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If you live in Seattle and work at Amazon or Meta in nearby Bellevue, you probably drive to work. But by the end of next month there will be another option for commuters: the worlds first light rail line running on a floating bridge. Right now, drivers cross Lake Washingtonthe long lake between Seattle and eastern suburbs like Bellevueuse one of three floating bridges. Conventional bridges arent feasible because of the depth and width of the lake, which is why the bridges were originally built with pontoons instead. Adding a rail line to one of them meant that designers needed to innovate in multiple ways. A 4-car train crosses the I-90 floating bridge during the day on December 18, 2025. [Photo: Sound Transit] First, since the bridge doesnt have columns like a typical bridge, it moves. Its like a ship thats been anchored to the floor of the lake, says Brian Holloway, deputy director of engineering oversight at Sound Transit, the local transit agency. Near each end of the bridge, where the floating section connects to fixed parts of the bridge over land, hinge-like expansion joints let the bridge move as the water level changes or wind and waves slightly shift the structure. Driving over the bridge in a car, you dont notice the changes as the expansion joints move. But those geometric changes would have a very significant effect on rail, says Matthew Barber, a supervising engineer working on the project at WSP. To make light rail feasible, engineers designed a new solution: track bridges that support a section of rail on a structure with bearings that let the bridge move freely while keeping the rail steady. The rail bends in a very smooth way, Barber says. Workers prepare forms and pour concrete for the light rail track plinths on the I-90 floating bridge for the 2 Line Link connection to Seattle on September 4, 2024. [Photo: Sound Transit] The bearings are normally used in seismic retrofits in buildings. Almost all the pieces on the floating bridge are not unique, says Holloway. They’re just being assembled in a different way. Weight was another challenge, since the pontoons that float the bridge werent designed to hold light rail. To help with that, the design uses thousands of ultra-lightweight concrete blocks to support the rail, using a mix developed and tested in a partnership with the University of Washington. The rail itself is a little shorter and lighter than typical rail to save more weight. When the rail was installedreplacing a former carpool lanethe team also removed a heavy concrete barrier at the edge of the former lane. All of this meant that the bridge could handle the extra weight. An unpowered LRV is pushed and then towed across the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge (I-90). [Photo: Sound Transit] On a normal bridge, installing rail would normally involve drilling, but the team didnt want to risk drilling into the pontoons, which have to stay watertight. Instead, they used a special high-strength adhesive to attach the concrete blocks to the bridge. Since the bridge hadnt originally been designed to carry electric light rail, engineers had to also find a way to protect it from stray current that could potentially damage the structure. The design now has multiple redundant solutions to avoid that risk. The setting is unusual, since floating bridges are only used in specific conditions. (Norway’s fjords, for example, could potentially also use floating bridges.) But it’s possible that the design solutions could eventually be replicated in some other areas, including another bridge across Lake Washington in Seattle. The Mercer Island 2 Line Station on October 22, 2024. [Photo: Sound Transit] Even beyond the floating bridge, the new seven-mile stretch of light railfrom downtown Seattle to the southern end of Bellevuerequired several creative new solutions. That included finding a new way to strengthen an overpass for earthquake safety, and reusing part of a former bridge to create access to a new train station in one neighborhood. Every inch of the seven miles has examples of never-been-done-before, creative, resourceful designs, Barber says. (All of this should go unnoticed by users, like any good civil engineering.) On a recent test ride, he says that going over the bridge was some of the smoothest track Ive ever experienced, as a daily commuter on light rail. The test ride was at night, so there wasnt much traffic on the neighboring highway. A dead car pull on the East Link Extension between Bellevue and Mercer Island across the East Channel Bridge on October 29, 2024. [Photo: Sound Transit] But he imagined it at rush hour. Tens of thousands of people are expected to ride the train daily, eliminating an estimated 230,000 vehicle miles traveled per day. It was cool to be cruising along next to the cars, he says. And I can anticipate that when this opens, there will be lots of commuters on the train who will be zooming past folks who are stuck in traffic in a very satisfied way.
Category:
E-Commerce
If you’re feeling anxious about the economy, you’re not alone. Consumer confidence is at its lowest in more than a decade. Americans are worried about inflation, a possible recession, and job securityand that anxiety is reshaping how they spend. Even high earners are pulling back. Households are cutting big-ticket indulgences like vacations, fine dining, and designer fashion and redirecting spending toward essentials like groceries and personal care. Even then, theyre choosing retailers that feel like smart value plays. Higher-income shoppers have increasingly frequented discount chains like Walmart and Costcoboth of which have seen record-breaking quarters. Ulta is poised to win in this economy. Since its founding in 1990, Ulta has specialized in selling mass-market beauty products, with some luxury brands sprinkled in. Walking the aisles, you’ll find a $12 Maybelline foundation across from a $190 bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume. Were very focused on being inclusive, and we want to be a destination for everyone, says Ulta CEO Kecia Steelman. We can take care of your beauty shopping needs no matter what your budget is. In a booming economy, that kind of mixing can feel unglamorous. Aspirational shoppers tend to gravitate toward retailers like Sephora or Nordstrom, where everything signals luxury. But for most people, this isnt a boom time. As consumers tighten their belts, Ultas flexibility starts to look like a feature, not a flaw. The retailer now draws shoppers across a wide income rangefrom households earning around $50,000 annually to those making well into the six figures. Budget-conscious customers can stock up on brands like E.l.f. and CoverGirl. Affluent shoppers, meanwhile, can trade down on basics while still splurging occasionally on Drunk Elephant skincare or a Dior lipstick. This approach is working. As overall retail spending has slowed, Ulta has grown over the past several quarters and is tracking to $12.3 billion in revenue for the last fiscal year, up roughly 4.7% from the year before. Its in-store visits have also climbed 3.3% year over year. Other retailers focused on a mix of low prices and premium products, including Walmart and Costco, are also gaining momentum. These trends point to a broader shift. The era of aspirational positioning is fading. This is a trade-down economy, and the retailers best positioned to weather it are the ones that adapt to that reality. [Photo: Ulta] The Aspirational Economy Is Over For the past decade and a half, we’ve been living in an aspirational economy. During this time, a new generation of brands popped up that allowed you to buy not just a product, but an identity. Startups like Allbirds, Casper, Away, and Glossier used sleek design and clever storytelling to signal good taste, high status, and progressive values. They were a ticket into a social class you wanted to join. Products were priced just high enough to feel special, but still within reach of middle-class shoppers eager to buy into the lifestyle. That model is starting to crack: Allbirds is closing its stores, Away has gone through several rounds of layoffs, and Glossier’s valuation has dropped by half over the past five years. Part of the problem is that the number of middle-class consumers who fueled these aspirational brands is shrinking, with more than half of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, and a quarter of households spending nearly all their income on essentials. Instead of seeking out aspirational brands, many of those consumers are migrating toward budget retailers. Walmart offers a telling example. Long associated with low-income shoppers, the company has spent years adding more premium brands to its shelves in an effort to attract wealthier households. The strategy is paying off: Walmart has gained market share among customers earning more than $100,000, helping propel the company to a market capitalization of $1 trillion. [Photo: Ulta] Ultas Radical Idea Ulta Beauty was founded in Bolingbrook, Illinois, in 1990, at a time when the beauty industry was rigidly segmented. Prestige brands like Lancôme and Estée Lauder were locked behind department-store counters, while mass-market staples such as Revlon and CoverGirl were relegated to drugstore aisles. Ultas founders challenged that divide. Their insight was simple: Consumers already shopped across price pointsand they wanted a single destination that reflected how they actually bought beauty. The model took hold quickly. Ulta scaled by opening large-format stores across the country, primarily in strip malls, many anchored by in-house salon services like haircuts and facials. Growth accelerated after the company went public in 2007. From 2010 to 2020, Ulta tripled its store count to roughly 1,200 locations, while revenue climbed from about $2 billion to nearly $7.4 billionan impressive feat in a decade when many peers were shrinking. The surge was driven by a rare alignment of factors: consumers increasingly mixing mass-market and high-end beauty, a booming beauty industry with new brands popping up daily, and a disciplined store rollout that favored underserved suburban markets over expensive shopping centers. Ultas broad appeal has been central to that success. While Sephora, its closest competitor, built its identity around a tightly curated assortment of roughly 300 high-end brands, Ulta pursued a more democratic strategy, offering around 600 brands spanning mass-market and luxury. It also operates roughly twice as many U.S. stores as Sephora. That breadth makes Ulta equally compelling to brands. Ulta gives us the scale to recruit new customers, says Sabeen Mian, president of the company behind Grande Cosmetics and Lilly Lashes, both sold at Ulta. Compared to more narrowly positioned prestige retailers, Ulta offers a broader aperture: more doors, more shopping frequency, and more opportunities to convert curiosity into long-term loyalty. In Ultas 1,500 stores, shoppers can find dozens of products priced under $20, bolstered by frequent promotions and famously generous coupons that reinforce the sense of value. “They reach everybody in America,” says Sucharita Kodali, retail analyst at Forrester. “They’ve got so many stores, and many are colocated with grocery stores and other mass merchants.” Ulta has also been investing in its high-end offerings. Its the exclusive retail partner for Beyoncé’s new haircare brand, Cécred, which sells $31 shampoo and $44 hair oil, as well as Rihanna’s Fenty Skin Body, which sells $30 body wash. According to a recent earnings call, these were among the most successful product launches in Ultas history. While the company doesn’t publish data about customer incomes or market share gains by demographic, it has boasted that its premium brands have been flying off the shelves. [Photo: Ulta] The Lipstick Index Steelman argues that Ultas founders were right all along. If you open my makeup bag, youd see everything from NYX to YSL, she says. This is how the consumer is shopping today. That mix becomes especially powerful during an economic downturn. Ultas emphasis on value attracts cautious shoppers across income levels. More broadly, the beauty industry tends to be insulated from economic downturns. In fact, some categories of beauty products tend to sell better in times of recession. In 2001, following the dot-com crash and the attacks of 9/11, Estée Lauder Chairman Leonard Lauder noticed that sales of high-end lipstick surged. He dubbed the phenomenon the lipstick indexthe idea that consumers cut back on major purchases during economic stress but still allow themselves small luxuries. A $48 Chanel lipstick can feel like a reasonable consolation prize when a $1,200 designer wallet is out of reach. “It’s an easy, low-ticket, indulgent purchase,” says Kodali. Economists debate whether the lipstick index is a reliable recession indicator. But Steelman says she sees the behavior firsthand: Shoppers of all income levels are still willing to indulge occasionally. Compared with the cost of travel, home renovations, or new furniture, even luxury beauty feels manageable. Ultas success suggests something deeper is going on. Todays consumers arent shopping to signal status or buy into a lifestyle. In an uncertain economy, theyre shopping to maintain control. Ultas shelves let them do exactly thattrade down and trade up in the same visit, adjusting in real time. Shoppers can save on mascara, redeem a coupon, and still leave with a Dior lipstick that feels indulgent without being irresponsible. Steelman is leaning into that emotional calculus. In the world were in, which is just so heavy, she says, Ulta is a place where you can experience what makes you happy.
Category:
E-Commerce
If you ask my friends or colleagues to describe me, the unanimous response would be “shes someone who gets sh*t done.” Its become a well-worn badge of honor for me. Productivity isnt something I do, its become something I amand its exhausting. As it turns out, Im not alone in this. For those of us who value productivity above all else, we’re far more likely to experience chronic stress or burnout. One 2025 study shows just how widespread levels of chronic stress and burnout are, with over one-third of the workforce reporting they were chronically stressed or burned out last year. Many of us feel like were walking a delicate line between balance and overwhelm. And whats making it worse, theres a constant pervading message that to be successful, we have to do it all and be it all, all at once. By todays standards, success looks like a highly paid career that were deeply passionate about, all while training for a half-marathon, maintaining an A-list celebrity skincare routine, and jetting off somewhere new every vacation. Is it any wonder we feel the need to be compulsively productive? Lets unpack why we feel this way: 1. Were conditioned to equate self-worth with productivity From the time were children, people praise us for our outputs. That might look like good grades, completing household chores, successful sporting results, or other performances. We learn early that doing and achieving make us more valuable. So when were at rest, our nervous system struggles to regulate because we cant feel at ease when were not achieving something. 2. Guilt is a social emotion, and were hardwired for belonging In communities and societies where were interdependent on one another, we can feel like were letting others down or being selfish when we rest. This is your brains way of scanning for the social and interpersonal consequences of resting. Whats interesting is, even in our increasingly individualistic cultures, we tend to label ourselves selfish or lazy. We do this even when resting is completely harmless to those around us and high performance is a matter of personal choice. 3. We conflate rest with quitting If you wear productivity like a badge of honor, youre also likely to value traits like reliability, infallibility, strength, and dependability. But heres the thing: you can still be “the strong one” and take restits recovery, not failure. Resting is not the same as quitting. 4. Urgency culture has rewired your nervous system In a capitalist culture that values hustle, visibility, speed, and responsiveness, stepping away to rest can feel literally threatening. Being always on and always available can put us into a state of hypervigilance. This is when our nervous system is in a constant state of alertness, scanning its environment for threats. But for the most part, the threats in our modern environment arent real. 5. Rest is stillness and spaciousness, and that removes distraction When youre always on, busyness becomes a safe state because its distracting you from acknowledging deeper emotions. Rest removes this distraction. When you slow down, you create time and space to be with your thoughts and emotions, which can feel really uncomfortable. 6. Rest just feels like another to-do Because modern life requires us to go through a long list of to-dos, rest is something we feel guilty doing, and guilty without. But rest isnt a problem you need to solve, or something to hack or optimize to achieve better productivity. You also cant fix it with expensive products and experiences. This is capitalism cashing in on the monster it created. Reframing your view of rest The first step to resting well is to decouple it from your identity. Being a person who prioritizes rest doesnt mean you cant still be dependable, reliable, and strong. If you want to embody those traits, they need to coexist alongside rest. Instead, align rest to your core values. You want to tell yourself, “When I rest, I can be more present with what matters to me.” The next step is reframing what rest means to you. Most of us only rest after we feel depleted. We treat it as recovery. But if we reframe rest as regulation, then it becomes about keeping our nervous system within a healthy range. It’s not about trying to fix it once weve pushed ourselves too far. In the same way you might train in the gym each day to keep your body strong, treat rest as part of your personal maintenance strategy to keep your mind, body, and emotions strong. Understanding what type of rest you need Its also important to attune to the type of rest you really need. Most of us equate rest to sleep, but its so much more than that. I learned from Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith, author of Sacred Rest, that there are multiple different types of rest. If we arent getting the right type, we can find ourselves still tired or depleted even after resting. The first type is physical rest. This is what you need to restore the body, especially after sitting in an office all day, after poor sleep, or if youre chronically tense. If you feel tired but wired, physical rest, such as gentle movement, can help calm the body and prepare it for sleep. When were overstimulatedwhich occurs often in our social media-obsessed modern worldwe might need sensory rest. This is where we reduce audio and visual inputs from screens, televisions, and environments that put a heavy load on our sensory processing system. If youre feeling forgetful, foggy, or overwhelmed, these can be signs you need cognitive (mental) rest. If youve got a lot on your plate and are constantly task-switching or multitasking, this puts an additional strain on your mental capacities. Try doing just one thing at a time, and creating routines around the easy stuff to reduce your need for constant decision-making. When youre feeling exhausted from being always “on,” you need emotional rest. This can occur if you need to act or perform a certai way in your workplace, like in customer service, and feel a sense of exhaustion from suppressing natural emotions and behaviors. If you find yourself exhausted or annoyed in the presence of others, this indicates you might need social rest. If we spend time around others who deplete and drain our energy, this can take a toll on our system. You need spiritual rest when you feel ungrounded, disconnected, or cynical. We get this type of rest by slowing down and spending time clarifying what’s important to us, engaging in spiritual practices like meditation, contemplation or journaling, and other rituals that help connect us to ourselves. Lastly, if youre constantly problem-solving, ideating, or analyzing, this can leave you in need of creative rest. This isnt about making something; its about immersing yourself in nature and beauty without the demand to produce outputs. Rest can feel elusive, but you actually have more agency than you think. When we reframe our relationship with rest, and attune to the type of rest we really needby listening to our minds, bodies, and emotionswe can nourish ourselves regularly rather than trying to recover from depletion.
Category:
E-Commerce
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