial dimension to how we encounter our life in community areas, and there is no designer alive nowadays who has supplied a lot more considered to the problem of how the uniforms that we don also transform us as men and women than Thom Browne,” claimed NDIAS director Meghan Sullivan at the function. “As he has radically transformed how we understand the grey match, Thom has served us see in new proportions the delight and creativity that is bubbling correct below the surface of a little something seemingly commonplace. He has transformed the dialogue about how men and women can thrive in the constraints of the community expectations place on us.”

The function, “The Making of Thom Browne,” featured a conversation between Browne and Michael Hainey, an alumnus from the class of 1986. Hainey, deputy editor of Air Mail and previous deputy editor of GQ Magazine, is the creator of the New York Times-bestselling memoir “After Going to Friends: A Son’s Story.”

In introducing Browne and Hainey, John McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost, mentioned the University is privileged to welcome back two these accomplished alumni.

“A wonderful investigation college have to have a system for improving the arts, such as signature tutorial packages as we do at Notre Dame … as very well as a lively lifetime of the arts exterior the classroom,” McGreevy claimed. “These programs and these situations assist our college students to see the job of creating and artwork in their lives and to awaken the imaginative spirit in them, no issue what their big is.

“We feel, college students, that the following Thom Browne or Michael Hainey is sitting in the viewers correct now, and we are thrilled to have the prospect to listen to Thom and Michael describe how they made the journey from Notre Dame to their remarkable careers.” 

A former GQ Designer of the Yr and 3-time winner of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Menswear Designer of the 12 months Award, Browne has intended for a huge range of celebrities and community figures, which include LeBron James, David Bowie and Michelle Obama.

Even though his models have been identified by top rated museums around the earth which includes the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Browne instructed the audience that when he graduated from Notre Dame he had no thought he would a person day develop into a fashion designer.

“When I was a student listed here, I experienced no clue what my prepare was, what I wished to do, and, you know, you really don’t have to know what your plan is proper now,” Browne reported. “But 34 several years later it can come about. Often retain your intellect open up to be ready to working experience lifestyle since, definitely, I consider lifestyle is just an amazing instructor.”

In the course of the dialogue, Browne traced the arc of his occupation — from stints in consulting and acting to his initially careers in the structure field with Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren’s Club Monaco. From there, he set out on his have, setting up by offering his satisfies out of his New York Metropolis condominium ahead of officially launching his brand in 2003.

“If you seriously want it to occur, you have to make positive that you are passionate ample about it and that you love it much more than any person else in the globe,” Browne explained. “And for me, it was that.”

It took a number of decades for the trend world to commence to choose observe of Browne, and there had been situations in people early a long time when he approximately misplaced the fledgling business. Hainey requested Browne what he discovered about himself throughout that time. 

“I’m stubborn,” Browne answered. “I uncovered that, you know, I experienced to do the get the job done. And I did not seriously believe previous just building it happen. One particular matter that I learned from my parents is that you have to seriously work tough, and just make absolutely sure you do some thing that is critical, something you enjoy, and try out to do it really properly.”

Browne, who will come to be the next chairman of the Council of Manner Designers of The us in January, reported that even just after 20 years he even now feels he has a lot extra do the job to do in creating designs that challenge preconceptions and provoke discussion.

“I do want to develop something that ideally transcends style in a way and isn’t just about the outfits,” he reported. “The apparel, the assortment, and how it’s designed is genuinely essential, but I want it to be extra than just about style … I want it to pretty much be a piece of dwelling artwork. And when you see that on the avenue, there is so much extra to what you are viewing than just any individual in a piece of grey tailoring.”

Addressing the learners in the viewers, Browne emphasised the great importance of education and really hard perform — and told them he believed they can do anything.

“I imagine the excellent issue about Notre Dame is that you are all in these kinds of an awesome position and you truly feel like every person cares for you right here,” he mentioned. “There shouldn’t be any boundaries to what you want to do simply because if I can do it, you can do it.”

Browne will return to campus in the spring semester to keep on the conversation with Hainey and to engage with pupils in a just one-credit system, “Strong Satisfies: The Artwork, Philosophy, and Business enterprise of Thom Browne,” co-taught by Sullivan and Michael Schreffler, affiliate dean for the arts and professor in the Section of Artwork, Art Background and Layout. 

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Medical student-led multicultural fundraiser Oct. 10 to celebrate diversity through fashion, dance and music – School of Medicine News

Medical student-led multicultural fundraiser Oct. 10 to celebrate diversity through fashion, dance and music – School of Medicine News
Chinese people dancer Thomas Davis is among the the performers.

Tunes, dance, manner, food and enjoyable are all on the agenda for a student-led fundraiser at Wayne State University that will elevate cash for 482Ahead, a community corporation advocating for education and learning justice for the diverse youth of Detroit.

The WSU School of Medicine’s Globe Overall health Pupil Business will host its first Multicultural Fundraiser at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 in the College student Centre Ballroom. The party will showcase quite a few cultures via a manner clearly show, stay performances and extra.

WHSO Treasurer and Co-Fundraising Chair Mariam Samir, a to start with-12 months professional medical pupil, hopes to make it once-a-year celebration.

“We are hoping to elevate awareness of the issues lots of Detroit youth confront, a section of which stems from a absence of knowing and appreciation of the unique cultures existing. Folks panic what they do not know,” Samir said. “By delivering a platform for folks to depict their society, we are hoping to strengthen cultural appreciation and enhance curiosity and open-mindedness. Additionally, we are aiming to increase money to guide 482Forward in its goals of campaigning for training justice.”

Samir recruited additional university student businesses from the Faculty of Medication to collaborate in the celebration. They consist of the Black Health care Association, Latino Health care Scholar Affiliation, Asian Pacific American Professional medical Scholar Affiliation, Islamic Clinical University student Association, American Affiliation of Medical professionals of Indian Origin and the Nationwide Arab American Healthcare Affiliation.

“When we started searching for a charity, we wanted to select a thing that people today of many cultures can relate to, so we concentrated our consideration regionally,” Samira mentioned. “Detroit is acknowledged for its broad range, and the citizens of Detroit face many systemic troubles. 482Forward makes use of its campaigns to make transform at that degree. One particular of their campaigns, for instance, was changing laws to put extra money toward psychological well being in universities. Aside from mental health and fitness, they also target on trauma, social determinants of wellness and adverse childhood activities, trauma-knowledgeable treatment, immigration justice in schools and language in colleges.”

The celebration is open up to all and will include remarks from Faculty of Drugs Dean Wael Sakr, M.D., a 50-50 raffle, raffles for henna tattoos by nearby artists, and Center Eastern-impressed meals.

Performers consist of Kpop, Chinese folk and Latino dance teams based at WSU guitarist and second-12 months professional medical student Hassan Ahmad, who will engage in Bollywood and South Asian-encouraged music and a spoken phrase overall performance by Assistant Professor of Interior Medicine-Pediatrics Ijeoma Nnodim-Opara, M.D. ’08, Res. ’12.

The fashion clearly show will spotlight outfits from 5 areas, like Pacific Asian, South Asian, Middle-Jap, African/African American/Diaspora and South American/Latino.

Students exciting in modeling in the fashion display may indication up at https://varieties.gle/7jixmPdaftU5Z8s36.