chain stores

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

'Panic' Buying Hits US Stores
'Panic' Buying Hits US Stores
the rundown

'Panic' Buying Hits US Stores

Shoppers stock up amid COVID-19 fears

(Newser) - Plan to go shopping today? Get ready for a lineup. Multiple media outlets are reporting on big crowds nationwide at chain stores including Target, Costco, and Walmart. "We saw the line around the block and we thought the world had gone mad," a Costco shopper in Lawndale, Calif....

Another Chain Is Closing All Its Stores

Arts and crafts chain AC Moore to close all 145 locations

(Newser) - AC Moore originally planned to open its 145 arts and crafts stores at 6pm Thanksgiving for its Black Friday sale, but it's not clear whether that's still happening—because on Monday the New Jersey-based chain that opened its doors in 1985 announced all of those stores are closing....

In-N-Out's Billionaire Prez: I Was 'Over' by Age 22

Lynsi Snyder overcame struggles to get where she is

(Newser) - For many West Coasters, In-N-Out is the burger chain—hard to find in big cities but revered for its low prices and fresh ingredients. Now meet Lynsi Snyder, a 36-year-old who has battled drug and alcohol use, sports Bible-verse tattoos, and is married to a race-car driver. The kicker: She...

Mystery Shopper Buys Out Toys R Us Store

The buyer reportedly plans to donate the toys

(Newser) - Santa Claus came early to the Toys R Us store in Raleigh, NC, on Friday, even as 800 Toys R Us stores across the country prepared to close their doors for good. According to CBS , an anonymous good Samaritan paid $1 million to purchase all the toys that remained in...

San Francisco OKs 'Bill of Rights' for Retail Workers

Now employee schedules must be set 2 weeks in advance

(Newser) - San Francisco has moved to help workers stymied by uncertain schedules: Under what's being called the " Retail Workers Bill of Rights ," employers must solidify their employees' shifts at least two weeks in advance—or pay their workers extra in the form of "predictability pay," Politico...

Home Depot Closes 7 Big-Box Stores in China
Home Depot Closing 7
Big-Box Stores in China
'do-it-for-me' culture

Home Depot Closing 7 Big-Box Stores in China

Other US companies have learned to adapt there

(Newser) - Home Depot has learned about Chinese culture the hard way. The home improvement chain is shuttering its seven big-box stores there because the Chinese—who live mostly in apartments and have access to cheap labor—aren't interested in "do-it-yourself" supplies, the Wall Street Journal reports. So Home Depot...

Starbucks Sells Juice, Preps New Health Chain

Coffee mega-chain acquires Cali juice maker

(Newser) - Coffee might be healthy —but juice definitely is. And Starbucks wants you to have your vitamins. Having bought a California fruit and veggie juice maker for $30 million, the coffee mega-chain is adding "super-premium juice" to the menu. It also plans to launch a health and wellness chain...

Gap Closing Scores of Stores
 Gap Closing Scores of Stores 

Gap Closing Scores of Stores

Pre-recession boom left surplus of shops

(Newser) - Gap, once the king of clothing chains, rapidly expanded before the recession; afterward, it found itself with more stores than shoppers. Now it plans to close 189 of its North American locations—more than a fifth of the total—by 2013, leaving some 700 remaining, the Wall Street Journal reports....

Why We Love to Hate Anthropologie
 Why We Love 
 to Hate Anthropologie 
OPINION

Why We Love to Hate Anthropologie

Man Shops Globe was widely panned—but Keith Johnson is just a 'whipping boy'

(Newser) - Man Shops Globe, the show following Anthropologie buyer Keith Johnson, premiered last night to much scoffing from critics—or, as Erika Kawalek calls it on DoubleX, “Anthropologie Rage.” Heather Havrilesky mocks Johnson’s job of “traveling the globe to buy enormous overpriced pieces of weird, ancient junk...

Prof: Starbucks Kills Community

Conversation dies among coffee cups, wi-fi and headphones, says reasearcher

(Newser) - Starbucks sells itself as a "third place" between work and home, but its customers fail to interact the way people used to in public spaces, according to history professor Tom Simon. "Rarely do these different people doing different things actually talk and exchange ideas. But talk and ideas...

Starbucks' New Flavor: Local Shop Names

Giant rebrands one Seattle store '15th Avenue Coffee and Tea'

(Newser) - With traffic waning, Starbucks has a new strategy: It’s dropping “Starbucks” from store names and rebranding them to reflect their neighborhoods, the Seattle Times reports. 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea, for example, won’t feature the Starbucks logo—even bags of coffee will be labeled “15th Avenue....

Tough Times Push Chains to Try New Fare

McDonald's classy coffee, grilled KFC widen menus

(Newser) - Desperate times are driving chain restaurants to desperate measures—straying from their bread-and-butter dishes and diversifying the menu. KFC now sells grilled chicken, Domino’s offers subs, and McDonald’s dips into the world of espresso coffee, USA Today reports. “This is a defining moment for the industry,"...

Economic Squeeze Means Merry Christmas for Wal-Mart

Retailer expects blockbuster season as cash-strapped shoppers seek bargains

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is readying for bumper sales while most US retailers brace themselves for a miserable holiday season, the New York Times reports. Squeezed consumers are flocking to the discount chain as the economic downturn begins to bite. The firm is expected to report a modest increase in sales for October,...

Starbucks Helped Brew Meltdown—Just Check a Map

Coffee empire's rise tracked (and fueled) housing's, and store locator mirrors trouble spots

(Newser) - A simple tool could hold the key to predicting where the financial crisis will strike next, Daniel Gross writes on Slate: Starbucks’ Internet store locator. “Having a significant Starbucks presence is a pretty significant indicator of the degree of connectedness to the form of highly caffeinated, free-spending capitalism that...

Supermarkets Downsize to Speed Up Shopping

'Express' outlets cut back on miles of aisles for rushed shoppers

(Newser) - American supermarkets are starting to shrink after decades of getting bigger and bigger, the New York Times reports. The average supermarket is still larger than a football field, but retailers have begun opening smaller outlets to appeal to rushed consumers who want to pick up groceries without having to wander...

99 Cents Only Hikes Prices, But Only by 0.99 Cent

Discount chain follows 2 bum quarters with extra 99% of a penny

(Newser) - The store where nothing costs more than 99¢ has become the store where nothing costs more than 99.99¢, reports the LA Times. The top price at 99 Cents Only will go up by 99/100 of a penny this month, say executives at the discount chain, who blame inflationary pressures....

Wal-Mart Blog Lets Buyers Post Real Reviews

Some suppliers vexed, but site 'puts real personality out there'

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is letting its buyers blast or hail store products on a new blog, and do so freely—a shift for the once-strict corporate culture. Posts have so far panned Microsoft's Vista and a "Star Wars" movie, all while revealing favorite books, Bible quotes, and pets. "It puts...

Fast Food: The Healthy Alternative*
Fast Food:
The Healthy Alternative*
OPINION

Fast Food: The Healthy Alternative*

*That is, to nostalgic, even-more-caloric American diners

(Newser) - Don't blame McDonald's for America's obesity problem—in fact, thank it for providing a relatively healthy alternative to the even-fattier fare of "dives and diners," which offer delicacies like the "10-Storey Challenge Burger" and 72-ounce steaks, writes Greg Beato in Reason Magazine. Despite the graver health crimes...

Black Friday Getting Longer
Black Friday Getting Longer

Black Friday Getting Longer

Stores open earlier to boost profits, attract headlines

(Newser) - Stores will open earlier than ever on Black Friday, with midnight openings becoming more common, the AP reports. Wal-Mart, in fact, began its sales today. "You sell two sweaters and you've broken even,” said one analyst. But Gap chief Glenn Murphy will be out with the hordes, then...

Restaurant Chains Race Into Four-Figure Territory

(Newser) - Fast-food behemoth McDonald's took 20 years to open its 1,000th store, but 2007 has seen five chains join the four-digit club, USA Today reports. Of the success of Panda Express, Panera Bread, Papa Murphy’s, Sbarro, and Wing Street, one consultant says: “It's a landmark. It's a goal...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>