Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
It’s a good time to shop for clothes for teens.
Average prices at teen retailers this June are at their lowest levels in almost a year, as stores “are heavy on promotions this month,” according to Eric Beder, a Brean Murray Carret analyst who conducts a monthly pricing study on teen retailers.
Price levels reached a new low for the teen retailers that Brean tracks since it began the pricing study last August.
Get the full story »
It turns out Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp. need each other after all.
After months of contract negotiations, punctuated by a two-week public brawl, the two drug store giants announced Friday that they have settled a dispute that threatened to prevent thousands of people from getting their prescriptions filled at Walgreens stores.
At issue: How Caremark, one of the nation’s biggest prescription plan operators, prices discounts for prescriptions filled at Walgreens pharmacies, which often compete fiercely with CVS stores on nearby street corners around the United States. Get the full story »
Borders Group Inc. Chief Financial Officer Mark Bierley is taking on the additional role of chief operating officer, the latest change to the U.S. bookseller’s upper management ranks. Bierley, who joined Borders in 1996 and became CFO last year, will oversee Borders’ information technology, supply chain management, strategic planning and other duties, the company said Friday. Get the full story »
From the Chicago Sun-Times | City hall sources said Wal-Mart would build dozens of stores of varying sizes in Chicago if it is not constrained by City Council’s demand that it pay the “living wage” of $11.03 an hour.
Get the full story: suntimes.com
From the Chicago Sun-Times | Mayor Richard Daley said he was “encouraged” by a private meeting with Wal-Mart executives about a possible Chicago expansion by the retail giant. “They’ve made a commitment for a variety of stores — the food desert stores, 20,000 square foot, all the way up to super-centers,” Daley said.
Get the full story: suntimes.com.
By Wailin Wong | Walgreens has launched a new text-messaging service that lets customers know when their prescriptions are ready, the drugstore chain said Tuesday. The prescription text alerts, which are available in English or Spanish, also notify consumers of changes in status to their orders. Mobile phone users can sign up for the service at any Walgreens pharmacy or by visiting www.walgreens.com/gomobile, a website that also allows consumers to sign up for a separate service to receive deals and coupons via text. In addition, Walgreens has launched mobile applications for the BlackBerry and Google’s Android platform. These new applications follow the previous release of the company’s iPhone application in the fall. That program has been updated with new features, including the ability to view a prescription history and search for the nearest store using the phone’s GPS function.
By Kristin Samuelson | Crate and Barrel is recalling more than 5,400 plant shaped candles in flower pots because they pose a fire hazard. The wax can melt quickly and spread outside the pot, raising the possibility of serious burns and fire, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. Consumers are asked to return the candles to Crate and Barrel for a full refund.
Read the full story: The Problem Solver
Associated Press | Home furnishings retailer Ikea plans to start
pulling incandescent light bulbs from its U.S. stores starting in
August.
Ikea says that it hopes to have all incandescent bulbs
out of its U.S. stores by Jan. 1, in favor of other longer-lasting
bulbs.
Starting next month, Wi-Fi will be free at all Starbucks stores in the U.S. (Tribune file photo)
Associated Press | Starbucks Corp. will begin offering unlimited free wireless Internet
access at all company-operated U.S. locations starting July 1, part of
an ongoing effort to bring more customers in the door.
The Wi-Fi access, which will eventually include a new network of news
and entertainment content exclusively for customers, comes as Starbucks
works to take business back from rivals such as McDonald’s Corp. and
independent cafes that have long offered free Internet.
From Bloomberg | Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online merchant, won the top spot in an annual survey of the healthiest U.S. and Canadian retailers for a second year in a row as more shoppers make purchases online.
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Wall Street analysts say shares in Walgreen could take a major hit from its split with CVS Caremark. Analysts say investors are underestimating the amount of business the No. 1 pharmacy chain could lose in its decision to leave Caremark’s benefits management business.
Shares of Walgreen were down down 2.2 percent, to $29.30, in late afternoon trading.
Read the full story: chicagobusiness.com
Reuters | U.S. Treasuries rebounded Friday from sharp losses during the previous session as weak retail sales data revived safe-haven buying of government bonds. U.S. retail sales fell unexpectedly in May for the first time since September, adding fuel to fears the economy was fizzling after a short recovery and enhancing the allure of less risky assets such as Treasuries.
Associated Press | Sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell in May for the first time
since September following a record slump in purchases of building
materials, adding to fears the economic recovery was losing some steam.
The Commerce Department said total retail sales dropped 1.2 percent,
the largest decline since September, after rising by an upwardly
revised 0.6 percent in April. Sales in April were previously reported
to have increased 0.4 percent.
From Crain’s Chicago Business | General Growth Properties and Acadia Realty Trust plan to sell the Neiman Marcus store in Oakbrook Center to take advantage of a rebound in commercial real estate. The high-end retail has 36 years left on its lease for the location.
Read the full story: chicagobusiness.com
By Sandra M. Jones | Sears
has been delivering refrigerators and washing machines to U.S. homes
for decades. Now the company is looking into delivering groceries too.
The service, an expansion of Sears’ year-old MyGofer online shopping
portal, quietly launched on Memorial Day in Manhattan and in the
Hamptons,
according to Tom Aiello, spokesman for the Hoffman Estates-based
company. The home delivery service — which brings groceries,
prescriptions, electronics and other goods from its Kmart stores — is
slated to roll out to other
markets including Chicago-area Kmart stores later this summer, he said.
