OAK BROOK, Ill., March 11, 2013 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — McDonald’s Corporation’s February comparable sales results were as follows: Global comparable sales decreased 1.5% reflecting a negative calendar shift as February 2012 included an extra day due to leap year Excluding this negative calendar shift of 3.2 percentage points, global comparable sales were up 1.7% US decreased 3.3%; flat excluding the segment’s [...]

Carrie Miranda is a 2000 graduate of Kingsburg High School, and spent two years at Kings River Community College in Reedley before moving to Fresno.  She briefly attended Fresno City College to obtain her real estate license, and then spent two years at Bryan College for court reporting. She was pregnant with her son in [...]

FRESNO – The Fresno Chamber of Commerce, along with the Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Central Valley Business Incubator, have announced the winners of the Entrepreneur Awards at the Fresno Chamber’s Annual Valley Business Awards Luncheon. “Highlighting the accomplishments of driven individuals in Fresno is something we here at the Chamber are [...]

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – TheGroceryGame.com, the largest source for grocery coupons and savings tips online, today offered insights into the national food crisis and how consumers can combat rising meat costs. While the USDA currently projects a 3-4 percent increase in meat prices for this year; The Grocery Game, which closely monitors prices on a daily basis, with an [...]

FRESNO – Michael Butler of Chase Flower Shop in Fresno, established in 1947, says Valentine’s Day is one of the two biggest days of the year for the floral shop, alongside Mother’s Day.  It’s also not surprising to hear that recent customers, most of whom are men, are picking up classic gifts often associated with [...]

YONKERS, N.Y., Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Consumer Reports Index, an overall measure of Americans’ personal financial health, showed consumer confidence is off to sluggish start in 2013, according to the February report. The Consumer Reports Index sentiment measure declined for February dropped to 48.9 from 51.2 the prior month. The most pessimistic consumers remain Americans in households [...]

FRESNO – Downtown Fresno supporters came together for the State of Downtown Breakfast inside The Fresno Ballroom in the Pacific Southwest Building Tuesday morning to look back at a year’s worth of progress in the downtown Fresno area, as well as to build momentum for its future. Kate Borders, president and CEO of the Downtown [...]

Sonja Speck grew up in North Carolina, and began working at a Chick-fil-A restaurant when she was 16.  She started as a cashier, and worked for Chick-fil-A through the rest of high school and college.  Speck attended Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, and earned a BSBA in accounting and a master’s in tax. [...]

More than 10 years ago, Tracy Barnes and her business partner, Kristy Montgomery, started “Premier Bride,” a local bridal magazine.  After publishing the magazine for several years, they began producing the Premier Bride Showplace, a local bridal show.  The success of the magazine and the bridal show helped launch the Premier Bride Wedding Center and [...]

FRESNO – Two vacant department stores on the Fulton Mall, the JCPenney Building and the Gottschalks Building, are being considered for a downtown Fresno public market, which would offer local agricultural produce, meats, cheese, bread, wine, jams and ready-made food like beerocks and empanadas. The public market would be open year-round, and would primarily feature [...]

FRESNO – The Premier Bride Showplace bridal expo will be held this Sunday, Jan. 6 at the Fresno Convention Center Exhibit Halls.  This bridal show is a must for any Central Valley bride looking for great ideas and useful information for planning an amazing wedding.  Potential brides will have the opportunity to meet the finest [...]

FRESNO – Beginning Monday, Jan. 7, Business Street Online will begin announcing the members of the “40 Under 40″ Class of 2012 every weekday on all our news alerts.  This will give our readers a chance to see bios, portraits and video pieces on these young movers-and-shakers that help make our central California communities great.  [...]

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Buoyed by positive same-store sales and customer traffic results, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) rose in November. The RPI – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 99.9 in November, up 0.5 percent from October. [...]

FRESNO, Calif. – Business Street Online would like to take a visual look back on 2012 with our 2012 Year in Pictures.  2012 was another memorable year for central California business, and Business Street Online is looking forward to bringing you coverage of more memorable news events in 2013. In celebration of New Year’s Day, [...]

CHICAGO, Dec. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — 2013 is expected to usher in more jobs, but U.S. employers will continue to play it safe, according to CareerBuilder’s annual hiring forecast.  Twenty-six percent of hiring managers plan to add full-time, permanent employees in the New Year, up three percentage points over 2012.  The study also points to heightened competition [...]

ATLANTA, Dec. 26, 2012   /PRNewswire/ — According to Equifax’s latest National Consumer Credit Trends Report, consumer credit originated year-to-date through September 2012 has increased nearly 30% to $675 billion from $523 billion during the same timeframe in 2010. Comparatively, credit originations today are below the 2006-2007 pre-recession levels of about $1 trillion by about [...]

FRESNO, Calif. – The long awaited announcement is finally here, and the “40 Under 40” Class of 2012, presented by Business Street Online, has been named. The 40 young professionals will be honored at “40 Under 40” The Ultimate Networking Event, coming up on March 21 at the Skyroom Lounge in the Holiday Inn Fresno [...]

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Optimism among U.S. hiring decision makers continues to improve as a slightly increased hiring pace is expected for Quarter 1 2013, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today by ManpowerGroup. When seasonal variations are removed from the data, the Net Employment Outlook for Quarter 1 2013 [...]

FRESNO, Calif. – Chipotle Mexican Grill will soon be serving up its tasty burritos, tacos, salads and other items when it opens its new Fresno restaurant on the corner of Cedar and Shaw in Fresno across from Fresno State early next year. Chipotle representative Danielle Winslow said the restaurants, which serve lunch and dinner dishes, [...]

YONKERS, N.Y., Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday may have seen record-high sales this year, but 36 percent of Americans who say they plan to give gifts have yet do any holiday shopping at all, according to the latest Consumer Reports Holiday Poll. Of those who have begun shopping, 42 [...]