The new 340,000 facility marks Pennsylvania’s largest manufacturing investment since Hershey built its former West Hershey plant in 1991. The Hershey Co. has opened a $300 million, state-of-the-art plant in West Hershey, Pa. to produce Hershey’s Bars and other chocolate products, including up to 70 million Hershey’s Kisses a day, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.…
Gasoline Waiting On The Fed As Jobs Disappoint
By Brian L. Milne, Refined Fuels Editor for Telvent DTN. Wholesale gasoline costs were mixed across the country’s major metropolitan markets during the week ended Sept. 10, with supply tightness in some parts of the country bolstering values while other regions saw their costs decline on fading demand and the switch away from the more…
Breaking News: Lawsuit Filed Over Fed’s Swipe Fee Ruling
“The Federal Reserve missed an opportunity to give consumers the relief that they deserve and this needs to be corrected,” says NACS president and CEO Hank Armour. Flawed debit card swipe fee reform regulations issued by the Federal Reserve have allowed big banks to continue charging unjustifiably high swipe fees and discouraged price competition among…
The Importance of Fully-Stocked Shelves
A survey shows lack of inventory, difficulty finding desired items and long checkout lines are top threats to retaining loyal customers. Nearly 70% of U.S. adults would avoid shopping at a retail store if they encountered empty shelves, according to a nationwide survey commissioned by Galleria Retail Technology Solutions, a provider of retail and category…
Retail Hiring at Highest Level Since End of Recession
October report shows retail hiring up 12.6% in September. Kronos Inc. has released the Kronos Retail Labor Index, a family of metrics and indices that characterize the current state of the demand and supply sides of the labor market within the U.S. retail sector. The analysis and write-up prepared by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC shows The…
Tax Savings After the Deadline
With operating costs soaring in a sluggish economy, convenience store owners have a variety of tax benefits available to them from the IRS. By Mark E. Battersby, Contributing Editor. Earlier this year, the Internal Revenue Service advised taxpayers to cool their heels and wait until mid- to late-February 2011 before filing their returns to allow…
Citibank Survey Shows Consumer Psychology Changing
A survey conducted by Hart Research Associates found 41% of customers are worried about the amount they pay for necessities like food and gasoline, up 18 points from September 2010. A new nationwide survey issued on Aug. 31, by Citibank finds a decline in consumers’ expectations for the economy, even though their assessment of current…
TD Economics: No Double-Dip Recession
The storm has ebbed, but the U.S. economic forecast remains overcast, according toTD Economics. “We don’t expect to see any miracles occurring over the next several months…but the evidence appears to be for the gradual unwind of imbalances and a continued slow pick-up in economic activity-and not another descent into recession,” wrote Deputy Chief Economist…
Nielsen Polls Customer Gas Buying Habits
As U.S. consumers prepare to hit the road for Labor Day weekend, The Nielsen Co. finds that nearly half (45%) of U.S. households are diligently seeking lower gas prices. The economy has consumers looking for cost savings across the board, even as they revert to some pre-recession habits. “Although gas prices are not as high…
Crude Oil Stays Steady
Crude oil prices remained steady above $76 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday, June 25, according to United Press International. July delivery crude oil prices added 27 cents to $76.78 per barrel, while heating oil prices for July delivery added 0.0076 cents to $2.0648 per gallon. Reformulated gasoline blendstock prices added…