News Briefs

[READ MORE: Exclusive Q&A: Carrefour Italy understands its in-store shoppers — here’s how]

A Southern-based fried-chicken chain may be looking for a new owner.

Bojangles is exploring a potential sale of its business amid rising demand for fried chicken, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The company could fetch more than $1.5 billion, which is three-times what it sold for in a 2019 buyout, the report said. (Private-equity firms Durational Capital Management and TJC took Bojangles private in an all-cash deal in 2019 that valued the company at more than $590 million.)

The report comes on the heels of the sale of Dave’s Hot Chicken to Roark Capital for approximately $1 billion, which the company says will allow the chain to enter its “next phase of growth and innovation.”  In 2024, the private-equity firm acquired Subway for an estimated $9.6 billion.

Founded in 1977 and known for Southern-style chicken and biscuits, Bojangles operates more than 800 company-owned and franchised restaurants in mostly Southeast states, but it has been expanding its footprint in the Northeast as it looks to become a national brand. In April, the company opened its first location in New Jersey.

Total sales at U.S. chain restaurants grew 3% last year, according to Technomic. Sales at burger chains rose just 1%, while chicken restaurants largely outperformed with 9% growth.

Costco Wholesale Corp. is adding new benefits for its upper-tier members. 

The warehouse club giant will allow its executive members to shop an hour earlier than standard members, reported USA Today. Costco will open its U.S. locations at 9 a.m. exclusively for its executive members starting June 30. The stores will also remain open an extra hour on Saturdays for all members, closing at 7 p.m. 

In addition, executive members will receive a monthly $10 credit for orders of $150 placed through the company's "Same-Day" service or Instacart, the report said.

Costco’s executive members already receive an annual 2% reward on qualified purchases, as well as discounts on Costco services. The executive membership costs $130 per year. The company’s standard Gold Star membership is $65 per year.

Costco recently posted better-than-expected earnings and sales for its third quarter as it continues to emphasize lower prices for its members. Net income totaled $1.90 billion, or $4.28 per share, for the quarter ended May 11, compared to $1.68 billion, or  $3.78 per share, in the year-ago period. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $4.24.

Net sales increased 8%. Total revenue including membership sales was $63.21 billion, also better than expected. Membership fee income grew by 10.4% during the quarter.

The company currently operates 905 warehouses, including 624 in the United States.

An immersive holiday event that drew tens of thousands of attendees in its inaugural run last year is returning for Christmas 2025.

Hallmark Cards Inc. said its Christmas Experience will return “bigger and better” to Crown Center, which is directly outside the company’s headquarters, in Kansas Cit. Mo., for the 2025 holiday season. Running every weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the event will feature “create and learn” workshops with Hallmark artists, photo opportunities with Hallmark Channel stars, special dining experiences and more.

In addition, visitors can get a sneak peek behind the curtain and catch their favorite Hallmark actors in “Stars on Stage” productions, including holiday spirit-inspired games and competitions, yuletide panel discussions and movie screenings.

In other activities, the Crown Center Square will feature nightly tree light shows, live music, shopping from local vendors, a “one-of-a-kind” Hallmark Card sending station, festive food and drink and event-exclusive merchandise. While Crown Center Square is open to the public free of charge, some of the other activities, such as the workshops, require tickets. 

“The much-anticipated return of the Hallmark Christmas Experiences allows us the opportunity to continue building a space where Hallmark’s purpose-driven values come to life, and where connection, community and Christmas cheer come together,” said Lindsey Roy, Hallmark’s senior VP of branded experiences. “We’re so delighted to gather our brightest Hallmark stars and our most passionate brand fans to make this holiday season another one to remember.”

Construction materials prices continued to increase in May. 

Overall construction input prices (includes materials, energy and equipment) increased 0.2% in May compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data. Commercial construction input prices increased 0.3% for the month and are up 2/3% higher than a year ago.

The accelerating input price escalation is largely due to rapid price increases for tariff-affected goods like iron and steel, said ABC chief economist Anirban Basu.

“Expect this dynamic to remain over the next few quarters,” he advised. “These data predate tariffs on iron and steel rising from 25% to 50%, which went into effect on June 4.”

The price of steel mill products rose 7.1% in May compared to April, while iron and steel prices increased 3.2%. Prepared asphalt, tar roofing and siding products prices rose 3.7%.

“While input prices are up just 1.3% over the past year, that modest escalation is entirely due to price decreases during the second half of 2024,” Basu said. ”Costs have increased rapidly since the start of this year, with input prices rising at a 6% annualized rate through the first five months of 2025.”

In some good news, prices decreased in two of the three  energy categories in May. Natural gas prices were down 18.7%, while prices for unprocessed energy materials were down 3.5%. Crude petroleum prices increased 1.3% in May.

Associated Builders and Contractors is a national construction industry trade association established in 1950 with 67 chapters and more than 23,000 members.

Consumers are remaining uncertain about the future in the face of impending tariffs.

According to new data from Numerator, 26% of those surveyed in May think their finances will be better than they are now in a year (no change from April), 50% think they’ll be the same (+2 points), and 24% think they’ll be worse (-2 points). 

The May Consumer Confidence Score was 54.9 (-0.1 points vs. April), which is an average of how consumers feel about the job market, their household finances, and their spending comfort levels.

Despite 47% of consumers saying their household’s financial situation is currently good or very good, more than a third (34%) of consumers say they are spending less overall. To save money, consumers told Numerator they are are shopping for items on sale (40%), using coupons/discount codes (40%) and cooking at home (39%)

Nearly four-in-10 (38%) consumers say they are very or somewhat comfortable spending money on discretionary purchases right now (-1 point from April). Consumers with spare cash say they’re putting it in savings (35%) and paying down debts (32%), while 13% of consumers say they do not have any spare cash. More than a quarter (27%) of consumers say they will use spare cash to vacation or travel, down 0.4 points vs. April and down 3.3 points vs. last year.

[READ MORE: Survey: Consumers already seeing prices rise; to cut back this summer]