[naviga:h2]Hoagie shop to open on Pillow St.[/naviga:h2]

A new hoagie shop in Butler will be celebrating its grand opening Friday.

Diamond Joe’s 5-Star Hoagies, at 248 Pillow St., will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The store is closed on Sundays.

There will be dine-in, takeout and delivery services. All breads will come from Mancini’s Bakery in Pittsburgh.

The shop is owned by Joseph Rogers.

[naviga:h2]Panera Bread sold for $7B[/naviga:h2]

ST. LOUIS — Panera is being acquired by Europe’s JAB Holding for more than $7 billion.

JAB is better known for the growing stable of brands it owns, including a controlling stake in Peet’s Coffee & Tea, most of Caribou Coffee, Stumptown Coffee and Keurig Green Mountain.

JAB will pay $315 per Panera Bread share. The transaction, which includes about $340 million in debt, is expected to close in the third quarter.

[naviga:h2]Payless ShoeSource files for bankruptcy[/naviga:h2]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Payless ShoeSource, one of the largest specialty family footwear retailers in the country, is the latest retail chain to seek protection from its creditors while it reorganizes in federal bankruptcy court.

The company, based in Topeka, Kan., said Tuesday it will immediately close nearly 400 poorly performing stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. It hopes to modify leases for some other stores or evaluate them for closure.

In a statement, W. Paul Jones, CEO of Payless, said, “This is a difficult, but necessary, decision driven by the continued challenges of the retail environment, which will only intensify.”

Payless said it expects to continue to operate its business, honoring employees’ wages, health care coverage and other benefits without interruption. It also said customers’ existing gift cards with Payless stores and Payless.com will be honored. Future obligations to vendors and suppliers also will be honored, the company said.

In its filing, Payless said its assets were worth no more than $1 billion but that its liabilities were at least that large and could be as high as $10 billion.

[naviga:h2]Car insurance data disputed[/naviga:h2]

OMAHA, Neb. — A new report suggests that people living in urban minority neighborhoods could be paying as much as 30 percent more for car insurance, but an industry group said the report’s findings are flawed.

Nonprofit investigative news organization ProPublica and Consumer Reports published an analysis today based on insurance data in California, Illinois, Missouri and Texas detailing insurance claims payments by Zip code.

The report said 33 of the 34 insurance companies analyzed in Illinois charged rates that were at least 10 percent higher in zip codes where a majority of the residents are minorities. Six Illinois insurers charged rates 30 percent higher in minority zip codes.

The Insurance Information Institute trade group disputed the report’s findings. Its chief actuary said the analysis doesn’t account for other factors that can affect rates.