Starbucks Coffee International said Thursday it will partner with Greek conglomerate Marinopoulos Brothers to open Starbucks stores throughout Greece. The first store is to open in Athens this fall. “Greece represents one of the major strategic continental European markets for Starbucks,” said Peter Maslen, president of Starbucks Coffee International, a subsidiary of the Seattle-based gourmet coffee retailer. Starbucks also recently announced plans to expand in Germany and Spain, and last year opened its first stores in Austria and Switzerland.
Eden Bioscience Corp., a Bothell manufacturer of a new plant growth product, lost $23.7 million last year as sales plummeted, it reported Thursday. That compares with a loss of $15.7 million in 2000. The company’s net loss in the fourth quarter of last year was $7.5 million, compared with a net loss of $2.9 million for the last quarter of 2000. “In 2001, we learned how challenging it is to introduce a new technology into a tough agricultural market,” said Brad Powell, interim president and CFO. “In 2002, our focus will be to get Messenger used by growers.” The company also announced some good news Thursday – word that Messenger, its sole product, had been approved for sale in Germany as a plant strengthener.
Deep discounting of winter merchandise lured consumers into the nation’s stores in January, offering struggling retailers a brief respite from sluggish sales. But while analysts see the sales gains announced Thursday as encouraging, they don’t believe consumers are ready to splurge. Economic uncertainty continues to drive consumers to Wal-Mart, wholesale clubs and other moderate-price stores, which again outperformed the rest of the retail industry in January. Meanwhile, department stores and apparel chains continue to struggle, though overall the sales declines weren’t as deep as Wall Street expected.
Refusing to take no for an answer, Carnival Corp. came up Thursday with its fourth hostile offer for P&O Princess PLC in an effort to prevent P&O from merging with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. The $5.4 billion offer requires 15 percent of P&O shareholders to pledge by Friday to vote for an indefinite delay of the merger when the issue arises on Feb. 14. If 15 percent don’t come forward, the offer reverts to a rejected $5.1 billion bid. P&O had no immediate response. A Royal Caribbean-P&O merger would put together the industry’s No. 2 and No. 3 cruise lines and displace Carnival as the industry leader.
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