Sherman A1
Sherman A1's JournalDollar General makes rival bid for Family Dollar
Dollar General on Monday swooped in with a rival offer for discounter Family Dollar Stores, trumping Dollar Tree’s $8.5 billion bid with an offer of $9.7 billion.
If approved, the combination of Dollar General and Family Dollar would create a $28 billion retailer with nearly 20,000 stores in 46 states, Dollar General said. It said its all-cash bid provides Family Dollar's shareholders with approximately $466 million of additional aggregate value over Dollar Tree’s cash-and-share offer, announced last month and approved by both company’s boards.
Dollar General’s bid includes financing for a $305 million termination fee payable to Dollar Tree in the event Family Dollar terminates its agreement with Dollar Tree and pursues the Dollar General offer.
http://supermarketnews.com/dollar-stores/dollar-general-makes-rival-bid-family-dollar
Walmart U.S. comps flat in Q2
Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday reported flat U.S. comps and a 2.4% decline in U.S. operating income during the fiscal second quarter ended July 31. Overall net income was up slightly.
Walmart also said that higher health care costs and further investments to drive e-commerce initiatives would eat into profits during the second half of the year, lowering its anticipated annual earnings per share to a range of $4.90 to $5.15 from previous forecast of $5.10 to $5.45. Walmart said comps at its Neighborhood Market stores increased by 5.6% during the quarter, but that U.S. Supercenters and Sam’s Club both had flat non-fuel comparable sales.
http://supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/walmart-us-comps-flat-q2
Interesting? Perhaps this business model is running out of steam?
Your paycheck has been shrinking for 5 years
More Americans are working and the unemployment rate is falling, but it sure isn’t showing up in workers’ paychecks.
Since the Great Recession ended five years ago, the amount of money Americans earn each hour after adjusting for inflation has actually fallen. And that largely explains why the U.S. economy is growing just 60% as fast as it normally does.
Hourly wages have risen about 10% overall since June 2009, to $24.45 an hour. But over the same span they’ve slipped 0.3% in “real” or inflation-adjusted terms.
That means most families are just treading water.
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/08/19/your-paycheck-has-been-shrinking-for-5-years/
Why We Need a Retail Workers Bill of Rights
Despite its high minimum wage, San Francisco has the second-highest rate of income inequality among major US cities.
One of the reasons why people aren’t earning enough money to make ends meet in the Bay Area, and across the country, is because they can’t get sufficient hours at their jobs. And then there are workers facing unpredictable schedules that make it impossible for them to properly care for their families, hold down second jobs or pursue an education.
That’s why it’s so exciting that a coalition of workers, labor, community and advocacy groups in the Bay Area has come together to tackle the escalating crisis of unjust hours and unstable schedules that workers in the low-wage retail sector face.
This coalition, led by Jobs With Justice San Francisco, is teaming up with Supervisors Eric Mar and David Chiu to introduce the Retail Workers Bill of Rights to hold the city’s largest retailers, restaurant chains, hotels and banks accountable for creating better quality jobs. The proposed ordinance aims to strengthen protections for retail workers held hostage by on-call scheduling, diminished hours and discriminatory treatment by employers on the basis of their part-time employment status.
http://billmoyers.com/2014/08/14/why-we-need-a-retail-workers-bill-of-rights/
Furnace Filter
Installed a new HVAC system last year and having allergies I wanted to go with the best furnace filter I could get. Tried out the 3M Filterete 2400 series and it really has made a difference in the dust level in the house. They run about $25.00 a piece at Lowes but, I have found them worth every penny.
Restaurants business virtually shut down by protest
http://kplr11.com/2014/08/19/restaurants-business-virtually-shut-down-by-protest/FERGUSON, MO (KTVI) – It’s been a long 11 days for everyone in Ferguson, it’s putting a burden on businesses like the owners of Swiish Bar and Grill. Corey and Chantelle Nickson-Clark opened the doors to swiish two months ago and things were good. However, the Ferguson riots changed everything. The bar wasn’t looted but the owners discovered the financial blow is the same. The tensions in the area caused law enforcement to set up shop in the parking lot of the Buzz Westfall Center and that shut business down. Now the couple’s entire life savings is on the line.
“We know and understand the damage that has been done. As the owners of swiish and as parents our heart goes out to the family of Michael Brown.” Chantelle said.
“It’s an unfortunate situation and I feel someone should do something to compensate the businesses that are affected. It’s not right it’s not fair.” Corey said
Since rioting started swiish has cancelled 15 events and issued refunds. Owners also say they asked state and local officials for help with no success. They hope to get their 10 employees who are from the Ferguson area back to work as soon as possible.
Ferguson unrest is taking its toll on education
FERGUSON • With continued school cancellations in three districts, teachers spent Tuesday trying to overcome the heartache they’ve felt since chaos erupted over Michael Brown’s shooting death. Many of them did it by reaching out to their students. Others cleaned up the mess in Ferguson.
Dozens of teachers organized learning activities at public libraries and in a church hall, attracting children from throughout the Ferguson-Florissant School District, where the start of the school year has been delayed by more than a week so far. Two hundred more cleaned up debris on West Florissant Avenue, where protesters and police had clashed the night before.
And inside school cafeterias, some worked to provide free lunches to children, most of whom rely on school for something to eat.
“As teachers, we want to build up our community, not tear it down,” said Remy Bryant, a Jennings High School biology teacher wearing gloves and filling a trash bag. She was cleaning up with about 200 teachers, principals and staff — nearly everyone who works for the Jennings district.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/ferguson-unrest-is-taking-its-toll-on-education/article_36dc4c18-975b-5794-bbaf-3a9ebdef5e3c.html
Mo. utilities look to Kansas wind to comply with carbon proposal
For some Missouri utilities, compliance with proposed rules intended to curb carbon dioxide emissions may depend on Kansas.
Empire District Electric Co., which serves Joplin and other areas in southwest Missouri, and Kansas City Power and Light say Kansas wind turbines could play a big role in meeting emission targets proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Each utility has generation and customers in each state.
Representatives from both utilities said Monday at an industry gathering in Jefferson City that stakes they own in Kansas wind farms are part of early strategies to comply with the proposed rules.
But that assumes Kansas and Missouri are able — and willing to — work together.
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/mo-utilities-look-to-kansas-wind-to-comply-with-carbon/article_29faa710-8ed1-531b-9a01-c6e375cc13a8.html
Gasoline being removed at Ferguson QuikTrip site
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/9af434cc-0bf8-59b3-a1f6-0cf53660e760.htmlWorkers spent Tuesday morning erecting a chain link fence around the Ferguson QuikTrip and removing fuel still stored in underground tanks on the property.
The QuikTrip, at 9420 W. Florissant Ave., was looted and burned on Aug. 10, the day after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.
The store was boarded up and some privacy fencing was put up around the structure after the fire. But hundreds of protesters and media gathered at the property over the past week, and it's become a gathering spot amid the unrest.
Law-enforcement officers began barring access to the site on Monday.
Ferguson-Florissant School District will be closed Tuesday, August 19 through Friday, August 22
All schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District will be closed Tuesday, August 19 through Friday, August 22 due to continued unrest in and around Ferguson, Mo. This decision was made after much careful deliberation and consideration of input received from local law enforcement officials and District security staff.
We believe that closing schools for the rest of this week will allow needed time for peace and stability to be restored to our community and allow families to plan ahead for the additional days that children will be out of school.
While we deeply regret this delay to the start of the 2014-2015 school year, our first priority is the safety of our students.
Due to this change, the first day of school in the Ferguson-Florissant School District will be on Monday, August 25.
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