a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/business/06suits.html?partner=rssnytemc=rss"img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/01/05/business/06suitsthumb.jpg" border="0" height="75" width="75" hspace="4" align="left"/aIt is fairly common for apparel makers to “borrow” ideas from one another, but when it comes to those checkerboard slip-ons, Vans Inc. feels very protective.
a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/business/media/20martha.html?partner=rssnytemc=rss"img src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/02/20/business/20martha.75.jpg" border="0" height="75" width="75" hspace="4" align="left"/aMartha Stewart Living Omnimedia bought portions of Emeril Lagasse’s franchise for $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock, her company’s first major acquisition.