BUSINESS

Timothée Chalamet, who had dominated awards season, won the Golden Globe, won the Critics Choice Award, and anchored a nine-nomination film, walked away with nothing.

As digital fatigue deepens and “going analog” continues to trend, a growing number of people are taking up hands-on, creative hobbies.”In 2026, creativity is no longer just self-expression — it’s self-definition,” Michaels President and Chief Customer Officer Heather Bennett said in the company’s recently released 2026 Creativity Trend Report. “In a world that feels increasingly automated, creativity has become a natural cornerstone of the cultural return to hands-on, offline living.” Some 71% of U.S. consumers identify as crafters, according to a November 2025 report from Digital Journal. On average, these crafters spent $3,200 on hobby and crafting supplies per year, a number that has increased by 67% since 2020.With more than 1,300 stores nationwide, Michaels is a leader in the craft supply and hobby space.And the chain’s new move seems to indicate that it doesn’t take that position lightly — nor is it willing to risk losing that craft-store crown to competitors like Hobby Lobby or Blick Art.Michaels upgrades its loyalty programIn March 2026, Michaels revealed that it would relaunch and upgrade its loyalty program.“The relaunch of our loyalty program is about recognizing and rewarding our most dedicated shoppers,” Michaels President & Chief Customer Officer Heather Bennett said in a statement. “By introducing a new tier structure with enhanced benefits reaching up to 9% back in rewards, we’re saying thank you with more value and more inspiration for every project or celebration our customers take on.”The new loyalty program features three tiers to reward regular shoppers:Red Members: Entry-level tier, shoppers earn 3% in rewards on every purchaseGold Members: $300 annual spend required, shoppers earn 6% in rewards on every purchasePlatinum Members: $1,000 annual spend required, shoppers earn 9% in rewards on every purchase
Source: Michaels
Customers at every loyalty tier can also earn birthday bonuses of 30% off one item for Red members, 40% off for Gold, and 50% off for Platinum members. Higher-tier rewards members get additional perks including:20% off regular purchases for Gold members and 25% off regular purchases for Platinum membersExclusive first looks at new productsAccess to special Michaels eventsFree tote bags for Platinum members

Michaels has revamped its rewards program, offering loyal customers more savings.Getty Images

Michaels expands its offeringsOver the last few years, Michaels has been expanding its inventory to include items beyond hot glue guns and beading kits.In 2025, not long after Joann’s Fabrics went bankrupt and shuttered all of its existing stores, Michaels acquired its intellectual property and private-label brands. Related: Target makes bold change to win back customers”This acquisition allows us to better serve both new and existing customers, respond to rising demand across categories, and build on our momentum as the destination for creating and celebrating in North America,” Michaels CEO David Boone said in a statement.Michaels’ website now has a dedicated landing page for Joanne’s customers, and many of its locations have designated Joanne’s sections where shoppers can find favorite fabrics and sewing accessories.Similarly, when Party City and Champion Party filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and 2025, respectively, Michaels wasted no time expanding its party goods section.More retail:Dollar Tree’s new pricing strategy is confusing shoppersMattel contemplates future of popular dollsStarbucks rival launches coffee shops in cult favorite chainThe retailer unveiled 500 new party products in April 2025, with the goal of giving “customers even more ways to celebrate special moments and get everything they need in one place.”This product expansion will certainly boost the company’s rewards program appeal, even among non-creatives.The crafting industry has been hit hard by tariffsMichael’s is a privately held company, owned by the private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and doesn’t publicly report earnings.However, it seems safe to assume that revenues have taken a bit of a hit over the past year, thanks to Trump’s tariffs. Many craft items, from plastic knitting needles to printed fabrics, are produced overseas in countries like China and Mexico. One craft store owner told Reason Magazine that 90% of her stock had been affected by tariffs.“Every supplier I have, minus one, from major to minor, has had a price increase,” Dana Chadwell told the outlet in December 2025. “Because the tariff situation has been so unpredictable…it has made long term planning impossible.”As these tariff costs naturally trickle down to consumers, a good rewards program like the one at Michaels, can make all the difference in consumers willingness to spend. Related: Bath & Body Works makes big change customers will notice right away

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Team USA is trying to win it’s second WBC title, but they’re hamstrung by restrictions on how to use their best pitchers, including closer, Mason Miller.

A well-known U.S. mattress retailer is warning that it may not be able to sustain operations if financial pressures continue to mount.The U.S. mattress manufacturing industry’s revenue declined 0.6% in 2025, according to IBISWorld.Shipments in 2026 are expected to increase about 2%, slowing from stronger growth in 2024, followed by low single-digit growth in 2027, according to Bed Times Magazine. After several years of decreasing demand, store closures, and ongoing losses, the company says it could be forced to significantly reduce operations or pursue bankruptcy protection within the next year if conditions do not improve. While management has launched a turnaround strategy and is negotiating with lenders, the company acknowledges that these efforts may not be enough to stabilize its finances.Founded in 1987, Sleep Number is a personalized sleep wellness company that designs smart mattresses. It has more than 1,000 patents and operates over 600 stores nationwide. Sleep Number warns about potential bankruptcySleep Number Corp (SNBR) has warned that it could face serious financial consequences if current challenges persist.In its 2025 Form 10-K filing, the company said it may be forced to terminate, significantly curtail or cease operations, pursue strategic alternatives, or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy within the next year.The mattress maker said weakening consumer sentiment and broader economic pressures are hurting demand for its products.”Adverse changes in general economic conditions and consumer sentiment have reduced, and could continue to reduce discretionary consumer spending and, as a result, have adversely affected and could continue to adversely affect the company’s sales, profitability, cash flows, availability of credit, and financial condition,” stated the company in its filing.Because Sleep Number sells premium mattresses and sleep technology products, its business is heavily dependent on discretionary spending. When consumers cut back on large purchases, the impact can quickly affect sales, profitability, and cash flow. The company warned that declining revenue could also limit its ability to service debt or secure additional financing.

Sleep Number warns about possible Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the next 12 months.Shutterstock

Debt risks and liquidity concernsSleep Number said it expects to violate financial covenants tied to its credit agreement within the next 12 months.If that happens, lenders could demand immediate repayment of outstanding debt and cancel remaining funding.The company acknowledged it may not have sufficient cash to meet its obligations, raising significant doubt about its ability to continue operating without new financing or restructuring. Sleep Number’s efforts to stabilize its businessTo address these concerns, Sleep Number is pursuing several measures to strengthen its balance sheet and improve operational performance.These steps include:Turnaround plan: Execution of “Sleep Number Shifts”Negotiate with lenders: Aiming to amend or waive financial covenantsWork with financial advisors: Explore additional capital options, alternative financing arrangements, or strategic alternativesHowever, the company cautioned that the success of these initiatives is uncertain because they depend on factors outside of its control.Sleep Number turnaround strategySleep Number began implementing major changes in 2025 following several leadership transitions.The company appointed a new CEO in April 2025, a new CMO in May, and a new CFO in December.Alongside the leadership overhaul, Sleep Number has been restructuring operations, consolidating roles, and cutting costs.Later in 2025, the company introduced “Sleep Number Shifts,” a turnaround strategy focused on repositioning the brand, expanding reach to new customer groups, and reigniting growth to drive value for shareholders, customers, and team members.The strategy focuses on three key priorities:Product: Simplifying offerings to grow customer base while building on the demand from repeat customers.Marketing: Modernizing efforts by expanding into new channels and launching updated creative campaigns to better connect with today’s consumer and improve return on investment.Distribution: Optimizing store footprint and exploring opportunities to expand into new physical and digital distribution channels.Despite the efforts, Sleep Number acknowledged that it continues to face persistent financial pressures.”While the company is focused on implementing the ‘Sleep Number Shifts’ and executing cost savings and operating efficiencies, it faces liquidity challenges,” wrote the company in its 2025 annual filing.Sleep Number faces ongoing sales declines and lossesSleep Number has reported losses over the past three years as consumer traffic and demand have weakened. The company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings results continue that trend.Latest earnings report resultsFourth-quarter 2025 net sales fell 8% year over year to $347 million.Full-year revenue declined 16% to $1.4 billion.Company saw a net loss of $132 million compared with a net loss of $20 million the previous year.In response, Sleep Number implemented $185 million in annualized cost reductions across general and administrative expenses, corporate structure, technology, and store closures. The company also plans to cut another $50 million in costs during 2026.Analysts remain cautious about recovery prospectsWall Street analysts remain skeptical about the company’s near-term outlook.Sleep Number’s stock has fallen 63.5% year to date as of March 16, 2026.Simply Wall St analysts say intense competition and the company’s reliance on premium pricing could continue to pressure growth, suggesting sales trends need to stabilize before reaching long-term recovery.”Even though management is planning more accessible price points and higher marketing spend, the trailing 12-month revenue of about $1.4 billion still sits alongside ongoing losses, which keeps the cautious case very much alive for now,” said Simply Wall St.More Retail Business News:106-year-old retail brand operator closing all stores in bankruptcy76-year-old restaurant chain closing another longtime locationStarbucks is closing more storesAnalysts at UBS Group (UBS) also warned that the company has a limited financial cushion. The benefit from recent cost reductions may become harder to achieve in the second half of the year, according to Investing.com.UBS maintained a “neutral” rating on the stock and set a $10 price target in a February report, according to Market Beat.Meanwhile, analysts at Piper Sandler Companies lowered their target price for Sleep Number’s shares from $12 to $5 in a March research note, while maintaining a “neutral” rating, with a potential upside of 40.85%, according to Benzinga.Related: 106-year-old retail brand operator selling 170 stores in bankruptcy

Known for everything from its tea fields and cricket to the famous scenic train from Colombo to Kandy, the Southeast Asian nation of Sri Lanka has in recent years emerged as a particularly popular tourist destination for travelers from Europe. The 279,328 international tourists who came to the country in February 2026 marked a 16.3% increase from the previous year while the biggest numbers of visitors came from the United Kingdom, Russia and Germany in that order.In response to demand from tourists as well as members of the diaspora living in the United Kingdom, British flag carrier British Airways announced a new route between London Gatwick (LGW) and Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) that will start running in October 2026.British Airways to launch new flights to Melbourne and Colombo from LondonThe flight will run three times a week seasonally alongside a new year-round route between London Heathrow (LHR) and Melbourne International (MEL) starting in January 2027 (due to the distance between England and Australia, the flight will be run as a fifth-freedom flight with a stopover in Kuala Lumpur).The London-Melbourne route will depart at 9:10 p.m. to arrive in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KUL) at 6:05 p.m. the following day. After seeing some passengers disembark and picking up others, the second section of the route will depart at 7:45 p.m. and arrive in Melbourne International at 6:40 a.m. for a total of two days in transit due to time zones.Related: Mexico just crushed the US when it comes to luxury hotelsThe return flight to London Heathrow will leave Melbourne at 4:35 p.m. and arrive back to the United Kingdom at 5:20 a.m. the following day. The Colombo flight will take just over 10 hours and depart at 5:30 p.m. to arrive at 9 a.m. local time.British Airways is also expanding service to a number of cities in the Western Hemisphere, including Caribbean destinations like Barbados, St. Lucia and Costa Rica. For its U.S. network, British Airways will make its seasonal summer flight between London Heathrow and Baltimore daily as well as increase frequencies to New Orleans and Houston to a respective four and 12 times per week.

British Airways is launching its first direct flight to Sri Lanka.Shutterstock

“Two notable new destinations”: British Airways on new routes”We are delighted to announce sizable growth to our flying schedule for winter 2026, including two notable new destinations, that I am confident will prove popular with our customers,” British Airways’ Chief Planning and Strategy Officer Neil Chernoff said in a statement on the new routes while also adding that they “represent a significant investment in our long-haul leisure network.’More Travel News:Airline to launch unusual new flight to Cayman Islands from the U.S.Iranian strike hits major airport, injuries reportedUnexpected country is most luxurious travel destination for 2026U.S. government issues sudden warning on Switzerland travelAs of 2026, there are no direct flights between Sri Lanka and the U.S. — American tourists coming to the country usually transfer in an Asian or Middle Eastern city on the way over. European airlines such as Air France, KLM and Lufthansa also run routes from their capital cities to Colombo while British Airways previously had not but now joins their ranks with a new destination.The airline currently runs an average of 52 flights per week to Indian cities such as Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai among others.Related: United Airlines CEO issues stark warning about ticket prices

During my years of reporting on the housing market, I’ve paid especially close attention to mortgage rates — their daily shifts, the factors that impact them, and expert predictions about where rates are headed next. Each month, I look forward to seeing what the government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Fannie Mae forecasts about mortgage rates and the housing market in general.And Fannie Mae dropped its March Housing Forecast this week.Fannie Mae’s March predictions for mortgage rates were more optimistic than in its February Housing Forecast, but its expectations for new construction on single-family housing worsened for most of 2026. It’s a double-edged sword: Lower mortgage rates make housing more affordable, but fewer houses on the market increases competition and can make homes more expensive.Fannie Mae predicted mortgage rates will stay under 6%Fannie Mae’s March Housing Forecast predicted that the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate will remain at 6% in Q1 (which ends in a couple of weeks), but it put the 30-year rate under 6% for the rest of 2026 and 2027.For 2026, Fannie Mae forecast the mortgage rate will hit 5.9% in Q2, 5.8% in Q3, and 5.7% in Q4. The organization expected the rate to waver between 5.6% and 5.7% in 2027.As I mentioned, these predictions were better than the numbers from the GSE’s February Housing Forecast. In February, Fannie Mae expected the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to be 6.1% in Q1 and Q2 2026, then 6% all the way through the end of 2027.So what changed? To understand, we need to look at Fannie Mae’s other monthly forecast: its overall Economic Forecast.For most of 2026 and 2027, the Fannie Mae March Economic Forecast predicted slower gross domestic product (GDP) growth than in its February Economic Forecast. When the country’s GDP grows, it signifies a stronger economy. Mortgage rates typically increase when the U.S. economy thrives and decrease when it struggles. Fannie Mae’s expectations for slower GDP growth indicate a weaker economy in the next couple of years, and in this case, mortgage rates would go down.The March Economic Forecast also put the 10-year Treasury yield lower than the February Forecast. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate follows the 10-year yield more closely than any other index, so a lower yield would likely translate to home loan rate decreases.The GSE changed its expectations for single-home constructionFor the first three quarters of 2026, Fannie Mae’s March Housing Forecast predicted fewer single-family home construction starts than its February report. The organization’s latest prediction is that single-family housing starts will decrease by 6.2% year over year.However, the March report changed its tune for Q4 2026 and throughout 2027, predicting more single-family construction than it did in February. Last month, Fannie Mae expected a 2.4% increase in single-family housing starts in 2027. This month, it forecast a 5.1% increase.More on mortgage rates and the housing market:Iran war causes mortgage rate surgeTrump signed 2 executive orders to improve home affordabilityExisting-home sales exceed Goldman Sachs’ expectationsIf fewer homes are built, that means there’s less housing inventory, and homebuyer demand exceeds the supply on the market. As a result, home prices usually increase. The opposite is true: If inventory goes up, prices are steadier.Lagging inventory is a major factor in home affordability problems and one reason President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to speed up the building process.How the Fannie Mae forecasts impact homebuyers and ownersI know that reading about a bunch of quarterly numbers and percentages can feel overwhelming. So let’s break down how the Fannie Mae March Housing Forecast affects Americans in real life.Now could already be a good time to refinance your mortgage, especially if your current interest rate is over 6%. But if you’re not ready to refinance yet, lower mortgage rates later this year give you time to save for closing costs or improve your credit score and still refinance into a lower rate in a few months.If you’re a homebuyer or seller, be prepared for home prices to stay relatively high for the next several months. Even if they don’t spike as a result of low inventory, they’re also unlikely to drop. Declining mortgage rates makes it less expensive to buy a home, lowers your monthly payment, and saves you money in interest in the long run.However, don’t try to time the real estate market. Just as Fannie Mae’s predictions changed from February to March, they could shift again in April. The housing market is unpredictable, so it’s best to focus on buying, refinancing, or selling when the time is right for you — not to hold out for lower interest rates or prices.Related: Trump signs 2 executive orders to improve home affordability

TheStreet aims to feature only the best products and services. If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.Why we love this dealIn the spirit of spring cleaning, it’s only natural that our closets and dresser drawers are among the long list of things that needed to be organized and tidied up. It’s so easy to lose track of what you have, and a new season is the perfect time to cut down on your clothes, donate or toss items you don’t want or need, and regroup your existing apparel in a neat, tidy way. Nothing helps get the job done faster than a great set of organizers, made to store and protect your items, especially your seasonal ones that stay tucked away for more than a few weeks, and designed to fit easily in most closet spaces. No need to pay a fortune for quality either — you can get a great set now on Amazon for 29% off. The Fhsqx 3-Pack Storage Bins, which typically cost $40 for a set of three, are on sale for $28 right now. Available in a variety of sizes and colors, you can choose the option that best works for your needs and your space with just the click of a button. Fhsqx 3-Pack Storage Bins, $28 (was $40) at Amazon

Courtesy of Amazon

Why do shoppers love it?Storage bins and organizers are aplenty on the market these days, and it can be overwhelming. But what you need to know is that the most important thing about picking the right one is focusing on affordability and function, something this set nails in both categories. The storage containers are made of a linen fabric which wouldn’t seem like a sturdy choice in material, but combined with the steel wire frame, you’re left with a durable box that does more than store your items. Linen is actually superior to other materials because it prevents musty odors and moisture buildup, while also being lightweight and allowing the boxes to fold down easily when they aren’t in use. The stackable boxes have linen fabric on all sides but one. In lieu of linen, the front of the box has clear vinyl windows that makes it easy to identify what’s stored in each box. There is also a card holder to insert a label for identification purposes. That’s also where you can access the dual zipper system which keeps items securely stored inside and makes for easy access when you need something. This specific size measures 15.7 inches long, 11.8 inches wide, and 7.8 inches high, and has a volume capacity of 22 liters, but there are four larger sizes that hold between 36 liters and 100 liters. They also come in four different colors, and have two stitches handles on the side. Related: Amazon is selling a shoe organizer for $22 that fits 32 pairs of shoesAdvertised as clothing storage, they still have other potential capabilities. Use them to store seasonal decor, bedding, children’s toys — really, anything you want. What to expect from $28 storage boxes: Pros and consProsQuality construction: The linen-covered steel metal frame ensures stability and durability while also keeping moisture and musty odors from permeating or building up inside. Various sizes: The storage boxes come in five different sizes, with storage capacities between 22 liters and 100 liters. Superior visibility: The clear vinyl window allows you to easily identify what is stored without opening the container up. ConsWeight limit: Shoppers don’t feel that the containers are sturdy enough for really heavy items like books.  Shoppers love the easy accessibility and visibility that these storage containers offer. The soft but sturdy linen makes them durable enough for storage and stacking, and they are great for seasonal clothing and other items. “Even the smallest size has great storage capacity,” one shopper said. Although some shoppers like the idea of being able to purchase each container individually, the multi-pack is a great deal for your dollar. Shop more deals Olarhike Lockable Plastic Storage Bins, $90 (was $130) at AmazonVeken 6-Pack Shower Caddy Set, $18 (was $30) at AmazonHomesure 8-Pack Storage Moving Bags, $24 (was $36) at AmazonOut with the old and in with the organized thanks to the Fhsqx 3-Pack Storage Bins that Amazon is selling for a great deal. Even if you can’t bear to part with your favorite clothing items, at least your closet will look like you made an effort.

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