Wholesale prices are up nearly five times over last year. That means you can say goodbye to the beefsteaks on that burger and prepare to pay more than usual for the succulent wedges in your salad.
At Costello Sandwich and Sides in Chicago, which uses 10 to 15 cases of tomatoes a week and is now paying $25 a case instead of $15, customers can expect to get a bit less tomato on their sandwiches. The shop hasnt raised prices or stopped serving tomatoes altogether, but manager Matthew Villareal says he can see the tomatoes are soft when the prep cooks - - - - >

Retail purchases increased 0.5 percent, the third gain in the past four months, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The Reuters/University of Michigans consumer sentiment gauge dropped to 73.7 from 74.4 the prior month.
The economic expansion is being fueled by gains in manufacturing and business investment that reflect growing demand from overseas and efforts to rebuild inventories. Americans, shaken by the loss of 8.4 million jobs during the recession, will probably be slow to regain the confidence needed to spearhead the next phase of the - - - - >

“I am deeply sorry that were giving cause for concern to customers,” Toyoda said in an interview yesterday with Japans NHK television network in Davos, Switzerland, posted to U.S. broadcaster ABC News Web site. “Were preparing to explain the facts to our customers as soon as we can so that we can remove that anxiety.”
The worlds largest automaker, founded by Toyodas grandfather in 1937, has discussed its strategy with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said Brian Lyons, a Toyota spokesman. He didnt have details on - - - - >

While early readings suggest there are better deals this year over last, Pepsi wont advertise its drinks for the first time in 23 seasons, joining FedEx and GM, who dropped out last year. In their absence, newcomers and smaller companies have snatched up slots in advertisings biggest showcase.
TNS Media Intelligence said Monday that a 30-second commercial during next months Super Bowl on CBS are selling for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million, based on reports from advertisers and media buyers. Thats a drop from last year, when ads averaged $3 million on NBC - a record, according to TNS. Prices - - - - >

Net income may be 67.5 billion yen ($723 million) in the 12 months ending August, compared with its earlier estimate of 62 billion yen, the company said in a statement today. It posted a 49.8 billion yen profit a year earlier.
Hit products such as the +J line overseen by German designer Jil Sander led to a 40 percent surge in first-quarter sales, defying a slump in Japanese household spending amid job losses and falling wages. Chief Executive Officer Tadashi Yanai, Japans richest man, is expanding Uniqlo - - - - >

Mandatory calorie posting led to a 6 percent reduction in calories per transaction at Starbucks New York City stores, according to the study, published on the universitys Web site yesterday. Congress is considering making the disclosure a national requirement after some states introduced similar laws aimed at curbing obesity.
“Calorie posting causes consumers to not only substitute products within stores, but also to substitute across stores,” the authors said. “Consumers who were routinely purchasing coffee and donuts at Dunkin Donuts may have switched to buying coffee at - - - - >

Aeropostale Inc.,Nordstrom Inc. and Kohls Corp. promoted lower prices on specific merchandise and managed inventory to outpace industry sales in November. They will probably say next week those gains continued in December, according to Liz Dunn, an analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners LLC in New York.
“They all did execute pretty well in response to the slowing consumer,” said David Abella, a portfolio manager with Rochdale Investment Management LLC in New York who holds shares of Aeropostale and Nordstrom. “If retail sales pick up broadly, they should - - - - >

Some retailers kept inventory so low theyve had to bring in new merchandise to restock shelves, a rare move this soon after Christmas.
Thats good news for their bottom lines. But it means slim pickings for shoppers hoping for after-Christmas clearance sales. Shoppers looking for big sales should act quickly because there are relatively few leftovers to clear out.
“Retailers are much more nimble this year,” NPD analyst Marshal Cohen said. “Their Plan B is to have new receipts at the ready.”
Cohen said he noticed J. Crew and Coach were two that had restocked shelves with new items last week.
Because their ordering - - - - >

The spending bounce means retailers managed to avoid a repeat of last years disaster even amid tight credit and double-digit unemployment. Profits should be healthier, too, because stores had a year to plan their inventories to match consumer demand and never needed to resort to fire-sale clearances.
Retail sales rose 3.6 percent from Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, compared with a 2.3 percent drop in the year-ago period, according to figures from MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, which track all forms of payment, including cash.
Adjusting for an extra shopping day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the number was closer to a 1 percent gain.
Last - - - - >

Shoppers in Britain spent 132 million pounds ($210 million) online on Dec. 25 alone, a 29 percent increase from a year earlier, according to estimates by payment-processing company Retail Decisions. The number of U.K. customers on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, increased by 19 percent, Experian Plc said in an e-mailed statement.
Retailers avoided last years pre-Christmas discounting by cutting inventory to “much healthier” levels, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. Prices, which were slashed by as much as 75 percent in 2008, were down by about - - - - >