Dull outlook for Sharper Image

Could this be the end of the astronaut pen, robotic vacuums and life-sized Superman statues?
Electronic gadget retailer The Sharper Image has filed for bankruptcy because of the ebbing retail environment, and will shutter 90 of its 184 stores as soon as possible after it sells their inventories. The retailer has three stores on Long Island.
It [...]

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Modell’s chairman dead at 86

William Modell, chairman of Modell’s Sporting Goods, died Thursday at a Manhattan hospital. He was 86.
Modell, who lived in Nassau’s Hewlett Harbor, died of complications due to prostate cancer.
He was an avid philanthropist, and donated millions to medical research related to Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that claimed his son’s life in 2001.
From the [...]

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Is bulk better in times of turmoil?

Today’s grim news on the economy is this: Many retailers posted weak sales in January, including Wal-Mart and Limited Brands, operator of The Limited, Express, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works.
But there was one retailer that saw its sales rise in a usually slow post-holiday month: Costco, which sells products in bulk or plus-sizes [...]

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Meet Honeymark, a sweet healer

Here’s another Long Island company you may have not known about: Eastport-based Honeymark International.
Honeymark makes medicated creams and lotions using honey, and credits ancient Egyptians for noticing the healing qualities of our favorite sticky treat. The company says the secret to its healing creams is its use of Manuka honey, which is honey made from [...]

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A Slim Jim, a Slurpee … and a license please

As LIBN recently reported, Dallas-based 7-Eleven has rolled out an aggressive expansion program for the Island with the goal of making it impossible to swing a cat anywhere in Nassau or Suffolk without hitting a hot plate.
Your 4 a.m. guilty pleasure palaces have now added a way to jump the line at the DMV, [...]

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Maybe there won’t be a Starbucks in every strip

As we reported yesterday, it seems Americans are tightening their belts during these unsure economic times, cutting out fast food and now … overpriced coffee beverages. Starbucks is taking a hit, especially since chains like McDonalds have started serving “premium” coffee.
Today, the Seattle-based java slinger said Chairman Howard Schultz took over the chief executive chair. [...]

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Eating less

Panera Bread, which has 15 Long Island stores and 55 shops in all of New York, is feeling the heat - and it’s not from the oven full of artisan breads.
The high cost of gas and the slowing economy has led to lower sales at the sandwich chain, and Wall Street’s not impressed. Shares of [...]

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For the shoppers who don’t go to bed

One of the region’s most established department stores said it would give up sleep for the four days before Christmas.
According to an article in Women’s Wear Daily, Macy’s said it would stay open 24 hours a day beginning at 7 a.m. on Dec. 21 until 6 p.m. on Dec. 24 at its Herald Square flagship, [...]

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A Plastic Surgeon for under $10

Charles Leonard Inc., a Hauppauge-based distributor of office and art supplies, has picked up some national attention for its latest device, The Plastic Surgeon.
Clamshell packages, which secure things from razors to toys, are nearly impossible to open. They are too thick for the average scissor to cut, and slicing them open with a steak knife [...]

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How’s the holiday shopping going?

We’ve officially reached the middle of the holiday shopping season, so LI Biz Blog asks readers to share their experiences.
Here are our questions:
With energy prices continuing to rise, the housing market in a full-on stall and little relief for our high tax bills in sight, have any Long Island shoppers decided to cut back? Are [...]

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Riverhead Tanger finds True Religion

The Tanger Outlet Center in Riverhead will add another luxury store to its ranks. True Religion, a maker of $300 jeans and other apparel for men, women and kids will open a shop in the summer of 2008.
Start saving up now.
From the statement:
“We are pleased with this new addition to our roster [...]

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Is Cyber Monday for real?

There isn’t a media operation out there today that isn’t talking about Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving when workers use and abuse their high-speed Internet connections at the office to do a healthy amount of online shopping.
But is it really that big of a deal here on Long Island?
You’d figure most people have [...]

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What’s in The Arches

So far, we know Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, the Children’s Place, Nike, Adidas and Disney will have storefronts when The Arches, Tanger’s new factory outlet, shopping and entertainment center opens.
Today, Neiman Marcus came on board. The retailer said it would open a 32,000 square feet Last Call Clearance Center at the Deer Park complex.
From [...]

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Cedar CEO speaks about the mall business

Port Washington-based Cedar Shopping Centers is a major player in the strip mall sphere, with shopping centers in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michiga, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Last week, Wall Street Transcript, a subscription-based information service, sat down with Cedar’s chief executive Leo S. Ullman to talk about the goings on at [...]

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We’ve got what Albany wants … Trader Joe’s

Who ever thought people would want another grocery store on their block? They are in Albany, where locals are crying out for California specialty grocer Trader Joe’s to drop anchor.
According to a story in The Business Review, Albany citizens have launched a letter-writing campaign to behoove the grocer to open a shop upstate. Long [...]

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Emerging Vision enters Kentucky

The parent company of Sterling Optical eye-care franchises, Emerging Vision Inc. of Garden City, announced today that is entered Kentucky by opening two Sterling franchises in Georgetown and Lexington.
From the statement:
Emerging Vision, Inc. (OTCBB - ISEE.OB) today announced that it has expanded into the state of Kentucky with the opening of two new Sterling Optical [...]

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The China effect

First, a batch of tainted wheat gluten caused several pets to die and led to a major pet food recall. Then tainted beef from China made people sick. Then tainted green seasoning from China used by a Long Island company in its Veggie Booty snacks was contaminated with salmonella, causing a recall. Now, for the [...]

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Long Island startup grabs Amazon’s attention

Major online retailer Amazon.com is betting on a few Ivy Leaguers from Long Island.
Brown University graduates Joshua Boltuch, Elliott Breece and Elias Roman have been running their startup AmieStreet, an online music download service, from Long Island. AmieStreet allows independent artists to sell their songs online, only, instead of the fixed-price model made popular by [...]

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National Grid expects keys to KeySpan soon

British Utility National Grid –or should we start getting used to saying “Long Island power grid manager” — expects its drawn-out acquisition of KeySpan Corp. to wrap up as planned.
The company said it will complete the buyout shortly after Aug 22, when the New York Public Service Commission is expected to vote on the merger.
The [...]

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Bob’s to open second store

Six months after Connecticut discount furniture retailer Bob’s opened its first Long Island showroom in Farmingdale, it said it’s opening a another store located in Freeport.
Bob’s will unlock the doors at 240 East Sunrise Highway on August 2 at 10 a.m.
The company contends in its press release that huge crowds of customers have frequented the [...]

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Ship it from Stony Brook

Going to the movies? Don’t forget to bring the sunglasses you sold on E-bay and still need to ship.
A new UPS Store just opened in Stony Brook right next to the AMC Loews Movie Theater in the Waldbaum’s shopping center (located across the street from the Smithaven Mall).
Kenneth J. Ryerson, who said in his press [...]

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The Harry Potter countdown

The last Harry Potter book goes on sale tonight at midnight, and many will pack into various Long Island booksellers to get their copies the minute they can.
And bookstores aren’t the only place expected to pack the house with Potter fans tonight. For example, the Stop & Shop in Ronkonkoma is throwing a Potter party.
So [...]

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This looks familiar to me

It seems Starbucks is not welcome in the North Fork, at least that’s what we’re hearing.
Here’s a bit from the Associated Press story:

Residents of the North Fork of Long Island are apparently suffering from Frapuccino rage.
The Starbucks global chain of coffee shops has moved into Greenport, Southold and Mattituck. The towns have long resisted [...]

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Entenmann’s finds perfect pairing

One of the country’s best known coffee cake makers said it will offer a new line of products that’s perfectly suited to accompany its baked goods.
The Bay Shore-based company said it entered into a marketing agreement with Coffee Holding Co. Inc., a major coffee distributor, to create an Entenmann’s-branded line of coffees.
Coffee Holding, which essentially [...]

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On LI, who’s up for an iPhone

There seems to be only tech story this week: The iPhone.
The reviews are in, and they mostly say the same thing, that the device is just plain wonderful.
In New York, lines are forming at the Apple store in SoHo.
On Long Island, the Apple stores in Huntington, Lake Grove and Garden City will close from 2 [...]

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Starbucks hits LI in the belly

A latte on Long Island just got 1.25 percent healthier.
Rife coffee chain Starbucks announced today it is switching from using whole milk in its beverages to using 2 percent milk.
Whole milk contains typically 3.25 percent milkfat.
Starbucks said it is following a national move away from the more fattening milk to the lowfat variety. Customers can [...]

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Got an old iPod?

Rather than throwing out those vintage non-color, non-photo, non-video iPods, a Selden retail company wants you to recycle the devices.
The Gadget Locker.com said it launched a “green” initiative that will pay anyone who sends their iPod to the company for recycling $20 in store credit.
The online retailer, which also runs a shop in Selden and [...]

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JetBlue takeover may not be in the cards

Last week, David G. Neeleman, the founder of Forest Hills-based discount airline JetBlue, was ushered off the corporate runway, booted as chief executive as his incessant apologizing over the Valentine’s Day ice storm snafu fell short.
And another report of JetBlue employees stealing passengers’ credit cards didn’t help his cause.
However, according to The New York Times’ [...]

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Wal-Mart mislabels

Maybe it’s not as bad as locking employees inside at night, but labeling foods as organic when they’re not won’t win over the Better Business Bureau.
Consumer fraud investigators in Wisconsin said they found multiple food products improperly labeled as organic.
From the statement:

The Cornucopia Institute, a governmental and corporate organic industry watchdog, had filed complaints with [...]

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Grab a spoon: The Soup Nazi’s headed for Centereach

Last week, Long Island Business News looked at a dark time in Yaphank’s past, a time when Nazis gathered in the bucolic region. Thankfully, that was long ago.
Today, the only Nazi you’re going to find here serves soup instead of hate.
The Original SoupMan, Al Yeganeh, who inspired the famous “Soup Nazi” episode of the tremendous [...]

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