🔥Facebook fiasco: GameStop pays $4.5M fine; Hulen-area shopping center sold; Lights out--Tom Bodett sues Motel 6.

Whitestone REIT acquired 5000 South Hulen, an 86,907-square-foot shopping center adjacent to Hulen Mall with tenants that include Sephora, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Potbelly, Sports Clips, Kincaid’s Hamburgers and Jamba Juice.

REV Entertainment, the official sports and entertainment partner of the Texas Rangers, and Ludex, a sports and trading card scanner app with more than three million collectors, have partnered “to bring fans closer to the sports and collectibles they love,” said Brian Ludden, CEO and Founder of Ludex. The agreement includes the Rangers, Cleburne Railroaders and Kane County Cougars in Illinois. 

GameStop agreed to pay $4.5 million to its customers after allegations of privacy law violations. The gaming retailer was accused of sharing personal customer information with Facebook without consent.

The National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame officially announced its $19-million expansion plan after Fort Worth officials voted to aid with $6.5 million in April. The 16,000-square-foot expansion includes a new entrance, carousel, fashion gallery and photo gallery. Finish date is expected to be during November.

Juneteenth is tomorrow. Also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, it commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Fort Worth resident Opal Lee played a significant role in the movement to make it a national holiday. Check your city website for information on closures and city services.

Voice actor Tom Bodett is suing Motel 6 for $1.2 million, claiming it missed an annual payment for his deal as spokesman. Since 1986, he’s the guy who says “We’ll leave the light on for you.” The contract was set to end in November, but Bodett broke up with the brand after the missed payment; he claims Motel 6 is still using his name and voice without permission.

A Lockheed Martin executive says the company has completed the software updates necessary for the TR-3 upgrade in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. All that awaits is the official sign-off from the U.S. government.

PMG launched Alli Marketplace, a marketing technology app exchange built directly into its Alli marketing operating system. Alli Marketplace allows brands to seamlessly activate leading and emerging technologies and is fully embedded within media, audience planning, and creative workflows.

Fonroche Lighting America will supply Fort Worth with more than 3,400 solar-powered streetlights, funded by $12 million allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act. The initiative aims to improve safety, sustainability and community infrastructure across 30 neighborhoods, and projects to save about $3 million annually in energy costs.

Quick Custom Intelligence, a player in generative driven enterprise platforms, said it had a successful deployment of its QCI Customer Power Pack at the Fort Worth Stockyards, in partnership with Stockyards Heritage Development Co. The company said it was a milestone as it brings its analytics and engagement tools into the retail and hospitality space.

The Twisted X and Cook Children's shoe collection is growing...into adult sizes. Started in 2023 to raise funds for the Therapeutic Art Program at the Fort Worth and Prosper medical centers, the partnership earns the hospital 100 percent of the wholesale proceeds from each shoe purchase.

Lots of folks are involved and taking credit for Texas securing $13.5 billion in President Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” for Texas border wall reimbursement. Gov. Abbott says Texas' expenses have been at least $11 billion.

Coppell-based home decor and furniture retailer At Home is filing for bankruptcy as part of a restructuring to eliminate $2 billion in debt. Twenty-six At Home stores are slated to close; none are in Texas.

Grapevine-Colleyville and Carroll ISDs led local elementary and middle school scores in the Spring State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR). Statewide, reading scores rose and math remains a problem to solve. 

Next big ad trend: A 30-second TV spot generated entirely by AI aired during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, and it only cost $2,000 to produce. Sports betting platform Kalshi hired AI filmmaker PJ Accetturo, who took two days to create what he called "the most unhinged NBA Finals commercial possible." Creating a similar commercial pre-AI could have boasted a seven-figure price tag and taken months to complete. Watch it here.

Snippets:

• Galderma, once headquartered in Fort Worth, then Dallas, has moved to Miami. 

• Falck USA launched ambulance operations in Fort Worth.

• Home sellers now outnumber buyers by the most since 2013.

• A documentary about the 2022 synagogue hostage crisis in Colleyville speaks to extremism today, rabbi says.

Daily digit: Annual deaths are projected to outpace annual births in the U.S. by 2033, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Significant stat: The chances that an average American attended a party on any given weekend has fallen from 1/16 in 2004 to 1/25 in 2024, per federal data.

Believe it or not: Using a phone on the toilet increases people’s risk of developing hemorrhoids by ~46%, according to a study.

Announcements:

• Fort Worth Club: Adds Gloria Starling as Director of Operations. 

• Standard Meat Company: Appoints Bill Chandler Director of Supply Chain.

• North Texas Community Foundation: Adds Sabrina Conner as Community Impact Program Officer and William Abigail as Advisor Relations Specialist.

• TCU: Hires Jacqueline Navarrete as first Director of the Innovation Network that is part of the University Strategy and Innovation Office team.

• Lockheed Martin: Names Craig Martell Chief Technology Officer.

• M. Gale: Names founder and President Missy Gale its Chief Executive Officer. Appoints Laura Hutyra President.

• Hotel Association of Tarrant County: Promotes Julie Faver-Dylla to President, CEO. Selects Damian O’Connor, General Manager of the Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown, to Chairman of the Board.

• Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: Promotes Gilberto Atayde to Vice President of Operations. 

• Fort Worth Public Events Department: Names Cynthia Serrano Deputy Director. She also will remain Assistant Director (General Manager of Operations) for the Fort Worth Convention Center while it undergoes a $701-million expansion. 

• Argent Trust Company: Names Konrad S. Halbert it’s north Texas regional executive.

• Hays County: Hires Tarrant County Chief of Staff Kandice Boutté as County Administrator. 

• First United Bank: Names Jesse Jackson D-FW Regional President.

• Timely Care: Receives recognition on Inc.’s Best Workplaces and Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Texas lists for 2025.

• Dallas Housing Authority, Housing Solutions for North Texas: Appoints Sonya Barnette, formerly of Fort Worth Housing Solutions, as Chief Administrative Officer.

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