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• We asked interior designers for their best tips on furniture and decor shopping at thrift stores.
• They said bringing a tape measure and physical color swatches will make shopping easier.
• One expert warned against purchasing anything that requires expensive repairs.

Although thrift stores can be a great place to find the perfect piece of furniture or decor, it’s also easy to waste money on low-quality items if you don’t know how to shop smart.

So, Business Insider asked interior designers to share the mistakes they see people make when shopping at secondhand stores.

Here’s what they said.

Skipping great frames because of ugly art

Cara Newhart, an interior designer and the host of the “Make Space” podcast, told BI that shoppers should never skip buying a high-quality frame just because the art isn’t their style.

“Even if you don’t like the art, you can save the frame and swap it out for a print that’s a perfect fit for your space,” Newhart said.

Forgetting to measure a room before shopping for furniture

Interior designer Veronica Sanders said it’s crucial to measure your space before heading to a thrift shop.

“Not measuring the dimensions of your space is such a common mistake,” Sanders said. “Write them down so you can compare the size of the furniture with the space you have available.”

Remember to bring a tape measure so you can assess the dimensions of any prospective purchases. 

Underestimating the cost of repairs

Although it’s normal to find fixer-uppers in a thrift store, Newhart cautioned against taking on a project that can take up too much time or budget.

“I’d avoid buying pieces that need to be fully reupholstered, totally refinished, or otherwise made over — unless you have the money or serious DIY skills required,” Newhart said.

Visiting only one thrift shop

Every thrift store has different stock, so don’t limit your shopping to just one. 

If you’re intent on hunting down the very best buys, try hitting multiple consignment shops in different parts of town or visiting a local flea market.

“Never make the mistake of thinking that one thrift shop has everything you need,” Sanders said. “You could be missing out on the perfect piece at another store.”

Trying to haggle using negativity

Secondhand-item and consignment dealers typically spend a great deal of time and energy acquiring pieces. So, it’s important to show respect while shopping.

If negotiating is welcomed, be sure to show your enthusiasm for a shop owner’s goods before venturing to make a deal.

“Negative comments like, ‘You can’t be serious,’ or, ‘It isn’t worth that much,’ are unlikely to result in a bargain,” Kimberley Seldon of Kimberley Seldon Design Group said.

Trying to recall colors from memory

Designers know it’s almost impossible to accurately recall colors from memory. That’s why it’s helpful to bring a physical sample of any hues you’re trying to match.

“Always shop with fabric or paint swatches to make your decisions easier,” Seldon told BI.

Passing on quality wooden pieces

Thrift stores are often filled with particleboard or faux-wood furniture, but they’re also a great place to find deals on high-quality pieces.

“A good, sturdy piece of wood furniture can be hard to find, so when you stumble upon a gem, it may be worth the splurge,” Sanders said.

She said old wooden dressers, coffee tables, and stools can be given new life with a fresh coat of paint or stain and a new cushion.

Shopping alone if you live with others

Going thrift shopping for furniture or decor can lead to household tension if you share your space with roommates or a partner.

“You may love that bright-red sofa, but it may be a total eyesore for your partner,” Sanders said. “It’s good to get second opinions and input from those you live with.”

Bringing your housemates along is even more important when shopping for big-ticket items or bulky pieces that may be difficult to get rid of or resell.

This story was originally published on March 24, 2022, and most recently updated on July 30, 2026.

• Only six movies released by US studios have ever crossed $2 billion at the box office, without adjusting for inflation.
• Using data from Box Office Mojo, here are the films to cross that threshold.
• James Cameron has directed three of the six films.

It’s a big deal when a movie crosses the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, but do you know what’s even cooler? $2 billion!

Only 6 movies released by US studios have ever passed the $2 billion mark. And it shouldn’t be a surprise that James Cameron and Marvel make up a large portion of these successes.

Here are the 6 movies that have grossed $2 billion at the box office.

Kirsten Acuna contributed to a previous version of this story.

6. “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)

Worldwide gross: $2,052,415,039

The traumatic cliffhanger at the end of “Infinity War” was a must-see, movie-going moment for fans. No one was expecting the film to end on such a grim note with Thanos (Josh Brolin) not only defeating the Avengers, but snapping away half of all life from existence.

When the film debuted, it set a new record for the biggest worldwide opening weekend with $640.9 million.

It crossed $1 billion in just 11 days.

In 48 days, the film crossed $2 billion worldwide.

5. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015)

Worldwide gross: $2,071,310,218

Disney’s return to a galaxy far, far away intrigued both old and new fans as it brought back original cast members and teamed them up with a new roster of characters.

At the time, “The Force Awakens” set a record for the biggest opening weekend ($247.9 million) and was previously the fastest film to pass $1 billion worldwide, in 12 days. It took 53 days to cross $2 billion.

4. “Titanic” (1997)

Worldwide gross: $2,264,812,968

The James Cameron-directed film was the first movie to cross $1 billion worldwide.

At the time, it was the most expensive movie made. The film finally crossed $2 billion during its rerelease in 3D in 2012.

3. “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2022)

Worldwide gross: $2,334,484,620

“Avatar: The Way of Water” became the first film to cross $2 billion theatrically since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Behind “Avengers: Endgame,” it became the second-fastest movie to cross $2 billion in just 39 days.

2. “Avengers: Endgame” (2019)

Worldwide gross: $2,799,439,100

Fans needed to know if the remaining Avengers could rise up, defeat Thanos, and reverse the effects of the end of “Infinity War.” They came out in droves as the film shattered box-office records, grossing over $1.2 billion worldwide opening weekend, nearly double that of the opening weekend for “Infinity War.”

It only took “Endgame” 11 days to cross $2 billion. That’s the same amount of time it took “Infinity War” to cross its first billion.

1. “Avatar” (2009)

Worldwide gross: $2,923,710,708

At the time, “Avatar,” following the 10-foot-tall Na’vi on their home of Pandora, became the fastest film to cross $1 billion, doing so in 19 days. It eventually crossed $2 billion in 47 days.

• Thinking Machines Lab cofounder Lilian Weng returns to OpenAI, leading an AI research team.
• Weng said she left Thinking Machines Lab for health reasons, writing that the gig was grueling.
• At OpenAI, she’ll support the high-stakes push to build AI models that can improve their successors.

Lilian Weng, a cofounder of the AI startup Thinking Machines Lab who stepped down this week, is rejoining OpenAI.

The researcher will lead a team focused on accelerating internal research at the ChatGPT maker, as part of OpenAI’s bid to develop AI that can improve itself, a company spokesperson told Business Insider.

Weng had shared on Monday that she would be leaving Thinking Machines after a grueling stretch at the startup, writing, “I don’t feel I’m able to continue at the pace a startup requires.”

“It has been an extremely hard decision, as I hate myself to let down people at Thinky but at the same time I’m constantly worried about my health,” she added, referring to the startup’s nickname.

Weng wrote that she still enjoys working in the field and reading papers about frontier AI progress, saying that a “scoped role in a more predictable place, and not as a cofounder” would suit her better.

That role will now be at OpenAI, the company where Weng worked from 2018 until late 2024, after stints at Facebook, Dropbox, and Affirm. During her first tenure at OpenAI, she helped build the Applied AI Research team and later led its Safety Systems work.

Weng and Thinking Machines Lab didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Previously, Weng helped develop OpenAI’s GPT-4 model, working on pretraining data, model safety, evaluations, and deployment.

Upon her return, Weng will lead a team supporting OpenAI’s high-stakes effort to achieve “recursive self-improvement,” in which AI models can train and improve their successors.

The OpenAI spokesperson praised Weng’s combination of research experience, technical know-how, and skill in building teams.

For Thinking Machines Lab, Weng’s departure is the latest of many. Business Insider, in May, reported that nearly a third of the company’s original founding members had left the startup since it launched.

Of the startup’s six cofounders, only two remain: Mira Murati, the CEO, and chief scientist John Schulman. Barret Zoph and Luke Metz left for OpenAI, while Andrew Tulloch left for Meta. Zoph left OpenAI in June, The Verge reported.

Mira Murati, the former OpenAI CTO who leads the startup, thanked Weng for her service on X after she announced her departure on Monday.

“We’ll miss you, it’s been wonderful building Thinky together,” Murati wrote. “I’m glad that you’re putting your health first. Thank you for everything.”

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• Ella Langley’s hit single “Choosin’ Texas” has emerged as 2026’s song of the summer.
• “Choosin’ Texas” is the third country song in four years to dominate Billboard’s summer charts.
• The pattern reflects how the genre has thrived in the easy-listening streaming era.

Nearly eight months into 2026, pop music fans are unusually awash with offerings from A-listers: Harry Styles, Drake, and Ariana Grande have all released chart-topping songs this year, not to mention that dancefloor legends like Madonna and Robyn have returned with long-awaited new albums. And yet, none of these hotshots has managed to claim the song of the summer.

Instead, listeners across the US have been following Ella Langley’s lead and “Choosin’ Texas” in droves — shunning synths and Max Martin-approved melodic math in favor of mandolins and pedal-steel guitars.

Surprised? I hate to break the news: You’re out of the loop. Summer has become the anointed season of country music.

To be fair, hyper-personalized algorithms are making it harder to see the world beyond our own niche tastes, beliefs, and preferences. Spending time online these days usually means getting spoon-fed music and opinions we already like and agree with. So if you’ve never listened to “Choosin’ Texas,” it would be tempting to assume its popularity is a mirage, or maybe even a calculated psyop — but numbers don’t lie, especially not at such swaggering scale. Langley has evidently charmed the nation.

This week, “Choosin’ Texas” notched its 15th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the definitive all-genre ranking of songs in the US.

Not only is that an extraordinary reign in our ever-fractured attention economy, but it’s also a record-breaking one. Langley’s twangy tune has surpassed Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” and Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” as the longest-leading solo hit by a woman (excluding “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” of course, because holiday music is a different beast entirely).

“Choosin’ Texas” has emerged as the crown jewel of Langley’s sophomore album, “Dandelion” in terms of commercial success — but it’s not a fluke. The song is joined on the Hot 100 this week by two more of Langley’s hit singles: “I Can’t Love You Anymore” at No. 4 and “Be Her” at No. 8, both of which have hovered within the chart’s top 10 for months.

Country music is winning the streaming wars

It’s one thing to chase mass appeal — to make a song that’s as inoffensive to a teenager scrolling TikTok as to a grandma catching snippets of top-40 music in the grocery store — but it’s quite another to convince those people to return to your offering over and over, on their own time.

“Choosin’ Texas” has done just that.

The song has also been sitting comfortably at No. 1 on Billboard’s Streaming Songs chart for the past four months, which means its popularity isn’t simply owed to radio DJs and industry gatekeepers, but to real people who keep pressing play.

It appears Langley has crafted an earworm that enchants rather than annoys. When I asked a friend how she discovered “Choosin’ Texas,” she told me, “I’m actually not sure I’ve heard it in the wild, but I hear it in my head all the time.” Does she like it? “It’s like crack to me.”

Data from the jukebox company TouchTunes indicates that Langley is also dominating the social soundtrack. A recent poll conducted by TouchTunes asked its app users to predict the 2026 song of the summer, and “Choosin’ Texas” was the clear winner with over 49% of the vote. For comparison, second place went to Bruno Mars’ “I Just Might” with 15%, while Drake’s “Shabang” earned 8%.

“Capturing nearly half the vote in a field this broad is certainly notable,” TouchTunes VP of Music Licensing & Strategy Angela Abbott told me. “It also reflects a larger shift we’re beginning to see on the platform: a new generation of country artists is increasingly competing with, and sometimes rising above, the established and catalog acts that have traditionally performed well with our audience.”

Abbott noted this trend is especially visible in the summer — the season most associated with packed social calendars.

“Country music is particularly well-suited to social environments because so much of it is built around recognizable stories, singalong moments, and the experience of going out and having fun,” Abbott said.

Windows down. Brain off.

Much like her fellow country star Morgan Wallen, who duets with Langley on “I Can’t Love You Anymore,” Langley stands out less as a singular voice or songwriting talent and more as a preeminent vibe curator. Her biggest hits are light and undemanding, suitable for a windows-down road trip or a laid-back beach day.

Both sonically and lyrically, Langley strives for cool-girl nonchalance. In “Choosin’ Texas,” the singer’s man is leaving her for another woman, yet Langley delivers this tragic news with a wave of her manicured hand: “There’s nothin’ I can do,” she sings in the chorus. “It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see / A cowboy always finds a way to leave.” (Maybe she’s heard that having a boyfriend is embarrassing now?) In “Be Her,” Langley continues to shed her worldly attachments, venerating a girl who “don’t need validation or much of anything.”

In this way, Langley typifies this decade’s upsurge of country music, a genre that’s thrived in the streaming era. Spotify’s low-cost, low-effort business model rewards the kind of easy listening that fans can readily fold into their everyday lives — music that sounds how the dog days of summer feel. As Wallen fan Devin Selvala told me last year, when it comes to country, it’s about “the aesthetic” as much as the production or message.

“When I think of country music, I think of long drives, being with my friends, feet in the grass, sunny and 75, beers in the cooler,” she said.

All signs point to “Choosin’ Texas” reaching Labor Day as summer’s defining hit — the third country song in four years to earn that distinction, following Wallen’s “Last Night” in 2023 and Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” in 2024. All three topped the Hot 100 for double-digit weeks and broke chart records. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that’s a pattern worth paying attention to.

• Zohran Mamdani plans to open five city-run grocery stores by 2029.
• He announced that core goods will have a 30% discount over traditional private retailers.
• It’s unclear how the city-run stores will impact business for small, local grocers.

Zohran Mamdani’s chain of city-run grocery stores — one of his most notable campaign promises — will offer kitchen staples at a steep discount. With crushing overhead costs, some local businesses may struggle to compete.

The mayor said the stores will offer a 30% discount on the “most common and most critical groceries for families,” like fresh produce, meat, and dairy. New York City has allocated $70 million in the capital budget to launch the stores, which will be subsidized by municipal funding once open.

From prices to historical precedent, here are Business Insider’s biggest takeaways from the plan.

Shoppers could stand to save

Mamdani’s city-run stores — set to open by 2029 — will be located in each of the five boroughs, with the Bronx given first priority, with a planned opening at the end of 2027. The administration said its store locations will be based on “where need is highest,” and that it is using economic data to identify priority neighborhoods.

Grocery prices in US cities have jumped by 25% in the past five years, slightly outpacing overall inflation, and a 2024 Sienna Poll found that nearly 80% of New Yorkers regularly worried about affording meals.

The 30% discount Mamdani announced, which will apply regardless of household income, will include core goods such as meat, seafood, fresh produce, dairy, and pantry staples. The Mayor’s Office projected New Yorkers who are able to take advantage of the lower prices would save an average of 15% on their grocery bills, or about $90 a month.

The administration said that prices for core grocery items will be locked in monthly and updated periodically to reflect market conditions. And, similar to retailers like Trader Joe’s, the stores will launch their own private label, “NYC Groceries,” across a variety of categories.

“The savings will last for the entire month,” he said. “That means no weekly fluctuations nor sticker shock at the checkout line; not for our seniors living on fixed incomes nor for the parents who rely on a regular supply of apple slices to keep toddler tantrums at bay.”

Mamdani’s camp also hopes that, alongside offering New Yorkers cheaper groceries, the city-run stores will provide more local job opportunities. The city will ask operators to participate in a Labor Peace Agreement to provide workers with benefits and “family sustaining wages.”

City-run stores have been tried before

Mamdani’s plan will partner city-run supermarkets with private grocery store operators. The city will set requirements for design, standards, and pricing, but leave these third parties to run the stores on a daily basis. The administration is using a similar public-private partnership approach for affordable housing developments.

Still, city-run stores aren’t a fresh concept. NYC already has six markets that are overseen by the Economic Development Corporation, a quasi-public nonprofit that manages city-owned property. Because the city can offer grocers cheaper rent, the food in those stores is typically cheaper than at private retailers.

There are examples of this across America. St. Paul, a small Kansas town with just over 600 residents, has maintained a town-run store for more than a decade. City-owned stores in Kansas City and Baldwin, Florida, however, both closed due to financial challenges.

While not run by local governments, many military bases also have commissaries selling tax-free groceries and household items at a discount — thanks to federal oversight.

Local businesses are feeling skeptical

NYC is more than a year away from the opening of its first city-run store, but some local businesses are already feeling uneasy.

Private grocery stores typically have a razor-thin profit margin — between 1% and 3% — due to high overhead costs for food, rent, staff, equipment, and inflationary pressure.

Smaller businesses like bodegas, fruit stands, and convenience stores often struggle to net a profit, too. More than a dozen street food vendors told Business Insider this spring that the steep cost of food, along with a dwindling customer base, makes it challenging to earn a living. Some critics of Mamdani worry that city-run grocery stores will create unsustainable competition with these small businesses.

• I always thought college was worth the money, but now I’m in $100,000 of student loan debt.
• I live under the crushing weight of student loan debt, and it’s a constant source of stress.
• Although I question if college was worth it, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without it.

When I was growing up, my mom told me that education is never wasted. I was fortunate to grow up in a household where college was on the table.

Having graduated from high school one year early, I started my associate degree shortly after my 17th birthday. For two years, I studied zoo technology. Upon graduating, I decided to transfer to a four-year school to pursue my bachelor’s degree. I went on to study biology and chemistry, but after one semester, I changed majors to exercise science and minored in wilderness education.

Changing majors and minors required me to take on additional credits to meet the requirements of my new degree track. Another three years went by, and I graduated with my B.S.

I enjoyed school — learning had always felt exciting. So, I decided to pursue a master’s degree. Two semesters later, the weight of my student loans began to creep up on me. Payments would soon be approaching, and I couldn’t focus on anything but the amount of money I would have to fork over.

I was getting myself into a hole I knew I would never be able to climb out of. I withdrew from the program a few weeks later in an effort to avoid taking out additional loans.

Crippling student debt now haunts me

I was just a kid when I started taking out student loans. I was eager to leave high school and begin my college journey, as most teenagers are. I knew I’d have debt to pay off down the road, but I wasn’t expecting my debt to be so extreme at such a young age,

The majority of my debt is owed to a private student loan company with astronomical interest rates. Now, I’m left with overwhelming monthly payments and two degrees that I’m not using. I’m a writer; I haven’t stepped inside a zoo in years, and I never did use my exercise science degree.

My initial quote for a monthly student loan bill was roughly $1,570. Several tearful phone calls later, and after falling behind on payments, my loan company was willing to shave $1,000 off my monthly payments. This is only a temporary solution, however; the amount due will spike back up.

In private loans, I owe just over $107,000. Income-driven repayment plans are not available through my issuer, and refinancing is not an option for many. There is little help out there for those going through private companies. By the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late.

Was college worth it?

I think back to what my mom told me about education never being wasted, and I do stand by that statement. Had I not gone to college, I am certain I would not have found a career in writing. My path to becoming a writer has been anything but traditional, but attending college allowed me to experience a variety of career paths and find where I truly belong.

I will forever be haunted by student debt, and it’s a very real possibility that I will never live my adult life debt-free. That pains me.

Every time I go to make a payment, I question my decision to go to college in the first place. I’ve always been frugal due to severe anxiety about money, even in high school, but now it’s exacerbated.

I’m teaching myself how to live a fulfilling life even with debt following me everywhere I go. Happiness and debt do not go hand in hand, but the only way out is through.

If I could go back in time and do it all over again, I’d still choose to attend college, but with micro-adjustments. This was a part of my journey to becoming a writer, and if I were to change anything about my path, I suspect I wouldn’t be doing what I do today.