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‘American Made’ T-Shirts Are Having Their Best Year Yet

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‘American Made’ T-Shirts Are Having Their Best Year Yet

When Bayard Winthrop, the chief executive of the retailer American Giant, ordered the batch of shirts that his company would advertise for the Fourth of July, he didn’t think much of it. The retailer, which has been producing its apparel solely in factories around the United States for more than a decade, perennially leans into its “Made in America” pitch for Independence Day.

This year’s batch of crew neck T-shirts are fittingly available in red, white or blue with very little embellishment other than getting straight to the point: Letters that read “American Made.” They cost $60 each. And they sold out in the first day. Then he ordered another set, which also sold out quickly as well. The company is scrambling to secure its fourth order.

For American Giant, this year is shaping up to be its most lucrative Fourth of July yet.

The company has been using its “Made in America” status to advertise to consumers since its founding in 2012. But, Mr. Winthrop said, it is now reaching customers at a time when chatter about the global supply chain, re-shoring, trade deal loopholes and sustainability in fashion has moved beyond corporate board rooms and policy circles in Washington.

Sixty-five percent of U.S. adults said they intentionally bought “Made in America” products over the past year, according to a Morning Consult survey released last month. That’s about the same rate of U.S. adults who said they had those intentions last year.

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American Giant’s customer service representatives, Mr. Winthrop said, are receiving “emotional” emails from shoppers saying it’s “refreshing” to see a retailer “walking the walk” on making items in the United States.

“It really feels to me that there’s an awakening happening right now,” he said. “Consumers are intuitively understanding the backdrop to this conversation.”

Ahead of Independence Day in the United States, stores stack their shelves and populate their websites with T-shirts and swimsuits bearing American flag prints or slogans like “Party in the U.S.A.” A third of Americans say they plan to purchase patriotic fare for the Fourth of July this year, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade association.

The reality is much of that apparel is made overseas and imported. While there are retailers that in recent years have championed more domestic production, the Fourth of July causes particular tension because the items companies are pushing are patriotic only in theme.

Some competitors, who make their apparel stateside, are intentionally pointing out the disconnect.

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“If you’re leaning into Americana to sell items that aren’t American made, I find it disingenuous,” said Kristen Fanarakis, the founder of Los Angeles-based fashion brand Senza Tempo and an advocate for locally made apparel.

Mr. Winthrop said, “One of the great ironies about the apparel industry, I think, is this kind of bizarre disconnect between what the industry says and what it does.”

Old Navy, for example, has been selling flag T-shirts for the Fourth of July since the company started in 1994. Yet, all of the 25 flag tops and baby onesies the company currently has displayed on its website are listed as imported. Searches for “Americana” and “Fourth of July” on Walmart and Target bring up T-shirts and shorts that are listed as imported as well. (Some of the apparel is listed as both being made in the United States and imported.)

Since the 1990s, production of apparel sold by major American retailers has largely moved overseas, especially to China, which brings heightened tensions between the United States and China into the equation for those companies.

The pandemic also strained the global supply chain, disrupting the reliability of imports. In some cases, retailers are moving production closer to the United States or sourcing a wider share of the goods they sell domestically.

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In the past month, lawmakers in Washington have introduced a series of bills seeking to close off a shipping channel that allows companies like the fast-fashion retailers Shein and Temu — both founded in China — from benefiting from a trade rule, which allows them to forgo paying fees at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Lawmakers argue this would level the playing field for American-based retailers.

The Fourth of July is one of Mr. Winthrop’s favorite holidays, but this year’s selling season has been so busy that he nearly forgot to snag one of his company’s “American Made” T-shirts for himself.

“I think I have found one in a retail store that is being sent to me, but I’m not sure,” Mr. Winthrop said. “It’s a bummer.”

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Trump Is Eyeing Greenland. His Commerce Nominee Has Financial Ties There.

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Trump Is Eyeing Greenland. His Commerce Nominee Has Financial Ties There.

As President Trump argues the acquisition of Greenland is key to the economic security of the United States, he is flanked by wealthy investors who have eyed the island as a potentially lucrative venue for mining metals and minerals.

Among them is his commerce secretary nominee, Howard Lutnick, who has a financial stake in the island’s mining promise through an investment his financial firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, holds in a company called Critical Metals Corp., securities filings show. Critical Metals plans to start the mining process as soon as 2026, according to company executives.

Mr. Lutnick, whose Senate confirmation hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, plans to resign as chief executive Cantor Fitzgerald, a privately held firm, if confirmed. His interests in the firm would be sold off within 90 days of his confirmation, according to his government ethics agreement, and during that period he would not participate in any matter that has a “direct and predictable effect” on the firm unless he received a waiver that allowed him to do so.

As head of the Commerce Department, which promotes the interests of U.S. businesses abroad, Mr. Lutnick would oversee all tariff and trade policy, Mr. Trump has said. That could include Greenland, if the president’s efforts to expand the country’s role on the island are successful.

It remains to be seen whether Mr. Lutnick would recuse himself entirely from policy issues related to Greenland. Neither he nor the White House responded to requests for comment.

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American influence on Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, could benefit miners there, potentially enriching investors in Critical Metals and, in turn, Mr. Lutnick’s former business partners at Cantor Fitzgerald, which he ran for more than 30 years.

Critical Metals has been pushing for U.S. government financing for its project since last fall, but was told to shelve its request until the new administration arrived in Washington, according to Tony Sage, its chief executive. Mr. Sage said he regarded Mr. Lutnick and his firm as a possible conduit for discussion of future investment by the U.S. government.

“They could” be beneficial, Mr. Sage said, adding, “Having an investor, already, does help.”

Mr. Lutnick is one of several supporters of Mr. Trump who have ties to investments in Greenland and could be in position to shape the president’s thinking on the subject.

That circle includes the Silicon Valley investor Marc Andreessen, the tech entrepreneur Sam Altman and the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Either as individuals or through their companies, all three have donated either to Mr. Trump’s re-election efforts or his inaugural committee. Through their venture capital firms, all three are also investors in KoBold Metals, a privately held company based in Berkeley, Calif., that has explored for minerals and metals in Greenland.

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A spokeswoman for Mr. Andreessen’s venture capital firm declined to comment. Mr. Altman and a spokesman for Mr. Bezos did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for KoBold Metals declined to say whether the firm, which surveyed Disko Island off the west coast of Greenland for mining opportunities in 2022, was likely to do business there in the future.

Greenland’s glaciers, freezing weather and paucity of roads and other infrastructure have long made it a difficult environment for investment. Some mining executives and investors believe that an enhanced arrangement with the United States could benefit U.S. national security and create economic opportunities for both sides.

“I think it could be a win-win for the U.S. and for Greenland, regardless of how it ends up, whether it’s just a closer working relationship or whether we provide defense or something to Greenland,” said Peter Leidel, whose private-equity firm, Yorktown Partners, holds a controlling stake in a mining project there.

The idea of purchasing Greenland has been a hobby horse for Mr. Trump for many years. During his first term, he framed it as an opportunity to expand the United States’ global footprint, and in 2019 he even privately floated the possibility of trading Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, for Greenland, according to Peter Baker and Susan Glasser’s book “The Divider.” But his hopes fizzled amid objections from Denmark, the U.S. ally that oversees Greenland, and some of Mr. Trump’s advisers dismissed the idea as divisive and outlandish, according to the book.

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Under former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the United States continued pushing for enhanced involvement in Greenland, albeit more quietly. State Department officials traveled to the island last year to discuss its natural resources, and the U.S. Export-Import Bank expressed interest in financing a graphite mining project operated by a British company. Mining executives said they also hoped that Mr. Biden’s push for clean energy might benefit their rare-earth mining efforts, given that rare earths are essential components in electric vehicles, wind turbines and solar panels.

Undercutting China’s dominance in rare earths mining was also part of Biden administration’s calculus, mining executives recalled. “They made very clear that they would like this material to go to the U.S.,” said Greg Barnes, who spoke to U.S. officials before selling his stake in the Tanbreez rare-earths mine in southern Greenland to Critical Metals, the New York-based company in which Cantor Fitzgerald is invested, last summer. That concern over Chinese involvement is almost certain to loom even larger under Mr. Trump, who has long cast China as a malign influence in U.S. and global affairs.

Greenland got little or no airtime during Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign. But on Dec. 22, as he announced Ken Howery as his choice for U.S. ambassador to Denmark on his social media site, Mr. Trump called “ownership and control” of the island “an absolute necessity.” In other posts and comments that followed, he described Greenland as crucial to U.S. national security.

Denmark has so far resisted the idea of a sale. But its efforts to find advocates in Washington have so far foundered. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., undertook a brief good will tour around Greenland this month. And the elder Mr. Trump has refused to rule out the idea of taking Greenland by force.

In interviews, mining executives and investors in Greenland said they weren’t banking on any particular outcome to Mr. Trump’s push for the island. But most of them said the level of interest the trans-Atlantic debate had stirred, and the resources it could draw to Greenland’s mining opportunities, was a net positive.

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“The Trump presidency, I think, enhances our little investment,” said Mr. Leidel, the Yorktown Partners investor, who donated $315,000 to Mr. Trump’s re-election efforts, according to federal records. He said that his donation was motivated by a desire for the United States “to do well,” and not by any expectations around mining in Greenland.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.

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Newsom taps Magic Johnson, Casey Wasserman, Mark Walter to lead philanthropic L.A. fire recovery initiative

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Newsom taps Magic Johnson, Casey Wasserman, Mark Walter to lead philanthropic L.A. fire recovery initiative

Gov. Gavin Newsom is tapping Magic Johnson, Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter and 2028 Olympics organizer Casey Wasserman to lead a new private-sector initiative to support wildfire recovery in Los Angeles.

The California governor’s office said the philanthropic effort, called LA Rises, will bring together business leaders to work with city, county and state officials to support rebuilding after the devastating fires. Walter, his foundation and the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation will provide up to $100 million to jump-start fundraising.

“It’s not just about the state and federal government supporting local responses, it’s about the private sector, the civic society coming together,” Newsom said Tuesday, standing with Wasserman, Johnson and Dodgers Chief Executive Stan Kasten in the stadium parking lot overlooking the city. “It’s about active, engaged citizenship. It’s about people volunteering.”

The decision to lean on high-profile Angelenos outside government comes as state and local leaders face the monumental challenge of rebuilding the mixed-income community of Altadena and the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

There will be enormous pressure on leaders to not just rebuild swiftly but also equally.

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If the Palisades — where now-burned homes look out on sweeping ocean vistas and the newly homeless include enormously well-connected political donors — appears to be favored over the diverse enclave of Altadena, the disparity will undoubtedly become emblematic of the recovery efforts and potentially haunt Newsom’s political career.

Altadena is an unincorporated area, meaning its rebuilding effort will fall outside the purview of Mayor Karen Bass.

“My focus will be on Altadena because those people may be left behind and I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen,” Johnson said Tuesday.

The governor said he asked Johnson, the Hall of Fame Lakers point guard-turned-entrepreneur; Wasserman, an entertainment and sports executive; and Walter, the chief executive of the investment firm Guggenheim Partners and controlling owner of the Dodgers, to serve as co-chairs of the initiative because of their “proven leadership and deep commitment to Los Angeles.”

LA Rises will expand access to the philanthropic and private capital needed to rebuild in close coordination with government at all levels, come up with financing strategies to “close the gap between available resources and the cost to rebuild” and communicate information to residents, the governor’s office said.

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Newsom’s new initiative comes weeks after Bass detailed her own plan to look outside City Hall to support recovery.

Bass appointed longtime civic leader and real estate developer Steve Soboroff to pilot the first phase of the city’s rebuilding efforts.

Soboroff, a onetime senior advisor to former Mayor Richard J. Riordan, also previously led the police commission and helped bring Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) to downtown Los Angeles.

As the city’s chief recovery officer, he will help build out the city’s plan for debris removal and streamlining rebuilding approvals and create a detailed program to rebuild parks and libraries, among other things.

Bass said her and Soboroff’s efforts would be closely coordinated with the governor’s office.

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“Efforts to rebuild are underway in the City of Los Angeles and this announcement will be a vital component of a comprehensive effort to bring Angelenos home,” Bass said in a statement. “The number one question on the minds of Angelenos is about recovery and rebuilding.”

Wasserman, who worked with former Mayor Eric Garcetti to land the Olympics for the city, and Johnson, a part-owner of the Dodgers who has invested heavily in South L.A., have both long been involved in L.A. civic life.

“The private sector has to come together, both operationally and philanthropically, as part of the rebuild and in many ways, the rebirth of L.A.,” Wasserman said, noting that the Olympics will be welcoming the world to Los Angeles in 2028. “This process and this journey we’re about to start with LA Rises is not about the next month or the next year. This is about what L.A. is going to be like for the next 50 or 100 years.”

Newsom said Tuesday that community organizations had also received tens of millions of dollars in additional donations, including money from the Latino Community Foundation and the California Community Foundation. Kasten declined to specify Tuesday what “up to $100 million” meant, or if $100 million had been definitively pledged to LA Rises.

“The LA fires have wreaked havoc on LA’s neighborhoods,” Walter, who was not present Tuesday, said in a statement. “It’s time for those with means to come forward and make a positive impact to build back better.”

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New CVS App Lets Customers Unlock Cabinets to Pick Up Products

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New CVS App Lets Customers Unlock Cabinets to Pick Up Products

Customers at some CVS stores will no longer have to push a button and wait for a clerk to unlock one of those glass cabinets to get the products they want to buy. A new app will allow them to open the cabinets themselves, the company said on Tuesday.

That feature of the new CVS Health app has been available in three stores in New York City as part of a pilot program that began in August, said Tara Burke, a CVS Health spokeswoman. She said there are plans to roll out the “smart locks” at approximately 10 stores on the West Coast early this year.

The announcement appeared to be part of an acknowledgment by CVS and other drugstore chains that placing inventory under lock and key to deter retail theft has irked customers, who resent having to wait for assistance.

The CVS pilot program “is an example of how we’re applying technology as possible solutions to a common customer complaint,” Ms. Burke said. “Customers like the convenience of being able to open the cases and not having to wait for a CVS colleague to help if one isn’t immediately available.”

Tim Wentworth, the chief executive of Walgreens Boots Alliance, which operates Walgreens and Duane Reade stores in the United States, said in an earnings call with investors on Jan. 10 that efforts to combat “shrink” — inventory that was bought but cannot be sold, primarily because of shoplifting — “does impact how sales work through the store because when you lock things up, for example, you don’t sell as many of them.”

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Ms. Burke said in an email that CVS used “a variety of different measures to deter or prevent theft, and locking a product is a measure of last resort.”

Sluggish growth and shifts in consumer behavior, including online shopping and decreased foot traffic at stores, have prompted CVS, Walgreens and other retail outlets to adapt, including by expanding the brands they carry, taking anti-theft measures and addressing concerns about staffing levels and safety.

CVS said on its website that its new app would act as a digital landing spot for personal health care, with features that include organizing medical appointments and vaccinations, paying for prescription refills with a bar code, and searching for products using an artificial intelligence-powered function.

The app’s unlocking function is available to registered loyalty members. They must be logged in to the app and on the store’s Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth enabled to gain access to the secured merchandise.

CVS has broad influence in the health care system in the United States. It has about 300,000 employees, more than 9,000 retail stores and thousands of physicians, pharmacists and nurses on staff. Aetna, its insurance arm, which it acquired in 2018, has nearly 40 million policyholders and other customers.

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Brittain Ladd, a strategy and supply chain consultant, said that offering the broad umbrella of functions included with the new CVS app is a direction that other pharmacies, service companies and retailers have taken.

“It truly does become a pharmacist in your pocket,” Mr. Ladd said.

The app’s enhancements signify an attempt to address customer complaints, such as long wait times and the inability to take a product from a shelf, but they could also change the customer experience, he said. CVS and Walgreens “have really gone wild in terms of putting Plexiglas all throughout their stores,” he said. “When you lock up your products you lock out your customers.”

Brick-and-mortar stores, which are also facing competition from online pharmacies and retailers like Amazon, have been aware for years that they need to come up with ways to keep customers coming through their doors.

“We know keeping products locked up can be inconvenient,” Ms. Burke said. “But it’s important that we ensure products are in stock and available for customers who need them.”

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Tilak Mandadi, executive vice president of ventures at CVS Health and its chief digital, data, analytics and technology officer, said in the statement on Tuesday that the new app “will make it easier for our customers to access and manage their health and care.”

Ms. Burke said New York was selected as the location for the pilot program because of its proximity to the teams who were testing the locks at cases in the city. So far, she said, the feedback from customers has been positive.

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