👰The wedding boom, explained

It’s a good time to be in the wedding business.

While COVID lockdowns wiped out the wedding season in 2020, the industry has recovered sharply, creating a flurry of business for vendors, per The New York Times.

The boom is expected to last beyond this year

While many of these ceremonies are socially-distant “micro-weddings,” not everybody is cutting back, which brings good news for vendors.

Independent research firm Wedding Report expects the average price per wedding to rise through 2023:

• 2021: 1.93m weddings, average spend of $22.5k
• 2022: 2.47m weddings, average spend of $24.3k
• 2023: 2.24m weddings, average spend of $24.9k

Increased spending could be due to a number of factors, including couples saving up during the pandemic, stimulus checks from the government, and the surging stock market.

But the boom may actually be a blip

Wedding Report expects 2022 to have the most ceremonies since the 1980s before settling back to pre-COVID numbers, which weren’t exactly on the upswing.

Data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) maps the decline in marriage rates along the following timeline:

• 1982-2009: Marriage rates declined steadily
• 2009-2017: Marriage rates stabilized
• 2017-2018: Marriage rates dropped 6% to the lowest rate recorded between 1900 and 2018

One boom may lead to another

Since many couples wait to get married before having children, a baby boom could be next.

Recent data reported across multiple states hints at a turnaround from early in the pandemic when birth rates were declining.

With that in mind, it may not be a bad time to brush up on your babysitting skills.

Glossier gets physical: The D2C beauty company opened its 1st permanent store in Seattle since closing all locations last year. #ecommerce-retail

Tesla’s inspection: Regulators launched an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot technology after numerous collisions with emergency vehicles. #clean-energy

Mobile gaming is massive: The sector is set to surpass $120B this year, according to App Annie — more than 20% growth since last year. #emerging-tech

Return of the yak: Yik Yak, the app that allows users to post anonymously, has resurfaced in app stores. #privacy

The decentralized VC: Coinbase Ventures has backed 150+ companies over the last 3 years, and it doesn’t have a full-time staff. #fintech-cryptocurrency

Connected: Facebook will partner with Google on a 7.5k mile long underwater internet cable project in Asia (it will also do one on its own in Africa). #big-tech

Have you ever walked into Target looking to buy a single item (e.g., milk) but walked out with a bounty of other goods you didn’t know you needed?

In industry parlance, that’s known as the “Target Effect,” which is driven in large part by the retailer’s mastery of…

… creating desirable in-house brands

According to Fast Company, the $129B retail giant has launched 48 ”owned brands” across home, fashion, beauty, and other categories.

Of these, 10 brands have cracked $1B in sales (the most recent was activewear line All in Motion) while 4 brands generate $2B+ a year:

• Cat & Jack (Kids apparel)
• Good & Gather (food brand)
• Up & Up (household)
• Threshold (home decor)

Target capitalizes on the hottest trends

It does so by combining an analytics team (tracking search and social data) with an in-house design team (including chemists and material scientists).

Target also regularly gives shelf space to popular online D2C brands (e.g., Casper, Quip).

There is risk in these partnerships, though, as the company has a track record of launching competing in-house brands.

Some call Target’s copycat tactics dirty

Notably, luxe brand Burberry and shoe brand Vans have both sued the Minneapolis-based retailer for trademark infringement.

To be sure, copying is very much par for the course in retail:

• Amazon and Walmart have white label brands
• Zara and H&M rip off the latest runway designers

A fashion lawyer tells Fast Company most of Target’s moves are “perfectly legal” (though, we weren’t able to confirm this).

A recent study found 38% of remote workers regularly do their job from bed.

What that study didn’t mention was that they might be actually doing multiple jobs from bed.

The latest WFH trend is doing extra work secretly

A recent report from The Wall Street Journal details folks secretly taking on multiple jobs, toggling between Slack accounts and work calendars, and using excuses like WiFi issues to balance responsibilities and earn up to $600k a year.

Some folks are emboldened by a site called Overemployed, which oversees a Discord community and provides tips for multi-jobbers.

Overemployed hosts articles with titles like “How to Set Low Expectations At Your Two Remote Jobs” and “Manage Conflicting Meetings With Two Remote Jobs.”

But the craziest (smartest?) claim we’ve seen…

… comes from an anonymous poster on Hacker News who reportedly works 10 remote engineering jobs simultaneously.

• “The bar is so low, oversight is non-existent, and everyone is so forgiving for under performance I can coast about 4-8 weeks before a given job fires me,” they wrote.

The user says they are headed for $1.5m in compensation this year.

If that’s for real, it sure is impressive. Still, we’ll be about 100x more impressed when someone tells us they’re working 10 simultaneous jobs in person.

📺  Haha: Nestflix is a compilation of fake media from real TV shows and movies. Examples: “The Rural Juror” (“30 Rock”), “Kickpuncher” (“Community”), and “Stab” (“Scream 2”).

🎨  Chill out: This website displays an endless artwork, constantly zooming into itself to change scenes. It’s trippy.

🗞️  On this day: In 1903, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer donated $1m to Columbia University, thus kicking off the Pulitzer Prizes.

🍺  Mmm: Bochet is a lost medieval mead that erupts like a volcano as it’s made. Modern mead-makers are trying to bring it back.

💉 Wow: Where do you get vaccinated if you don’t have a local pharmacy? National Geographic follows the health care workers getting vaccines to the most remote populations on Earth — sometimes by dogsled.

🏄  That’s cool: A British father and son duo became the 1st people to cross the English Channel on eFoil boards — electric boards that look like they’re hovering. It took them 1 hour and 44 minutes.