Brian Shaw

Shares of Zoe's Kitchen popped following its IPO, but there is more substance behind the hype surrounding Zoe's than other recent restaurant IPOs.

Sears Holdings has slowly dismantled itself in recent years through a string of spin-offs; shares of Lands' End, the most recent Sears spin-off, have struggled in the first few days as a standalone company.

Panera is testing a wide range of changes to its bakery cafes that have the potential to dramatically improve the customer experience in a number of ways.

Despite strong growth in the overall restaurant industry, the recent bankruptcy filings of Quiznos and Sbarro highlight the reasons that not every company is sharing in the success of the industry.

Wal-Mart recently unveiled Savings Cather, which will systematically search for lower prices at competitors and provide store credit to customers. What impact will this have on the competitive environment?

Diageo is lobbying to support efforts to loosen the Tennessee state law that defines the process that a liquor must go through to be labeled "Tennessee whiskey."

The maker of "Candy Crush" is set for an IPO next week, but questions remain whether investors will be well-served by buying into the IPO hype.

Fast casual concepts like Chipotle and Panera continue to be leaders amongst restaurant chains in the United States.

The price increase for Prime is here, but what does it mean for shareholders?

Shares of Big Lots surged following the release of fourth quarter earnings; however, the news was not all good.

Speculation has heated up that Reynolds America is preparing a bid to acquire Lorillard; while it is unknown whether a bid will be successful, the idea makes perfect sense.

With an entry into streaming music, Amazon.com is once again fighting against Apple to create a compelling digital ecosystem.

Another quarter of losses has forced Groupon to shift further away from its core business and into a very competitive market.

Potbelly reported weak results to end 2013, which further proves that there is no guarantees for companies labeled "the next Chipotle."

Shares of RetailMeNot reached all-time highs following a stellar fourth quarter earnings report, but the company is just getting started.

Activision Blizzard's excellent fourth quarter results demonstrate just how much stronger its business is than competitors Electronic Arts and Zynga, Inc.

Amazon.com continues to maintain a solid growth trajectory, but there are challenges to maintaining this growth over the long term.

Coca-Cola's strategic partnership with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is the first strike in a renewed battle for soft drink market share.

Investors in Amazon.com often tout cloud computing and other digital services as the next big growth engine for the company, but don't forget about the company's bread-and-butter e-commerce business.

Missed analyst expectations caused shares of Amazon.com to plummet following earnings, but the long-term story hasn't changed.