Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla, which makes sporty electric cars, is putting its stores in hip urban areas, not the usual suburban strip-mall milieu where most auto dealerships sprout. The company opened its 12th North American store and second in Southern California on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica on Friday. It's flanked by an Adidas store and Club Monaco, a trendy apparel seller. Parking is a block away in a public garage. "We are deliberately trying to engage with people when they are not thinking about buying a car," said George Blankenship, Tesla's sales chief, who previously worked in …

Pernod Ricard has outlined a long-term global strategy for its Olmeca Tequila brand in a bid to get consumers to think of tequila as something to be enjoyed, not something to get drunk with. As part of the strategy the brand has launched a social music app for Facebook's Timeline called NightTag. The brand is using the app to promote its products to "nightlife lovers" while strengthening its ties to electronic dance music. The service launched earlier this month as part of the brand's "Be the DJ" campaign.

McDonald's, roughly two weeks before the Games begin, is finalizing its Olympic menu at its four Olympic venue restaurants. One is the Cheddar Deluxe, a new, 655-calorie burger with bacon, grilled onions, tomato chutney, mayo and "Mature Cheddar cheese." On the side is another new McDonald's creation: Cheese & Onion Bites. A Spicy Tomato Dip accompanies a five-piece serving of the crispy, 300-calorie snacks. The menu introductions come as McDonald's begins the first phase of the multi-agency "We all make the games" campaign on which the chain says it will spend GBP10 million.

Retailers more than any other industry are making strong investments in social media, according to a new study by International Data Corp. The study found that successful retailers are integrating their mobile, analytic, and social media strategies into one cohesive business approach. The 2012 U.S. Social Media Trends by Vertical study looks at social media adoption in sectors like retail, banking, government, health care, manufacturing, and utilities.

Stop & Shop and an increasing number of European retailers have added a dedicated drive-up area alongside the store and a segregated order-storage area within the store. Chelmsford Stop & Shop, parent company Ahold, based in Amsterdam, also offers the service at two Giant-Carlisle locations in Camp Hill, Pa., and Willow Grove, Pa. Customer ordering is done through Ahold's Peapod e-commerce platform. Neil Stern, senior partner at McMillan Doolittle, Chicago, said the retailers that have implemented this offering have elevated e-grocery to a new level of convenience.

The head of the nation's fourth-biggest network airline says he hasn't been able to press his case with American Airlines' executives and its creditors that the best path out of bankruptcy for the nation's third-biggest network airline is to merge with his. So he told USA Today's editorial board on Wednesday that the only way American and US Airways can survive is to combine to compete with United and Delta.

A New York City resolution requiring retailers who sell cigarettes to display graphic health warnings has been dealt a second legal blow. Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a 2010 district decision striking down the resolution, finding that such mandates were preempted by federal law. Said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of Philip Morris USA (PM USA). "This suit has always been about who has the authority to regulate the content of cigarette warnings. That is a power reserved to the federal government without interference …

A growing number of insurers have come up with methods of tracking driving behavior and then using it to set a customer's rates. Progressive claims that 70% of its Snapshot customers have seen a drop in their rates compared to what it was charging before - a discount of about $150 a year, on average. The industry giant says it will expand its auto insurance tracking program - even letting non-customers check it out - following studies that show the technology behind its "Snapshot" usage-based insurance is more than twice as accurate at discerning good drivers from bad.

Hyundai's first worldwide ad campaign to build a consistent global message for the brand says "Live Brilliant," but is it? You can see the spot at the link. It features a beautiful woman in a car who leaves the city to drive around inexplicably in what looks like Joshua Tree, or some other auto beauty shot setting. Jean Halliday points out that the campaign was dictated by the "Mothership" and kind of forced on the U.S. market, as an effort to establish the brand as a premium marque. You shall judge.

USA Today delves into Under Armour in this segment of its "Race To The Top: Getting Bigger in Business" series. Innovation is clearly what the company is about. To get into the top-secret innovation lab you have to place your hand inside a Marvel-comics type scanner that reads the exact pattern of the veins on the back. This skunk works is where Under Armour developed a techno-shirt that can monitor an athlete's heart rate; and the new Spine running shoe. And there's a next-generation shirt that may some day be able to help air condition your body by reading your …