According to CNBC, “In January [Starbucks] Chairman Howard Schultz said the average Starbucks store makes about $32,000 a week. Using that as a benchmark, 8,000 stores would make about $260 million in that period, or about $36.6 million a day.”
In the near future, Google will reportedly close a deal that will garner it ownership of Chelsea Market. According to the New York Daily News, the company has shelled out $2 billion to purchase the 1.2 million square-foot property.
Google is already a tenant at the popular location, where the Oreo cookie was invented. Chelsea Market also contains offices for Major League Baseball and the Food Network. In addition to this, the building contains a bevy of eateries in its food hall which attracts millions of visitors annually.
There is no official word on whether or not Google will continue to share the space with the building’s other tenants after the deal goes through.
According to Business Insider, cash is decreasingly becoming a valid form of payment in China. Mobile payments made via smartphones has become increasingly popular in the country.
Business Insider states that: “Last year, the volume of mobile payments in China more than doubled, surging to a total of $5trillion…A research investment company based in Hong Kong, predicts that electronic payments in China will reach a volume of $45 trillion by 2021.”
In a shocking move in this digital age, Starbucks has decided to shut down its online store. This online shut down has also come at a time, when, according to Forbes, Starbucks has also announced that it will be closing “all 379 of its stand-alone Teavana stores.”
According to the New York Times, Starbucks’ decision to nix its online store was made in order to allow the company to “focus on [the] in-person experience.”
According to Business Insider, the coffee behemoth’s representatives have described the closure as an opportunity to build “commercial partnerships with digital companies,” that will enable them to create a “global retail footprint.”
Starbucks seems to be playing coy with their motives. Being that this company is such a trendsetter in retail, it will be interesting to see how this development evolves.
This past August, an almost $14 billion deal was completed, allowing for Amazon to purchase Whole Foods. Amazon’s ownership of the grocery conglomerate has been marked by new policies that the new owners have implemented.
According to Business Insider, the day Amazon completed the aforementioned purchase, prices at Whole Foods immediately dropped. In addition to this, Amazon Prime members will be able to get special discounts at Whole Foods. Whole Foods has replaced their previous discount program with Amazon Prime. In a reciprocal action, Whole Foods’ products can be purchased on Amazon’s website via an Amazon Fresh membership.
Amazon also plans to expand Whole Foods’ work force by hiring more employees. In addition to this, select Whole Foods locations will sell Amazon products, such as the Amazon voice-controlled speaker; and will be equipped with Amazon Lockers, for drop-offs and pick-ups of Amazon purchases.
The reputation of Whole Foods in the past has been one of a very expensive grocery store, where patronage may be out of reach of the average consumer. Let’s see if Amazon’s acquisition of the company will make it more price-friendly for the average shopper.
According to Money magazine’s July 2015 issue, Americans pay $7 billion annually on basic bank charges for things like “failing to meet minimum balance requirements and monthly account maintenance.” Americans also pay approximately $32 billion a year for overdraft fees.
According to Money Magazine’s March 2015 issue, the following states are the top five states in the U.S. to have an emergence of new businesses. The results are adjusted according to population.
1) Montana
2) Alaska
3) South Dakota
4) California
5) Colorado
I’m surprised New York, which is known as “The Empire State,” isn’t in the top five.
According to Investopedia, agflation is: “An increase in the price of food that occurs as a result of increased demand from human consumption and use as an alternative energy resource.
While the competitive nature of retail supermarkets allows some of the effects of agflation to be absorbed, the price increases that agflation causes are largely passed on to the end consumer.
The term is derived from a combination of the words ‘agriculture’ and ‘inflation.’
Interest in alternative energies contributes to agflation. In order to produce biofuel (such as biodiesel and ethanol), manufacturers need to use food products such soybeans and corn. This creates more demand for these products, which causes their prices to increase. Unfortunately, these price increases spread to other non-fuel related grains (such as rice and wheat) as consumers switch to less expensive substitutes for consumption.
Furthermore, agflation will also affect non-vegetative foods (eggs, meat and dairy) as the price increases for grain will make livestock feed more expensive as well.”
