Author: Reporter

During the six decades since United Record Pressing stamped out the Beatles’ first U.S. single, the country’s oldest vinyl record maker has survived 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, Napster, iPods, and streaming services. Now, the Nashville-based company has rebounded so dramatically that some of its equipment and technology has been retrofitted to keep pace with an ever-growing demand for old-school vinyl. The 75-year-old company has adjusted its business from filling jukeboxes to helping DJs spin and stocking shelves despite a pandemic. On shelves in its warehouse are master versions by Johnny Cash, Kanye West, and The Black Crowes. When Mark Michaels...

It is one of the most under-publicized policies of some of the biggest U.S. retailers: sometimes they give customers full refunds and let them keep unwanted items too. Returnless refunds are a tool that more retailers are using to keep online shoppers happy and to reduce shipping fees, processing time and other ballooning costs from returned products. Companies such as Amazon, Walmart and Target have decided some items are not worth the cost or hassle of getting back. Think a $20 T-shirt that might cost $30 in shipping and handling to recover. There are also single-use items, such as...

Donald Trump’s economic approach at the national level is becoming increasingly evident. His 2024 campaign was heavily financed by ultra-wealthy donors. Undisclosed donations to his campaign functioned as bribes. On November 26, Trump reached a required agreement with President Joe Biden’s White House to allow his transition staff to coordinate with the existing federal workforce before taking office on January 20. The congressionally mandated agreement allows transition aides to work with federal agencies and access non-public information and gives a green light to government workers to talk to the transition team. But Trump has declined to sign a separate...

President-elect Donald Trump threatened in November to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China as soon as he takes office as part of his effort to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the country from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China, as one of his first executive orders. The tariffs, if implemented, could dramatically raise prices for American consumers on everything from gas to automobiles to agricultural products. The U.S. is the largest importer of goods in the...

Mexico has been taking a bashing lately for allegedly serving as a conduit for Chinese parts and products into North America, and officials are afraid a re-elected Donald Trump or politically struggling Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could try to leave their country out of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement. Mexico’s ruling Morena party is so afraid of losing the trade deal that President Claudia Sheinbaum said the government has gone on a campaign to get companies to replace Chinese parts with locally made ones. “We have a plan with the aim of substituting these imports that come from...