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The Popcorn Shoppe closes Northwoods Mall location

The Popcorn Shoppe closes Northwoods Mall location

Yahoo5 days ago

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — An experiment to test out a new location didn't turn out as planned for a Central Peoria business.
The Popcorn Shoppe announced they would close their Northwoods Mall location on their Facebook page.
'The Northwoods Mall kiosk location was an experiment to see how popcorn at the mall would sell. We opened in October 2024 and gave it three months last year and five months so far this year, and overall, the mall was not a successful endeavor,' the company said in the post.
As such, the Metro Center-based company said they have shuttered operations at the mall and by the end of the month, their space will be empty.
They will maintain the Metro Center store but with different hours. Instead of being open for a few hours on Sunday and closed on Monday, they are now closed on Sunday and open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. They are open an hour later on Friday and Saturday.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Small businesses struggle under Trump's tariff whiplash: ‘I'm so angry that my own government has done this to me'
Small businesses struggle under Trump's tariff whiplash: ‘I'm so angry that my own government has done this to me'

Yahoo

time22 minutes ago

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Small businesses struggle under Trump's tariff whiplash: ‘I'm so angry that my own government has done this to me'

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In early April, he issued a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs almost everywhere except China. Then, after ratcheting up total tariffs on Chinese imports to 145%, he declared smartphones and certain other electronics would be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs. The US and China agreed in May to roll back reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. And in late May, he threatened smartphone makers like Apple with 25% tariffs if they don't make their phones in the US. He also agreed to push back levies on imports from the European Union until July 9. Those are only some of his changes, which can come at any time of day via the White House, social media posts or other avenues. The whiplash has been hard for companies to keep up with. Even major brands like apparel giant Gap are feeling the impact of tariffs, but small companies with far fewer resources are in an even tougher spot. The National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Optimism Index fell by 1.6 points in April, dipping below the 51-year average for the second consecutive month. The organization's chief economist, Bill Dunkelberg, cited uncertainty as a 'major impediment' for small business owners in a press release. 'It's the sort of more smaller, kind of more niche… brands that are going to really, really get hit by this,' Jack Leathem, an analyst at market research firm Canalys, told CNN in April. Some small business owners have had to make difficult decisions as they've grappled with the impact of tariffs. EveAnna Manley, whose company Manley Labs makes high-end electronics for recording studios, has had to cut her employees' hours by 25%. The reciprocal tariffs that China imposed on the US have been particularly challenging, she says, since China has become a major market for her business. Manley says it took 'decades' for her to 'get the best Chinese importers.' Overall, Manley Labs' sales are down more than 19% compared to last year, she told CNN, which has frozen the company's product development efforts. 'It's just a freaking mess right now,' she said in late May, before this past week's court rulings on Trump's tariffs. 'And I'm so angry that my own government has done this to me.' The best thing small businesses can do right now is to be flexible and diversify their sourcing and procurement strategies, says Tala Akhavan, chief operating officer of Pietra, a platform that helps brands with sourcing, production and logistics among other services. That's what Intuition Robotics, which makes a home robot designed to be a companion for older adults, is doing, according to chief strategy officer Assaf Gad. The company also makes money off its digital subscription accounts, according to Gad, giving it the flexibility to look into a 'plan B' outside of China for producing the company's hardware. 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Faraday Future Holds First Annual Stockholders' Day, Company Provides FX Product Updates, Confirms FX Super One Launch Timing, and Secures 600 New Deposits from Multi-Channel Network (MCN) Agencies
Faraday Future Holds First Annual Stockholders' Day, Company Provides FX Product Updates, Confirms FX Super One Launch Timing, and Secures 600 New Deposits from Multi-Channel Network (MCN) Agencies

Business Wire

time42 minutes ago

  • Business Wire

Faraday Future Holds First Annual Stockholders' Day, Company Provides FX Product Updates, Confirms FX Super One Launch Timing, and Secures 600 New Deposits from Multi-Channel Network (MCN) Agencies

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. (NASDAQ: FFAI) ('Faraday Future', 'FF' or 'Company'), a California-based global shared intelligent electric mobility ecosystem company, held its first Annual Stockholders' Day on Saturday, May 31, at the Company's global headquarters in Los Angeles. Attendees included stockholders and other Company guests who experienced Company presentations and updates, and personalized FF and FX vehicle ride and drive experiences. The event also offered an open Q&A session with FF executives and a special private dinner after the event for stockholders, offering an exclusive opportunity to engage directly with Company leadership. Words of encouragement from some of the Company's newest B2B partners were also delivered at the event. 'I want to personally thank all of the guests for being here at our very first 'Annual Stockholders' Day. It was a genuine pleasure to extend a welcoming hand to everyone who attended this event,' said Co-CEO YT Jia. 'This was more than just another Company event, it showed our unwavering commitment to stockholder engagement, long-term value creation, and full commitment to our 'Stockholders-First' principle.' FX Product and Brand Updates The Company plans to host the first exclusive offline product launch event for the FX Super One on June 29, tailored for five key groups: FF stockholders and investors; B2B sales partners and prospects; global supply chain partners; media, influencers and KOLs; co-creation officers and celebrities. Subsequently, FX will host a large-scale public launch event on July 17, the 'Super One Online Global Product Launch,' targeting retail consumers and opening up the large-scale online B2C paid pre-orders. FX Super One has now officially entered the parts procurement and production preparation phase. Internally, we've already started the countdown sprint toward having our first production vehicle off-line by year-end. Development of our second model and future products is also progressing steadily and according to plan. The Company is seeing strong momentum with B2B pre-orders for the FX brand. With the latest paid pre-order agreements, totaling 600 units, signed with two MCN agencies: CreatoRev and Good Deal, total binding B2B deposits for FX Super One now cover over 2,500 non-binding pre-orders. This marks significant progress toward FX's goal to disrupt the market dominance of some leading market players such as the Cadillac Escalade. CreatoRev and Good Deal will also collaborate as paid co-creation partners, enhancing the AI-MPV experience. This deep co-creation with leading American MCNs marks a breakthrough and key innovation in FX's Co-Creation Ecosystem Online Direct Sales. 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Company Operation Updates On the user operations front, the Company is accelerating the digitalization, systemization, and IT integration of its user engagement ecosystem, a key accomplishment for the mass production and delivery of FX next year. On the after-sales service front, the Company is advancing the FX Service Par program, working to quickly establish collaborations with major automotive service providers, dealerships, and aftermarket partners. The Company is building a robust internal R&D system, especially centered on bringing much of the software and AI, bringing the core technologies, software, and AI capabilities in our $300,000 flagship FF 91 to the FX product line. In the second half of the year, our voice interaction system based on large language models and the full FF ecosystem of services could be deployed in the planned FX Super One and FX 4. 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The new FX strategy aims to introduce mass production models equipped with state-of-the-art luxury technology similar to the FF 91, targeting a broader market with middle-to-low price range offerings. FF is committed to redefining mobility through AI innovation. Join us in shaping the future of intelligent transportation. For more information, please visit FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release includes 'forward looking statements' within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words 'plan to,' 'can,' 'will,' 'should,' 'future,' 'potential,' and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which include statements regarding future partnerships, joint ventures and fundraising, plans and projections for the FX brand, including by not limited to the planned Super One and FX 4, future FX models, future FX reservations, use of capital and 10b5-1 purchase plans, are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside the Company's control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. 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Southeast Asia's tech startups are chasing the American dream
Southeast Asia's tech startups are chasing the American dream

Business Insider

timean hour ago

  • Business Insider

Southeast Asia's tech startups are chasing the American dream

Yoeven Khemlani knew he wanted to build a product for engineers like him. The Singaporean's friends told him they were spending tons of time maintaining code, web scraping, and translating their work for different markets. In July 2024, he launched JigsawStack, a company to create small models that could automate those tasks. One country — not his own — quickly became the source of his customers. "We saw a huge uptake of users and realized a lot of the early-stage customers that we got were from the US," Khemlani said. JigsawStack, which raised $1.5 million in pre-seed rounds from the venture capital firm Antler's Southeast Asia fund in October and February, is part of a growing group of Southeast Asian startups building products for US-based customers, rather than those in their backyard. For these software startups, the US's rising isolationism isn't threatening their customer base — yet. But sweeping tariffs on China may push up the cost of hardware they need to import into the US, such as servers. "Traditionally, Southeast Asian startups honed in on local or regional markets to solve unique, homegrown challenges," said Jussi Salovaara, a cofounder of Antler who leads investments in Asia. The ride-hailing apps Grab and GoJek — two of the region's best-known startups, now publicly listed — are examples of how founders in the early 2010s built for local needs. "However, as the ecosystem matures, founders are now setting their sights on the US, encouraged by a blend of opportunity and necessity," Salovaara said, adding that he'd seen more of these US-focused startups in the past three years in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is growing, but it doesn't have the US's firepower Southeast Asia, a group of 11 countries east of the Indian subcontinent and south of China, has seen skyrocketing economic growth over the past decade. Since 2015, the region's GDP has climbed more than 62% to $4.12 trillion, boosted by a growing middle and upper class. Between 2015 and 2021, the number of venture capital deals within the region more than tripled to 1,800, PitchBook data shows. Activity peaked in 2021 — a similar pattern to startup funding globally. Despite the region's growth, more Southeast Asia startups are choosing to focus on building products for the US, not for those around them. Founders and business experts note that the American market is more concentrated, more mature, and less price sensitive, all of which make it an attractive playing ground for new entrants. Plus, the US is leading in artificial intelligence, the major driver of today's global tech industry. "We're in an AI-first world where currently the US is at the epicenter of driving groundbreaking advancements," said Shailendra Singh, a managing director with Peak XV, the VC firm previously known as Sequoia Capital India & Southeast Asia. "This," he added, "is why we put in a lot of focus and effort on building global go-to-market operating teams in the US." And American businesses are happy to have them. "SEA startups are often positioned to offer high-quality, cost-competitive solutions that can undercut US-based alternatives, making them appealing to American businesses in need of cost-effective innovation," Antler's Salovaara said. To be sure, the model isn't unique to Southeast Asia. Nataliya Wright, an entrepreneurship professor at Columbia Business School, researched startups founded from 2000 to 2015 for a forthcoming paper on scaling. She found that software startups from small countries in Europe, for instance, typically focused on the US from the get-go. Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, however, are considered midsize markets, with populations in the tens of millions. Startups from midsize markets tended to start with a local focus, assuming there would be enough customers. "A US orientation," Wright told Business Insider, "would suggest a departure from that model." 11 unique markets Working only within the region is tough. Southeast Asia is home to a huge diversity of languages, business practices, and household incomes. "You're spending five times more because you're entering five different markets," Khemlani, the JigsawStack founder, said about working in the region. The US and tech hubs like San Francisco allow startups to find an abundance of customers in one place, or at least in one country. "We don't have the resources to do two streams of marketing," Khemlani said. Having some American customers is good for fundraising, too, said Wright, the Columbia Business School professor. This is because of a bias called "foreign discounting" — VCs based in startup hubs such as Silicon Valley overlook or undervalue startups founded elsewhere, Wright said. When foreign startups show they have US customers, it helps cancel out that bias and could give them a leg up in future fundraising rounds. VCs say founders from the region have advantages. Singh, the Peak XV managing director, said Indian and Southeast Asian startups often have an underdog mindset. "They feel a startup in Silicon Valley is more polished and has better access to capital and talent, so they want to overcompensate by working harder, learning faster, and often they're understated and very hungry for success," he said. Hotbed for innovation Realfast is a Singaporean Peak XV-backed startup that builds AI agents for IT systems. Its cofounder, Sidu Ponnappa, has found that the US is the deepest market for its product. "Everything from deal velocity to deal size operates at a completely different level in the US," Ponnappa said. "Can you do the same thing for other markets? Yes, but it's always lower margin." Guan Dian, who heads the Asia Pacific operations of Patsnap, a software maker for research and development projects that's backed by Vertex Ventures, said the company's founders always thought the US would be a priority market. While the startup has customers in 50 countries, more than half of its 5,000 customers are in the US. She said the company refined its branding to emphasize AI-powered features for industries such as biotech and advanced manufacturing, which dominate US patent filings. Cost consciousness among Southeast Asian customers is another reason founders are reaching abroad. "Southeast Asia is a little bit more price sensitive, and we tend to get a bit more into negotiation," Khemlani said. Cheaper labor means local customers try low-tech solutions or building themselves first, but that's starting to change as AI models get more complex and expensive, Khemlani said. 'Should we move our headquarters to America?' Founders don't want to fully decamp to the US, though, thanks to the ease of doing business in places such as Singapore. For startups including Multiplier, an HR platform backed by Tiger Global and Peak XV, Singapore's strong geopolitical relations with virtually every country are a big advantage over the US. "We do business with China and Taiwan, we do business with India and Pakistan, we do business with America and China," said Sagar Khatri, Multiplier's CEO and cofounder. "We've evaluated time and time again: Should we move our headquarters to America? And the answer has always been no," Khatri said. The founders who spoke with BI also touted Singapore's tax policy — it doesn't tax capital gains — and government grants for tech companies. Some startups are splitting their people, moving one cofounder to the US while the other stays in Southeast Asia. For JigsawStack, being in the US is essential for networking. Khemlani, the founder, spent six months in the US last year and moved permanently this year to scale the startup. "You can't sell to the US when you're not there," he said. "Just going for an event or a hackathon in the US makes such a big difference in your sales."

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