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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 …

Causal dining chains had a pretty bad 2024 when it came to solvency issues. Major chains, including Red Lobster, TGI Fridays, and Roti, all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. And 2025 doesn’t seem to be fairing better for more restaurants. The latest restaurant chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is the Tex-Mex casual dining chain On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina. Here’s what you need to know about the company’s bankruptcy filing. Why is On The Border filing for bankruptcy? On March 5, OTB Holding LLC, owner of the On The Border chain, announced it had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Georgia. …

Robert Rodriguez wants to give you a cut of the action—in more ways than one. The director, writer, and producer behind movies including El Mariachi, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, and Sin City recently announced Brass Knuckle Films, a new initiative inviting fans to become investors in action films. Powered by global investment platform Republic, Brass Knuckle Films will allow everyday fans to back projects from Rodriguez’s production company Troublemaker Studios, share in the profits, and access perks including exclusive previews, set visits, discussions with Rodriguez and his creative team, and even the chance to have their own idea made into a movie. Each …

Branding is design. It’s the logos, typefaces, and design systems that bring a company to life. But it’s also strategy. A rebrand can reveal the priorities, motivations, and aspirations of a company if you look beyond the logo. In a recent conversation for FC Live, Fast Company‘s design editors Liz Stinson and Mark Wilson explored the true impact of branding through the lens of some of the biggest branding moments from the past year. If you missed the subscriber-only event, you’re in luck. You can catch the whole conversation in the video above. View the full article

Winning over Gen Z employees isn’t about flashy perks or trendy office spaces—it’s about leadership that actually walks the talk. This younger generation of employees has different values than their predecessors. It expects transparency, meaningful work, and a culture that values their contributions. If leaders want to earn their trust and loyalty, they need to rethink traditional management styles and embrace a more authentic, collaborative approach. From recognition and flexibility to open communication, here’s what nine leaders say it takes to lead Gen Z employees in a way that actually resonates. Provide regular recognition I’ve seen how regular recognition…

DEI measures may be under threat, but the reality is many workers want jobs at companies that value diversity. Comparably, a platform for salary data and work culture insights, just released its list of the top 100 large companies for diversity. To compile the list, Comparably asked 30,000 employees of color to weigh in on 16 different categories, including satisfaction with leadership, compensation, and career growth opportunities. The ratings were collected between February 10, 2024 and February 10, 2025. To qualify, large companies had to employ over 500 employees and needed at least 75 employee ratings. (Comparably also published a list of top 25 small-to-midsize co…

The question came innocently enough: What do you want to be when you grow up? Lindsay’s daughter, after a brief pause, looked up and confidently replied, “I want to be a client.” The simplicity of the answer hid the complexity of what she had observed: The clients always seemed to get the very best version of her mother. In her daughter’s young mind, being a client meant holding a special place—one that commands focus, care, and an unwavering commitment. As two mothers navigating full-time legal careers, that moment was not lost on either of us. It reveals a truth that is often glossed over in the narratives about working women, especially those of us balancing pr…

Fila is looking to Hailey Bieber to help its struggling brand. The South Korea-based sports apparel company is today launching a 13-piece spring/summer 2025 collection made in collaboration with Bieber, who is the founder of Rhode beauty. The pieces, which include a baby tee, sweatpants, and an oversized pullover, are designed to be “wardrobe staples,” according to the company, and are now available on FILA’s website and select Urban Outfitters stores. It’s clear the Hailey Bieber x FILA Collection is geared toward athleisure rather than performance activewear based on the campaign photography, which in one photo shows Bieber spilling an iced coffee. [Photo: Fila]…

The L.A.-based fashion brand Lisa Says Gah just teamed up with Polly Pocket for a new limited-edition collection, and it appears to be a sign that Mattel is already gunning to recapture the marketing magic of the Barbie movie. Polly Pocket Says Gah! is an assortment of cardigans, baby tees, accessories, and PVC slingback kitten heels, all rendered in a pastel palette and topped with playful details like ruffled edges and quilted stitching. Prices range from $50 to $198. It debuts today exclusively on the Lisa Says Gah website. [Photo: Lisa Says Gah] A Polly Pocket film has been in the works with MGM since 2021, but it faced a bump in the road last July when Len…

In a small section of Los Angeles’s Elysian Park, which spans the amount of land a single sprinkler head can water, a native plant experiment is underway that could change city parks for the better. It’s called Test Plot. Combining native plant species, volunteer gardeners, and a not insignificant amount of weeding, the experiment is trying to find a new way for urban parks to counter ecological degradation and improve climate resilience. The project launched in 2019 and is now underway in parks across California, and the approach is showing that with the right plants and the right amount of effort, parks can be brought back into sync with the natural tendencies of th…

Kendrick Lamar. Drake. Lady Gaga. The charts of music streaming services pretty much all look the same these days, with familiar names dominating the top spots—except on up-and-coming Spotify competitor Audiomack. The current No. 1 album on Audiomack belongs to Nigeria’s Seyi Vibez, whose hypnotic Afrobeats tracks have amassed around 1.8 billion plays on the platform. Vibez is one of many African and Caribbean artists who have found breakout success on the platform. Many of them consistently draw larger audiences on Audiomack than on Spotify or Apple Music, largely due to the platform’s strong presence in local markets. “We are the most-used streaming service in a…

Teenage YouTube users across the world will now get automatic reminders to go to bed and take a break from their screens. YouTube announced this week it was expanding such reminders to minors across the globe, ensuring they are full-screen and toggled-on by default. The feature first debuted in the U.S. seven years ago, and went automatic for minors in 2023. So-called “bedtime” notifications have grown in popularity, buoyed in large part by YouTube and TikTok. But it’s unclear how effective the notifications are in the first place. After all, YouTube users only have to click to close out the banner; on TikTok, it’s even easier to keep swiping past the text. …

As a child, Sunita Sah says she learned to be “good.” Growing up in the U.K. in the 1980s as the daughter of Indian immigrants, she was praised for being obedient and studious at home and at school. But she also experienced racial slurs and hostile stares. Sah lived in a place that didn’t always welcome differences—and her family was different. Sah had long considered her mother to be a compliant person. Quiet and deferential, her mom was the model of goodness. But one day that changed. When Sah was 7 years old, she and her mother were accosted in an alley by teenage boys, who shouted at them to “Go back home.” They were alone, vulnerable, and outnumbered. That’s…

The first thing anyone will notice about the new electric pickup from Telo Trucks is its compact form. Snubnosed and sporty, the five-seater has a bed the size of a typical pickup but an overall footprint the size of a Mini Cooper. When it goes into production next year, it will offer a radical counterpoint to the gargantuan trucks that dominate the U.S. automobile market. Today, Telo is unveiling the first drivable preproduction model of its new truck, the MT1, and Fast Company has an exclusive look at the innovations inside the truck that make its seemingly impossible size possible. [Image: Telo]The key to the Telo truck’s interior design efficiency is its focus on what…