Investment March 20, 2018 Top 10 tequilas What's the best way to celebrate National Tequila Day? On July 24, sip one or more of these top 10 tequilas. These 100 percent blue agave tequilas may be pricy, but National Tequila Day only happens once a year.
Investment March 20, 2018 Surprising origins of the 10 biggest chain restaurants It’s not easy to run a restaurant. It’s even more difficult to run a chain restaurant. For one, you need to serve food that people will want to eat, all across the region, country, or world. Then you need to keep the menu fresh and up-to-date, all while making sure that every single dish in every single location looks and tastes exactly the same. And after all of that’s been done, you need to launch marketing and advertising campaigns to fill the seats, and figure out what’s going wrong if they’re not getting filled. To repeat, it’s not easy to run a successful chain restaurant. Chain restaurants as we know them today only came about within the past 30 or so years, largely because that genre of restaurant, called fast casual, is only about that old. There were plenty of hamburger chains and diner chains dating back to the 1950s, but the whole concept of going to a casual restaurant with your family, having a beer and ordering inexpensive food that makes everyone happy, and leaving with a doggie bag is still remarkably new. In fact, when Larry Lavine opened the first Chili’s in 1975 in Dallas, people lined up around the block on a daily basis just to eat a bowl of chili and drink a margarita. In many cases, the origins of today’s most popular chain restaurants aren’t exactly what you might expect. Many of them had different names when they were founded, as well as different menus and concepts. With the exception of Olive Garden, which was invented by General Mills as opposed to a single lucky entrepreneur, most of the big chains got their start when someone opened up a restaurant that just happened to do really, really well. And if it happened to fall into that new style of fast casual dining, wealthy investors were waiting around every corner during the '70s and '80s to take advantage of this newest dining trend. Once a chain restaurant is well-funded and its concept and menu are fully in place, it’s amazing how quickly it can spread. Panera Bread, one of the youngest major chains, only got its start 20 years ago, but today there are more than 1,600 units and it’s rapidly growing. Whether it’s an Australian-themed steakhouse, an inexpensive wing joint, or a New England-style seafood restaurant, these chains are known and patronized by millions and millions of Americans, and they all have really interesting backstories.
World October 18, 2017 George Soros transfers $18 billion to his liberal philanthropic foundation Uber-liberal billionaire George Soros infused “the bulk of his wealth” -- $18 billion -- into his activist charity arm Tuesday, making the philanthropic organization second only to Bill and Melinda Gates' Foundation in U.S. assets and further extending and strengthening Soros' tentacles worldwide.
Montana September 26, 2017 Gold mining proposal near Yellowstone wins regulatory approval A Canada company’s controversial bid to prospect for gold near Yellowstone National Park has won approval from Montana regulators despite local opposition.
Manufacturing May 30, 2017 New York brewery slammed over China-made beer tanks Some politicians are irritated that a Rochester brewery receiving state economic development funding bought beer fermentation tanks from China that could have been produced in New York.
Environment May 24, 2017 EPA reaches deal with developer of controversial mine project near pristine Alaskan bay The head of the Environmental Protection Agency announced on Friday a settlement between the agency and a Canadian mining company, setting the stage for an eventual permitting decision that could allow the so-called Pebble Mine project to move forward.
Entrepreneurship January 12, 2017 What can entrepreneurs learn from Native American tribes? Everything. Many American Indian tribes have been enormously successful launching sustainable businesses in high-growth industries.
Wine November 22, 2016 Naples Winter Wine Festival: Drinking wine for a good cause Knowing there’s a philanthropic angle sometimes makes the wine taste even better.
Wine November 21, 2016 Had enough of the stock market? Try investing in wine More and more people are buying wine, not just for pleasure, but as an investment.
Investment May 4, 2016 Terror prep may be LA’s biggest card in campaign for ’24 Olympics Los Angeles' 2024 Summer Olympics bid has a lot going for it – ready-made venues and hotels, countless tourist attractions and a massive media market that guarantees top-notch coverage and a huge international audience.
North Carolina April 8, 2016 PayPal scraps North Carolina expansion plan over state's LGBT law An economic backlash broadened Tuesday against a North Carolina law that critics say discriminates against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people with PayPal announcing it has canceled a major expansion in the state.
