Jan 27, 2009By: Paul Rosta, Senior Associate Editor
Word of new development plans is uncommon in the industrial sector these days, as it is for most commercial property types. Nevertheless, the supermarket chain Harris Teeter Inc. is bucking the trend. Making one of the largest commitments to an industrial facility so far this year, Harris Teeter intends to build a $101 million distribution center in King George County, Va.
Virginia edged out North Carolina and Maryland in its bid for the distribution center, which will serve stores in Maryland and Delaware as well as in Virginia. The project’s size and construction schedule were not disclosed in the announcement last Thursday by the office of Gov. Tim Kaine that Virginia had prevailed. However, Harris Teeter vice president of distribution Larry Cooper said in the statement that location, work force and highway access helped tip the balance toward King George County.
The distribution center is apparently part of Harris Teeter’s aggressive plan to expand a footprint that included 176 stores in eight states and the District of Columbia at the end of last September. Harris Teeter’s operating plan calls for capital expenditures of $241 million during fiscal 2009. As of last fall, Harris Teeter was planning to open 17 new stores and complete the remodeling of four others during its current fiscal year.
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TORONTO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Metro Inc, Canada's third-largest grocer, said on Tuesday quarterly profit rose, helped by strong sales in Quebec and an improved performance in Ontario, where it united its stores under the Metro banner.
The company said it earned C$81.1 million ($65.9 million), or 73 Canadian cents a share, up from C$73.8 million, or 64 Canadian cents a share for the comparable period.
Excluding some items including an
income tax expense, earnings came in at C$84.1 million, or 76 Canadian cents a share, up from C$62.4 million, or 54 Canadian cents a share.
Sales rose to C$2.6 billion from C$2.51 billion.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of 64 Canadian cents a share and revenue of C$2.58 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
'They have rebounded from a tough quarter a year ago, both from the internal issue and perspective and from a competitive perspective,' said David Hartley, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
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Kroger Co. plans to invest $75 million in "a massive economic development initiative" that will create "several hundred" jobs in the Fort Wayne area.
Details were announced 10 a.m. Thursday at a news conference. Bob Moeder, president of Kroger's central division, and Mayor Tom Henry met with members of the media at the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce downtown headquarters.
The initial announcement said the company will:
*Add three stores. Two of the new stores will have a unique format that
does not now exist in Indiana.
*Close three stores.
*Significantly expand two stores.
*Remodel three stores.
*Build 10 more fuel centers in the region
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Bloomberg
Yoshinoya Holdings Co., Japan's largest chain of beef-bowl restaurants, plans to add a record 100 outlets in its home market next fiscal year as demand for budget meals increases from recession-hit consumers.
The Tokyo-based company aims to increase restaurants in Japan to at least 1,194 by February 2010 and accelerate an expansion in China, adding 60 outlets to the 185 already open there, President Shuji Abe said.
"The market is harsh but conditions for investing and opening new stores are positive," Abe said in an interview broadcast Thursday on Bloomberg Television.'
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There are four days until the Inauguration, and the country is alight with excitement, not just about the arrival of Barack Obama in the White House but also for the beginning of a new era of civic engagement.
We’ve tapped into this energy with our
Ideas for Change in America, and today we held a press event at the National Press Club in Washington DC to announce the winners of the competition. The 10 winning ideas reflect the diverse interests of the millions of people calling for change across the country, and include ideas for securing universal heath care, LGBT rights, and sustainable green energy. All winning ideas can be viewed at
www.change.org/ideas.
The winning ideas were accepted on behalf of the Presidential Transition Team by Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media and the person who oversees our second-favorite website, Change.gov. Macon then addressed the attendees of the event, which included nonprofit leaders and grassroots activists, and spoke about the importance the administration will place on citizen-driven efforts like Ideas for Change.
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Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect
Barack Obama is likely to back a bank-rescue effort that combines fresh capital injections with steps to deal with toxic assets clogging lenders’ balance sheets, according to people familiar with the matter.
Obama’s economic team will use another portion of the $350 billion remaining from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. It may also assist cash-strapped cities and states that are having trouble selling bonds, the people said.
This week’s sell-off in financial stocks and the continuing decline of the U.S. economy put pressure on Treasury Secretary- designate
Timothy Geithner and Obama’s economics chief
Lawrence Summers to unveil a comprehensive program. Without a radical new effort, soaring credit losses could prolong and deepen a
recession that is now more than a year old.
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JPMorgan Chase posts surprise profit
Analysts expected the bank to break even. But earnings fell sharply from a year ago, while CEO Jamie Dimon warns of "very difficult business climate."
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- JPMorgan Chase reported a surprise quarterly profit Thursday, even as the company suffered a hit in its investment banking business and was forced to set aside a chunk of cash for looming loan losses.
The New York City-based bank said net income fell 76% to $702 million, or 7 cents a share during the fourth quarter, from $2.97 billion, or 86 cents a share, during the same period a year ago.
The results beat expectations, however, as analysts were forecasting that the company would break even for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.
How much good news is there on the news these days?
Few.
Bad news clearly receives a lot more attention than the good stuff. But good things do happen all the time and they must be encouraged.
So when something positive has happened to you, when someone has been exceptionally helpful or when something has changed your life positively, why not say Thank You!
Thanks-O-Meter is a site that collects all the nice things people do and experience. The site is public access and no membership is required to express your own gratitude. Stories can be searched for by keywords.
Banking giant gives nod to legislation that would allow judges to alter mortgages for homeowners who have filed for bankruptcy.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Citigroup reached an agreement with Democratic lawmakers Thursday on legislation that would allow judges to reduce mortgage debt for individuals who have filed for bankruptcy.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the bill's architect, said he hoped the participation of Citigroup would entice other mortgage lenders to sign onto the program.
"I hope other institutions will follow suit," he said. Durbin appeared at a press conference along with fellow sponsors of the bill, Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York.
Until recently, members of the banking industry, including Citigroup (C (
C,
Fortune 500), Fortune 500), as well as other housing-related groups like the National Association of Realtors, have criticized the notion of allowing the courts to have a say over their mortgage portfolios.
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When Will This Recession Finally End?
There's really just one question that matters this new year. When will the recession end?
OK, I lied. There's another question that matters even more. Will the recession
ever end?
I have a lot of institutional clients who take very seriously the idea that this recession could be permanent. In their minds, it could turn out to be more like a depression. Even when we pull out of the worst of it, we'll be stuck with year after year of slow growth.
Pretty much no one thinks this recession could possibly already be over. And only a few brave souls dare to consider that it might only take another quarter or so to hit bottom. So it's just a matter of, how bad is it really?
Call me crazy, but I actually think we could all end up being pretty pleasantly surprised. I admit I was one of the last people on earth to agree we were in recession in the first place. So let me make up for that mistake: I'll be the first person to say it's over.
I don't mean to get carried away on wings of optimism here. But there really are some hopeful signs. Some of the same symptoms that, earlier this year, gave us an early warning that recession was lurking are now pointing in a more hopeful direction.
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Though 2008 was wrought with layoffs and economic struggles, the New Year means rejuvenated hope for job seekers.
While several companies continue to make mass layoffs, other companies are shifting their focus to hire aggressively in the beginning of 2009.
"This is a difficult economy, no doubt," says Andrea Hough, vice president of talent acquisition for ServiceMaster, a lawn care and landscape maintenance company. "However, I would caution job seekers to be thoughtful about whom they are going to work for and not act out of desperation. There are some very strong companies with solid ethics in need of employees eager to be a part of a thriving organization."
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(Times Union (Albany, NY) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 3--COLONIE -- You're standing at Osborne and Albany Shaker roads, in tony Loudonville.To the southwest is a Rite Aid drugstore. To the northeast is another Rite Aid. And to the northwest is the corner where Walgreen Co. has been buying land, including a $2 million purchase in October.One intersection. Two existing drugstores. One planned drugstore.Overkill? Perhaps.But the intersection is not unique. You'll come across similar corners in much of the Capital Region, following the drugstore building boom of recent years.
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Identical Supermarket Sales Rose 5.6% without Fuel Company Confirms Fiscal 2008 Identical Supermarket Sales Guidance; Raises Fiscal 2008 Earnings Per Share Guidance and Outlines Fiscal 2009 Identical Supermarket Sales Guidance of 3% to 5% without Fuel
CINCINNATI, Dec 09, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- The Kroger Co. (
KR:
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KR 25.59, +0.18, +0.7%) today reported total sales of $17.6 billion for the third quarter ended November 8, 2008, an increase of 9.0% over the same period last year. Identical supermarket sales increased 5.6% without fuel and 7.8% with fuel compared with the same quarter last year.
Net earnings in the third quarter totaled $237.7 million, or $0.36 per diluted share. These results include an after-tax charge of $15.9 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, related to Kroger's $25 million insurance deductible for disruption and damage caused by Hurricane Ike. Excluding this charge from Hurricane Ike, third quarter net earnings were $253.6 million, or $0.39 per diluted share (Table 6).
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Despite a stalling economy and unemployment on the rise, two major companies are hiring by the hundreds.
Target is about to open its first two Hawaii stores and needs up to 1,200 workers. Costco is opening its seventh site, and needs up to 200 there.
Target is about to breathe new life into this long-vacant commercial building -- and into the Hawaii job market.
"It's going to be a great way for folks to kick off '09 with us coming to Hawaii," says Roger Thomas, Target.
Between the Salt Lake site and one in Kapolei, Target will be hiring up to 1,200 people for a march opening. when it opens a Kona location next July, it'll hire another 400.
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They jointly bid $6.25 million for the bankrupt retailer’s locations. The move gives Kohl’s access to ‘under-penetrated markets’ and enables Forever 21 to begin big-box expansions.
By
Andrea ChangDecember 13, 2008Retailers Forever 21 Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. won a joint bid to take over 46 stores from bankrupt Mervyn’s for $6.25 million, the chains said Friday.
The deal gives Kohl’s the leasing rights to 31 stores; Forever 21 will assume the other 15 locations. The agreement is still pending approval by the court overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings for Mervyn’s.
“We got exactly the stores that we wanted,” said Christopher Lee, senior vice president at Forever 21. “We’ve waited a long time for this and it finally came for us. This is just the beginning for us for big-box expansions.”
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BALDWYN, Miss., Dec 12, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Hancock Fabrics, Inc. (OTC symbol: HKFI) today reported net sales for the third quarter increased 1.3% to $70.6 million from $69.7 million last year, with same-store sales increasing 2.1%. Sales for the year-to-date period increased 0.7% to $198.2 million for the nine months ended November 1, 2008 from $196.9 million for the corresponding period of the prior year. Same-store sales increased 2.8% for the year-to-date period.
The 2.1% increase in same-store sales for the quarter was primarily the result of an increase in the number of store transactions. For the year-to-date period, the 2.8% increase in same store sales was primarily due to increases in average transactions and increases in the number of customer transactions.
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WinCo Foods Inc. is one retailer that’s increasing its sales in the recession.
The discount warehouse grocery chain, which has five stores in Greater Sacramento, expects to boost its sales by $500 million for the fiscal year ending in late March, said Mike Read, vice president of legal and public affairs. WinCo projects sales of $4 billion, up from $3.5 billion for last fiscal year.
A rumor has WinCo scouting around the region for possible expansion sites — the retailer’s typical store is about 94,000 square feet. The grocer is always looking in the five Western states for possible sites, Read said. He said he wasn’t aware of any particular site being considered or any specific growth plans here.
But, he added, “We’ve had great success in the Sacramento market.”
The Boise, Idaho-based grocer last added a Sacramento-area store almost three years ago, in Orangevale. Its other stores are in Roseville, Antelope, Folsom and Elk Grove.
The retailer has been adding six to seven stores a year for the past several years, for a 10 percent growth rate. The company has 64 stores, including 27 in California.
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Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) --
U.S. stocks gained for the first time in three days as consumer spending and orders for durable goods topped economists’ forecasts, easing concern that the recession will cause corporate revenue to plummet.
Deere & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. rose at least 2 percent following the Commerce Department data.
Micron Technology Inc., the largest U.S. producer of memory chips, climbed 9.8 percent after reporting sales that topped projections. Prologis, the world’s biggest warehouse owner, rallied 31 percent as analysts advised buying the shares after the company sold assets to shore up its balance sheet.
The
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.6 percent to 868.15. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 48.99 points, or 0.6 percent, to 8,468.48. The
Russell 2000 Index of small companies increased 0.4 percent. About 3.63 billion shares changed hands in the U.S., the least since Dec. 26, 2003, as trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market ended three hours early before the Christmas holiday.
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Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Jumbo mortgage shoppers in the most expensive U.S. housing markets such as New York and San Francisco aren’t getting much relief from lower borrowing costs.
The average 30-year fixed rate for home loans of more than $729,750 remains almost 2 percentage points above conforming rates and the spread between them may set a record this month, according to financial data firm
BanxQuote.
Banks remain reluctant to lend after recording $678 billion in mortgage-related losses and writedowns in the past year and as house prices plunge. The collapse of the private mortgage securities market means lenders find there’s little demand for jumbo loans they want to sell. If low conventional rates entice enough homeowners to refinance, jumbo home loans may become more affordable as loan payoffs add liquidity to the banking system, said
Keith Gumbinger, vice president of mortgage-research firm HSH Associates Inc. in Pompton Plains, New Jersey.
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Spike in refinancing following Fed moves leads to nearly 50% jump in Mortgage Bankers' index; home purchases also up.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Near record low mortgage rates sent mortgage applications shooting higher last week, especially for refinances, according to an industry report.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its overall Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, shot up 48% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Dec. 19.
That was driven by a 62.6% leap in the group's Refinance Index. But the Conventional Purchase Index also increased 17.7%. The only component of the overall index to fall was the Government Purchase Index, which largely tracks FHA loans. It slipped 3.4%
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Manufacturing rises by highest amount in 9 years, bouncing off a dismal performance in the previous month, according to a Federal Reserve report.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Industrial production grew in October, after September produced the worst dropoff in factory output in 62 years, according to a report released Monday by the Federal Reserve.
Industrial production grew a seasonally adjusted 1.3% from the previous month, surpassing the economists' consensus estimate of a 0.2% increase, according to Briefing.com. It was the largest monthly increase in factory output since October 1999.
Factory output in October only increased because production in September fell by a revised 3.7%. The Fed said September's poor output was due mainly to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike's disastrous effects on the Gulf Coast industry as well as a Boeing workers' strike that month. September's was the worst month-to-month decline since February 1946.
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Amid gloom, signs of hope for economy in 2009Msnbc.com panel says recovery could begin by midyear — if all goes well
Unemployment is soaring, consumer spending is shrinking and both the stock and housing markets are on track for one of their worst years on record. As 2008 comes to a close, the economic outlook for the coming year is pretty grim.
But a panel of economists surveyed by msnbc.com says that — maybe, if all goes well — we could be closer to the end of this recession than the beginning. Now 12 months into a downturn that appears to be deepening, there are early signs that the elements may be coming into place for a convincing recovery. That “best case” forecasts calls for the worst of the downturn easing by the middle of next year, with slow but steady growth in the second half of 2009.
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Ben Bernanke & Co. cite the weakness in the economy and the reduced inflation threat as justification to cut rates to a record low range of 0% to 0.25%.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In its latest effort to try and stimulate the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate to a range of between zero percent and 0.25%, and said it expects to keep rates near that unprecedented low level for some time to come.
The central bank typically sets a specific target for its federal funds rate instead of a range. The rate had previously been at 1% and this marks the first time the Fed has cut rates below 1%. Most investors were expecting the Fed to cut rates to either 0.25% or 0.5%.
The federal funds rate is an overnight lending rate used as a benchmark to set rates for a variety of loans, including adjustable rate mortgages, credit cards, home equity lines of credit and business loans. This marks the tenth time it has cut rates in the last 15 months.
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So Credit Suisse will reward investment bankers with junk bonds instead of cash? Here are some other bonuses we'd like to see.
(Fortune) -- Kudos to Credit Suisse. Drowning in red ink, the Swiss bank announced it would pay bonuses to senior investment bankers not with cash but with mortgage-backed securities, high-yield bonds, and other forms of the untradeable junk now clogging the world's banking system.
Reportedly, investment bankers at the firm are steaming mad over the plan, but we think the idea is ingenious. After all, if these toxic securities were good enough for Credit Suisse's customers, they should be good enough for the bankers who cooked them up too. Don't you think?
With a little help from my Fortune colleagues, I've compiled suggestions for how leaders at some other organizations should get their bonuses this year.
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Rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage dropped to 5.19% this week, after the Fed slashed interest rates to historic lows.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Mortgage rates fell this week, with the 30-year fixed mortgage sinking to its lowest rate in 37 years as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to historic lows.
Government-sponsored mortgage lender Freddie Mac (FRE, Fortune 500) said Thursday that fixed rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 5.19% for the week ending Dec. 18. That's down from 5.47% last week and below the year-ago rate of 6.14%.
"Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates fell for the seventh consecutive week, moving these rates to the lowest since the survey began in April 1971," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist.
"The decline was supported by the Federal Reserve announcement on December 16th, when it cut the federal funds target to a record low and stated it stood ready to expand its purchases of mortgage-related assets as conditions warrant."
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(Fortune Magazine) -- Boring is beautiful - or so it feels in this time of wild and crazy stock market swings. In this case we're talking about investment-grade corporate bonds, which are dirt-cheap right now for the same reason that stocks are: The market turmoil has pounded down their prices. The result is historic opportunities in bonds issued by blue-chip companies.
Right now investment-grade bonds maturing in ten years or longer are yielding an average 8.4%, according to Barclays, a remarkable 5.7 percentage points more than ten-year Treasuries.
"Today's spreads are the highest we've seen since 1931,"
says economist Michael Darda of MKM Partners, a trading and research firm. Or as bond guru and PIMCO chief Bill Gross keeps saying, stocks are pricing in a recession, and bonds are priced for a depression. A depression isn't likely, so it's time to pounce.
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Some companies are promising not to lay off any workers, even during times of financial hardship.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In the midst of a recession, job cut announcements have become a daily occurrence. But some employers have promised no pink slips, and are sticking to it.
So far this week around 40,000
job cuts have been announced by an array of companies as varied as Dow Chemical, Electronic Arts, the National Football League and Sony Corp.
But even as the number of unemployed grows, some companies say their workers have nothing to fear.
"I have never in my 13 years [at the company] felt that my job is in jeopardy due to the economy," said Jill Kronman, a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines (
LUV,
Fortune 500).That's because Southwest is committed to avoiding layoffs at all costs - and they're not alone.
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