Current Feed Content from 5 Jan 09 10:17
Secondhand stores shine in downturn
Fri, 02 Jan 2009 15:03:02 +0000
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- On a Wednesday afternoon in late December, the average wait to sell clothing at Buffalo Exchange, a Manhattan consignment shop, was about 25 minutes. Beyond the front counter, where the consignors sought pocket cash and tax deductions, nearly a dozen shoppers squeezed themselves between overstuffed racks in the 450-square-foot space, seeking bargains amid used designer jeans and last season's cashmere sweaters."You should see this place on weekends, " said the store's assistant manager. "The lines get to be at least 10 people deep."
The month-old shop, which already possesses the slight musty smell typical to thrift stores, is the first Manhattan location for Buffalo, a Tucson-based secondhand-clothes retail chain with 34 stores across the nation. The new store's crowds are indicative of both Buffalo Exchange's continuing success - the privately held company says it has $50 million in annual revenue and is concluding its third consecutive year of sales growth - and also of the resale market's overall performance. Secondhand shops are a bright spot in today's downtrodden retail industry.
Sick time policy crucial for small businesses
Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:01:51 +0000NEW YORK - At the checkout counter of a Manhattan office supply store, there is a rack stocked with disinfectant spray, throat lozenges, tissues and Vitamin C supplements — reminders to small business owners that a new season, the flu season, is upon us.
Flu season inevitably means employee absences. And so the beginning of the year is a good time for company owners to think about their policy not just for sick time, but time off in general.
Many business owners might not think about a policy for sick or medical days until an employee starts taking a lot of time off. Or, when a prospective worker asks, "how much sick time do you give?"
Before formulating a policy, owners should be aware that they're not required under federal or most state laws to grant employees paid time off when they're sick, but the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, known as the FMLA, might require that companies give workers unpaid sick leave. However, not granting any paid sick time at all is probably a bad idea — not only is it a morale-buster, it will make it harder to recruit good workers.
Sour note: Music sales down in 2008
Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:30:56 +0000
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- U.S. album sales slid for a seventh time in eight years in 2008 as growth in the digital arena, one of the few bright spots in the ailing music industry, slowed, according to industry data.Total album sales fell 14% to 428.4 million units during the 52-week period ended Dec. 28, according to retail data collected by tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan.
This follows a 15% drop in 2007, and sets a new low since the firm began monitoring sales in 1991. Sales have plummeted 45% from the industry's high-water mark of 785.1 million units in 2000, due largely to Internet piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games.
This year, the industry also faced an economic recession.
Digital downloads, through online retailers such as Apple Inc. (AAPL, Fortune 500)'s iTunes store, have taken on greater importance to the industry, but the impressive growth of recent years is waning.
GM gets $4B loan, Chrysler waits
Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:36:16 +0000
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- General Motors got the first $4 billion of a series of emergency loans from the U.S. Treasury Wednesday, but fellow struggling automaker Chrysler was still waiting as the new year rapidly approached.General Motors had said it needed the loan by the end of the month to continue operations; privately-held Chrysler said it will need $4 billion or it will also run out of cash early in 2009.
"Treasury today finalized the loan transaction for GM and funded the first tranche of $4 billion, " said Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin. "We're working expeditiously with Chrysler to finalize that transaction and we remain committed to closing it on a timeline that will meet near term funding needs."
Chrysler spokeswoman Lori McTavish said discussions with the Treasury Department had been "positive and productive" and that the company expected the deal would be done "in the immediate future."
A Surge in Bicyclists Appears to Be Waiting
Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:29:14 +0000
After a summer of their dreams, bicycle store owners are facing a grim reality this winter.
Big increases in business this year led some shop owners to think that they were largely insulated from a slowing economy. But the economy has continued to spiral downward, taking bicycle sales and much else with it.The question now is whether all the bicyclists who appeared last summer will be back next summer.
"This is not like the rest of the recessions we’ve been through, " said Jay Graves, who owns six Bike Gallery stores in Portland, Ore., the first of which his father started in 1974.
Business skyrocketed last summer along with gasoline prices, Mr. Graves said, especially sales of hybrid bikes that can be used for recreation and transportation. So Mr. Graves ordered plenty of cold weather gear for what he believed would be legions of new bike commuters.
The Brands That Went Bust in 2008
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 23:03:13 +0000Shoppers won't be picking up ornate lamps from the Bombay Co. in the coming year. Or investing with Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. No flying to Hawaii on Aloha Airlines or buying ultra-cheap tickets on Skybus, either.
All those names vanished this past year, victims of the economy, the financial meltdown or other factors. Experts say 2009 could mark the end of even more well-known brands as the now-yearlong recession puts more struggling companies on life support.
"I think 2009 is going to be a bloodbath, " said Scott Testa, a marketing professor at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. "I think it's going to be very, very ugly."
For some companies, 2008 was no beauty. The woes of the nation's retailers began before the year even started. The Bombay Co., known for its home accessories and furnishings, filed for bankruptcy last fall and shuttered the last of its stores in January because of slow sales - an ailment that hurt other companies as the economic downturn turned into a recession.
Winning battles, but bailout war goes on
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:04:00 +0000
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- In the face of criticism that its bailout efforts are not working, federal officials said Wednesday that they have prevented widespread failure of financial institutions, but they conceded that the credit crisis won't ease until the economy recovers.The Treasury Department released a 13-page document directly responding to a report from the Treasury Asset Relief Program's congressional oversight panel delivered to Congress and Treasury earlier this month.
The oversight panel's review of the $700 billion financial rescue plan said Treasury must ensure that the money it is using to bail out banks is working and needs to establish clear measures to gauge success.
In the report sent to the panel's chairwoman, Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren, Treasury said that TARP has worked immediately to stabilize the financial markets. It added that factors beyond the government's control will prevent the credit situation from rapidly improving.
Users of Zune MP3 players report glitch
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:56:21 +0000
ATLANTA (CNN) -- Baffled consumers are griping about a mysterious glitch that appeared to cause thousands of Zune MP3 music players to simultaneously stop working late Tuesday and early Wednesday.Internet message boards have been flooded with complaints about Zune's 30GB models freezing, prompting Y2K-like speculation about end-of-year hardware or software problems.
"It seems that every Zune on the planet has just frozen up and will not work, " posted a Mountain Home, Idaho, user on CNN's iReport.com. "I have three and they all in the same night stopped working."
Another iReporter said he was working the night shift at a Toys R Us store in Puerto Rico, when his Zune player and the Zunes of four co-workers all failed about 1:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
"It froze and there was no way to turn it off, so you just have to wait until the batteries went dead. You can't push any buttons or anything, " Carlos Colon told CNN. Colon said he owns a first-generation 30GB model.
Citi execs forgo bonus
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:43:18 +0000NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After a shockingly tumultuous year, Citigroup said Wednesday its top executives will forego their usual annual bonus.
In a letter to employees, Citgroup's Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said the bonus structure would change for all employees. Pandit said he and Win Bischoff, the bank's chairman, will receive no bonus.
"Win and I believe this is fair, in light of the challenges of the year and the need for compensation elsewhere in the organization, " Pandit wrote.
Viacom, Time Warner dispute over fees
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:52:45 +0000
NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Cable remained at a standoff on Wednesday, but were hopeful that top executives would step in to resolve a dispute that threatens to prevent more than 13 million U.S. subscribers from seeing "Dora the Explorer" and Jon Stewart.No face-to-face meetings between executives have occurred for several weeks, sources on both sides said. The sources asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to discuss the situation publicly.
At issue is an extra $35 million to $40 million that Viacom (VIA) wants Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500) to pay for carrying its cable channels, including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.
Time Warner has refused, saying the economic climate makes it impossible to pass along such costs to its customers. Viacom has denied Time Warner's request for an extension of the current terms.
More disappointment for retailers
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:48:17 +0000
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite a last-minute rush by shoppers looking to take advantage of deep discounts during the Christmas week, sales during the holiday retail season are looking even weaker than expected, according to a retail research firm's preliminary report issued Wednesday.ShopperTrak said it now expects its final figures to show a record 2.3% decline in retail sales over the November-December holiday season, with a 16% drop in store traffic. Those figures were the lowest estimates since the company began compiling the data in 2001.
In November, the firm forecast that overall retail sales would rise a mere 0.1% and store traffic would drop by 9.9%.
Even a 21.2% increase in year-over-year sales for the Dec. 21-27 week, which included the days before Christmas and the post-Christmas discounts, wasn't able to salvage the season. And with one week left to track in December, it's unlikely that any uptick will make a difference.
Dell loses 2 top execs
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:28:48 +0000
BOSTON (Reuters) -- Two top Dell Inc. executives recruited to help turn around the No. 2 PC maker are leaving as part of the second major staff shake-up in the two years since founder Michael Dell returned as CEO.Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), once the top PC maker, has slashed jobs and struggled to regain market share it lost to Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ, Fortune 500) Dell's stock has dived more than 60% this year.
The revamp calls for all sales to businesses to be managed centrally, rather than from three regional headquarters around the globe.
The company's president of global operations, Mike Cannon, will be succeeded by 21-year company veteran Jeff Clarke. Marketing chief Mark Jarvis will also leave the company.
The two executives are departing less than two years after Michael Dell wooed them with sign-on bonuses of $2 million for Cannon and $250, 000 for Jarvis.
Gazprom to Halt Ukraine Gas Supply
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:18:35 +0000MOSCOW -- Russian gas monopoly Gazprom said Wednesday it would stop supplying gas to Ukraine on Jan. 1 after the two parties failed to agree a new supply deal for 2009.
Gazprom's Chief Executive Alexei Miller told reporters Ukraine had rejected a Russian proposal to increase 2009 prices to $250 per 1, 000 cubic meters from $179.50 at present. He also said Gazprom hadn't yet received payment for gas delivered to Ukraine in November and December.
Earlier in the day, Gazprom said Ukraine had threatened to seize gas intended for European customers if no deal was reached on gas shipments.
Gazprom's deputy chairman, Alexander Medvedev, said Ukraine's threat amounted to "blackmail" of Russia and the European Union.
Ukraine's Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky and other Ukrainian officials had no immediate comment, but Mr. Medvedev showed a copy of the letter from Naftogas chief Oleh Dubina at a news conference Wednesday.
Big winners of the past were losers in ‘08
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:09:50 +0000
As 2008 ends, you may feel like the year's biggest loser is you.
If you have a job, it probably feels shaky. If you have a 401(k), you can't bear to open the statements. If you bought a house in the last five years, you feel like a sucker (unless you were the winning bidder at a foreclosure auction).
It's cold comfort to know that the financial crash upended everyone — calloused Maine lobstermen, french-manicured San Diego real estate brokers, Rolex-wearing Greenwich hedge fund managers.
High diesel prices as the year began ran independent truckers off the road. Soaring summer commodity costs choked businesses from bakeries to airlines. Frozen credit markets left small business owners dialing their moms for loans.
Many of the biggest winners of the past lost their shirts in 2008.
The kings of Wall Street watched as their banks either disappeared through mergers or bankruptcy or received injections of tax dollars to stay alive. The congressmen who once hung on Alan Greenspan's every indecipherable utterance turned hostile, as the once-revered oracle was reassessed, and found to be an oaf. Investors who had trusted Bernard Madoff with $50 billion saw the money manager who had given them steady returns for decades admit it was all a Ponzi scheme.
In 2008, 6 Years of Market Gains Are Lost
Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:03:37 +0000If you typed in the address, used a bookmark or followed a link from another Web site, the page is no longer available. Most articles remain online for seven days after publication. Articles back to 1851 are available through The New York Times Article Archive: 1851-Present. If you clicked on a headline or other link on NYTimes.com, you can report the missing page. E-mail subscribers: If you clicked on a link within a NYTimes.com e-mail newsletter, your e-mail program may not support the HTML version of the newsletter. Please try switching to the Text Version.
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