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Samsonite, the world’s largest luggage brand, has just released a new suitcase design that’s an amalgamation of its best ideas from over its 115-year history. Named Paralux, it is lightweight yet hardshell, and its shell is made with 50% recycled polypropylene. “I want to think of it as our greatest hits album,” VP of design Ulliyada Bopanna told Fast Company. But if Paralux is Samsonite’s greatest hits album, it also has a bonus track. The collection features something that neither Samsonite nor any other brand has ever experimented with before: The hardshell suitcase sports two openingsone in the middle (like most standard suitcases), and one at the front (like some soft-shell carry-ons). The result is a dual-access suitcase that lets you access the full contents of your luggage by simply unzipping the front door in a cramped hotel room or when you’re navigating crowded airport terminals. [Photo: Courtesy of Samsonite] A suitcase with global appeal Paralux is the product of a rare collaboration between Samsonite’s various design teams across New York and Asia. The collaboration is unusual because, as Bopanna explains, luggage needs vary drastically from one region to another. In Europe, for example, travelers prioritize lightweight designs, largely because of the strict weight restrictions associated with low-cost airlines such as Ryanair or Wizz Air. In the U.S., “it’s the exact opposite,” says Bopanna, adding that American travelers perceive lightweight luggage as weak and fragile. These regional variances have meant that Samsonite often designs suitcases to meet the specific criteria of particular markets. But Paralux was intended as a global collectionone that could appeal to travelers across the world, especially those who have experienced, firsthand, the cramped quarters of hotel rooms in Asia. The collection includes a dual-access carry-on (starting at $319), two spinners in medium ($369) and large ($409) sizes, plus a duffel ($169), and a versatile two-in-one backpack that lets you pack clothes in the main compartment, then unzip a separate day bag for quick trips ($199). [Photo: Courtesy of Samsonite] Engineering the impossible Samsonite isn’t operating in a vacuum. Over the past decade or so, the luggage world has gotten crowded thanks to a parade of Instagram-ready startups that have turned suitcases into lifestyle statements. Away burst onto the scene in 2015 with sleek hard shells and built-in phone chargers, making $275 carry-ons feel aspirational. Then came Monos with its minimalist aesthetics, and Dagne Dover, which sought to make soft-side suitcases sexier. For a 114-year-old giant like Samsonite, standing out in this design-obsessed market isn’t just smartit’s survival. The brand, which commands nearly 20% of the luggage market with its brands including Samsonite, Tumi, and American Tourister, has seen its sales shrink in 2025. Net sales for the first half of the year are down 5.2%. The Paralux suitcase offers a moment of renewed innovation. The suitcase recently won two Red Dot Awards for sustainability design and overall product design. It took three years to develop, and more than 20 prototypes to get right. “There’s a good reason why people aren’t doing it,” Bopanna says with a laugh. “It’s because it’s bloody tough.” [Photo: Courtesy of Samsonite] Unsurprisingly, the dual-access feature was the biggest challenge to solve, since any incisions in a hardshell compromise the structural integrity of the shell. “Adding a front door creates weakness,” says Bopanna. “For carry-ons, that’s not such a big deal, but once you look at large luggage, it starts to torque easily.” The designers couldn’t just make some parts of the suitcase thicker, because that would have made it heavier, eliminating some of the appeal for weight-conscious travelers. At 11.2 pounds, the large suitcase is among the industry’s lightest, though not the absolute lightest. The Samsonite team is aware of this trade-off as the original weight goal was even lower, but they ultimately compromised on weight in favor of durability. Bopanna declined to share specific engineering details, but he noted that the entire design is meant to be self-reinforcing, including the parallel ridges on the front of the hardshell, which provide structural support. “If we’d chosen more robust materials or aluminum [which is heavier than polypropylene], it wouldn’t have been as difficult, but we made a conscious choice to take a step forard using recycled polypropylene,” he says. Since virgin polypropylene is slightly stronger than its recycled counterpart, the team used a higher ratio of recycled material in the shell, and chose entirely virgin poly for the wheels, which take the most beating. The handles, meanwhile, are made of recycled aluminum. The team also made the handles and wheels easier to repair by reducing the number of screws; if one of them breaks, they can ship you a spare part that you can install yourself. In the end, the Paralux collection exemplifies the brand’s broader approach to sustainability, which Bopanna describes as finding simple solutions to big problems. “Innovation doesn’t have to be big,” he says, “as long as you are solving a recurring problem, that to me is a great way to move the benchmark forward.”
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E-Commerce
With the Federal Reserve widely expected Wednesday to reduce its key interest rate by a quarter-point to about 4.1%, economists and Wall Street investors will be looking for signals about next steps: How deeply might the Fed cut in the next few months?There are typically two different approaches the central bank takes to lowering borrowing costs: Either a measured pace that reflects a modest adjustment to its key rate, or a much more rapid set of cuts as the economy deteriorates in an often-doomed effort to stave off recession.For now, most economists expect the Fed will take the first approach: What many analysts call a “recalibration” of rates to keep the economy growing and businesses hiring. Under this view, the Fed would reduce rates as many as five times by the middle of next year, bringing its rate closer to a level that neither stimulates or slows the economy.Wall Street traders expect three reductions this year and then two more by next June, according to futures pricing tracked by CME Fedwatch.A rate cut Wednesday would be the first in nine months. The Fed, led by Chair Jerome Powell, reduced borrowing costs three times last year. But it then put any further cuts on hold to evaluate the impact of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on the economy.As recently as their last meeting in late July, Powell described the job market as “solid” and kept rates unchanged as officials sought to take more time to see how the economy evolved.Since then, however, the government has reported a sharp slowdown in hiring, and previous government data has been revised much lower. Employers actually cut back slightly on their payrolls in June, shedding 13,000 jobs, and added just 22,000 in August.The government also said last week that its estimate of job gains for the year ended in March 2025 would likely be revised down by 911,000, a sharp reduction in total employment. Powell and other Fed officials had previously pointed to a robust job market as a key reason that they could afford to keep rates unchanged. But with businesses pulling back on hiring, the economic case for a rate cutwhich can spur more borrowing and spendingis stronger.The downward revision of nearly a million jobs is a “huge downgrade,” said Talley Leger, chief market strategist at the Wealth Consulting Group. “If that doesn’t light a fire under the Fed just from an economic perspective I don’t know what will.”Still, inflation remains stubbornly elevated, partly because tariffs have lifted the cost of some goods, such as furniture, appliances, and food. Prices rose 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the government said last week, up from 2.7% a month earlier.Persistent inflation could keep the Fed from cutting too rapidly. The central bank will release its quarterly economic projections after the meeting Wednesday, and many economists forecast they will show that officials expect three total reductions this year and at least two more next year.Five reductions would bring the Fed’s key rate down to just above 3%. Many economists think that is roughly the rate that would neither stimulate nor slow the economy.If Fed officials began to worry the economy would slip into recession, they would likely cut rates more quickly. But for now, most economists don’t see rapid cuts as necessary.“We’re not at a break-glass moment,” said Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at BNY Investments. “This is a recalibration.” Christopher Rugaber, AP Economics Writer
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E-Commerce
The relentless march of initial public offerings continues this week with another closely watched IPO happening today. At some point after the opening bell, ticket reseller giant StubHub is expected to make its public debut. Heres what you need to know about StubHubs IPO. What is StubHub? StubHub is a ticket reseller platform that was founded in 2000. It specializes in selling tickets to live events, such as concerts, plays, and sporting events. While StubHub does sell some tickets directly to its users, the majority of customers who buy tickets on StubHub do so from third-party sellers. StubHub is one of the largest secondary ticketing marketplaces in the world. However, the company is not without controversy. In July 2024, StubHub was hit with a lawsuit by the attorney general of Washington, D.C. The suit alleged that StubHub was engaged in drip pricing, where the company advertises low fees for tickets, but then increases the final cost by adding on extra fees. StubHub said in a statement at the time that it was disappointed in the lawsuit and asserted that its user experience is “consistent with the law,” as noted by CNBC. While StubHub is holding its initial public offering today, this is not the first time the company has attempted to go public. The company was reportedly considering an IPO back in 2022 before ultimately shelving those plans. Then, in March 2025, the company was getting ready for an IPO, but put those plans on hold as markets around the world tanked due to President Trumps Liberation Day tariffs. Today, StubHub is finally expected to debut as a publicly traded company. StubHub by the numbers StubHub has been around for a quarter of a century, but as it has been privately held, many of its financial metrics have been unknown. But as a public company, its finances will be more of an open book, and in preparation for its IPO, as all companies must, StubHub filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), detailing its financials and other metrics. For 2024, those include: Gross merchandise sales (GMS) of $8.7 billion. 27% year-over-year GMS growth. More than 40 million sickets sold. More than 1 million unique sellers are using its platform. Buyers originate from more than 200 countries. The companys financial statements also show that its revenue has steadily increased over the past three years, rising from $1 billion in 2022 to $1.3 billion in 2023 to $1.7 billion in 2024. However, it had a net loss of income in each of those years, though the net loss in its most recent year shrank significantly. In 2022, StubHub reported a net loss of $260 million, which rose to a net loss of $405 million in 2023. But in 2024, its net loss shrank to just $2.8 million. According to PitchBook, StubHub has 895 employees as of August 2025. When is StubHubs IPO? StubHub priced its shares on Tuesday. It’s expected to list today, Wednesday, September 17. What is StubHubs stock ticker? StubHubs stock will trade under the ticker STUB. What exchange will StubHubs shares trade on? StubHub shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). What is the IPO share price of STUB? StubHub priced its shares at $23.50 each. That’s around the mid point of a target range of between $22 and $25 per share that was disclosed earlier this month, as Fast Company previously reported. How many STUB shares are available in its IPO? StubHub is offering 34,042,553 shares of Class A common stock in its IPO, according to its press release. How much will StubHub raise in its IPO? StubHub raised around $800 million in its IPO. How much is StubHub worth? As of its IPO share price of $23.50, StubHub has a valuation of $8.6 billion, notes CNBC. What else is there to know? StubHub is just the latest company to have a closely watched IPO in 2025. Throughout the year, many notable companies have gone public, including the stock trading platform eToro, stablecoin company Circle Internet Group, cryptocurrency exchange Bullish, and just last week, buy now, pay later firm Klarna Group.
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E-Commerce
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