• Costco is bringing back a key perk for shoppers in its higher-priced membership tier.
• Starting June 30, executive members will be able to shop an hour earlier than Gold Star members.
• Slightly less than half of Costco members pay for the executive tier, but they represent 73% of sales.

A big perk is coming to Costco's higher-priced membership tier.

The warehouse club said it would begin allowing executive members in the US to shop an hour earlier than standard members starting June 30, according to an email to employees seen by Business Insider.

"Our Executive Members are our most loyal members, and we want to reward them for their commitment to Costco," the email said.

Costco did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Executive members were previously offered extended shopping hours at some locations, but the perk was phased out in recent years, Costco Insider reported.

The company also said in the email that executive members would start receiving a $10 monthly credit for Instacart orders and $150 worth of other benefits and savings on Costco services.

Costco's higher-priced membership comes with several benefits, including 2% rewards on purchases.

Slightly fewer than half of Costco members are executive-tier, which costs twice as much as the standard $65-a-year level, called Gold Star. Executive members account for more than 73% of the company's total sales, according to the company.

Improving the attractiveness of the executive upgrade could help Costco boost membership fee revenue and drive higher sales. It might also alleviate traffic that has been a challenge for some stores.

Costco has also been testing earlier hours at its gas stations for all members. The company said during its May earnings call that the impact on sales has been positive so far.

For about 15 years, big-budget Nintendo games cost $60. In fact, that was the standard game price across the industry.

Meanwhile, Nintendo's consoles are generally cheaper than most competing gaming systems, such as the Xbox and the PlayStation. Its consoles have never cost more than $300 — until now.

At $450, the Switch 2 is Nintendo's priciest console. Mario Kart World is priced at $80 — the most expensive first-party title Nintendo has ever released. Some fans are outraged by the price increase. But some industry analysts say a price hike was overdue, considering the rising costs of game development and inflation, among other factors.

So why is Nintendo suddenly so expensive? And what does an $80 game mean for Nintendo and the entire video game industry?

• UNFI, a major food distributor, said Monday that its IT system had "unauthorized activity."
• The issue affected grocery deliveries to some supermarkets, the company said.
• Shelves at some Whole Foods stores appeared mostly empty over the weekend in social media posts.

Shelves at some grocery stores are sitting empty after an IT problem at a major food distributor.

United Natural Foods, or UNFI, said on Monday that "unauthorized activity" on some of its IT systems has "temporarily impacted the Company's ability to fulfill and distribute customer orders."

"The incident has caused, and is expected to continue to cause, temporary disruptions," UNFI said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday morning.

At some stores, that meant shelves appeared to go empty over the weekend.

One post late Sunday on a Reddit page dedicated to Whole Foods included photos showing largely bare cooler cases that normally contain yogurt, milk, and other dairy products. The poster did not immediately respond to a message from Business Insider.

"We are experiencing a temporary out of stock issue for some products," a sign on one of the cooler doors read in the photos. "We apologize for the inconvenience and should have your favorite products back in stock soon."

BI was unable to determine the scale of the outage. Whole Foods did not immediately respond to a request for comment. UNFI has a supply agreement with Whole Foods that lasts until 2032.

UNFI does not disclose all of the supermarket chains that it works with. The company says that it supplies about 30,000 individual stores "ranging from some of the largest grocers in the country to smaller independents."

Do you have a story to share about the UNFI outage? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• Millennial and Gen Z shoppers are becoming obsessed with compression socks.
• The product has historically been recommended to people with mobility issues to increase blood flow.
• New stylish versions of the socks appeal to younger, health-conscious consumers.

Hot girls wear…compression socks?

Designed to help reduce inflammation and increase blood flow, the once-niche, medical-grade product is frequently spotted in nursing homes and hospitals.

Now, compression socks are becoming increasingly popular among millennials and Gen Zers. It shouldn't surprise anyone who has been paying attention to the former's shopping habits.

Millennials are big fans of products that promote longevity and help them be proactive about their health. They sport Apple watches, bring earplugs to concerts, and track their VO2 max when they work out.

Sock brands are capitalizing on consumer interest with stylish new designs that are far from your grandma's compression socks, combining the benefits of compression with fashion cute enough for TikTok. Here's why younger audiences can't get enough.

Compression socks go mainstream

Kate Garfield, the 38-year-old co-owner of Violet Hour Pilates in Brooklyn, told Business Insider she's been regularly wearing compression socks to teach Pilates since she sprained her ankle a few years ago. She also pulls the socks out for long-haul flights.

"When I was barefoot and teaching, I kept twinging my ankle, so I started wearing them," Garfield said. "It definitely helped in that recovery, but then I noticed I was also just feeling a lot more energized through my day."

Wearing compression socks, Garfield said she doesn't feel the urge to clench and roll her feet, which helps her feel more stable. She can leave a full day of teaching without feeling sore.

So, how do they work?

Standing, sitting, or lying down for a long time can cause blood to pool in the feet and lower legs, creating swelling and discomfort.

Compression socks encourage the blood to get moving again by putting pressure near the foot and ankle and gentler pressure up the leg, squeezing the blood back toward the heart.

They're often recommended for expectant mothers, people with varicose veins, post-op patients, and older people, who may need extra help with healthy blood flow.

The feeling of pain relief you might get from wearing compression socks can be a result of better circulation in your legs, lower inflammation, and less stress on your muscles, Dr. Anahita Dua, a vascular surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, told BI.

A younger consumer base

Like Garfield, Sam Sarabi, a 25-year-old nurse from Temple, Texas, told BI she started experimenting with compression socks in 2023. She was searching for a way to help ease the pain she experienced in her thighs and calves, which popped up in the middle of her shifts and persisted when she got home.

She didn't find a compression product that worked for her until Julia Gretars, a nursing student she connected with online and the founder of Juy Compression, sent her a pair of the brand's compression sleeves in November 2024. The sleeves are like compression socks, but they don't have feet.

She said the sleeves leave her pain-free and with more energy. "I noticed a difference within the first day," Sarabi said.

There's not much evidence that compression socks are good for already-healthy people who aren't struggling with swelling or circulation problems, but there's little downside as long as the socks fit well.

Signs that you might benefit from compression socks include a feeling of tightness in the legs and feet, your shoes not fitting properly, and visible swelling (if you poke your leg with a finger, you'll see an imprint).

There's still a good reason people in their 20s and 30s are stocking up on compression socks: they can be a game changer if you're pregnant or do a lot of exercise.

For exercise, the evidence is growing that compression socks might have a small benefit for easing soreness after a workout, although they may not improve performance, according to Dua.

The socks' squeezing effect on your legs mimics how your muscles naturally help to pump blood during active recovery, like walking, flushing out by-products of hard exercise like lactate to ease soreness and get you back to the gym faster.

"It definitely wouldn't hurt if someone has low-grade inflammation after a run," physical therapist Jessica Chellsen said.

Compression socks got a glow-up

The compression sock renaissance is, in part, driven by new brands that appeal to younger consumers.

For instance, in 2016, then-30-year-old Andrew Ferenci founded Comrad, a popular compression socks company, because he couldn't find an aesthetically pleasing version. The socks helped with his aches from travel and working out, but the plain black and beige pairs he found at Duane Reade left something to be desired.

Ferenci said he created Comrad to offer a "compression sock that has all the benefits of a medical product and meets all the requirements, but is stylish and functional and has all the benefits of a lifestyle or athletic sock that you would wear."

Ferenci told BI that millennials make up most of Comrad's customer base, but its products are also gaining popularity with Gen Z shoppers.

The other major player is Bombas. Some of its socks are designed for everyday wear, and others for health or exercise support. Bombas offers new colors and patterns every season.

Tam Conlin, Bombas' senior vice president of merchandising and design, told BI its compression products, which were first introduced in 2019, have grown 231% in the past three years, and the category is plus 31% for 2025 alone. BI couldn't independently confirm those percentages.

Conlin also said millennial shoppers make up Bombas' biggest growth market.

Conlin thinks compression socks are resonating with younger consumers because they are interested in "products that help you live more healthfully."

"I think that mindset and consumer behavior is something that's really been taken on by the millennial generation and Gen Z, where there's specific products for specific needs that can really help you, and it's kind of like a life hack," she said.

Garfield, who wears Bombas' compression socks, said the look is a game changer.

"I think I used to hide them or want to not have them as visible, but they just look like socks. And they're cute," she said.

Sarabi is also excited that more compression products are on the market, particularly in cuter styles.

"In the majority of healthcare systems, you can only wear one color," she said. "I think if you could bring in a little bit of personality to design, it makes things fun."

How to pick the right compression socks for you

Here are some tips if you want to get in on the trend:

• Find the right fit and pressure. Look for socks that are snug but don't completely cut off your circulation.
• Avoid compression if you have difficulties with wound healing, and ask your doctor if you're unsure whether compression socks are right for you.
• Don't scrunch them up. Make sure they're aligned with your foot and aren't too long or too short so they can work as designed.

• Millions of US households will soon be able to try drone delivery as Walmart and Wing expand access.
• The service is coming to 100 more stores across several Southeast metro areas.
• Wing says thousands of customers use the service each week to purchase items they need fast.

Baby wipes and eggs.

Those are two of the top products Wing CEO Adam Woodworth says Walmart shoppers commonly order using his company's drone delivery service.

"The baby wipes one makes total sense to me," he told Business Insider. "It's a problem when you run out."

The reason for eggs' popularity was less obvious to him until he realized customers were most likely testing the technology's handling.

"If you can get eggs delivered and they show up and they're not cracked, you can get pretty much anything delivered," Woodworth said.

Millions more households will soon be able to try drone delivery, as Walmart and Wing announce their largest expansion yet.

The companies said Thursday that they are bringing the service to 100 more US stores across metro areas, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. They're also expanding in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, where the tech has been live for the past year and a half.

Woodworth said drone delivery is proving popular in the areas where it is widely available. Thousands of customers are turning to the service each week to purchase everyday items like groceries or household supplies.

"You're cooking dinner and you realize that the recipe called for scallions and you forgot to get them at the store," he said. (Walmart CEO Doug McMillon previously said he used the service to order last-minute cooking wine for dinner without leaving the couch.)

Wing's drones have a payload of five pounds, which means they can carry about half of the 120,000 items typically found at a Walmart Supercenter. In other words, not a gallon of milk, which weighs eight pounds, but a quart to get you through the morning rush.

Wing said the average delivery time is under 19 minutes. Woodworth said the company wants to get that down to 15.

"Something where it would be way faster to get it delivered than to jump in your car and go drive to the store," he said.

(For the parents waiting on baby wipes, that's about two episodes of "Bluey.")

Americans have harbored their suspicions about delivery drones zipping around overhead (some have even shot at them, which is a felony). Woodworth said Wing does demos to get communities more comfortable with the idea.

"The immediate reaction is that negative one," he said. "But over time, the questions go from the negative to 'Okay, well, when is it going to come to my house?'"

• Cracker Barrel is the latest company to report a hit from tariffs.
• The restaurant chain expects tariffs to dent earnings from its gift shop business later this year.
• Cracker Barrel is rethinking its gift store selection as part of a broader revamp of its business.

President Donald Trump's tariffs have part of Cracker Barrel's business over a barrel.

Cracker Barrel diners usually walk through the shop, which sells everything from rocking chairs to skillets featuring Dolly Parton's likeness, on their way into and out of Cracker Barrel's restaurants. The restaurant chain sources roughly one-third of those products from China, CEO Julie Masino said during an earnings call on Thursday.

The number is higher when counting China-made products that Cracker Barrel buys from US-based suppliers, the CEO said. She did not say what share of the stock those items account for.

As a result of tariffs, Cracker Barrel expects a $5 million hit to its EBITDA — a measure of profitability — next quarter, CFO Craig Pommells said. The chain expects EBITDA for its 2025 fiscal year of between $215 million and $225 million.

Cracker Barrel's retail sales made up about 20% of its revenue last year, according to the company. The majority of revenue came from its restaurants.

Like many retailers, Cracker Barrel has worked to limit the cost of tariffs by negotiating with its suppliers, finding new sources of products, and rethinking its prices, Masino said.

"The teams have been thinking about tariffs for months," she said on the call.

At the same time, Cracker Barrel has been planning changes to its gift shops as part of its broader business strategy, Masino said.

Last year, after Cracker Barrel reported a net loss and lower foot traffic, Masino said the chain's restaurants were "not as relevant as we once were." Cracker Barrel has started a three-year plan to turn around results, including new restaurant formats and menu items.

On Thursday, Masino said that Cracker Barrel was reevaluating the product selection at its gift shops as part of that turnaround plan. The company is also reconsidering when it brings in seasonal items, such as Halloween and Christmas decorations, she said.

"There have been a couple of key things that the tariff situation has actually enabled us to accelerate," Masino said.

Do you have a story to share about Cracker Barrel or another restaurant chain? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

This article is part of Creative Ventures, a series about business success rooted in creativity.

The luxury home design and fragrance brand L'Objet boasts an elegant boutique on New York City's Madison Avenue. The space, bathed in earthy hues, harmoniously blends handcrafted housewares, decorative items, and scents from the company's various collections.

For two decades, L'Objet's founder and creative director, Elad Yifrach, has sustained the business on craftsmanship and creativity. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the brand recently released a collection of nature-inspired objets ("objects" in French), including a gold-plated ladybug bottle opener and a glazed porcelain bowl designed to resemble cenote wavelets. It also expanded its fragrance line in early May, dropping a new eau de parfum called Blindfold, created with the master perfumer Yann Vasnier.

Yifrach, who lives in Portugal, draws inspiration from his Mediterranean-influenced upbringing and international travels to places such as France, Morocco, and India. Globetrotting has connected him to artisans around the world, forging collaborations with the contemporary artist Ruan Hoffmann and the sculpting duo the Haas Brothers, among others. The brand has also opened flagship boutiques in major cities, including Paris, London, and most recently, New Delhi.

Growing a luxury business is no easy feat, Yifrach told Business Insider. He said entrepreneurs need to self-advocate and have a clear vision of their brand identity and target audience. "It doesn't matter how great your idea is," he said on a video call from L'Objet's Portugal office. "You still need to carve a space for yourself in the market and convince the market that you're worthy of that space — and that takes time."

Yifrach founded L'Objet in 2005 when he was in his mid-20s, working as an interior designer in Beverly Hills and developing an interest in handmade decorative pieces. "I was very young," he said. "So the brand came from a more humble and naive place of just wanting to create, experiment with different materials, and learn a lot."

Developing his luxury label required a "crazy amount of legwork," he told BI. In the early aughts, social media wasn't a commerce-driving juggernaut yet, and online shopping was inferior to coveted shelf space in brick-and-mortar stores. Digital marketing and virtual networking were also still ripening, so Yifrach said he had to rely on face time — not FaceTime.

He met with skilled artisans to learn techniques for making stylish, high-quality housewares, attended events to spread the word about L'Objet, and presented products to stores to sell as merchandise. His first-ever store client was Bergdorf Goodman.

Yifrach said he had moments of doubt even as his company gained momentum. He remembers opting out of a major trade show so that he could afford to open L'Objet's first New York showroom in 2010, but he didn't get very many visitors initially.

"There were crickets. It was really scary," he admitted. Every time he heard the "ding" of a nearby elevator, he'd jump from his chair, thinking someone had arrived to check out the space. But investing in the showroom gave the company a stronger identity, which helped in the long run, Yifrach told BI.

After 20 years, the company said it has accomplished eight-figure growth and aims to double its revenue in the forthcoming years. Direct-to-consumer channels such as e-commerce and retail have been the biggest growth areas so far this year, partially due to new boutique openings.

The landscape of luxury brand-building has changed substantially since Yifrach founded L'Objet. Omnichannel marketing is king, and cutting through the algorithmic clutter to reach — and resonate with — consumers is crucial. Virality isn't always dependable, and longevity can be hard to come by.

"You see a lot of these overnight successes that have an identity crisis," Yifrach said. "The identity was never formed — it was just a lot of fluff."

Artisanship and timeless aesthetics are two pillars that have helped sustain L'Objet, even in a volatile luxury market, Yifrach said. Sacrificing quality to create products that capitalize on trends might work temporarily, but it doesn't set a business up for long-term success, he added.

Yifrach noted that luxury consumers nowadays are especially selective about their purchases. "They're not just buying things for the sake of buying. They want to know what they're getting and why it's expensive," he said. "Brands need to be ready with the right answers. You have to justify more."

L'Objet's CEO, Stanislas Le Bert, shared a similar sentiment. "Consumers are more educated," he told BI during a visit to the brand's Manhattan showroom. "They want to understand the story and the 'why' behind the price. They expect transparency."

Hannah Reed, a research manager at the market research agency Walnut Unlimited, previously told BI that "the pressure is now on for luxury players" to convince shoppers that their products are worth the hefty costs. "Brands really need to look at design with more intention," she said, adding that they should "lean into craftsmanship and individuality."

Yifrach said that L'Objet emphasizes the use of sustainable materials such as organic porcelain and ceramic and 24-karat gold, the purest form of the metal. He said gold is a particularly "fussy" material to work with when it's plated or painted onto pottery. "It looks like a muddy water solution, and it's extremely sticky," he explained. "It requires a steady hand and an understanding of how much force to use when brushing so that you're not overdressing a piece. You have to sit for hours and paint at a certain rhythm." Very few people, he added, know how to do this skillfully.

Collaboration has been vital to improving L'Objet's designs and scents, said Le Bert, a veteran executive in the luxury fragrance and lifestyle space. "There's a creative dialogue at the beginning of every collaboration before the structure comes in — that moment is crucial," he told BI.

He added that his perspective — viewing housewares as "vessels of emotions" and fragrances as "invisible home designs" — helps drive important conversations with artisans. "I admire passionate people," he said. "We like to push back to form a healthy tension that serves creativity."

Yifrach compared luxury products devoid of ingenuity to music without sentiment. "There are a lot of people who have beautiful voices, but when they sing, you don't feel the emotion," he said.

Before any L'Objet piece comes to fruition, Yifrach added, he has to "fall in love" with the idea behind it. The collaborations with the Haas Brothers, for instance, largely stemmed from Yifrach's interest in exploring fantasy and functionality. And in January, L'Objet released a collection with Ruan Hoffman after Yifrach was inspired by the artist's witty, playful works.

Yifrach said that if a brand creates designs with authentic artistic expression, it will shine through and speak to the consumer.

Once an item hits the market, the work doesn't stop there. Le Bert said the L'Objet team scrutinizes how the company can improve its techniques, aesthetics, and business model — a strategy, he said, that's necessary for any luxury brand to fine-tune its product portfolio. "Curate wisely," he advised. "Avoiding dilution is key."

Reflecting on the past 20 years, Yifrach summed up his overarching business philosophy with a pointed credo: "Time is the prime ingredient. That's how you build a luxury brand — time, attention, intention, and telling your story to the right people, with the right people."

• Becoming a franchisee for a fast food restaurant is one road to running a business.
• But costs and requirements vary widely depending on the restaurant chain.
• Business Insider compiled a list of financial requirements to become a franchisee for 12 major fast food chains.

A fast food franchise can be a lucrative business. 

One top performing Chick-fil-A restaurant reported sales of over $17 million in 2021, more than double the average per unit sales volume for the chain, according to Chick-fil-A's 2022 franchise disclosure document. Other chains also say that franchisees can earn millions of dollars a year from a single store.

Opening a franchise requires a hefty amount of cash to cover the startup costs, though. Many chains require franchise fees in the tens of thousands of dollars as well as personal worth requirements in the hundreds of thousands, for instance.

There are also ongoing monthly fees for royalties, advertising, and other services that often get deducted from sales.

Business Insider compiled a list of some basic financial requirements for becoming a franchise owner of 12 of the biggest fast food chains in the US based on public filings. The values below are based on "traditional" franchise locations, meaning they are stand-alone restaurants as opposed to units in airports, malls, universities, or other buildings.

Following the name of each restaurant chain are the average total startup costs to open one restaurant in the US.

Arby's: $644,950 to $2.4 million

Total startup costs: $644,950 to $2.4 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $500,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $1 million

Franchise fee: A $12,500 development fee, a $37,500 license fee

Ongoing fees: Arby's charges a royalty fee of either 4% or 6.2% of sales, depending on store type, plus an advertising and marketing service fee of 4.2% of sales. 

Average per-unit sales: $1.1 million to $1.6 million, depending on store type, per franchisee disclosure document

Burger King: $363,400 to $4.7 million

Startup costs: $363,400 to $4.7 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $500,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $1 million 

Franchise fee: $50,000 for a 20-year franchise agreement

Ongoing fees: Burger King charges a 4.5% royalty fee and a 4.5% advertising fee (based on monthly gross sales).

Average per-unit sales: $1.66 million for traditional stores, $1.32 million for non-traditional stores, per franchisee disclosure document

Chick-fil-A: $426,735 to $2.3 million

Startup costs: $426,735 to $2.3 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: none

Minimum net worth requirement: none

Franchise fee: $10,000 

Ongoing fees: Chick-fil-A franchisees pay a "base operating service fee" of 15% of sales. Chick-fil-A limits its rent charges to 6% of sales. 

However, it's important to note that Chick-fil-A prohibits most of its franchisees from opening multiple units, which can limit potential profits, and franchisees must devote their full time and attention to operating the business. A Chick-fil-A spokesperson previously told BI it selects "a relatively small number of franchisees to operate multiple units."

Average per-unit sales: In 2024, most locations averaged about $9.3 million in annual sales.

Dairy Queen: $1.5 million to $2.5 million

Startup costs: $1.5 million to $2.5 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $400,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $750,000

Franchise fee: $45,000

Ongoing fees: Dairy Queen charges a 4% royalty fee and between 5% to 6% in marketing fees.

Average per-unit sales*: $1.2 million

*2023 figures according to QSR Magazine.

Dunkin' Donuts: $526,900 to $1.8 million

Startup costs: $526,900 to $1.8 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $250,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $500,000

Franchise fee: $40,000 to $90,000

Ongoing fees: Dunkin' Donuts charges 5% of gross sales for advertising fees and a royalty fee of 5.9% of gross sales.

Average per-unit sales: $1.3 million in 2024, per franchisee disclosure document

KFC: $1.9 million to $3.8 million

Startup costs: $1.9 million to $3.8 million for a traditional outlet

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $750,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $1.5 million

Franchise fee: $45,000

Ongoing fees: KFC charges franchisees about 10% of gross revenues (4% to 5% for royalties and 5% for advertising).

Average per-unit sales: $1.3 million, per franchisee disclosure document

McDonald's: $1.5 million and $2.7 million

Startup costs: $1.5 million and $2.7 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $500,000 

Franchise fee: $45,000

Ongoing fees: Base rent depends on when the restaurant opened, along with the acquisition and development costs. The rent for most new McDonald's restaurants ranges between 10% of total gross sales to 15.75% for new restaurants that have opened since January 1, 2020. 

Additionally, there are numerous monthly and annual fees franchisees must pay, including a royalty fee of 4% or 5% of sales and an advertising and promotion fee that is a minimum of 4% of gross sales. Franchisees also pay annual fees for various software and digital equipment, such as a $150 annual fee for using self-ordering kiosks.

Average per-unit sales: $4 million

Papa John's: $272,915 to $989,415

Startup costs: $272,915 to $989,415

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $250,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $750,000

Franchise fee: $25,000

Ongoing fees: Papa John's charges a monthly royalty fee of 5% of net sales. Papa John's also requires that franchisees spend 6% of net monthly sales on marketing.

Average per-unit sales: $1.1 million

Sonic: $1.7 million to $3.4 million

Startup costs: $1.7 million to $3.4 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $500,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $1 million

Franchise fee: $30,000 of the $45,000 initial license fee credited via royalty.

Ongoing fees: Sonic charges a royalty fee of up to 5% of gross sales and advertising fees of at least 3.25%.

Average per-unit sales: $1.6 million

Subway: $199,135 to $536,745

Startup costs*: $199,135 to $536,745

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $100,000  

Minimum net worth requirement: $150,000 

Franchise fee: $15,000

Ongoing fees: Subway franchisees pay weekly fees based on gross sales, which include an 8% royalty fee and 4.5% fee for advertising.

Average per-unit sales: $490,000 in 2023, according to Technomic

Taco Bell: $1.9 million to $4.3 million

Startup costs: $1.9 million to $4.3 million

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $2 million

Minimum net worth requirement: $5 million

Franchise fee: $45,000

Ongoing fees: Taco Bell charges a period franchise fee equal to 5.5% of gross sales and a period marketing fee equal to 4.25% of gross sales.

Average per-unit sales: $2.1 million in 2023, according to QSR Magazine

Wendy's: $1.5 million to $3 million

Startup costs: $1.5 million to $3 million for a cash purchase, though the fee can be lower depending on financing options

Minimum liquid asset requirement: $500,000

Minimum net worth requirement: $1 million 

Franchise fee: $50,000

Ongoing fees: The advertising fee is 4% of gross sales and covers both national and local advertising. The royalty fee is 4% to 6% of gross sales.

Average per-unit sales: $2.1 million for franchise locations

• Mentions of luxury bag dupes surged on social media from February to April, a report from Plot said.
• Gen Z views dupes more positively than millennials, the report found.
• Louis Vuitton and Hermes were the most discussed brands for dupes among Gen Z and millennials.

Content about luxury bag "dupes" — or similar products at a more affordable price point — surged on social media in April, according to a new report, with users looking for alternatives to some famous brands more than others.

The recent report from Plot, a management platform for social media teams, found posts about luxury bag dupes increased tenfold between February and April this year. Plot used an AI tool to analyze 1,718 videos on TikTok and Instagram that mentioned luxury bag dupes or similar terms, like replicas or fakes, as well as more than 1,200 user comments.

Plot's report said Gen Z tends to have a more positive association with dupes than millennials, who also seek out dupes but are more critical of dupe culture. The term "dupes" generally refers to comparable alternatives to a specific product, while calling something a "fake" typically means a product is trying to pass itself off as the original version.

For both millennials and Gen Z, Plot found there were two brands for which dupes were discussed the most: first, Louis Vuitton, and second, Hermes.

BI previously reported that Hermes, famous for its Birkin bag, and Louis Vuitton were the two luxury bag brands most likely to be faked, according to The RealReal.

For Gen Z, the next most commonly discussed luxury bag dupes were for Chanel, which was discussed as much as Hermes, followed by Coach and Gucci, the Plot analysis found. For millennials, it was Gucci and Chanel. The brands didn't respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Dupes are especially popular with Gen Z, who often share alternatives to pricey products on social media. A Business Insider and YouGov survey conducted in 2023 found that 70% of Gen Z respondents said they sometimes or always buy less expensive knock-offs of brand-name products.

Susan Scafidi, director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School, recently told Vogue Business that the word dupe is being used in place of more negative terms, like copycat or knock-off.

"Not coincidentally, some younger consumers in particular have come to view dupes as a sign of shopping savvy, indicating that the buyer has the sartorial knowledge to recognise the original but the financial cleverness to buy the copy instead," she said.

Do you have a story to share about luxury dupes? Contact this reporter at [email protected].

• COS is having a major moment. Lyst just named it one of the "hottest brands" of Q1.
• The London-based fashion label, owned by H&M, is known for its high-quality basics.
• Its menswear pieces and new fragrance line are boosting its appeal with shoppers.

I promise it's OK to be basic. In fact, it might even be cool.

A few months ago, I started hearing friends and colleagues regularly talk about the London-based fashion label COS, which is owned by H&M. Admittedly, I tuned them out. Its clothes looked a little too simple for me.

But I couldn't escape the brand.

Fashion influencers started raving about COS in interviews when I asked about their wardrobe staples. Then, I saw Lyst, a fashion search and shopping platform, name COS one of the "hottest brands" of Q1 this year, jumping 11 spots since its Q4 listing in 2024.

That's partially because COS is ideal for shoppers "seeking the 'quiet luxury' aesthetic without the luxury price tag," Turner Allen, a 32-year-old personal stylist, told Business Insider.

It's also because COS has done something many other brands haven't: created basic clothes that people actually want to wear.

Men and perfume: two ingredients to success

Women have long been touting COS as the ultimate aspirational luxury line. BI reporter Sam Grindell Pettyjohn described the store as "H&M's more sophisticated, socially conscious, and luxurious older sister."

Men are now coming to the same conclusion. Alex Nicoll, 29, a former Fortune 500 employee turned fashion influencer, swears by COS.

"It's really slept on for men's fashion," he told BI. "It's a good place to play around with classic silhouettes, and pieces that are a little bit more playful and different."

COS has put in the effort to attract shoppers like Nicoll.

While it's long offered classic styles like trousers and blazers, the brand is now also selling utility bags, cropped polos, and tinted sunglasses specifically for men. This appeals to current trends while remaining timeless.

Allen said that mix of "clean, approachable, and still fashion-forward" styles is key.

"It's a winning formula for men who want to elevate their style without stepping too far outside their comfort zone," he added.

The brand also reflects those styles in its marketing, from prominently displaying men on its Instagram page to making menswear a huge part of its Spring/Summer 2025 runway collection.

All the while, COS is still equally catering to the rest of its customers.

The brand's $99 barrel-leg trousers for women became an instant success this year, and most sizes are now sold out. Lyst has cited the pants as the sixth most-popular garment of Q1.

In mid-April, the brand also launched COS Perfumery, a unisex line of fragrances and candles retailing between $49 and $99.

Lyst said the scents are another factor in the brand's 44% increase in demand this year.

After all, COS shoppers no longer have to turn to brands like Byredo and Le Labo for luxury fragrances. They can buy their favorite clothes and perfume in the same online order.

Luxury clothes without high price tags

New tariffs and a potential recession are changing how people shop, and luxury lifestyle brands are already being affected.

COS, however, holds a unique spot.

It's technically a runway brand that sells luxury-adjacent garments, many of which lean into the old-money aesthetic. Its products retail between $15 for small items like socks and $1,390 for shearling-lined coats.

However, they aren't as expensive as those from retailers like The Row, Bottega Veneta, and Loewe.

COS also boasts brand ambassadors like Adrien Brody and celebrity fans like Jodie Turner-Smith. If the brand is good enough for Hollywood actors, it's golden for fashion fans.

COS clothes look and feel good, plain and simple

Nicoll said he loves COS because the brand "keeps up with trends like a fast-fashion brand would" without compromising on "materials or construction." Fashion fans on social media have said the same.

"This is like Skims but for men," TikToker @stefffanos wrote about COS T-shirts after trying them in April. Skims does sell menswear, including T-shirts.

Andrea Cheong, a fashion writer and influencer, also applauded the brand's stitching, fabric reinforcements, and thick materials in a video.

The clothing is made with a variety of classic materials like linen, denim, and wool, many of which are said to be sustainably sourced. COS also publicly shares a list of its current suppliers on its website.

That craftsmanship completes the COS fashion puzzle. With its reputation for high-quality pieces — as well as reasonable prices, coveted menswear, and timeless styles — there's nothing the brand doesn't have.

COS is trendy, unisex, and feels rich, though you don't need to be to shop the brand.

"It's a great option for shoppers who want to step off the fast-fashion hamster wheel, but still look current and put-together," Allen said.

• Walmart says tariffs remain "too high," even after recent reductions.
• The company said it would have to raise some prices if import costs didn't come down further.
• It's not yet clear how already-pressured shoppers would respond to price hikes.

President Donald Trump's shifting trade policy is causing headaches for America's largest retailer.

While Walmart CFO John David Rainey welcomed the recent reduction in tariffs, he said the company was not out of the woods yet.

"Let me emphasize, we still think that's too high," he said of the latest rates during Walmart's earnings call on Thursday.

Walmart says it imports about one-third of what it sells in the US from other countries, namely China, Mexico, Canada, Vietnam, and India, and that cargo is flowing.

"There are certain items, certain categories of merchandise, that we're dependent upon to import from other countries, and prices of those things are likely going to go up, and that's not good for consumers," Rainey said.

Rainey added that shoppers were showing signs of being more financially pressured, evidenced by their spending shifting away from general merchandise and more toward food and essentials.

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon added that he didn't think shoppers would tolerate additional price hikes on their grocery bills, which would limit the retailer's ability to shift import costs to other goods in its assortment.

"The first thing that goes through my mind is food inflation," he said. "We've been through a number of years here where prices have gone up on food, and our customers have felt that, and they don't want any more food inflation."

He also said he was hopeful that any long-term policy would address foods that the US doesn't produce in significant amounts, like bananas.

An additional wrinkle for Walmart management is the question of what economists call "price elasticity," or the change in purchasing patterns in response to changes in cost.

American consumers proved resilient during recent years of high inflation and kept on spending even though prices were climbing.

But Rainey said tariffs make it "more challenging to anticipate demand by item," since it's not clear how shoppers would respond to new tariff-related price hikes and retailers are wary of getting stuck holding large amounts of expensive merchandise.

"We'll watch where our price gaps are," McMillon said, "but we'll also watch what customers are telling us and the response that we get from pressure that they're feeling."

While that puzzle is a little more solvable with high-turnover items like food, it's considerably more difficult to predict for seasonal sales events like back-to-school shopping or the holidays — and Walmart has to place those orders now.

And thanks to a quirk of retail accounting, a significant fluctuation in shelf prices could have an outsize impact on the company's financial results in the coming quarters if it has to make large adjustments to its inventory valuation.

"How do you make a quantity call, and what tariff number do you use?" McMillon said.

• "Pinterest is where Gen Z goes to shop," CEO Bill Ready said on Pinterest's Q1 earnings call.
• Gen Z has been "raised on an internet of visual content" and likes to search visually, he added.
• Pinterest reported that revenue rose 16% in Q1, sending stock up as much as 18% after hours.

Millennials had the mall. Gen Z has Pinterest.

On its first-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Pinterest's CEO, Bill Ready, said Gen Z users are engaging heavily with the image-sharing platform. Gen Z are those who were born between 1996 and 2010.

"We've made Pinterest a destination for our users, particularly a shopping destination," Ready said on the call. "Pinterest is where Gen Z goes to shop."

Ready said that a key driver of Pinterest's success is its ability to connect users to products and aesthetics "they may not have the words to describe."

"This is especially relevant for Gen Z, our largest and fastest-growing user cohort, who have been raised on an internet of visual content," and like to search visually, the CEO said.

Pinterest execs also touted Gen Z in examples of how advertisers are finding value on their platform.

Chief financial officer Julia Donnelly said advertisers valued Pinterest's insights into consumer behaviour, especially for Gen Z users who are making "significant" decisions such as selecting insurance or a credit card for the first time. The CEO highlighted PacSun, a clothing brand he said was popular with Gen Z, and said the retailer saw a higher return on ad spending with new Pinterest features.

The company's first-quarter revenue grew 16% to $855 million compared to the same period last year. Monthly average users, an important metric for media companies, grew 10% year-on-year.

AI also played a role in the company's strong quarter. Ready said Pinterest has been using AI to personalize user experience and to improve the platform's visual search capabilities.

"It also makes us a highly valuable partner to advertisers that are looking for early signals on how consumer trends may be shifting before it shows up in traditional purchasing data," he said of AI.

Pinterest stock jumped as much as 18% after-hours on Thursday on the heels of encouraging second-quarter guidance.

Pinterest, which is most popular for searching travel, style, and home decor ideas, saw a slowdown in user growth post-pandemic. It has since rebounded due to increased focus on shoppability and engagement from Gen Z users.

Gen Z, most of whom are in their 20s, has a reputation for taking their life and careers slow. Some research shows members of this generation are not drinking, driving, working, or taking risks as much as other age groups did at their age.

In addition to Pinterest, Gen Z is being credited for the revival of the image-blogging platform Tumblr, which reported that 50% of its active monthly users in 2025 are Gen Zers.

When it comes to their shopping habits, Gen Z is often associated with "underconsumption core," a trend that's all about buying less and rejecting influencer marketing.

Pinterest did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

• Coach's bet on bag charms is paying off.
• The CEO of Coach's parent, Tapestry, said the brand's bag charms and straps contributed to its success.
• She said Coach's $95 Cherry Bag Charm was a "Gen Z favourite."

Coach is known for its handbags, but its little dangly keychains and trinkets are boosting its business, too.

The CEO of Coach's parent company, Tapestry, Joanne Crevoiserat, spoke in an earnings call on Thursday about the success of bag charms.

"Our bag charms and straps added to our success, providing consumers with further opportunities for self-expression, with the 'Cherry Bag Charm' remaining a Gen Z favorite," Crevoiserat said to investors.

Bag charms vary largely in size and form, from miniature stuffed toys and toy figurines to beaded chains. Style experts BI previously spoke with said charms function as a way to express the wearer's identity and personality.

Coach has a wide selection of charms, ranging from $20 for a simple bow charm to $195 for the spider bag charm. It also sells a collection of metallic chains that can be hooked onto bag straps.

The Cherry Bag Charm, which Crevoiserat called a "Gen Z favorite," retails on Coach's website for $95.

Crevoiserat's comments come as retail brands have been betting big on bag charms to win the support of younger customers. Brands from KFC to Balenciaga have released bag charms — either in the form of limited edition drops or permanent collections.

Crevoiserat said nearly 70% of Coach's 900,000 new customers in North America were Gen Z and millennials.

Representatives for Tapestry did not respond to a query from Business Insider on the amount of sales the bag charms brought in in the latest quarter.

Tapestry reported a 7% revenue increase in its latest quarter earnings compared to the year before, with $1.58 billion in sales.

Coach, in particular, saw a 13% year-on-year growth, with sales of more than $1.29 billion. The brand has 324 stores in the US and 599 internationally.

• A US labor judge has decided against Costco in a matter involving worker confidentiality agreements.
• The case involves a worker who had to agree not to discuss an internal sexual harassment investigation.
• The NLRB argued that Costco's policy "appears to instead protect the harasser."

Costco's policies surrounding internal investigations are under scrutiny for being "overly broad" and in violation of employees' rights.

On Monday, US National Labor Relations Board judge Andrew Gollin decided against Costco in a matter involving the confidentiality agreements that workers are expected to sign when raising issues with management.

The specific case was brought on behalf of Jessica Georg, who in 2022 used Costco's "Open Door" policy to file an internal complaint that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker, according to filings.

As part of the process, Georg was required to sign a confidentiality agreement that barred her from discussing the open matter with coworkers. She later received a letter from Costco that said the employee was fired, the case was closed, and that "we hope and expect" that the information would continue to remain confidential, according to filings.

The NLRB and Georg each declined to comment for this story, and neither Costco nor its attorney responded to Business Insider's request.

In a briefing, Costco's lawyer Paul Galligan argued that the confidentiality rules are intended to protect the integrity of the investigation and are in the shared interest of the company and workers.

"It helps employees to be candid in their statements knowing that their statements will be treated confidentiality. It is probably more critical in an industry like retail where employees work closely together," Galligan said.

He also said in the briefing the rules aren't intended to dissuade employees from discussing things like wages, working conditions, or forming a union.

But Costco's investigation found that the individual about whom Georg complained also had several prior complaints filed against him, and Georg later testified she felt she or her coworkers with similar experiences felt they might be risking their jobs if they shared information about alleged patterns of behavior by an individual employee about whom they had raised concerns.

A more tailored confidentiality agreement could still protect sensitive information while still assuring workers of their rights to protect themselves against harassment, the NLRB attorneys said in a brief.

The NLRB attorneys argued that Costco's policy "appears to instead protect the harasser who has had individual complaints dismissed over and over, because no one outside the investigator is privy to the serial nature of the harassment."

Costco's lawyer argued that the company's employee handbook explains that the confidentiality requirement is not intended to discourage workers from exercising their rights. The NLRB argued, and the judge agreed, that having workers sign a separate form (as was the case here) could reasonably cause confusion for a typical worker and lead them to fear for their job.

Part of Judge Gollin's proposed remedy is that Costco post a notice in the one warehouse where the violation occurred, since the NLRB did not prove conclusively that similar confidentiality forms were used at all of the company's US locations.

The case now heads to the NLRB's board, with exceptions to the decision due by June 2.

Got a tip? Email Dominick or call/text/Signal at 646.768.4750.

• We almost always get our weekly groceries at Aldi, and we've learned some money-saving tips.
• The budget grocer already has pretty good prices, but the weekly deals are often worth following.
• I try to stick to the store's perimeter and avoid looking through the Aldi Finds aisle.

My partner and I buy groceries on a budget, and we're dedicated to Aldi.

The grocery chain already offers great prices, but we've begun doing a few things there to stretch our dollars even further.

Here are a few extra things we do to save money shopping for groceries at Aldi.

We read the weekly circular before we shop.

One of the first things we do when we walk into Aldi is grab the weekly circular, which is usually stationed on a rack right by the main entrance.

The ads showcase Aldi's current deals, so it's a great guide for anyone looking to save. Oftentimes, we deliberately plan our meals around which items are on sale.

When we focus on discounted items, we also get less sidetracked by flashy deals on products we didn't intend to buy.

We avoid Aldi's premade meals and heat-and-eat dinners.

We try to avoid premade meals, heat-and-eat dinners, and specialty deli items like dips and cheeses.

Although convenient, they tend to be significantly more expensive per serving than cooking something from scratch. Instead, we stick to buying staple ingredients, like fresh produce, canned beans, tortillas, and chicken.

By focusing on these core items, we've created a weekly meal plan that's cost-effective and healthy for our lifestyle.

Although the Aldi Finds are tempting, we also try to avoid them.

The Aldi Finds aisle features unique items, seasonal treats, and specialty goods that aren't part of the store's regular inventory.

The signage might make shoppers feel like they're getting some sort of deal, but this aisle can be a trap for impulse buys.

Sometimes, we find hidden gems here, but Aldi Finds are usually not essential to our weekly shopping list. Looking through them can just lead to us spending more money.

We usually skip this aisle entirely so we're not tempted.

An empty produce box helps us carry our groceries for free.

Aldi has a bring-your-own-bag policy, so bags are not free at the register. Instead of buying them, we usually grab a large, empty produce box from the shelves.

Most Aldi stores have a section where you can find these boxes in a bin with recyclables, so it's pretty easy.

You can also just bring your own reusable bags, but we've found that the box is an even better solution for us.

It's much easier to pop one box in the trunk of our car and carry it into the house in a single trip. Once we're home, we reuse the box for storage or recycle it.

We stick to the perimeter of the store.

Shopping around the store's perimeter helps us stick to our budget.

In most Aldi locations, more basic essentials, like produce, dairy, and meats, are located around the outer edges of the store.

In contrast, the center aisles usually have Aldi Finds, holiday items, household goods, snacks, and other products that are more likely to encourage impulse purchases.

When we shop, we literally snake our way around the perimeter, only detouring into the aisles when we need something on our list. It keeps our shopping trip efficient and minimizes our exposure to nonessential items.

This story was originally published on December 12, 2024, and most recently updated on April 28, 2025.

• Tech giants are known for their challenging interviews.
• Google, Meta, and Nvidia top the list of rigorous interviews with multiple rounds and assessments.
• But tough questions show up across industries, according to employee reports on Glassdoor.

It's tough to break into high-paying companies.

Google is notorious for having a demanding interview process. Aside from putting job candidates through assessments, preliminary phone calls, and asking them to complete projects, the company also screens candidates through multiple rounds of interviews.

Typical interview questions range from open-ended behavioral ones like "tell me about a time that you went against the status quo" or "what does being 'Googley' mean to you?" to more technical ones.

At Nvidia, the chipmaking darling of the AI boom, candidates must also pass through rigorous rounds of assessments and interviews. "How would you describe __ technology to a non-technical person?" was a question a candidate interviewing for a job as a senior solutions architect shared on the career site Glassdoor last month. The candidate noted that they didn't receive an offer.

Tech giants top Glassdoor's list of the hardest companies to interview with. But tough questions show up across industries — from luxury carmakers like Rolls-Royce, where a candidate said they were asked to define "a single crystal," to Bacardi, where a market manager who cited a difficult interview, and no offer, recalled being asked, "If you were a cocktail what would you be and why?"

The digital PR agency Reboot Online analyzed Glassdoor data to determine which companies have the most challenging job interviews. They focused on "reputable companies" listed in the top 100 of Forbes' World's Best Employers list and examined 313,000 employee reviews on Glassdoor. For each company, they looked at the average interview difficulty rating as reported on Glassdoor.

Here's a list of the top 90 companies that put candidates through the ringer for a job, according to self-reported reviews on Glassdoor.

• Three teenagers in New York designed a cardboard, called Kiriboard, to replace plastic packaging.
• They got the idea when a box of motors for their robotics hobby arrived damaged.
• Their invention won the $12,500 Earth Prize. Now they plan to buy a machine to make more Kiriboards.

Three teenage boys in New York City have invented a clever packaging material that they hope will replace toxic plastics and make plastic-free shipping a reality.

Zhi Han (Anthony) Yao, Flint Mueller, and James Clare are planning to pursue a patent and eventually pitch their product to Home Depot, as well as traditional shippers like Amazon, FedEx, and the US Postal Service.

They call their geometric, cardboard invention Kiriboard, since it's inspired by Japanese kirigami, which is the art of cutting and folding paper.

"Something like this is the wave of the future," Jerry Citron, the teenagers' environmental-science teacher, told Business Insider.

Yao, Mueller, and Clare won the Earth Prize on April 8, making them one of seven winning environmental projects by teenagers across the globe. The award comes with $12,500, which they plan to use to buy a cutting machine, called a CNC router, and test more prototypes.

Plastic-free shipping could change the world

Just like any plastic, Styrofoam and other plastic packaging can shed microscopic bits of plastic into homes and the environment.

Microplastics have been detected from the oceans to the top of Mount Everest, in animals' and humans' body tissues and blood, and even in rain all over the planet. They're associated with heart attack and stroke risk. Some researchers suspect they could even be contributing to the recent rise in colon cancers in young people.

"I didn't realize it was as big of an issue as it was," Yao told BI. "I mean, companies have made sustainable initiatives and greener initiatives, but they haven't really fully replaced plastic packaging."

Enter the Kiriboard: Kiriboard is cut into lattice-like shapes so that it can bend to fill the space between an item and the wall of its box. The cuts give the cardboard a three-dimensional structure that makes it sturdy and allows it to bend and absorb impact, protecting what's inside, similar to bubble wrap but without the plastic.

Once perfected, the three teens hope their design can help ship packages of sensitive or heavy equipment even more securely, at a competitive price.

Broken motors and crumple zones

Clare, Mueller, and Yao are all on the same robotics team at Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Clare is a junior, and Mueller and Yao are seniors.

The idea for Kiriboard started when they opened a shipment of Kraken X60 motors, which are about $200 a pop. They found that the brass pins, which connect the motors to a robot, were damaged and unusable. They assumed the pins had been damaged in transit.

"We're like, well, we should do something about this packaging, because clearly the packaging wasn't good enough," Mueller said.

Clare thought about how cars are engineered with crumple zones, meant to absorb the energy of impacts to protect the people inside.

Similarly, he said, "you can make strategic weak points in your packaging so that the package warps and deforms," sparing the package's contents.

With help from the Earth Prize program and Citron, they built and tested their first Kiriboard prototypes.

The matrix

It was a scrappy effort, with cardboard scavenged from their school.

After some research and consulting various teachers, Yao said they drew up eight or nine different designs, and narrowed down to four to build and test. Then, came the fun part: dropping heavy stuff on their creations.

To test their prototypes' durability, the teens slammed them with a roll of tape, a stapler, a can of soda, and a metal water bottle — "which did the most damage, but not as much as we thought it would," Clare said.

They dropped each item onto the Kiriboard prototypes from various heights, so that they could calculate and study the physical forces of each impact.

"Basically, we want to see what's the most amount of force it can take before it snaps," Yao said.

The results were promising, the trio said. The Kiriboard prototypes sustained very little damage, which they judged by checking the cardboard for dents. They plan to move forward with all four designs, which they hope will be useful for different types of shipping.

In the design pictured above, four triangular "legs" hold the Kiriboard in place inside a box.

"This middle section, we call it the matrix. This is supposed to be flexible," Yao said. Once you place an item for shipping inside the box, the matrix "is supposed to form to the product."

Once they've purchased a CNC router to automate cutting the cardboard, they plan to test prototypes by actually shipping them in boxes.

"Right now, we want to perfect our product," Yao said.

When it's ready, they said they might also pitch it to the electronics company AndyMark, which shipped them the robotic motors that arrived broken.

"No shade to them," Clare said, adding that their robotics team frequently orders from AndyMark with no problems.

"We're on the brink of, like, this could become a reality, and it's just up to us to put in that final effort," Mueller said. Clare chimed in: "All from a broken package."

• My daughter loves it when I buy the same clothes as her.
• Although I'm self-conscious about some of the clothing, my daughter teaches me confidence.
• Shopping together also helps bring us closer together.

When my 10-year-old daughter, Vivian, said I should get myself the same leggings as her, I arched an eyebrow.

I immediately thought of my belly and cellulite, but then I scanned the leggings displayed so perfectly on the store's table. They were so soft and colorful that each pair screamed, "You got this!"

Still, I thought those leggings looked too small and tight for my 42-year-old body, especially after having kids.

My daughter encouraged me to buy them anyway. I bought us matching black, brown, and blue leggings; mine are four sizes bigger than my daughter's.

Since then, matching clothing with her has been a way to connect in a new way I didn't expect.

Matching with my daughter has surprisingly built up my confidence

At first, I thought my daughter's sporty style with crop tops, tennis skirts, and high-waisted leggings wasn't for my curvy body type. But after I bought those leggings, I also purchased the same shirt as hers — a few sizes up.

When I put on that outfit, I felt nostalgic for when I ran track in high school — back when I felt like my best self.

When my daughter often pairs the leggings with a yellow lightweight relaxed fit top, I notice her confidence getting ready for the day. I admire her inner love and self-belief, something I had left behind years ago.

When I told my daughter I was self-conscious about my stomach in our matching shirt, she said, "Who cares?"

I wish I had her bravery. I wish I had her ability to cherish her body, to wear what she wants, and to not care what anyone thinks.

Our matching outfits also brought us closer together

As a divorced mom, wearing matching leggings and shirts with my girl is also a way to connect when we are apart.

Sometimes, my daughter will text me to tell me she is wearing a certain shirt so we can match, even though we aren't face-to-face. It squeezes my heart and makes me feel closer to her.

Similarly, when I'm shopping by myself for shirts or leggings, I text her if she wants one, too.

When we are together, going to the local mall with her has opened my eyes to the idea that it's OK to buy myself something nice and trendy, especially with her encouragement. I've found that matching some of our clothing has made shopping memorable for both of us.

I'm still working on my body image, but I'm celebrating this time

Recently, I noticed an athletic blue shirt that my daughter would love; I hesitated to buy it for myself to match. The shirt felt buttery-soft with a hint of compression, but I only thought about my stomach.

I'm not a track star in high school anymore, and I'm not as lean as I was before kids. But I thought of my daughter's smile and went for it.

When I bought her a shirt with a twist-open back, I decided to get one for myself, too. But then I told her I would probably return it because it was too tight. She said, "No, keep it. It looks good on you." I believed her.

I know matching some of our clothing is special, for now, because soon enough, she will want to go shopping at the mall without me and might not want to wear the same shirt as her mom.