Stores are turning back the clock, conjuring images of hearth and home as they stock their holiday merchandise. Retailers
hope embracing holiday traditions from cozier times will tempt recession-weary consumers to open their wallets in a season
expected to show flat sales at best.
The home-grown retailer lately has sought to
supply cameras for government and law-enforcement entities as its once-reliable newspaper clientele scales back.
A committee will research a proposal from Bloomington’s mayor to ban new chain or “formula” businesses from parts of the city’s
downtown.
Indianapolis-based Hat World Inc. said Monday that its Impact Sports division has acquired Great Plains Sports in St. Paul,
Minn.
Shares in locally based athletic retailer The Finish Line Inc. jumped Friday morning after the company reported a narrow loss
for the second fiscal quarter, mostly because of the large cost of unloading its unsuccessful Man Alive stores in July.
Sporting goods retailer The Finish Line Inc. said on Thursday that it lost $874,000 in the second quarter, mostly because
of a loss it took by unloading its unsuccessful Man Alive stores in July.
Locally based Broadbent Co., one of the city’s biggest retail developers, has sued two of its banks, charging they’re
wrongly attempting to restrict its access to a $50 million credit line.
Kroger has signed on to anchor a new shopping center along Michigan Road north of 106th Street on the site of Altum’s Garden
Center.
A Friday funeral is planned for a man who made a fortune building shopping malls across the U.S. and later became a prolific
philanthropist in his adopted hometown of Indianapolis. Melvin Simon, 82, succumbed this morning after a battle with pancreatic
cancer.
Supporters and foes of repealing Indiana’s ban on Sunday take-out alcohol sales made their cases before a group of lawmakers yesterday in a preview of what could be a divisive debate in the next legislative session.
Blockbuster is planning to close as many as 960 stores by the end of next year. That would shrink the video rental chain by
more than 20 percent as it struggles against stiff competition from Netflix and Redbox.
Supporters and foes of repealing Indiana’s ban on Sunday take-out alcohol sales plan to make their case before a group of
lawmakers.
Retail sales jumped in August, spurred by widespread gains beyond the increases of auto and gasoline sales that economists
expected.
Two Anderson siblings are buying the city’s Mounds Mall from the Florida-based company that has owned it for the past six
years.
The Music Mill, a local concert venue, restaurant and bar that has been closed down twice this year by different operators,
has new life. Local entrepreneur Ravi Chopra, 44, who owns the 6 Lounge & Restaurant downtown, announced last
night that he has purchased the Music Mill and plans to reopen it Oct. 12.
The new market, which will also offer catering services, is in a strip center owned by locally based
Centre Properties and anchored by Beauty Brands and Panera.
Find out about a new Latin market and tapas bar, plans to renovate the Apple Store and post office closings.
Indianapolis-based electronics retailer HHGregg Inc. announced the promotions of three executives this morning, including
the appointment of a new chief financial officer.
Some Indiana liquor store owners worry that a push to allow Sunday alcohol sales in the state could hurt their businesses
if lawmakers were also to permit grocery stores to sell cold beer.
Furniture is one of the easiest big-ticket purchases for consumers to defer when money is tight. Couple
that with a housing bust that left demand for new couches on the curb, and tight credit markets that
continue to prevent retailers from financing customers without perfect credit, and you’ve got the
worst market for furniture since the Great Depression.
