The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company is going the way of all flesh. A&P's stores and associated real estate have been on the block as part of the company's bankruptcy, and now the brand itself is going on the block. Hilco Streambank says that it will be taking bids for the intellectual property of A&P, which includes brand names for its stores and private brands, its slogans and customer data.

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. has shuffled top executive positions between its Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands as part of an ongoing succession plan. Bill Mitchell has been named president, Dunkin' Brands International, consolidating the leadership of nearly 8,500 Dunkin' and B-R locations in 61 countries outside the U.S. Scott Murphy, Dunkin' Brands chief supply officer, has been named SVP, Dunkin' Donuts operations U.S. and Canada.

Despite early season injuries and not winning a Super Bowl since the 1995 season, the Dallas Cowboys are back on top as America's favorite NFL team. However, it was the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots that were picked to win Super Bowl 50 this coming February, according to a just-released Harris Poll from Harris Interactive.

Benetton, the Italian knitwear company, is relaunching its brand with a new ad campaign that ditches shock factor images such as the pope kissing an imam, which once angered the Vatican. John Mollanger, Benetton's new head of product and marketing, says that the brand is integrating its mission to sell clothes and its advertising campaign "for the first time maybe" to make its message to customers more consistent.

Ford Motor Co. sold nearly 88,000 more vehicles to U.S. buyers in the first nine months of this year than at the same point last year, with over 40% of those incremental sales being Mustangs. Redoing that vehicle, as well as the F-150 and several other nameplates, may have cut earnings last year, but now those vehicles are driving big improvements at Ford, both in transaction prices and customer perception.

The Mini makeover includes a makeover of the Mini Convertible. As with other recent remakes, the 2017 Mini Convertible grows a little larger than the outgoing ragtop, with a bit more emphasis on practicality this time around. LIke the new Mini Hardtop launched last year, the Convertible now shares its underlying architecture, as well as its powertrain options, with Mini's sibling BMW brand. The car is set to debut at the L.A. Auto Show next month, and then go on sale in the U.S. in March.

General Mills is launching a new venture capital arm supporting startups with big prospects in the CPG category. A General Mills business unit called 301 Inc. will take investment stakes in the regional startups that are looking for capital to grow. "We have found that more and more innovation was coming from small companies," says John Haugen, VP of 301 Inc. "There were ways for us to partner and provide growth capital."

In an effort to improve service, United Airlines will be testing new boarding procedures at Chicago's O'Hare airport this week. Jim Compton, Vice Chairman, and chief revenue officer wouldn't say how the process might change, but said changes should come by the end of the year. "We're always looking at the boarding process," Compton said. "It's one of the things we hear a lot about." Oscar Munoz, United's CEO who was appointed Sept. 8 is recovering from a heart attack.

Jared Fogle has paid $1 million in restitution to his victims, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven DeBrota in Indianapolis said Thursday. As part of a plea agreement, the former Subway pitchman will plead guilty to child pornography and crossing state lines to pay for sex with minors. Fogle is required to pay restitution to the 14 victims who were secretly photographed or whom he paid for sex.

Umami Burger CEO Paul Clayton is joining Peet's Coffee & Tea in early November as president, retail, the Emeryville, Calif.-based coffee company said Thursday. Clayton will lead Peet's retail business, including 237 company-owned stores across the U.S. He will oversee store and people operations, store design, merchandising, pricing, real estate and property development. He will report to Peet's' president and CEO Dave Burwick.