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Japan’s Seven & i, the parent company of the Japanese 7-Eleven convenience store chain, said Thursday it is selling its supermarket store assets to Bain Capital for about $5.4 billion. The company announced the deal a day after naming Stephen Dacus, its board chairman, to be its president and CEO. It also said it plans an initial public offering in the U.S. of 7-Eleven or SEI, its convenience store business in North America, by the end of 2026. Funds from the IPO and the sale to Bain will be returned to shareholders in the form of share buybacks worth 2 trillion yen ($5.4 billion). Seven & i’s share price jumped 6.1% in Tokyo. The deal follows Seven & i’s …

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Just 10 days ago, on February 10, Japan-based Sumitomo Forestry announced that it had agreed to acquire Tri Pointe Homes—a large U.S. homebuilder ranked No. 715 on the Fortune 1000—for $4.5 billion, signaling that Japanese builders were further accelerating their buying spree of U.S. homebuilders. Fast-forward to today, and Stanley Martin Homes—which has been owned by Japan-based Daiwa House since 2017—announced that it has agreed to buy United Homes Group, which has a strong presence in the Carolinas, for $221 million—further accelerating Japanese b…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. On Friday, Trumark Homes—which has been majority owned by Japan-based Daiwa House since 2020—announced that it has struck a deal to acquire a Seattle metro-based homebuilder JK Monarch. The deal is the latest in a recent string of U.S. homebuilder acquisitions by Japanese firms. Exactly five weeks ago today (February 13), Japan-based Sumitomo Forestry announced that it had agreed to acquire Tri Pointe Homes—a giant public homebuilder ranked No. 715 on the Fortune 1000—for $4.5 billion. Then on February 23, Stanley Martin Homes—which has been owne…

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. There was a five-week window this spring during which four different U.S. homebuilders—one of them publicly traded, Tri Pointe Homes—were acquired by Japanese firms. At the time, ResiClub estimated that, once those deals close, Japanese firms would control more than 5.5% of the U.S. single-family homebuilding market. This wave of Japanese firms buying U.S. homebuilders isn’t just a 2026 phenomenon—it’s been building for a decade. According to new construction analytics firm Zonda: Back in 2015, Japanese firms owned U.S. homebuilders that acc…

The Fast Company Impact Council is an invitation-only membership community of leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual dues for access to peer learning, thought leadership opportunities, events and more. Digital wallets have fast become part of daily life. By 2027, they’re expected to account for half of all retail sales—around $25 trillion worldwide. It’s easy to see why. Paying with a digital wallet is easy, secure, and requires nothing more than a phone. But there’s potential for wallets to do so much more, beyond payments. Digital wallets started as payment tools. Now, they’re becoming…

It’s not been a good start to 2025 when it comes to major retailers shuttering locations. Since the end of last year, numerous companies have announced their intention to close swaths of their brick-and-mortar stores, including Party City, Big Lots, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, and Macy’s. Just this week, another retailer—Joann fabrics—announced it would be closing hundreds of locations, as well. And now, department store icon JCPenney has also announced it’s closing some locations. Here’s what to know: JCPenney has had a roller-coaster few years The iconic department store chain has faced several struggles in recent years, most notably from the fall of foot traffic …

JCPenney said it will close seven stores this weekend in California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and West Viriginia, according to USA Today, and will be running sales in those locations up until Sunday, May 25. It’s the latest set of JCPenney store closures since the long-struggling retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in May 2020 during the pandemic (it announced later that year it would close 200 of its 850 stores). The chain was then purchased by property managers Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management. Fast Company has reached out to JCPenney for comment. Which JCPenney store locations are closing? …

A bold new building at Spelman College in Atlanta is all about breaking down barriers. Designed by the architecture firm Studio Gang, the Center for Innovation and the Arts is the new home for collaboration between students of science, technology, art, and performance at the historically Black women’s liberal arts college. It will provide a new space where Spelman’s programs in dance, documentary filmmaking, photography, theater and performance, and music can tap into emerging technologies from the worlds of science and computer science. Studio Gang founder, Jeanne Gang, says the primary goals of the project were to help the college better connect its programs and eve…

Jeff Bezos last month went public with his new AI firm, which is currently being called Project Prometheus. The effort had been in development for a while, but is still relatively secretive. There’s no website and only a sparse LinkedIn page describing itself as “AI for the physical economy.” The $6.2-billion startup may be facing lots of competition from other AI companies, including giants like Microsoft and OpenAI. At the same time, it may also have to contend with another mysterious and more modest effort that happens to have already filed a trademark application for an AI company with the exact same name. On November 17 — the same day the New York Times ran a…

News that the Washington Post had laid off hundreds of workers and scrapped several sections of the storied paper altogether stunned the journalism community last week. The Post cut roughly one-third of its staff, reduced local coverage, and completely destroyed its sports and international departments. The paper is owned by Jeff Bezos. The Amazon founder, who has a staggering net worth of approximately $250 billion, bought the Post for $250 million in 2013. The newspaper has consistently lost more money than it has made since the 2020 election, yet has long been considered a stalwart of American dailies. But last week, The Post’s editor-in-chief Matt Murray told …

Run a small business and you probably feel like you make dozens of decisions every day. Whether to cut a quality corner, or miss a ship date. Whether to respond to a customer complaint, or hope the problem goes away. Whether to address an employee’s behavior, or kick that can down the road. Then there are all the personal decisions. Whether to get up and going, or hit the snooze button. Whether to ditch the food you packed, or go out for lunch instead. Whether to keep grinding, or work out. None of those are actually decisions, though, since you already know you should do so. Nearly everything you “decide” already has an answer. Quality problem? Fix it. Custom…

In 2022, Jennette McCurdy released her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, a brutally honest portrait of her life as a former child star, her battle with eating disorders, and, as the title would suggest, her rather complicated relationship with her mother. The book has spent more than 80 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list with over three million copies sold. It’s currently being adapted into an Apple TV+ series with Jennifer Aniston playing McCurdy’s mom, and McCurdy serving as co-writer, co-executive producer, and co-showrunner. Adjacent to the massive success of I’m Glad My Mom Died has been McCurdy reclaiming writing, not acting, as her true passion. In her …

Jeopardy! may have been born on cable television, but it’s determined not to live and die there. The trivia game show’s first iteration premiered on daytime television more than 60 years ago in 1964. Its modern syndicated version launched in 1984, and 41 seasons later, it’s still going strong, garnering 7.5 million viewers for its latest season premiere and maintaining its title as the most-watched syndication series on television. Though Jeopardy! made it through the cultural transition to streaming largely unscathed, its producers are still finding ways to innovate on its format and bring the show to new platforms. That includes the newly announced Jeopardy! You…

Get ready to pay more to fly. The war in Iran has sent fuel prices surging. On Friday, spot prices for jet fuel were nearly $4 per gallon, up roughly 80% from a month ago, when they were hovering around $2.25. The price increases are a result of the just-begun war in Iran, which has caused shipping and production stoppages and delays. At the same time, airlines are seeing higher demand than they were a year ago. Data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that during January, the number of airline passengers was up almost 4% year-over-year, while demand for air cargo was up 5.6%. On top of that, the war itself is causing some airlines to ca…

JetBlue Airways just increased checked bag fees for the first time since March 2024, bringing the minimum cost to check a bag from $35 to $39. Fees now cost $4 to $9 more, depending on travel dates. This news comes amid rising jet fuel prices and may raise concerns among travelers about whether other major U.S. airlines will follow suit. Here’s what you need to know. How much more will travelers pay? Effective March 30, JetBlue raised checked bag fees by $4 to $9, depending on travel dates. The new prices apply to all bookings made on or after that date. The New York-based airline introduced peak-season surcharges in March 2024, meaning travelers pa…

A new hotspot just opened in New York—and it’s in terminal 5 of John F. Kennedy International Airport. BlueHouse, a 9,000-square-foot space exclusively available to select JetBlue Airways customers, welcomed its first guests at 5 a.m. this morning as the airline’s first foray into the pitched battle for lucrative premium fliers. Designed by Gensler, BlueHouse is a smorgasbord of New York’s iconic and eclectic design heritage. From the Art Deco elevator indicator to black-and-white deli tile on the floor and the Grand Central Terminal-inspired ceiling mural, the space screams Big Apple while staying true to JetBlue’s quirky and, well, blue heritage. “It’s unqu…

JetBlue announced Monday plans to give its top-tier credit card a refresh, adding new travel credits, companion perks, and loyalty boosts as airlines and issuers keep escalating what “premium” actually means. The updates to the JetBlue Premier World Elite Mastercard, issued by Barclays, are set to roll out later this spring. The annual fee isn’t changing, remaining at $499 even as new benefits are added. Companion passes, but with a twist The headline addition is a companion pass benefit, a familiar perk that JetBlue is now bringing into the mix. Cardholders can earn a pass worth up to $500 after spending $15,000 in a calendar year, and a second one worth u…

It’s tough enough bringing the first major redesign of a commercial jetliner to fruition—especially when it looks more like something out of The X-Files than a travel brochure. So, to streamline that journey, JetZero—the first commercial blended-wing body (BWB) aircraft—is teaming with Delta as an eventual buyer to troubleshoot operation and design issues from the ground up. “Our biggest challenge is, `How do you bring an aircraft to market as quickly as possible so that you can have the most impact for your customer?’” says CEO Tom O’Leary, who cofounded JetZero with CTO Mark Page. “We don’t want to zig-zag our way to entry into service. We want to take the cleanest,…

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Jim Collins, coauthor of Built to Last and author of Good to Great, didn’t set out to write another management book. His new work, What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative, is a deeply researched meditation on how individuals navigate life’s transitio…