Comments from former Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy shed light on why 'Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' is widely considered the weakest film in the franchise.

MEP Kathleen Van Brempt stated that Montenegro is on a very good path to becoming the next EU member, acknowledging significant progress but also highlighting remaining challenges beyond just closing chapters, emphasizing the need for political momentum.

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a member of the prominent Kennedy family, has quickly found a buyer for her $1.6 million Cape Cod home located near the family's Hyannis Port compound.

German football club Hamburger SV has made a significant hiring, appointing longtime Bayern Munich executive Kathleen Krüger as its new sporting director.

Kathleen Turner, 71, made a rare red carpet appearance at the April 21 premiere of her animated film "Animal Farm," posing with the help of a cane.

Philosopher Kathleen Stock has released a new book on assisted dying, which is described as part of her developing critique of moral libertarianism and her evolving conservative views.

Kathleen Chada expresses fears that her former husband, Sanjeev Chada, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2014 for murdering their two sons, will kill her if he is granted parole.

Allegations of harassment and a toxic workplace environment on the popular game show 'The Price Is Right' have resurfaced as former models Kathleen Bradley and Dian Parkinson share their experiences.

EXCLUSIVE: Azita Ghanizada (Suits LA, The United States of Al), William Fichtner (Armageddon, Mom) and Kathleen Wilhoite (Murdaugh Murders, Road House) have all been set to recur in the upcoming MGM+ series Bosch: Start of Watch, a prequel that expands the Bosch Universe into the past. Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling book series, Bosch: Start […]

Star Wars boss Kathleen Kennedy confirms The Mandalorian and Grogu won't see the titular child develop one particular Yoda power.

Mexico City-based American painter Kathleen Clement dies at 97  Mexico News Daily

James Deering's 1916 winter home is located less than 10 minutes away from the heart of Miami. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museums and Gardens Vizcaya, built by James Deering more than a century ago, might be Miami's most valuable real estate. The 45,000-square-foot mansion has a total of 54 rooms, with the main house open to the public. Citadel CEO Ken Griffin began assembling a waterfront compound next to the historic mansion in 2022. The exorbitant price tags on Miami's luxury real estate are not a secret to anyone, least of all the flock of billionaires moving to the city. But unlike the high-rise apartments in the financial center of Brickell or exclusive mansions in Indian Creek — where you might be neighbors with Jeff Bezos or Ivanka Trump — the city's potentially most valuable piece of real estate is decorated with limestone, mangroves, and tiles salvaged from Cuban estates. Built between 1914 and 1922 by International Harvester heir and Gilded Age millionaire James Deering as a winter home, Villa Vizcaya sits fewer than 10 minutes from downtown Miami, in a waterfront neighborhood that's quickly becoming a magnet for the city's new billionaire residents. While built in the years following the Gilded Age, it is notable for its Gilded Age-era extravagance, technologies, and collection of fine art. Vizcaya Museum & Gardens estimates the mansion cost $26 million to build, which is more than $800 million in today's money, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Florida International University estimates that the mansion is worth over $1 billion today. In 1962, Miami-Dade County bought the property for $1 million, and today, the 45,000-square-foot mansion and its surrounding gardens operate as a museum open to the public. Shortly after announcing that Citadel would move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami, CEO Ken Griffin bought up a waterfront compound less than a half-mile from Vizcaya, in the neighborhood of Coconut Grove. The $106.9 million sale set a country record for the most expensive residential property purchase at the time. Since then, the hedge fund magnate has proposed relocating the historic Villa Serena mansion, located on his estate, to Vizcaya's campus after he donated $20 million to Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. Take a look inside James Deering's historic mansion and see how its new neighbor could alter the surrounding landscape. Vizcaya was James Deering's winter home from 1916 until his death in 1925. Robin Hill Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Struggling with illness toward the end of his life, James Deering came to Miami, then a small city surrounded by mangrove forests and wetlands, looking for tropical warmth, which was believed to help improve health. By the turn of the century, the Deering family had begun to develop estates around South Florida, with patriarch William Deering purchasing a home in Coconut Grove in 1900. By the time James Deering began building Vizcaya, his brother, Charles Deering, was also developing a winter home in the south of Miami. The property, known today as Deering Estate, also operates as a museum and is open to the public. The main house features 54 rooms, including 34 rooms decorated with their original furniture. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Spanning over 45,225 square feet, Vizcaya's main house features the living spaces of James Deering himself, his guests, and the house staff. Envisioned by interior designer Paul Chalfin, Vizcaya drew inspiration from the Italian Renaissance, adapted to South Florida's subtropical climate, and showcases furniture, artworks, and artifacts purchased by Chalfin and Deering on their travels to Europe. Although Miami's population was estimated to be only 10,000 in 1916, the construction of the Vizcaya estate employed an estimated 1,000 workers, many of whom were Black immigrants from the Bahamas. Apart from the main house, Vizcaya is also home to the Vizcaya Village, the historic quarters of the mansion's workers and farmers that allowed Vizcaya to serve as a self-sufficient farm-to-table estate. The Village expands over 12 acres and includes 11 "architecturally significant" buildings, according to the museum's website. The tour begins in the courtyard, which is adorned with tropical plants. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Lined with tropical plants such as palms and philodendrons, the courtyard highlights South Florida's natural beauty while reflecting the mansion's European inspirations. While today the courtyard is covered by a glass canopy that allows for the estate's air conditioning, it was originally open to the elements, allowing the tropical climate to seep into the main house. Meant to be used as Vizcaya's main entrance, the East Loggia opens up to the Biscayne Bay. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Featuring marble floors and columns and decorated ceilings, the East Loggia was meant to serve as Vizcaya's main entrance for guests arriving by sea, which was Deering's intended — and preferred — way of entering the mansion. It was used as an entrance for guests who arrived by boat, while the current main entrance of the museum was used as a back entrance for guests arriving by car. The room also features a model boat hanging from its ceiling in honor of the explorers who inspired Deering's interpretation of Vizcaya. Although he began living in Vizcaya during his retirement, Deering included multiple working spaces in the property. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider James Deering was heir to the International Harvester manufacturing firm, which produced tractors and other agricultural machinery, and he worked as its vice president from 1902 until 1909. Deering might have been one of the first prominent Florida "snowbirds," retirees who travel South during the colder months. His downstairs library, located in the northwest corner of the main house, is steps from the entrance hall that welcomes guests. It features Deering's personal book collection, desks for him and a secretary, and seats for business guests. When closed, the door leading to the next room — a reception room meant for entertaining guests — is concealed within the book-lined walls. The reception room features a ceiling imported from Venice, which had to be resized to fit. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The reception room is lined with tropical-inspired silk panels showing palm trees. Our tour guide brought our attention to the ceiling, which is decorated with sculpted panels that extend to the sides of the room. The ceiling was imported from Venice and purchased before construction on the property was finished. By the time workers were putting up the decorations in the mansion, they realized that the ceiling panel did not fit the room dimensions, leading to the restructuring of the panel, which curved into the walls. "We should remember that this house was built during the First World War," curator Flaminia Gennari said in the audio tour. "So to import large quantities from Italy in the middle of the war was very complicated." Vizcaya's telephone line was one of the first in Miami. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Wired throughout the house, Vizcaya features a highly innovative telephone system for the time. Only 17 years before the start of Vizcaya's construction, the Miami Telephone Company began providing telephone service to the city. Vizcaya's telephones also featured automatic electric exchange, allowing users to connect directly to the number they dialed without going through a human operator. The telephone room, located between two of Vizcaya's main entertainment rooms, was meant for guests to communicate privately without disturbing the flow of the entertainment. The living room showcased Deering's most impressive collections. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The living room, with its 1600s limestone fireplace, features some of Vizcaya's most impressive items, including an "admiral carpet" originally commissioned in the 1450s by the grandfather of King Ferdinand II of Spain, the Spanish king who sponsored Christopher Columbus' exploration of the Americas. The room also features throne-like armchairs where US President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II sat in 1987 during the Pope's visit to America. A centerpiece of the room is the Welte Philharmonic Organ, designed to fill the house with music through elaborate sound systems. Designed for guests rather than full-time professional players, the organ uses perforated paper rolls to aid the musicians' performance by adjusting notes and volume. Concealing the organ pipes is an oil painting, which was cut in half to cover wooden doors. "Chalfin had the idea of cutting it in half and using it as the doors of the organs, which is not a very respectful thing to do for a representation of the Virgin Mary, the child, and the saints, but it somehow testifies to the freedom and positive carelessness that they had around old objects," Gennari said in the audio tour. The mansion's formal dining room features the house's oldest artifacts, although it was rarely used. Robin Hill Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens While Deering himself didn't often eat in the formal dining room, he made sure it was impressively decorated for his guests. Sitting to the side is the room's most awe-inspiring feature: a marble tabletop on carved bases resembling mythical creatures, historical artifacts unearthed near Pompeii, dating back to the times before Mount Vesuvius' eruption. Next to the dining room, on the south side of the mansion, the enclosed loggia gave guests a view of the gardens. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The colorful glass panels, designed for Vizcaya, feature the estate's main symbols: the seahorse and the caravan. Providing a view of the garden through the glass panels and double doors, the enclosed loggia allowed guests to take in the garden views while staying cool from the Florida sun. The loggia also connects the gardens to the main house through sculpted iron gates. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Aside from giving guests an inside view of the gardens from the ground level, the room also connects the outdoors to the rest of the mansion. Downstairs, the kitchen worked as a serving space for staff to plate food and bring it to guests. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider When designing Vizcaya, Deering asked for the main kitchen to be built upstairs as he didn't want the smell of food to flood the main entertaining rooms on the first floor. To facilitate the transportation of meals and the serving of guests to the dining room, the entertaining rooms, and the loggia, he built a downstairs serving pantry. Today, the serving pantry cabinets display one set of Deering's fine dining china, the one designated for his 80-foot-long luxury yacht, Nepenthe. Commissioned in 1912 to be shipped from Europe, the original set of china purchased by Deering was transported to America as cargo aboard the Titanic. After the ship sank, a replacement set was ordered and is now displayed. The kitchens feature state-of-the-art Gilded Age technology. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Throughout the house, Deering incorporated cutting-edge technology, including annunciators with bells connected throughout the house that Deering or guests could ring at any time to get the house staff's attention. Another then-advanced feature of the serving kitchen were its refrigerators, which were rare at the time. The kitchen also featured a warming oven that helped keep food warm while guests were served. Connecting to the upstairs kitchen, which serves as the house's main cooking area, was a dumbwaiter: a food elevator meant to carry the food cooked upstairs to the downstairs plating area, where staff would then take it to the main entertaining rooms, like the dining and sitting rooms. Upstairs, 24 rooms housed guests, staff, and Deering himself. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Nine of the bedrooms were dedicated to guests and each was given a name and decorated uniquely, showcasing the artifacts and furniture purchased by Deering and Chalfin on trips to Europe. While not open to the public, an additional 14 rooms housed staff. Another then-advanced technological feature of Vizcaya was its elevator. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Deering was motivated to move to South Florida because of his illness, so accessibility features were built throughout the house, including an elevator he would use when using a wheelchair or to avoid walking upstairs. Today, the elevator isn't open to the public, and the museum's second floor is not wheelchair accessible. Deering's main office was inspired by the Napoleonic era. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Connected to Deering's bedroom and bathroom, the sitting room was his office where he would tend to business and personal matters, such as sorting his mail. The decoration style was inspired by Napoleonic France. Deering's bedroom was modest compared to some of his guest bedrooms. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Unmarried all his life, Deering's room features a single bed rather than a larger size, and his room is furnished for practicality rather than aesthetics. His personal bathroom has one of the most breathtaking views of the property. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Opening onto a balcony, Deering's bathroom overlooks Biscayne Bay and offers one of the best views of the house, although it is not accessible to the public today. The closed-off balcony also leads to a secret door to the Espagnolette, the guest bedroom located next to his, usually reserved for Deering's dearest guests. Spiral staircases lead to the South tower. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider A set of spiral staircases leads up to the South tower, one of the two guest suites overlooking the estate. The tower bedroom has views of the bay and the gardens. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider The corner room atop the North tower was designed to transport guests to Europe. "Water reflects upwards to the ceiling and the sound of waves is audible in this room, precisely as upon the quay of this great canal of Venice," noted Chalfin about the room, according to the mansion's website. A central piece in the room is a large wardrobe assembled with 1700s Venetian panels, as well as antique painted closet doors. The breakfast room was Deering's preferred dining space. Robin Hill Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens Back on the second floor, the breakfast room was the central entertaining spot. The room is lined with oil paintings depicting ocean scenes, and the windows slide into pocket doors, revealing views of the garden. It also features a sound system, with a piano hidden in a room off the spiral staircase next door and connected to the breakfast room through floor vents that allow sound to travel into the space. Most of the time, Deering opted to dine in this room rather than the formal dining space. Tucked next to the breakfast room is the main kitchen. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Designed to maximize staff efficiency, the main kitchen upstairs has different areas for different tasks, including separate sinks for washing dishes and produce. It also features ice boxes, or refrigerators of the time, powered by salt water. During Deering's time at the estate, Vizcaya employed two French chefs dedicated to food and pastries. Food served at the mansion was sourced from the staff village built across the street, where a farm provided vegetables, dairy, chicken, herbs, and citrus. "You and I could come down and drive into the farm area, stop and buy a dozen Deering eggs and take them home and have them for breakfast, and I think that was probably particularly important during World War I," historian Arva Moore Parks said in the audio tour. "He was able to supply not only himself but his workers also." Inspired by European designs, the gardens feature mazes, terraces, fountains, and more. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Inspired by 17th- and 18th-century Italian and French villas, the Vizcaya gardens feature a variety of scenes, from a garden theater to multiple paths and mazes, intended to highlight and enhance the native South Florida flora surrounding the estate. The original layout of Vizcaya featured over 180 acres of subtropical forests. Today, that number has gone down to 50 acres. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan hosted Pope John Paul II at the estate. Diana Walker/Getty Images On September 10, 1987, President Ronald Reagan welcomed Pope John Paul II at Vizcaya, where the two conversed while exploring the gardens and the estate. Atop a garden mount is the Casino, a focal point of the gardens. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museums and Gardens Located at the top of garden mounds designed to block the reflection of water ponds into the main house, the garden casino — Italian for "little house" — was a space where Deering and his guests could take in the garden views or enjoy the subtropical weather without being in direct contact with the sun. Inside the building, a painted ceiling depicts heavenly images. Underneath, bathrooms and other now closed-off areas hide under decorated ceilings. Originally, the casino overlooked a water park part of the estate, where gondolas would be launched, a crucial part of Deering's vision for Vizcaya. Today, the water park no longer exists, and the land is instead taken up by a Catholic church, hospital, and schools after the Deering family sold part of the property to the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine in 1946. The opposite side of the estate was once used for clandestine entertainment; now, it is a café. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider While today a café sits underneath the mansion, the space served as a leisure center during Deering's stay. The rooms were filled with billiard tables, bowling alleys, and leather chairs. Hidden underneath the billiards table was also a roulette table, which Deering often used when his college friends visited the estate. The mansion, which opened at the peak of the Prohibition era, also had a decent supply of liquor, which Deering smuggled into the estate and hid in secret bars and cellars. The swimming pool is half-covered, providing relief from South Florida's relentless sun. Robin Hill/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Tucked next to the leisure rooms underneath the main house is the half-indoor swimming pool, in which Deering is said to have only swum once. Designed as the main entry point to the mansion, the east side of the mansion opens up to a stone barge in the Biscayne Bay. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider When he first moved into his winter home in December 1916, Deering arrived by sea on what he intended was the front entrance to Vizcaya. Opening up to the Biscayne Bay, the waterfront side of the property features a stone barge, a sculpted structure that acts as a breakwater and protects the main house from changing tides and waves. Today, the mansion hosts private events and has become a local staple for Quinceañera pictures. The mansion is often used for private events. Kristine Villarroel/Business Insider Purchased from the Deering family by Miami-Dade County for $1 million in 1962, Vizcaya today operates as a museum open to the public and for private reservations. The estate often serves as the backdrop for Quinceañera pictures among Miami's large Hispanic population. Walking around the gardens, I saw multiple young women dressed in extravagant gowns posing in the many stunning locations of the estate. Along with being a photographic hot spot, Vizcaya also hosts private events, from Miami Swim Week runway shows to floral-decorated weddings in the gardens. Today, the estate remains an icon of Miami, a city that many would often relate to modern luxury rather than the old and classic wealth on display in Gilded Age-style mansions like Vizcaya. The Vizcaya Village could be the future home of Ken Griffin's Villa Serena. Robin Hil Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens After purchasing the historic Villa Serena estate in Coconut Grove in 2022, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin proposed relocating the 1913 Mediterranean Revival mansion to Vizcaya's Village campus. The home, designed by architect August Geiger for William Jennings Bryan, a three-time Democratic presidential candidate and former US secretary of state, is considered one of Miami's earliest grand waterfront residences. The proposal would move the century-old home from Griffin's property to Vizcaya's Village grounds, where it would be open to the public for the first time in its history and would benefit from an additional $5 million endowment provided by Griffin for its preservation. Any relocation would require extensive planning and government approvals, which have not yet been cleared. Skeptics have said that moving the structure would be an ambitious undertaking that wouldn't align with preservation goals. "Moving a historic structure is absolutely a last resort solution, to be done only if (there) is no other way possible to save a structure… It is not a preservation-minded alternative just because someone bought it and now doesn't want it," Kathleen Slesnick Kauffman, Miami's former historic preservation officer, told the Chicago Tribune in 2023. The Village originally served as Vizcaya's self-sufficient farm and the servants' quarters. Robin Hil Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens The Vizcaya Village, which covers about 12 acres of agricultural fields and includes nearly a dozen buildings, was originally built as the quarters for the mansion's servants and farmers. Today, the campus houses a café and hosts a weekly farmers market, and is undergoing construction and expansions to transform the grounds into a cultural and community space. The Citadel CEO's $20 million donation will expand the village's role in the community. Robin Hil Photography/Courtesy of Vizcaya Museum and Gardens In November 2025, Vizcaya Museum and Gardens announced a $20 million capital donation from Griffin and said that the funds would be used toward building a brand new Center for Learning and Discovery in the village grounds. Once open, the center will offer educational programming like "hands-on artmaking and urban-agriculture experiences," the museum organization wrote in the announcement. The expansion will seek to expand Vizcaya's role in its community. Read the original article on Business Insider

A ranking of Kathleen Turner's best films, celebrating her career and distinctive 'smoked honey' vocals as she approaches her 72nd birthday.

The original singers of K3, Karen, Kristel, and Kathleen, have performed together for the last time. Last night was their final reunion concert in Antwerp.

Kathleen Thomas, born without a right forearm, had to show her arm stump to prove her innocence after a police officer insisted she was using her right hand to make a phone call while driving.

Actress Katie Holmes made a rare public appearance with her mother, Kathleen Holmes, at the American Ballet Theatre's gala.

After 17 years at Bayern Munich, Kathleen Krüger is leaving the German champions to take on the role of board member for sport at Hamburger SV.

As the UK bill flounders in the House of Lords, the philosopher makes an impassioned case opposing a change to the law

Marc Karun's trial for the alleged 1986 rape and murder of 11-year-old Kathleen Flynn ended in a mistrial over concerns about evidence contamination.

Longtime Spielberg producer and 'Star Wars' overseer Kathleen Kennedy voiced her reservations about AI at a conference, highlighting the absence of human experience in AI-driven projects and calling for greater transparency from Big Tech.

Kathleen Kennedy revealed that Grogu won't speak in the new movie, but that might just be a good thing.

The philosopher offers a measured and reasonable argument against assisted dying In this admirably clear and cogent book, the philosopher Kathleen Stock sets out the case against state-sanctioned assisted dying. Her immediate objection is to the end of life bill currently before the House of Lords, but her opposition extends to the principle in general. This is a polemic, but a polite one. Stock says she hopes that by the end of it we will share her objection to the ‘‘institutionalisation of ...

Kathleen Kennedy, the former head of Disney's Star Wars division Lucasfilm, has revealed a character detail regarding Baby Yoda from the forthcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu movie.

An American painter who made Mexico City her home for over six decades, Clement created layered, translucent works that celebrated and mourned the natural world she loved. The post Mexico City says goodbye to American painter Kathleen Clement, who spent six decades documenting Mexico’s natural world appeared first on Mexico News Daily

A federal grand jury has indicted Kathleen Klein, known as 'Prophetess,' as a third defendant in an alleged forced labor conspiracy tied to the Kingdom of God Global Church.

The costume designer for 'Hacks,' Kathleen Felix-Hager, revealed the intricate process behind creating Deborah Vance's 'Queen of Hearts' party dress, which was made from real playing cards hand-stitched together for the show's final season.

MEP Kathleen Van Brempt spoke with 'Vijesti' about the current sentiment within the European Union. She emphasized that no one in the EU is currently advocating for certain positions.

Forbes has published profiles on Martin Mignot and Kathleen Ulrich. These articles likely highlight their achievements and contributions in their respective fields.

Kathleen Krueger is mentioned in an article by The Daily Star. Further details are not provided in the snippet.

The musical 'Top Hat,' inspired by the 1935 film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, is being performed at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, with director Kathleen Marshall highlighting the African-American roots of jazz and tap.

The Observer has published "Rowan" by Kathleen Jamie as its featured "Sunday Poem."

A new curated compilation album, 'Where The Willow And The Dogwood Grow', features covers of Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan songs by artists like Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Ramones, Willie Nelson, and Marianne Faithfull, created with the blessing of Waits and Brennan.

Síle Nic Suibhne had her first mammogram in 2013, almost two years before she turned 50 as there was a family history of the disease – her older sister Kathleen had already gone through breast…

Jean-Philippe V.H. a été reconnu coupable du viol d’une enfant de 12 ans qui était en route vers l’école le 1er octobre 2021. Il écope de douze ans ferme. Sa maîtresse Kathleen V.

Kathleen Kennedy, the venerable filmmaker and former president of Lucasfilm, spent her Sunday singing the praises of American sound designers.

After writing about Amazon sellers for years, the author decided to try e-commerce for herself. Kathleen Elkins In early 2025, a friend and I launched a pickleball paddle company with about $10,000. We haven't yet cracked the Amazon code, and the learning curve has gotten expensive. After paying hundreds of dollars in long-term storage fees, we removed a bunch of inventory from Amazon. When Amazon tried to charge my business account $288.56 last month, the payment didn't go through. Instead, I got an "insufficient funds" notification on my phone. Turns out, it's expensive to let inventory — especially "aged inventory" — sit in an Amazon warehouse. The "aged inventory surcharge" quite literally bled my business partner and me dry. By February 2026, our business bank account balance sat just above $6. Kathleen Elkins Let me back up. In 2024, inspired by the successful e-commerce entrepreneurs and Amazon sellers I write about, I decided to start my own business. I convinced a friend to join me, and we each put in $5,000 from our own savings to launch a pickleball paddle company. We hired my high school English teacher to design our logo, we worked with a sourcing company to find a manufacturer, and we spent about a year developing our paddle before placing our first inventory order in early 2025. The minimum order quantity was 500 units. We shipped 250 paddles to ourselves in Los Angeles and sent the other 250 to Amazon. The plan was to run a hybrid Shopify-Amazon model while we figured out who our typical customer was. That was advice from an e-commerce industry veteran. He told us that, on Shopify, we'd earn better margins because there are fewer platform fees, but we'd have to generate our own traffic through social media, ads, and word of mouth. On Amazon, we'd sacrifice margin, but gain visibility. As he put it: "Amazon is guaranteed traffic. There's a guaranteed flow of people who are going to see your product every single day." After a year, we haven't cracked the Amazon code, and the learning curve has gotten expensive. Among the various Amazon seller fees is an "aged inventory surcharge." It's charged on units stored in its fulfillment network for 181 days or more, in addition to its standard monthly storage fees. The surcharge increases the longer your inventory sits. Items aged 181 to 210 days cost $0.50 per cubic foot. At 211 to 240 days, it jumps to $1 per cubic foot. Our inventory, sitting in the 331- to 365-day range, costs $5.90 per cubic foot. We didn't fully understand the cost structure until it started hitting our bank account. Here's a screenshot from our Amazon seller account showing our service fees between November 2025 and February 2026. Kathleen Elkins Last month, we owed nearly $300 in service fees — much more than we were bringing in in sales. Rather than continue to see that number climb (items aged 456 days or more would cost us $7.90 per cubic foot or $0.35 per unit, whichever is greater), we decided to pull most of our inventory out of Amazon. The removal process took five minutes. We submitted a removal order for about 200 paddles, and were surprised when 40 of our units arrived on my doorstep the next day. According to Amazon's website, removal orders can take 90 days or more to process before leaving a fulfillment center, plus another two weeks for delivery. We're still waiting on the rest of the inventory, and we haven't fully escaped fees. There's a removal fee, which is charged per unit and based on the unit's shipping weight, that we expect to show up on our next statement. Plus, the 30 or so paddles that we left in Amazon's warehouse will trigger storage fees. We don't want to abandon Amazon entirely; we just don't have the time and resources to dedicate to figuring out that sales channel. For now, we're shifting our focus to Shopify, in-person events, and wholesale partnerships. If we hit another sales dry spell, at least we won't be paying hundreds of dollars a month just to store our own product. We're not discouraged. It's just one more lesson in our crash course in e-commerce, but it's a big one: Understand the fees. On Amazon, unsold product isn't harmless. It's expensive. Read the original article on Business Insider

Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds portray an Irish couple grappling with secrets during a holiday in Amsterdam in Polly Findlay's adaptation of Bernard MacLaverty's novel 'Midwinter Break'.