Steve &Barry’s LLC, once a growing force in low-priced fashion retailing, said Wednesday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the latest merchant to succumb to a harsh consumer spending climate. It also announced that it was considering a plan to sell all or some of its assets to repay outstanding debt. The Port Washington, N.Y.-based chain, which operates 276 locations including one in Everett, said that it and 63 of its affiliates filed the petition in the U.S. bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York. Company officials blamed a cash crunch as a result of the tighter credit markets and general sluggish economic conditions.
Murdoch sees year of messy markets
Rupert Murdoch expects the capital markets to lurch through the next 12 months as Wall Street banks sift through mountains of bad debt related to the mortgage crisis, the News Corp. chairman said Wednesday. “I’m a bit of a bear,” Murdoch told the Associated Press at the annual Allen &Co. media conference at the resort in Sun Valley. “I think there’s more (bad news) to come and it’ll take a year to shake out.”
Starbucks plans local giveaways
Starbucks Corp. is testing several types of promotions in stores across the country, a move it hopes will help counter the decline in domestic store traffic that led to a decision to close 600 stores. The promotions vary by region and timing. Starbucks said that a majority of its more than 11,000 U.S. stores will offer some sort of deal between now and early September.
Airbus executive detained in probe
French police on Wednesday detained the first executive still employed by Airbus parent EADS as part of an insider trading probe, according to his attorney. Andreas Sperl, the former CFO of Airbus and current head of the EADS Dresden plant in Germany, is the fourth person to be detained in the probe.
Nissan, Renault to go electric
Automakers Nissan and Renault will sell electric vehicles in Portugal in 2011 and the allied companies have partnered with the government in an attempt to create a national network of charging stations. Nissan has said it will sell electric cars globally in 2012, but the technology is still being developed. On Wednesday, Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of the French and Japanese automakers, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said they would work together to raise awareness about the vehicles and try to make them easier to fuel.
Northwest Air to cut 2,500 jobs
Northwest Airlines Corp. said on Wednesday it will cut 2,500 jobs because of high oil prices, and will soon begin charging $15 to check luggage and up to $100 to redeem a frequent-flier award ticket. The airline said it expects the new fees to add $250 million to $300 million a year in revenue. Northwest said the job cuts — which represent about 8.3 percent of its work force — will include front-line and management workers.
From Herald staff and news services
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