On Friday, Lykes Gaslight Square will be transformed into an open-air market featuring fruit, vegetables and specialty items from local farmers, restaurants and businesses. ...more

October 15, 2009

The world's largest consumer products maker is finding that "new and improved" is still good but "lower price" is working better. ...more

September 11, 2009

Grocery store offers MacDill troops support on Wednesday. ...more

July 27, 2009

For updated information on traffic, on-the-scene photos and live Twitter coverage from our staff, keep checking back with TBO.com throughout the day. ...more

May 6, 2009

With the opening of Ikea and Crate & Barrel, May has been one of the most anticipated months ever for Tampa Bay area shoppers. Both retailers inspire almost cultlike devotion among their fans, who like their urban designs and contemporary furniture. In Ikea's case, people camp outside a new store for days awaiting its opening. A comparison of the two companies: ...more

May 4, 2009

and buy - at two shows in the Bay area that continue today. ...more

April 19, 2009

I am an angry, loyal Publix shopper and have shopped there for over 40 years. I learned about the closing of the Avon Park store in the newspaper, and a Publix spokesperson confirmed this. Part of her rationale for closing the store is that "it doesn't make sense to have two stores only four and a half miles apart." Sebring now has two stores about five miles apart, Lake Wales has two stores about five miles apart and Winter Haven has two stores about five miles apart. Avon Park shoppers who are accustomed to running by their neighborhood Publix to pick up a gallon of milk or a box of fried chicken, on their way home from work, will now have to buy their goods at Winn-Dixie or Wal-Mart, neither of whom carries products of the same quality as Publix's goods; or they can drive all the way to Sebring. ...more

April 18, 2009

The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund is celebrating Earth Month through April 30 by benefiting wildlife conservation with an on-line auction. ...more

April 6, 2009

Retail recently had its best week since the beginning of December and analysts think the strong showing is a "good omen" heading into the spring season. ...more

April 1, 2009

The Easter holiday will be celebrated in mid-April this year and that has impacted chain store sales, according to an agency that tracks the retail industry. ...more

March 26, 2009