Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest coffee chain, expects rising coffee prices to hit profits more than it previously thought and forecast full-year earnings below analysts expectations.
That news sent its shares down more than 2 percent, even as the company reported profits and U.S. sales that handily topped Wall Street’s targets. Get the full story »
James Tyree, the Mesirow Financial chief executive who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October four years after undergoing kidney and pancreas transplants, told employees of his Chicago-based financial services firm on Wednesday that thanks to chemotherapy “the cancer has not spread, and it is shrinking.”
Tyree, also chairman and owner of Sun-Times Media, suffered from Type 1 diabetes for 25 years, and in late 2006 had a kidney and pancreas transplant that he said essentially cured the diabetes. He has also had four eye surgeries and a defibrillator implanted in his chest. Get the full story »
Passengers of United Continental Holdings Inc. should expect a more seamless flying experience by late spring on the recently merged United and Continental Airlines.
By the end of the second quarter, customers will be able to check in for flights at United or Continental counters, the carrier’s two Web sites will operate and sell tickets as an integrated network and the new branding strategy will be apparent, first at United’s hubs. Get the full story »
Lake County officials are bracing for the loss of more than 1,000 jobs at the Abbott Laboratories headquarters near North Chicago. Today, one county board member called the job losses “tragic,” and the chairman said he was “upset, disturbed and alarmed.”
The job cuts in Lake County are more than half of the company’s national cuts slated for the next two years. The blow could be particularly hard in Lake County because Abbott Inc. is its second largest employer — with about 15,700 workers, according to statistics compiled by Lake County Partners. Get the full story »
Isaiah Mustafa in and Old Spice You Tube ad. (Old Spice)
Old Spice’s suave, shirtless advertising star is taking a ride around the world in new commercials for the Procter & Gamble Co. brand.
In an indicator of the campaign’s popularity, there first is a 30-second “coming attractions”-type trailer going online Wednesday which takes you beyond former football player Isaiah Mustafa’s muscular torso — to his “striking brown eyes,” if he does say so himself.
In another effort to keep the buzz going for the YouTube hit, a yet-to-be-named “superfan” will get to debut the commercial on his or her own social network page or feed, sometime before Super Bowl Sunday. Get the full story>>
Chicago-based Tribune Co. said Wednesday that operating cash flow at its two largest publishing units — the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune — was essentially flat in 2010 compared to 2009, while overall operating cash flow increased $140 million to $635 million.
“The past year showed substantial improvement over 2009,” Chandler Bigelow, Tribune Co.’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. Get the full story »
Boeing Co. said Wednesday it expects to deliver at least 25 of its delay-prone 787 Dreamliner and 747-8 jumbo jets this year, but doesn’t anticipate that the planes will give any near-term lift to its financial results.
Production cost over-runs and penalty payments to pacify airline customers mean Boeing won’t make money off those deliveries, executives told analysts and reporters during a quarterly earnings call, admitting the Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer remains concerned about the overall profitability of the best-selling Dreamliner. Get the full story »
Whole Foods Market will move its Midwest regional headquarters to 640 N. LaSalle St., taking 36,000 square feet at the seven-story building on the block bordered by LaSalle, Ontario, Wells and Erie streets, according to leasing agent Jones Lang LaSalle.
The food retailer’s local regional headquarters is at 3241 N. Lincoln Ave., in West Lakeview, where it has 24,000 square feet.
Walgreen Co. has quietly rolled out a private label brew. The product, Big Flats 1901, will carry a suggested retail price of $2.99 for a six-pack of cans and $11.49 for a 24-pack, the company said.
It will be the private label beer for Deerfield-based Walgreens in states where it’s allowed. Prices may vary by region. The chain began selling the beer in mid-December and it’s now available in more than 4,000 locations, a company spokesman said. Get the full story »
U.S. mortgage lending is projected to sink 36 percent this year to the lowest level since 1997, a trade group said Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association forecast new loans will fall to $966 billion in 2011 from $1.5 trillion this year. Get the full story »
Sara Lee Corp. has rejected a takeover offer valued between $18.70 and $20 a share from a private equity group led by Apollo Global Management LP, a source familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
Sara Lee has been weighing splitting up the company into separate meat and beverage units, or accepting a takeover offer. Sara Lee’s board was scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday to weigh its options, a source previously told Reuters. Get the full story »
National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell will reduce his annual salary to $1 if the sports league has a work stoppage next season, the NFL Network said Wednesday.
In a letter to the league’s 32 owners obtained by the NFL Network, Goodell also said Jeff Pash, the league’s chief negotiator with the NFL players’ union, also will reduce his annual pay to $1 if next season is not played. The NFL also would hold back bonuses for league officials until April. Get the full story »
New home sales climbed 17.5 percent in December to the highest level in eight months, the government reported Wednesday.
Sales of newly built single-family homes rose to an annual rate of 329,000 units last month, from a revised 280,000 units the month before, the Commerce Department said. That was the highest level since April but still down 7.6 percent from 2009. Get the full story »
Women who have breast implants may be at greater risk for a rare but serious cancer, U.S. health regulators warned Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration said it is looking at a possible link between silicone and saline breast implants and a type of anaplastic large cell lymphoma, which targets the immune system. The agency said overall it still believes implants are safe. Get the full story »
