Business Story of the Day

Seattle coffee giant Starbucks says the company will hire at least 10,000 veterans or their spouses over the next five years.

Economy

Starbucks Is Latest Company Aiming To Help Vets Land Jobs

9:22am November 06, 2013

by Ashley Gross

The coffee giant says it will hire at least 10,000 veterans or their spouses over the next five years. It joins companies ranging from JPMorgan Chase to Walmart to Boeing in trying to bring down a stubbornly high unemployment rate for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Economy

iPhone Users Face Dilemma Of When To Upgrade

5:28pm November 04, 2013

David Greene talks to Bloomberg technology columnist Rich Jaroslovsky about when to update an Apple smartphone. Jaroslovsky explains why if you own an older model iPhone and upgrade to the new operating system, your experience can be much slower than if you have the newest iPhone.

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Rae Padulo creates handmade ceramics, like these holiday ornaments, for her Etsy-based company, mudstar ceramics. She's disappointed with the site's new policy to allow outsourced manufacturing. "There's nothing wrong with factory-made," she says, but "th

Arts
Economy

Etsy's New Policy Means Some Items Are 'Handmade In Spirit'

7:49am October 30, 2013

by Ashley Milne-Tyte

Online marketplace Etsy is a hive for creative vendors selling handmade goods. But the site recently said it will allow sellers to outsource their manufacturing. Some vendors with growing businesses are delighted at this news; others feel Etsy is abandoning its small enterprises.

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Faster delivery is the new frontier of Internet competition.

Economy

Moving In With Manufacturers, Amazon Delivers A New Approach

11:58am October 28, 2013

by Yuki Noguchi

Amazon has been quietly making inroads into a new approach to retail, partnering with manufacturers to ship products directly from the warehouse to consumers, essentially taking out the middle man. The online retailing giant's move comes as it and its competitors experiment with faster delivery.

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A Company's Tweets Can Help Make It Creditworthy

10:12am October 28, 2013

by Wendy Kaufman

Banks use credit scores and similar metrics to assess creditworthiness. A company called Kabbage that lends working capital to small businesses does some of that but also relies on unconventional measures, using real-time data from things like UPS shipments, eBay, Facebook and Twitter.

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'Blockbusters': Go Big Or Go Home, Says Harvard Professor

11:54am October 24, 2013

by NPR Staff

Anita Elberse's new book, Blockbusters, examines the strategy behind making and marketing megahits. She tells NPR's Renee Montagne that content companies — publishers, movie studios and the like — can create blockbusters by dedicating most of their budgets to a select few likely winners.

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A September 1959 advertisement for the Xerox 914

Economy

Happy Birthday, Copy Machine! Happy Birthday, Copy Machine!

2:37pm October 23, 2013

by Kate O'Connell

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the first modern copier ever made. The technology, which came from serial inventor Chester Carlson, revolutionized the business world and formed the foundation of Xerox's success. It also meant no more messy carbon paper.

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Gary Robins sits in the chair of his Supercuts salon in Media, Pa., one of 41 he owns throughout Philadelphia and Delaware.

The Roots Of Franchising Took Hold In A Hair Salon Chain

10:23am October 17, 2013

by Uri Berliner

Franchising is commonplace throughout the retail and service economy, whose pioneers included a former servant turned hair salon owner in the late 19th century. Such businesses are not for everyone, but Gary Robins, who owns dozens of Supercuts, says the setup has allowed him to grow more quickly than if he were on his own.

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An Arkansas company is trying to cash in on an edamame boom in the U.S.

Arkansas Aims To Make Edamame As American As Apple Pie

2:31pm October 16, 2013

by Jacqueline Froelich

Edamame beans are a popular Asian appetizer, and they're beginning to get a foothold in the U.S. market. An Arkansas company is now trying to cash in on this edamame boom.

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Two Iranian textile merchants wait for customers in Tehran's main bazaar. President Hassan Rouhani has raised hopes by reaching out to the West and promising to work for an end to sanctions. But his team has cautioned that the country's economic problems

Iran's Leaders Send Sobering Message: No Quick Economic Fix

4:21am October 14, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

Iran's new President Hassan Rouhani says he will seek a nuclear agreement and an end to crippling Western economic sanctions. This has raised hopes that better economic times may be ahead. But Rouhani's team, as well as economists, say Iran's problems are deep-rooted and won't be easily solved.

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