Consumer Business Review: Wal-Mart Uses FOOD To Lure, Starbucks Goes To FUNERAL Homes

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is among a group of discounters, including Target (NYSE:TGT), that is using food to draw shoppers into their stores, says the Wall Street Journal. Traditional supermarkets’ portion of domestic grocery sales have plummeted from 66 percent in 2000, to 51 percent in 2011, according to UBS. Some analysts think that the discounter tactics above are a part of the cause.

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Hasn’t this deal already closed? The proposed merger between US Airways (NYSE:LCC) and bankrupt American Airlines (AAMRQ.PK) drags on with a new court filing from US Airways, that implies that it will give American more time to file its bankruptcy restructuring plan. However, American says it’s considering other merger options, but US Airways has been the likely winner from the get-go.

This might be Friday the 13th, but it’s not April Fool’s Day: Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) intends to open a store inside a funeral home (!) in South Carolina. Although the company says it will maintain a ‘low-profile’ at the location, it insists that the move follows a growing trend of situating stores inside high-traffic areas. So are traffic medians on I-95, but still…

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