Store wars: Which chains are growing (and shrinking)

8/19/23 8:00PM

Faster food

‍So, which fast-food outlets are thriving? A new report from QSR ranking the top 50 chains in America reveals some of the fastest-growing chains in the country. In terms of raw restaurant unit count, it’s hard to beat the ever-omnipresent Starbucks — which, yes, according to QSR, is actually considered fast food — after the company added 429 stores in the last year, more than any other chain.

But, adjusting for its relative size, no chain has grown faster than Crumbl Cookies, which opened an astonishing 363 new units, adding a whopping 53% to its store count in a single year: not bad for a company founded in 2017 that relies on the humble cookie to pay its bills. Chicken lovers are also increasingly spoilt for choice, as chains like Wingstop, Popeyes and Chick-fil-A continue to expand — adding more than 500 units between the 3 of them in the last year. And if that still doesn’t whet your appetite, there’s also been room for both Taco Bell and Chipotle to keep expanding as well.

Slower food

‍‍Burger King, KFC and Panera Bread all reported modest net store closures — but it’s Subway that's slimming down most, shrinking its footlong footprint with some 571 store closures in the last year per QSR, as the company continues to explore a sale. Although this fresh upheaval saw 6x more closures than any other chain, it still leaves Subway with the largest store count in the country, with sandwich artists serving up subs at more than 20,000 locations nationwide.

Max Knoblauch5/29/26

The Trump administration is reportedly planning a 50% made-in-America requirement for USMCA tariff relief

Qualifying for USMCA-related lower tariffs may soon require more US-made vehicle components, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to introduce a 50% US content requirement for vehicles covered by the trade pact to receive lower tariffs. The content would be measured by cost, according to the WSJ.

There currently isn’t any US-specific requirement for those lower tariff rates, but in order to receive preferential tariffs, vehicles are must contain at least 75% regional content (components made in North America). Per Reuters reporting, the Trump admin is seeking to raise the regional requirement to 82%.

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Overall, Tesla will likely have the easiest time qualifying for any stricter requirements. The automaker’s vehicles contained the highest amount of US/Canadian content in 2025, according to American University research. Ford, GM, and Stellantis all scored lower.

Notably: the underlying government data that many domestic content measurements rely on intentionally combines US and Canadian components, so it’s difficult to know exactly how much of any given vehicle is specifically US-made.

Exclusive | Trump Administration Wants Autos Under USMCA to Be at Least 50% Made in America

These reported plans are subject to change as the US negotiates USMCA terms with Mexico over the next few months.

Tom Jones5/29/26

The $640,000 Luce makes the average Ferrari look like a bargain

Put aside the shape; put aside the smoothing out of Ferrari’s iconic sharp edges; put aside, even, the calls from former Chairman and President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo to “take the Prancing Horse off.” On the grounds of price alone, Luce detractors might have a point.

By now, many of us will have read the criticisms of Ferrari’s first fully electric vehicle, as the Luce — which was unveiled to the world earlier this week and promptly saw the company’s shares crash out in New York and Milan — gets subtly shaded by competitors online and not-so-subtly shaded by basically everyone else.

What makes all of this worse for Ferrari is that, even by the luxury car maker’s notoriously high standards, they’ve slapped a pretty hefty price tag on the Luce, and the company’s CEO, Benedetto Vigna, has already been forced to defend the €550,000 ($640,000) price point, saying yesterday that it’s “fair to pay for innovation,” per Reuters.

While Ferrari’s cars have been getting more expensive of late, as recently as 2022, Ferrari’s average revenue per car sold was around $340,000. At nearly twice that price, this new electric model is obviously proving a little much (visually, conceptually, and financially) for many loyal and long-standing fans of the Prancing Horse to stomach.