Business

General Motors unveiled its new 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models Thursday. The engines for the new lines are being built here in Western New York. 

New York's attorney general has launched a lawsuit against the owners of Buffalo-based FWS furniture company, which recently went out of business, costing customers thousands of dollars. 

The future of downtown's largest building is uncertain.  HSBC Bank has announced that it will leave the HSBC Center as of early next year. 

A big emphasize is being placed on supporting local merchants this holiday shopping season.  The tourism group Visit Buffalo Niagara is reminding citizens about our independent retailers and encouraging Canadians to head over the border for their Christmas shopping.

Rich Products is making a major investment at its Niagara Street headquarters.  The company has announced it will invest $18.45 million to expand and create a Customer Innovation Center. 

Buffalo businessman Mark Croce continues the huge task of working to renovate the Statler Towers on Delaware Avenue.  It's one of many revitalization projects underway in the city.   WBFO's Eileen Buckley and Buffalo News reporter Brian Meyer discusses Croce's progress in this week's Press Pass conversation.

Wal-Mart workers and their supporters used Black Friday to stage a series of protests outside stores nationwide, including one in the Buffalo area.  They blasted the low wages Wal-Mart pays as well as the way the retailer treats its employees.

It was a Black Friday unlike many others in recent years.  The early start of the shopping season on Thanksgiving night meant crowds were more manageable Friday.

A group representing the local business community has released its list of priorities for boosting the region's economy.

Friday is a work day in Canada, but Black Friday being pushed in Ontario.  Black Friday is said to be the day when shopping the day after American Thanksgiving turns corporate books from red ink to black ink.

More than 140 people are taking part in a weekend program at Medaille College, designed to help entrepreneurs launch their ideas into the marketplace. 

There appears to be no end in sight to the hockey lockout.  The National Hockey League on Friday announced the cancelation of regular-season schedule through the end of November. 

The lockout is having a significant effect on local businesses that rely on hockey-generated revenue.  Friday afternoon, a group of local business owners gathered to discuss the economic impact of the ongoing stalemate.

Templeton Landing manager Christy Vukelic says says the lockout has had a devastating effect on her business and she has had to lay off workers.

An investment group featured two local developers submitted the winning bid for the Grand Island Holiday Inn Resort and Conference Center Wednesday morning. 

Business First reports that in an auction that included ten registered bidders, a group led by developer Roger Trettel came out on top with a $4 million bid.  The winning group outbid a firm from Elmira in what the publication calls a "hectic" auction that featured 19 back-and-forth bids.