NEW YORK Retailers awaiting the arrival of Black Friday are on edge. How well they do during the biggest shopping season of the year will have lasting consequences not just on them, but the still-fragile economic recovery. This weekend, many stores will for the first time use midnight openings along with the usual bevy of [...]

With student-loan debt totaling about $1 trillion, and with people wondering how they will make massive monthly payments in a lousy job market, some recent adjustments to student loan rules by the Obama administration are giving people hope. But the tweaks, which go into effect in 2012, subject to the Department of Education’s rule-making process, [...]

One of the best principles of business planning is that its built on assumptions, and assumptions change. So one of the best ways to watch your plan is to list your assumptions where you can see them, and review them regularly. Not understanding assumptions is one of the most common mistakes in business planning. Your [...]

Powder Blue PhotographyPoba Clothing (short for Portland Baby) is one of the locally made brands that will be for sale Sunday at Milagros Boutique’s Crafty Mamas Bazaar.These days in retail, it’s not always enough for smaller stores to simply sell stuff. Local retailers say that more and more they must distinguish themselves by providing customer [...]

Wild Blue Barbecue has been invited to the Texas Monthly Magazine BBQ festival in Austin for the second year in a row. Located on Hwy. 100 between Los Fresnos and FM 803, the restaurant is one of only 25 Texas barbecue establishments to be invited to the annual festival, which takes place this Sunday and [...]