Click here to subscribe today or Login.
Starbucks, Green Mountain brew a single-cup deal
Starbucks Corp. and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. say they have reached a deal that will bring single-cup Starbucks coffee and Tazo tea pods to Keurig users.
Starbucks has been looking to beef up its presence in the fast-growing single-cup coffee market and Green Mountain is considered one of its leaders. Rumors swirled last month that the two were in potential partnership talks.
The agreement announced Thursday between the Seattle coffee chain and the single-serve coffee brew maker provides for the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of the pods for Green Mountain’s Keurig single-cup brewing system.
Terms were not disclosed.
The companies plan to make the K-Cup portion packs available at food, drug, mass, club, specialty and department store retailers in the U.S. and Canada starting in the fall.
Wal-Mart expanding online
As competition grows from Amazon.com, Wal-Mart is battling back by expanding a program offering the convenience of shopping online along with same-day gratification.
The world’s largest retailer said Thursday it is expanding its service that lets shoppers pick up online orders at stores to all of its 3,600-plus locations. It’s partly a bid to win back consumers who’ve gone elsewhere for convenience.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. previously offered the service on about 2,000 items in less than a quarter of its stores. Now it will apply 40,000 items, including baby items, toys, electronics, video games and appliances. Groceries are not part of the program.
The world’s largest retailer will start rolling out the program to new stores at the end of the month and expects it to be available in all stores by June and on all 40,000 items by the fourth quarter.
American hikes air fares
American Airlines is raising U.S. base fares $10 per round trip.
If the increase sticks, it would be the seventh broad price hike this year by U.S. airlines, which say they need more revenue to offset rising fuel prices.
American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith confirmed that his airline raised prices Wednesday night. Delta said it was studying the move but had not matched American yet.
Two low-cost carriers, JetBlue Airways and AirTran Airways, said they had not raised prices. United, Continental and Southwest did not immediately comment on their plans.
AOL is laying off 200
AOL says it’s laying off 200 U.S. staffers from its content and technology departments to eliminate overlap only days after completing its purchase of the Huffington Post.
The cuts also affect 700 jobs at AOL’s offices in India, which mainly provides back-office support to the U.S. But AOL spokesman Graham James says 300 of those will move to other companies that are taking over support functions.
AOL paid $315 million for online news hub The Huffington Post as part of a project to revamp itself as a go-to source for news and other content. That deal closed Monday.