Furniture Retail Feels the Squeeze, Meta-fuel Mission, & Flood of Doubt
Good morning! ☀️
Today’s forecast? A 100% chance of weird.
🛋️ The furniture industry is collapsing faster than a particleboard bookshelf in a rainstorm.
☢️ Meta just hoarded an entire nuclear reactor’s output—because apparently, training AI takes more juice than Illinois can handle.
🌊 And Sacramento? A new report says it could lose 28% of its population by 2055 due to flood risk and air quality. So… maybe don’t bet the warehouse on Natomas.
From imploding recliners to radioactive data centers and a soggy Central Valley exit plan, we’ve got the headlines that hit your supply chain where it counts. Let’s dash. 🏃♂️📦
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
Furniture Industry Is Breaking... and It’s Not Just the Chairs
The U.S. furniture sector is in full-on crisis mode. Sky-high costs, sluggish home sales, and rising interest rates have created the perfect storm for manufacturers and retailers alike.
🚪 Progressive Furniture (a major supplier to Walmart, Amazon, and Wayfair) is shutting down after its Mexican supplier collapsed.
🇨🇦 Canadian furniture maker Prepac just moved all production to North Carolina—blaming U.S. tariffs and laying off 170 union workers in BC.
💸 American Freight filed Chapter 11. So did custom cabinetry brand Worthy’s Run.
Why This Matters:
Because when furniture stops moving, so does freight. We’re talking route shake-ups, warehouse slowdowns, customs delays, and contract chaos. If your network touches home goods, you’re going to feel this.
🔥 Hot Take:
Furniture’s not just falling out of style—it’s falling out of circulation. And when big brands disappear, they take entire truckloads (and lanes) with them.
Meta Goes Nuclear (Literally)
Starting in 2027, Meta will be pulling 1.1 gigawatts of nuclear energy from Illinois’ Clinton Clean Energy Center—that’s the entire output of the plant’s one reactor. This 20-year deal doesn’t just help Meta chase its 100% clean power goal—it saved the plant from shutting down after its zero-emissions credits ran out.
This is Meta’s first major move into nuclear, and they’re joining a full-blown tech arms race: Amazon, Google, Microsoft… everyone’s betting on nuclear to power their growing AI needs. SMRs (small modular reactors) are popping up in plans everywhere. And Constellation even teased a future SMR at the Clinton site.
Why This Matters:
Because data centers are power monsters—and they shape where infrastructure goes next. Grid strain, power pricing, and energy availability now dictate freight lanes, DC builds, and your next bottleneck.
🔥 Hot Take:
Meta didn’t just buy power. They bought leverage. Energy is the new supply chain—follow the wires, not just the freight.
Is Sacramento Headed for a Climate Exodus? 🚚🌊
A new climate report says Sacramento could lose 28% of its population by 2055 thanks to rising flood risk and bad air quality. Yikes. The Central Valley’s unique geography + aging infrastructure + rapid development in flood zones (lookin’ at you, Natomas 👀) = a perfect storm for what First Street calls climate abandonment.
But… not so fast. Experts are throwing some serious side-eye at the prediction. Most buyers aren’t asking about flood zones, and the city is investing in levee upgrades, tree canopies, and climate resilience. So will people actually leave in droves? Maybe not. But this convo is heating up, and it matters—especially in logistics.
Why This Matters:
Fewer people = fewer shipments. More risk = higher insurance and shakier last-mile. If freight lanes shift away from Sacramento, you’ll feel it in your routing, warehousing, and margins.
🔥 Hot Take:
Forget the flood—the market might ghost Sacramento before the water even rises. This isn’t just about population loss. It’s your freight map getting redrawn in real time
The Workday Dash is an aggregation of articles regarding the transportation logistics, trucking, and supply chain industries for June 26, 2025, from iLevel Logistics Inc.