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“We got the trademark,” said well-known barbecuer Walter Johnson, also known as “Mr. Tendernism” and “Unc.” Johnson stole the hearts of many social media users with his passion for barbecue, which was on full display at Destination Smokehouse in Murrieta, CA. His presence and popular use of “Tendernism” led the establishment to go viral multiple times. @destinationmurrieta Leave your teeth at home ♬ original sound – destinationmurrieta Johnson also attracted the attention of food critic Keith Lee, who visited the restaurant in December 2025. “For me, the standout is absolutely the oxtail, but pass the oxtail the standout is Unc,” Lee said in a TikTok video . “Not only in my opinion is it extremely hard to get people engaged like that, to show your true personality, to be yourself no matter how fast things take off in this space. I don’t think he intended for it to go the way it’s going. I think he just wants to show his love for food and his love for what it is that he doing.”...
Five Black designers are redefining denim through a bold collaboration between Gap and Harlem’s Fashion Row (HFR) that pushes boundaries and celebrates individuality. Launched on Feb. 13, 2026, the 20-piece collection is available on Gap.com and in select Gap store locations, according to a news release. The collection features styles ranging from $98 to $148. The five designers — Daveed Baptiste of Daveed Baptiste, LaTouché of LaTouché, Igdaliah Pickering of IGDALYAH, Waina Chancy of Atelier Ndigo, and Nicole Benefield of Nicole Benefield Portfolio — each present a four-piece capsule. Every collection highlights the designer’s distinct approach to artistry, construction, and material innovation, the news release states. Together, they transform denim into wearable art that merges storytelling, heritage , craft, and individuality, it notes. “Denim has always been central to Gap’s place in culture,” Mark Breitbard, president and CEO of the Gap brand, said in a statement. “This...
Entrepreneur and multidisciplinary artist Temi Coker — whose clients have included Google , Netflix, and Adobe, according to his website — is using culturally resonant art and sustainable, innovative methods to redefine how art, heritage, and home design intersect. Known for creating designs that celebrate both his Nigerian roots and African American identity, Coker has transformed his artistic vision into the 18-piece Temi Coker Home Collection, available exclusively at Walmart. Centered on his family — his wife and two children — the collection embraces emerging technologies at a time when many view them as a threat, while emphasizing duality and honoring the multiple facets of Coker’s identity. Each piece creates space for others to see themselves reflected in the work. “Being able to bring in technology as a tool to solve a problem, I think that’s what it should be used for,” Coker told AFROTECH™. As a business owner and product founder, he sees technology not as a replacement...
Amazon.com Inc. , the e-commerce giant founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, has surpassed Walmart Inc. to become the world’s largest company by revenue, Bloomberg reports . Amazon’s growth stems from a shift in consumer spending from brick-and-mortar stores to online shopping, as well as the rapid expansion of its cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the outlet notes. For the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2025, Amazon reported sales of $717 billion, while Walmart reported $713.2 billion in sales for its fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2026. Walmart had held the top spot by revenue for more than 10 years. With most of their revenue coming from the United States, the two retail titans continue to compete closely for consumer dollars. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer with 2.7 billion visits each month to its website and mobile apps globally, per Bloomberg. Walmart remains the world’s largest physical retailer, operating over 10,000 stores and shopping clubs worldwide,...
Heineken has joined a growing list of companies implementing layoffs to boost efficiency through AI-driven productivity gains. The world’s second-largest brewer, behind Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced plans to cut up to 7% of its workforce, eliminating up to 6,000 roles over the next two years, CNBC reports . The restructuring follows weak beer sales last year, with total volumes declining 2.4% in 2025, the outlet notes. Despite the drop in sales, adjusted operating profit rose 4.4%. Heineken Unveils 2025 Results As It Shifts To EverGreen 2030 Heineken released its full-year 2025 results on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, describing a “well-balanced performance in challenging market conditions.” Outgoing CEO Dolf van den Brink told CNBC the job cuts would free up capital to invest in growth and its premium brands, acknowledging that the cuts were “partly also due to AI, or let’s say digitization.” “That’s a very big part of our EverGreen 2030 strategy, with around 3,000 roles moving to...
Keith Lee, the content creator and food critic whose TikTok food reviews have driven national attention to local restaurants and small businesses, is preparing to take that influence offline with the launch of a new food festival set to debut this spring. The festival, Keith Lee’s Familee Day, will kick off on May 16 in New Orleans and is positioned as a multi-day experience centered on food, music, and family-friendly programming, according to a video Lee shared on TikTok. At its core, the event aims to create sustained visibility and economic opportunity for small and underrepresented restaurants that often struggle to break through traditional marketing channels, he said. A Festival More Than A Year In The Making In the video announcing Familee Day, Lee shared that the event has been in development for more than a year and was intentionally designed to go beyond a standard food festival model. “At first I was gonna say, ‘hey, we got a food festival coming out, and it’s food,...
Amazon will close its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go locations, converting some into Whole Foods Market stores. In a blog post published on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, the tech giant said the move reflects a shift in how Americans shop for groceries, with many turning to online delivery. “While we’ve seen encouraging signals in our Amazon-branded physical grocery stores, we haven’t yet created a truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model needed for large-scale expansion. After a careful evaluation of the business and how we can best serve customers, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores,” Amazon said in the post. “We’re grateful to our team members for their many contributions over the years and are working whenever possible to help them find roles elsewhere in Amazon, including across our vast operations network, as we make this transition,” the company added. According to The Los Angeles Times, 57 Amazon Fresh...
Saks Global has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Business Insider reports. The luxury retailer that owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Saks OFF 5TH owes millions to several companies, including Chanel ($136 million), Gucci’s parent Kering ($59 million), and Michael Kors’ parent Capri Holdings ($33 million), per the outlet. ABC News cited several factors that have contributed to the filing: an increase in online shopping, direct-to-consumer sales outside department stores, and a decrease in interest in high luxury price points. “Over the last five years, luxury prices have gone so high that there’s really a question of perceived value,” Marie Driscoll, a professor at The New School who studies luxury retail, told ABC News. “People are thinking, ‘This is not worth it.’” Additionally, Saks Global’s 2024 acquisition of Neiman Marcus created financial strain for the company, notes Business Insider. In a press release at the time, Richard Baker, executive...
Marc Metrick has stepped down as CEO of Saks Global, the company announced Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. The leadership change comes as the luxury retailer missed an interest payment on its debt Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, an amount that totaled more than $100 million, reports The Wall Street Journal. Now the company is reportedly weighing its options, including bankruptcy, according to The New York Times. Financial Struggles Mount At Saks Global Saks’ financial troubles stem largely from its $2.7 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus Group, which also includes Bergdorf Goodman, in 2024. While the merger intended to create a luxury empire — delivering cost savings, stronger brand leverage, and improved customer experiences through shared loyalty programs — Saks has struggled to boost sales since the deal closed, per The Times. In October 2025, the retailer lowered its full-year guidance and reported that revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 2 fell to $1.6 billion — a more than 13% decrease from...
Barnes & Noble has said goodbye to two major locations as the nation’s largest retail bookstore continues to grow in other areas. On Jan. 18, 2026, the Barnes & Noble at Route 59 in Rockland Plaza, Nanuet, NY, will close after 33 years, The U.S. Sun reports . This leaves Rockland County with just one Barnes & Noble at the Palisades Center in West Nyack — a location whose future remains uncertain. An employee confirmed the closure on Dec. 29, 2025, telling the Rockland County Business Journal the store “couldn’t renew its lease.” Hundreds of miles south, another Barnes & Noble location is also closing. The store at The Shops at Pembroke Gardens in Pembroke Pines, FL, has been a local fixture for nearly two decades, but announced it will soon close. “It is with great sadness that we confirm the closure of this Barnes & Noble bookstore , as our lease has ended,” the store shared in a post on Instagram. “Our last day will be January 18, 2026. We have loved being a part of this...
The Prada Group finalized its $1.38 billion cash acquisition of Milan luxury fashion rival Versace on Dec. 2, 2025, after securing all regulatory approvals, The Associated Press (AP) reports . Prada — known for its minimalist aesthetic and use of unconventional materials — said the 47-year-old Versace label, famed for its maximalist aesthetic and sensual silhouettes, holds “significant untapped growth potential,” per AP. Donatella Versace, the brand’s artistic director and co-owner, celebrated the deal in an Instagram post that also honored her late brother, company founder Gianni Versace, on his birthday. “Today is your day and the day Versace joins the Prada family. I am thinking of the smile you would have had on your face,” Versace wrote. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Donatella Versace (@donatella_versace) First announced in April 2025, the highly anticipated deal is expected to help relaunch Versace’s fortunes. Capri Holdings, which also owns Michael Kors and...
Starbucks will pay $38.9 million after New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) found the company violated fair work schedule laws over half a million times since 2021. New York Mayor Eric Adams and the DCWP announced the settlement in a news release on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, calling it the largest worker protection payout in the city’s history. “It does not matter how big your business is or how much money your company makes, if you violate our workers’ rights, you will pay the price,” Adams said in a statement. “With this landmark settlement , we’ll put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker’s right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity.” DCWP launched its investigation in 2022 after receiving dozens of worker complaints at several Starbucks stores in the city. After uncovering “a pattern of systemic violations,” the agency expanded the probe to every Starbucks location...
U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online during Black Friday (Nov. 28), the annual shopping event held the day after Thanksgiving, according to Reuters. Per the outlet, Adobe Analytics reported a 9.1% jump in sales from 2024, driven in part by the rise of AI-powered shopping tools. This year, shoppers increasingly skipped crowded stores and instead used chatbots to compare prices and find discounts. Adobe Analytics, which tracks 1 trillion online retail visits, found that AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites surged 805% from last year, which was before tools like Walmart’s Sparky and Amazon’s Rufus had launched. “Consumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster,” said eMarketer analyst Suzy Davidkhanian, per Reuters. “Gift giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make the discovery process feel quicker and more guided.” LEGO sets, Pokémon cards, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 consoles, Apple AirPods, and KitchenAid mixers were among the...
Marvin Ellison ’s journey to becoming president, CEO, and chairman of Lowe’s began far from the boardroom. While attending the University of Memphis, he worked part-time at Target, earning $4.35 an hour, according to Fortune. “I was fortunate to land in a company that believed in developing people, and I just grinded it out for 15 years all the way up to a director level,” Ellison told Daymond John, the entrepreneur behind FUBU and an investor on “Shark Tank,” in a 2022 interview. That early experience shaped how Ellison approached his career, especially as someone who didn’t come from a traditional corporate pedigree. “I didn’t have an Ivy League education. I didn’t have any stellar international opportunities or stints on my resume. I’m competing against all of these exceptionally talented people on paper; I had to find a way to differentiate myself,” he shared in the interview. His strategy became simple but demanding: Take every tough assignment no one else wanted. “I’d take...
Kohl’s has officially named Michael Bender as its permanent CEO, putting a seasoned retail executive in charge after a turbulent period for the department store chain, the New York Post reports. According to the outlet, Bender, who stepped in as interim CEO in May 2025 following the dismissal of Ashley Buchanan, now faces the challenge of steering the company through declining sales, profit pressure, and shifting consumer habits. In a company press release, Bender said, “I’m honored to take on the role of CEO at Kohl’s. Working with the teams over the last six months has deepened my love of this company and my conviction in what’s possible for our future.” He added, “Kohl’s has a storied and important role in the retail industry, serving and celebrating families with great products, compelling value, and a differentiated shopping experience. I’m looking forward to reestablishing our leadership position by putting our customers first every day. While we’re pleased by our recent...