Business

Magie Cook couldn’t have predicted where her life was going to take her. She began in a Mexican orphanage and soon after found herself homeless.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is suing Starbucks over hiring and promotion policies he claims are racial quotas.

Economic uncertainty surrounds the US, due to rises in tariffs, a soft job market and the recent government shutdown. Yet that doesn’t seem to be dissuading shoppers this upcoming holiday season.

Frustration and worry crossed the faces of customers coming Sunday to Immokalee’s only supermarket — Winn-Dixie — after they discovered it had closed. For good. Winn-Dixie’s parking lot was mostly leaves, dust and litter blowing in the windy weather Sunday after the store closed for business Saturday. A steady stream of customers tried for much of the morning to make purchases, only to be turned away by employees.

The Fallout from the immigration raids conducted by Immigration & Customs Enforcement are beginning to take a toll on small businesses.

Starbucks said Thursday it's closing hundreds of U.S. and Canadian stores and laying off 900 nonretail employees so it can focus resources on its turnaround plan. The Seattle coffee giant wouldn't say exactly how many stores it's closing. But the company expects to end its fiscal year this Sunday with 434 fewer stores than it had at the end of June. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said in a letter Thursday that the company is closing stores that don't have a path to financial stability or have physical spaces that don't meet customers' expectations. Starbucks said employees will be offered transfers to other locations if possible.

Inflation has been on a lot of people’s minds. As the costs of items like household goods and clothing continue to skyrocket, many are turning to the thrift story to snag a bargain.

Small businesses have been hit hard by the increase in import prices from tariff changes in the past year. The Small Business Administration (SBA) is combatting this through its new Make Onshoring Great Again portal.

Many companies are looking to Florida to be the leader in the future of space travel. To meet this growing demand, Charlotte County is looking to expand its educational aerospace program.

When Sunseeker Resort finally opened, it was slated to be "the" tourist spot of the region. Recently, Allegiant Travel put the huge resort up for sale less than 18 months after its grand opening.