Convenience Stores

Cary, N.C. -- The Pantry said Monday that CEO Terrance M. Marks plans to resign within two months.

In a statement, Marks said that his decision was driven by personal reasons, and that he had accepted "an opportunity that will enable me to return to my home and family in Atlanta."

Seattle -- Starbucks Corp. agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to cafe managers and their lawyers to settle a dispute concerning overtime pay, the Associated Press reported.

The lawsuit was filed in 2009 in U.S. District Court in South Florida by a former Starbucks employee and covered roughly 550 managers.

It’s always satisfying to look back and enjoy your professional successes. While I see nothing wrong with patting yourself on the back and basking in well-earned personal kudos, I have found that, from time to time, we must also remember where we’ve fallen short. Thinking about past mistakes certainly keeps me humble. More importantly, I’m almost always able to learn something from my missteps. After all, the more insight and information I can gather about why I was wrong about something, the more accurate I will be in the future.

By Merrick Theobald, [email protected]

If you’re peeking at the news between slats in your fingers, scared to see where the S&P 500 sits or what’s happening with the NASDAQ, the Dow and the price of oil, you’re quite obviously not alone. Each day is a frightening new one, and no one – not even economists – are quite sure what’s going to happen next.

The trend of fewer people shopping Walmart stores less often has hurt the company’s efforts to revitalize U.S. sales growth, and now it the appears trip consolidation trend is playing out internationally as well.

Walmart International sales increased 7.1% to $27.8 billion in the second quarter and all countries produced sales growth, except Japan, when measured on a constant currency basis. Profitability didn’t improve as quickly. Operating profit was up 0.5% to nearly $1.3 billion, but if some one time charges are excluded the growth rate picks up to 5.6%.