Michael Carter

Keurig Green Mountain is now partnered with Starbucks and Coca-Cola, while SodaStream continues to build its own consumer base. Even though Keurig Green Mountain and SodaStream sell millions of their products each year, who will really dominate the home beverage making market in the end?

Taco Bell is threatening McDonald's during breakfast. Sonic and Burger King are threatening McDonald's during lunch and dinner. Seeing that both its breakfast and burger menus are being attacked, which should McDonald's focus on going forward?

Whole Foods Market has been in a downward slide, carrying other natural and organic chains like Sprouts Farmers Market with it. Kroger's expanding natural and organic line of foods has disrupted this sector, but Kroger isn't the only obstacle facing Whole Foods Market.

Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut have been synonymous with pizza for decades. However, competition continues to appear from the least obvious of competitors like Buffalo Wild Wings, while other factors in the food industry have encouraged pizza chains to sell items besides pizza. Today, there are many reasons why your Domino's Pizza order may contain a lot more chicken, and the company's latest release of specialty boneless chicken should not surprise anyone.

Wal-Mart has historically been an outlet for low-income shoppers even though competitors Target and Costco offer many comparable products. In the past six months, Wal-Mart has seen food stamp reductions impact its bottom line. This is just one example of the gift and the curse of Wal-Mart's low-income customer.

It was recently announced that several retailers have plans to bring improved mannequins to their display floors. Target and Ralph Lauren are among some of the retailers that plan to make the new mannequins more lifelike, while Gap owns a fashion retailer that is also following suit. Will these new mannequins solve the real issue plaguing retail today?

Ruby Tuesday's recent third quarter earnings has helped the stock surge ahead over 20% the past week. Competing on the same playing field with national restaurant chains like Darden Restaurants and Bloomin' Brands, is Ruby Tuesday's recent stock pop really a case of low expectations or is there something more to the story?

Yum! Brands' Taco Bell and McDonald's have been dueling it out on the breakfast front the past month, while Starbucks has entered the ring with new breakfast menu items. While the battle for breakfast market share is getting heated, everyone wins in the end when chains like Taco Bell attack McDonald's.

Recently, Darden Restaurants, which competes with other nationwide companies like Bloomin' Brands and Brinker International, announced it will be adding online ordering to Olive Garden and customer tablets within LongHorn Steakhouse restaurants later this year. However, will online ordering or other computerized conveniences really help Olive Garden and Darden Restaurants overall?

McDonald's is currently giving away free coffee from March 31 to April 13 nationwide. There are many reasons why this national marketing campaign is perfectly timed, specifically because of how it affects both Yum! Brands' Taco Bell and Starbucks.

With Coach's next earnings due at the end of this month, it will be interesting to see how it has performed relative to luxury brands Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren. Last quarter, Coach stated it would be increasing prices. While many analysts feel this is a bad move overall, there are many reasons why raising prices is the best move long term.

Starbucks recently announced it would be expanding the sale of alcohol in nearly 40 stores by year-end. As competition builds within the coffee segment, which now includes chains like Panera Bread and McDonald's, should Starbucks really be focusing on expanding alcohol sales? Long term, will alcohol prove to be a success or failure for Starbucks?

In recent months, fast food chains Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and McDonald's have made progress in creating mobile applications for either mobile coupons, mobile payments, mobile ordering, or a little of all three. Despite the success of mobile ordering for some restaurant chains, will it really work for every restaurant?

Potbelly has been criticized for being just another sandwich shop chain that competes with much bigger players like Panera Bread and even McDonald's. Perhaps what Potbelly needs to do is address its breakfast menu because there are several reasons why breakfast could turn Potbelly into a perennial champion.

Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, and American Eagle Outfitters have long been shopping mall staples for teen apparel. Their recent earnings, however, signal a shift in shopping habits.

As Wal-Mart competes against its competitors Costco, Target, and even Amazon.com, in order to understand Wal-Mart in 2014 an analysis of what Wal-Mart really does today may help.

New menu selections, new dining designs, and overall improvements to McDonald's and Wendy's have some people asking if these chains can still be categorized as fast food.

AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, and O'Reilly Automotive, combined, account for over 14,000 retail automotive locations in the U.S. Despite beating expectations and trading near its all-time highs, AutoZone is still very much a growth story and can go a lot higher in share price.

Operating in a competitive retail environment that includes companies like The Gap while it tries not to become another victim of Amazon.com, Abercrombie & Fitch has made several changes to attract customers. In doing so, however, has Abercrombie & Fitch lost its identity?

Vitamin Shoppe's fourth-quarter 2013 earnings exceeded lowered expectations that mostly came as a result of GNC's fourth-quarter 2013 earnings several weeks ago. The real question is what Vitamin Shoppe's recent earnings really mean for long-term investors.