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	<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Odd Spending &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>Business &#38; MoneyCategory: Odd Spending &#124; Business &#38; Money &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>How Much Will a Legal Marijuana Habit Cost You?</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/20/how-much-will-a-legal-marijuana-habit-cost-you/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/20/how-much-will-a-legal-marijuana-habit-cost-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 09:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[colorado]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Colorado State University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[legal marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recreational marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smoking pot]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[washington]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[weed]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80310</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re an average pot smoker in Colorado — paying average prices for average-quality marijuana — you can expect to spend around $650 on weed next year. A study conducted by the Colorado Futures Center at Colorado State University aimed to get to the bottom of how much the state can expect to collect in tax revenue, now that marijuana is legal. By doing a little extra math, we can get a rough estimate for what the average marijuana enthusiast will spend annually as well. Researchers estimate that in 2014, 642,772 Colorado residents, or about 12.5% of the state population, will take advantage of pot&#8217;s newly legal status. Analysts assumed each person would smoke or otherwise use 3.53 oz. (100 g) of marijuana annually, for a total of 2,268,985 oz. (about 64,320 kg) per year. All of these numbers may be underestimated, because they&#8217;re based on data compiled when recreational marijuana was illegal. In fact, there are so many unknowns in the realm of legal nonmedicinal pot that all of this math has a crude back-of-the-napkin quality to it. In any event, using the study&#8217;s numbers, the average marijuana enthusiast can expect to pay a retail price of $185 per oz. next year. Multiply that times 3.53 oz. — which no one can buy at once, mind you, because there&#8217;s a 1-oz. (28 g) purchase maximum for residents — and the total comes to $653 annually spent on pot. (MORE: This Exists: Medical Marijuana for Pets) How much the individual actually winds up spending on marijuana will depend on several factors, most obviously the quality (and price) of the pot and how much one smokes. Researchers used the crowdsourcing site Price of Weed to get the $185-per-oz. figure. As of early April, an ounce of marijuana was averaging $206 on the black market, and because the price is expected to drop once pot is legal, the study landed on $185. If the smoker is opting for higher-quality, $300-per-oz. marijuana, his annual pot bill would top $1,000. That&#8217;s for someone smoking the average of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80310&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/6129-000104.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Marijuana Leaves</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>This Trick Will Motivate You to Reach Your Financial Goals</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/16/this-trick-will-motivate-you-to-reach-your-financial-goals/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/16/this-trick-will-motivate-you-to-reach-your-financial-goals/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 18:35:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit card debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[goal setting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[goals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[saving money]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=80087</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You’ll be more successful reaching your financial goals if you give yourself a target range rather than a single number you want to achieve. It sounds weird, but a new study shows that we’re more motivated when we have a little wiggle room in our goal.  Let’s say, for instance, that you want to save $100 a month, or put an extra $100 a month towards paying down a credit card. Rather than committing to that $100, give yourself a range of, say, $75 to $125 a month instead. Having a range is more motivating because we perceive it as being both attainable and challenging, says Maura Scott, assistant professor of marketing at Florida State University. There are dual psychological forces underpinning our motivation to stick with a long-term goal. The harder it is to reach a goal, the more we’ll be rewarded with a feeling of satisfaction if we succeed. But it’s also more likely that we’ll fail and give up in discouragement. (MORE: 5 Smart Strategies to Eliminate Your Credit Card Debt) “If it’s too easy it doesn’t feel like a goal; but at the same time, it needs to work within a person’s ability,” Scott says. “The nice thing about these less specific goals is they give consumers for the best of both worlds.” she says. Even if you hit the low end, you still make your goal and you won’t feel defeated. And if you get fired up enough to hit the high end of your goal range, you’ll get a greater feeling of accomplishment. Don’t use a range as an excuse to lowball your expectations, however. Making a goal too easy backfires. In her experiments, Scott found that achieving something that takes hardly any effort at all is as de-motivating as having a goal that’s impossibly high. (MORE: Beware of Discounts: How Being Bad at Math Costs Consumers) “What we found is in both of those cases it’s just not very motivating. In one case you’re not pushing yourself, and in the other, even if you’re<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=80087&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Odd Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/odd-spending/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Chuck E. Cheese: Where a Kid Can Gamble Like an Adult</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/14/chuck-e-cheese-where-a-kid-can-gamble-like-an-adult/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/14/chuck-e-cheese-where-a-kid-can-gamble-like-an-adult/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 09:45:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[boomers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[casino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[children]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chuck E. Cheese]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dave & Buster's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gambling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet cafe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Internet cafe gambling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[slot machines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sweepstakes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79852</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What with all the flashing screens, dinging bells, and glazed-over customers absorbed in the games at hand, a Chuck E. Cheese arcade bears quite a resemblance to the slot machine section of a casino. Are kids, in fact, gambling in between their pizza and soda? Thanks to new legislation in Florida targeting Internet café sweepstake gambling operations, there&#8217;s an argument to be made that some Chuck E. Cheese games involve gambling and are therefore illegal. Since kids are the chain&#8217;s main clientele, that&#8217;s a problem for more reason than one. Many states have cracked down on Internet café gambling in recent years. Last summer, the Wall Street Journal reported on the efforts in places such as Ohio, South Carolina, and Michigan to shut down—or at least regulate—these cafes, which are filled with simulated slot-machine games and often operate totally out in the open in strip mall locations. While the games vary, most involve plastic swipe cards that are purchased by customers and give users a certain number of &#8220;sweepstakes&#8221; entries in games of chance played on video screens. The games, which offer cash prizes, have been especially popular among the elderly. &#8220;It has become my world,&#8221; one 70-year-old woman told the WSJ while inside her neighborhood gambling café in Ohio. Such Internet cafes began appearing in Massachusetts in large numbers around 2009, and in the summer of 2011, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley affirmed that these operations were illegal. “This kind of activity, gambling, is not allowed under Massachusetts law,&#8221; Coakley said at the time, according to the Boston Globe. “They are totally unregulated, there’s no oversight, and there is no protection for the consumer.&#8221; (MORE: The Real Reason We Should Cheer the Cellphone Unlocking Law) Business owners have argued that the games are legal sweepstakes because they allow anyone to participate for a few rounds without spending any money. &#8220;It&#8217;s not gambling,&#8221; the lawyer for one Internet parlor in western Massachusetts explained to the Springfield Republican. &#8220;It&#8217;s really paying for computer time.&#8221; Nonetheless, two of the largest such Internet<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79852&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Don&#8217;t Disappoint Mom: How to Ensure a Better-Than-Average Mother&#8217;s Day Gift</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/09/dont-disappoint-mom-how-to-ensure-a-better-than-average-mothers-day-gift/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/09/dont-disappoint-mom-how-to-ensure-a-better-than-average-mothers-day-gift/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 09:45:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[good]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mother's Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Restaurant Association]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Retail Federation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Offers.com]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PriceGrabber]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[restaurants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sale]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[takeout]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79548</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Finding the perfect Mother&#8217;s Day gift can be a difficult, if not impossible, task. At least it&#8217;s fairly simple to figure out how treat your mother better than the average son or daughter this Sunday. Do you have an above-average mom? Then she deserves an above-average Mother&#8217;s Day. There is no shortage of consumer survey data out there concerning projected Mother&#8217;s Day spending this year. After an examination the numbers, we present five strategies to employ so that you can at least make the case you&#8217;ve gone over and above the average, mathematically speaking, to honor your mother. Spend More Than $168.94 According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will spend an average of $168.94 on moms this Mother&#8217;s Day, an all-time high, up 11% from last year&#8217;s average of $152.52. These figures don&#8217;t necessarily represent spending on a single gift; instead, the average is the total amount the individual consumer spends on Mother&#8217;s Day—including restaurant meals, and gifts for one&#8217;s mother, as well as wives, mother-in-laws, and such. Among the hottest gifts this year is a category not usually associated with Mother&#8217;s Day: electronics. The NRF anticipates American consumers will drop a record-high $2.3 billion on electronics, up from $1.6 billion in 2012. Spend More Than $40 If the NRF&#8217;s figure seems a bit too steep, consider the survey data from Offers.com. In its poll, 52% of respondents said that they would be spending $40 or under on a Mother&#8217;s Day gift. Go over that mark and you&#8217;re good. (MORE: The Passive-Aggressive, Total Cheap-o Gift Guide for Mother&#8217;s Day) Buy Something That&#8217;s (Yikes) Not on Sale In a PriceGrabber poll, 55% of online shoppers said that free shipping would help entice them to buy a produce for service for Mother&#8217;s day, while 44% indicated a price cut would do the trick. Just 23% of shoppers said that retailer tactics would not influence their Mother&#8217;s Day buying decisions in any way—presumably because they&#8217;ve already made up their minds about the perfect gift for mom, and a 10% off promotional code<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79548&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/sb10068078a-001.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Stack of presents</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Um, You&#8217;ve Actually Been Able to Order 100% Legit Viagra Online for Years</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/08/um-youve-actually-been-able-to-order-100-legit-viagra-online-for-years/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/08/um-youve-actually-been-able-to-order-100-legit-viagra-online-for-years/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 May 2013 09:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Care]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health Insurance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[counterfeit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CVS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drugs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drugstore]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FamilyMeds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pfizer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pharmacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prescription Drugs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Viagra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VIPPS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Walgreens]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79492</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[News broke this week that for the first time ever, the drug manufacturer Pfizer has started selling Viagra directly to patients via the Internet. The pitch is that the new online sales channel will help men avoid the embarrassment of picking up the erectile dysfunction drug in person, as well as the possibility of buying counterfeit drugs from a sketchy website. The Associated Press story on Pfizer&#8217;s news starts as follows: Men who are bashful about needing help in the bedroom no longer have to go to the drugstore to buy that little blue pill. While most of the coverage has focused on Pfizer&#8217;s innovation as a means to avoid embarrassment, two key facts are being glossed over: 1) It&#8217;s been possible to buy guaranteed authentic Viagra online for years; and 2) Pfizer isn&#8217;t really selling drugs directly to customers. On Monday, Pfizer announced that it would start selling Viagra to customers via its site, Viagra.com. In actuality, the orders won&#8217;t being filled directly by Pfizer, but through drugstore giant CVS. What&#8217;s more, even before Pfizer&#8217;s announced partnership with CVS, it was (and still remains) possible to buy Viagra and most other prescription drugs without going to the drugstore. (MORE: Casino Revenues Are Up in 2012 &#8212; Thanks in Part to Gambling in Kansas) &#8220;With Viagra home delivery, men with ED can submit a new Viagra prescription or refill an existing one, estimate their co-pay in real-time, and check on the status of their order, from the privacy of their homes,&#8221; a Pfizer release explains. What&#8217;s being mostly overlooked is that men were able to get essentially these same services before Pfizer&#8217;s big announcement. Buying Viagra online is as simple as getting a valid prescription and placing an order through a legitimate pharmacy website, such as FamilyMeds.com, Walgreens.com, or, for that matter, CVS.com. So the idea that Pfizer&#8217;s service is somehow breaking ground by allowing customers to order prescription drugs &#8220;from the privacy of their homes&#8221; is silly. The only thing new here is that the drug manufacturer is getting<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79492&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Health Care</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/health-care/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>JC Penney Reintroduces Fake Prices (and Lots of Coupons Too, Of Course)</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/jc-penney-reintroduces-fake-prices-and-lots-of-coupons-too-of-course/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/jc-penney-reintroduces-fake-prices-and-lots-of-coupons-too-of-course/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 May 2013 09:45:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anchoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discounts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.C. Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jcpenney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[price anchoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[promo codes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=79069</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In early 2012, JC Penney promised the end of &#8220;fake prices&#8221;—ones that were inflated just so that shoppers could be tricked into thinking the inevitable discounts represented amazing deals. Well, it&#8217;s already time to welcome back discounts and inflated prices alike. Among other reasons, JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson lost his job recently because customers seemed to hate the no-coupons, no-discounting &#8220;fair and square&#8221; pricing that was a core part of the retailer&#8217;s dramatic 2012 makeover. In a new ad, JC Penney is apologizing for the changes made under Johnson. &#8220;It&#8217;s no secret. Recently, JC Penney changed,&#8221; the ad&#8217;s voice-over states. &#8220;Some changes you liked and some you didn’t, but what matters from mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing, to listen to you.&#8221; &#8220;Come back to JCPenney,&#8221; the ad implores customers &#8212; especially the ones who were turned off by Johnson&#8217;s initiatives, one assumes. Nothing is specifically mentioned regarding pricing, coupons, or sales. And yet the ad, and JC Penney&#8217;s overall effort to woo back customers, has a lot to do with pricing, coupons, and sales. Soon after Johnson stepped down as JC Penney CEO, analysts began anticipating the return of &#8220;sales galore&#8221; as a magnet to win over alienated shoppers. Indeed, at first glance, it appears as if the sales are back in a big way. A recent JC Penney brochure lists dozens and dozens of items on sale for Mother&#8217;s Day, and an online-only coupon (promo code: DEAL4ME) offered shoppers 15% off on purchases of $100 or less, and 20% off orders over $100 made by May 2. (MORE: The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson&#8217;s Ouster at JC Penney) But JC Penney&#8217;s changes of late aren&#8217;t limited to an uptick in sales and coupons. As Reuters reported in late March, even before Johnson was fired, the retailer had quietly started raising its &#8220;everyday&#8221; prices—mainly so that stores could regularly put them on sale and hope that more shoppers bite. &#8220;Under the strategy, an Arizona crewneck T-shirt that had an &#8216;everyday&#8217;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=79069&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://business.time.com/2013/05/02/jc-penney-reintroduces-fake-prices-and-lots-of-coupons-too-of-course/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/jc-penney-new-branding1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">JC-Penney-New-Branding</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>The Splurge Surge: Luxury Spending on the Rise</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/05/01/the-splurge-surge-luxury-spending-on-the-rise/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/05/01/the-splurge-surge-luxury-spending-on-the-rise/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 09:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Autos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic Indicators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Executive Pay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Travel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[affluence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[American Express]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baby products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bentley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harley-Davidson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[luxury]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[luxury car]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[luxury spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motorcycle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[splurge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wealth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78871</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Wealthy Americans don&#8217;t really think that good times are here again for the economy. But they&#8217;re going on shopping sprees anyway, with increasing sales seen for luxury hotel stays, high-end automobiles, and more. The 2013 Survey of Affluence and Wealth in America, conducted by American Express Publishing and the Harrison Group, asked 1,416 Americans in the 10% income bracket about their spending habits and lifestyle decisions, as well as their thoughts on the state of the economy. Of those surveyed, the vast majority (76%) believe that the recession hasn&#8217;t actually ended. “Despite the clear consensus from economists that the recession is over, affluent and wealthy consumers do not believe that a real national recovery — neither economic nor emotional — has occurred,” Jim Taylor, vice-chairman of the Harrison Group, observed in a press release. Regardless, the well-off say they expect to pick up spending this year in key discretionary (read: splurge-y) categories such as travel, electronics, jewelry, and automobiles. Compared to the first quarter of 2012, there has been a notable rise in wealthy Americans expected to spend more on luxury hotels and resorts (up 17%), home entertainment and electronics (up 17%), watches (up 10%) , and automobiles (up 18%). (MORE: A Nation of Renters: Should We Be Worried That Fewer Americans Own Homes?) The two survey results may seem at odds: If this group is of the belief that the economy remains shaky, why the eagerness to splurge? Are they simply trying to do their share to spread some money around and help economic recovery? The recently released Pew Research Center report may offer some explanation. The study showed that from 2009 to 2011, the mean net worth of households in the top 7% rose by 28%, while everyone else collectively saw their wealth drop by 4% over this same time span. So it makes perfect sense for the wealthiest households to be unimpressed with the economic recovery as a whole, and yet to personally be game to increase discretionary spending. While the poor (and the middle-class) have gotten<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78871&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Economy</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/economy-policy/economy/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/2776941.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">People a window display at the Bergdorf Goodman in New York City.</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Here Come Gun-Focused Retail Super Centers</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/30/here-come-gun-focused-retail-super-centers/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/30/here-come-gun-focused-retail-super-centers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:00:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Government]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Adam Lanza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Best Buy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big box retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cabela's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[firearms]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gander Mountain]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun sales]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michigan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Minnesota]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newtown]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ohio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sandy Hook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[super center]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78778</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Picture a sprawling 30,000-square-foot Best Buy store—only instead of electronic gadgets and games, every aisle inside the big-box center is devoted to firearms, bullets, and &#8220;tactical gear.&#8221; This is the hot retail concept spreading throughout the Midwest. Minnesota-based outdoors retailer Gander Mountain is expanding a new concept it first introduced in Wisconsin in 2011: the big-box store devoted almost exclusively to guns and ammo. Three such stores are set to open this month, in Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota. Don&#8217;t come looking for camping gear, mountain bikes, rugged footwear, or other outdoor store standards at these locations. Gander Mountain describes the firearms super center model as &#8220;a new concept which will provide a specialty retail outlet focused specifically on fulfilling the needs of firearms enthusiasts, featuring thousands of new and used firearms of all kinds, and the industry&#8217;s best selection of firearms accessories, specialty apparel, ammunition and security.&#8221; For Gander Mountain, the model helps it compete better with ultra-big-box retailers like Cabela&#8217;s, which is known to operate stores with upwards of 88,000 square feet of space mostly devoted to hunting supplies. The increase in gun sales is the main reason that gun super centers have great growth potential. “Taking a whole store and devoting it to guns is fairly radical but, from a business standpoint, it makes sense,” retail analyst Chris Boring, principal at Boulevard Strategies, told the Columbus Dispatch. “Cabela’s is well known for its hunting and fishing equipment. So it’s a response to that — and it’s also a response to the overwhelming demand for more guns everywhere. I think it’s wise for them to take advantage of unique market conditions.” (MORE: Oof! Airline Fees Rise Yet Again: At Least $200 to Change a Flight) The first Gander Mountain Firearms Super Center in Ohio opened in February in Reynoldsburg, a suburb just east of Columbus. In a phone interview, Boring said that Gander Mountain&#8217;s gun-focused retail centers will attract some sales away from gun shows and smaller gun stores, but the real competition is Cabela&#8217;s, with its huge &#8220;destination&#8221;<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78778&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Retail</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/retail-big-companies/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>New Game for Baseball Fans: Go to the Ballpark Without Spending a Dime</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/27/new-game-for-baseball-fans-go-to-the-ballpark-without-spending-a-dime/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/27/new-game-for-baseball-fans-go-to-the-ballpark-without-spending-a-dime/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cleveland Indians]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Loria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Miami Marlins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York Yankees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pro sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports tickets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[StubHub]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yankees]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78737</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Watch any Major League Baseball game on TV. More often than not, when a view of the &#8220;crowd&#8221; pops onto the screen, you&#8217;ll see more empty seats than people. (Check out an early April game at eerily empty Marlins Park, for example.) And the fans who did actually show up may be spending little or nothing to &#8220;support&#8221; the team. There&#8217;s no shortage of promotions around the country aimed at enticing more fans into coming out to the ballpark. The Cleveland Indians dropped beer prices to $4 for the entire season, down from a minimum of $5.25 last year. Coming off an awful 2012 season, the Boston Red Sox cut prices on beer and food for all home games in April, and even gave out free kids&#8217; meals to make a trip to the ballpark extra tempting for families. There is also the usual roster of deals on tickets and concessions — &#8220;Buck Nights&#8221; ($1 hot dogs and popcorn) and $7 tickets on Mondays in Kansas City, for example. All of these promotions promise good value, but they obviously require fans to spend some cash at the stadium. Perhaps a decent amount of cash, too: When beers are $4 rather than $9, fans are less bitter about the purchase, and are naturally more inclined to have a few while watching the game. (MORE: Fenway Park Drops Beer and Food Prices &#8230; And Red Sox Fans Get Angry?) In Miami, however, where Marlins&#8217; ownership has alienated locals like few other professional sports franchises in history, fans are actively strategizing ways to support the team without handing over a single penny that&#8217;ll benefit hated owner Jeffrey Loria. The Miami Herald reported on the phenomenon, in which Marlins fans get hold of free or deeply discounted tickets, park for free near the stadium, and eat before the game or bring in snacks to avoid stadium concessions: It’s the game that precedes the game, and fans are willing to play in order to see baseball but snub Loria, who cut payroll and traded stars<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78737&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Saving</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/108329208-e13473908668291.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Baseball in Empty Stadium</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Hungry and Lazy Consumers, Rejoice! It&#8217;s Getting Even Easier to Order Food</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/25/hungry-and-lazy-consumers-rejoice-its-getting-even-easier-to-order-food/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/25/hungry-and-lazy-consumers-rejoice-its-getting-even-easier-to-order-food/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Apr 2013 18:35:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[E-commerce]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Burger King]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fast food]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[groceries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grocery store]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Microsoft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Online Delivery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online groceries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[online shopping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pizza]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pizza Hut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Relay Foods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video game console]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[video games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xbox]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xbox 360]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78574</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Burgers, pizza, and a wide range of groceries are on the menu for consumers who are too busy, or just too lazy, to make a food run—or even bother picking up the phone. Now that a critical mass of consumers have grown comfortable ordering pizza online, the next step appears to be ordering food through the TV. Or more precisely, through a video game console. This week, Pizza Hut and Microsoft introduced a &#8220;first-of-its-kind ordering app&#8221; that allows users to place orders for delivery via an Xbox 360 system. Users can use voice commands and hand motions (with Kinect) during the ordering process, and &#8220;geo-targeted&#8221; deals will pop up on the home screen, just in case your stomach is grumbling and you need a reminder of how easy it is to order. (My colleague at Techland questions the ease of the system, however, especially because it still requires the user to actually get off the couch and answer the door when the delivery guy comes. That&#8217;s asking a lot.) After placing an order, you can immediately share it on Facebook—because indeed this is exactly the kind of important news that&#8217;s perfect for sharing on social media. This move could cause trouble, though. It might alert gamer friends to get off their couches and come over and mooch a slice. But hopefully, they too are too lazy to leave their homes. (MORE: You Can FINALLY Order Pizza Hut Using Your Xbox 360) The new app even has a celebrity endorsement or sorts, &#8220;retired&#8221; pro Halo gamer Dave &#8220;Walshy&#8221; Walsh, who told Forbes that he anticipates other big brands will follow in Pizza Hut&#8217;s footsteps by pairing up with video game consoles. &#8220;I have every idea this is just the first step of good things to come from Pizza Hut and this app launch,&#8221; he said. In other news concerning fast food that&#8217;s far easier to get than the drudgery of a trip to the drive-thru, Burger King, which launched delivery service a year ago as a test in the Washington, D.C.,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78574&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/6528-000011.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Takeout Boxes in Refrigerator</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Ben Affleck to &#8216;Live Below the Line&#8217; with Food Budget of $1.50 per Day</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/ben-affleck-to-live-below-the-line-with-food-budget-of-1-50-per-day/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/23/ben-affleck-to-live-below-the-line-with-food-budget-of-1-50-per-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:16:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Budgeting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=78339</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Oscar winner Ben Affleck&#8217;s next project is a challenge aimed at raising money and awareness for global poverty. Next week, the star of &#8220;Argo&#8221; and &#8220;Good Will Hunting&#8221; is joining thousands of others around the world by living on $1.50 a day. Live Below the Line bills itself as &#8220;a campaign that&#8217;s challenging the way people in the U.S. think about poverty &#8212; and making a huge difference.&#8221; The group&#8217;s Facebook page recently announced that Ben Affleck would be participating in this year&#8217;s Live Below the Line challenge, which requires participants to feed themselves on no more than $1.50 per day for five days next week, from April 29 to May 3. The purpose of the challenge is to open eyes up to the reality that 1.4 billion of our fellow human beings on earth live below the extreme poverty line, currently estimated by the World Bank to be the equivalent of roughly $1.50 per day in the U.S. Last year, more than 15,000 people participated in the challenge, raising over $3 million in the process. More than 20,000 people are expected to participate this year, and Affleck is not the only celebrity on board. (MORE: What&#8217;s Behind Newark Mayor Cory Booker&#8217;s Food Stamp Challenge?) A couple of weeks ago, it was announced that this year&#8217;s participants would include singer Josh Groban, actress Sophia Bush, and celebrity chefs Debi Mazar and Gabriele Corcos. This won&#8217;t be the first time Groban takes on the challenge. “Taking on this challenge last year was such a humbling experience for me, and I was so proud and heartened by my fans that joined me,&#8221; Groban said in a released statement. He even wrote a song inspired by the challenge for his new album. &#8220;I wanted to capture this in Below the Line, which was inspired by this experience. It’s amazing how much we take for granted not having to live in hunger, and I am honored to have been asked to help spread the word about this eye-opening campaign again this year.” Now, Affleck,<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=78339&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Giving</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/economics-policy/giving/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/162784769.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">From left: Ben Affleck and George Clooney at the 85th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif., on February 24, 2013.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Budweiser&#8217;s New Pitch: Less Beer, Pay More</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/21/budweisers-new-bowtie-can-design-more-aluminum-less-beer/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/21/budweisers-new-bowtie-can-design-more-aluminum-less-beer/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aluminum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aluminum can]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anheuser-Busch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anheuser-Busch InBev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beer cans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bottles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bud Light Platinum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Budweiser]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[craft beer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[packaging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[shrink ray]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77889</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How&#8217;s this for a sales pitch: With Budweiser&#8217;s new can design, you&#8217;ll get less beer, and you&#8217;ll get to pay more per ounce. You&#8217;ll also get to support the aluminum industry. Anheuser-Busch is messing with the classic 12-ounce can. Starting in May, Bud will be available in a new &#8220;bowtie&#8221;-shaped can, which is angled inward in the center, mimicking the vertical Budweiser logo created in 2011. Each of the new cans contains 137 calories of beer, 8.5 fewer calories than the usual can of Bud. And how is Anheuser-Busch lowering the per-beer calorie count? Easy! It is putting less beer inside each can. Bowtie cans, which will be sold in addition to regular cans rather than replacing them, will hold 11.3 ounces of beer. The &#8220;shrink ray,&#8221; as the advocacy site Consumerist.com calls it, has been applied to all sorts of products over the years. Cereal boxes, bags of chips, orange juice containers, plastic soda bottles, ice cream cartons—these and countless other goods have been carefully redesigned so that manufacturers can create the illusion consumers are getting the same amount of product, even as the packages hold less than the previous models. It&#8217;s a way for manufacturers to boost revenues without appearing &#8212; to the average consumer, at least &#8212; to raise prices. (MORE: Think There Are a Lot of Craft Breweries Out There? Just You Wait) Now Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world&#8217;s biggest beermaker, is pointing the shrink ray at the iconic can of Bud. The company isn&#8217;t marketing the new can design this way, of course. Here&#8217;s the spin presented to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “We know there are a large number of consumers out there looking for new things, the trend-seekers,” Anheuser-Busch&#8217;s vice president of innovation Pat McGauley told the Post-Dispatch. “We expect both our core beer drinkers and new customers to try it.” It seems like A-B doesn&#8217;t expect beer drinkers to do math, however. The new cans will be sold in 8-packs rather than the standard 6-pack; this will make it more difficult for shoppers to<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77889&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/cg95194.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">ANHEUSER-BUSCH BUDWEISER BOWTIE CAN</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Attention JC Penney Shoppers, Look Out for the Return of &#8216;Sales Galore&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/attention-jc-penney-shoppers-look-out-for-the-return-of-sales-galore/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/attention-jc-penney-shoppers-look-out-for-the-return-of-sales-galore/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:45:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[coupons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discounting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[J.C. Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JC Penney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[JCP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[jcpenney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[markdowns]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mike Ullman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ron Johnson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77832</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[After months of abysmal sales tallies, the Ron Johnson era is over at JC Penney. Now that Johnson&#8217;s &#8220;fair and square&#8221; no-coupons pricing policies have proved to be a failure, the department store will have to try something else to win back customers and stop the bleeding. But what? Mike Ullman, who was replaced as CEO when Johnson took over at JC Penney in 2011, and who began serving again as top executive when Johnson was pushed out, told the Wall Street Journal that he wasn&#8217;t planning on reverting to the old business model. &#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t recommend that we go back to the way J.C. Penney was when I left,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Things change.&#8221; And yet, in some ways the department store is clearly trying to resemble the JC Penney of old. Management has already announced that newspaper ads will feature coupons once again. Johnson seemed to find coupon usage distasteful and silly, likening it to a drug that consumers needed to be weaned off. A little over a year after JC Penney went &#8220;drug-free,&#8221; so to speak, coupons are back. (MORE: The 5 Big Mistakes That Led to Ron Johnson&#8217;s Ouster at JC Penney) Some retail experts think that the return of coupons is just the tip of the iceberg. John Sculley, former CEO of Apple, said on Bloomberg TV that it was absolutely essential for JC Penney to &#8220;get the cash flow of those old customers back into the store. And how did they do it before?&#8221; Sculley asked, before answering his own question. &#8220;They did it with sales.&#8221; A new study indicates that JC Penney&#8217;s shoppers are older, poorer, and more price-sensitive than the average customer at, say, Target or Macy&#8217;s. It&#8217;s assumed that an announcement of major markdowns is the quickest (and perhaps only) strategy to bring these customers back to JC Penney. Martin Sneider, a retail professor at Washington University, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he anticipates a flood of deals and discounts, at least in the short run while JC Penney is desperate<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77832&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Smart Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/smart-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/jc-penney-new-branding1.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>Is Retail Therapy for Real? 5 Ways Shopping Is Actually Good for You</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/is-retail-therapy-for-real-5-ways-shopping-is-actually-good-for-you/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/16/is-retail-therapy-for-real-5-ways-shopping-is-actually-good-for-you/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:45:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Yarrow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[psyhology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[retail therapy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[therapy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77697</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You know the phrase, “When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping”? There just may be some wisdom in that. A survey conducted by TNS Global on behalf of Ebates.com found that more than half of Americans (52%, including 64% of women and 40% of men) admit to engaging in “retail therapy”—the act of shopping and spending to improve one&#8217;s mood. This echoes a previous study, published in the Journal of Psychology and Marketing, that revealed 62% of shoppers had purchased something to cheer themselves up, and another 28% had purchased as a form of celebration. But beyond the quick rush provided by making a purchase, is &#8220;retail therapy&#8221; actually therapeutic? Renowned San Francisco therapist Peggy Wynne, who is known to personally appreciate the mood-boosting quality of a great pair of shoes, says that it can be. “We all enjoy a little retail therapy now and then,&#8221; she told me. &#8220;In small, manageable doses it can soothe the soul. Shopping isn’t a problem when it’s done in moderation, just like moderate use of alcohol.” Of course, it&#8217;s possible to overdo consumption, in terms of drinking or shopping, or any number of other things for that matter. In fact, the warning signs that habitual shopping has become a problem have a lot of overlap with the classic tell-tale indications that you&#8217;re abusing alcohol. Wynne says that lying or hiding purchases from loved ones, feeling guilt or shame about shopping, missing work or other obligations to go shopping, and feeling that shopping is no longer fun but a necessity are all signs that your shopping habit has gotten out of hand. (MORE: Why We&#8217;re So Irrational When It Comes to Tax Refunds) I wouldn&#8217;t exactly use the word “therapy” to describe the effects of shopping. And everyone can agree that &#8220;stuff&#8221; won&#8217;t make you happy in the long run. Still, based on the research and countless interviews with consumers I&#8217;ve conducted over the years, I can point to five genuinely therapeutic benefits of shopping—provided, again, that it&#8217;s done in moderation. Easing<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77697&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Psychology of Money</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/personal-finance-2/economics-policy/psychology-of-money/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/107428671-e13446287357841.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Woman carrying shopping bags</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
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		<title>A Bentley Boom? Rising Sales for Luxury Automakers Like Bentley, Jaguar, Porsche</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/15/a-bentley-boom-rising-sales-for-luxury-automakers-like-bentley-jaguar-porsche/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/15/a-bentley-boom-rising-sales-for-luxury-automakers-like-bentley-jaguar-porsche/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:48:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Austerity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Autos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economic Indicators]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wealth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Audi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bentley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BMW]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BMW M5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elite]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horsepower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jaguar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[land rover]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Porsche]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rich]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77553</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So much for scaling back. The world&#8217;s rich and elite &#8212; or those who just want to appear so &#8212; have been cracking open their wallets in a big way lately, and luxury automakers are the beneficiaries. Bentley Motors announced that sales in the first quarter of 2013 were up 26% globally compared to the same period last year. Sales in the Americas increased 35% for the same time frame. The automaker, which is known for high-price, high-end models like the new Flying Spur (MSRP from $200K), still has a very small portion of the auto market. Just 2,212 new Bentleys were delivered to customers worldwide during the first three months of 2013, compared to 1,759 the year before. Even so, Bentley isn&#8217;t a mass-market type of operation, and the automaker is on pace for what it would consider a huge year. In 2011, for example, global sales hit 7,003, a 37% increase over the previous year. This year, Bentley should easily top that 2011 sales total. More importantly, in terms of gauging the state of the global economy (and the willingness of the rich to drop big bucks on plush, pricey new toys), it&#8217;s noteworthy that Bentley is hardly the only luxury automaker doing brisk business lately. USA Today reported that Porsche just had its best January ever for sales, up 32% compared to January 2012. Once February and March sales totals were in, Porsche Cars North America announced it had experienced its best-ever first quarter, with 9,650 vehicles sold, a rise of 35% compared to the same period last year. Audi also said that it just had the &#8220;strongest first quarter in its history&#8221; with 369,500 units sold, up around 7% from the January-March period in 2012. Jaguar Land Rover sales were up 17% in the first quarter, according to the Guardian. (MORE: Luxury Wheels, Honda Price: New Breed of Upscale Cars Selling for About $30,000) Given the numbers, it&#8217;s unsurprising that expensive new luxury models have been flooding auto shows. A recent New York Times piece offered<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77553&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Wealth</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/wall-street-markets/wealth/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
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		<title>American Families Increasingly Let Kids Make Buying Decisions</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/11/american-families-increasingly-let-kids-make-buying-decisions/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/11/american-families-increasingly-let-kids-make-buying-decisions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:45:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Martha C. White</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77145</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Breakfast is the most important meal of the day — so why are you letting your kid pick what you’ll eat? A new study from the NPD Group shows that parents defer to their children about a third of the time when it comes to deciding what to eat for breakfast, and about a quarter of the time for lunch. (The family members who are old enough to bring home the bacon are still the ones calling the shots on dinner, with only 3% of kids dictating that menu.) The mealtime surrender is just one more way parents are increasingly letting their children dictate what they buy, and it’s got marketers scrambling.  NPD advises companies, “By understanding who controls the meal&#8230; you can more effectively target your audience.” According to a study conducted last year by Viacom’s Nickelodeon, kids pick what to eat 85% of the time at fast-food visits. (Maybe that’s why those apple slices haven’t been selling like, well, hotcakes infused with syrup and wrapped around eggs, cheese, and a sausage patty.) Food manufacturers seem to have gotten the message: Market research firm Packaged Facts says in a new report that it expects breakfast versions of “popular indulgent” dessert items like cookies and pies in flavors like chocolate to become more popular. Breakfast cookies are obviously a kid-friendly concept, but these new versions also aim to please parents with better nutritional content. It’s not just food choices that kids are dictating &#8212; or at least voting on. “Decision-making within families today is almost entirely collaborative – and as kids become more influential, they’re impacting purchasing decisions,” Christian Kurz, vice president of research at Viacom International Media Networks wrote on Viacom’s blog last year after Nickelodeon conducted its study. Kids also help pick clothes, shoes, and where their families go on vacation. (MORE: Parent Holiday Conundrum: How to Walk the Fine Line Between Treating and Spoiling Your Kids) The Nickelodeon study found that family decision-making in general is more inclusive these days; more than half of parents seek their kids’<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77145&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>Odd Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/odd-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/83590584.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">83590584</media:title>
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		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/9a5a9e4f28beb5afb59b1202632d219a?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">marthacwhite</media:title>
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		<title>Ben &amp; Jerry&#8217;s Free Cone Day Is Today, April 9 – And More Freebies Coming</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/ben-jerrys-free-cone-day-is-today-april-9-and-more-freebies-coming/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/09/ben-jerrys-free-cone-day-is-today-april-9-and-more-freebies-coming/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:02:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advertising]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[7-Eleven]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[7-Eleven Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ben & Jerry's]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bowling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Comic Book Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Cone Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free ice cream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Free Tea Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ice cream]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ice tea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Slurpee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=77121</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Everybody loves ice cream. And everybody loves freebies. And free ice cream? That&#8217;s almost too good to be true. So consumers understandably get excited about Ben &#38; Jerry&#8217;s Free Cone Day, an annual event when just what you think happens: Participating Ben &#38; Jerry&#8217;s locations give away one free ice cream cone per customer. This year, Free Cone Day is Tuesday, April 9, as you may have already seen on Twitter (#FreeConeDay). Free Cone Day usually marks the kickoff to the warm-weather season for all sorts of freebies. Free Comic Book Day is always celebrated on the first Saturday in May—May 4 this year. Like it sounds, this is the day that comic book stores all over the country give away a select variety of free comics. Why are stores and comic book makers willing to hand over merchandise free of charge? The event draws in crowds of people, some of whom are young (or just immature) and impressionable, and who very well may turn into loyal customers for years. It turns out that Free Comic Book Day also tends to be a huge day for selling comic books, with loads of thankful, excited customers buying while picking up their freebies. A month later, the first Friday in June is traditionally National Doughnut Day, when Krispy Kreme and other chains dish out free donuts. That is, they usually give out free donuts; no official announcements have been made yet regarding National Doughnut Day 2013. (MORE: Giveaways Turn Tough Sales into Easy Sales) Likewise, 7-Eleven hasn&#8217;t officially announced &#8220;7-Eleven Day&#8221; for 2013, but in years past, the convenience store chain has given free 7.11-ounce Slurpees on 7/11 (July 11). As with Free Comic Book Day, the act of giving away free Slurpees seems to make customers only want more, and 7-Eleven Day tends to be a big day for selling Slurpees. More summer freebies to watch out for include the possibility of another Free Tea Day at McAlister&#8217;s Deli and free bowling in honor of National Bowling Day, which was held<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=77121&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Saving</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-saving-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/benjerrys.png?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/benjerrys.png?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/benjerrys.png?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Ben &#38; Jerry&#039;s</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
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		<item>
		<title>Dumpster Diver Café? &#8216;Underground Restaurant&#8217; to Feature Discarded Foods – And No Prices</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/04/03/dumpster-diver-cafe-underground-restaurant-to-feature-discarded-foods-and-no-prices/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/04/03/dumpster-diver-cafe-underground-restaurant-to-feature-discarded-foods-and-no-prices/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economics & Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food and Beverage Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Giving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Green]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Personal Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Boston]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[College Students]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[donation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dumpster diving]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[freebies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gleaners Kitchen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maximus Thaler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Somerville]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tufts University]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76423</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The practice of &#8220;dumpster diving&#8221; has been featured in reality TV shows and parodied on &#8220;Portlandia.&#8221; This summer, foods salvaged from supermarket dumpsters will play a central role in a very unusual Boston-area café. A Tufts University student named Maximus Thaler is hoping to open an &#8220;underground restaurant and grocery store&#8221; in Somerville, Mass., this summer. It&#8217;ll be called The Gleaners Kitchen, and the menu will be determined by whatever discarded produce, herbs, meat, fish, and other ingredients he and other volunteers find in nearby dumpsters. What&#8217;s more, all food will be served for free to all comers. A recently launched Kickstarter campaign to cover summertime rent and utilities for the Gleaners Kitchen has already surpassed its initial goal of $1,500. That led Thaler to announce a new goal of $2,500, with the idea the extra cash would pay for an upgraded &#8220;bike truck&#8221; that&#8217;d help his group gather goods during dumpster-diving runs. The pledge period ends April 18. In recent years, some restaurants have been experimenting with pay-what-you-want menus. Most prominently, the Panera Bread chain has operated several cafes that only list &#8220;suggested&#8221; prices, and all of its four dozen restaurants in the St. Louis area just began offering at least one item—turkey chili—on a &#8220;pay what you want&#8221; basis. (MORE: Marx&#8217;s Revenge: How Class Struggle Is Shaping the World) Thaler&#8217;s initiative is different. It&#8217;s not a new business model. Most people wouldn&#8217;t call it a business at all. &#8220;I’m not opening a restaurant,&#8221; Thaler states in the Kickstarter video in which he and other volunteers retrieve cartons of thrown-away peppers, greens, and eggs behind a grocery store. &#8220;I’m inviting people into my home, and I’m sharing space with them.&#8221; Yes, the plan is for the café to be run this summer out of a Somerville apartment where Thaler, currently a senior philosophy of science major at Tufts, will live. It&#8217;ll be open 24 hours a day, with coffee, tea, and soup available at all hours. As Boston Magazine reported, a meal will be served daily at 6 p.m.<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76423&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Food and Beverage Industry</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/food-and-beverage-industry/</primary_category_link>
		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dunk City &amp; Dollars: Florida Gulf Coast Bandwagon Means Big Bucks</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/dunk-city-dollars-florida-gulf-coast-bandwagon-means-big-bucks/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/dunk-city-dollars-florida-gulf-coast-bandwagon-means-big-bucks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:00:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brad Tuttle</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business of Sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Decision Making]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Educational Financing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[basketball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FGCU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Gulf Coast]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Florida Gulf Coast University]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[March Madness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NCAA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports apparel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports fans]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=76051</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Bringing new meaning to the term &#8220;fast fashion,&#8221; trendy sports fans are known to immediately need to get their hands on the jerseys of out-of-nowhere sensations like Colin Kaepernick and Jeremy Lin. A nation of fans is currently fascinated with an entire team—Florida Gulf Coast University, the first No. 15 seed ever to make it to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA basketball tournament. And the impact goes well beyond soaring team apparel sales. After FGCU scored an upset victory against No. 2 seed Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament, sales at the campus bookstore skyrocketed 1,000%, according to CNN Money. The store&#8217;s online unit then handled 500 apparel orders on Sunday, after FGCU&#8217;s win over San Diego State. On a normal Sunday, when the physical store is closed, its website does maybe 20 to 30 orders. Stores throughout the Fort Myers area have rushed to fill aisles with FGCU merchandise, as consumers clamor for a piece of the team everyone is talking about. &#8220;Everyone jumps on a winner,&#8221; Lewis Hardy, CEO of the Licensing Resource Group, told CNN Money. &#8220;There are people wearing their stuff right now who may not even know where they are located.&#8221; Interest in the team has expanded well beyond Florida. Earlier this week, the sports gear e-retailer Fanatics.com released a statement attesting to FGCU&#8217;s major leap in interest among fans nationwide: Since the tournament began on Thursday, Florida Gulf Coast University has been the top-selling college and most searched school on Fanatics.com, one of the largest online retailers of officially licensed sports merchandise. FGCU gear has been purchased by fans in more than 40 states since Thursday, with the top state being Florida, of course. (MORE: Madness for Sale: Businesses Go for a Piece of NCAA &#8216;March Madness&#8217; Basketball Tournament) Gamblers are drawn to FGCU as well. The team&#8217;s next game, a matchup on Friday night against University of Florida, which is favored by 13 points, is the hottest bet in Las Vegas, according to a Bloomberg News story:<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=76051&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Business of Sports</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/companies-industries/business-of-sports/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
		<media:thumbnail url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240" />
		<media:content url="http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/7391cfb4656a46fc97fca2e4789ccee0-0.jpg?w=240" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">Florida Gulf Coast&#039;s Dajuan Graf, from left, Eddie Murray and Brett Comer celebrate after winning a third-round game against San Diego State in the NCAA college basketball tournament, on March 24, 2013, in Philadelphia. Fla.</media:title>
		</media:content>

		<media:content url="http://0.gravatar.com/avatar/f8de938518e7b986d552694ed99aa54d?s=96&#38;d=http%3A%2F%2F0.gravatar.com%2Favatar%2Fad516503a11cd5ca435acc9bb6523536%3Fs%3D96&#38;r=G" medium="image">
			<media:title type="html">bradtuttle</media:title>
		</media:content>
	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Beyond Showrooming: 3 Quirky Ways Smartphones Are Changing How We Shop</title>
		<link>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/beyond-showrooming-3-quirky-ways-smartphones-are-changing-how-we-shop/</link>
		<comments>http://business.time.com/2013/03/29/beyond-showrooming-3-quirky-ways-smartphones-are-changing-how-we-shop/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:45:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kit Yarrow</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Companies & Industries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Future of Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Odd Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psychology of Money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Publishing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Retail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Saving & Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Smart Spending]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[candy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[checkout line]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impulse buys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[impulse purchases]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[iPhones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Magazines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[showrooming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[smartphones]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://business.time.com/?p=75965</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When shoppers met the smartphone, they quickly learned that the device was ideal for shopping around &#8212; while shopping in person. They could do things like check Kelley Blue Book prices at car dealerships, or see if a dress in a store was being sold for less at the shop down the street—or online. More than half of Americans now own smartphones, and it&#8217;s this practice of &#8220;showrooming&#8221;—touching and feeling merchandise in stores before consulting the smartphone for a better deal—that seems to have most changed how consumers shop lately. But there are other, quirkier and somewhat unexpected ways that smartphones are affecting the retail scene. Here are three: Fewer Impulse Purchases in Checkout Lines The people waiting in a store checkout line are considered a captive audience—one that might be tempted into buying candy, soda, celeb magazines, and any number of goods, without thinking much of it. But smartphones seem to be more interesting than the magazine cover featuring Kim Kardashian’s latest antics. Single sale copies of magazines, largely purchased while waiting in line at the grocery store, are down 8.2% from last year. Sales of gum have taken a hit, too, declining 5.5% last year. Evidently, instead of amusing ourselves examining new gum flavors, we’re checking our emails or playing Angry Birds. (MORE: Why We&#8217;re So Irrational When It Comes to Tax Refunds) More Shopping Collisions In my research, I speak with lots of consumers, including Brett, who has been a weekly regular at San Francisco’s popular Saturday morning farmers market since it opened. Not anymore, though. “It’s always been crowded but now it’s impossible,&#8221; Brett told me. &#8220;Everyone’s looking down at their phone, blocking passageways, walking right into you sometimes. It’s rude.” Another shopper named Julie feels the same way about shopping at Ross. “I was trying to make my way around this rack and there’s this girl just texting away, oblivious,” she said. It&#8217;s not just consumers who tell me there&#8217;s an epidemic of smartphone-distracted shoppers out there, some who obliviously bump into strangers while staring<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=business.time.com&#038;blog=31173800&#038;post=75965&#038;subd=timebusinessblog&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>Odd Spending</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://business.time.com/category/saving-spending/odd-spending/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timebusinessblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/143174930-e1364416548141.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Young couple shopping at supermarket</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">TIME.com</media:title>
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