A mixed-use retail destination is on its way to the site of the former Motorola headquarters outside of Chicago. Full-service real estate firm UrbanStreet Group has announced the groundbreaking of the Veridian master-planned community’s retail district, a 30-acre "urban-inspired" destination that will bring new shopping, dining and entertainment experiences to Schaumburg, Ill., a northwestern suburb of the Windy City. The first phase of the retail district at Veridian will deliver 100,000 sq. ft. of retail and restaurants, anchored by a 26,000-sq.-ft. The Fresh Market grocery store, along with 321 modern apartments. At full build-out, UrbanStreet says the district will include more than 200,000 sq. ft, of retail and restaurant space and over 600 residential units, adding to the 225-acre site already home to TopGolf.

The UPS Store on Monday introduced Blu, its first brand character. Blu, a friendly woman wearing a blue The UPS Store polo and black pants, is part of a larger national, multiyear campaign set to run on television, digital, social and print channels. The effort is aimed at small business owners and spotlights the retailer’s services, such as printing, shipping and mailboxes. The effort follows a recent pivot by United Parcel Service, the parent company of The UPS Store, to focus on premium services. In early 2025, it announced it was reducing deliveries for Amazon by over 50%. The reduction in volume led to a broad restructuring of the company’s network, including the elimination of 48,000 jobs that year, with an additional reduction of 30,000 positions planned for 2026.

For the second consecutive year, unit sales of print books were up at outlets that report to Circana BookScan, hitting 762.4 million in 2025. That marks a 0.3% increase over 2024, which in turn saw sales grow 0.5% over 2023. Since sales peaked in 2021 at 839.7 million copies, they have settled at levels higher than before the pandemic, though not as high as many publishers had hoped.