Podcasts about Kroger

On this episode from March 9, 2022, we hear Heather go on a real tear about International Women's Day. Coming off of a great weekend in Albany slinging jokes on tour, she's back with attitude and some Heather health advice (we all know she is not a Dr., but wears a short white coat). Heather also takes voicemails from the hotline. Episode Sponsors:Visit ProlonLife.com/absolutely to claim your 15% discount and your bonus gift.Find Kahlúa Dunkin Caramel Swirl at retailers nationwide, including Walmart, Total Wine, Albertsons, Kroger, Ralphs, Safeway, BevMo, Publix, and more. Must be 21 or older to purchase. Please drink responsibly. For additional information, visit Kahlua.com and follow @Kahlua on Instagram.Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.Produced by Dear Media.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: Slim Jim: Stock up for gameday and tear into new Buffalo Wild Wing Chicken Sticks, from Slim Jim. Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Shady Rays: Go to http://shadyrays.com and use code SPORTS for 40% off 2+ pairs of polarized sunglasses. Venmo: Score more with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card and get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash. Sign up at https://venmo.com/collegecard The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash bundle terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me/stashterms. Max $100 cash back per month. Stella Blue: Buy anything on stellabluecoffee.com from Wednesday March 11th to Friday March 13th to get entered to win 2 tickets to the Men's College Basketball National Championship. Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, looks at Kroger's decision to create a Chief Data and AI Officer role. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss what elevating the leader of 84.51 means for Kroger's long term AI strategy and how data leadership is becoming central to retail. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here: https://youtu.be/qZQHl9r-BUc #RetailNews #Kroger #AIinRetail #RetailTechnology #RetailInnovation #OmniTalk #RetailFastFive

This Omni Talk Retail Fast Five segment, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, explores Kroger's use of autonomous drones inside sub freezing distribution centers. Chris Walton and Jenn Hahn discuss how drone technology could transform warehouse inventory management and eliminate some of the most difficult cold chain tasks. ⏩ Tune in for the full episode here: https://youtu.be/qZQHl9r-BUc #RetailNews #Kroger #WarehouseAutomation #RetailLogistics #SupplyChain #OmniTalk #RetailFastFive

It is a special midweek drop and the group chat is packed. This episode covers the forces quietly reshaping the economy right now — from AI slashing business costs overnight, to GLP-1 drugs gutting the snack industry, to private credit markets showing their first real cracks. The guys break down what is actually happening beneath the headlines, why sports viewership is at an all-time high, which consumer brands are quietly hitting $10 billion, and why the stock market may be setting up for a violent rally. No fluff, no filler — just the conversations happening in every serious group chat right now.   Topics Covered This Episode: 1. AI Is Replacing Your Entire Software Stack How using Claude cut one company's AWS bill from $9,500 a month down to a projected $500 — and what that means for every business owner still paying for legacy SaaS tools. Plus: Lovable jumps from a $300M to $400M run rate in a single month, and Anthropic adds $6 billion in run rate in two months. The AI economy is not coming — it is already here. 2. The GLP-1 Effect Is Hitting Corporate Earnings Campbell Soup's snack division dropped 6% in a single quarter with no obvious explanation other than 30 million Americans now on GLP-1 medications. The guys explore the downstream ripple effects — grocery aisles, fast food, supplement brands, and what retailers like Kroger do when people simply stop snacking. 3. Private Credit Is Cracking Blackstone, Blue Owl, and Cliffwater are all facing record redemption requests after two major auto suppliers backed by private credit funds went under. Is this an economy problem, a bad-lending problem, or a panic problem? The guys break it all down and explain why it matters even if you have never heard of private credit. 4. Sports Is on an Unprecedented Run Every sport — NFL, NBA, MLS, World Baseball Classic, UFC — is posting record ratings. The guys explain why gambling, fragmented media, and the death of cable news are all fueling the surge, and why the Tom Brady flag football league and the Gronk vs. Logan Paul beef are the perfect example of how modern sports entertainment actually works. 5. The $10 Billion Consumer Brands Nobody Is Talking About Quince hits a $10 billion valuation doing nearly $2 billion in revenue by going factory-direct to consumers. The guys break down why consumer investing is back, who is losing market share, and what the rise of brands like Keats and Whatnot means for traditional retail. 6. Millionaire Taxes, Fraud, and the Wealth Exodus Washington State's new 9.9% millionaire tax, the staggering scale of hospice care fraud in Los Angeles, and why billionaires — and now regular millionaires — are leaving high-tax states for Nevada, Texas, and Florida. The argument is simple: clean up the fraud first, and you would not need to raise taxes at all. 7. The Stock Market Rally Nobody Wants to Miss Goldman Sachs is calling for an extreme stock rally. The guys explain why $8.5 trillion sitting in money markets has nowhere else to go, why the US stock market is the only investable market left in the world, and why owning assets — not just earning a salary — is the only play that makes sense right now.   Group Chat News drops every week. Subscribe so you never miss the conversation.    

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: Blue Diamond Growers: Upgrade To The Flavorful Nut Mix — Blue Diamond Almonds and More https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/0C5F2E71-B0FF-4B05-B8BB-4FB3B27175E4?ingress=0&lp_context_asin=B01GOTHTQS&visitId=edb47c37-3ae9-4e97-bd7b-5b3f4cce0323&ref_=ast_bln Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Venmo: Score more with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card and get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash. Sign up at https://venmo.com/collegecard The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash bundle terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me/stashterms. Max $100 cash back per month. BODYARMOR: Work hard and hydrate hard with BODYARMOR Flash I.V., the Official Rapid Rehydration Drink of March Madness. Grab it at 7-Eleven Fabletics: Head to https://Fabletics.com/mostlysports, take a quick style quiz, and be sure to select mostlysports when prompted to unlock your offer. Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

Host Jeremy C. Park talks with Ann Jarvis, Executive Director of USO Fort Campbell/Nashville, who discusses the organization's 85-year history of supporting military service members and their families through various programs and events. As a nonprofit, the organization provides morale-boosting activities and connects service members to resources and nonprofit partners through their 250 global locations, including their second-largest facility at Fort Campbell, which serves 400-500 service members daily. Ann, who leads a USO Fort Campbell/Nashville staff of five with numerous volunteers, oversees support across Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, with key centers at Fort Campbell, Nashville, and Little Rock. The organization runs various programs including care packages for deploying and returning service members, therapy dog visits, and music room access for service members, while also focusing on military youth with initiatives like the Month of the Military Child in April, which includes events like a military kid art show, a Military Kids Ball, and a mascot salute featuring corporate mascots. Ann discusses Military Appreciation Month and Military Spouse Appreciation Day in May, and America 250 in July. She highlights the Coffee Connections program, a monthly event for military spouses to build community and learn about resources. Ann mentions plans for a 5K run in Nashville to raise funds, encouraging businesses and individuals to get involved. Ann then highlights other USO programs, including Stuff the Trucks events with Kroger in Clarksville and Nashville, where community members can donate non-perishable items for service members. She details two types of care packages: "bye-bye bags" for deploying service members, which include small toiletries and non-perishable snacks (excluding chips), and larger "welcome home" bags containing essentials like toilet paper, and more substantial food items, like noodles, tuna, and utensils for service members returning at odd hours. Ann shares some of her personal experience serving overseas, emphasizing the organization's impact on military families. She encourages individuals to volunteer by visiting volunteers.uso.org, highlighting opportunities in various locations including Nashville, Fort Campbell, Little Rock, and Knoxville. Ann shares her own journey from volunteer to full-time employee, emphasizing the vital role of volunteers in supporting the USO's programs and events. She highlights the USO's need for in-kind donations and financial contributions to support their programs, and encourages viewers to visit their website for more information on how to get involved. Visit https://fortcampbell.uso.org for more details and to get involved.EVENTSDONATE

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: Blue Diamond Growers: Upgrade To The Flavorful Nut Mix — Blue Diamond Almonds and More https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/0C5F2E71-B0FF-4B05-B8BB-4FB3B27175E4?ingress=0&lp_context_asin=B01GOTHTQS&visitId=edb47c37-3ae9-4e97-bd7b-5b3f4cce0323&ref_=ast_bln Stella Blue:Buy anything on stellabluecoffee.com from Wednesday March 11th to Friday March 13th to get entered to win 2 tickets to the Men's College Basketball National Championship. DraftKings: Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Help is available for problem gambling. Call (888) 789-7777 or visit ccpg.org (CT). 18+ in most eligible states, but age varies by jurisdiction. Eligibility restrictions apply. Void where prohibited. 1 entry per customer. Free to enter. Must enter prior to tipoff of the first 2026 NCAA Men's Tournament game. $1,000,000 prize (split if multiple winners). Terms: dkng.co/maniasurvivorpool. Sponsored by DK. Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Rhoback: Use code SPORTS for 20% off your first purchase Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

Each week, the CPG Guys will riff on the hottest topics in the world of omnichannel commerce. This week's topics:Kroger's new CEOMilen Mahadevan named Chief Data & AI Officer at KrogerTarget's new strategyCostco pursues tariff refundsCPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.comFMCG Guys Website: http://FMCGguys.comSheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/Rhea Raj's Website: http://rhearaj.comLara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/DISCLAIMER: The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGGUYS, LLC or the individual author, hosts, or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPGGUYS, LLC. The views expressed by guests are their own and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent.CPGGUYS LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we presented in this podcast.

In this week's Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, Chris and guest host Jenn Hahn of J Recruiting Services discussed: Walmart expanding its digital shelf label technology to all 4,600 of its US stores, completing what is likely the single largest ESL rollout in retail history (Source) Costco CEO Ron Vachris is publicly pledging to return any tariff refunds directly to members through lower prices (Source) Kroger creating a new Chief Data and AI Officer role by elevating Milen Mahadevan, president of its 84.51 analytics subsidiary, to lead its entire AI and data agenda (Source) Kroger deploying autonomous inventory drones from Corvus Robotics into sub-freezing cold chain distribution facilities (Source) Dick's Sporting Goods, thanks to its Move fitness rewards app, unexpectedly rocketing to #3 on the Apple App Store free download chart, landing right between Claude and Gemini (Source) And Jenn also helped us hand out this month's OmniStar Award — given in partnership with Quorso — to Mark Chenier, SVP GMM of Footwear at Academy Sports and Outdoors! There's all that, plus nihilist penguins, spring break plans, March Madness predictions, and green beer. Music by hooksounds.com #RetailNews #WalmartESL #DigitalShelfLabels #KrogerAI #RetailTech #CostcoTariffs #RetailPodcast #OmniTalk #RetailFastFive #DicksSportingGoods #OmniStar #RetailInnovation

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl.In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:Kroger's new permanent CEO Greg Foran outlines his five growth priorities.Retail and grocery brands are already dominating ChatGPT's early ad ecosystem, with Sensor Tower tracking more than 100 individual brand promotions in OpenAI's first four weeks of advertising.Fabletics launches its first-ever denim collection, signaling a broader athleisure slowdown as post-pandemic consumers trade leggings for stretch jeans both on weekends and at the office.The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail insights.Be careful out there!

Jessica lives in Florence, KY. and submitted this recipe that I initially had some reservations about. Turns out, my fears were unfounded and it absolutely crushed today! For being today's Crockstar, Jessica gets a $100 gift card to Kroger!Corn and Macaroni Casserole1 stick salted butter3 cans corn - not drained3 cans cream corn1 box elbow or bowtie pasta2 lb block of velveeta - cubed1 cup milk or half and halfsalt/pepperAdd all ingredients to crockpot. Cook on high for 1 hour and then stir. Cook on low for 2-3 hours or until the pasta is tender.*Add additional milk or cream to your desired consistency.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Duvo and Mirakl.In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:Costco's Q2 2026 earnings reveal that AI-powered personalized product recommendation carousels drove more than $470 million in e-commerce sales in a single quarter, as digitally-enabled comparable sales surged 22.6%.Albertsons launches a month-long Stock Up Sale running March 6 through April 2 across nearly all its banners, offering hot prices, expanded digital coupons, and quadruple loyalty rewards points in a bid to improve its price image.Kroger announces Customer Appreciation Week, March 11–17, featuring storewide deals and a daily Digital Deal Drop mechanic designed to drive app engagement and urgency for its loyalty members.The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail insights.Be careful out there!

Allen reports live from ACP OM&S in Orlando, where the crew discusses high attendance costs, a pay-to-play model that shuts out newcomers, and how the event compares to WOMA. Plus, Vestas CEO Henrik Anderson says he’ll leave Denmark if proposed wealth taxes go through, sparking a debate on executive pay and Danish culture. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly newsletter on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on YouTube, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary’s “Engineering with Rosie” YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! [00:00:00] The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast brought to you by Strike Tape, protecting thousands of wind turbines from lightning damage worldwide. Visit strike tape.com And now your hosts. Allen Hall: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host Allen Hall, and I’m here with Yolanda Padron, Rosemary Barnes and Matthew Stead. I am at ACP OM&S in Orlando. Home of Mickey Mouse and we’ve had, uh, this is our second day at OM and S and this is the conference where all the operators and the maintenance and the ISPs and all the new technologies show up to, to discuss their products and try to get some work for the summertime. Uh, so there’s a, a good number of vendors here. Solars here, not as much best as I would as expected, and obviously a lot to do with wind. [00:01:00] Uh, I know we’ve been talking internally on Slack and amongst one another. This is one of the, the most expensive conferences I have ever attended. It’s about $2,200 to attend just to get yourself into the door. Rosemary Barnes: And that’s US dollars too.  Matthew Stead: Real dollars.  Allen Hall: Green backs.  Rosemary Barnes: That’s like three and a half times what our event cost. What warmer cost. If you do the conversion  Allen Hall: yes.  Rosemary Barnes: And you get access to what? An exhibition and all of a whole bunch, a variety of amazing, informative, technical topics included with that ticket price, right?  Allen Hall: No. You get access to the exhibition, they will feed you some, uh, enchiladas and some, uh, free beer, but all the technical talks are extra. You have to pay. Uh, a couple hundred dollars  Rosemary Barnes: enchiladas and beer are a must have that everyone obviously wants, but talking about wind energy, totally optional. Nobody. Now, obviously not everybody is gonna wanna talk about wind energy, [00:02:00] so that’s, that’s an extra ticket that you need for that one. Allen Hall: Well, in order to go to the, I would call them technical talks, you have to pay for those. They have an A space in the middle of the convention where they’re doing what they call powered cast. Which are kind of modeled on podcasts, uh, that are sort of a produced thing where they have a panel up there. It’s similar what to where you’d done in Melbourne with Woma, but not with real technical people. The more polishing people. That’s what I saw. I don’t know a lot of the names and I’m pretty used to, to recognizing names of wind and it looks like to be a lot more policy people not. Blade experts or people like that. Rosemary Barnes: I’m a little bit confused because it’s very different to, you know, I love to complain about the Australian wind energy events, but this sounds very different to the way that it’s run here. Like usually at the exhibitions, the exhibitors pay like a bunch of money to be there, and what they want is people to come see it. So [00:03:00] usually here the exhibition is. Free to attend because you are there to be advertised to, you know, like it’s not some like amazing, valuable thing to you. It’s super valuable to the exhibitors. That’s why they have to pay, you know, $10,000 plus to, to be there. Right, but you are saying that they’re, they’re charging the, the attendees are, they’re giving the exhibition space away for free then? Allen Hall: No, the exhibition space costs a tremendous amount of money for a little tiny space. I’m actually in our slot, we share. A slot because the prices are so high, we’re sharing it with AC 8 83 who we love and with C and C onsite, who also we love. So it’s a good combination ’cause we like one another. We’re fun to hang out with, but it’s probably a nine by nine space. Uh, and then you have to pay for carpet and all the furniture that happens inside of that space, you can easily spend. $10,000 on a salon.  Matthew Stead: Question for you, Allen. So, um, how [00:04:00] does, how does the industry foster, you know, new, new technology, new companies, you know, growth of the industry, new ideas, so, you know, how does this event, um, foster those sorts of things? Allen Hall: It doesn’t because it’s really, it’s pay to play as Rosemary has pointed out a number of times and is frustrated by. In order to get heard, you have to pay to one, have a booth, or if you want to get up on stage, it costs money. It’s, it’s not a small amount, by the way. So, uh, if you’re a new company, you got a great idea. You even have traction. Say you’re TRL seven plus and you want to connect with operators, it’s hard to do that here. Uh, the operators tend to be a little gun shy and, and they’re. Off on the side. I, I know some of them obviously, ’cause I, I know who they are, but it isn’t like, uh, the operators are walking around necessarily talking to all the exhibitors. That’s not how this [00:05:00] works. What generally is happening is the operators are talking, uh, to people that are selling products in these conference rooms on the side. So those things are completely off the show floor. It’s not the best situation. Like, I gotta admit, I’ve been to a lot of other conferences like in aerospace. Those tend to be a little more free flowing.  Rosemary Barnes: It’s interesting ’cause it’s like, obviously you go to the events because everybody goes to the event and I’m sure you’ve had some great conversations. Um, however, you don’t need to go inside. Like when you go to one of these huge events, you’re trapped inside a windowless room for all day, every day for several days in a row. Like, why does it need, why does it need to be there if they’re discourage, actively discouraging people from going to any presentations? Why couldn’t you just grab a bunch of friends, you know, put on an open invite, Hey, we’re all gonna the beach this week. Let’s go talk wind energy at the beach. Like, I, I don’t understand why we need to subject ourselves to this sort of, this sort of event. Like I [00:06:00] just, it it’s gotten out outta control, don’t you think?  Allen Hall: It has. I would never talk wind energy while I’m at the beach. I go, that’s probably one place where I’m not talking wind energy, but there are other nice places you could be. To talk about what’s happening in the industry and, and that’s one of the frustrating pieces about this is, although I love a lot of the people that are here, it’s not a great place to share new ideas or to learn something new. It’s, it’s mostly a, a meet and greet and catch up a reunion in a sense. Of, Hey, we’re the survivors. That’s it. Part of it is that feel right.  Rosemary Barnes: It’s pretty hard though if you are not like, you know, everybody you need to talk to. And I started doing the same thing, like at the um, one, one of the recent events or one of the events last year in, in Australia. I was so fed up with it the year before. I’m like, I’m not giving them any money this year. I was at least allowed to go to the exhibition for free at that event. So, you know, at least that’s something, but I mean, I barely even did that. Anyway. What I did was I set up at a cafe near to the event and just, I just [00:07:00]scheduled meetings like back to back for two days. Um, everyone just came to the cafe. But that’s ’cause I know everybody, right? Like, it’s like someone that’s new to the industry can get nothing out of these events. Now it seems like it’s just, it’s so, it’s so sad. Like where, how, how are you going? Like, you know, people brand new to the industry. You used to be able to go to an event and just be like, okay, I’m gonna just have information overload for two or three days, meet a bunch of great people and I’ll come away feeling like I’m part of this industry. I just can’t imagine. That happening at the event that you are describing, that someone would, would show up and, you know, come away knowing a lot more about the industry and with, with a bunch of useful connections. Am I right?  Allen Hall: Uh, I think you’re right. There’s were a couple of people that I ran into that were new to the industry, trying to start a service provider or repair business, generally speaking that, or a drone business that we’re trying to get into the, the industry and we’re reaching out and talking to people and. The thing about [00:08:00] wind is when you actually get ahold of somebody, they will help you. It’s, it’s very, uh, open. What do you do? What are you trying to do? Wherever you talk, who you talk to, here’s some names that will happen, but it is daunting because there’s a lot of people here. You don’t know anybody, and there’s no way to really introduce them. I think that one of the things that, uh, American C Clean powered. Did, uh, that I noticed was they had like a first timers reunion space, so, or a meeting space so that it had some beach balls and a little Tahiti hut or whatever those tiki hut or whatever that was where you could kind of hang out because you knew. But I’m not sure that’s the best way to do that. I think, you know, American clean power could do a much better job of knowing who’s first time and connecting them. If the industry’s gonna grow, you need to be taking in new people and new ideas. To it. The only way you’re gonna be able to do that is if you actively make it happen. Matthew Stead: Did you learn anything new [00:09:00] so far?  Allen Hall: Not new. Uh, I, because we’re doing the podcast and we’re recorded several episodes in the last two days, I was able to ask specific questions like, what are you working on? What’s new? What’s coming out? And that’s the way to get to those answers. But if you’re walking the exhibit four, you would not see a lot of new technology and. Three years ago, I think four years ago, especially like during COVID, there was some pretty cool technology out on the show floor, uh, but not so much Today, the industry’s matured and, and it’s a tough industry to, to survive in. So what you generally see is companies that have been around 3, 4, 5 years that have made it, that are profitable, that are making good and income, and are providing a service and have sustained businesses, that’s what’s here today. Yolanda Padron: I think that a CP, the intent behind events like the one you’re, and Allen and the one we’ve, the ones we’ve all been to are, the intent is great, but the [00:10:00] execution isn’t super great. Not just from the the point of view of people coming in from new to the industry and wanting to start an ISP or something, but just from the owner operator. Point of view, you know, you’re, if you have to pay to go to specific talks or to go to technical talks that you don’t really know how much they’ll benefit you until basically the end of it. Once you see the information that’s gone into it and the practicality of everything that they, they’re talking about, and then when you’re walking in the showroom like four, like it’s a little bit daunting sometimes. There’s hundreds of companies. Sitting around in kind of like a maze, right? And it’s not always like, oh, you need lightning protection. Like that’s that area. Or you need better locks for your o and m buildings or for your towers or something. It’s that section like you’re just walking around everywhere. And then just. It kind of turns [00:11:00] into, like sometimes it can turn into just a game of like, if you’re going with a lot of colleagues, like a kind of a drinking day or a day to just see who can collect more freebies. Like I remember one year we had a group chat of like, oh, like every time you saw something cool that was like a, a merchandise thing, like you would put it in the group chat, like E 46 has this. And then we would all go and get it and it was. I don’t think that’s the intent behind what, what we wanted to do. It really wasn’t what we saw at oma if we’re being completely honest.  Matthew Stead: What I’m hearing is that there’s a really strong need in the US for another event. Is that, is that what I’m hearing?  Allen Hall: I think there needs to be a real technical event run by people who are technical experts. I think that’s it because there are a lot of new solutions out there, but you’re not gonna find them at OMX. That’s just not the place. Now, I’m sure a CP would dispute that and that’s fine. They [00:12:00] have their own opinion. But I think having attended this for several years and a CP and a number of other, uh, conferences in wins, there’s a small subset that are sharing solutions. It’s small and maybe there is need for one in America. It’s hard saying, Matthew, I. I think that maybe there’s is a time and place for it. I’m not sure America’s ready for it in, in a broader scope, but maybe something small. Maybe that’s the way to start off, is to do something small. Bring in the people we know and love from around the world have, go back to Rosemary’s point. Maybe we do something by the, by the pool or by the ocean. Maybe we do talk wind energy for, for an afternoon.  Rosemary Barnes: I understand why you can’t, um, have an event at. A resort. And it was suggested actually to me a couple of times, like people when we were organizing Wilma, why is this in Melbourne? Why isn’t this in the Maldives? Or you know, some, something like that. And the [00:13:00] one of the reasons like for us, ’cause in our Melbourne event it’s a, you know, it’s a very low cost event. We don’t make any money from it. It’s small. At least half of wind energy People in Australia are living in Melbourne, so it’s very, you know, easy for them to go to that it doesn’t, it doesn’t cost much or take much time. So that was that reason. But I think that, you know, more broadly, like say we did a global event and we put it in the, in the malice or in Fiji or Hawaii or whatever, like, people aren’t gonna get that approved from their managers, right? So even though you know, you’ve spent, I don’t know how much the technical sessions were, but by the time that you’ve gotten to a CP, if you had to. Even, you know, fly there in Australian hotel for a few nights, like it’s gonna be, you know, four grand or something. You can get to a nice location, probably an all-inclusive resort for a week, somewhere nice for similar money. Like you would spend more time having quality conversations and it would be, you know, nice and enjoyable, but [00:14:00] your manager is never gonna approve that. So I think that’s the challenge. To find somewhere that’s like nice and conducive to being relaxed and open, but that doesn’t sound like. So obviously a junket that no one will get approval to go to it. That’s the, that’s the challenge.  Matthew Stead: Um, just this week we got the feedback from the WMA conference. So we got, um, some of the results from the survey and I think, uh, probably the key thing to me was that we achieved 4.6 out of five, um, star rating. Um, everyone gave it a four or a five. And we know people that give things four out of five actually mean five. So I think we did really well. So, uh, and the feedback was also, um, you know, the technical content, but people want more, more and more, uh, technical content and, and the interaction with people. Rosemary Barnes: That’s a really, a really key thing to get feedback on if there are. Experts or categories of information that you would like to see covered that haven’t been, because I think, like we talk a lot about how, what the [00:15:00]problems are with a pay to play kind of model where speakers pay and get up and give a sales pitch and you know, there’s a lot of problems with that. But then when it’s the other way around and you know, we’re choosing speakers that we know are good, then you fall into the risk of having it become cliquey where it’s just, you know, like all our friends over and over again. It’s uh, like hard for us to both vet the quality and bring in people that we don’t know. So that’s where the outside feedback is gonna make that a lot better. Um, and it takes a long time, you know, you do, ’cause you, you do need to get to know a speaker before you can decide whether they’re gonna get up in the acne. You don’t sell at you for half an hour when they were supposed to, you know, do something informative. So, would love to hear that feedback.  Matthew Stead: I think the proof is in the pudding because, uh, at for woma, no one said that they were unlikely to attend.  Allen Hall: Oh, I, I would hate to see what the numbers are gonna be for OMS this year. Uh, ’cause you know, you know why I say that? Because a lot of people that have exhibited in the past do not have a booth this year, and they’re walking [00:16:00] around the show. And to me that’s an alarm signal. They should have a booth. They have good things to talk about. They’re a successful company. They’re doing great things to win, but they feel like this is just too much. It’s too much. Eventually you reach too much. I think we’re there.  Rosemary Barnes: I think it’s been a really good, like, uh, a big event with an exhibition can be a real money maker. And for, you know, like, uh, assuming that SAP uses this. The money that they make from this event to deliver services for the American Wind Industry. Uh, I mean, you, you know, you can probably argue about how well or not they do that. I don’t have an opinion ’cause I’m not in America. But, you know, like, I, I’m not saying that that’s not the, um, a, a noble goal and a good thing to, for the business to be doing. However, I think that it, that you can overshoot and, you know, so you can make a, a bunch of money for a few years. You know, you’ve got a good reputation for your event. You’ve got everybody comes to it. You can charge squillions to exhibitors. You can charge squillions more to speakers. You can even start charging people to watch the speakers who have [00:17:00] paid to be there. Probably, I don’t, I don’t actually know in this case, my assumption. Um, but at some point. Like you’ve cottoned on that, hey, it’s not actually worth paying extra for the, um, you know, to go watch the speakers. And the last one of these, you know, similar Australian events I was at, I was like, Hey, it’s not actually worth me paying to go into there because I can get all the benefits by just being near to it, like then. Once you don’t have heaps and heaps of people moving through, then exhibitors don’t wanna pay $10,000 to be there. Um, and so like, it’s just, it’s not sustainable to run the event like that. And that’s what I don’t think that, um, a lot of these event organization companies, especially the ones that aren’t run by an industry body, um, the ones that are just run by a company who exist to make money off events. You know, like they’re not, I don’t think that they’re planning these events to be sustainable in the long term and to improve the industry.  Matthew Stead: Can I ask, um, a question for Yolanda and Allen. Um, so assuming this money for a CP [00:18:00] ends up as lobbying money, do you think lobbying at the moment actually helps? Allen Hall: Here’s the feeling about it on the floor, and I haven’t talked to everybody here clearly. But the significant percentage I had talked to thinks that the policy efforts have not borne fruit, and that in some aspects, uh, they have increased the tension. Whether they’ve intentionally have done that or not, I don’t know. But I think the feeling on the floor here, the last two days has been the industry is in a quote unquote downturn or a pause, and they’re waiting till 2028 to see what happens. That’s not the answer I wanted to hear. And also at the state level, I think, uh, the amount of policy changes that are happening are not pro wind, pro solar or pro best, except maybe in a couple of states. So, uh, you feel like although [00:19:00] American clean power is on a national level, you will also like them to be at a state level, helping move some things forward and stop some of the prohibitions that are happening, or to get some of the permits issued. That’s one of the things that popped up today, talking to someone in the know as that permits are hard to get hold of in some states. Well, American Clean Power is supposed to be helping with that. I’m not sure that they are, at least if they are, you can’t see anything visible happening. From the outside, which is a shame. That’s really a shame. So, you know where we go from here? I, I, I’m kind of in Rosemary’s camp. I had no idea. Uh, next year gonna be really interesting. I, I don’t know what the numbers of attendees are. Uh, I’m guessing a couple thousand people are here. I’m guessing, let’s just say it’s 2000 people. I may be off plus or minus. Well, not on the negative side. It’s more than a thousand people here, but it’s not 10,000. That’s for sure.  Yolanda Padron: I think that, uh, someone at Woma summed it up really [00:20:00] well when they said that, um, we need to shift the conversation from this is the right thing to do to this, is this, we should make this to be cost effective and it should be the obvious decision to make. Right? Just from a financial standpoint. Uh, and I think, I think that’s right from my, uh. Personal interactions with a lot of people in dc I think that lobbying really helps regardless of the political party that one is affiliated to. Um, just, just the way that sometimes our, our system seems to. I not, not to say that anything’s negative, I think it’s, I mean, it’s just the, the way things pan out, uh, oftentimes in the [00:21:00] us. Um, yeah, I mean, I’ve, I’ve heard from. From both sides.  Allen Hall: Well, to Yolanda’s point, I would say we don’t belong to American clean power because one, it’s expensive and as a small business, does it make sense as the changing policy that helps me? The answer to that historically has been no. It doesn’t mean it’s not gonna happen in the future. I think a lot of. Companies of our size are saying the same thing. There are some that have been here a lot longer that have knew a CP before it was a CP when it was a, a slightly different organization and they’ve continued on on, on some level just I think because they’re familiar with it. But I think the newcomers are having a heart attack. And I would consider me to be a newcomer that we’ve been in wind since about 2012 or 2013, so we’ve been in it quite a while at this point. But there’s some old guard here. The new. The new players though, I think are struggling. I think there’s very few new companies that are flashy. Like we saw in San Antonio a [00:22:00] couple of years ago at American Clean Power. We’re like, wow, there are some boosts here. And man, there’s some firepower happening and some really good marketing and some new products and new ideas. That’s not. That’s not here. Not, not this year. Delamination and bottom line, failures and blades are difficult problems to detect early. These hidden issues can cost you millions in repairs and lost energy production. C-I-C-N-D-T are specialists to detect these critical flaws before they become a. Expensive burdens. Their non-destructive test technology penetrates deep to blade materials to find voids and cracks. Traditional inspections completely. Miss C-I-C-N-D-T Maps. Every critical defect delivers actionable reports and provides support to get your blades back in service. So visit cic ndt.com because catching blade problems early will save you millions.[00:23:00] Denmark has long been the home of the wind industry, but now our proposed new wealth taxes threatening to push one of its most prominent executives out the door. And Henrik Anderson, chief executive officer of Vestas says he will leave Denmark rather than pay the new tax, even if it costs him tens of millions of Broner and exit fees. Uh, Anderson earned 32 million Kroger last year, and estimates he pays an effective tax rate of 60% already. He argues Denmark already leads Europe in income taxation and adding a wealth tax crosses the line and he, if he goes, he warns senior leadership could follow. Now, that’s a pretty bold statement for someone who was seen as one of the leadership. Uh, a group of Denmark on the industrial side. Of course,  Rosemary Barnes: I’d argue it’s also culturally, [00:24:00] culturally not a super Danish thing to, to say at least publicly. Um, yeah, I dunno how many Danish listeners we’ve got, but one thing that I learned when I lived there, they’ve got this thing called yte Long. I think it comes from an, an old book, like fictional book, but it does pretty. Well, Danish people say it pretty accurately describes Danish culture. I’ve just, uh, looked it up. But, um, so it’s Y Y’s law and that has 10, there’s 10 rules in Y’s law and they are, one, you’re not to think that you are anything special. Two, you’re not to think you are as good as we are. Three, you’re not to think you are smarter than we are, or you’re not to imagine yourself better than we are. You know, it can, it continues down like that. But I just wonder like, is the Danish wind industry, have they flown too close to the sun? Have they become too thought themselves too special? Is this an example of where Denmark Danish people would say, you know [00:25:00] what? Who do you think you are when dentistry, you think that you’re better than us? You think you’re smarter than us? Do you think that you don’t deserve to contribute to society? Because that is one of the biggest cultural differences that I found in in Denmark, was that people genuinely think that they have the um, responsibility when they’re doing well to make sure that everybody else in society is doing well. This is an interesting cultural moment for Denmark, is all I would try to say that this to me, I’m very interested to see how Danish people respond to this idea that. We’re gonna, we’re gonna leave now because we don’t wanna share our, uh, wealth with the Danish, with Danish society as a whole  Allen Hall: 32 million kroners, that’s actually extremely low and in the United States. Uh, there are thousands of companies, much smaller than Vestas, where the CEO is making a lot more than that, and to give half of that, more than [00:26:00] half of that away, so the CEO is taking home a million and US dollars, like 1,000,002, that’s not a tremendous amount of money. I for the responsibility which are on that person’s shoulders. I could see being a little upset about that. And obviously he travels in circles in which he meets a lot of people that are making a lot more money come to America, stop at a, I don’t know, there’s a lot of places, machine shops that’ll make more money than that. Uh, so I think there’s a right to be upset about it. You know, the, everything that’s happening in Denmark at the moment, I’m trying to. I feel like Denmark is getting it together. And then these things happen and I start to worry again. Uh, there’s, there’s so many things that have happened in the United States. They’re pushing against Denmark, and I feel, I’m always apologizing to my people I know in Denmark and like, this is another one. Like, oh, geez, yeah, we, you know, vest can move to America. Oh, no, no, no, no. I want buses to be where it is. Stay [00:27:00] there. But I think there’s opportunities for investors to move and you kind of get the feeling that they’re leaving Denmark slowly. Have you noticed that recently?  Rosemary Barnes: Maybe. I mean, uh, all of those Danish wind energy companies used to manufacture in Denmark and barely, there’s barely any Danish manufacturing now. So I mean, to a certain extent this is, you know, started a long time ago, but I also think that the, what you described at the tax of the CEO income and the income not being high, it’s not just, uh. Top 1% kind of issue. That’s something that I, I definitely felt it when I worked there, but I think that like, would your average Danish person wish that CEOs were paid more like Americans and that Danish society became more like American with a huge wealth inequality? I, I’m gonna go out in a limb and say. 90% plus of Danish people would absolutely abhor the idea of that happening there. And they will be very firmly on side of you should be, um, CEOs should not be [00:28:00] making that much money and people that are making a lot of money should be paying a lot of tax to support the rest of society at just, I, I, I’m. Pretty sure that he is like a really core cultural value.  Matthew Stead: I think he is good at, I mean, things don’t change unless things change. And, um, uh, I think it’s good for him to be pushing and, you know, making this a, a public discussion and a public topic. I mean, if he hadn’t have come out talking about this problem, we wouldn’t have been talking about it. So, uh, I think yeah. Good on him for raising it and for being brave. I mean, you, like you say, Rosie, um, is not traditional cultural. Values in, in, in Denmark, but, you know, good on him for, for pushing the, pushing the, the, the barrow.  Allen Hall: It’s, it’s hard, right? I think Vestas works in a global community and they see all different kinds of cultures and all kinds of economic systems, and they operate in all of ’em. And, uh, the CEO of Vestus were in the United States and they have a large manufacturing presence in the United States. Let’s face it. [00:29:00] Uh, easily making 10 million in the United States, maybe more easy. And I don’t think they’re paying him nearly enough for the work that he has done and things that he has accomplished. You have to admit, the CEO of Vestus has really put a lot of time and effort into that company and has improved it in ways that are somehow, uh, never discussed, but are, in my opinion, immeasurable. So for the long-term health of that company, they are seen as the preeminent wind turbine manufactured today. That’s hard to do. That wraps up another episode of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. If today’s discussion sparked any questions or ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us on LinkedIn and don’t forget to subscribe to you. Never miss an episode. And if you found value in today’s this conversation for. Please leave us a review. It really helps other wind energy professionals discover the show for Rosie, Yolanda and Matthew. I’m Allen Hall, and we’ll see you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy [00:30:00] Podcast.

A L.A. man made the ultimate body modification, a 5-year-old was beaten while his scoutmaster vaped, and an Ohio man was arrested for accidentally shooting up a Kroger. Kristi Noem was fired from DHS, Tony Gonzales ended his re-election bid after admitting to an affair with a woman who later set herself on fire, and a TikTok influencer found out the cost of spreading conspiracy theories. We tried to find drag queens harming kids, but instead we found two teachers, a mayor, and a Jan. 6er that were arrested for it! The Iran war is still going on, gas prices are going up, and a former college basketball coach was arrested for human trafficking. We also talk about what we're watching!

#808 What if your love for a sweet treat could bring you sweet success? In this episode hosted by Brien Gearin, entrepreneur Loren Castle shares how she built Sweet Loren's into the #1 natural cookie dough brand in the country — all without compromising on ingredients or flavor. From testing recipes at NYC farmers markets to landing in Whole Foods with no packaged product, Loren walks us through the scrappy early days, the seven-month search for a factory, and the leap into major retailers like Kroger and Publix. She opens up about scaling to 35,000+ stores, building the right team, navigating supply chain chaos, and staying laser-focused on her mission to make better-for-you food more accessible — and more delicious — for everyone! (Original Air Date - 7/7/25) What we discuss with Loren: + Turning a passion into a product + Testing recipes at farmers markets + Landing a Whole Foods meeting early + Choosing packaged goods over a bakery + Finding a small factory to scale production + Growing into 35,000+ stores + Expanding beyond cookie dough + Hiring challenges and team growth + Staying profitable while scaling + Using smart, ROI-driven marketing Thank you, Loren! Check out Sweet Loren's at ⁠SweetLorens.com⁠. To get access to our FREE Business Training course go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠MillionaireUniversity.com/training⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To get exclusive offers mentioned in this episode and to support the show, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠millionaireuniversity.com/sponsors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Venmo: Score more with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card and get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash. Sign up at https://venmo.com/collegecard The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash bundle terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me/stashterms. Max $100 cash back per month. Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

In this AI Agent & Copilot Minute, Mason Siefert explores how grocery retailers are accelerating AI adoption behind the scenes — empowering store associates and operational teams — even as consumer trust in customer-facing AI tools remains limited. Key Takeaways Consumer Trust Gap: Despite the rapid rollout of advanced retail AI tools, adoption among consumers remains limited. A recent consumer trend study shows only about 15% of shoppers actively use customer-facing AI solutions, even with innovations like Kroger's personal shopping assistant. Concerns about hidden algorithm pricing and lack of transparency have contributed to skepticism, leaving retailers operating in what some experts describe as a “gray zone” of AI adoption. Associate-Focused AI: Rather than waiting for shoppers to embrace AI fully, grocery executives are prioritizing AI tools designed for store associates. Platforms like Google's virtual assistant Sage provide employees with a centralized system to manage scheduling, payments, and daily operational tasks. By focusing on workforce enablement, retailers can immediately drive efficiency and productivity while indirectly improving the overall customer experience. Operational Optimization: Enterprise AI systems are increasingly being deployed to streamline frontline operations such as shift optimization, compliance monitoring, and task coordination. These tools reduce friction caused by fragmented workflows — like employees logging into multiple apps for a single task — and minimize human error. As AI handles routine operational complexity, employees can focus more on serving customers and maintaining store performance. Visit Cloud Wars for more.

APAC stocks rebounded from yesterday's sell-off as the region took impetus from the positive handover from Wall Street, where the Nasdaq led the advances on tech strength, while geopolitics remained in focus.US President Trump said they are in a very strong position, and that Iran's missiles and launchers are being wiped out, while he added that they will continue forward.Iranian Foreign Minister says Washington will regret targeting Iranian frigate in international waters, Sky News Arabia reported.China set its 2026 GDP growth target at 4.5%-5.0%, as expected (prev. ‘around 5%'), and CPI at around 2%, while it plans to issue CNY 800bln in new policy financing tools and aims to create more than 12mln urban jobs.European equity futures indicate a lower cash market open with Euro Stoxx 50 futures down 0.9% after the cash market closed with gains of 1.7% on Wednesday.Looking ahead, highlights include Swedish CPIF prelim. (Feb), EZ Retail Sales (Jan), US Challenger Job Cuts (Feb), US Export/Import Prices (Jan), Jobless Claims, South Korean CPI (Feb), ECB Minutes (Feb) & BoE's DMP, Speakers including ECB President Lagarde, de Guindos & Fed's Bowman, Supply from Spain, France & UK, Earnings from Marvell, Costco, Kroger, JD.com & Victoria's Secret.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister says Iran has not sent any messages to the US to end the conflict, but are instead focused on self defence efforts, according to Sky News Arabia.Deputy Commander of the Iranian Army Central Command said Iran has not closed the Strait of Hormuz; IRGC struck a US oil tanker while announcing US, Israeli and European vessels are not allowed through the strait. European bourses trade mixed, STMicroelectronics surges on new chip; US equity futures softer despite positive AVGO earnings.DXY back on a firmer footing, antipodeans lag on China's new growth target and metals prices.Fixed benchmarks lower as energy prices continue to drive price action.Crude benchmarks remain firmer; Spot gold trades slightly firmer, whilst base metals are lower after China forecasts lowest GDP figure since 1991.Looking ahead, highlights include US Challenger Job Cuts (Feb), US Export/Import Prices (Jan), Jobless Claims, South Korean CPI (Feb), ECB Minutes (Feb), Speakers including ECB President Lagarde & Fed's Bowman, Earnings from Marvell, Costco, Kroger & Victoria's Secret.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

Morgan Stanley, Cotsco, Kroger, Broadcom, bajo la lupa de Candela Casanueva, gestora de fondos de Renta 4 Gestora.

Ahoy Mateys! By popular demand, we're reaching into the MATES pantry for a highly requested archive favorite: Kroger's Very Cherry Jelly Belly Pudding Snacks. You asked, you pleaded, you perhaps even demanded… and we listened. To listen to more episodes from the MATES archive, subscribe to the MATES Club: ⁠⁠https://realm.supportingcast.fm/matesclub Become a viewer on YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MikeAndTomEatSnacks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NEW MERCH: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/ball-knower-basketball-crewneck?variant=43680913326177 Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: DraftKings: GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER, (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelplinema.org (MA). Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Please Gamble Responsibly. 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org (CT), or visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org (MD). 21+ and present in most states. (18+ DC/KY/NH/WY). Void in ONT/OR/NH. Eligibility restrictions apply. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). Pass-thru of per wager tax may apply in IL. 1 per new customer. Must register new account to receive reward Token. Must select Token BEFORE placing min. $5 bet to receive $200 in Bonus Bets if your bet wins. Min. -500 odds req. Token and Bonus Bets are single-use and non-withdrawable. Bet must settle by and Token expires 3/15/26. Bonus Bets expire in 7 days (168 hours). Stake removed from payout. Terms: sportsbook.draftkings.com/promos. Ends 3/8/26 at 11:59 PM ET. Sponsored by DK. Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Stella Blue: Try it now at stellabluecoffee.com Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

In this episode, Neal sits down with Samantha Pantazopoulos, co-founder of Vizer, to unpack the company's pivot from a consumer fitness rewards app to a B2B retail demand engine used by brands like Olipop and Health-Ade.What started as a mission-driven app tying workouts to food bank donations evolved - through COVID, retailer shutdowns, and customer pull - into a platform helping brands drive measurable retail velocity across Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, and beyond.This conversation dives into what it really takes to pivot, how offers power demand generation, and why grocery may be one of the most complex - and fascinating - battlegrounds in tech today.Key Topics* How Vizer pivoted from consumer app to enterprise CPG platform* Why COVID forced a rethink of the original marketplace model* The fragmented world of grocery offers: paper, rebate, retailer apps, and beyond* Turning marketing impressions into measurable retail conversions* Compressing the funnel with QR codes, paid media, and off-site offers* The tension between DTC, Amazon, and in-store retail strategies* Why data in CPG has historically lagged behind DTC* How brands are thinking about AI in retail* What drives trial and long-term retention in grocery* Creative campaigns: sweepstakes, surprise-and-delight, and experiential activationsLinks & Resources* VizerConnect on LinkedIn* Samantha Pantazopoulos This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit risingtidepartners.substack.com/subscribe

Likefolio's Landon Swan examines sentiment data around Kroger (KR). He looks at their past earnings and their “methodical” efforts to improve margins. However, this is pressuring their revenue, and Landon says they're lagging behind competition for consumer demand. He thinks investors will focus on e-commerce. Landon compares Kroger (KR) to Dollar General (DG).======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Options involve risks and are not suitable for all investors. Before trading, read the Options Disclosure Document. http://bit.ly/2v9tH6DSubscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Welcome to Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, sponsored by Grocery Dealz and Mirakl.In today's Retail Daily Minute, Omni Talk's Chris Walton discusses:Target posts another quarter of falling revenue and traffic, but new CEO Michael Fiddelke signals a turnaround is underway after February comparable sales turned positive year over year.Amazon partners with Minnesota grocer Cub to offer two-hour grocery delivery across the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metro, the latest in its growing roster of regional grocery partnerships.Kroger deploys Corvus One autonomous drones across its cold chain distribution operations, including sub-freezing freezer zones, to automate inventory scanning and reduce manual labor in harsh environments.The Retail Daily Minute has been rocketing up the Feedspot charts, so stay informed with Omni Talk's Retail Daily Minute, your source for the latest and most important retail insights.Be careful out there!

Costco grocery prices are 21.4% lower than Walmart's. 7-Eleven has acquired 15 Short Line Express Market gas stations and c-stores. And the Teamsters union said it sees a concerning pattern in how Kroger treats workers.

This is a true story. in 1989, Michael Houlihan came to my office. He had a vision of wine brand (the story of why he had a vision is crazy in itself). He wanted to create a wine named Barefoot Cellars. He had found the name from a deunct brand and had gone to the owner to ask to buy the name.  He also wanted to call it the "Chateau La Feet" of California wine. I was annoyed. After I left, I called my father to tell him this crazy idea, "it will never work" I said. Today, Barefoot is the largest brand in America. Moral of the story: Don't listen to me. Mike Houlihan might be the only guest who walked into a bankrupt winery hoping to collect $300,000, and walked out with the ingredients to launch America's largest wine brand. You'll discover how Mike Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey took their outsider wisdom—and perhaps a little moxie—and transformed bare feet, old tanks, and a rickety bottling machine into an empire rivaling Robert Mondavi and winning over Trader Joe's and Kroger buyers from coast to coast. This isn't another vineyard romance—this is gritty, real entrepreneurship. You'll learn the salty secrets of wine buyers ("make it better than Bob, cheaper than Bob, and put it in a pig!"), the art of selling to mom-and-pop shops when big chains slam the door, and the critical merchandising strategies that made their bottle shine from four feet away (just as the buyer demanded). If you ever wondered what it takes to turn hardship into hustle—or how you can build a business legacy on persistence and soft skills, not just spreadsheets—Mike Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey peel back the curtain, sharing lessons that apply far beyond the wine aisle. Expect stories about bottling gone wrong, the challenges of excise taxes, and the colorful cast of wine industry characters. You'll walk away knowing why sincerity, face-to-face connection, and caring for the people in "low places" are the true keys to scaling a business—and why their journey is now taught in universities across the globe. This episode distills decades of learning, from humble beginnings to bestselling audiobooks, written by a team that never turned down a learning curve or a handshake. If you wanted a taste of how innovation, resilience, and a little bit of luck can transform your life, this is your vintage. Listeners will learn: How understanding your real customer—rather than industry norms—can shape a brand and turn small insights into multi-million case success. The unfiltered truth about wine distribution, price setting, and the critical importance of merchandising and "being visible from four feet away." Why business growth depends as much on relationships, hustle, and soft skills as it does on capital—and how these human elements can still triumph in the digital age. YouTube: https://youtu.be/8dkxijQMwrQ #WineTalks #BarefootWine #WineIndustry #Entrepreneurship #WineBusiness #PodcastLife #BarefootSpirit #WineBrand #WineStory #WineMarketing #HustleAndHeart #WinePodcast #Gallo #WineDistribution #WineLessons #WomenInWine #Merchandising #WineSuccess #BusinessBook #WineClub    

Regan lives in Elsmere, KY. and submitted this very easy and incredibly delicious recipe. But, in all fairness, Regan said it's her boyfriend's creation. However, it was a huge hit down here and the Crockpot was emptied in record time! For being today's Crockstar, Regan gets a $100 gift card from Kroger!Potato soup!!Chopped potato's, or use a bag of diced hashbrowns1 carton of chicken broth1 Cup of heavy cream2 packs of cream cheeseSmoked Sausage (quartered)1 Tablespoon of salt, pepper, red pepper, garlic powder and onion powder(Dave edition: 3 tablespoons of bacon grease)Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hoursServe with shredded cheese on top!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The March 3 edition of the AgNet News Hour delivered one of the most candid conversations yet about the mounting pressures facing California agriculture. Hosts Nick Papagni and Josh McGill welcomed Dave Roberts of R7 Enterprises, a diversified grower in Woodlake farming cherries, citrus, lemons, pomegranates, Asian pears, avocados, and more. His message was clear: California farmers are doing everything right — but the system is making it harder and harder to survive. Roberts explained how global imports, shrinking marketing windows, and fewer major buyers are compressing profitability. In the lemon market alone, imports from the Southern Hemisphere have cut weeks out of California's traditional selling window. The result? More volume forced into a shorter time frame, softer prices, and in some cases, fruit left unharvested. “When fruit leaves my farm, everybody knows what they're going to get paid that day except for me,” Roberts said — a striking reality for any business owner. Beyond imports, consolidation is reshaping agriculture. Large retailers like Costco, Walmart, and Kroger dominate buying power, while smaller packers struggle to afford the new technology required to stay competitive. As packers consolidate, growers have fewer marketing options, often putting additional downward pressure on returns. Regulation remains another major challenge. Roberts estimates compliance costs are consuming roughly 20 percent of farm budgets. From labor and fuel to water policy and environmental mandates, the expenses continue climbing — without corresponding increases in farmgate prices. “The number one rule of sustainability is making a profit,” Roberts emphasized. Without profitability, there is no next generation. Water policy also dominated the discussion. Roberts voiced strong concerns about SGMA and the potential removal of productive farmland from use. With California already importing significant food, he questioned how reducing domestic production strengthens food security. “Food security is national security,” he said, urging policymakers to reconsider how water is stored, moved, and allocated. The conversation extended to labor reform, avocado imports, cartel-controlled production in Mexico, and the long-term future of small farming communities. Throughout the interview, one theme remained constant: farmers are willing to compete — but they need a level playing field. Roberts ended with a message of resilience, saying California agriculture “has to get better” because people depend on safe, nutritious food. For California farmers listening, the episode was more than an interview — it was a reflection of the real-world pressures many are feeling today.

That's the question we asked in a Kroger parking lot — and the answer might inspire you.Pass the Mic is back with another powerful everyday voice.Don't miss this moment of hope.Related Blog: https://bluetbutterfly.wordpress.com/2026/03/02/starter-week-gratitude-in-the-parking-lot/Full YouTube Video: https://youtube.com/shorts/m29mse6BOiM?si=3oFUMSLVyUqsYrEy

What if the biggest transformation in hospitality isn't happening in the dining room, but in the kitchen you never see? In this episode, I'm joined by James Pool, Chief Technology and Operations Officer at Middleby, a company quietly powering more than a hundred brands across commercial foodservice and food processing. With more than three decades spent accelerating how food is cooked, prepared, and delivered at scale, James offers a rare look inside the technology, automation, and connected platforms reshaping how some of the world's most recognizable restaurant and retail brands operate. We explore what the connected, IoT-enabled kitchen actually looks like in practice, and why James prefers to think of it as digital automation for the entire restaurant. From front-of-house energy optimization to automated food safety reporting and real-time equipment intelligence in the back, the conversation reveals how data is being used to reduce waste, improve uptime, simplify training, and ultimately increase profitability at the store level. This isn't about adding more screens or more complexity, it's about removing friction from every step of the operation. James also shares how Middleby is bringing together a vast portfolio of technologies, from rapid-cook ovens and ventless kitchens to robotics and AI-driven service insights, into a single harmonized experience. That integration is opening the door to new formats such as ghost kitchens and non-traditional locations, where food can be prepared almost anywhere without the constraints that once defined a commercial kitchen. Along the way, we discuss how brands like Yum! Brands, Dunkin', Domino's, and Kroger are balancing speed, consistency, cost control, and customer experience in an environment where every investment must prove its return. The episode also takes us inside Middleby's Innovation Kitchens around the world, where operators can experiment with layouts, workflows, and equipment in real conditions before committing capital in the field. It's a powerful reminder that the future of hospitality is being prototyped long before it reaches the high street. So as automation, AI, and real-time analytics move from the factory floor into the heart of the restaurant, is the smart kitchen becoming the most important competitive advantage in foodservice, and are brands ready to rethink how their entire operation is designed around it?

We are Virginia Sole-Smith and Corinne Fay and it's time for your February Indulgence Gospel!Today we are talking about influencers who show their expensive influencer grocery hauls, as well as people who spend A LOT OF MONEY on food delivery. (If you too had feelings about that ChrisLovesJulia reel...let's get into it!) We also talk about our own spending on groceries and food delivery....and our complicated feelings about both.

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: McDonald's: New Hot Honey sauce. Now at McDonald's for a limited time only. Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

-Cherie is from Mason, OH. and submitted this amazing dessert recipe. I originally had my hesitations about trying to make it, but it turned out to be one of the most delicious Crockpot creations I've ever made! For being today's B-105 and Kroger Crockstar, Cherie get's a $100 Kroger gift card!Pecan CobblerGreased Crockpot6 cups pecans1 can sweetened condensed milk12 oz Carmel sauce4 eggs1 c brown sugar2 tsp vanilla1 tsp saltAll in crock pot, mixed well and then add butter pecan cake mix on top- level off then place pads of butter= 1 1/2 sticks.Place paper towel then lid to catch moisture.2 1/2 hours on highServe with cool whip or ice cream.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

DQ is gearing up for baseball season, Wendy's is getting in the spirit of Lent, Flamin' Hot is tearing up your local Kroger and a man suffers a beatdown at Waffle House. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 In this episode of the PQS Quality Corner Show, hosts Kerri Musselman and Emily Endres celebrate Heart Health Month by exploring the critical link between community pharmacy, maternal health, and cardiovascular wellness. Their guest, Andrea Brookhart (Director of Population Health and Wellness at Kroger), shares her insights as both a clinical leader and a mother of twins.This episode touches on the Pharmacist as an accessible ally, the "Silent Killer" and prevention, gender differences in cardiac care, the "Mom Factor,” and self-care.Dr. Andrea Brookhart is a community pharmacist who is passionate about helping people live healthier lives.  In her role, she develops and implements Kroger Health's strategy for achieving population health via value-based care.  She believes community-based providers are uniquely poised to improve healthcare quality and decrease cost by delivering preventive healthcare and improving medication use.Dr. Brookhart is a graduate of the University of Toledo College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences and of Virginia Commonwealth University's Community-based Pharmacy Residency Program a Board Certified Ambulatory Care Pharmacist. 

Record Numbers Shatter Post-Pandemic Expectations Six years after the pandemic first disrupted American life, a troubling trend emerges across rural Virginia. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank now serves approximately 180,000 people every month—a staggering 39,000 more than the pandemic's peak. Les Sinclair, the organization's Communications and PR Manager, reveals this sobering reality during a recent conversation on The Valley Today with host Janet Michael. Initially, food bank officials believed the pandemic would represent the worst crisis they'd ever face. When government assistance programs temporarily lifted many families out of poverty, demand dropped slightly to around 141,000 monthly visits. However, this optimism proved short-lived. "We thought the numbers would never go up beyond the pandemic max," Les explains. "That just didn't pan out." Instead, inflation took hold with devastating consequences. While prices soared across every sector, wages failed to keep pace. Consequently, more working families find themselves unable to afford basic necessities, forcing them to seek food assistance for the first time in their lives. A Massive Rural Footprint The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank operates across an impressive territory that spans 25 counties and eight cities throughout Virginia. Stretching from Winchester and Frederick County in the north to beyond Lynchburg and Bedford County in the south, the organization covers approximately 12,000 square miles—roughly the size of Maryland or one-third of Virginia's total area. To manage this vast region effectively, the food bank maintains four strategic warehouse locations. Their headquarters sits in Verona, just outside Staunton, while additional distribution centers operate in Winchester, Charlottesville, and Lynchburg. Notably, the Winchester facility alone serves Frederick, Clarke, Fauquier, Warren, Shenandoah, Page, and Rappahannock Counties, including the densely populated Loudoun County. Moreover, the organization represents a groundbreaking experiment in food banking. When founded in 1981, most food banks concentrated on urban areas where dense populations made distribution easier. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, however, pioneered rural food distribution—a critical distinction since nine out of ten food-insecure Americans live in rural communities rather than urban centers. The Partnership Model That Makes It Work The food bank functions as a sophisticated logistics operation, partnering with Feeding America nationally and hundreds of local food pantries regionally. Les compares their role to a Walmart warehouse, buying food by the truckload and storing massive quantities. Meanwhile, local pantries like Winchester CCAP serve as the "customer-facing" locations, directly distributing food to families in need. This partnership proves essential for reaching scattered rural populations. "We couldn't do what we do without them," Les emphasizes. "They couldn't do what they do without us." Furthermore, the organization sources food from diverse channels. Retail grocers contribute 36% of donations through partner pickup programs, where pantries collect excess inventory directly from stores like Food Lion, Kroger, and Giant. Additionally, the USDA provides government-purchased food from American farmers, while large manufacturers donate products with misprinted labels or excess inventory. Local and regional farmers also contribute fresh produce to the network. The Grocery Store Challenge Recently, however, the retail partnership faced unexpected pressure. During October and November, and again during winter snowstorms, consumers cleared grocery store shelves completely. When stores have no excess inventory, they have nothing left to donate. Compounding this challenge, grocery chains have become remarkably efficient at predicting demand. Using AI technology, they now anticipate that shoppers will buy strawberry Pop-Tarts before storms and adjust inventory accordingly. While this efficiency benefits retailers and consumers, it reduces the surplus available for food banks. Simultaneously, USDA food supplies have dropped 30% year-over-year, forcing the food bank to purchase more food directly. Although they cannot fully replace the high-quality proteins and vegetables the government typically provides, they continue prioritizing nutritious options for their partner pantries. Shattering Misconceptions About Food Pantry Users Perhaps the most persistent myth surrounding food insecurity involves who actually needs assistance. Many people assume food pantry visitors are simply lazy and should "get a job." The reality, however, tells a dramatically different story. Most people seeking food assistance are working. They're trying to improve their lives but living on financial margins so thin that a single unexpected expense creates crisis. In fact, more than a quarter of the food bank's guests visit only once per year—they simply need help getting over a temporary hump. Les shares the story of a convenience store worker who injured her wrist on the job. Unable to work while waiting for workers' compensation, she has zero income and cares for a paralyzed son. She's not lazy—she's injured, uninsured temporarily, and desperately trying to survive until she can return to work. Even when workers' compensation arrives, it typically covers only 70% of regular wages and takes considerable time to process. For families living paycheck to paycheck, missing even one payment creates cascading financial disasters. The Government Shutdown Ripple Effect Currently, partial government shutdowns compound these challenges. Federal workers, particularly TSA agents, continue reporting to work without paychecks. They still pay for childcare, gas, and other necessities, but many receive payment only monthly—making it extraordinarily difficult to stretch resources from one paycheck to the next. Contrary to popular belief, landlords cannot always wait patiently for delayed rent payments. Many landlords depend on rental income to pay their own mortgages. When a tenant misses a $2,000 rent payment, the landlord must still cover their mortgage. Moreover, the economic impact extends far beyond government employees. When federal workers stop dining out, restaurants lose business. Wait staff lose tips. Restaurant owners order less food from suppliers like Sysco. Truck drivers haul fewer loads. The entire economic system suffers. Sarah Cohen of Route 11 Chips experienced this firsthand. During COVID and government shutdowns, her sales to DC cafes plummeted because federal workers weren't coming to the office for lunch. These ripple effects reach deep into Virginia's economy, affecting businesses and workers far from the capital. The Impossible Choice: Heat or Eat Winter brings particularly cruel dilemmas for struggling families. Les recently spoke with William, a roofer injured on the job who lives in a mobile home with his dog, Cocoa. Unable to afford heating, William and Cocoa "just sort of curl up" together while he waits for surgeries that will allow him to return to work. Another woman caring for three disabled grandchildren faces $400 monthly electric bills. With both she and her husband experiencing serious health issues and the children's parents out of the picture, they constantly struggle with the impossible choice between heating their home and feeding their family. These aren't isolated cases. Across the food bank's service area, families regularly face this devastating decision. When $600 heating bills arrive after cold snaps, many choose to keep the lights on and visit food pantries to feed their families. Food as Medicine: A Holistic Approach The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank takes a progressive stance on nutrition, viewing food as medicine rather than mere sustenance. They prioritize fresh produce, which comprised 30% of their distribution last year, because they understand that proper nutrition helps people thrive. Nutritious food keeps medical bills down across entire communities. Children pay better attention in school when properly nourished. People can manage chronic illnesses and diseases through better nutrition. Conversely, when families can only afford high-calorie processed foods, they face increased health risks despite consuming adequate calories—debunking the myth that overweight individuals cannot be food insecure. Additionally, access to food reduces stress, which itself functions as a health intervention. When people live on the edge of a financial cliff, they cannot make good long-term decisions. They're too focused on simply not falling. However, when food security removes one major stressor, families can step back from that precipice and begin making better choices for their futures. Quality Food for Everyone Another common misconception suggests that food bank offerings are somehow subpar. In reality, the food distributed through this network maintains high-quality standards. While well-meaning donors sometimes contribute items like ramen noodles during food drives, the bulk of distributed food comes from retail grocers, USDA programs, and direct purchases of nutritious items. The food bank specifically prioritizes produce because people crave fresh fruits and vegetables. Although produce represents one of the most expensive food categories—often making it a luxury for families on tight budgets—the organization believes everyone deserves access to healthy, nutritious food regardless of their economic circumstances. How Communities Can Help Fortunately, community members have multiple ways to support this critical mission. Volunteering provides valuable assistance, and notably, many food bank guests themselves volunteer, giving back to the community that supported them during difficult times. Financial donations prove particularly effective. Just $1 helps provide more than three meals, meaning $10 supplies a month of meals for someone in need, while $100 provides 300 meals. The food bank's purchasing power and logistics expertise amplify every dollar donated. Beyond time and money, advocacy matters tremendously. Currently, the Federation of Virginia Food Banks—representing all seven food banks across the state—works to promote "food as medicine" initiatives with the state legislature. Community members can support these efforts through the food bank's website at BRAFB.org/actnow or BRAFB.org/getinvolved. Finally, social media engagement amplifies the message. Following the food bank's social media accounts, resharing posts, and commenting helps spread awareness that hunger relief remains an urgent community need. Finding Help When You Need It For individuals and families currently struggling with food insecurity, Les offers an important message: "You're not alone, and we are here with you. We are here to walk with you through this challenge in your life." The food bank's website features an easy-to-use food finder tool. Visitors to BRAFB.org can click "Find Food," enter their address, and immediately see all nearby pantries with contact information, open hours, and everything needed to access food quickly. Alternatively, Virginians can call 211 for phone-based assistance connecting them with local resources. A Community Responsibility As this conversation reveals, food insecurity affects far more people than most realize—one in nine people across the food bank's service area. These aren't strangers or statistics; they're neighbors, coworkers, and community members facing temporary crises that could happen to anyone. The Blue Ridge Area Food Bank stands ready to help, but they cannot do it alone. Through partnerships with local pantries, support from community donors and volunteers, and advocacy for systemic solutions, the organization continues fighting to ensure everyone has enough to eat. In Janet Michael's words, it's "a responsibility I do not take lightly"—and neither should any of us.

The Sign of Wine: Glory, Blessing, Blood John 2:1-12 Our sermon text this morning is John 2:1-12. In the lead up to these verses, Jesus has been introduced as the Son of God, the promised Messiah, the light of the world, the creator of all things, and various other titles and descriptions. John the Baptist and several of Jesus newly gathered disciples testified to those things. The apostle John now turns his attention to not just tell us who Jesus is, but to show us. In our passage this morning, we'll hear about the first miracle of Jesus. It happened at a wedding in Cana which is in the region of Galilee. Reading of John 2:1-12 Every single culture throughout human history has had weddings … you know, ceremonies and banquets. And there are some interesting customs. I've never been, but I understand that if you go to a Jewish wedding, you'll see the groom and sometimes the bride smash a piece of glass under their feet. At Greek weddings, the attendees will dance in big circles around the happy couple - apparently it's a sign of blessing. I've never witness that but I've seen the movie. A few years ago when I was in India with Pastor Chuck, we drove by a big wedding reception. There was an elephant and there were lots of colors. It was beautiful and very celebratory. And it's no wonder why weddings are so significant. God established marriage from the very beginning. Right there in Genesis 2, God instituted the union between man and woman. A man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united to his wife and they shall become one flesh. When I am meeting with engaged couples, one thing I emphasize is that Genesis 2 happened before Genesis 3. I know that sounds obvious and it is, but it is very significant.  Genesis 3 is the fall – it's when sin entered the world. Genesis 2 is when God established marriage. In other words, marriage between a man and a woman is part of God's created order before the fall. Marriage is not part of God's redemptive plan - No, it precedes it and transcends the fall. In other words, marriage is not just for Christians, rather, it is an institution that applies to all humanity. To be sure, not everyone is called to be married – the apostle Paul makes that clear. But marriage and family are at the very center of God's established order for humanity. So, it's no wonder that weddings have always been a big deal everywhere – because they are! I bring all that up because the fact that Jesus' very first miracle happened at a wedding is very significant. Jesus didn't turned water into wine at some arbitrary banquet. No, he did so at a wedding feast. He did so at a celebration of the most important union here on earth… and more importantly, a union modelled after his relationship with us - the marriage between Christ and his church. My hope is that as we work through what happened at this wedding in Cana, that you will see not only the glory of Jesus on display, but you will also see how it reveals the greater wedding banquet that is to come. Ok. Before we get into the specifics, I want to point out one other significant thing. Look at verse 11. It says, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee.” Notice that John does not use the word “miracle.” No, instead he uses the word “sign.” Sign is the word that John uses throughout the book. In fact, chapters 2 through chapter 12 are sometimes called the “book of signs.”  The content of these chapters revolve around 7 signs that Jesus performed. The word sign comes from the Greek word “sēmeia.” The word indicates that these events are more than just miracles. They point to something significant. Think about all the English words derived from the Greek word for sign. Significant, signify, signal, assign… all of those capture the idea that there's a deeper meaning here. And that is what these signs are. They direct our attention not to the miracles themselves, but rather to what the miracles reveal. I think the clearest example of this I think is in chapter 6. Jesus multiplied the fish and the loaves and then he said to the crowd, “I am the bread of heaven.” Through that miracle, Jesus gave us a sign that he is the one who spiritually feed us and gives us life. So here at the wedding in Cana, it's not only that Jesus displayed his glory and power by turning water into wine. But Jesus also revealed greater things. The question is, then, to what is this sign signifying? … you know, beyond just Jesus' glory? Well, as we work through the narrative, there are two additional things that the sign of wine is signifying. It foreshadows the cleansing blood of Christ, and it demonstrates the abundant spiritual blessings that we have and will received in him. We'll consider those in three points: #1 the sign of Jesus' glory. #2, the foreshadowing of Jesus' blood. and #3 the foretaste of eternal blessing. 1. The Sign of Wine - Glory So, first, glory. I think you would agree, this miracle displays God's glory in and through Jesus. Verse 11 tells us that. It says, "…it manifested his glory." The very act of the miracle itself manifested (or displayed) Jesus' glory. And by the way, just to be sure, this really was wine. As some of our Baptist friends think, Jesus did not turn water into grape juice, but, in fact, wine, good wine. Ok, let's spend a little bit of time just walking through the narrative. Notice first that it mentions this happened on the third day. The way we count days today, it's actually two days later. Back then, the current day was considered day one as you count days. Tomorrow would be day two. And the day after is the third day. As you know, we usually count tomorrow as day 1. So, basically two days later, Jesus and his new disciples were at a wedding. They'd been invited. And we find that in some way, Jesus' mother, Mary, was helping. Perhaps this was a relative. Furthermore, Jewish weddings at the time were multiple day affairs - some of them would go on for 7 days. I know that's hard for us to even imagine. It involved multiple meals and celebratory things. Furthermore, the wine used throughout was more than just for enjoyment, it indicated a mutual blessing upon the families being united together as they celebrated the marriage. Also, the groom's family would have hosted it, and they would have spent a lot of time and money. So, it was a big deal. But we find out pretty quickly, that there's a crisis. They've run out of wine! They couldn't just send someone to Kroger or Publix. It was a major problem… and running out of wine would have come with a social stigma. The groom's family would have been very embarrassed. Why did they run out? We're not told.  it could have been poor planning. Maybe they had more people than they expected. Maybe people drank more than they thought they would. We just don't know. When Mary said to Jesus that there was no more wine, we get the sense that she knew Jesus could resolve the problem. But Jesus responds to her, "woman, what has this to do with me? My hour has not yet come." Now, to our ears, it sounds a little roughly worded. It sounds like Jesus was scolding his mother. But actually, the word 'woman' was used in a different way at that time. I think the NIV translation does a better job here. It says "dear woman." You see, the word "women" was sometimes used as a term of affection. Jesus was lovingly saying to his mother that it was not his problem. His "hour," as he said, had not yet come. We'll come back to the word "hour" in a few minutes. The bottom line is that Jesus indicated that this was not his matter to resolve. Notice, though, that he did not say he wouldn't help. Mary understood that and she knew that Jesus in some way could fix the problem. And so, what does she do? She tells servants, "Do whatever he says." Truly, it was a display of deep faith on her part. She believed in what he could do. Now, the venue had a set of stone purification jars - there were six of them. We'll come back to their ceremonial purpose in a minute. Jesus asked the servants to fill them. So, the servants followed through with Jesus request as Mary had told them to. They filled them "to the brim," it says. That would have taken some time. And then immediately when they finished, Jesus had them draw some of it out and they were to bring it to the master of the feast. At this point, the miracle had already been done - the servants knew it, which is pointed out for us. The servants also knew, as did Mary and the disciples, that the wine had run out… but now there was plenty. But the master of ceremonies didn't know any of that. And when he tasted the wine, it was not diluted nor was it lower quality wine that was sometimes served after the good wine. No, hardly at all. The master went straight to the groom and said, "you have kept the good wine until now." It was an encouraging word. Not only had disaster been averted, but quite the opposite happened. The celebration ramped up! The festivities continued with good wine served to the guests. What a tremendous blessing for the whole wedding party! Part of the miracle was that Jesus never touched the stone jars. He wasn't the one who filled them with water. He was also not the one to bring the new wine to the master of the ceremonies. In fact, we're not told that the master, nor the groom, nor the guests ever knew about the miracle. But the servants knew, and Mary knew, and Jesus' disciples knew - they had observed from a distance. And look at the brief note at the end of 11… right after it says that Jesus manifested his glory… it says, "And his disciples believed in him." You may remember, at the end of chapter 1, we're told that Nathaniel believed. But now we're given a full testimony that they all believed. You see, even though this sign was concealed to a select few, yet it testified to Jesus' identity as chapter 1 revealed - it displayed the glory of God in Christ. So that's one display - one sign. Glory through the miracle itself. 2. The Sign of Wine - Blood #2. The sign of blood. If time travel actually existed… and if you transported yourself back to a first century Jewish community, one thing you would see over and over were the various ceremonial washings. You see, in order to participate in various events and meals and ceremonies, you had to be clean. You had to be purified.  it was both a cleanliness thing and spiritual purification thing. The Jews were constantly purifying themselves. That involved taking fresh water from a purification container and washing. And there were very specific regulations for the process. Some of the purification regulations came from the law… specifically Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy. We learn from Mark chapter 7, that there were other additional cleansing traditions that had been added And one important thing is that the water needed to come from living water - you know, fresh sources like springs or wells or mountain streams. This water for purification also needed to be stored in stone jars (or basins) - not clay or wood or leather. While those vessels were allowed to temporarily hold consumable liquid, they were not appropriate for the cleansing rite. Stone, on the other hands, was. It was impermeable - the water would remain clean over time. In fact, you were not supposed to transport the water to the stone basins in something made of clay or wood - no, the process had to be pure. And when the time came for the purification, like the washing of your hands or feet (or your whole body if something happened to make you unclean), you would draw the water out with a stone cup and you would wash off to the side. In other words, you wouldn't stick your hands or feet in the stone jars - that would only make the water unclean. In verse 8, that phrase "draw out" is the same word used for ceremonial cleansing. The servants drew out the wine for the master of the feast. So, when Jesus told the servants to fill the stone water jars, they would have known exactly where to get the water and how to fill them. Furthermore, Jesus' disciples and his mother and the original readers would have been very familiar with all of it. What I am saying is that all of them would have understood the symbolism of the purification jars. A greater cleansing had come - the new wine has arrived. Even though the master of ceremonies, nor the guests, nor the bride and groom didn't know what happened, yet Mary and the servants and disciples did. They witnessed Jesus foreshadowing that he would cleanse them from their sin. Now, I doubt that Mary or Jesus' disciples would have associated the wine with Jesus' blood. I'm talking about at that moment. But let's go back to what Jesus' said to Mary. He said, "my hour has not yet come." We will come across that phrase multiple times throughout the Gospel of John. Jesus was indicating that an "hour" would come when his purpose in coming would be fulfilled. Jesus was referring to the "hour" of his crucifixion. In Jesus' prayer in chapter 17, right before he was arrested, Jesus prayed, "Father, the hour has come..." As he's performing this miracle, Jesus had just referenced his coming crucifixion. One commentator pointed out that immediately after Jesus died, a Roman soldier pierced Jesus' side… do you remember what came forth? blood and water. The apostle John makes a point to note that. That's in John 19 verse 34. You see, the cleansing water of purification is fulfilled in the cleansing blood of Christ. Again, at the time, Mary and the disciples didn't fully understand, but when they reflected back on this miracle, they would realize its significance. It displayed the cleansing that they would receive by faith in Christ through what he accomplished on the cross. In 1 John chapter 1 (the first of the apostle John's letters)… In 1 John 1:7, the apostle said that if we walk in the light of Christ… that is, if we believe in him and demonstrate that belief, he said, "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin." You see, the ceremonial purification was anticipating the cleansing ministry of Jesus… a cleansing that we all need, and which we received by faith. The wine signified Jesus blood. It's just like at the Last Supper when Jesus said that the cup was the new covenant in his blood, for the forgiveness of sin. 3. The Sign of Wine: Foretaste of Eternal Blessing So, #1 glory, #2 blood, and now, #3 abundant and eternal blessing. Let's look again at verse 6. We've talked about the significance of the purification jars. But did you notice how large they each were? There were six of them and they each contained about 20-30 gallons. Each one of them was about as big as a normal size bathtub, today. That's big! And multiply that by 6 and you get about 150 gallons! That's a lot of wine. Is it possible that the wedding was that large and they needed that much wine? Yeah, it's possible. But the point of letting us know the volume of water turned to wine is not to tell us the size of the wedding. We're not given any details about the wedding. We don't know who the bride and groom were. No, the point of notating the size was to indicate the sheer volume of the wine. It signified the abundant blessing that Jesus's ministry has and will bring. His ministry to us is and will be far more abundant than what we can ask for or imagine. And let me say, even at those times in our lives when we feel like the wine has run out. You know, when we are worn down, or our faith feels weak or our hope is seemingly gone. Even during those times, we can know that there is an abundance of grace still to be poured out… far more than we can see or imagine. By the way, this concept of blessing through wine is rooted in a couple of Old Testament passages. God's people are told that when the Messiah comes, when the time is fulfilled, there will be an abundance of wine. It's really a metaphorical illustration of God's blessing. For example, the prophet Amos in chapter 11 prophesied of how days would come when the mountains would drip with sweet wine and the hills would flow with wine. Well, the fulfillment of those prophecies was coming true in Christ. This sign at Cana, this miracle, in part was revealing that the blessing of the Messiah had come… AND will come. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that this miracle happened at a wedding banquet is not happenstance. Rather, God was giving a foretaste of what would come. Yes, Jesus' ministry was ushering in a time of blessing to every tongue and nation, now… but the ultimate blessing that this sign is signifying is the greater wedding feast that has yet to come. In other words, the abundance on display here, in this miracle, is directing us to the eternal marriage supper of the Lamb. At the very beginning of God's Word was a marriage, you know, Genesis 2. Well, the Scriptures end with another marriage celebration. The Bible is book-ended by weddings. That second one will be the wedding between the Lamb of God and his church. You see, God has betrothed his people to himself. He has kept the covenant vows for us. This marriage will not be broken or marred by sin. No, Jesus was crucified for our spiritual adultery. He has made us, his bride, ready. Jesus, the bridegroom, has clothed his bride, the church, with fine linen bright and pure, as Revelation 19 says. And on that day, we will celebrate. The wine will never run out. We will rejoice and worship. Our purification in the blood of the Lamb will be forever. We will be pure and holy for he is pure and holy. God has saved for us, on that day, the choicest of wines - eternal blessing. So, as we think about and consider Jesus' miracle at Cana, yes, let's celebrate the glory that turning water into wine displays. Let's honor Jesus as the creator God who can do such a thing. But let's not miss the eternal redemptive picture we are given here. There is one who alone can purify. Jesus has offered his blood, his life, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and sin. And, may we by faith look forward to that day when we will rejoice and worship the Lamb forever. For on that day, we will feast and drink and celebrate, not at someone else's wedding, but our wedding celebration as the bride of Christ. Amen

How are monopolistic corporations able to gain their economic dominance? They get politicians to give it to them.Consider the old robber barons. They weren't brilliant investors or managers, they were ruthless exploiters of government giveaways, and they routinely bribed lawmakers and other officials to permit their monopolistic thievery.Likewise, today's monopoly players have captured local, state, and national markets – not through honest competition, but by getting public officials to subsidize their expansion and to rig the rules against small competitors. Monopolizers buy this favoritism with the legalized bribes of dark-money campaign donations they lavish on compliant lawmakers.Investigative digger Stacy Mitchell recently documented how this corrupt political favoritism has allowed massive retail chains like Walmart, Kroger, and Dollar Store to crush thousands of local grocers. This has left millions of Americans living in “food deserts” – worker class, poor, and rural communities with no food store.What happened? As grocery chains spread from local to regional to national, they demanded that food manufacturers give them big discounts – a dramatic monopoly pricing advantage over independent rivals, so hometown grocers began hemorrhaging customers. This raw, anti-competitive, price discrimination was a flagrant violation of America's anti-monopoly law – but here came Big Money to protect the monopolists.In 1980, as Ronald Reagan was railing against “silly” consumer protection laws, supermarket lobbyists poured campaign cash into top officials of both parties. What they bought was bipartisan agreement to simply stop enforcing that “rusty” old antitrust law that had protected a competitive grocery economy for nearly 50 years.But good news! That useful, highly-effective law is still on the books, so let's build a long-term grassroots campaign to rejuvenate it and re-outlaw monopolization, redlining, and price gouging by food giants. For more information, go to ilsr.org.Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe

Retail's future winners aren't defined by hype. They are defined by where consumers actually go. In this Omni Talk Ask An Expert episode, hosts Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga sit down with Ethan Chernofsky, Chief Marketing Officer at Placer.ai, to break down the retailers, sectors, and strategies poised to shape 2026. Drawing from real-world foot traffic data and consumer behavior insights, Ethan shares which brands are gaining momentum, which are in turnaround mode, and how shifting expectations around health, value, and experience are redefining retail success. From fitness to grocery to coffee to digitally native retail, this conversation uncovers where physical retail is headed next. Key Topics Covered: • Why the fitness sector, including brands like EōS Fitness, is benefiting from long-term health and wellness shifts • How grocers like H-E-B are winning through localization and innovation • The competitive momentum behind specialty retailers like Michaels • The “bounce-back” potential of Starbucks and its third-place strategy revival • Where Home Depot and Target stand on the recovery spectrum • Grocery's evolving battleground: quality vs. value vs. unique differentiation • How retailers like Kroger are experimenting to stay competitive • The future of digitally native brands and physical retail after pullbacks from players like Allbirds • Why partnerships with retailers such as Nordstrom may reshape DTC expansion • The industry debate around “value” and why it may be retail's most misunderstood concept Whether you're building your 2026 retail strategy, evaluating growth sectors, or tracking competitive momentum, this conversation delivers data-backed insights to help you understand where consumers are spending their time and why. Connect with Ethan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-chernofsky-16ab4519/ Visit Placer.ai: https://www.placer.ai #RetailTrends #RetailersToWatch #RetailAnalytics #FootTrafficData #RetailStrategy #FitnessIndustry #GroceryRetail #Starbucks #DTCBrands #ConsumerBehavior #OmniTalk #RetailInsights

shrinkflation Shrinkflation Is Robbing You Blind | Episode 590 Good morning. This is James from SurvivalPunk.com. It's 46 degrees. I'm cold. I don't like being cold. But that's not what we're talking about today. Today we're talking about something that affects every single one of us every single week. Shrinkflation. And how companies are quietly screwing you over while pretending nothing changed. Listen now. What Shrinkflation Actually Is Shrinkflation is simple. The bag looks the same.The box looks the same.The price looks the same. But you're getting less. Your “pound” bag of chips? Not a pound anymore.16 ounces becomes 14.5 ounces.Same packaging. Same shelf space. Same mental price anchor. They don't raise the price because people notice price increases. They shrink the product because most people never check the weight. That's the game. Why It Works on Your Brain Everyone has internal price anchors. You know what Coke “should” cost.You know what ground beef “should” cost.You know what eggs “should” cost. When the price jumps too far past that mental number, you hesitate. You buy less. You switch brands. So instead of raising prices aggressively, companies keep the sticker steady and shave ounces off the back end. That's less likely to trigger your brain. And it works. The Worst Offenders Right Now Chips.Soda.Single-serve snacks. The further you get from bulk, the worse the value gets. A 12-pack of Coke creeping toward $9.97? That's insane. Run the unit math. If it's buy 2 get 3 free at Kroger, do the math.Total cost divided by total units. If it comes out to $4 a case? That's closer to reality. Unit price is king. Always. Same with meat. Ground beef has exploded. But sometimes a 50/50 beef-pork blend at Walmart hits that sweet spot. Closer to ingredients = better value.Closer to convenience = you're getting wrecked. Ingredients Beat Snacks Every Time Plain oats? Still solid.Rice? Still dependable.Flour? Still cheap. Bulk ingredients have padding built in. They absorb inflation better. Single-serve cookies? Astronomical. Two cookies can cost almost as much as a full bag. And if you run the math on making them from scratch, the ROI is ridiculous. The closer you move toward bulk, the better your survival position gets. That's not theory. That's math. Group Buys Might Be the Secret Weapon This might be its own episode. But think about this. Shipping kills value. Whether it's supplements, bulk meat, or specialty items. Split that shipping with friends? Now the math changes. Split a primal cut of beef.Split bulk orders.Split shipping costs. Suddenly your unit price drops dramatically. We talk prepping all the time. But cost discipline is prep too. Final Thoughts Shrinkflation is real. They're not just raising prices. They're reducing value. Your defense is simple: Check weight.Check unit price.Buy bulk.Run the math.Split costs when you can. Stop shopping emotionally.Start shopping strategically. That's survival in 2026. This is James from SurvivalPunk.com. DIY to survive. Amazon Item OF The Day Food Scale, 11lb Digital Kitchen Scale with 6 Units LCD Display and Tare Function,Compact Design for Baking,Healthy Cooking,Meal Prep, 304 Stainless Steel Think this post was worth 20 cents? Consider joining The Survivalpunk Army and get access to exclusive content and discounts! Don't forget to join in on the road to 1k! Help James Survivalpunk Beat Couch Potato Mike to 1k subscribers on Youtube Want To help make sure there is a podcast Each and every week? Join us on Patreon Subscribe to the Survival Punk Survival Podcast. The most electrifying podcast on survival entertainment. Itunes Pandora RSS Spotify Like this post? Consider signing up for my email list here > Subscribe Join Our Exciting Facebook Group and get involved Survival Punk Punk's The post Shrinkflation Is Robbing You Blind | Episode 590 appeared first on Survivalpunk.

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: Venmo: Score more with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card and get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash. Sign up at https://venmo.com/collegecard The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash bundle terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me/stashterms. Max $100 cash back per month. Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. McDonald's: New Hot Honey sauce. Now at McDonald's for a limited time only. Tempo Meals: Go to https://tempomeals.com/mostly for 60% off your first box! Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

Think of this show as a "real-life ad for friendship" between two celebrity Nashville dads who are just like you. The fellas are just hanging out, laughing, and navigating the bizarre realities of life—like why the Kroger meat department employees are always so put out when you actually ask them to do their jobs. This week, they discuss dealing with a "post-apocalyptic" ice storm that resets the day into "Tuesday 2.0" (hello, community laundry hubs!) and debate the merits of escaping prison in high-end Lulu running gear. We dive into life's most niche dilemmas: the shame of ordering decaf from a pompous barista, the awkward pedestrian "honor shuffle," and Dave's "most embarrassing story" involving a "Christian ring" and a police officer. From the parenting panic of a $200 lemonade stand to the necessity of stretching in public. Join us: http://substack.dadville.com Thanks to our sponsors! Cove - Check out Cove at ⁠⁠http://covesmart.com⁠⁠ and use code DAD for an additional 10% off your first order! Shopify - Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at ⁠⁠http://shopify.com/dadville Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/give-mister-ed-his-rightful-spot-on-the-hollywood-walk-of-fame?source_location=psf_petitions Bobbleheads: https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/mostly-sports-bobblehead-ii?variant=42353493114977 Mark Titus and Brandon Walker talking sports... mostly. Thanks to our sponsors: Every Man Jack: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Blue Diamond Growers: Start your new routine. Find Every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. NoBull: Visit https://nobullproject.com and use code SPORTS for 35% off your entire FIRST order Venmo: Score more with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card and get up to 5% cash back with Venmo Stash. Sign up at https://venmo.com/collegecard The Venmo Mastercard® is issued by The Bancorp Bank, N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash bundle terms and exclusions apply at venmo.me/stashterms. Max $100 cash back per month. Pardon My Cheesesteak: Order Pardon My Cheesesteak right now and use code AWL for free delivery on pardonmycheesesteak.com. Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MostlySportsTitusandWalker?sub_confirmation=1. Follow Mostly Sports on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MostlySports Follow Mark on Twitter: https://twitter.com/clubtrillion Follow Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfw Follow Mostly Sports on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mostlysportsshow/ Follow Mark on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marktheshark34/ Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bwalkersec/ Follow Mostly Sports on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mostlysportsshow?lang=en Follow Brandon on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonfwalker?lang=en Follow Mark on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marktituspod?lang=en

The hosts take open a sweeping look at the week's most consequential retail developments before heading live to the Narvar Podcast Studio at the NRF Big Show for a deep dive into AI, agentic commerce, and the evolving post-purchase customer journey.The news segment explores Saks Global's decision to close nine full-line stores, underscoring ongoing consolidation in the luxury industry and challenges in multi-line retail. The hosts examine luxury's continued bifurcation, with Kering struggling while Hermès thrives, reinforcing that luxe positioning alone isn't enough — execution matters.In specialty retail, the “collapse of the unremarkable middle” continues as Toys “R” Us Canada, Francesca's, and Eddie Bauer face significant retrenchment if not extinction, while Tractor Supply and Aritzia aggressively expand. Kroger appoints its first external CEO, Greg Boren, signaling operational rigor ahead, while Costco once again posts remarkable sales growth  Meanwhile, Target begins meaningful leadership restructuring — a foundational step in what is likely a multi-year turnaround. On the radar: AI-powered retail crime prevention at Bunnings and the imminent opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a major infrastructure development for North American trade.The featured interview brings Henry Spear, SVP Digital North America, JD Sports, and David Morin, VP Customer Strategy for Narvar, to the mic for a timely discussion on agentic commerce and how leveraging product returns can create competitive differentiation. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling author of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions hosted senior retail executive on-stage in 1:1 interviews worldwide. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including The Remarkable Retail Podcast, The Voice of Retail The Food Professor, The FEED powered by Loblaw and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. He has been recognized by the NRF as a global Top Retail Voice for 2025 and 2025 and continues to be a ReThink Retail Top Retail Expert for the fifth year in a row.

Fly, Scan, and Routine lead us to , bugzookas and salt shooters, velcro flies, the cash register boop, Barney the Kroger robot, bricks, breakfast sludge, and more.New episodes every Tuesday.Editing by: Julia WD HarrisonTheme by: Arne Parrott Logo by: Casey BordenSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

-We definitely got in the Fat Tuesday spirit today with this Cajun inspired dish! It was hardy, spicy and delicious! For being today's Crock Star, Kristin gets a $100 gift card from Kroger. That's more than enough for her next few Crockpot creations!Swamp Potatoes Ingredients*2 small bags baby gold potatoes,halved if large* 1lb sausage (smoked sausage, andouille, or whatever you like), sliced*1 medium onion, diced* 1 packet onion soup mix* 24-28 oz green beans - I prefer Allen's* 2 teaspoons onion powder* 2 teaspoons garlic powder* 1 heaping Tsp Better Than Bouillon* Cajun Seasoning, to taste* 1 32oz Box of Chicken Stock/Broth1) Wash potatoes and out in half if the the larger side.2. Layer the crockpot.Add potatoes, sausage, onion, green beans, and garlic to the slow cooker.3. Season it up.Sprinkle onion soup mix, onion powder, garlic powder.4. Add chicken broth.5. Cook.Cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 (or longe until potatoes are fork-tender.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today on our show:Amazon is a Vertically Integrated UtilityShopify Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings: a Pony with One Great Trick, Could it Be More?Kroger Opens a New MarketplacePaypal Earnings and David Marcus- and finally, The Investor Minute, which contains 5 items this week from the world of venture capital, acquisitions, and IPOs.Today's episode is sponsored by Mirakl.https://www.watsonweekly.com/https://www.youtube.com/@WatsonWeeklyhttps://www.rmwcommerce.com/ecommerce-podcast-watsonweekly

Once Upon a Farm is officially public — and it could mark a turning point for better-for-you brands. In this episode, the hosts break down the baby food company's $198 million IPO, what its $724 million valuation signals for the CPG landscape, and why going public may be emerging as a viable alternative to traditional acquisition. Is this the start of a new era for mission-driven food brands looking to scale on their own terms? Plus, they dig into the growing battle over how "healthy" gets defined at retail. Kroger adopted FoodHealth's nutrient scoring system, which aims to guide shoppers with a balanced approach to nutrient density and ingredient quality. Meanwhile, the Non-GMO Project's stricter Non-UPF Verified certification draws a hard line against processed oils, gums, and natural flavors. Are these systems complementary, competitive, or just confusing? Show notes: 0:23: Fiber Bowl. AMA In MIA. OFRM's IPO. UPF, Maybe Or No? A Burst Of Mayo, Protein & Powder. –  The hosts kick things off with lighthearted Super Bowl banter and a recap of their game-day food spreads before previewing the upcoming Taste Radio Miami Meetup at Casa La Rubia on Feb. 18. The team highlights event features including live podcast interviews, networking, brand sampling, and a new "Ask Me Anything" table hosted by Atomos Strategic Marketing, encouraging founders and industry professionals to attend. The conversation then shifts to industry news, notably Once Upon a Farm's IPO, which raised $198 million and valued the baby and kids food brand at over $724 million. The hosts discuss the rarity of successful CPG IPOs, the tradeoffs between going public and selling to a strategic buyer, and what the move could signal for other better-for-you brands. From there, they explore evolving nutrition standards, comparing FoodHealth's nutrient scoring system with the stricter Non-UPF Verified certification from the Non-GMO Project, touching on hot-button topics like processed oils, natural flavors, and consumer education. The episode also features commentary on innovative products such as Graza's olive oil mayonnaise strategy, protein soda from Joyburst, protein-enhanced fruit spreads from BamJam, and the straightforward drink mix brand Fave. Brands in this episode: Royo Bread, Once Upon a Farm, Annie's, Vita Coco, Bai, Graza, Koia, Joyburst, BamJam, Drippy, Dappie, Fave, BTR Nation, Cadence, Spindrift, Duke's