In a time when concerns about health and money are pushing many consumers away from sodas, sales of North Carolina favorite Cheerwine are up.

The Salisbury-based company said its unit sales have increased 30 percent so far this year, when compared to the same period last year.

"There has always been a loyal fan base for this iconic brand — but the combination of our new packaging and a fresh new campaign seems to be a powerful punch that has retailers turning their heads and taking notice, particularly in this slumping category," said Tom Barbitta, vice president of marketing for Cheerwine.

I was driving down Glenwood South today and spotted a banner hanging outside the former Enoteca Vin restaurant. It said a restaurant called "Sauced" is coming soon. Per the banner, it will be a "NY Pizza/NC Pub."

The owner of the new business was not there when I stopped by, so I am still working on the details about when it will open. But a pub/pizza joint is certainly a departure from Enoteca, which was a haven for foodies and wine lovers of the Triangle. That restaurant suddenly closed back in January. Its owner, Chrish Peel, also closed his Carolina Wine Co., leaving customers without thousands of dollars in wine they had ordered. In March the Carolina Wine Co. filed for bankruptcy.

The new Sauced restaurant will go next door to the under-construction Diner restaurant, which is taking over the former Hard Times Cafe space.

Added: Sauced has a Web site... 

Convenience store chain Sheetz is launching its new loyalty program with a big splash.

The program centers around the loyalty card, appropriately called the My Sheetz Card. You earn 5 points for every $1 in gas you purchase, 10 points for every $1 in bottled beverages, snacks, candy, ice cream and grocery products, and 35 points for every $1 in made-to-order, food, bakery, coffee and fountain drinks.

For every 1750 points you earn, you can get a discount of 10 cents per gallon on a fill-up. And you get 3,500 bonus points (20 cents per gallon discount) just for signing up for the e-mail newsletter.

To promote the launch of the program, Sheetz is giving away $25,000 this summer. Click read more to read about the contest!

   Comments (1)

Starting today and continuing through Aug. 1, Sears is offering customers an assurance promise similar to those that the car manufacturers have been offering lately.

If a customer purchases a major home appliance over $399 with a Citibank-issued Sears card and oses his/her full-time job after 60 days and up to 1 year from the date of the purchase, 1/12th of the purchase price will be credited to the account each month that the customer is unemployed. This credit covers the appliance and related accessories, extended warranties, maintenance agreements, protection and service  agreements, delivery haul-away, installation and sales tax.

If the customer is still unemployed one year after the purchase, they will receive a credit to their account for the remaining purchase amount. The customer keeps the appliance and will owe nothing on that purchase. The customer can make their
purchase at a Sears store or at sears.com.

Greenpeace recently released a survey that ranked the country's largest grocery stores in terms of their seafood sustainability. Northeastern favorite Wegman's scored the highest. Others such as Whole Foods were not a surprise. North Carolina based Harris Teeter and Food Lion ranked No. 6 and 8, respectively.

But the shocker for me was Trader Joe's, which ranked toward the bottom of the list at No. 17.

Click Read More to see the top 20.

   Comments (0)

Remember that many of the area's malls and stores will hold special hours this weekend because of the July 4 holiday. When in doubt, it is always best to call ahead to make sure the mall or store is open.

Saturday seems to be the day when there are the most changes to normal hours of operation. For your convenience, here are a few:

Cary Towne Center: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Crabtree Valley Mall: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Northgate Mall: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Streets at Southpoint: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

Triangle Town Center: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Thanks to Jason for the heads up on this new saving innovation: Alice.

Alice is a Web site designed to help you automate your shopping and save more. You set up an accout, detail the members of your family and what you buy and set up reminders to tell you to buy more of those things. Alice also reportedly helps you match up coupons, tracks your household spending and can tell you where your money goes. (Read more here.)

Sounds pretty awesome if it works. But, then again, maybe I'm old-fashioned but I'd still rather do it myself (and for all of you).

The festive star-shaped doughnuts are coming back at Krispy Kreme stores to celebrate the Fourth of July.

But they will only be available from June 29 through July 4, so you only have a few days to enjoy the red-, white- and blue-sprinkled goodness...

Office Depot has launched a Web site to detail its stance on environmental responsibility and its efforts to be green.

I'm glad retailers are paying more attention to environmental issues but I am not sure how these sites will sit with consumers. How do you feel? Do these sites improve your opinions of the companies that start them?

Here's a little bit of technology I can really get behind...

Dunkin' Donuts this week unveiled a new Web site and a corresponding iPhone app that allows one person to initiate a group order for their entire office, group of friends, etc. Each person who is invited can place their individual order (two creams, one sugar, etc.) and then all of those individual orders are automatically compiled into one big order for the one unlucky individual to pick up from the store. Say so long to the days of running around the office and taking everyone's order.

It's called Dunkin' Run and you can find it here...