Free Republic

Vice President Kamala Harris’s closing pitch on Tuesday will feature a request for four more years of power to fix the problems facing America, a report detailed. Harris’s closing argument, scheduled to be delivered in front of the White House on the National Mall, is meant to counteract why many Americans feel worse off today than four years ago under former President Donald Trump. Recent Gallup polling shows 52 percent of Americans feel worse off today than they did under Trump. Under the Biden-Harris administration, costs increased by about 20 percent across the board on average, Russia invaded Ukraine, Hamas...

Former President Donald Trump could be closing in on Virginia and Minnesota, recent surveys reveal. A recent Rasmussen Reports/American Thinker survey asked likely voters in Virginia, “If the 2024 Presidential election were held today, and the candidates were Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump, who would you vote for?” The survey shows a tight race, as Vice President Kamala Harris leads with 48 percent support. Trump trails by just two percentage points, garnering 46 percent support. Another two percent said “other,” and three percent remain unsure — more than enough to swing the race in either direction.

Denny’s is closing 150 restaurants over the next year, and the 71-year-old diner chain is mulling a major change to its 24/7 operating hours. Fifty locations are set to close by the end of 2024, while the remaining 100 will shutter in 2025, Denny’s announced in an earnings call Tuesday. That amounts to a tenth of its restaurants, leaving 1,375 locations once completed. A specific list of closing restaurants weren’t immediately announced. Denny’s is targeting “underperforming restaurants” that are weighing down the company’s financial performance, according to Steve Dunn, Denny’s executive vice president and chief global development officer. The affected...

Stores across America are shutting down left and right as shoppers are unable to afford to spend money on non-essentials. CNN Business reported on Friday that so far in 2024, major retailers have said they are closing down 6,189 stores. That number surpasses the 2023 total of 5,553, per Coresight Research, the article said. “Chains are on track to close the highest number of stores in 2024 than any year since 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic decimated the industry.”

Vice President Kamala Harris dumped her so-called “campaign of joy” messaging for a more angry, bitter, and nasty tone with less than three weeks until Election Day. Polling shows Harris lost momentum in the past weeks while using the “campaign of joy.” Her new strategy appears to be the use of President Joe Biden’s 2020 and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 playbook that demonizes former President Donald Trump as unhinged, unstable, and unchecked. Politico Playbook reported the shift on Friday: You can see the change on the campaign trail, where Harris’ early emphasis on joy has given way to more direct verbal...

Walgreens said Tuesday it plans to close 1,200 stores over the next three years as it seeks to further downsize its footprint amid flagging sales and changing consumer behavior. The pharmacy chain said 500 of the closings would occur over the next 12 months. It estimates a quarter of its 8,700 stores in the U.S. are unprofitable. Walgreens announced the closures as part of its fiscal fourth-quarter and full-year earnings, which beat Wall Street's expectations. In a statement, CEO Tim Wentworth acknowledged the company was in the midst of a "turnaround" that would "take time." "We are confident it will...

Panera Bread has closed its sole location in downtown Denver after 10 years. The St. Louis-based chain’s store at the corner of Market Street and the 16th Street Mall was closed as of Thursday morning. “We’ll miss serving you from this bakery cafe,” notices posted on the doors read. The company didn’t respond when asked the reason for the closure. Restaurants and retailers along the 16th Street Mall have been struggling amidst renovations to the pedestrian and transit corridor. But Panera had made it through that — its block was one of the first to reopen. The store sits at...

The last remaining Denny’s in San Francisco closed its doors this month because customers would frequently leave without paying their bill in the crime-plagued city, according to the restaurant’s owner. Chris Haque shuttered the 24-hour diner at 816 Mission St. near the Union Square section on Aug. 1 after 25 years. “We’re the only store left, and we operated until the last day that we could,” Haque told SFGATE. “The cost of doing business is tremendous. There’s vandalism, and people come and eat and walk away, and there’s no one to stop them.” Haque also lamented the fact that a...

AUBURN, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Bimbo Bakeries in Auburn is unexpectedly shutting its doors this fall, putting its 49 employees out of work, some of them who’ve worked there for decades. The announcement came as a shock to Auburn’s mayor, who just received the news last week. “I just wish there had been at least some conversation beforehand to see if there was something we could do,” said Mayor Jimmy Giannettino. There was no indication that Bimbo Bakeries wanted to leave the area prior to the company making the decision, making this news even more of a shock for the mayor...

Shoppers, it may be time to find a new pharmacy. Walgreens is closing up to a quarter of its 8,600 stores within the United States. Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth recently explained to the Wall Street Journal on June 27 that the closures would focus on locations that aren't profitable, too close to each other or stores struggling with theft. .... According to CNN, 75% of the company's U.S. stores account for 100% of its operating income. The company will examine the remaining 25% of its 8,600 stores for closure. That equates to roughly 2,150 stores closing shop across the country...

The iconic restaurant chain Hooters has abruptly announced the closure of 40 locations nationwide, citing the rising cost of food and rent. ...... While Hooters may not be to everyone’s taste, the closures are further evidence of the economic toll caused by rampant inflation, which has soared since the Biden regime seized office in 2021. Last month, the Red Lobster restaurant chain announced that it would be filing for bankruptcy and closing nearly 120 restaurants across 27 states after sustaining continued losses. Meanwhile, a recent survey by Lending Tree found that having once been an affordable alternative for lower-income workers,...

Rubio’s Coastal Grill, a beloved restaurant chain known for its fish tacos, is indeed closing 48 locations in California due to the “rising cost of doing business.” These closures represent about a third of the Rubio’s locations in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Here are the key points: Reason for Closures: The decision to close these locations was influenced by the increasing costs associated with operating in California. Minimum wage hikes, such as the recent increase from $16 to $20 per hour, have put additional pressure on businesses like Rubio’s. The rising costs, combined with other financial challenges, led to the...

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer told jurors Tuesday they “should want and expect more” from prosecutors who claim the presumptive GOP nominee engaged in business fraud to boost his first run for the White House. Defense attorney Todd Blanche, in his closing argument, said the state’s evidence showed little more than standard business practices. “President Trump is innocent. He did not commit any crimes, and the district attorney has not met their burden of proof, period,” Mr. Blanche said as Mr. Trump’s hush money trial neared its conclusion.

New York City is losing drugstores as retail theft continues to surge. Gotham has logged 21,578 shoplifting complaints this year through May 12, up 5% from the 20,552 thefts during the same period last year. Manhattan has seen 8,896 incidents of retail theft alone. Crime is so rampant, national chains like Target, CVS and Walgreens are closing locations and tempering expansion plans. Target announced at the end of last year the closure of nine stores across four states, including one in Harlem, due to theft.

Struggling Red Lobster is abruptly closing at least 48 of its restaurants around the country, according to a leading restaurant liquidator. TAGeX Brands is conducting an online auction of Red Lobster restaurant inventory, including kitchen equipment, furniture, tables and chairs. The auction begins Monday and continues through Thursday, according to company founder Neal Sherman. Red Lobster locations in Buffalo, Orlando, Jacksonville and other cities were listed as “temporarily closed” on Red Lobster’s website, according to local news reports. Red Lobster did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment. The company has around 650 locations. Red Lobster is reportedly considering filing...

Applebee's is to close another 35 further locations this year, after shutting 46 in 2023. The restaurant chain has shut at least three locations so far this year and has plans to close even more, president Tony Moralejo said in an earnings call on Wednesday. Closing restaurants was 'an incredibly difficult decision' and a 'last resort' for the company, Moralejo said. The American grill chain, famous for its $10 burgers and 'dollaritas', closed 46 of its more than 1,500 locations due to 'underperformance' last year. The franchise - which competes with the likes of Waffle House and Denny's - has...

One of Las Vegas’ longest-standing and most historic hotels is shuttering its doors after nearly 67 years to make room for a new Major League Baseball stadium. Tropicana Las Vegas closed on Tuesday, just shy of its 67th. anniversary. Demolition is slated for October to make room for a $1.5 billion Major League Baseball stadium. The hotel, which opened on the iconic Las Vegas strip on April 4, 1957, was nicknamed the “Tiffany of the Strip” for its opulence. When it was built in the late -1950s, the Tropicana cost $15 million to build. It was three stories with 300...

10 states did not fall for the Medicaid expansion trap under Obamacare. The rest are suffering. Private payers (you, one way or another) make up the loss.. Medicaid Expansion Puts Hospitals at Risk.. The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) reports Medicaid Expansion Dramatically Increases Hospital Shortfalls emphasis mine. Medicaid expansion ushered in through ObamaCare has led to program enrollment growth well beyond what was promised or projected. While proponents argue that expansion is a silver bullet to keep hospitals financially secure, this is simply not true. Because Medicaid does not pay enough to cover the costs to hospitals to provide...

Banks are growing increasingly confident in the capabilities of online banking, according to Steven Reider, the founder and president of Bancography, an Alabama-based consulting firm that advises banks on branch planning and strategies. That confidence can lead to significant savings since the average freestanding bank branch costs around $2.6 million a year. In just two months, Bank of America's 41 closures might have saved it almost $100 million. .....And now, credit unions are playing a more significant role than ever before - offering very similar services to traditional banks and eating up a share of the market. Unlike banks, their...

Macy’s announced Tuesday it will be closing 150 “underproductive locations” over the next three years as sales dip and the company looks to expand its higher-end luxury brands. The department store chain saw nearly a 2 percent drop in sales during the fourth quarter of last year when compared to its fourth quarter of 2022. In 2023 as a whole, its net sales dropped 5.5 percent and its digital sales dropped 7 percent Macy’s new CEO, Tony Spring, who stepped into the role this month, expressed optimism in a statement accompanying the sales report, which was released Tuesday alongside the...