Things To Do In SW Florida

By Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton, The Seattle Times

Deanna Meyerhoff, 55, moved to Seattle in 1993. Back then, the expansion of Starbucks was just so tremendous,” she said.

Until recently, Meyerhoff would treat her daughter to pink drinks and stop for iced black tea lemonades while on walks with the family dog, she recalls. But those are memories now.

Her favorite Starbucks stores in her neighborhood, Haller Lake, recently shuttered as part of a slew of closures announced by the company last week. Living in the coffee giant’s hometown, “it definitely hits differently when it’s a local company,” Meyerhoff said.

“It’s a shareholder thing: You grow or you die. And they grew — and, now, they have to shrink back to actually make money.”

Meyerhoff isn’t an industry analyst, but her assessment is shared by some who see last week’s $1 billion Starbucks restructuring plan, including layoffs and store closures, as a move to please investors.

Like other large coffee chains, Starbucks is trying to stand out among the competition and welcome more customers through its doors all while fighting global and local headwinds — from production costs to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. read more

By STAN CHOE, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s record-breaking rally ran out of momentum on Tuesday after the price of gold topped $4,000 per ounce for the first time.

The S&P 500 dipped 0.4% from its latest all-time high and broke a seven-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 91 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.7%.

Stocks took a pause following a nearly relentless rush higher since April on hopes that the economy will remain resilient and that the Federal Reserve will continue to cut interest rates.

Tesla was the heaviest weight on the market and dropped 4.4% after unveiling cheaper versions of two of its electric car models. The stock gave back most of its leap from the prior day, when speculation and hype built after Tesla hinted at a coming product announcement.

Oracle also helped drag the market lower. It fell 2.5% after a news report suggested it’s making thin profit margins on a key line of business related to artificial-intelligence technology. read more

Austin’s Coffee, the endangered Winter Park fixture that brews up java with a helping of arts and entertainment, has been sold and is planned to reopen at a larger location down the street.

Richard Whitmer, one of the four new owners, said the sale closed Monday but didn’t want to reveal the specific address yet. He did say it’s on Fairbanks Avenue east of Interstate 4 about a mile from the current location.

He said the plan is to close at 929 W. Fairbanks Ave. on Oct. 25, less than a week before the shop’s landlord, the city of Winter Park, had ordered it to vacate. The new Austin’s would have a soft opening at the new location Nov. 1.

“Well obviously we’re being a good bit ambitious, but we’re hoping for Nov. 1,” Whitmer said.

He said the new Austin’s will be much larger than the current one — 2,400 square feet compared to about 900 — with a bigger kitchen and stage.

A longtime Central Floridian who until 2022 was an owner of now-closed La-Kuma Coffee in Longwood, Whitmer said he wants to continue the 25-year cultural legacy of the quirky, beloved shop. read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Toyota is recalling nearly 400,000 vehicles because the rearview camera may not display when backing up, increasing the risk of a crash, federal traffic safety regulators said.

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Included in the recall are 2022-2025 Toyota Tundras and Tundra hybrids and 2023-2025 Sequoia hybrids. The number of automobiles in the recall total 393,838, with the non-hybrid Tundra making up more than half of them.

The camera display malfunction is caused by a software problem, which will be fixed with an update by dealerships free of charge. read more

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Gold futures have soared above $4,000 per troy ounce for the first time, as many investors seek a safe place to park their money as the U.S. government shutdown continues.

Gold futures in New York jumped above the $4,000 mark Tuesday morning, reaching a record high. The going price for New York spot gold had previously closed at $3,960.60 per troy ounce — the standard for measuring precious metals — on Monday.

Gold sales can rise sharply when anxious investors seek secure investments for their money. Even before the shutdown, the asset — and other metals, like silver — had seen wide gains over the last year, as President Donald Trump ’s barrage of tariffs cause uncertainty around the outlook for the global economy. More recently, the prospect of lower interest rates has also made gold a more attractive investment than interest-bearing investments.

How much have gold prices climbed this year?

Gold futures are up about 50% since the start of 2025 — trading at around $4,013 per troy ounce as of around 11:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. That’s up from around $2,670 seen at the beginning of January. read more