Consumer & Retail
Retail's real problem is execution, not politics; entertainment costs are squeezing even stay-at-home budgets; and a food safety scare hits a major restaurant chain.
Target's new CEO Michael Fiddelke inherited a sales slump, but experts say the real culprit isn't the DEI backlash—it's that stores are messy, shelves are empty, and shoppers can't figure out why they should shop there instead of Walmart or Amazon (Yahoo Finance). Think of it like a restaurant that got caught up in politics while the kitchen was actually falling apart. The brand still has equity with consumers, but needs to rebuild its identity around affordability and discovery rather than just damage-control politics.
Streaming services, video games, and home entertainment have all gotten noticeably more expensive—Netflix, Apple TV+, Xbox, and Nintendo all raised prices in 2025–2026—and young consumers are pulling back (CNBC). Gen Z and Millennial shoppers cut home entertainment transactions by about 4% year-over-year as of June 2026, according to PNC Financial Services data. Electricity prices have spiked 45% since 2019, meaning even staying home costs more, which is why some consumers are ditching $70 games for free YouTube videos or cheaper board games instead.
United Airlines is now selling rows with an empty middle seat—basically charging extra so you don't have a stranger next to you on long flights (CNBC). Delta is simultaneously stripping perks out of cheap business-class fares while adding premium economy tiers, meaning airlines are carving up the cabin into ever-smaller buckets to extract more revenue. It's retail theatre in the sky: the core product (a seat) hasn't changed, but the packaging and pricing have gotten dramatically more granular.