Furnishing joy: IKEA plans KC-area store for 2014

Each morning I grab my shoes out of Stahl, turn off Kroby and grab my coffee from Omar on the way out the door.

Sound weird?

That’s because it’s Swedish – well, sort of.

Billboard calls out Bass Pro

Not getting through to a potential client? Why not take out a billboard and ask them publicly?

That’s exactly what Flower Mound, Texas-based Ivie & Associates Inc. has done on an East Kearney Street billboard near U.S. Highway 65.

Mutual fund with ORLY stock loses Kiplinger luster

A mutual fund that counts O’Reilly Automotive Inc. among its largest holdings has dropped out of the Kiplinger 25.

Barron’s: Maintenance mode favors O’Reilly Automotive

Barron’s recently ran an article explaining why O’Reilly Automotive Inc. may very well outperform its competitors this year and see its stock price jump as much as 50 percent.

Whatever happened to Thanksgiving anyway?

As we welcome the month of December, and I try to figure out what’s left to buy on my Christmas list, I find that I’m wistful for another holiday – one that increasingly is overshadowed by the special days that precede and follow it.

Is it just me, or do retailers move from Halloween straight to Christmas music and eye-catching displays that remind us just how many shopping days are left until Dec. 25?

I just wonder what happened to Thanksgiving. It is still a national holiday, but it seems harder to remember that every year. Turkey, stuffing and family gatherings on the fourth Thursday of November are, it would seem, less important than getting the “best deals ever” on the pseudo-holiday dubbed Black Friday.

Short Circuit at Circuit City

The drop in overall discretionary spending has claimed another victim.

Publicly traded Circuit City Inc. (NYSE: CC) announced today that it’s closing 155 U.S. locations, including four in Missouri. Springfield survived the cutback, though three stores in the Kansas City area and one in Ferguson, as well as one in Fayetteville, Ark., weren’t so lucky.