I-inherited-a-storage-unit-from-a-family-friend-It.jpeg

I inherited a storage unit from a family friend. It was full of vintage clothes, which I now sell online.

by with No Comment Xpandfy

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Scottlynn Krause, the co-owner of CS80 Vintage. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My best friend is Hannah, and her grandpa, Franz, owned a sporting goods store in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. When he went out of business, he boxed up his stock, and the unused items sat in a storage unit from 1990 until 2021.

In the summer of 2021, Hannah’s mom called my mom, who is an organizer for hoarders, asking for help with the storage unit. She didn’t know what to do with the stuff, and knew my mom had experience in that realm.

We did not expect to inherit his pristine ’80s sportswear inventory

Hannah and her family said to do what we needed to do to get rid of it and take it off the property. We had 16 days to figure out what to do, because they wanted to list the house. We did not buy the inventory. It was a trade for removing it.

Originally, my mom wanted to turn everything in three months and be done with it. We were not a vintage-loving family back then, but we decided to try to sell it online. At first, it was my mom doing it all, but it was overwhelming. So I jumped in. I had (and still have) a full-time job in retail, so I feel like I see what happens with trends. Vintage had picked up, so it felt right.

The storage unit had thousands of items from well-known brands

It’s really hard to put a number on how many items were in the storage unit. It was 10,000 pairs of shoes, 25,000 hats, 2,500 pairs of baseball pants, all in 1,000 square feet, all from a single store.

The brands Franz had were Nike, Adidas, Puma, Converse, Playboy, Pony, Champion, Wilson, and more. Teams were covered in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and collegiate sports.

It was such a large inventory; we weren’t sure how to tackle it. It’s all been very word-of-mouth. We had our first sale at a flea market in early 2022. We currently sell privately on social media and on our website, which went live in December 2025.

On the website, we do 25 items per drop, and do two drops a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays. It’s first-come, first-served. Not all merchandise is on the website; it’s about a tenth of what we have. So we’re really selective with the drops because everything is so rare and special.

We store our inventory in an off-site warehouse. My mom and I go regularly to pull pieces, and it feels like a discovery every time. We never know what we are going to find. We then bring it to our studio, and I measure, photograph, and upload it to our website. My mom and I print the shipping labels, carefully pack each order, and ship everything ourselves, mostly early in the morning or late at night, squeezed in around our day jobs.

We’ve seen some really amazing items

Most of our items are one-of-a-kind, making them special. We might have one item in multiple sizes, but we don’t have four large sizes of that item, for example. Starter jackets are our most sought-after item. And our sports fans are die-hard, so people are freaking out about certain items. I didn’t grow up during this time period. It’s been so special to see the DMs we get, like “I had this shirt when I was a kid, do you have it?”

We’ve sold unique pieces, like a Run-DMC collection still in its original packaging and a rare pair of 1980s Adidas boxing shoes reminiscent of the Rocky Balboa/Freddie Mercury era. A van load of clothing from our collection was used on set for a “Stranger Things” x Target commercial.

We’ve been having a blast doing it

My mom and dad met in a sporting goods store. He’s a professional volleyball referee. My mom works as an organizer and is a photographer. I work in retail. All the pieces came together for us, giving us this gift. It was like winning the lotto.

Hannah’s family loves watching it happen. I will send her pictures of stuff all the time. They are excited to see that his stuff is moving, going places, and getting a second life.

Our goal is to continue Franz’s legacy by slowly placing these pieces with people who genuinely appreciate the memories, craftsmanship, and spirit of the 1980s. We’re exploring ways to carry that energy forward, too. We eventually want to create our own products using our deadstock blanks to keep the 80s aesthetic and story alive for the new generation.




Source link

Meta-plans-layoffs-in-its-Reality-Labs-unit.jpeg

Meta plans layoffs in its Reality Labs unit

by with No Comment Xpandfy

  • Meta plans layoffs in Reality Labs, affecting the teams behind VR headsets and Horizon Worlds.
  • The restructuring follows major financial losses and a strategic shift toward AI.
  • Reality Labs faces uncertainty as Meta leadership emphasizes 2025 as a decisive year for the unit.

Meta is preparing layoffs in its Reality Labs division, according to three people familiar with the matter who spoke with Business Insider.

The teams working on the company’s virtual reality headsets and Horizon Worlds, its VR-based social network, will be disproportionately affected, two employees said.

Roughly 10% to 15% of Reality Labs’ 15,000 employees are expected to be laid off, with the cuts set to be announced this week, The New York Times reported.

Meta declined to comment.

The move comes as Meta CTO and Reality Labs chief Andrew Bosworth has called a key division-wide meeting for Wednesday, describing it as the “most important” of the year and urging employees to show up in person, Business Insider previously reported.

Reality Labs has been a costly bet for Meta, racking up more than $70 billion in losses since 2020. It has faced repeated rounds of cuts as Meta shifts its attention — and spending — toward AI.

In a memo obtained by Business Insider last year, Bosworth called 2025 “the most critical” year of his tenure and warned the outcome would determine whether Reality Labs is remembered as visionary work or “a legendary misadventure.”

Have a tip? Contact Pranav Dixit via email at pranavdixit@protonmail.com or Signal at 1-408-905-9124. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.




Source link

What-is-Delta-Force-The-elite-US-special-ops-unit.jpeg

What is Delta Force? The elite US special ops unit reported to be at the center of the raid to capture Venezuela’s Maduro

by with No Comment Xpandfy

At the center of the US operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife was an elite and secretive special operations group, per multiple reports.

Citing officials, outlets like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that Delta Force, alongside law enforcement personnel, carried out the extraction of Maduro as part of Operation Absolute Resolve, a surprise nighttime raid of the Venezuelan leader’s compound in Caracas.

Business Insider wasn’t able to independently confirm the participation of the elite unit in the operation. The Pentagon directed BI’s queries to the White House.

In discussions of the complex operation, President Donald Trump said only that it was executed by “the most highly trained soldiers in the world,” adding that “there’s nobody that has their talent.”


Caracas at sunset

Caracas, the capital of Venezuela

Juan BARRETO / AFP via Getty Images



The president may have been speaking about all of the personnel involved. US officials said that the operation to grab Maduro included land, air, sea, space, cyber, and intelligence forces. But Trump’s language could easily apply to Delta Force, a top-tier special operations unit.

Here is what we know about this elite force.

An essential but highly secretive group

Delta Force, officially known as the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (SFOD-D), is tasked with capturing and eliminating high-value targets. Like other tier-one special mission units, such as SEAL Team 6, Delta Force tackles some of the US Army’s most covert and complex tasks.

The special operations unit, founded by Col. Charlie Beckwith in the 1970s for direct combat action, unconventional warfare, and counterterrorism, is headquartered at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, also home to other Army special operations forces.

Operators train for rapid infiltration and exfiltration, intense close-quarters combat, precision marksmanship, demolition, hostage rescue, and more. Unlike some other units, Delta pulls the best warfighters it can from across the US armed forces, though it mainly draws from Army special operations forces. Known as “quiet professionals,” Delta Force operators generally do not speak openly about their activities.

Much of the elite force’s work is highly classified, but some Delta missions are public knowledge.

Delta Force was involved in the US operation, Just Cause, that ultimately led to the capture of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega during the 1989 invasion of Panama. And the group distinguished itself during the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, made famous by the book and film “Black Hawk Down.” Two snipers were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions.

This century, this unit was among the US special operations forces that surged into Afghanistan immediately after the 9/11 attacks, played a role in the 2003 capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, and was involved in the death of the infamous Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2019.


Aircraft, explosions, and smoke were seen across Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, from about 2 a.m. The US carried out strikes and captured the nation's president, Nicolás Maduro.

Aircraft, explosions, and smoke were seen across Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, during the US operation.

Reuters



And now reporting indicates Delta Force, along with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, was instrumental in capturing Maduro.

The assault on Venezuela and raid on Maduro’s compound

The US president and other US officials shared details of the raid that captured Maduro on Saturday.

Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the apprehension team broke into a fortified compound to capture Maduro after months of planning. US intelligence agencies watched and studied his patterns of life, while other teams trained for the operation on a replica of Maduro’s home. The US used a similar tactic to ready for the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound.

Reports indicate Delta Force was inserted into the target area by the 160th SOAR, the Night Stalkers famous for their ability to get special operators in and out of tough spots.

With fighters, bombers, electronic warfare planes, and more delivering strikes and providing air cover, Caine said the helicopters carrying the extraction team were able to reach their target with “totally the element of surprise.”

During the complex apprehension operation, American operators moved fast through the building to find Maduro and his wife, seizing them before they could get the door closed on a steel safe room.


Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrives in New York.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrives in New York.

Reuters



Trump said that Venezuela’s military was overwhelmed by US forces. Several American personnel were injured, the president said, and one of the helicopters was hit but remained flyable. No troops or equipment were lost in the operation.

The Trump administration is holding Maduro responsible for supporting narco-terrorism (drug trafficking) and other criminal activity. The recent operation is also about oil, with the administration accusing Venezuela of using oil revenue to fund malign activities. Maduro has denied the allegations.

Trump said on Saturday that the US would run Venezuela until a “safe, proper” election could occur. He also said that US oil companies would be entering the country, which has the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves.

To secure these operations, he said that he’s not ruling out putting US troops on the ground. He said the US military is ready to conduct more attacks if needed.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Maduro and his wife were charged in New York with drug and weapons offenses. He is due to appear in court.




Source link