Story Archives of 'Business'

As health care premiums continue to skyrocket, Granite State businesses large and small are considering outside-the-box strategies to keep a lid on expenses, from lowering obesity and smoking rates to treating depression and teaching employees how to shop for the most affordable medical care. We’ll talk to a roundtable of benefit managers and analysts on what ideas are being tossed around and which are sticking.

Guests

• David Whelan, health care staff writer for Forbes Magazine
• David Larrivee, principal consultant at Workplace Benefit Solutions in Manchester
• Peter Hayes, longtime health care consultant with Hannaford Supermarket and now owner of the consulting company Health Care Solutions

While fall foliage is over and ski season has yet to begin, there's still plenty going on in New Hampshire this weekend.

Amy Diaz talks with Morning Edition Host Rick Ganley about Open Doors New Hampshire, a statewide event showcasing local people and products.

A slew of retailers released their October sales numbers this morning. Abercrombie and Fitch is down 5 percent Neiman Marcus is down 6 percent, but Target is inching up to 3 percent growth.

As stores ship off Halloween costumes and drag out the Christmas displays, they’re trying some new, creative tactics to lure in consumers and drive up sales. Some surprising big box stores are putting an end to sales and permanently lowering prices. Other mid-level retailers are rolling out luxury goods in the hope of snatching high-end shoppers trolling for deals. Department stores are ordering less and keeping more in the warehouse to drive up demand, so don’t assume that holiday-themed sweater will be waiting for you in the sales bin this January.

Jena McGregor has been watching these trends from her perch at BusinessWeek, where she’s editor of the management department.

McGregor wrote about how retailers are responding to changing consumer demands for a recent issue of the magazine and joins us as part of NHPR’s Working It Out series.

BusinessWeek: The Hard Sell

(Photo by Mark Kobayashi-Hillary via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Friday we get the national unemployment rate and it’s expected to go up. Layoffs remain a reality of this economy. But a few firms as a matter of policy refuse to lay off a single employee.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg reports they’re sticking to their guns through the worst downturn in decades.

Bumping along the bottom. That’s how one state agency described the housing market on Wednesday. But companies with international customers are seeing new prospects. NHPR’s Jon Greenberg has our weekly round-up of the economic news. It’s part of our ongoing series, Working It Out.