Shawn Baldwin

Walmart's hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas has become a boomtown with many amenities you might expect to find in New York or San Francisco – fancy restaurants, craft cocktails, bike paths and a world-class art museum. The town has more cranes per capita than any other U.S. city as Walmart builds a 350-acre new headquarters. Bentonville's population is expected to triple by 2050. But with the boom comes big-city economic challenges. CNBC's Melissa Repko travels to Bentonville for the story.

Copper is essential to modern life delivering electricity to our homes and powering our electronic devices. It is also a critical mineral central to the energy transition. An electric vehicle, for example, uses about three to four times the amount of copper as a typical combustion engine vehicle. But mining companies are having a hard time keeping up.

Maersk faces a range of challenges including Red Sea diversions, a drought at the Panama Canal and a potential strike maritime workers.

The average annual premium for full coverage auto insurance in the U.S. rose 26% from 2023 to 2024, according to Bankrate.

Nescafé is sold in 180 countries and has 25 factories globally. Worldwide one in seven cups of coffee consumed is a Nescafé.

Americans drank an estimated 517 million cups of coffee daily in 2022 spending almost $110 billion on the beverage that year. Cold brews, expresso-based beverages and perfectly roasted beans are among the top drinks for today’s coffee aficionados. But one segment of the U.S. market has given up ground. Instant coffee, the kind that dissolves in hot water, has seen consumption fall to just 4% of American coffee drinkers. By comparison 25% of the coffee consumed globally is instant.

With 25 factories globally, Nescafé is sold in 180 countries. Worldwide one in seven cups of coffee consumed is a Nescafé.

KFC is one of the world’s largest fast food chains with more than 29,000 restaurants and a new location opening every three and a half hours. But while much of the brand’s early success came from the U.S., today the majority of its growth is in China. The first KFC franchise opened in Salt Lake City in 1952 but the chain didn’t get its start in China until 1987. A leg up on the competition and an infusion of Chinese characteristics into the menu were key to its early success in China.

While much of KFC’s early success came from the U.S., today the majority of its growth is in China.

The U.S. is running out of miners. More than half the nation’s mining workforce, about 220,000 workers, is expected to retire by 2029, and the number of candidates willing to fill those slots is shrinking. Nearly two-thirds of mining CEOs say the lack of talent will have a “large or very large impact on profitability” over the next decade, according to PwC’s annual Global CEO Survey. At the same time, demand for minerals such as lithium, cobalt and copper, critical components used to make batter…

The U.S. has more than 12,500 active mines but an aging workforce is causing headaches for the industry.

Global demand for copper, a major component of electric vehicles, is expected to almost double from 25 million metric tons to nearly 49 million metric tons by 2035, according to S&P Global.

About half of America’s copper supply is imported and that could jump to two-thirds by 2035, according to S&P Global.

The U.S. had more than 63,000 grocery stores and supermarkets in 2023, employing nearly three million people.

To boost its customer base Walmart has enhanced its online shopping experience, added robots to its warehouses and ramped up programs like drone and direct-to-fridge delivery. It’s also expanded its late night delivery offerings.

Outfitted with cameras and sensors, autonomous inventory robots can verify price signs and look for out-of-stock items. Inventory is one of the biggest challenges retailers face. Missed sales from empty shelves and out-of-stock items cost U.S. retailers $82 billion in 2021, according to NielsenIQ. But an army of inventory robots is being deployed that could help retailers appease angry customers, boost sales and respond to the ongoing worker shortage.

McDonald’s opened over 700 new restaurants in China in 2022, an all-time high. It plans to add an additional 900 stores in the country this year.

Struggling to find workers and eager to relieve staff from boring, repetitive tasks, fast-food restaurant chains are adding robots to their kitchens.

The global hearing aid market was valued at over $10 billion in 2021. Critics argue that the five largest manufacturers, who control more than 90% of the market, have kept prices high. But a recent ruling by the Food and Drug Administration allowing for the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids could improve access for millions. The new devices, for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss, cost as little as $199 and can be purchased at retailers like Best Buy, CVS and Walmart.

The global hearing aid market was valued at over $10 billion in 2021. Critics say the five largest manufacturers, who control 90% of the market, keep prices up.