Can Wal-Mart Get Its Groove Back?
For nearly five decades, Wal-Mart's signature "everyday low prices" and their enabler --low costs -- defined this proud, insular company that emerged from the Ozarks backwoods to dominate retailing. Over the past year and a half, though, Wal-Mart's growth formula has stopped working. Competitors as Target, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Walgreen's, CVS, and Best Buy now are all growing two to five times faster than Wal-Mart. Has the company done lasting damage to its low-budget franchise by trying to compete with much hipper, nimbler rivals for the middle-income dollar? Should the retailer redouble its efforts to out-Target Target, or would it be better off going back to basics?
BusinessWeek Cover Story: Midlife Crisis for Wal-Mart
Also: How Wal-Mart Should Right Itself


America's Top 100 Places to Live for 2007
Relocate-America.com marks its tenth year compiling their list of the best places to live in the United States. According to them it is the only list that is determined by statistics and feedback of the people who live, work & play in these communities. The Web site is a service of HomeRoute, a Howell, Mich.-based company that also connects consumers to Realtors. The site attracts visitors in the process of relocating, and is aimed at helping people research cities before making a move. Topping their list this year is Asheville, NC which has a downtown, where "artists and street musicians converge with tourists and locals for a vibrancy rarely found in a city of this size. The average home price in town is $265,000.
Asheville, N.C. tops America's 10 best places to live: survey - MarketWatch
List: Top 100 Places to Live


Infidelity Is in the Air for Frequent Business Travelers
Many frequent business travelers use the protection of the road to live a secret life of romance far from spouses or partners. Their affairs range from one-night stands to relationships that last for years. They're usually with a co-worker, a business associate or someone they encounter often during repeat visits to a city. Some travelers apparently feel that a fling at a convention or from a chance encounter far from home "is somehow more blameless than something done in one's hometown," sociologist Pepper Schwartz says.
Infidelity is in the air for road warriors - USATODAY.com


The Queen of the Product Pitch
Television has long worked products into dramatic story lines--and more so since advertisers began fleeing to the Web. Now such "brand integrations" are becoming common on daytime talk shows. Who better to sing the merits of a product than the beloved hosts of The Martha Stewart Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, or The View? To a greater or lesser degree, all are working product mentions into their shows in exchange for flat fees or a big ad buy. But no one is pushing the envelope more energetically than Martha Stewart. Yes, she is walking a fine line by calling herself "America's most trusted guide to stylish living" while taking money to promote products. But she is breathtakingly candid about the practice and contends this is simply business as usual nowadays.
Queen Of The Product Pitch - BusinessWeek


Attention, Freeloaders
Jay David is hardly what you'd call a high roller. But on a recent trip to Las Vegas, David and his mother spent five nights at two top hotels, feasted at several buffets and picked up two $125 silk Tommy Bahama shirts -- all without paying a penny. As U.S. casinos pull in more bets than ever they're also giving away more in "comps," the free food, hotel rooms and other goodies designed to get gamblers into the casinos and keep them there. But if you think you need to be a whale (industry lingo for a big-time gambler) to get in on the comping game, think again. Here's how best to score comps in four categories - food/drink, hotel room, concert tickets & VIP treatment.
High Rollers - SmartMoney.com