Latest news with #23&Me
Miami Herald
24-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Bankrupt restaurant chain starts shuttering locations
Bankruptcies and store closings seem to be all over the news this year - a trend that was happening even before President Donald Trump announced his tariffs plan on April 2. The looming impact of tariffs has spooked many businesses. Unfortunately, their fears are rational. With the pressure of new levies on both large and small businesses, it's almost certain that we will see many forced to either downsize or throw in the towel this year. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter While some stores are such staples that it's hard to imagine them closing, for some it's happening anyway. Joann, a fabric and craft store that customers have loved since its opening in 1943, was forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy twice in the last year and is in the process of closing all its stores, a process that should be completed by May 31, 2025. Related: Beloved retailer in Chapter 11 bankruptcy angers customers Another company that declared Chapter 11 this year is 23&Me, which announced the news in mid-March. The DNA company once had a valuation of $6 billion, which is a far cry from the $256m Regeneron Pharmaceuticals paid for it earlier this week. While a Chapter 11 bankruptcy doesn't always mean the end for a company, it does mean it needs a way to restructure its debt. In some cases the companies sells its assets to do this, as 23&Me did. In others, the best way to handle it is to simply close all the locations if the company is a chain. And that's exactly what one casual restaurant is doing now, after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. Image source: Ebener/picture alliance via Getty Images National vegan restaurant chain Planta has closed the first of its locations only a few weeks after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The first location to close is the West Palm Beach location at CityPlace, which officially shuttered on May 20. "Assistant manager Jessie Gregory, who had worked at the West Palm Beach location for over two years, said they were informed on Tuesday, May 20 that they were closing and that it would be her and her coworkers' final shift," per a report in The Palm Beach Post. "Gregory said they had received no warning and despite the bankruptcy filing reported May 12, the buzz at the CityPlace restaurant was that they'd be 'staying open,' she said." Planta has also closed its South Beach location and the Williamsburg location in Brooklyn, New York, according to the website. Related: Historic college suffers complete financial collapse after bankruptcy The plant-based chain previously operated in 18 locations in seven states, including Florida, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Planta has not announced what will happen to the locations that are still operating. Planta, which is owned by Miami Beach-based CHG US Holdings, cited its reason for the bankruptcy as "inflationary pressures on input costs and consumer pullback as driving factors behind its bankruptcy," according to a court filing. "The debtor's largest unsecured creditors include landlord 8461 Melrose Avenue, owed over $613,000; law firm Saul Ewing Arstein & Lehr LLP, owed over $316,000; landlord 13 W 27 Leasehold LLC, owed over $203,000; landlord Friedman Properties, owed over $180,000; and Baldor Specialty Foods, owed over $176,000," reports TheStreet's Kirk O'Neil. Related: Home Depot local rival closing permanently after 120 years The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Trending in Texoma — Biotech buyout to new weekend box office champ
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Whether it's happening on the other side of the country, somewhere else in Texas, or right in our communities, Digital Producer Mariana Vela takes a look at the stories currently generating the most interest on social media. Social Rundown: Never too old for education, Magna Carta original, and don't hit snooze Americans could see record-high electricity bills this summer as the U.S. is expecting a long, hot summer from June through September. Regeneron, the Biotech company, has bought genetic testing company 23&Me for $256 million as the San Francisco-based company filed for bankruptcy in March of this year. And the new winner for this weekend's box office scores: 1st 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' with $51 million, 2nd 'Thunderbolts' with $16.5 million, 3rd 'Sinner' with $15.4 million. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DC, MD, VA attorneys general says 23andMe customers should delete data
The Brief The attorneys general for D.C., Virginia and Maryland are warning 23andMe customers, saying they should delete their data from the site. 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to help the genetic testing company facilitate a sale amid years of financial issues. News of the company's financial struggles immediately prompted concerns about the future of customers' sensitive data. WASHINGTON - The attorneys general for the District of Columbia, Virginia and Maryland have issued a warning to anyone who has been a customer of 23&Me to delete their data. This comes after the genetic testing company announced earlier this week that it is heading toward bankruptcy. So, what legal rights do you have if your information is sold? The backstory Curiosity about one's family history has led roughly 15 million people to use 23andMe. The company says that 80% of users have consented to having their data used for research purposes. However, with the company looking to sell its assets, customers will have no say in where their private information ends up. What they're saying DC's Attorney General, Brian Schwalb, issued a statement saying, in part, "District residents have a legal right to protect their sensitive information and data." He urges users to take action and demand that their genetic information be deleted or destroyed. The Attorneys General of Maryland and Virginia have issued similar notices. While these states are two of the 10 that have genetic data privacy laws, those laws only apply as long as 23andMe's current privacy policy remains in effect. They say that depending on who purchases the company, your personal information may no longer be protected. "When you give your genetic material to these private companies, it's not considered a medical treatment or care, so it's not protected the same way that your medical records would be through a private company," said Donte Mills, attorney at Mills Legal. "The concern is, if the data is purchased by someone who wants to do something with it in regards to research or development or some kind of genetic testing, they're going to have the ability to do that and the people whose information they have, they're not going to have any power or control to stop them," Mills added. What's next While deleting is encouraged, 23andMe might not make it easy as your data is an asset to them in the bankruptcy process. D.C. AG Schwalb says should you have issues, contact their offices.
Axios
26-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
23andMe goes bankrupt and faces data privacy concerns
Genetic testing company 23&Me has declared bankruptcy, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta is urging people who used the service to delete their data from the platform. Why it matters: The Bay Area-based company was one of the first to commercially offer autosomal DNA testing for ancestry. But its financial distress sparks a big question for its 15 million customers: What does a sale mean for the genetic data 23andMe stores? State of play: The lack of a repeat incentive for people to keep testing DNA was part of the company's downfall — for many customers, they spit in a tube, received their results and moved on from their data. Now, that data, experts have noted, is effectively up for sale — though 23andMe stresses"any buyer will be required to comply with applicable law with respect to treatment of customer data." The company's bankruptcy filing is intended to facilitate its sale. Driving the news: Bonta is urging Californians to "consider invoking their rights and directing 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company." "California has robust privacy laws that allow consumers to take control and request that a company delete their genetic data," he said in a statement. A Sunday open letter from the company notes that customers can still delete their data and account. The company says it will "automatically opt you out of Research and discard your sample." The other side: 23andMe spokesperson Ann Sommerlath told Axios via email that there will be no changes to the way the company stores, manages or protects customer data. The big picture: 23andMe helped make the Bay a pioneer in the biotech space. Linda Avey, Paul Cusenza and Anne Wojcicki founded the company in 2006 with the hope of accelerating medical research by asking customers to opt in to studies on conditions like Parkinson's and asthma. 85% chose to opt in, according to Wojcicki, who said on X that she plans to be an independent bidder. It faced scrutiny in 2023 after hackers stole personal data belonging to 6.9 million users. How it works: Customers can delete their account within their settings, according to the company's customer care page. Scroll to the section titled "23andMe data" and select view. Users can download information they want to keep before permanently deleting anything. More comprehensive instructions are available here. Caveat: In the case of bankruptcy, mergers, acquisitions or other forms of reorganization, 23andMe says, personal information "may be accessed, sold or transferred." The company's privacy policies would apply to personal information transferred to a new entity, according to a March article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. But that new entity, the paper states, "could create new terms of service."
The Independent
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Rory Feek speaks out after daughter Hopie reveals he's not her biological father
Rory Feek has spoken out after his daughter, Hopie Feek, revealed that he is not her biological father. The 59-year-old singer shared a blog post on Tuesday about his daughter, days after she shared a video on Instagram about her 23 & Me results, which revealed that Rory wasn't her biological father. In her video, she also explained that she's connected with her biological father, a man named B.C., and they've 'gotten real close' within the last six months. In his post, Rory recalled Hopie calling him out of the blue for the first time in two and a half years and asking to speak in person. She told him that she and her sister Heidi 'recently reconnected with our birth mother, and we've gotten close in the last two years... and she shared something with me that I think you need to know.' ''I don't want to hurt you. But you need know that I took a '23 & Me' test and it turns out that I have a different Dad than Heidi and Indiana,'' he recalled Hopie saying. 'I'm not sure what I thought Hopie was going to say, but I was not expecting to hear that.' According to the blog post, Hopie chose to take the 23 & Me test after her biological mother Tamera Gilmer — who was absent from her and Heidi's childhood — said she was with another man during her relationship with Rory and was certain that he was Hopie's father. However, Rory told Hopie that he wasn't completely surprised by this news before sharing a story about him and her mother from 1988 during a difficult point in their marriage. He said that when he found out his ex was pregnant with Hopie, it was 'frustrating,' since their 'marriage was a mess.' He added that when his daughter was born a week or two past her due date, he had his suspicions about the timing of her pregnancy. Rory said he learned of her pregnancy shortly after he returned from his six-month deployment to the Middle East with the Marines. However, despite his doubts, Tamera insisted that Hopie was his child. After their divorce, Rory initially agreed to raise Heidi while Tamera would raise Hopie. But he later pleaded to keep Hopie with him and Heidi, eventually taking full custody of both daughters. From that moment on, Rory said he 'raised' Hopie as his own. 'When I learned I wasn't Hopie's biological father, it didn't change my love for her,' he wrote. 'This news and this blood test don't change anything for me. I love my daughter and always will.' Hopie issued a response to Rory's blog post on Wednesday. On Instagram, she said that her 'one request' for Rory was 'to be kind and not shame [her] mom,' but he did not do that. 'Today, he shared her private history in his blog, which is extremely disappointing,' she wrote. 'I shared my story because I couldn't keep the secret all to myself anymore. I'm really not a public person, but because Rory is, my private life becomes content for his fans (who are often unkind online).' She went on to criticize Rory, claiming that he was 'hateful and judgemental' when she came out as bisexual. She added that he 'convinced' her to let him write about that experience in his book, which she now regrets. 'When his book came out, he had massive support and I had the opposite,' she added. 'More hate from his fans. The things he wrote in that chapter still hurt.' She also alleged that Rory would try to keep her from his 10-year-old daughter Indy, who he shared with his late wife, Joey Fleek. 'It's like he was already trying to push me out of his life,' she continued. In her initial Instagram video about her 23 & Me results, she shared how similar she is to her biological father and praised the bond they've formed. 'Within 24 hours of finding him and messaging him on Facebook, he was here at my doorstep just to give me a hug and to meet me. I've never experienced unconditional love like that before,' she said. 'I reconnected with my mom this past year and she's freaking awesome. I learned how much she loves me and how much she wanted to be a part of my life but never really could.'
