US health regulators issued a warning letter to Morton Grove-based health food products manufacturer Lifeway Foods, saying certain products of the company were wrongly marketed as drugs on its website. Get the full story »
Target typically undercuts Wal-Mart on prices
Shoppers at a Target on Elston Ave. in December. (Phil Velasquez/Chicago Tribune)
Wal-Mart’s slogan may be “Save Money. Live Better,” but rival Target is challenging it by offering even lower prices on everyday products.
Two recent price comparisons of grocery and household goods revealed that Target’s prices are lower than at No. 1 retailer Wal-Mart.
Craig Johnson, president of retail consulting firm Customer Growth Partners, compared 35 brand-name items sold at Wal-Mart and Target stores in New York, Indiana and North Carolina. They consisted of 22 common grocery goods such as milk, cereal and rice; 10 general merchandise products such as clothing and home furnishings; and three health and beauty items. Get the full story »
Testimony begins on utility rates, smart grid
Springfield – Consumer advocates, environmental groups, utilities, government officials and business leaders laid out their wish lists Tuesday for legislation aimed at modernizing the electrical grid, signaling that a version of the bill with added protections for consumers and businesses could have a future in Springfield.
The testimony at a joint hearing of the House Public Utilities and the Senate Energy committees will ultimately be used to hash out the details of Commonwealth Edison-backed legislation that calls for an overhaul of the regulatory process used to set utility rates. Get the full story »
Tyree hospitalized with pneumonia
Mesirow Financial Chief Executive James Tyree, who has been battling cancer, was recently hospitalized with pneumonia.
“They are treating his infection and he’s feeling stronger every day,” Mesirow President Richard Price said in an e-mail to workers Tuesday. “Doctors generally expect some side-effects and complications during an aggressive chemotherapy regimen.”
Tyree, who also heads Sun Times Media, had suffered from diabetes for years and had a transplant operation a few years ago. Get the full story »
Exelon CEO: Congress should ‘do nothing’ on energy policy
John W. Rowe. (Chuck Berman/Chicago Tribune)
Natural gas will remain cheaper than other sources of electricity generation for “a long time,” Exelon Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive John W. Rowe said Tuesday.
“I have never seen a time, not once, where one fuel source seems to be so dominant for so long,” said Rowe, one of the senior utility executives in the U.S. and former head of two utility trade organizations in Washington. “The supply-demand equations for gas are very powerful and I believe they are real for a long time.”
As a result of those economics, Rowe said, the U.S. Congress should “do nothing” on energy policy and allow the market to replace aging coal generating plants with natural gas, which releases less carbon than coal when burned. Get the full story »
O’Hare among 8 airports opening to Cuba flights
Eight new airports have been given permission to schedule charter flights to and from Cuba.
Customs and Border Protection officials say charter flights to Cuba can be scheduled from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and international airports in Baltimore, Dallas/Fort Worth, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Atlanta and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Get the full story »
Skechers sues Sears over toning-shoe patents
Skechers USA Inc. Tuesday said it filed a lawsuit against Sears Holdings Corp., alleging the retailer sells footwear that infringes some of the shoe company’s products.
The footwear design and marketing firm alleged Sears sells products at its namesake and Kmart retail stores that infringe Sketcher’s Shape-ups, Twinkle Toes and Z-Strap product lines. Skechers is the market leader in the toning segment — shoes that promise to burn calories and firm muscles. Get the full story »
Demand for gas drops on higher prices
U.S retail gasoline demand fell last week as prices rose in all U.S. regions, MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse report showed Tuesday.
Average gasoline demand fell 1.8 percent, to 8.953 million barrels-per-day, in the week to March 4. Get the full story »
Sprint reportedly reopens talks for T-Mobile
Sprint Nextel Corp. and Deutsche Telekom AG are again discussing options for combining Sprint with the German company’s U.S. subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, though a deal is unlikely in the near term, people familiar with the matter said.
A deal would combine the third and fourth largest wireless carriers in the U.S. and create a substantial counterweight to industry leaders AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson recalls insulin cartridges
Johnson & Johnson, which has been beset by a seemingly endless stream of product recalls, has recalled five lots of potentially leaky insulin pump cartridges that could lead to serious health problems and death.
It also has been warned by the Food and Drug Administration over manufacturing concerns for heart devices made at its Cordis unit’s San German, Puerto Rico facility. Get the full story »
Wintrust to build ‘community,’ network banks
Wintrust Financial Corp., which has long downplayed its corporate name in favor of touting its individual community banks, plans to give each of its 15 lending institutions the “sub-brand” of “A Wintrust Community Bank.”
The $14 billion-asset lender also disclosed on Monday that, for the first time, customers at one of its community banks will be able to conduct business at another one by late summer. Get the full story »
U.S. warns against Abbott drug in premature babies
U.S. health officials cautioned against the use of Abbott Laboratories’ HIV drug Kaletra in premature babies because they could be at greater risk for serious and possibly fatal side effects.
In a warning issued on Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration said oral solutions of the drug given to premature babies could raise the risk of serious heart, kidney, or breathing trouble. Get the full story »
CME senior exec confident about U.S. position
The proposed combination of Europe’s biggest futures markets will do little to help NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse AG compete against CME Group Inc. in the U.S., a senior CME executive said Tuesday.
“Putting together their pools of liquidity doesn’t really create competitive advantages for them,” said Jamie Parisi, chief financial officer for the Chicago-based exchange company, speaking at an event hosted by Raymond James. Get the full story »
Groupon’s first post-Super Bowl ad more minimal
Blink and you’ll miss it — Groupon Inc. is wrapping up a short television ad campaign this week that features a stripped-down spot touting the Chicago-based company’s variety of daily deals.
The short ad shows pages of a calendar being ripped off as the voiceover describes the kinds of deals Groupon offers, such as restaurants, spa, lessons and museums. Keeping with the company’s cheeky sense of humor, the days of the week on the calendar are nonsense words such as “Grund” and “Slomberday.” Get the full story »
Warner Bros. to offer movies through Facebook
Warner Bros. Digital Distribution said it would make some of its films available on Facebook, opening up a new source of revenue for the Internet social network and marking new competition for online entertainment companies.
Consumers can pay for the movies using Facebook Credits, Warner Bros. said on Tuesday. Until now, the virtual currency developed by Facebook has been primarily used in the social games that are popular on the site.
The first movie available on the Warner Bros. Entertainment page on Facebook’s site is “The Dark Knight,” which consumers can rent for 30 Facebook Credits, or $3. Get the full story »
