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Most of these locations are licensed to third-party companies, which saves Starbucks some corporate cash but limits its profits and can negatively impact the brand’s consistency from store to store.","_key":"a153543ce5460"}],"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"But ","_key":"e994e060ddce0"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"sales have been down companywide ","_key":"35eb2200a70b"},{"marks":[],"text":"and wait times remain high, particularly at airports, so Starbucks is embracing technology to help solve both problems.","_key":"56c98d5c576b","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"3dc580fc78f0"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"5db33945a287","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Rethinking the process","_key":"b204063617140"}]},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Expect to see a lot more self-service features at airport Starbucks locations, including digital payment kiosks and other 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Profit margins in the e-commerce market have always been razor-thin — and if a court rules that Amazon must treat its drivers as employees rather than contractors, its delivery expenses would increase even further.","_key":"6e28beb07e110"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"8aa084eaef66","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The company’s","_key":"a2a4ca98583a0"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":" investment in electric delivery vehicles","_key":"38c9e72d7408"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" is another step toward using technology to lower 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could be a big step toward making drone deliveries mainstream.","body":[{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"c439b8dec761","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"If you want to catch a glimpse of where technology is trending, look no further than Silicon Valley. 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There was a combination of increased health concerns and decreased demand since many parents were working from home.","_key":"e2a886d21235","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"aa45fd60220f","markDefs":[{"href":"https://www.axios.com/2024/09/26/child-care-costs","_key":"958ef945e978","_type":"link"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It all added up to a ","_key":"5ff8bfeed39f0"},{"_key":"5ff8bfeed39f1","_type":"span","marks":["958ef945e978"],"text":"situation"},{"_key":"5ff8bfeed39f2","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" some experts described as a “child care cliff” — but how bad was it?"}]},{"_key":"96f83880de01","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"The pandemic lifeline","_key":"4c5a5c163d1d0","_type":"span","marks":["strong"]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"style":"normal","_key":"827720b49349","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Like many other businesses impacted by COVID, many child care providers had access to emergency funding. But ","_key":"448e92860be70"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"that money dried up ","_key":"2348fe09eb42"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"even though demand is still a far cry from where it was prior to the pandemic.","_key":"103afb07b685"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"As a result, it’s clear that many of these businesses are struggling to remain in business. But many communities still have a vibrant child care community, so it wouldn’t be accurate to say that the industry has gone off any proverbial cliff just yet.","_key":"96f28fcff50a0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"c4938a0a7941","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"8bca33265fce","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Digging into the details","_key":"5561f4d85ddb0","_type":"span","marks":["strong"]}],"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The Century Foundation think tank recently took a deep dive into the issue of child care in the United States and found a few interesting facts as a result of its investigation. Even though businesses","_key":"9dd61773a2210"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":" aren’t going under","_key":"7f174b60a783"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" at quite the pace of some pessimistic forecasts, a number of troubling predictions are starting to come true.","_key":"b9bee37b0c56"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"cb3dfc9d2bd8"},{"_key":"a200f79fa9f2","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Julie Kashen of the Century Foundation explained: “The prediction was that first, providers will raise their prices to cover the costs that were being covered by federal dollars, then they will serve fewer kids and close classrooms, and then they will close programs. 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The surging costs and reduced availability of child care has made this a prominent issue during the presidential election season.","_key":"b014dc4f7bd0"}],"_type":"block"}],"title":"Reports Of Child Care’s Demise Appear To Have Been Premature","_id":"99a60fc1-10d0-4bfc-948b-42cc841b4e7a","category":"business"},{"_type":"story","summary":"These hard-working employees are the key to Amazon's delivery success.","visibility":"true","body":[{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"If you’ve ever stopped to consider what it takes to complete an overnight delivery using Amazon Prime, you probably consider the relentless pace the company’s warehouse staff and delivery drivers are required to keep.","_key":"31b75528e12a0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"dd2e987ed942"},{"style":"normal","_key":"f1910027cde7","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/18/24248139/amazon-warehouse-workers-free-prime-pay-raise","_key":"c3074e18bb2d"}],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"While Amazon has received some criticism over working conditions, the company ","_key":"81d4a61198490","_type":"span"},{"_type":"span","marks":["c3074e18bb2d"],"text":"announced","_key":"81d4a61198491"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" a new slate of employment benefits for these crucial employees.","_key":"81d4a61198492"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"What’s in the package?","_key":"b9a8de36c0860"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"29525b14ab86","markDefs":[]},{"_key":"8846f57fb127","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"b0cacd6d97120","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Since warehouse workers and drivers are responsible for fulfilling all those Amazon Prime orders, their employer now says they deserve their own subscription to the service as a fringe benefit."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"A statement from Amazon described these employees as “front-line” workers and confirmed that a Prime membership (which costs somewhere around","_key":"8adbdf3b04040"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":" $15 per month or $139 per year","_key":"84b0b37aa26a"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":") will be free for them for “as long as they are a part of the Amazon team.”","_key":"1698990b46a8"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6227f8ece442","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"But there’s more than that for Amazon workers to look forward to, including an hourly pay bump of “at least” $1.50 for all of its front-line workers as of next month. 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