Does the real sugar Coke taste better than your local bottler’s version? Mexican Coke has sugar, though not all Coca-Cola sold in Mexico has sugar. It was originally sold in the U.S. for Mexican expats, but grew and is now sold across the country as a specialty item. The U.S.MORE HERE
DALLAS – American Airlines is spinning off its American Eagle subsidiary. Last year, American tried to sell their commuter carrier, but has not been able to do it. The Financial Times reports that AA pilots are against the deal, fearing that it will only lead to lower salaries. American isMORE HERE
RUTHERFORD, California – Inglenook’s vineyards and brand are now one again. Movie and winemaker Francis Ford Coppola has purchased the storied California brand Inglenook to go with his farm in Rutherford, California. Coppola purchased the farm, but the brand was separated from the actual land in the 1970s. The InglenookMORE HERE
The nation once had many regional pet food brands. In my native Northern Neck, we had Huff n Puff, which was a cat food made in Reedville from the waste from that town’s menhaden haulers. Another familiar brand is Twin Pet, which still survives as a discount brand at Wal-Mart.MORE HERE
NEW YORK– The trend of vintage and classic brands continues unabated; consumers seem to have a large appetite for older, vintage brand names and classic brand images such as Throwback Pepsi, seen at right. We talked about the trend with Cheryl Swanson, Principal of the Manhattan-based branding firm Toniq LLC.MORE HERE
RICHMOND – Today, when you get a sales slip from a store, it is usually a foot of printed tape with a request for you to go online and register with them to fill out a customer survey. We don’t understand it. First, doesn’t the company get enough info whenMORE HERE
CHARLOTTE – The department store chain Belk has a new logo being slowly rolled out across the South. The sans serif, lower case Belk replaces a 196os scripty logo that was familiar across the South in various incarnations including Belk, Parks-Belk, Hudson-Belk and Leggett. The old logo design was aMORE HERE
BLOSSOM, TEXAS – We hear from fans of the Peanut Rounder. It’s “soft and delicious” soft textured peanut candy made by Anderson Candy Company. Blossom is in Lamar County, in the northern part of the state. The company apparently has its roots in the 1940s, when a fellow named DanMORE HERE
TEMPE, Arizona – One of America’s oldest houseware brands, Jacob Bromwell, is doing it the old-school way. The U.S. company is still making retrograde products such as tin cups, frying pans, chimney flue covers and fireplace popcorn poppers. The products are handcrafted, and made in a historically correct fashion, muchMORE HERE
