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Walmart may harm local casket business
Wyatt Washington, 55, owner of Atlanta Casket Company for 11 years, may be affected along with other local casket shops in the area by Walmart's decision to get into the casket business

Arcapita bets big on jet
A prototype personal jet complete with its own parachute (and a potential $1.5 million price tag at retail) represents another big bet by Arcapita, a Atlanta-based private equity firm that owns or has major stakes in interesting brands. Using money from Bahrain, Arcapita has quietly -- mostly -- gotten companies from plane maker Cirrus to log homes, bike rack maker Yakima and the Caribou Coffee chain.

Layaway regains lost appeal
The buying program faded away in the buy now, pay later era, but is back in the face of mounting credit card debt. More than a half dozen retailers around metro Atlanta (could be as many as 10) offer layaway and all have been busy during the holidays. As credit became more accessible and living within your means lost its appeal, so did layaway. Not anymore.

Big equipment auction at Ritchie Bros.
If Thursday’s big equipment auction at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers in Newnan, Ga., is any indicator, the economy is on the way back. Almost 1,200 bulldozers, dump trucks, ditch witches, excavators and their ilk moved off the lot.

Worksite wellness programs gain traction
There are lots of ideas on how to reform health care and control medical costs. One idea that's gained some traction is running worksite wellness programs that encourage employees to adopt a healthy lifestyle which can prevent the onset or worsening of a health condition. Quick Fitness Solutions is an Atlanta health and wellness firm that sends trainers out to corporate locations where they conduct after-work programs including yoga, pilates, kick-boxing etc. that the companies fund in order to have healthier employees.

Kia plan revitalizes town
Downtown West Point is starting to come back to life since Kia built a manufacturing plant nearby.

Kia vehicle lineup
Vehicles sold in the sprawling Kia plant.

Airline mechanics protest at UPS
Photos: UPS airline mechanics hold protest over health benefits and the practice of outsourcing jobs overseas.

Retail developments with historic touches
Photos: Ellard Village in Alpharetta and Crabapple Mercantile Exhange in Milton are recently foreclosed retail developments created by a developer with a love of history. He added touches such as wrought iron fences, wooden overhangs and historic-looking brick facades.

Suniva builds a future with solar cells
Suniva may represent how metro Atlanta can attempt to succeed in manufacturing: a high-tech niche, pegged to high-powered research at Georgia Tech, a skilled workforce and a market that will likely be enormous.

Luxury homes on the auction block
Grand Estates Auction Company, based in Atlanta, prepares to auction a luxury second home Tuesday morning in Highlands, NC., October 6, 2009.

Photo of the newest Tilted Kilt Eatery & Pub
The Tilted Kilt Eatery & Pub opened up its third store and is planning on four more in the metro Atlanta area.

Small company survives
The small Lathem company survives against the grain — they are in Atlanta in an age of Third World commodity-making, they are manufacturing in an age of services, they are family-run in an age of mega-corporate ownership and they are using a host of strategies to stay alive in a recession.

Frankfurt auto show
The Frankfurt Motor Show, in Frankfurt, Germany, opened on Monday. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the largest maker of luxury cars, will beat its targets for reducing expenses through 2012 says Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer.

Chick-fil-A milestone
A ceremony commemorating Chick-fil-A, founder S. Truett Cathy's 25,000th Leadership Scholarship for the $ 25 million dollar milestone was held at Atlanta's downtown 23-foot Chick-fil-A "Climb with Care and Confidence" statue located in the Fairlie-Poplar Historic District, across from Woodruff Park.

Job fair in Duluth
The 2009 BIG Expo and Job Fair at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth.

New luxury shops at Hartsfield-Jackson
Photos: New luxury shops open on "luxury row" on Concourse A at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

Made in Georgia: Prefab jail cells
North Georgia is becoming the hub of "detention technology" and Steel Cell is leading the way in constructing new pens for terrorists and other law offenders.

Demolishing 'Clunkers'
Soon, there will be a row of clunkers specifically from the "Cash for Clunkers" program at this Pull-A-Part lot in Conley. Because the Fed requires the cars to be destroyed after 180 days, Manager Mark Ludwig says he wants to wait until they have 22 or so in order to better keep track of them.

Zombie subdivisions
The volume of subdivision vacant lots is overwhelming banks. Some fire-sale prices on whole subdivisions have dipped to 20 to 30 cents on the dollar.

AirTran pilots picket
AirTran pilots as they marked the eight anniversary of their current contract by picketing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Thursday. The pilots are taking the action to demonstrate their displeasure over the several years that have passed without a new contract.

Job seekers flock to Turner Field fair
Photos: Job seekers at a Turner Field job fair.

Mixed-use projects derailed
Central Park at Atlantic Station, surrounded by a mix of restaurant, retail, office and residential space. Once the "it" kind of development, mixed use -- live, work, play -- developments seem to have hit the market at precisely the wrong time.

Job fair crowded as unemployment rises
Job fair crowded as unemployment rises.

Home Depot turns 30
Home Depot on Memorial Drive opened June 22, 1979. It was one of the first two stores opened in Atlanta by Bernie Marcus and Arthur, who were fired from hardware chain Handy Dan. There are now more than 1,970 Home Depots in the United States.

Hard-core iPhone lovers line up for new version
Photos: iPhone customers wait in line outside the AT&T Experience story on Lenox Road to buy the new iPhone 3.0.

Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show (Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace, Paris-Le Bourget) is an international trade fair for the aerospace business. It is held at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France every odd year, alternating both with the Farnborough International Exhibition and Flying Display and the Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung Berlin (ILA).

Ritz-Carlton changes its look
In a move to better capture the next generation of affluent travelers, the Ritz-Carlton has ditched the venerable country club look in the lobby and public areas of its downtown location for a more sleek contemporary appearance.

Prefab is back
The prefab house is back, if it ever went anywhere. New World Home has recently expanded to Atlanta and planted two of its homes in Cobb County. Base price: a quarter million dollars.

Protestors target Home Depot actions
Left to right, protesters Danielle Arellano, Cesar Maxit & Lawrence Jackson from International River rig a giant "Dam Home Depot" banner with two red helium filled weather balloons in front of the Cobb Gallery in Marietta where the annual Home Depot Shareholders meeting took place on Thursday, May 28th. The group was protesting the Home Depot's buying of timber products from a group that is involved in a proposal to build five bug dams on two rivers in Patagonia, Southern Chile.

Carvel Ice Cream turns 75
Carvel Ice Cream, a beloved ice cream chain born in New York, celebrates its 75th anniversary in Atlanta, of all places. Eight years after buying Carvel, Roark Capital, an Atlanta-based company that bought the chain, is trying to preserve Carvel's roots, including Fudgie the Whale, while bringing the chain up-to-date. In the past year, Carvel has added a host of new items to its menu, mostly blended drinks such as Icebergs, Arctic Blenders and Carvellates. The Suwanee franchisee is Perri Kunofsky.

Georgian Terrace's 11M upgrade
The Georgian Terrace is one of the Atlanta's most beautiful hotels and the site of many weddings. The historic hotel has gotten an $11 million makeover with more changes to come.

GM dealers await fate
General Motors is expected to announce today the elimination of about 1,100 dealers.

Some Chrysler dealers spared, others axed
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/05/14/chrysler_dealerships_cut.html

Picketing for flight attendants union vote
Delta flight attendants