☀️What will Phil do? A library with 1,300 bottles? Stock up: FirstCash

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Happy Groundhog Day — Today, several oddly dressed men will hold a rodent in the air before a crowd of revelers and announce his weather forecast. Here’s the story behind Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil.

Marketing madness: In a scenario similar to that from the 1993 movie, Frito Lay created eight different ‘Groundhog Day’ ads to run repeatedly on ABC all day today, buying up one-third of the network’s inventory. Actor Stephen Tobolowsky goes through a scenario in which he is stuck repeating his actions in a time loop — with a different flavor of Lay’s in each run-through.

In partnership with Open Rewards, the City of Southlake is offering an app to benefit shoppers and encourage patronage of its businesses. Consumers who link a debit/credit card or PayPal will receive 5% cash back for purchases at more than 320 businesses throughout Southlake. The program funds are in the fiscal 2023-24 budget, with the money coming from hotel occupancy taxes. The program is for anyone who shops in Southlake, and there is no limit on the amount of cash back earned.

A Tarrant County College District economic impact study reveals an annual added income of $2.1 billion, equivalent to 1.4% of the county's gross regional product. This impact supports 26,222 jobs. The numbers say TCC alumni contribute $1.7 billion, current students add $93 million, and the college injects $267 million through operational spending.

Texas whiskey maker Oak & Eden will open a tasting room and craft bar at Shops at Clearfork on February 10. In addition to whiskey, craft cocktails and light bites will be offered. Oak & Eden has a 1,300-bottle library where shoppers can create and buy bottles of whiskey with a personal flavor profile and a customized label. Just in time for Valentine’s Day (hint, hint).

The Founders Arena WealthTech Accelerator in Arlington is opening applications for its second cohort, which will take place during 16 weeks beginning in April. Applications will remain open until March 8th. 

Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide, which expects to double its footprint to 250 hotels, has signed with Southlake-based Sabre Corporation for its global central reservation system, SynXis.

Fort Worth-based FirstCash shares hit a 52-week high Thursday at $119.68, up $4.91. Its principal business is pawn shops.

Believe it or not: A Pizza Hut in Ontario, Canada went viral when a sign it posted had an unfortunate typo. Upon being informed of the mistake, the good-natured restaurant manager posted another sign with a special pizza offer that read, “No tip required."

Home foreclosures in Texas are climbing. There were 28,533 properties posted for forced sale last year in Texas, according to data used by ATTOM. Only California (29,180) had more. The large D-FW metro area, where home prices more than doubled the last ten years, had 6,348 home foreclosure filings. Most were in Dallas County, with 2,394 properties, and Tarrant County, with 1,578.

American students are recovering from the pandemic, but new data shows school districts are improving at different rates (based on math scores). Some in Tarrant County are lagging way behind state and national averages. See how yours is doing.

Significant stat: A visual look at America’s $20 trillion economy state by state. Texas’ economy is comparable to the size of countries such as Russia or South Korea.

The list of most expensive private high schools in North Texas, according to Niche and the Dallas Business Journal, has been released. Greenhill School in Addison topped the list with an annual tuition of $38,050. Tarrant County schools ranked as follows:

Half full, half empty kind of mood: U.S. consumer sentiment soared to 78.8 during January - its highest point since July 2021, and well above 69.7 in December. But the Fed says inflation isn’t beaten yet.

Employed but unhappy? Fed Chair Jerome Powell calls the labor market “strong,” yet many Americans feel discouraged about their job prospects.

People on the move:

• Tarrant County College: Promotes Antonio Allen to interim General Counsel

• Texas Regional Bank: Adds Mandy Austin as President of Commercial Banking and North Texas Region

• West Texas National Bank: Adds David Stout as VP-Commercial Relationship Manager D-FW

• Merit Street Media: Hires Anne Joline Gimbel as Senior Digital Producer

• Wilson Elser: Neely Fortinberry joins as Of Counsel

• Cantey Hanger: Board-certified Paralegal Julie K. Sherman named Paralegal Coordinator; adds Jennifer DeBourge as Litigation Paralegal

Snippets:

• Sneak peek: Millions are spent on Super Bowl ads, with some as or more memorable than the game. Click here to see a dozen 2024 Super Bowl commercials that will air on February 11. 

• What were the ten most expensive private home deals of 2023? Waterfront properties were the star of this year's list, with coastal estates in The Hamptons, Palm Beach and Connecticut selling for blockbuster numbers.

Last poll: What’s the most important quality for a company leader to have? The top 3 attributes out of 10 choices were integrity (23%), vision (17%), and respect (13%).