The Retail Tipping Point

There are strikes at Amazon warehouses in seven locations, including some major cities. Here’s how it could impact holiday orders. When it comes to timing their strike to make an impact, the Teamsters couldn’t have picked a better one. The union has launched strikes against seven Amazon warehouses—and with Christmas less than a week away, that could have some last-minute shoppers wondering what will happen to their holiday orders.

Limited-time discounts are getting people back in the door at quick-service restaurants, but such gains could be fleeting when the deals disappear. Fast-food restaurant chains have been seeing an uptick in traffic over the past two months due to the success of limited-time deals and promotions, along with an early rollout of the holiday season, according to Revenue Management Solutions (RMS), a company that analyzes data and provides insights about the restaurant industry.

The once-ubiquitous music retail chain has just two remaining stores: one in Ohio and one in Oregon. Reports that both are shuttering may have been premature. Sam Goody, the once-ubiquitous music and entertainment retail chain founded in 1951, is set to close one of its last two remaining U. S. stores next year.

Comedian Dan Donohue has an unusual strategy for dealing with prickly family members. The holidays can be a hotbed for arguments, whether it’s a squabble in the kitchen or a heated game of monopoly. “Never discuss religion, sex, politics, or money” might be sage advice when it comes to the festive period, but it’s more often than not ignored after a few drinks.

OpenAI just launched a way to call ChatGPT over the phone. But how does it handle the whole Santa thing? OpenAI just launched a way to call ChatGPT over the phone as a means of introducing people to the generative AI service. Users in the U. S. and Canada can call 1-800-CHATGPT (1-800-242-8478) to chat with the service or ask questions for up to 15 minutes for free per month.

Munich-based startup Vaeridion has secured €14mn to develop an electric aircraft that it hopes will whisk passengers on short-haul routes around Europe by 2030.  “The microliner looks like a regular plane and it takes off from a runway — the only difference is that it will be powered by batteries,” Vaeridion’s co-founder and CEO, Ivor van Dartel, told TNW in an interview last month.