Remade airlines seek an advantage with roomier, plush regional jets

MINNEAPOLIS | Airlines are rushing to add new regional jets with first-class seats, roomier cabins and, in some cases, hot food.

Retailers look to prevent a sequel

MINNEAPOLIS | When movies shifted from videocassettes to DVD, retailers simply cleared the tapes off the shelves to make room for discs. That's not so easy now that movies appear poised to follow music onto the Internet.

Snowmobile makers struggle to adapt to wimpy winters

MINNEAPOLIS | Here is an ironclad rule for selling snowmobiles: You need snow.

With TVs for sale everywhere, pressure is on electronics retailers to offer something more

MINNEAPOLIS | What's a big electronics retailer to do when companies like Home Depot start stocking high-definition TVs near the garden hoses?

Western businesses look for ways to attract Muslims

MINNEAPOLIS | When Caribou Coffee went public last year, sharp-eyed investors noticed some unusual promises in its prospectus. Caribou, the nation's second-largest coffeehouse chain, said it would never sell pork or porn. It wouldn't charge or receive interest, either.

Legal change may speed demise of traditional pensions

MINNEAPOLIS | The idea that struggling airlines needed pension help spurred Congress to overhaul retirement laws this week. But outside the airline industry, the changes could accelerate corporate America's shift away from traditional pensions, experts said Friday.

Best Buy sees fourth-quarter profit boost

MINNEAPOLIS | Best Buy Co. Inc., the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer, said fourth-quarter profits grew 13 percent as customers spent more on big-ticket items like flat-panel televisions, digital music players and laptop computers.

Northwest, pilots keep talking under strike threat cloud

MINNEAPOLIS | The threat of mutually assured destruction kept Northwest Airlines and its pilots at the bargaining table on Thursday.

Northwest flight attendants reach pay-cut deal

MINNEAPOLIS | Negotiators for flight attendants reached a pay-cut deal with Northwest Airlines Corp. on Wednesday as the carrier continued talks with the pilots' union.

XL sales push

MINNEAPOLIS | For TV shoppers and sellers, Super Bowl XL is Christmas II.

Best Buy quarterly profit declines

MINNEAPOLIS | Best Buy Co. Inc., the nation's biggest consumer electronics retailer, said Tuesday its third-quarter profit declined 7 percent, as higher expenses outstripped an increase in revenue.

Delta, Northwest to look different after bankruptcy

Their bankruptcy filings behind them, Delta and Northwest began a lengthy and costly road to recovery on Thursday that will likely include cutting employee rolls, pensions and routes. In the end, if they survive, the nation's third- and fourth-largest airlines will be smaller and may look mo…

Mechanics defiant as Northwest begins filling spots

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. | Mechanics at Northwest Airlines vowed to continue their strike on Tuesday, even as the airline said it had begun hiring permanent replacements.

Business insurance premiums drop

MINNEAPOLIS -- Business insurers are learning a hard math lesson: Four hurricanes plus three years of rate increases do not add up to more rate increases.

Military struggles to keep supplies flowing to Iraq

American soldiers are firing so much ammunition that the military's largest supplier of bullets can't keep up. Tanks that log 800 miles a year in peacetime are grinding through that many miles in a month, wearing out their treads.