Today's Retailing column in the business section informs us about two new restaurants: Krispy Krunchy Chicken at Northgate Mall in Durham and Yamato in Apex.

Go HERE to read the column.

The Triangle's last Borders bookstore is finishing its liquidation sale and is scheduled to close for good on Monday.

The final days at the store on Six Forks Road in North Raleigh will feature discounts of up to 90 percent on all remaining merchandise and store fixtures. All sales are final.

All 359 Borders remaining nationwide are scheduled to close by mid-September. The chain fell victim to weaker consumer spending, and increasing competition from Amazon, Walmart and other powerful rivals.

Borders closed its five other Triangle stores earlier this year after filing for bankruptcy. Another store at Raleigh-Durham International Airport closed recently after its liquidation sale.

RDU officials are still working to find a new tenant for that spot in Terminal 2.

The closures leave large empty spaces across the Triangle for retail landlords to refill during an economic slump.

The last Borders in this region, in the Six Forks Station Shopping Center, is 27,000 square feet. The shopping center's property manager didn't return calls seeking comment.

Laminate flooring maker Pergo, hurt by the housing slump and increased competition, recently cut 16 jobs at its Triangle operations.

The layoffs reduced Pergo's workforce in Raleigh and Garner to about 175 people. The company doesn't expect to eliminate any more jobs, said Marc Kmec, Pergo's human resources director.

"We don't take these types of cuts lightly," he said. "We don't cut with a hairtrigger when there are slowdowns. But we're in the same circumstance as any company tied to consumer spending and the housing market."

Kmec declined to comment on financial results or how much Pergo's sales have dropped during the economic downturn.

Grocers, home-improvement stores and other retailers will likely see a boost in business in the wake of Hurricane Irene as homeowners buy supplies to clean up and repair damage.

It's a small bright spot from the storm, which could have a major economic impact on many businesses in hard-hit areas, especially those that depend on tourists. Even retailers that could benefit from clean-up demand lost some sales when they closed stores during the storm.

Food Lion closed 350 stores over the weekend and has managed to reopen many of those, including four on the Outer Banks this morning, said Christy Phillips-Brown, a spokeswoman for the Salisbury-based grocery chain.

But 50 Food Lions along the coast of North Carolina and Virginia, and in the Richmond area remain closed.

"We are working as quickly as possible to restore operations to these locations, many of which are without power at this time," she added. "We are seeing increased traffic in our stores as we reopen."

Billionaire and activist investor Carl Icahn isn't giving up his fight for control of Clorox, the parent of Durham-based Burt's Bees.

In a regulatory filing today, Icahn proposed replacing the company's entire board with his own 11 directors, including himself.

Clorox, which last month rejected Icahn's $10.7 billion takeover offer, said it would review the proposal, but doesn't support his efforts. "Mr. Icahn is nominating candidates solely to advance his own agenda," Clorox wrote in a statement.

Walmart has started hiring 200 employees for its new Durham store, scheduled to open in late October.

Most of the new hires will begin work in September to help get the store ready for its grand opening.

The world's largest retailer is also one of the biggest employers in North Carolina. In this state, the company employs more 52,000 people at 161 stores and three distribution centers.

Lowe's Home Improvement has set Sept. 8 as the grand opening of its new Sanford store, which will replace the one totaled by the April 16 tornado.

The rebuilt, $10 million store will provide another sign of rebirth for the Lee County community, which was hit hard by the tornado.

The store will employ 160 people. All of the damaged store's employees were shifted to other Lowe's nearby. The store will have 103,000 square feet of sales space, plus a 34,000-square-foot garden center.

Officials broke ground on the replacement store in May.

The reopening festivities will include food, entertainment and more.

Ticketmaster is teaming up with Walmart to offer consumers another outlet to buy tickets for concerts and other events.

Ticketmaster has installed touch-screen kiosks in the electronic departments of 42 Walmarts across North Carolina, as part of a nationwide partnership. That includes about a dozen in the Triangle.

Walmart employees will assist customers buying and printing tickets.

For the retailer, the arrangement could help increase traffic as Walmart seeks to boost its electronics business. And it allows Ticketmaster to provide consumers another choice if they don't want to buy tickets online.

Customers still pay the dreaded "convenience" fees. But they don't pay order-processing or delivery fees, said Ticketmaster spokeswoman Jacqueline Peterson.

The Triangle's last two Borders bookstores will start liquidation sales Friday morning, with discounts up to 40 percent off.

The deals will include all merchandise, including books, calendars, puzzles, CDs, DVDs and more. Borders also will sell store fixtures such as lights, shelves and chairs. The discounts are expected to increase over coming weeks to clear out as much as possible.

There is a large Borders in the Six Forks Station Shopping Center in North Raleigh, and a much smaller one available only to ticketed passengers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport's Terminal 2.

The Borders bookstore at Raleigh-Durham International Airport will begin a liquidation sale in the next few days and airport officials are beginning the search for a replacement tenant.

The bankrupt book seller announced Monday that it will ask a judge to approve liquidation sales at its 399 remaining stores on Thursday, after failing to find a buyer.

"This has happened very quickly, so we have not had an opportunity to speak to interested tenants," said RDU spokeswoman Mindy Hamlin. "However, we anticipate that there will be other concepts that will be interested in leasing that space very quickly. It is located in a prime location and RDU’s concession program is very popular with tenants and customers."

The preference will be to find another bookstore to fill the spot, she added.