Sid Gorham, President, Telecom Practice

Pressure has been mounting on U.S. mobile carriers to lower pricing in response to slow growth and the weakened economy. The Big 4 national carriers (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) each introduced unlimited usage plans in Q1 2008 that offered unlimited calling for approximately $99 per month. While these plans lowered rates for high usage subscribers, they failed to spark a full-on price war in the mass market as many analysts predicted at the time.
Today, the Big 4 national carriers are increasingly challenged by regional carriers …

When it comes to holiday baking, consumers in the northern U.S. reach for baking supplies — like readymade frosting, cake decorations, chocolate chips, and food coloring, while southerners prefer to stick to the basics: flour and sugar.
Last November and December, supermarket shoppers in northern markets like Hartford and New Haven, Conn. and Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y. spent almost one-third more, percentage-wise, on baking supplies than average American consumers, Nielsen reports.
During the same period, shoppers in southern markets like Birmingham, Ala. and Memphis dominated sales of flour, spending 106% and 78% more, respectively, than average Americans.
Consumers in Memphis and Birmingham also dominated sales …

Given the current, sluggish economic climate, retailers will have to look hard to find growth opportunities in the U.S.
According to Nielsen Claritas, they might start by taking a closer look at large, fast-growing metro areas, like Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix. 
These three markets ranked as the top three fastest growing U.S. markets in the last eight years — and could offer the retail industry some hard-to-come-by expansion opportunities, Nielsen reported in a new study released Monday.
“While some of these markets like Phoenix and Los Angeles have been hard hit by the recent wave …