Hand sanitizer is one of the products that saw a dramatic spike in consumer demand during the pandemic, with sales peaking at $52 million each week in July 2020. The increased demand should have led to big business for Andrea Lisbona, who moved to the U.S. in 2018 to launch her hand sanitizer brand called Touchland. But the pandemic also upended the global supply chain, which meant she could not get the packaging and materials she needed to ship her Continue reading
Meat sticks have come a long way since the invention of the Slim Jim in 1929. Sales of the savory snack topped $3 billion in 2024, a jump of 10 percent compared to the previous year. More than 40 million households buy them annually, making meat sticks the fastest-growing category in snacks. These days, meat sticks come in all sorts of styles: short or long, fat or slim, snappy or soft. They’re made with bold flavors like jalapeno, taco, teriyaki, Continue reading
When the pandemic required nearly everyone to stay at home in 2020, the business world seemed to embrace remote work as a potential savior of productivity. Tech companies were especially quick to implement tools like videoconferencing and cloud computing that let employees work from anywhere. But all that’s changing as more companies start to require staffers to either spend more time in the office or else find a new job. The return-to-office trend sets up a potential culture clash with Continue reading
The Instant Pot first hit the market in 2010 and quickly gained a following of dedicated users who took every opportunity to praise the pot’s pressure cooking and slow cooking abilities. Sales climbed throughout the decade as word-of-mouth spread, and then the Instant Pot truly became a blockbuster during the pandemic. Sales of multicookers and air fryers doubled in 2020 as millions of homebound people searched for ways to make easy meals in their kitchens.
Customers certainly got what Continue reading
When Bethany Lane moved to New York City after graduating from college, she immediately looked for ways to make money in her expensive new home. “I had to pay my rent and student loans, so I went on Craigslist,” she said. “I saw that somebody would pay me to walk dogs. As an animal lover who is obsessed with dogs, it was perfect.” The job worked out so well that by 2014 Lane founded Whistle & Wag, a boutique pet Continue reading