Americans Are Searching for Experiences For Valentine's Day
Americans are opening their wallets to celebrate romance - and a lot of them are looking for experiences.
According to the National Retail Federation, people are expected to spend $23.9 billion this Valentine's Day.
While candy, greeting cards and flowers make the top three most popular gifts, experiences are growing in popularity. This year, 31 percent of respondents said they plan on gifting an activity, whether that's dinner out or tickets to see a show. It's up from just 24 percent in 2021.
"We've had a rough two years," said Junior's Restaurant owner Alan Rosen. "People are itching to get out, enjoy themselves. They want experiences. They want to go to famous restaurants. They want to go to places and travel, and, of course, have some great cheesecake with their loved ones."
The diner chain, famous for its cheesecake, is celebrating the holiday by offering vow renewals and weddings at its flagship location in Brooklyn, NY. Rosen even got ordained in order to facilitate the ceremonies. Three lucky couples who had Junior's-related love stories were gifted a New York honeymoon, where they got tickets to Broadway show, a hotel stay in the Big Apple and other treats including Junior's cheesecake for life.
"Just in this recent weekend with the mask mandate being lifted, I think people felt a little bit overjoyed," Rosen said about business bounding back. "Obviously, Valentine's Day is a great time to celebrate."
Wealthfront’s CFO Alan Iberman talks the $2.05B IPO and the major moment for robo banking as the company bets on AI, automation, and “self-driving money."
A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
