Hannaford markets recalls beef

Hannaford Supermarkets is warning its customers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont to check their freezers for recalled beef. Spokesman Mike Norton says the supermarket chain learned on Sunday that its stores may have received beef that’s subject to a voluntary recall by Colorado-based JBS Swift Beef Co. He says customers should check their freezers for any ground beef or beef products with sell-by dates ranging from April 28 through June 6. Hannaford will provide a refund or replacement. JBS Swift announced Sunday it’s voluntarily expanding its beef recall to include about 380,000 pounds of products because of possible E. coli contamination.

Go ask Alice about lower prices

If shopping for household essentials like toilet paper and soap isn’t your favorite activity, a new Web site might eliminate the task — while saving you cash. The recently launched Alice.com lets people buy all manner of necessities from different manufacturers. There are about 6,000 items to choose from so far. The site keeps an eye on the products you use, and reminds you when it’s time to replenish your stock. Because Alice is run as a platform for manufacturers to connect directly to consumers, rather than as a traditional online retailer, founders Brian Wiegand and Mark McGuire say they can keep prices low and ship all items for free. Of course, Alice benefits, too. Manufacturers pay the company for prime placement on Alice.com or to have samples, coupons and other marketing pitches offered to customers.

TicketsNow to stop using misleading sites

TicketsNow, the resale arm of Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc., will no longer use Web sites that don’t disclose tickets are being resold by a broker at a markup, Illinois’ attorney general says. “TicketsNow will cease operating any Web sites that have misleading domain names and will refrain from affiliating with any Web sites that use similarly deceptive tactics,” Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Tuesday in a statement. Complaints about prices charged for tickets to concerts by rocker Bruce Springsteen and teen pop star Miley Cyrus and other events prompted the probe into TicketsNow, Madigan said. TicketsNow also won’t sell non-sports event tickets on its sites until Ticketmaster makes them available to the public at face value, the attorney general said. The company disabled “more than 100 suspect Web sites,” she said.