Free Republic

A nationwide crime wave is forcing many retailers, large and small, to close their doors or lock up their merchandise.One example is Nordstrom, which made an announcement in May that it's closing its flagship store in downtown San Francisco after 35 years in business.The location inside Westfield Mall said goodbye to its last customers on Aug. 27, after opening in October 1988.The store at the corner of Fifth and Market Streets once occupied five floors and spanned more than 312,000 square feet but is now closing like many other retailers because of a surge in crime and poor sales.San Francisco...

It has become an increasingly common story: A dollar store opens up in an economically depressed area with scarce healthy and affordable food options, sometimes with the help of local tax incentives. It advertises hard-to-beat low prices but it offers little in terms of fresh produce and nutritious items—further trapping residents in a cycle of poverty and ill-health. A recent research brief by the Institute of Local Self Reliance (ILSR), a nonprofit supporting local economies, sheds light on the massive growth of this budget enterprise. Since 2001, outlets of Dollar General and Dollar Tree (which bought Family Dollar in 2015)...

Looks like this beaver was quite eager to do some holiday "shopping." The rodent was found looking at Christmas trees at a Dollar General store in Charlotte Hall, Maryland, this past Monday, according to Jennifer Stone, public information officer for the St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office. "The beaver just walked right in through the front door," Stone told ABC News today.

DEARBORN (WWJ) – A 34-year-old man has been arrested in last week’s double murder at a Dearborn dollar store. Lavere Bryant was set to be arraigned at 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon on murder, armed robbery, and unlawful imprisonment charges. Joseph Orlando, 22, was found shot to death in the Family Dollar store on Michigan Avenue last Tuesday. Following a two-day search, the body of his co-worker, 20-year-old Brenna Machus, was found in a wooded area just a few miles away.

If your Rodeo Drive shopping stops include Versace, Armani, Chanel and Tiffany & Co., perhaps you’d be interested in a store where you could drop a real bundle, of $1 bills that is. The 99 Cents Only Stores chain announced that it’s searching for a retail space on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., one of the toniest shopping strips in the world. “We think our store will do well. Our highest amounts of sales are happening in our branch on Wilshire Boulevard. We know for a fact a lot of customers there are coming from Beverly Hills. This store...

Dollar stores are booming in a struggling economy, and one of the big boys of the industry is doing so well it's planning another period of explosive growth, reports Gail Hoffer and Drug Store News. It will open 625 stores and hire around 6,000 employees over the course of 2012. The discount chain already has about 9,800 stores spread across 38 states, and it's revamping 550 of those existing outlets, while building a new distribution center. Dollar General has adopted an aggressive growth strategy since the start of the recession. This marks the fourth straight year it has opened hundreds...

More stores across the U.S. that offer deeply-discounted products are seeing their sales decline after years of growth amid America’s “Great Recession” — and one analyst said on Monday it’s another sign of even deeper downturn. SNIP “I think what’s going on in those stores is that we are in a depression for 80 percent of Americans,” SNIP “In other words, the economy is continuing to be worse, the Obama depression continues to explode,” he added.

Past the Flagstaff Mall, next to Savers in the McDonald’s Plaza, lies a little store that houses some incredible deals and some bizarre retail history. It’s called the Amazing 99 Cent Store. Yes, really, and it lives up to the name. And believe me, when the apocalypse hits, you’re going to shop here often. Along with the cockroaches, it’ll be the only thing left. The Amazing Store acts somewhat like a dollar store, but better. The majority of their retail includes failed marketing ideas or marked-down/expired goods. The first thing you’ll notice as you walk inside is the mess. The...

These days, the idea of making a three-course meal for a family of four for less than $20 can seem impossible. Unless, that is, you shop at the 99¢ Only Stores. There are more than 200 of them throughout the West — not to mention other bargain variations like the Dollar Store — true to their name, everything costs exactly 99 cents. Christiane Jory thoroughly embraces this fact in her book, The 99¢ Only Stores Cookbook. The idea may sound silly, but the book is filled with recipes for gourmet items like gruyere beignets, salmon souffle and Pinot Noir poached...

http://www.crossville-chronicle.com/local/local_story_172234222.html Russians with 105 pre-paid cell phones draw attention of police. This story caught my attention. What is with all the bulk cell phone buyers?