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A tale of two malls Oviedo, Millenia malls' diverging paths to survive, thrive

A tale of two malls Oviedo, Millenia malls' diverging paths to survive, thrive

Yahoo22-03-2025

Editor's note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
Nearly 20 malls across America closed per year in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, but that pace has slowed.
That's according to retail real estate analytics firm Green Street, which in its January mall outlook report estimates '10 mall closures annually until most struggling centers shut their doors for good.' According to the report, surviving malls will benefit from the loss of the gross leasable area in their districts.
Read: Florida Senate releases plan to address school funding changes
One of those that will appear as a tick on the company's 2025 graph is Seminole Towne Center, which shuttered in January even as its anchor properties still are making improvements.
Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal's website.
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A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out
A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out

Business Insider

time21 minutes ago

  • Business Insider

A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out

A really nice grill brush will cost you about $25 at your local big box store, but YouTuber Dustin Sandlin is betting he can get customers to shell out three times that amount for a Made-in-America version. Sandlin traces his passion for US manufacturing to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when he was bothered by the lack of American-made essential goods. "Everybody wanted N95 masks and face shields, and they couldn't get it," he said in a recent YouTube video. "This revealed to me how anemic our manufacturing capacity in America has become, because I was waiting on some billionaire to come save us, and it didn't happen." So began a yearslong deep dive into the challenges of making products in the US, which Sandlin documented for his series on YouTube called "Smarter Every Day." After working with John Youngblood, the owner of a local specialty grill accessories company, Sandlin got excited about the idea of developing a better scrubber. Sandlin and Youngblood wanted to produce it in the US with as many domestically sourced components as possible, and sell it at a retail price. In a video that went live Sunday and has since amassed more than 2 million views, Sandlin shares why he decided to get serious about US manufacturing, explains how he navigated the design process, and makes a sales pitch for viewers to buy it for themselves. On Tuesday, Youngblood told Business Insider the $75 scrubber has sold through its initial production run of several thousand units within a day, and his company is now taking pre-orders. "We're going to have a backlog for a while," Youngblood said. Most grill brushes are meant to be thrown away. This one isn't. Many lower-cost grill brushes aren't typically designed to last more than a year of use — grill-maker Weber recommends changing them after each grilling season. Another problem is that the bristles have been known to come off and can end up in grilled food. Sandlin and Youngblood found that welded chain mail — like the material of a medieval knight's armor — was highly effective at cleaning grill grates without breaking. There was one problem: "We could only find it in China." After a few tries, the team managed to find a US supplier who could make about 2,000 units a month and a supplier in India to augment the rest. Attaching the chain mail to a handle proved to be another adventure. Sandlin said the average one-inch industrial bolt costs around 9 cents when imported, but that jumps to 38 cents for versions made in the US. "Most machine shops I talked to directly, they said, 'Yeah, we can't even get the material for the price of the finished bolts that you're getting from a foreign supplier,'" Sandlin said. Then there was the process of making injection-molded parts to provide support and flexibility, which required machining custom tools and dies (the metal forms that shape a material) for shops to use in production. "This is the moment where this whole experiment came into focus for me," Sandlin said. "I realized at that moment we're screwed." American manufacturing has exported the smart part of making stuff The reason for Sandlin's pessimism is that many of the shops he spoke with send tool and die design files to China to be made and imported for use in US production lines. "I don't want my intellectual property in China, I want to make it here," he said. "And they said, 'Good luck.'" The problem illuminated by this episode goes far beyond a seemingly simple grilling accessory. "We're screwed as a nation if we can't do the intelligent work of tool and die: making the tools that make the things," Sandlin said. "We have flipped it. We are now to the point where the smart stuff is done somewhere else." Sandlin and Youngblood eventually found US suppliers for all of their custom components. They're working to get every piece sourced here. The video shows two instances where Sandlin was surprised by the apparent country of origin being different from what he says he was led to believe: The first batch of knobs arrived in packaging stating they were made in Costa Rica rather than the US. Several boxes of chain mail (ostensibly from India) had markings that suggested they were instead from China. "I'm shocked," Sandlin said. "It's pretty weird to set out to try to make a thing completely in America and to find out towards the end of the process that you made something in China anyways." Sandlin says he's not interested in having America be the dominant world player — he wants more opportunities for people here to have good jobs that allow them to take care of their communities. "If you are ever, ever in a position to make a decision about where your thing is manufactured, take a second and consider making a little less profit, maybe in order to invest in your local community," he said.

Who's listening to Negative Nelly? Not these investors. Survey shows they're optimistic.
Who's listening to Negative Nelly? Not these investors. Survey shows they're optimistic.

USA Today

timean hour ago

  • USA Today

Who's listening to Negative Nelly? Not these investors. Survey shows they're optimistic.

Who's listening to Negative Nelly? Not these investors. Survey shows they're optimistic. Show Caption Hide Caption The trade war hits stock markets — how can you protect your finances? The global trade war has hit the stock markets — this is how you can protect your finances. Americans may have gotten pretty good at tuning out negative news and predictions, at least when it comes to investing, a Wealthfront survey suggests. Individuals surveyed by investment platform Wealthfront continued investing through the April U.S. stock market volatility stemming from President Donald Trump's tariff back-and-forth, and nearly 30% say they plan to invest more in U.S. stocks in the future. That may seem counterintuitive considering the many dire forecasts for the economy and the stock market from tariff wars, but 'it's also possible that investors are getting better at handling the constant flow of headlines and uncertainties that have shaped the market lately,' said Alex Michalka, head of investment strategy at Wealthfront. Optimism rises In May, 55% of respondents said they were somewhat or very optimistic about the U.S. stock market over the next six months. That's significantly higher than the 42% in April who felt upbeat. The improved vibes are 'likely fueled by the postponement of tariffs and the growing perception that future trade policies could be more moderate than initially anticipated,' Michalka said. Since Trump first announced his aggressive tariff plan on April 2, some of the highest tariffs have been iced as the administration tries to strike trade deals. The latest, and arguably the most significant, talks are occurring this week in London with Chinese officials. Is the worst over? Market volatility isn't necessarily over, and it can be uncomfortable for investors, but it's a fact of life, Michalka said. Once people understand and accept that, it's easier to stay the course and remain optimistic. 'During Covid, stocks went down really fast, but they also came back really fast,' said Nick Bour, founder and chief executive of Inspire Wealth in Brighton, Michigan. 'If you get out, you could miss the big bounce back.' Stocks ended May up 6% and are up again on the year. Additionally, if you took advantage of tax-loss harvesting and dollar-cost averaging during the volatility earlier this year, you may have even done better. Tax-loss harvesting means selling stocks that are losing money, recognizing the loss, and using it to offset capital gains, or profits made from other holdings, even if they are different types of investments or are being held in different accounts. Dollar-cost averaging is buying stock at regular intervals, regardless of whether prices are falling or rising. 'Not only did you buy investments 'at a discount,' you should have potentially valuable losses to use to lower your tax bill come tax time next year,' Michalka said. Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@ and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.

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