A federal administrative judge has ordered Minnetrista-based Jimmy John's franchisee MikLin Enterprises to reinstate six employees that it fired last year after they publicly protested the franchisee's sick-leave policy.
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Best Buy will close six big-box stores in Minnesota this year as the company undergoes a significant restructuring. Best Buy has also begun its search for a permanent CEO-a process that it expects will take between six and nine months.
Best Buy said there was "mutual agreement that it was time for new leadership to address the challenges that face the company."
Matthew Ames, who founded MN Pro Paintball when he was still in high school and has since grown its annual sales to more than $1 million, was named the Minnesota Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Sixteen of the company's executives will receive bonuses if the company meets certain financial goals; the company handed out similar bonuses during its first bankruptcy in 2008.
Same-store sales rose 7.3 percent last month, beating the expectations of both Wall Street analysts and the company itself.
The company, which operates regional flights for Delta Air Lines and two other major carriers, will end some existing contracts and receive a loan from Delta to repay some of its debt and continue operations during its reorganization.
The Twin Cities high-gear bicycle culture has helped inspire a booming number of home-grown frame builders. Are there enough customers to keep them rolling?
Through a major restructuring, the electronics retailer intends to reduce its corporate work force by about 8 percent and shutter 50 big-box stores this year. Meanwhile, it will add 100 new Best Buy Mobile stores in the United States and 50 new Five Star stores in China.
Christopher & Banks attributes its disappointing fourth quarter to an increase in prices that it implemented late last year; it now plans to slash base prices by about 20 percent in an effort to recapture sales.
Boosted sales in Canterbury Park's newly remodeled card casino, combined with increased consumer spending and a mild winter, more than offset the severe impact of the July state government shutdown, which forced the park to close for 20 days and negatively impacted financial results for the 2011 third quarter.
In its 2011 earnings report, the first one made public in four years, Carlson said it experienced 13 percent year-over-year growth in system-wide revenues-but the recession appears to have taken a toll on the company.
Surly Brewing Company intends to have a firm under contract by mid-year, and it hopes to have its new $20 million brewery "in full production" as early as 2014.
The Shakopee amusement park-which is open from May through October-hires about the same number of people on a seasonal basis every year.
Non-discretionary merchandise accounted for 44 percent of sales in 2011, up from 39 percent in 2009-and driving the shift is a strategy to induce the retailer's loyal, high-income shoppers to buy more rather than attracting new customers, according to a recent Star Tribune Point of Sale blog post.
The St. Louis Park-based restaurant chain, which recently acquired several Cadillac Ranch restaurants, plans to open a new Granite City location in Tennessee.
The grand opening of Fulton Beer's taproom attracted more than 1,000 craft beer fans, and the brewery said it will use the new taproom revenues to invest in continued growth.
Robert Stephens, who founded The Geek Squad nearly two decades ago, has left Best Buy and is "ready to build new companies," although he has agreed to serve as an outside advisor to Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn.