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February is always difficult in Minneapolis. Its when the nerve-flaying cold of December and January starts to seem like a dress rehearsal. But this February has proven brutal for other reasons. As thousands of ICE agents storm the city with lethal force, many residents have larger troubles than the arctic weather. Some are terrified of getting detained or deported; others are worried about getting attacked for documenting the chaos or for helping their neighbors. A Minneapolis food scene staple for the past 15 years, Modern Times and its customers have been front row for unrest before. Just six blocks from where George Floyd was murdered six years ago, the Powderhorn Park restaurant also sits three blocks from where Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7. Owner Dylan Alverson has long celebrated the areas diversity with his eclectic menu, but nowamid ICEs occupation of the cityhes found a way to use his food to support people in the community, many of whom are afraid to leave their homes for fear of being stopped by federal agents and asked to prove citizenship. I was like, let’s figure out how to provide restaurant-quality meals for people for free if they’re hiding or even just dealing with this conflict in all the ways people in South Minneapolis are dealing with it, Alverson says. I wanted to break down that price barrier so people could just enjoy being in a space and not worry about money. Initially, he instituted what he called The Peoples Pricefree food for anyone who asked for it at checkout. Word about the program got around quickly. Going by point-of-sale transactions, Alverson estimates around 25% of customers started eating for free during the first week. But people who could comfortably afford their meals seemed to appreciate the offer as well. We were getting a ton of people coming in to pay for more than they were ordering, the owner says. It was like, Oh, yeah, I forgot: We’re in Minnesota. And Minnesotans, if they don’t need something, for the most part, they will never take it. By adding this new option, Modern Times was providing sustenance for everyone other than ICEfood for those who couldnt afford it, and a sense of solidarity for anyone else feeling overwhelmed by the ongoing crisis. Staff members started making deliveries whenever possible, to people who couldnt leave their homes to go to work and who were having difficulty paying rent as a result. When the team became overwhelmed balancing these trips with their usual restaurant duties, Alverson blasted out emails asking others to come in and gather free meals to bring to their neighbors. Volunteers showed up in droves, including several former employees. As ICEs hold on Minneapolis remained firm, though, Alverson became further entrenched in a community-minded approach to running a restaurantmoving from a free-food option to making the entire menu free for everyone. (ICE against still excluded.) Post Modern Times Less than a week after Modern Times instituted The Peoples Price, on Alversons first morning off in weeks, federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti. Alverson heard the news at home and immediately rushed over to the scene, about a mile and a half away from the restaurant, where his wife soon joined him. They could do little more than watch as they say agents responded to witnesses and passersby with violence and aggression. A feeling of horror washed over them. I realized then that the government’s going to keep killing us until they get whatever it is they’re trying to get out of us, Alverson says. And it shook me. I was just, like, Fuck it, all bets are off. And that’s when I decided I wanted to take this as far as I can. On Jan. 26, Alverson announced on the restaurants Instagram that Modern Times would switch to a free and donations-based model until ICE no longer occupied the city. He also re-dubbed the eatery Post Modern Timesadding a frisson of before-and-after demarcation, while also enabling Alverson to incorporate the new name as a nonprofit arm of the restaurant. Before implementing these changes, though, the owner first had to make sure his staff was on board. On the day after Pretti was killed, Alverson closed down the restaurant and asked his staff to come in for a meeting. It began with a short speech denouncing the occupation. The owner was sick of generating money for the soldiers in our streets, and for a government that won’t protect us, he said, and he would no longer continue doing so. We refuse to generate taxes under the guise of a functioning for-profit capitalist business aligned with government strategy, he later wrote inthe Instagram announcement, which was virtually identical to the speech he gave his staff that Sunday. Modern Times had barely been scraping by since 2020, anyway; now, it would operate as a free and donation-based restaurant. Any employees interested in helping out were welcome to volunteer, but everyone else could instead use their earned sick-and-safe timea Minnesotan paid-leave benefit. Either way, everyone would still get paid. The staff was emphatic in their support. Many of them had been burning to do more for their community throughout the occupation. Now, theyd be contributing just by going to work. Never going back Based on how The Peoples Price went over, Alverson expected a positive reaction to his announcement. He had not imagined it would be quite as staggering. So many texts, emails and social media messages poured in from around the world, Alverson had to put his kids to work sorting through it all. Scrolling the restaurants Venmo account at any time now inevitably leads to donations from people in cities like Seattle, Chicago, and Buffalo, along with raised-fist emojis, prayer hands, and the occasional middle finger next to an ice cube. And then theres the diner turnout, which has made Post Modern Times jam-packed every day. Despite streamlining the menu for maximum kitchen efficiency, the volume of incoming orders has been so heavy, guests can now expect to spend two hours at the restaurant, from the moment they join the line until they pay their check. (Or dont pay.) The magnitude has been surprising, Alverson says. Were now under the weight of, like, its our busiest day of the year, every day. Fortunately, although plenty of diners are coming in for the free food, Alverson says the restaurant is still at a point where more people are coming to donate and just be supportive. Although the owner sees his restaurant as an example for eateries in other cities that might come under occupation soon, he stresses that the model might not work for everyone. In the same way Radioheads pay-what-you-want album, In Rainbows, generated millions of dollars upon its 2007 release because it was, in fact, a Radiohead album, the Post Modern Times experiment owes its initial success to having spent 15 years as a pillar of the community. As for the restaurants future, Alverson wants the spirit of this project to live on well after the siege of Minneapolis has ended. He imagines Post Modern Times evolving into a nonprofit wing of the restauant, subsidizing not only wages and benefits for the staff, but some form of free food for guests in needwhether its the Peoples Price or something else. When it comes to doing business as usual at Modern Times, well, those times may have passed. The old system wasn’t working for anyone, Alverson says. There’s not a single restaurant I know of that was thriving or even making money off of this stage of capitalism. So, no, I will never go back to that.
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E-Commerce
Just in time for the Super Bowl, PepsiCo is cutting the price of Doritos, Cheetos, Lay’s, Tostitos, and other snacks by up to 15%. The move comes after consumers complained the chips were too pricey. “Our customers . . . have been honest with us about how rising everyday costs are making their daily decisions harder. Message received,” PepsiCo said in a statement. Lowering the suggested retail price reflects our commitment to help reduce the pressure where we can,” PepsiCo Foods U.S. CEO Rachel Ferdinando added. The new discounted prices roll out this week, ahead of this Sunday’s big game, one of the biggest days for snack purchases. PepsiCo said supermarkets and other retailers ultimately set the prices for the chips, so the savings that shoppers see will depend on the store. And no, you’re not imagining it: Grocery prices have increased. In one year alone they jumped 2.7%, from August 2024 to August 2025; and they’re up a reported 29% from 2020, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. That’s due to several factors, including inflation, weather events, and ongoing global supply chain issues, coupled with higher labor costs from the COVID-19 pandemic. The food and beverage giant, like many of its competitors, has raised prices, hiking snacks by 1% and beverages by 7% in North America, which, along with the impact of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, has only decreased consumer demand. “This pricing change is part of PepsiCos broader strategy to increase accessibility and offer more choices for consumers,” Ferdinando said. “Were continuing to refine our portfoliofrom thoughtful recipe enhancements, like the removal of artificial flavors and colors from Lays and Tostitos, to packaging updates aligned with evolving consumer preferences.” PepsiCo had previously agreed to lower prices and revamp its business, after activist investor Elliott Management demanded the changes after disclosing a $4 billion stake in the company this past September, CNN reported. PepsiCo financials PepsiCo’s fourth-quarter earnings, released on Tuesday, beat analyst estimates, with quarterly revenue coming in at $29.34 billion versus an expected $28.97 billion, and earnings per share (EPS) of $2.26 adjusted versus an expected $2.24. Shares of PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) were up over 3% midday on Wednesday, at the time of this writing, after closing nearly 5% higher the previous day.
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E-Commerce
Rent can eat up an entire paycheck at the start of the month, so a growing number of renters are turning to a financial product that promises relief by letting them split the bill for a price. So-called rent now, pay later services have emerged over the past few years as housing costs climb and paychecks grow less predictable, particularly for lower-income and gig-economy workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rents have jumped nearly 28% in past five years. Companies such as Flex, Livble, and, more recently, Affirm, say breaking rent into multiple payments can help renters manage cash flow. But consumer advocates warn the products typically function like short-term loans, layering fees onto already strained budgets and, in some cases, carrying triple-digit effective interest rates raising questions about whether they ease financial pressure or deepen it. Kellen Johnson, 44, started using Flex to split up his rent payments about two years ago. Instead of paying the whole $1,850 of his rent on the first of the month, Johnson would pay $1,350 on that date, and $500 on the 15th. For the service, Flex collected a $14.99 monthly subscription fee, as well as 1% of the total rent, which for Johnson was $18.50, bringing his monthly charges for the app to more than $33. Johnson said he was willing to pay the extra costs in part because he worked as an independently contracted delivery person for Amazon at the time, and his paychecks could vary. It was an expense that I was incurring, but I went ahead as it was more convenient, said Johnson, who now works as a driver for senior citizens in Sacramento, California. Roughly 109 million Americans, or about 42.5 million households, are renters in the United States. The Census Bureau estimated in 2024 that a large share of those households pay 30% or more of their monthly income on rent. The bureau considers such households to be cost burdened, meaning rent consumes so much of their income that they have less ability to plan for future expenses or build wealth. Rent now, pay later services generally operate the same way: The company pays the landlord the full rent when due, and the renter repays the company in two or more installments over the course of the month. Because rent can be such a large expense, the companies argue that spreading payments out can give renters more cash on hand. Many of these services come with fees. The fees can be structured differently but should be generally thought of as cost of credit, consumer advocates warn. In Johnsons case, he was paying $33.49 for a two-week loan of $500, for an effective annual percentage rate of 172%, when expressed using standard consumer-lending calculations. Renters should be skeptical of any financing providers that have partnered with a landlord, and be skeptical of anything that sells itself as no fees or no interest, said Mike Pierce, executive director of Protect Borrowers. Pierce previously worked at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and co-authored a report that was released this week on the industry. Launched in 2019, Flex is one of the largest companies focused on splitting rent payments. The company says its 1.5 million customers now send about $2 billion a month in rent through its system, and several of the countrys largest landlords accept Flex as a payment option. Flex says most of its customers are lower-income renters with weaker credit profiles. The company reports a median credit score of 604 among its users and says about one in three customers works more than one job to make ends meet. A Flex spokesman says the average customer uses the service three to four times a year. Johnson used it every month. Livble does not charge a subscription, but charges renters a fee ranging from $30 to $40, according to the companys help page. Depending on how long the renter defers part of the payment, Livbles fees can translate into effective annual percentage rates of roughly 104% to 139%. The buy now, pay later company Affirm said this month that it is piloting a program allowing some customers to split rent into two payments. The program is being tested in partnership with Esusu, a company that reports rent payments to credit bureaus to help consumers build credit. An Affirm spokesman said the company is not charging renters interest or fees to use the product, but may charge landlords fees. As another financing option, landlords are increasingly accepting credit cards for rent payments. Bilt, a credit card startup, built its brand around targeting renters when it launched, and some tenants also use credit cards to accumulate rewards or points. But paying rent by credit card can also be costly. Landlords typically pass the processing fees on to tenants. Depending on the card issuer and payment network, these fees can range from about 2.5% to 3.5% of the rent. For a renter paying $1,500 a month, that translates to roughly $37.50 to $52.50 in fees a monthly cost comparable to what services like Livble and Flex charge. Economists and renters advocates argue that none of these financing options address the fundamental issue of affordability in the rental market. If credit cards, or flexible rent payment options become more widely used, they worry rents could rise further as landlords start factoring in a potential renters weekly cash flow as opposed to the rental market in the area the building is located in. Merchants already pass along credit card processing costs to customers in the form of higher prices, and advocates worry that the rental market could adopt similar patterns. For example, Livble is owned by RealPage, which last year settled allegations that its algorithm allowed landlords to collude and push rents higher. By Ken Sweet and Cora Lewis, The Associated Press Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed.
Category:
E-Commerce
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