WASHINGTON—Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould today discussed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) work under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent to support the Administration’s efforts to grow the economy and lead the global digital currency revolution, in a Fireside Chat at the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Excerpts from Comptroller Gould’s discussion are below. His full discussion can be found here.
On de novo chartering and digital assets
Since President Trump took office, so over the last 18 or so months, we have received 40 applications for new bank charters in this country. Over half of those bank charters in the business plans for those bank charters involve some form of digital asset activity. So that’s 23 out of 40. That’s an eightfold increase from the four years of the Biden administration. So that tells you about where the puck is going. We are now seeing when we look out further, when I look out further to the pipeline of potential applicants for bank charters, it is becoming ordinary course to involve and integrate payment stablecoins, etc. in the business plans that we are now seeing presented to the OCC for consideration.
On the GENIUS Act
We were working on the rule even before the President actually signed the bill into law. We will have a final rule out by November, so we are working with great speed here.
We are witnessing the birth of a new industry in the form of payment stablecoins.
Looking ahead
We’re very excited about the prospect of stablecoins and our role in that regulatory and supervisory landscape. It actually brings us back to our original mission back in the 1860s when we were created, which is ensuring that the reserve assets backing then national bank issued notes were of the same level of quality. That’s exactly analogous to what Congress has tasked us with doing with respect to payment stablecoins.
Some of America’s biggest companies are receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in tariff refunds, or booking even larger financial benefits. However, many consumers are wondering if those refunds will find their way back into their wallets.
After the Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act did not give the president authority to impose tariffs, major Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon and Target, have received hundreds of millions of dollars in tariff refunds. Some have pledged to issue refunds to consumers who bore increased costs thanks to the tariffs, while others have stayed mum on the subject.
The Trump administration said as of July 31, it certified $100 billion in tariff refunds, including interest, out of the $166 billion it collected.
Companies that received cash
Amazon, ranking No.1 on the Fortune 500, stands out as one of the largest companies to have already collected refunds. The e-commerce giant said “we received approximately $640 million of tariff refunds under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”),” during the second quarter of 2026, according to its SEC filing. The amount represented the “significant majority of refunds” it expects to receive. Amazon has said it may offer refunds to only a limited number of customers impacted by the tariffs.
Target received almost a billion dollars in refunds during the second quarter, it said on Wednesday. The department store received $994 million in tariff refunds, adding $752 million to net earnings for a total of $1.88 billion and $1.65 to earnings per share.
Target CFO Jim Lee confirmed the company will not issue refunds as a result of the company’s IEEPA refunds, but will use the money towards bringing lower prices. “We have, and we will continue to, invest in price to ensure our guests are getting tremendous value each and every time they visit us at Target,” Lee told Modern Retail.
Nike has also recovered most of what it was owed. The sportswear company said it expected to recover $986 million. According to its filing, Nike had received $302 million as of May 31, and recorded another $684 million as “outstanding IEEPA tariff receivable.” Nike has remained quiet on whether consumers will see any refunds, even as consumers sue the company for not refunding tariff-related costs.
FedEx is a different case—the company and its competitor UPS have begun returning refunds to consumers earlier this month. The delivery company said its reported cash balance included approximately $800 million in IEEPA tariff refunds, but that money was being held for refunds to customers, according to its filing. FedEx previously sued the federal government seeking a full refund of tariffs it had paid.
Received refunds, but unclear how much
The results are mixed for automakers. Ford reported a $1.3 billion one-time tariff benefit reflecting tariffs it paid between March 2025 and February 2026, per its filing, even as the company sued the Trump administration over refunds. Similarly, General Motors separately recorded a $500 million favorable adjustment tied to previously charged tariffs, which GM said it believed were refundable in its filing. Neither disclosure, however, confirms that the full amount had already been received in cash. Stellantis, the maker of Jeep and Ram, received a tariff refund of €400 million (about $467 million).
Other companies have reported large financial benefits without making clear how much has actually been received.
Apple reported a boost from tariff refunds, disclosing that the refunds added approximately two percentage points to its fiscal third-quarter gross margin and contributed 11 cents to diluted earnings per share. Apple said it will invest its tariff refund into domestic manufacturing.
For other major companies, the tariff refund situation is unclear after they sued the Trump administration for refunds.
Costco said it would issue tariff refunds to consumers after being hit with four class action lawsuits alleging the company passed on the tariffs costs and raised prices. Kohl’s, which paid about $190 million in tariffs, applied for roughly $140 million in refunds but said in its latest quarterly filing that it had not received any payments. Home Depot said in its May quarterly filing that it received an “immaterial amount” after the quarter ended, and its Aug. 18 earnings release said its guidance “includes IEEPA tariff refunds, which are expected to partially offset unplanned fuel, energy, and other product input costs.” Other companies that also sued the Trump administration include Revlon, J. Crew, and Bumble Bee Foods.
Walmart said in a May disclosure that its financial guidance did not assume any impact from tariff refunds, saying it won’t offer refunds to consumers but that it will put that money toward lowering prices. Tesla was similarly cautious in its latest quarterly filing, stating that it may be eligible for refunds of previously paid tariffs, but that the recoverability and timing remained uncertain. The company previously sued the Trump administration over its China tariffs in 2020.
Vishal Garg isn’t backing down from the company he founded.
Processing Content
The ex-CEO of Better Home & Finance is formally soliciting shareholder support for his comeback bid, after the lender cried foul over his initial attempts to rally shareholders. The company sued Garg Tuesday in federal court for alleged violations of securities laws, as the fallout from his departure continues.
Garg left his CEO post Aug. 3, in a move Better initially described as a mutual agreement before characterizing it as a firing. It replaced him with interim Daniel Lewis, a former hedge fund boss. While the board, Garg and Lewis commended the transition in a press release that day, Garg and Lewis have since publicly criticized each other over the ex-CEO’s prior performance, and the new CEO’s leadership as the company’s stock dips.
Better’s lawsuit accuses Garg of misleading shareholders regarding the majority support he alleged to have in his initial bid to return to the CEO post. In an amended Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday, Garg acknowledged an “administrative error” regarding the pledged amount of shareholder support he professed, because of information provided by “the Company’s in-house Securities and Regulatory Counsel.”
Garg however also filed for a formal solicitation of shareholders. He recognized the lawsuit in his filing and called the allegations without merit, pledging to defend against the accusations.
The dispute
The former CEO began his comeback attempt last week, retaining high-profile counsel and issuing demands to Better’s board of directors. His attorneys said Garg held signed declarations from investors representing a majority of the company’s shareholders, who supported his multi-layered return plan.
Garg proposed replacing Lewis with himself and removing most of the company’s directors. He pledged to work for a $1 salary until the company became profitable, and to embark on an independent search for a long-term CEO. The new plan also includes a $30 million stock buyback and a $5 million personal investment as part of a 10b5-1 stock plan.
Better balked at those demands and accused Garg of miscommunicating the amount of shareholder support he secured, noting different numbers he quoted in a television interview and a text message to a shareholder. The lender also suggested Garg bypassed SEC rules in quickly assembling his shareholder group without proper disclosures.
The lawsuit asked a judge to force Garg to file accurate SEC filings regarding his group, and to cease improper solicitation of shareholders.
New developments
This week Garg filed amended disclosures, revealing that he and his affiliated entities own 13.7% of the company’s voting stock, which they’re using to launch the formal solicitation. In addition to seeking to reshape leadership, seeks to repeal bylaws passed after August 2023 to prevent current directors from halting his return attempt.
Garg also described a detailed timeline of events following his departure, including rising concerns from employees, investors and business partners over the company’s immediate stock decline. The ex-CEO told board members he would return to work alongside Lewis, who doesn’t have fintech and AI experience, and they in turn allegedly invited Garg to demonstrate a majority of shareholder support, leading to the latest developments.
The ex-CEO also criticized Better’s post-departure conduct. That included criticizing its handling of a joint signing off of a recent earnings statement, and stating that directors acknowledged factual inaccuracies in Better’s first press release in response to Garg’s comeback efforts.
Adding to his social media critiques, Garg wrote that Lewis is reputedly running Better from his chateau in the south of France for the remainder of the summer, in contrast to Garg’s on-the-ground management efforts.
Better’s stock fell drastically after Garg’s removal, from a height of $27.30 per share on the afternoon of his final day, to $17.27 per share the following trading session. The stock has since sputtered, but ticked up in early trading Wednesday to $13.35 per share.
We recently wrote about the need for leaders to be less “nice” and more “good”: to reduce their focus on making people feel comfortable and instead lean in on the hard conversations and decisions needed to strengthen organizational performance. From our experience, those leaders who overcome their fear of hurting or disappointing others and begin to put results first can better ensure the ongoing success of their organizations as a whole.
In this special Eid edition of the Hafiz Ahmed Podcast, we feature the one and only Ducky Bhai, Pakistan’s top YouTuber and digital content creator. This exclusive discussion covers a variety of exciting topics, including Eid celebrations, social media earnings, and the booming world of cryptocurrency. Ducky Bhai shares insights into how influencers can make money online, the ups and downs of content creation, and the potential of digital investments.
Additionally, the podcast delves into the much-talked-about Rajab Butt and Sham Idrees controversy, where Ducky Bhai shares his candid views on the ongoing drama in the YouTube community. From lighthearted Eid moments to serious discussions about online feuds, this episode is packed with entertainment, valuable insights, and behind-the-scenes stories you won’t want to miss!
#hafizahmedpodcast #duckybhai #youtuber #podcast
Hafiz Ahmed is an Amazon Best Seller, E-Commerce Expert, and Entrepreneur. He educates his followers through his videos by sharing his personal and professional experiences in Pakistan and throughout the world. He also holds seminars both worldwide and locally to help Pakistanis overcome unemployment, which is the country’s most serious problem.
In today’s fast-paced world, it is critical for businesses to have an efficient marketing plan that gives a favorable return on investment and raises brand awareness
He established the Virtual Assistant Mentorship program to continue training and supporting virtual assistants while also assisting them in finding new employment and projects.
You are welcome to observe that Hafiz Ahmed appears on practically all of Pakistan’s main TV channels as an E-Commerce expert and analyst. Please follow Hafiz Ahmed’s official YouTube channel to receive frequent updates on E-Commerce and other current problems.
To get in touch with Hafiz Ahmed please email at info@hafizahmed.pk or What’s app @ +92 345 4466282.
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The U.S. Department of Education issued a Dear Colleague Letter on August 18, 2026 telling every school that receives federal money (preschool through graduate school) that considering a student’s race when handing out discipline violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Constitution, except in circumstances the letter calls “rare and exceedingly narrow.”
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly M. Richey signed the 20-page document. Alongside it, the Office for Civil Rights opened Title VI investigations into two districts: Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The letter is the follow-through on a final rule published July 24, 2026 that stripped “disparate impact” provisions out of the Department’s Title VI regulations amidst the ongoing fight over how much of the Department of Education survives at all.
“Disparate Impact” is the legal theory that a rule can be discriminatory because of its outcomes, even when the rule itself never mentions race and nobody intended to discriminate. It is now gone from the Department’s discipline enforcement. Intentional discrimination remains illegal and the office that investigates it is itself the subject of a congressional fight over which agency should oversee it.
Why It Matters
About 49.6 million students attend U.S. public schools, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. When it comes to discipline issues, their suspension and expulsion records follow them into college applications, scholarship decisions, and sometimes juvenile court.
This letter changes the federal standard those decisions get measured against which is why it belongs in the same conversation as the transfer of civil rights oversight out of the Education Department.
Parents are going to see two very different headlines about the same PDF this week, and both will be technically accurate.
What The Letter Actually Says
The change in direction boils down to four points:
Statistics alone no longer prove a violation. A district whose suspension numbers skew by race is not, on that basis, in violation of Title VI. Proving a violation now requires evidence of intent or of a student being treated differently because of race.
Neutral codes of conduct are protected. Mandatory-punishment policies, and discretionary categories like “classroom disruption,” “disrespect,” and “insubordination,” are lawful as long as they are applied evenly and were not adopted because of race.
Adjusting policy to close a racial gap is itself flagged as discrimination. The letter draws a fine line: designing discipline rules to be fair to everyone is fine, but reviewing your racial discipline data and changing decisions because of what it shows is not.
The guidance carries no force of law. Footnote 1 and footnote 124 both say so plainly: it “does not determine anyone’s rights or obligations or have direct legal consequences.” This signals how OCR intends to investigate, nothing more.
The Department of Education backs its position with teacher survey data from the Fordham Institute:
86% of classroom teachers call suspensions useful for signaling to parents that an infraction was serious
84% for removing disruptive students so others can learn
79% for keeping schools safe
The letter also highlights a chart showing reported firearms in schools falling to 283 in 2019–20 before climbing to 718 in 2022–23, and attributes the swing to the policy shifts of each administration. That is a correlation the letter presents as cause, and it is fair to read it skeptically.
What Critics Say
Sixty civil rights and education organizations (among them the Legal Defense Fund, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the National Women’s Law Center, and the Education Law Center) condemned the underlying rule in July, writing that it “has no basis in law or morality” and would “clear the way for discrimination that too often deprives students of equal educational opportunity.”
Their main objection: intent is extremely hard to prove, so removing the statistical route leaves families with a right that exists on paper and is difficult to enforce. Rep. Bobby Scott, in a statement, said the change would “drag America back to the Jim Crow era.”
The rule was finalized without a public comment period, which is a separate procedural complaint several groups raised and a likely basis for litigation, much like the challenges that have reached federal courts over other Education Department actions.
What This Means For Your Family, In Simple Terms
Nothing changes at your child’s school tomorrow. Codes of conduct are written by school boards under state law, and this letter does not rewrite them. If your district built race-conscious review steps into its discipline process (some did, under pressure from prior federal guidance) those steps are now legal exposure, and you may see them disappear. If your district never did, you likely will not notice anything.
If you believe your child was punished differently because of race, you can still file an OCR complaint, because racial discrimination in discipline is still illegal.
What changed is the evidence: pointing at district-wide numbers is no longer enough on its own. You need the comparison of a similarly situated student of a different race who committed a similar offense and got a different consequence. Keep the paperwork. Request the incident reports and the discipline records in writing.
This Dear Colleague Letter is about Title VI only. Discipline protections for students with disabilities under IDEA and Section 504, and due process rights under state law, are untouched by it.
If a headline suggests your child lost civil rights protections, that overstates what the document does. If a headline suggests the change is purely technical, that understates the practical difficulty critics are describing. The honest read sits between them, which is also true of most coverage of what dismantling the Education Department would actually look like.
How This Connects
The College Investor has tracked the Department’s restructuring closely, from the executive order directing its wind-down to an inspector general finding that staff cuts of roughly 40% gutted oversight capacity.
Enforcement standards matter less when the office enforcing them has fewer investigators, which is why Senate efforts to block the office transfers are worth watching alongside the guidance itself.
For families weighing a switch to private school over discipline or safety concerns, the 529 rules for K-12 tuition may be helpful depending on your state. So could the new Education Freedom Tax Credit.
Editor: Colin Graves
The post Federal Guidance Bans Race-Based School Discipline: What Families Should Know Now appeared first on The College Investor.
Citi is targeting select cardholders with a new offer that can save you $50 on JetBlue flights.
Citi Merchant Offers are similar to Amex Offers and Chase Offers. With these offers, Citi credit cardholders can unlock additional savings and benefits when making purchases with select merchants. These offers often include discounts, cashback rewards, or special promotions tailored to cardholders’ spending habits and preferences. Let’s see the details of this latest JetBlue Citi Merchant Offer.
Offer Details
Purchase any JetBlue flight valued at $400 or more and receive $50 back.
May be redeemed 1 time(s) by September 30, 2026.
Find your Citi Merchant Offers here.
Important Terms
Offers cannot be combined or stacked with other offers.
If a merchant processes your online order in separate transactions, you may only earn an award on the first processed transaction if it meets all other offer criteria.
Guru’s Wrap-up
With this JetBlue offer from Citi you can save $50 when you spend $400 or more on flights. This is a good offer for paid flight or paying fees, as it gets you up to a 12.5% discount. The transaction must take place before the expiration date, but the actual flight can be at a later time.
You can take advantage of this offer by simply using your Citi credit cards for eligible transactions. Just make sure you enroll in the offer first, before making a purchase. You can enroll multiple Citi credit cards for this same offer, as long as the offer shows up in that account.
When investors try to predict future stock prices, they’re engaging in an activity that’s both an art and a science. That’s because no one knows what will happen, obviously.
But those who own or are considering purchasing stock in a company should make the effort. Doing it in a way that has some chance of being accurate requires developing an understanding of the business and making some assumptions, but you’ll find the effort worthwhile.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG -1.19%) has encountered some challenges this year. But where can we expect its stock price to be in five years?
Image source: Getty Images.
The business
Chipotle Mexican Grill serves Mexican-style food such as burritos, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The fast-casual restaurant seeks to use fresh ingredients without artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.
The company has had a lot of success, but results have been challenging recently. That’s because consumers have faced broadly higher prices for most of their purchases, and their paychecks haven’t kept up with inflation.
In the second quarter, Chipotle’s same-store sales increased 2.2%. While that was not great, it was an improvement from the first quarter’s 0.5% gain. Positively, in Q2, higher traffic contributed 1 percentage point to that growth. That shows people remain attracted to the restaurant.
The spending breakout shows how persistent inflation has weighed on consumers. Higher spending added 1.2 percentage points to the same-store sales gain. However, this was entirely due to Chipotle’s price increases (1.6 percentage points), and customers shifting to lower-priced items subtracted 0.4 percentage points from the final result.
Adding to the company’s woes, a salmonella outbreak was linked to jalapeños served at Chipotle. Still, management appeared to act quickly to address the issue with its supplier, which means customers aren’t likely to permanently stop visiting its restaurants.
Today’s Change
(-1.19%) $-0.40
Current Price
$33.36
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$42BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.
Day’s Range
$33.20 – $34.01
52wk Range
$28.04 – $43.99
Volume
26.4K
Avg Vol
20M
Gross Margin
21.09%
Meanwhile, the company has continued its expansion plans. Starting in 1993, it grew to nearly 4,100 restaurants as of June 30, 2026.
Management opened 144 new locations, net of closures, during the first six months of the year. It plans to open 350 to 370 restaurants total for the year.
Putting it together
Diluted earnings per share (EPS) were flat in the second quarter, compared to a year ago. Assuming the inflationary environment becomes more benign, people may feel more comfortable spending money on eating out. That should help Chipotle’s sales and earnings growth.
Chipotle earned $1.14 a share in 2025. From 2020 through 2025, EPS grew 357%.
Assuming its earnings grow at a much slower rate over the next five years — say, 200% — that would bring Chipotle’s EPS to $3.42 in 2030.
The stock trades at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 31.
Assuming that ratio stays constant, multiplying the EPS by the P/E points to a stock price of $106. That’s more than triple the current stock price of $33.50.
Of course, that’s still a rapid earnings growth rate. What if it slows down to 50% over the next five years? Chipotle Mexican Grill’s stock price would increase to $53, 58% above its current price. Investors would undoubtedly be pleased with that performance.
I’m a frugal woman, so I actually enjoy finding ways to make good meals on a tight budget.
Some of my favorite dirt-cheap recipes cost less than $5 to make, yet they’re filling enough to feed the whole family. It proves you don’t need expensive ingredients to put a great dinner on the table.
A lot of these recipes have been around for generations. Our grandparents didn’t call them “budget meals” or “frugal recipes.” They simply cooked with what they had and wasted as little as possible. Simple ingredients like potatoes, beans, rice, pasta, eggs, and seasonal vegetables were enough to create meals that kept everyone full.
With grocery prices where they are today, those old-fashioned recipes are making a comeback, and for good reason. They’re affordable, comforting, and rely on pantry staples instead of long shopping lists.
If you’re trying to cut your grocery bill even further, be sure to check out our $200 a Month Grocery List for a Family, where I share simple strategies for stretching your food budget without sacrificing good meals.
These old-fashioned frugal recipes prove that some of the cheapest meals are still some of the best ones.
1. Keto French Toast
This low-carb take on a breakfast classic uses keto bread soaked in a cinnamon-vanilla egg mixture, then pan-fried until crispy outside and soft inside. It’s ready in under 10 minutes and easy to top with berries, whipped cream, or sugar-free syrup.
Get the recipe here ↗
2. Mom’s Sausage Stuffing
A homemade stuffing made with pork sausage, hand-torn white bread, celery, onion, garlic, and poultry seasoning. It bakes up moist underneath with a deliciously crispy top, and it’s a Thanksgiving table staple passed down through generations.
Get the recipe here ↗
3. Slow Cooker 15 Bean Soup with Kale
A hearty, budget-friendly soup made with a bag of dried 15-bean mix, smoky ham hocks, and fresh kale, all simmered low and slow in the crockpot. Skipping the seasoning packet for homemade spices keeps this version wholesome and flavorful.
Get the recipe here ↗
4. Philadelphia 3 Ingredient Cheesecake (No Bake)
Just cream cheese, sugar, and heavy cream come together for a silky, no-bake cheesecake with a slight tang and a classic graham cracker crust. It takes about 10 minutes of hands-on work, then chills overnight for the perfect creamy set.
Get the recipe here ↗
5. Sourdough French Toast
Made with hearty sourdough instead of the usual brioche or challah, this French toast has a buttery crisp outside and a soft, custardy center. It comes together in about 30 minutes for a breakfast that’s a little heartier than the classic version.
Get the recipe here ↗
6. Sour Cream & Vanilla Pound Cake
This moist, old-fashioned pound cake gets its rich texture from sour cream and a touch of vanilla, baked in a simple loaf pan instead of the traditional pound-of-everything recipe. It’s a perfect not-too-sweet treat with a cup of coffee.
Get the recipe here ↗
7. Old-Fashioned Honey Nut Brittle
Similar to peanut brittle but naturally sweetened with honey instead of sugar or corn syrup, this candy has a softer, more subtle sweetness that practically melts in your mouth. A mix of nuts adds crunch and a rich golden-brown color.
Get the recipe here ↗
8. Meatless Pinto Beans and Cornbread
A humble Southern staple made with slow-simmered pinto beans, aromatics, and smoked spices standing in for the traditional pork. Paired with a skillet of warm cornbread, it’s the kind of simple, soulful comfort food that stretches to feed a family.
Get the recipe here ↗
9. Nanny’s Baked Macaroni and Cheese
A simple, homemade baked mac and cheese recipe passed down through generations, with a gooey, cheesy middle and crisp golden edges. It’s proof that basic ingredients, done right, beat the boxed stuff every time.
Get the recipe here ↗
10. Old-Fashioned Homemade Banana Pudding
Rich, from-scratch vanilla pudding layered with crunchy vanilla wafers and fresh banana slices makes this a true Southern classic. Chilling it overnight lets the layers soften together for that perfect banana pudding texture.
Get the recipe here ↗
11. Old-Fashioned Chocolate Eclair Cake
A no-bake icebox cake layered with honey graham crackers, creamy vanilla pudding, whipped topping, and chocolate frosting. It’s a nostalgic potluck favorite that tastes like an eclair in cake form, no baking required.
Get the recipe here ↗
12. Homemade Devil Dogs
A copycat version of the classic Northeast lunchbox treat, with soft chocolate cake sandwiching a creamy filling and finished with a chocolate glaze drizzle. This nostalgic recipe brings back the flavor of simpler times.
Get the recipe here ↗
13. Brown Betty Summer Dessert
Unlike a crisp or cobbler, a Brown Betty layers fruit with sweetened, buttery breadcrumbs instead of an oat or pastry topping. This version swaps in juicy peaches and blueberries for a summery twist on an 1800s classic.
Get the recipe here ↗
14. Old Fashioned Egg Custard Pie with Berries
A creamy, dates-back-centuries custard filling made from eggs, sugar, milk, and vanilla is poured over a layer of mixed berries and baked right in the crust. It’s a simple, comforting dessert that’s just sweet enough to let the berries shine.
Get the recipe here ↗
15. Grandma’s Old Fashioned Stuffing
A classic holiday side made with day-old bread cubes, sautéed onion, celery, and garlic, fresh herbs, and a rich chicken broth. It’s the kind of simple, no-fuss stuffing recipe that’s been the centerpiece of family holiday tables for generations.
Get the recipe here ↗
16. Tom and Jerry Drink
This vintage Christmas cocktail features a spiced egg batter whipped with rum, vanilla, and warm spices, then combined with hot milk and more rum for a foamy, festive holiday punch. It was a staple of Christmas gatherings for generations before falling out of fashion.
Get the recipe here ↗
17. Chicken a la King
Tender chicken, mushrooms, peas, and pimentos simmer together in a rich, from-scratch creamy sauce with a hint of mustard powder and cayenne. Ready in about 30 minutes, it’s classic comfort food served over rice, noodles, or biscuits.
Get the recipe here ↗
18. Best Old Fashioned Tuna Noodle Casserole
Egg noodles get tossed in a creamy sauce with tuna, peas, and cheddar cheese, then topped with crushed potato chips and baked until bubbly. This straight-out-of-Grandma’s-recipe-box classic is old-school comfort food at its finest.
Get the recipe here ↗
19. Blueberry Lemon Loaf
A moist, tender loaf packed with fresh blueberries and bright lemon flavor, finished with a simple lemon glaze drizzle. It’s an easy quick bread that’s perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon treat with coffee.
Get the recipe here ↗
20. Old Fashioned Easy Custard Pie with Berries
A layer of mixed berries sits under a rich, velvety custard filling that bakes right into the pie shell until golden and just barely set. Chilled and dusted with powdered sugar, it’s an easy, elegant dessert that balances tart berries with sweet, creamy custard.
Get the recipe here ↗
Hi, I’m Ashley a freelance writer who’s passionate about personal finance. Ever since I was young, I’ve been fascinated by the power of money and how it can shape our lives. I’ve spent years learning everything I can about budgeting, saving, investing and retirement planning. So if you are looking for tips, advice, or just a little bit of inspiration to help you on your financial journey, you have come to the right place. I am always here to help, and I am excited to share my passion for personal finance with you.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Key Takeaways
Define your non-negotiables early. Clear filters help eliminate unsuitable properties before they consume time and resources.
Vet every party, not just the property. A strong site can still fail if the landlord, lender, or investor cannot support the business model or proposed lease structure.
Do not force a deal. Even a near-perfect building is the wrong choice if its financing, tenant-improvement requirements, or security demands threaten cash flow and execution.
I have recently been looking for new site locations for my co-warehousing business, Blue Co. What an eye-opening experience that has been over the last couple of months, rife with ups and downs and business lessons for all. The short story is: as a startup, you only have a few opportunities to open a new location, and you have to get it right to impress your investors.
No opportunity is perfect, and you may need to make some sacrifices. But knowing what elements are non-negotiable could be the difference between keeping your business growing and potentially “sinking the ship.”
Allow me to explain.
What was Blue Co searching for?
Blue Co was on the hunt for 50,000 to 70,000-square-foot buildings in major metropolitan markets of the Southeast at terms its unique co-warehousing model could afford. The locations needed to be within the beltways of those major markets (e.g., under 10 miles from the city center), with nearby highway access and plenty of parking for its members. After reviewing over 200 listings and not a single signed lease to show for it, it became clear that this search would be a lot harder than expected.
What were the challenges?
There were so many decision points in picking a new location. The city, the location, the property, the surrounding neighborhood and demographics, the building type (e.g., industrial, retail, office), the floor plan, the building features (e.g., number of docks, number of parking spots), the lease terms and the capital required, to name a few.
On this last point about capital, there were a lot of variations, including financing the real estate, tenant improvements, lease securitization, startup costs, etc. And to make matters worse, there wasn’t a one-size-fits-all investor — some preferred real estate investing, some preferred venture investing in the operating company, and some preferred lending debt secured by needed equipment.
Even if you found the right building, there was no guarantee it would come at terms you would be happy with or with financing partners that shared the enthusiasm for that location.
Some screening decisions were easy — decisions made by me
For our business, having enough parking was pretty important. If the property wasn’t at least 5 acres to accommodate parking for over 150 cars, it was largely a non-starter and could quickly cut those properties from the list. If we really liked the location, maybe we could find a nearby satellite parking lot, but that meant we couldn’t do one without the other, adding complexity to our search and discussions. Other simple decisions could be made quickly to ensure the property had an entrepreneur-friendly landlord, affordable rent, sufficient square footage, nearby highway access, etc. The point here is that the better you can screen these properties for the most important need, the less time you will waste.
Some screening decisions were easy — decisions made by them
Sometimes, a building would check all the right boxes for us, but we didn’t check all the right boxes for our landlord. Maybe they didn’t like our co-warehousing model in their building. Or their lending banks didn’t like having a start-up as a tenant. Or our financials were not as “pretty” as those of other larger companies. Whatever the case may be, it is never fun to find a great building only to have it shot down by the other party. So ask those questions early in the process to ensure you do not unnecessarily spin your wheels.
Issues with the landlord
Not all landlords are created equal. Institutionally owned, big, billion-dollar buildings were typically the hardest to work with. Their requests of a tenant were pretty much the same regardless of the tenant’s business size, making it much harder for a startup to secure a building with them. But, on the other hand, even if you found an entrepreneur-friendly landlord, that doesn’t mean they will give you the best terms. As an example, we had one such landlord try to charge us 33% higher rent because they knew we didn’t have much negotiating power as a startup. Just make sure whoever you decide to work with will do so in a win-win way and have your back in good times and bad.
Investor issues
We have had a couple of situations where we found an investor for the building, but something didn’t work well for them. They liked to invest in Raleigh (not Greensboro, too far away). They like to invest in industrial buildings (not the converted big-box retail site were looking at). They won’t look at any building with rezoning risks. We had one investor say, “We’ll fund the building you like, but we are going to need to take this other, less desirable building as well,” which didn’t work for us. Or we needed to hit some operating metrics on our old buildings, before they would consider the new buildings. Fundraising is never easy, but make sure you do your due diligence on them, at the same time, they are doing their due diligence on you.
Issues with the building and lease terms
Every building brings its own set of challenges: floor configuration, ceiling height for racking, office build-out, climate control, system age, dock type, and whether the exterior matches your brand image. You need to know which of these are genuine deal killers and which you can live with.
Commercial leases have just as many variables: term, base rent, operating costs, free rent, tenant improvement dollars, and securitization demands such as guarantees, letters of credit, or deposits. All of these pieces must fit together for both parties to close. Get these terms on the table early, before you fall in love with a building, so you do not waste time chasing a deal that will never work.
One case study worth calling out: The perfect building at less than perfect terms
We found what felt like the perfect building in the perfect location with a landlord who understood our business. But once their bank stepped in, the required letter of credit was so high it effectively blocked us until we completed our fundraising, and the only way to reduce it was to cut back tenant improvements to a point where we would not have enough office space to support clients or the P&L.
We tried every angle to make it work, but signing that lease would have created an underperforming location and drained our cash cushion at the same time we were raising capital. Moving forward before the fundraise closed felt like putting the cart before the horse, so as painful as it was, we walked to avoid putting the business in a bind if things did not go according to plan
Closing thoughts
So, why did I share all these excruciating details about our site selection process? To basically say three things: (1) know what the priority levers are in any business decision to save you from spinning your wheels on a lot of unnecessary work; (2) when you do find something that could work, quickly assess it to ensure the terms and partners are to your liking; and (3) never “force it” — if your gut is telling you moving forward would be a stretch for your business, walk away to live another day, no matter how much you like it.
Key Takeaways
Define your non-negotiables early. Clear filters help eliminate unsuitable properties before they consume time and resources.
Vet every party, not just the property. A strong site can still fail if the landlord, lender, or investor cannot support the business model or proposed lease structure.
Do not force a deal. Even a near-perfect building is the wrong choice if its financing, tenant-improvement requirements, or security demands threaten cash flow and execution.
I have recently been looking for new site locations for my co-warehousing business, Blue Co. What an eye-opening experience that has been over the last couple of months, rife with ups and downs and business lessons for all. The short story is: as a startup, you only have a few opportunities to open a new location, and you have to get it right to impress your investors.
No opportunity is perfect, and you may need to make some sacrifices. But knowing what elements are non-negotiable could be the difference between keeping your business growing and potentially “sinking the ship.”
