Research Topic

Amazon’s books editors have chosen their annual list of the 10 best books that have been released since January.

This year, a biography of author John Updike tops the list, and the other nine books span everything from a book on Edward Snowden and the NSA to a fictionalized story of American abolitionist and women’s rights advocate Sarah Grimké.

The overall list is one of 18 that get compiled around this time of year in various categories like cookbooks, audiobooks and others.

The top 10 books of 2014 so far are:

Washington, D.C. - A clear majority of Americans say social media has no effect at all on their purchasing decisions. According to a new Gallup poll, 62% in the U.S. say Facebook and Twitter, among other sites, do not have any influence on their decisions to purchase products.

Philadelphia — Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has completed the previously announced sale of South Mall in Allentown, Pennsylvania, for $23.6 million. Net of closing costs, settlement pro-rations and credits, proceeds from the transaction totaled approximately $23.1 million.

In addition, PREIT has entered into an Agreement of Sale to dispose of its two remaining non-core malls — Nittany Mall and North Hanover Mall.

Morton Salt has invested $1 million in a state-of-the art food lab at its research and development center in Elgin, Illinois, to support the food industry’s growing desire to reduce sodium levels in comestibles.  

By creating a dedicated food lab at its R&D center, Morton Salt is adding new equipment and 1,300 sq. ft. of space for its team of food scientists and technical staff. Morton also plans to focus on new product development, enhanced formulations, application testing and technical support.

Boston – The Massachusetts House of Representatives has approved a bill that would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from its current hourly rate of $8 to $11 by 2017, which would make it the highest state minimum wage in the country.

The state Senate has already approved the bill, which is expected to be approved by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) after a procedural Senate vote. Under the legislation, the minimum wage would rise to $9 per hour on Jan. 1, 2015; to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016; and finally to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017.

New York – Online is the leading channel for consumers to perform both back-to-school and back-to-college shopping. According to a study from e-commerce marketing technology provider HookLogic and polling company Qriously, 35% of consumers shop for back-to-school suppliers online, while 34% shop in-store and 33% shop both channels (some totals equal more than 100% due to rounding).

London – Three-quarters of online shoppers have shopped online for groceries and 40% of these do so on a regular basis, but only one-third of grocery shoppers rate their experience as “easy.” And only one-in-five (19%) of those surveyed by EDigitalResearch are delighted with their online grocery experience.

It looks like more consumers prefer to do their back-to-school and back-to-college shopping online. According to a study from e-commerce marketing technology provider HookLogic and polling company Qriously, 35% of consumers shop for back-to-school suppliers online, while 34% shop in-store and 33% shop both channels (some totals equal more than 100% due to rounding).

In 1975, when I started what would become Rexall Sundown, the world was a very different place. Gerald Ford was in the White House, there was no social media and the TV universe was limited to three networks and a few local channels.

Suburban Atlanta will be home to Keurig Green Mountain’s new manufacturing facility used to produce new cold products resulting from its new partnership with Coca-Cola.