Chicago-based hardware retailer True Value, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, could lay off nearly 900 employees in Illinois alone if the company isn’t sold during bankruptcy proceedings, it said in mandated state filings.

True Value, which has about 4,500 stores, filed for bankruptcy in federal court in Delaware on Oct. 14. In...Read more

Boeing Co. is weighing options for the future of its troubled Starliner space capsule program as part of a broad portfolio review under new Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The assessment is at an early stage and no decisions about divesting the Starliner program have been made, said the ...Read more

The union representing dockworkers in East Coast U.S. ports is set to return to the bargaining table with maritime employers next month, part of an arrangement reached after a three-day strike was suspended on Oct. 3.

The International Longshoremen’s Association and the group representing port operators and shipping companies said Friday that...Read more

While the minivan is almost extinct, thanks to the dominance of the SUV, the Honda Odyssey still has a favored spot in Grasso’s Garage. The 2024 Odyssey, assembled in Lincoln, Alabama, boasts tremendous room, comfort and style.

Our 2024 Honda Odyssey Elite tester came wrapped in Lunar Silver Metallic and a gray interior. Since Honda delivered...Read more

The economical Ford Maverick of the 1970s was a wildly popular sedan — equaling Mustang sales in its first year — as rising gas prices spurred shoppers to become more fuel conscious. The $1,900 starting price at launch didn’t hurt either.

Ford dusted off the nameplate a couple of years ago and is having similar success with the new ...Read more

At the annual Country Jam USA in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the songs sound sweeter and the beer runs colder, as its promoters like to say. And Russell Nicolet’s face is everywhere.

Concertgoers encountered Nicolet’s cartoony avatar — wavy beard, bald head, mirrored sunglasses — on billboards all over town. His mug watched over the festival...Read more

The 2025 Volkswagen ID.Buzz is more than an homage to another era. It’s representative of Volkswagen’s American market conundrum.

The German automaker is celebrating its 75th year in America, an astounding feat of marketing for a company established by Adolf Hitler in the late 1930s and popularized in the United States by an ad agency whose...Read more

Attorneys for the state and for the Kroger and Albertsons supermarket chains wrapped up a trial Thursday over the companies’ proposed $24.6 billion merger by disparaging each other’s expert witnesses and accusing the other of pushing an agenda that will harm Colorado shoppers and workers.

Closing arguments capped a trial that started Oct. 1...Read more

Former "Jeopardy!" and "Wheel of Fortune" staffers have filed employment discrimination, harassment and retaliation complaints against Sony Pictures Entertainment after the Culver City, California-based company allegedly laid off workers who spoke out against toxic working conditions.

Shelley Ballance Ellis, a former production executive on the...Read more

A federal agency said it found no safety violations following a seven-month investigation into an April crash that injured crew members during an action sequence on the set of Eddie Murphy’s metro Atlanta-filmed feature “The Pickup.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration closed its investigation Oct. 17, a spokeswoman told The...Read more

Tesla Inc.’s shares surged the most in more than 11 years after the carmaker reported surprisingly strong earnings and forecast as much as 30% growth in vehicle sales next year.

Third-quarter results were buoyed by Tesla turning a corner with the Cybertruck, which generated profit for the first time. Lower material costs, an expanding energy ...Read more

The Thompson Center isn’t the only slice of Chicago real estate where Google is staking new ground.

The tech giant is opening its first bricks-and-mortar Google Store in the Midwest and its fifth overall next week at Oakbrook Center, offering shoppers a chance to test drive everything from new AI-enhanced Pixel phones to tablets and Fitbit ...Read more

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits declined for a second week, to levels seen before Hurricanes Helene and Milton hit Southeastern states.

Initial claims decreased by 15,000 to 227,000 in the week ended Oct. 19. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 242,000 applications.

“The impact of Hurricane ...Read more

Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Kelly Ortberg’s quest to stabilize the struggling US planemaker suffered a stinging setback after factory workers rejected a new labor contract that would have increased their wages by 35% over four years.

Some 64% of the union members who cast ballots on Wednesday voted against the tentative agreement, ...Read more

Deli meats, grab-and-go salads and frozen meals are staples of the modern American diet — convenient and inexpensive options that shoppers readily toss into their carts during grocery runs.

But after hundreds of those products were flagged in major listeria-related recalls recently, nervous consumers have been left to scour their ...Read more

Sandy Springs, Georgia-based UPS has turned the corner after a year and a half of financial struggles, reporting improvements in quarterly profit and revenue for the third quarter.

“After a challenging 18-month period, our company returned to revenue and profit growth,” said UPS CEO Carol Tomé in a written statement.

The shipping giant’...Read more

A top U.S. consumer watchdog warned companies not to use tools that track or assess their workers without their knowledge or permission, a move that comes amid the emergence of new technology making it easier to monitor staffers.

Employers are increasingly deploying tools such as algorithmic scores or background dossiers to assess workers, the...Read more

While the Bay Area might have seen a second summer in September, home sales were already cooling down.

Home sales in the nine-county region hit their lowest level since March, declining 9.4% from a month earlier, even as mortgage rates trended down, according to recent data from the California Association of Realtors. The average rate for a 30-...Read more