A new toy store for the young and wired is coming to Denver.
Los Angeles-based Helio, a new mobile service aimed at techies ages 18 to 34, is expected to open near Cherry Creek mall in December.
The shop will reflect the ambience and attitude of popular nightclubs. Customers will be invited to hang out in lounges where they can test Helio services, browse the Web or watch programming on plasma screens. While kicking back with friends, they can make purchases without ever having to wait in line at a traditional cash register. The stores are also designed to host tech workshops and after-hours events such as art shows and musical performances.
“We’re looking to break the stale mobile-store mold with a unique approach and a place that’s different, inviting and all about lifestyle,” said Ali Zanjani, Helio’s executive vice president of sales.
Additional business news briefs:
All together now
Let’s hope McStain Neighborhoods doesn’t venture from homebuilding into songwriting.
The 40-year-old Louisville company’s holiday card features verses that are set to the tune of “Deck the Halls” and focused on the company’s use of energy-efficient materials.
Take, for example, this verse penned about the company’s homes: “They have classic beauty plus Energy Star. … It’s like Keira Knightly meets NPR.”
Fa-la-la-la, what?
Fund seeks wisdom by shadowing Buffett
A mutual fund based in Atlanta is out to match Warren Buffett’s success.
Buffett amassed much of his estimated net worth of $46 billion through his firm, Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, a holding company with subsidiaries that include Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom.
The Wisdom Fund aims to ride the coattails of the “Oracle of Omaha.” The fund tries to own stocks at the same relative percentage in which they’re held in Berkshire Hathaway’s investment portfolio.
Shouldn’t investors skip the mutual fund and just buy shares of Berkshire, which are up more than 20 percent this year? Sure, if they can afford to. A single share of Berkshire trades for more than $107,000.
The Wisdom Fund, on the other hand, requires a $2,500 minium investment and has gained about 11 percent this year.
Nothing like a hot dog on Thanksgiving
Every Thanksgiving, a large number of customers stop at 7-Eleven stores and grab a (suspense builds here) Big Bite hot dog.
Even on Turkey Day, you can’t keep a good wiener down.
“I don’t know if people get hungry waiting for dinner to be prepared or have had enough turkey by the evening, but we have a pretty steady stream of customers buying hot dogs throughout the day,” said Kent Jimenez, a 7-Eleven grill-category manager.
Among the biggest sellers traditionally rung up by 7-Eleven clerks during Thanksgiving week: Cool Whip, toilet paper, diapers, Nestlé Tollhouse Morsels and imported beer.
Sinking feeling ahead for those who “float”
Shoppers who pay for gifts with checks and count on the “float time” until the money is deducted from their accounts could be in trouble this holiday season.
More stores are using fast- clearing electronic processing. Shoppers who don’t have enough money to cover their purchases on the day they make them are at risk of bouncing plenty of checks.
Businesses are required to notify customers if their checks will be converted to electronic payments and processed as an Automated Clearing House payment, according to Paul Lufkin, chief executive of Denver-based ePayments Corp., which does electronic payment processing.
But some businesses are out of compliance and fail to inform their customers of the faster transactions, according to Lufkin. It’s smart for shoppers to ask before buying.
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
