BUSINESS BRIEFS
BUSINESS
Circuit City ends 60-year run and shuts its doors
Advertiser news services
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RICHMOND, Va. — What began 60 years ago as a humble television store in this sleepy Southern capital ended yesterday as Circuit City closed its doors for good — its 567 remaining U.S. stores to be left clean and vacant.
For the last month and a half, a group of four liquidators have conducted going-out-of-business sales for what was the nation's second-largest consumer electronics retailer, selling its remaining $1.7 billion worth of inventory weeks sooner than expected.
In its wake, Richmond-based Circuit City Stores Inc., which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November, will leave more than 18 million square feet of vacant space in a faltering real estate market. And more than 34,000 employees, some who worked through the liquidation announced in January, will be jobless.
JAPAN DEFICIT NOW A RECORD $1.8B
TOKYO — Japan posted a record current account deficit in January, plunging into the red for the first time in 13 years, the finance ministry said today.
The deficit — the broadest measure of Japan's trade with the rest of the world — stood at a record 172.8 billion yen ($1.8 billion) in January.
Exports in January plunged 46.3 percent year-on-year to 3.28 trillion yen, while imports declined 31.7 percent to 4.13 trillion yen in the month. As a result, a trade deficit came at 844.4 billion yen.
Japan's exports to the United States dropped 52.9 percent, while Asia-bound shipments fell 46.7 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said. Vehicle shipments nosedived 66.1 percent, and exports of semiconductor products were down 52.8 percent.
CANADIAN AUTO UNIONS OK DEAL
DETROIT — The Canadian Auto Workers union said yesterday it had reached a tentative agreement with General Motors Corp. on a multiyear pay freeze and other concessions needed to qualify the company for government aid.
The deal freezes wages and pensions through September 2012 and for the first time requires workers and retirees to pay healthcare premiums. Cost-of-living adjustments also are frozen until June 2012.
The deal extends a previous contract with GM by one year.
The union had said Thursday it was willing to help GM's Canadian unit cut costs in its bid to qualify for Canadian government loans.
