Here's A List Of RadioShack Stores Slated To Close By March 31

RadioShack as we know it is dead.

The electronics retailer, which filed for bankruptcy protection last week, will sell up to 2,400 stores. Many of those stores are slated to stay open and be operated by Sprint. The rest of the stores are scheduled to shut down.

Store closures will start as soon as February 17, according to court documents. In total, 1,784 stores could potentially close by the end of March.

Below is RadioShack's "potential store closure list," which can be found on the company's website. The list is grouped by sale termination date (ie. when the stores are planning to close), with the first bunch of stores scheduled to close on February 17, the second group scheduled to close on February 28, and the third group scheduled to close on March 31.

According to The Wall Street Journal, liquidation sales have already begun. Head on over to the WSJ's site for a searchable map of which RadioShack locations are planning to close.

RadioShack did not immediately respond to The Huffington Post's request for comment.

RS Store Closure List

Wegmans Ranked No. 1 For Company Reputation

People love Wegmans.

The Rochester, New York-based grocer has unseated Amazon as the firm with the best corporate reputation among a list of 100 highly visible companies, according to an annual Nielsen poll released this week.

“To be recognized in this way is just incredible,” Danny Wegman, the company’s chief executive, said in a statement. “It always starts with our people, who thrill our customers every day and extend a family feeling in our stores across six states.”

In an age where social media anthropomorphizes products -- from toilet paper to body wash -- branding matters. And although Wegmans has only 85 stores, the company has built a cult following online. Fans applaud the supermarket's decent wages, wide selection of prepared foods and reasonable prices.

Amazon ranked second in the Nielsen poll, followed by Samsung, Costco, Johnson & Johnson and Kraft Foods. The company with the worst reputation on the list was Goldman Sachs.

To determine the rankings in the Harris Poll Reputation Quotient study, evaluated annually for the last 16 years, Nielsen conducted an online survey in English of 27,278 U.S. respondents between Oct. 20 and Dec. 18.

Workers At This Coffee Shop Make $12.50 An Hour And Don't Have To Worry About Tips

Andrew Kopplin and his wife Amanda have operated their coffee shop Kopplin’s Coffee in St. Paul, Minnesota for eight years. But they made a big change in January: they swapped the tip jar for a living wage.

Read the whole story at ThinkProgress

RadioShack Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

NEW YORK (AP) — A diminished RadioShack will live on, but its future may lie with Sprint.

Struggling consumer electronics chain RadioShack, founded nearly a century ago, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Thursday. It plans to sell 1,500 to 2,400 stores to its largest shareholder, investment firm Standard General, and has filed a motion to proceed with closing the remainder of its 4,000 U.S. stores.

Wireless carrier Sprint Corp. has a deal with Standard General to open mini-shops in as many as 1,750 of the RadioShack stores Standard General is buying. Sprint would take up about one-third of the retail space in each RadioShack store, and Sprint employees would sell mobile devices and Sprint plans.

And Sprint would be the primary brand on those RadioShack storefronts and marketing materials.

Sprint, which is based in Overland Park, Kansas, has more than 1,100 company-owned retail stores, which would more than double if the transaction is approved. It is expected to be finalized in the coming months. But other parties could bid for RadioShack's stores in the bankruptcy process.

Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack is also in talks about selling all of its remaining overseas assets.

RadioShack Corp. introduced one of the first mass-market personal computers and used to be the go-to stop for consumers' home electronics needs. But it struggled as shoppers increasingly moved online and growth in its wireless business slowed. It has suffered years of losses.

The New York Stock Exchange suspended trading of its shares on Monday and sought to delist it. The NYSE requires companies meet certain market-value thresholds to remain on the exchange.

RadioShack had warned of a possible bankruptcy in September, but received rescue financing that kept it afloat. Still, its CEO recently cautioned the chain might not be able to find a long-term plan to stay in business.

RadioShack worked hard on its turnaround efforts, hiring Walgreen Co. executive Joe Magnacca as its CEO and former Treasury Department adviser Harry J. Wilson as chief revitalization officer. It also developed relationships with popular brands like Beats Audio and redesigned almost half of its U.S. locations — some 2,000 stores — in an effort to entice younger shoppers.

The company, which has not turned a profit since 2011, employs about 27,500 people worldwide, according to its last annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

It is seeking court approval to keep paying employees, honor customer programs and keep operating as it restructures.

RadioShack said Thursday that it also has more than 1,000 dealer franchise stores in 25 countries, stores operated by its Mexican subsidiary, and operations in Asia operations, which are not included in the Chapter 11 filing. It wants to sell them.

RadioShack, which was founded in Boston in 1921, started as a distributor of mail-order ship radios, ham radios and parts. In the 1950s, it entered the high-fidelity business, touting a device called the "Audio Comparator," a then-novel switching system that allowed the customer to mix and match components and speakers in the listening room.

In 1977, the chain started selling the TRS-80, known affectionately by its users as the "Trash 80," making the RadioShack as important in microcomputers as IBM or Apple.

Americans Are More Stressed About Money Than Anything Else -- And It's Taking A Toll On Their Health

The economy may be improving, but finances are still a stressful burden on Americans -- especially among young adults and parents, according to the American Psychological Association's new Stress in America survey.

The report highlights a growing health problem when it comes to well-being and financial security. Nearly three-quarters of participants reported feeling stressed about money at some point, with some respondents saying they went as far as sacrificing health care because of finances.

"When people are financially challenged, it makes sense their stress level could go up," Norman Anderson, Ph.D., the chief executive officer and executive vice president of the American Psychological Association said in a press conference Wednesday. "Many industries in the economy have shown improvement, but we still know many people aren't benefiting and are still concerned about economic well-being."

The 2015 report, which was conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the APA, surveyed more than 3,000 American adults in August 2014. While the APA reports that stress is down overall, there are still some major health concerns. Below are some of the survey's biggest findings about financial anxiety, general stress and well-being:

• Money is the No. 1 stressor overall, but particularly for millennials, those in Generation X and for parents.

• Nearly 1 in 5 Americans say they have skipped or considered skipping going to the doctor in the last year when they needed heath care due to financial problems.

• Those who reported experiencing extreme money concerns were also more likely to resort to unhealthy behaviors to manage their stress.

• A third of Americans said a lack of money prevents them from living a healthier lifestyle.

• Women are more stressed than men overall, with 51 percent reporting that stress has kept them awake at night, compared to only 32 percent of men.

When financial worries become too much of a barrier to a healthy lifestyle, experts recommend seeking social support to mitigate stress.

"You may not be able to change your financial situation but you may be able to better manage it," said Katherine Nordal, Ph.D., executive director for professional practice at the APA. "I think having a support system -- some people who believe in you -- gives you that extra emotional strength to be able to get through the day and do the things you need to do to try to improve your situation."

There's ample research to support her claim, not to mention that emotional support is beneficial for issues beyond financial concerns. Studies show a close-knit support system can improve your longevity, encourage you to be active and even lower your risk for heart disease.

"Emotional support helps with managing stress from a variety of sources," Anderson said. "It's one of the most generally positive things one can do for their health and emotional well-being."

Lululemon Guru Chip Wilson Is Moving On

The morning sun threw a halo of light on the billboard-size liability waiver standing at the trailhead of Grouse Grind, a steep, dangerous ascent just outside Vancouver, British Columbia.

Read the whole story at The New York Times

Meet The Three Women Who Helped Shape Target's New Plus-Size Line

In case you live under some kind of Twitter-free rock, Target is launching a fashionable and affordable plus-size collection on Feb 22 much to the excitement of, well, pretty much everyone.

After what seems like mishap after mishap when it came to the store's relationship with its plus-size customers, it looks like the company is finally getting it right. Ava & Viv will be the first in-house style-driven collection the chain will carry not only online but in stores as well. The news has been met with much praise and approval, but it's admittedly difficult not to feel like this should have been a no-brainer for Target all along.

Of course, it's easy to assume that all of this stemmed from fashion blogger Chastity Garner's post heard 'round the web, declaring her "break up" with Target due to the lack of plus-size options as part of its designer collaborations.

But as Target spokesman Joshua Thomas told HuffPost Style, Garner simply made the decision to work with her even easier by writing that letter. "When we were thinking about how to up our ante when it comes to fashion in the plus-size market, one of the things we looked at was who plus-size women look to for information and inspiration. That brought us to certain bloggers, Chastity included. The day she initiated her boycott I picked up the phone and asked if we could simply talk about it. 'How about you don't break up with us, but instead you just kick us to the couch for a bit. I think you might end up wanting us back,'" he said he told her.

It's in the spirit of this freshness and honesty that Garner, along with fellow spokespeople Nicolette Mason and Gabi Gregg not only represent the brand and star in its look book but also talk about working together on it. Stacia Andersen, senior vice president of apparel and accessories at Target, who calls the launch a "huge opportunity" for the brand within the plus-size market, explained to HuffPost Style:

The bloggers have been unbelievably helpful to us. I like to say that nothing ever gets better if we think everything is perfect. We really wanted to bring them in because they have such strong opinions -- not only for their personal style but for their huge groups of followers. Reaching out to them was the best way to really get the voice of this customer, as opposed to asking thousands of people.

But what has their feedback sounded like? According to the bloggers, they didn't hold anything back, good or bad. "In terms of the clothing, we definitely have some likes and dislikes," Gregg said, adding, "we are open with Target about our feedback. The great part about the team there is that they want to hear it and genuinely want to use it."

We can all agree that this is great news for not only Target but for the fashion industry, too. Now more than ever, truly fashionable plus-size options are improving the shopping experience for women. And while the collection may not be for everyone, Mason explains why that's actually a good thing. "It's not so generic, and it's not going to please everyone. It's definitely for a specific girl, which is exactly what great design should be. It shouldn't be something that appeals to every person regardless of their personal taste or style. This is a true collection," she said.

Best of all, working with these bloggers humanizes Target in a way we haven't seen done by many other retailers, especially when it comes to the plus-size market. "People are going to talk to us in a different way they would a corporation or brand. They trust us. We're their peers, we shop the same way they do. It really personalizes the experience," Mason explained.

No matter how you feel about the collection, there's one thing all three bloggers (and we) can agree on, "it's all happening."

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.