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Caesars Entertainment announced in a press release Wednesday that it will close Harrah's Tunica on June 2. This is one of three casinos Harrah's operates in Tunica in northern Mississippi. The 1,300 jobs that will be lost makes this one of the biggest layoffs ever in Mississippi, said Richard Bennett, chairman of the House Gaming Committee. The layoffs come at a time when Tunica County had the highest unemployment in state in February at 17.3 percent. Bennett said 75 percent of the jobs are held by Mississippi residents, with the remaining 25 percent of the employees from Tennessee and Arkansas....

Walgreen Co. on Tuesday said it plans to shutter 76 unprofitable drugstores by August as part of a plan to save $40 million to $50 million per year beginning in fiscal 2015. The drugstore chain, the nation's largest, declined to specify the locations of the stores slated to close aside from saying they're "spread across the country." Walgreen, based in Deerfield, IL, said it will confirm the closures in the coming months after it notifies employees. Most stores that will close either have had other Walgreen locations open in the same area or have seen real estate values decline since...

Quiznos has filed for bankruptcy protection, five days after the Sbarro pizza chain did the same. Executives at the restaurant chain, known for its toasted sandwiches, agreed to a restructuring plan that will reduce its debt by more than $400 million, the company said in a statement Friday. All but seven of Quizno's 2,100 restaurants in the United States and 30 other countries are independently owned franchises, and will remain open and operating as usual. Quiznos once had more than 5,000 stores and could have threatened rival Subway's hold on the sub market. But now, Subway has nearly 20 times...

Restaurant chains are dropping like flies this week. On Monday pizza franchise Sbarro dipped into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Following in its footsteps on Friday, sub shop Quiznos announced that it too would sink into bankruptcy as part of a “pre-packaged” deal to cut its debt by more than $400 million, or two-thirds.

<p>Illinois employers warned they would lay off more than 1,000 workers in the coming months, according to notices filed with Illinois regulators in February.</p> <p>Accretive Health warned it would lay off 148 workers. The company said in January the layoffs are part of a broader restructuring in which positions will be moved from Chicago to other cities to be closer to clients. Accretive said then the layoffs could affect as many as 170 workers. The company employs about 600 people in the region.</p>

(Reuters) - Staples Inc (SPLS), the largest U.S. office supplies retailer, forecast a fall in current-quarter sales as it loses customers to mass market chains and e-retailers, and the company said it would close up to 225 stores in North America by 2015. Staples' shares fell 9 percent before the bell, after the company also posted lower-than-expected fourth-quarter results and forecast current-quarter profit below analysts' estimates. The company operates 1,515 stores in the United States and 331 stores in Canada.

There will soon be about 1,100 fewer places to buy batteries. RadioShack said Tuesday that it plans to close up to 1,100 stores, or about a fifth of its U.S. locations. The news came as the retailer reported a wider quarterly loss after a disappointing holiday season. Its stock tumbled 16 percent in afternoon trading. CEO Joseph Magnacca said the closings would leave the company with more than 4,000 U.S. stores. That's still far more than Best Buy, which has roughly 1,400 U.S. locations, and makes RadioShack stores nearly as common as Wal-Mart. RadioShack didn't immediately identify which stores will...

After posting a fairly disappointing 918 Volt sales in January – the first time sales were under 4 digits in 2 years (603 - Jan 2012), the extended range Chevy bounced back a little in February notching 1,210 deliveries. Year-over-year, this February’s result was up against some fairly stiff competition as 1,626 were sold this month a year ago, meaning sales were off 25.6%. For the year to date, 2,128 Volts have been sold as compared to 2,766 – off 23.1% There just isn’t enough casr to even get the Volt a fighting chance as the General opted to produce...

DETROIT – March will be one of the most crucial months for the U.S. auto industry in years. Sales were slower than expected in January and February, and the number of unsold cars on dealer lots grew. Some automakers had to resort to juicy discounts to lure reluctant buyers. Most industry executives, dealers and analysts blame the historic cold temperatures and snowfall, and expect warmer weather to restore consumers’ enthusiasm for car buying. Most still expect annual sales to exceed 16.1 million, which would be the highest level since 2006. But a continuation of the trends could signal more fundamental...

Struggling retailer RadioShack Corp reported a wider quarterly loss on Tuesday and said it will close up to 1,100 U.S. stores after a huge drop in sales over the holidays, sending the stock down more than 15 percent. Sales at the Fort Worth, Texas-based chain have been in free fall amid executive departures, tough competition and an image problem. Despite its ubiquitous presence in the United States, analysts say it has not done enough to transform itself into a destination for mobile phone shoppers or become hip enough to woo younger shoppers. Its net loss widened to $191.4 million, or...

(Reuters) - Retailer RadioShack Corp reported a wider quarterly loss on Tuesday and said it will close up to 1,100 U.S. stores after a huge drop in sales over the holidays, sending its stock down nearly 24 percent. The planned closures would leave the Fort Worth, Texas-based chain with over 4,000 stores, including over 900 dealer franchise locations, its chief executive officer said. Sales totaled $935.4 million in the quarter covering the all-important holiday season, down 20.1 percent from $1.17 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts, on average, looked for sales of $1.12 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales...

Sandwich chain Quiznos is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection within weeks as it contends with declining sales and a lofty debt load, people familiar with the matter said. The company, which has about $570 million in debt, has been negotiating with creditors for weeks on a restructuring plan that would streamline its trip through bankruptcy court, these people said. A final deal on a so-called prepackaged restructuring plan hasn't yet been reached, they said.

Here's an editorial in the New York Times about the beneficial effects of the $832 billion stimulus bill passed in 2009 that could have been written in the White House: Of all the myths and falsehoods that Republicans have spread about President Obama, the most pernicious and long-lasting is that the $832 billion stimulus package did not work. Since 2009, Republican lawmakers have inextricably linked the words "failed" and "stimulus," and last week, five years after passage of the Recovery Act, they dusted off their old playbook again."The 'stimulus' has turned out to be a classic case of big promises...

<p>Sbarro Inc. says it's closing 155 of its U.S. locations, mostly in mall food courts where traffic has declined. The Melville, N.Y.-based pizza chain said Wednesday the closures affect 1,400 workers. The move comes as the company is trying to improve its financial performance and update its image under yet another CEO who took over just last year. Jonathan Dedmon, a representative for Sbarro, says the targeted locations will close Thursday. "The last day of business is today," he wrote in an email. Sbarro filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2012 when it was no longer able to contend with declining sales and rising costs. It emerged from Chapter 11 protection in November 2012, saying that it had significantly cut its debt and received a new $35 million capital infusion. Shortly after, it named James Greco, a former head of bagel chain Bruegger's Enterprises, as its CEO. Greco led a push to revitalize the chain's image by touting new recipes and ovens. But the efforts apparently didn't take hold; Sbarro named David Karam its CEO last year. Dedmon did not respond when asked why Greco was replaced. Sbarro owns 400 locations in North America. The closures do not affect the additional 175 Sbarro locations in the region that are owned by franchisees. After the closures, Sbarro said it will operate 800 stores worldwide, including 81 that were opened last year.</p>

... More than one in six men ages 25 to 54, prime working years, don't have jobs—a total of 10.4 million. Some are looking for jobs; many aren't. Some had jobs that went overseas or were lost to technology. Some refuse to uproot for work because they are tied down by family needs or tethered to homes worth less than the mortgage. Some rely on government benefits. Others depend on working spouses. Having so many men out of work is partly a symptom of a U.S. economy slow to recover from the worst recession in 75 years. It is also...

If it seems like it was exactly a year ago that turmoiling retailer Radioshack shut down 500 stores due to lack of consumer interest in its wares (and or consumer disposable cash), it is because it was. So how does Radioshack demonstrate its morbid sense of humor on the one year anniversary of said announcement? Well, by closing another 500, or about 12% of the retailer's total 4500 outlets currently in existence. The WSJ reports that the company which once was the butt of all LBO-rumor jokes (and still is, only this time in the context of an M&A-rumor...

Curious why Michael Dell was so eager to take the company he founded private? So he could do stuff like this without attracting too much attention. According to the Channel Register, the recently LBOed company is "starting the expected huge layoff program this week, claiming numbers will be north of 15,000." Of course, with a private sponsor in charge of the recently public company, the only thing that matters now is maximizing cash flows in an environment of falling PC sales, a commoditisation of the server market and a perceived need to better serve enterprises with their ever-increasing mobile...

Officials said President Barack Obama will visit a western Pennsylvania steel plant after delivering this week's State of the Union address. A White House spokesman said Sunday that the president will travel to U.S. Steel's Irvin plant in West Mifflin on Wednesday to deliver remarks on the economy. The company said the Irvin plant produces sheet metal products from the steel slabs produced at the Edgar Thomson plant in Braddock. Obama will also be visiting the Washington suburbs of Prince George's County, Md. on Wednesday and will go to Milwaukee and Nashville on Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) -- McDonald's reported disappointing sales for its fourth quarter Thursday, as the world's largest hamburger chain saw fewer customers visit its restaurants. The Oak Brook, Ill.-based company says global sales slipped 0.1 percent at established locations. In the U.S., where it recently revamped its Dollar Menu to include items that cost a little more, the figure fell 1.4 percent.

Get ready for the next era in retail—one that will be characterized by far fewer shops and smaller stores. On Tuesday, Sears said that it will shutter its flagship store in downtown Chicago in April. It's the latest of about 300 store closures in the U.S. that Sears has made since 2010. The news follows announcements earlier this month of multiple store closings from major department stores J.C. Penney and Macy's. Further signs of cuts in the industry came Wednesday, when Target said that it will eliminate 475 jobs worldwide, including some at its Minnesota headquarters, and not fill 700...